Andrew Snowden MP: written questions 2026
1210 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Internet: Counterfeit ManufacturingDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4618More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Intellectual Property Office’s new guidance for second-hand shoppers in reducing the purchase of counterfeit goods online.
Answer: The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is committed to raising consumer awareness of IP crime and infringement and the risks surrounding it. The new guidance for second-hand shoppers has been developed as part of a wider second-hand shopping campaign in p...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPrivate Education: Fees and ChargesDepartment for EducationTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4617More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the VAT increase on private schools on demand for school places in state schools.
Answer: HM Treasury published a tax information and impact note on applying VAT to independent school fees, which includes the government’s estimates of the number of pupils expected to enter the state sector as a result of this policy.
Answered 16 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordHoliday Accommodation: FyldeDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4616More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Government policies on the (i) availability and (ii) cost of tourist accommodation in Fylde constituency.
Answer: Parliament legislated for a national registration scheme for short-term lets in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. The government remains committed to implementing this registration scheme as soon as practicable to support sustainable tourism and...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordHousing: LancashireMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4615More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Government policies on house prices in (i) Fylde constituency and (ii) Lancashire.
Answer: My Department has made no specific assessment of the impact of government policies on house prices in the Fylde constituency or Lancashire more generally.
Answered 9 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: TemperatureDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4611More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support farmers affected by recent extreme high temperatures.
Answer: The Defra-funded Food, Farming & Natural Environment Climate Service has developed evidence on adaptation options which improve resilience of the agri-food sector, including cost and ease of implementation. Adaptation options include those which could...
Answered 3 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: DeploymentMinistry of DefenceTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4610More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the readiness levels of the armed forces.
Answer: We inherited a hollowed out and underfunded Armed Forces. The Strategic Defence Review sets out a path to war fighting readiness, and the Defence Investment Plan will set out the capabilities required to deliver the Strategic Defence Review. The readiness...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordCourts: Digital TechnologyMinistry of JusticeTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4609More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on court digitisation; and what steps he is taking to ensure data processing is secure and accurate.
Answer: The HMCTS Reform Programme, which concluded in March 2025, delivered twelve digital services across the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions and fully implemented the Common Platform across all 226 criminal courts in England and Wales.Use of these ser...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPrisons: OvercrowdingMinistry of JusticeTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4608More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment has been made of trends in the level of prison overcrowding.
Answer: Crowding data is published regularly in HMPPS’s Annual Digest, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmpps-annual-digest-april-2024-to-march-2025.The most recent data for the 12 months ending March 2025 shows:The crowding rate in prison...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordListeria Monocytogenes: PregnancyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4607More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether guidance is being issued to pregnant people to reduce the risk of infection from Listeriosis, including from ready-to-eat and chilled foods.
Answer: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the National Health Service already provide advice to pregnant people to help reduce the risk of infection from listeriosis, including advice on ready-to-eat and chilled foods, at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/p...
Answered 5 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordFood PoisoningDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4606More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role the Food Standards Agency is playing in reducing cases of food poisoning linked to contaminated poultry, meat, eggs and dairy products.
Answer: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is responsible for food safety and hygiene across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It sets and enforces standards across the food chain, working with local authorities and maintaining a direct presence in slaughterhous...
Answered 5 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordFood PoisoningDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4605More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the latest data published by the UK Health Security Agency indicating high levels of Salmonella and Campylobacter infections in England; and what steps are being take
Answer: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) actively monitors and assesses the latest data on levels of foodborne disease (FBD) to determine whether action may be needed to protect public health.Controlling FBD is a strategic priority for the FSA to protect consumers...
Answered 5 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordGreat British RailwaysDepartment for TransportTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4598More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative assessment has been made of the potential impact of consolidation of operations under Great British Railways compared with the previous franchising model on (a) operational competition and (b)
Answer: This Government was elected on a clear manifesto commitment to return franchised passenger services to public ownership. Public ownership, as delivered through the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, is an important first step towards ...
Answered 12 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordRailways: NationalisationDepartment for TransportTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4595More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department plans to take to (a) measure and (b) publish changes in (i) punctuality and (ii) cancellation rates following the transfer of services into public ownership.
