Every parliamentary written question tabled by Victoria Collins this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 21–40 of 750 · this parliament
What recent steps his Department has taken to support unpaid carers of family members living with dementia in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency; and what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of that support.
Awaiting answer.
What assessment his department has made of the impact of the Iran War on heating oil costs for houses and businesses in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
The Government is aware of the exposure heating oil has to the short-term volatility in global oil prices, which we recognise it is a significant concern for those reliant on it. This is why the Chancellor announced £53 million for low income families, who heat their homes with oil to help tackle surging prices, £27m is for England and is being delivered through the Crisis and Resilience Fund in England. The Department has also worked closely with the Competition and Markets Authority to monitor profiteering or unfair practices. The CMA has commenced an accelerated Heating Oil Market Study, and are looking into further consumer protections.
What assessment he has made of whether the NHS target of treating 85% of cancer patients within 62 days is being met in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
The Department does not collect this data. The data collected by NHS England is not collected at a constituency level. Data on what proportion of cancer patients in the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board received a first treatment within the 62-day cancer waiting time standard can be found on the NHS England website at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/In March 2026, the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board performed at 75.4% on the 62-day cancer waiting time standard. This exceeds the Operational Planning Guidance for NHS systems to perform at 75% by March 2026. We have committed in the recently published National Cancer Plan to improve performance against the 62-day standard by the end of this Parliament.
What discussion her Department has had with the Department for Science Innovation and Technology about the impact of social media platforms in enabling online scams and fraud.
The Home Office and DSIT work closely on online harms and ensuring people are safe online from fraud. This includes the Online Safety Act which is in the process of implementation. Since March 2025, Ofcom have been enforcing the illegal content codes which includes fraud committed through user generated content on social media platforms. Ofcom will also be consulting on further codes to prevent fraudulent advertising on these platforms this year.The Government launched the Fraud Strategy in March, which sets out how we will work with all partners, including tech companies and industry, to make the UK a much harder place for fraudsters to operate.
What steps his Department is taking to encourage small businesses to offer apprenticeships for young people in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Awaiting answer.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made on the ability of Local Authorities to effectively halt unauthorised planning developments in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Awaiting answer.
How many carers have lost entitlement to Carer’s Allowance as a result of exceeding the 21‑hour study limit in each of the last five years.
Awaiting answer.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the eligibility rules for Carer’s Allowance on unpaid carers seeking to access higher and further education.
Awaiting answer.
Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the stakeholder engagement in relation to the consultation entitled Growing up in the online world: a national consultation, published on 2 March 2026; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) clinicians, (b) police officers and (c) social workers are included.
Alongside the consultation, which has had over 63,000 responses already, the Government launched a National Conversation to support broad and accessible engagement across the UK, including through schools, community settings and civil society organisations, ensuring a wide range of perspectives inform policymaking.The Department is engaging clinicians, police officers and social workers through existing networks, representative bodies and cross‑government channels, including organisations such as the British Association of Social Workers, and encouraging contributions to the consultation.
Innovation and Technology, what steps she plans to take to include children’s perspectives in the policymaking process for generative AI.
Awaiting answer.
Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the accessibility of the consultation entitled Growing up in the online world: a national consultation, published on 2 March 2026, for people (a) without technical expertise.
Awaiting answer.
Innovation and Technology, in what way she plans to use responses to the consultation entitled Growing up in the online world: a national consultation, published on 2 March 2026, to inform policymaking; and how those responses will be considered alongside the findings of the expert panel convened as part of the same process.
All responses to the consultation titled: Growing up in the online world: a national consultation will be analysed and summarised, with a summary published on the GOV.UK website. Ministers will consider these views alongside evidence gathered through our National Conversation and stakeholder engagement across the UK with families, young people, schools, civil society and industry.These views will be considered alongside insights from an expert panel of academics, to help the department understand the information from the consultation in the context of the evolving evidence base. All views and evidence will inform the government’s next steps to improve children’s digital wellbeing and safety.