Answer: Public sector operators are required to meet targets for punctuality, reliability, service quality and customer satisfaction under their Services Agreement with the Department and are required to publish performance against these targets on a regular basi...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordGreater Thameslink Railway: NationalisationDepartment for TransportTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4594More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what independent economic assessment has been made of the cost to the Exchequer of transferring the operations of Govia Thameslink Railways into public ownership compared with retaining the existing contractual
Answer: Since the start of the pandemic, the net costs of operating franchised passenger services have been borne by taxpayers, not by private train operators. Therefore, the transfer of Govia Thameslink Railways (GTR) services into public ownership is not expect...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPupil Exclusions: LancashireDepartment for EducationTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4593More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of school suspensions in Lancashire over the last five years.
Answer: Statistics on suspensions by local authority by full academic year can be found in the following publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/suspensions-and-permanent-exclusions-in-england/2023-24. This has been availa...
Answered 15 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordDental Services: ContractsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4591More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Integrated Care Boards have powers to revise indicative units of dental activity values where existing contracts are considered significantly below local averages.
Answer: Since 2024, a minimum Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) value of £28 has been in place to support practices with historically low UDA rates. Integrated care boards have the flexibility to influence the UDA rate locally, which may help to support local interve...
Answered 3 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordDental Services: ContractsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4590More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of variation in Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) values between NHS dental contracts within the same Integrated Care Board area on
Answer: From 1 April 2023, commissioning responsibility for primary care dentistry transferred to integrated care boards, including the duty to assess local oral health needs and set commissioning priorities. NHS England has issued an Assurance Framework to suppo...
Answered 3 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordSweden: Military AircraftMinistry of DefenceTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4589More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Swedish fighter jet agreement on the future of the Global Combat Air Programme.
Answer: The UK and Sweden are proud to work together on Gripen. The recent export successes are a testament to UK and Swedish expertise and will provide hundreds of millions of pounds of benefits to our supply chain businesses. We will continue to support Gripen ...
Answered 3 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordSweden: Military AircraftMinistry of DefenceTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4588More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Swedish fighter jet deal on defence jobs in (i) the UK and (ii) Lancashire.
Answer: The Sweden-led export of Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine will provide Ukrainian forces with modern, agile, and highly capable multirole air combat platforms. It also represents a step change in defence industrial cooperation. This initiative will strengthe...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: ReorganisationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4587More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether councils identified as at risk under new powers on financial mismanagement in local government will be excluded from merging with other authorities under local government
Answer: There are no plans to exclude any local authorities from reorganisation where places were invited to submit proposals. All proposals should meet the statutory criteria for local government reorganisation, including being the right size to achieve efficien...
Answered 3 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: RegenerationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4586More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed powers to prevent financial mismanagement in local government on local authority borrowing for infrastructure and
Answer: The Government has recently published a consultation on the proposed capital risk metrics and associated regulations. The consultation sets out the proposed metrics, their calculation methodologies and the circumstances in which the Secretary of State’s p...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordLocal Government FinanceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4585More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of local authorities within scope of intervention powers under proposed regulations of council investments; and if he will list them.
Answer: The Government has recently published a consultation on the proposed capital risk metrics and associated regulations. The consultation sets out the proposed metrics, their calculation methodologies and the circumstances in which the Secretary of State’s p...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPharmacy: TrainingDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4584More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase levels of funding to support pharmacists undertaking Independent Prescribing qualifications.
Answer: From autumn 2026, a national NHS Independent Prescribing (IP) offer will be introduced in community pharmacy following the conclusion of the 2026/27 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework consultation with Community Pharmacy England.Funding to support t...
Answered 4 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPrimary Care: PharmacyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4583More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £340 million pharmacy funding package will be allocated specifically to (a) workforce training, (b) digital infrastructure and (c) direct service delivery.
Answer: From autumn 2026, a national NHS Independent Prescribing (IP) offer will be introduced in community pharmacy following the conclusion of the 2026/27 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework consultation with Community Pharmacy England.Funding to support t...
Answered 4 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPrimary Care: PharmacyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4582More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the level of additional workforce capacity required to deliver the rollout of NHS-funded Independent Prescribing services from Autumn 2026.
Answer: From autumn 2026, a national NHS Independent Prescribing (IP) offer will be introduced in community pharmacy following the conclusion of the 2026/27 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework consultation with Community Pharmacy England.Funding to support t...
Answered 4 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
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