Innovation and Technology, what recent steps her Department has taken to develop AI content labelling to (a) support creatives and (b) reduce the impact of AI deepfakes on the creative industries.
Awaiting answer.
If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the levels of funding for music and dance schools on the adequacy of the provision of music and dance training.
Awaiting answer.
When his Department's response to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report entitled Everyday Business: Addressing domestic abuse and continuing harm through a family court review and reporting mechanism, published on 15 October 2025, will be published.
The Government welcomes the publication of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report “Everyday Business: Addressing domestic abuse and continuing harm through a family court review and reporting mechanism.”We are carefully considering the recommendations made in the report and we expect to publish a full response in the coming weeks.
What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Valuation Office Agency’s performance in responding to Checks and Challenges to rateable values of non‑domestic properties; and what steps her Department is taking to help speed up that process.
I refer the hon member to the answer to UIN 126458, tabled on 10 April 2026.
What support his Department is providing to people living with Multiple Sclerosis in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
At the national level, initiatives such as NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme and the NHS RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions toolkit both aim to reduce unwarranted variation in services and improve equity of care for people with multiple sclerosis (MS).At the local level, the West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s neurology department provides care to patients with MS in the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency. The team consists of consultant neurologists, a consultant neurophysiologist, and two specialist nurses. All consultants hold joint appointments with University College London Hospitals or the Royal Free Hospital, giving access to specialised neurological care. The Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust provides the community neurological rehabilitation service for adults in the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency. The service provides specialist therapy to patients with long term neurological conditions, including those with MS. Specialist advice and oversight is available from a consultant neurologist where clinically appropriate. The service offers complex care, needs-led intervention, specialist equipment, and self-management support according to intensity of clinical needs.
What workplace support the Menopause Action Plan will deliver for constituents in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
This Spring, we launched voluntary action plans for large employers, encouraging them to publish what they are doing to support employees experiencing menopause, alongside the steps they are taking to address their gender pay gap.We have published step-by-step guidance, including a list of evidence-informed actions, to support employers in developing their action plans. Our common-sense actions include menopause training for managers, transparent, flexible working policies, and tailored workplace adjustments.Action plans aim to enhance workplace support and tackle the barriers faced by women, benefiting both employers and employees across the country, including those in the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
What steps his Department is taking to increase public participation in the bowel cancer screening programme in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Bowel screening uptake in Berkhamsted and Harpenden is currently between 84% and 87%. The NHS Central East Integrated Care Board (ICB) works closely with general practices (GPs) to encourage promotion of bowel screening through a ‘making every contact count’ approach when they are informed which of their patients have not returned their faecal immunochemical test (FIT).The ICB has also used regional innovation screening funding to support cancer screening projects in Hertfordshire, including some specifically for bowel cancer. In 2025/26, the programme included:delivering outreach to people on the Serious Mental Illness Register who face barriers to screening because of their mental ill health;targeting non-responders from communities who find National Health Services hard-to-reach, including traveller and asylum seeker communities;supporting screening uptake within the learning disability population, with a particular focus on bowel screening;providing public education on cancer awareness to specific postcodes with low uptake of screening, delivered by the patient-led ‘Cancel out Cancer’ group;reviewing 130,000 bowel screening non-responders to identify themes in order to understand potential barriers; andreaching out to patients who are eligible for screening but who haven’t taken up the opportunity to answer any questions they have and book in appointments for people as needed, via Cancer Care Co-ordinators who form part of the GP teams across Hertfordshire.In England, coverage of bowel cancer screening has been increasing in recent years. In 2019, 60.5% of people took the offer up, while now it is 71.8%. To further increase coverage across England, NHS England is doing the following:delivering new approaches to communicating with people about screening through the NHS App;incorporating the reasonable adjustment flag into screening to ensure that people get information in the way they want, and that adjustments are made to support people at appointments;has recently updated the bowel cancer screening leaflets and is updating the bowel cancer screening letters to improve accessibility; andhas made the bowel cancer screening FIT kit more accessible for people who are blind or partially sighted.
How far the proposed SEND reforms will address the postcode lottery in access to specialist education support.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.