Paula Barker MP: written questions
70 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Parking: Fees and ChargesDepartment for TransportTabled 23 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 12417More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing the grace period where a motorist takes longer than the time allowed to pay but can evidence a full payment before leaving.
Answer: The ten-minute grace period at the end of a paid-for parking period was introduced to recognise that drivers could arrive slightly late to their vehicle for reasons beyond their control. In this situation, a Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) would be able t...
Answered 25 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordParking: Private SectorMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 23 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 12416More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the use of sanctions by trade associations on private parking operators where they breach the Industry Code.
Answer: The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a Code of Practice containing guidance on the operation and management of private parking facilities, which will replace the existing Sector Single Code of Practice. The De...
Answered 1 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordParking Offences: FinesMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 23 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 12415More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of changing the Industry Code to ensure that a parking fine is automatically cancelled where a motorist is able to provide evi
Answer: The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a Code of Practice containing guidance on the operation and management of private parking facilities, which will replace the existing Sector Single Code of Practice. The De...
Answered 1 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordParking Offences: FinesDepartment for TransportTabled 23 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 12414More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of improving regulation of the way that debt collection is carried out in the case of parking fines.
Answer: The ten-minute grace period at the end of a paid-for parking period was introduced to recognise that drivers could arrive slightly late to their vehicle for reasons beyond their control. In this situation, a Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) would be able t...
Answered 25 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordParking Offences: FinesDepartment for TransportTabled 23 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 12413More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the appeals process against parking fines.
Answer: The Secretary of State has not made any such assessment of the longstanding independent appeals process.
Answered 29 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordMental Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 22 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 11770More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what evaluation his department has made of the effectiveness of assessment by the NHS of the appropriateness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for patients through NHS Talking Therapies.
Answer: NHS Talking Therapies provide National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended, evidence‑based psychological therapies, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), for adults with common mental health conditions such as anxiety and depress...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordMental Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 22 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 11769More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his department has made of trends in levels of completion of courses of NHS Talking Therapies treatment in (i) England and (ii) the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board are
Answer: NHS Talking Therapies continues to expand to deliver additional courses of treatment and increase session numbers to boost recovery. In 2024/25, 670,419 referrals completed course of treatment across England. For 2025/26, this figure was 671,262. However,...
Answered 24 Aug 2026
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: Severe Disability PremiumDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 18 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 11199More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what consideration his department has made of the potential merits of introducing an equivalent to Severe Disability Premium in Universal Credit.
Answer: In the legacy benefits (e.g. Employment & Support Allowance (ESA), Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and Income Support (IS)) there were multiple disability premia (e.g. Disability Premium, Enhanced Disability Premium and Severe Disability Premium). These w...
Answered 6 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordSevere Disability PremiumDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 18 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 11198More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his department will review the rules for transitional protection in the case of severely disabled people living in supported housing.
Answer: Transitional Protection within Universal Credit is intended to support customers whose entitlement would otherwise be lower at the point of moving from legacy benefits. This includes Transitional Protection provided in respect of the Severe Disability Pre...
Answered 25 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: Severe Disability PremiumDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 18 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 11197More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of reduction in the Transitional Severe Disability Premium Element on the ability of severely disabled people receiving Universal Credit to meet oth
Answer: Transitional Protection is designed to ensure that, at the point of moving onto Universal Credit, eligible customers do not see a reduction in their overall entitlement compared to their previous legacy benefits. These rules apply equally to the Severe Di...
Answered 25 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordStrike BallotsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 16 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 10245More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will confirm the date when the turnout requirement of at least 50% will be replaced by a simple majority vote for industrial action ballots.
Answer: To commence section 68 (turnout threshold) of the Employment Rights Act and repeal the 50% threshold, the government must lay a statement in Parliament setting out how it has had regard to the effect of e-balloting (or other non-postal balloting) on parti...
Answered 22 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordDoctors: TrainingDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 6193More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will amend the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 to include public health medicine.
Answer: The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 implements the Government’s commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training places, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors with s...
Answered 9 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordEmployment: TemperatureDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4438More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the potential merits of introducing a maximum temperature to be allowed in the workplace.
Answer: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has engaged with other departments across government in the development of the proposals for workplace temperature as part of the review of the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) for the Workplace (Health, Safety and We...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordYouth ServicesDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2891More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made on implementing the National Youth Strategy.
Answer: In December 2025, DCMS published “Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy”. It is backed by over £500 million of new money from DCMS.This is complemented by extensive investment from other Government Departments, such as the Youth Guarantee. The fundi...
Answered 3 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordYouth Services: FinanceDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2890More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase revenue funding for youth services.
Answer: In December 2025, DCMS published “Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy”. It is backed by over £500 million of new money from DCMS.This is complemented by extensive investment from other Government Departments, such as the Youth Guarantee. The fundi...
Answered 3 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordDialysis MachinesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 May 2026AnsweredUIN 1308More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to home dialysis for patients with kidney failure.
Answer: NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease, through its renal services transformation programme. This includes a specification for renal services which sets out the s...
Answered 21 May 2026
Original Parliament recordDialysis MachinesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 May 2026AnsweredUIN 1307More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the role of home dialysis in supporting the shift from hospital to community care set out in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan.
Answer: NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease, through its renal services transformation programme. This includes a specification for renal services which sets out the s...
Answered 21 May 2026
Original Parliament recordKidney Diseases: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 May 2026AnsweredUIN 1306More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider commissioning a standalone Modern Service Framework for chronic kidney disease, including dialysis, transplantation, paediatrics, frailty, rare kidney disease and genetic kidney
Answer: The Government will consider long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks (MSFs). The criteria for determining other conditions for future MSFs will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in the q...
Answered 21 May 2026
Original Parliament recordKidney Diseases: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 May 2026AnsweredUIN 1305More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the updated Renal Service Specification is expected to be published.
Answer: The specification is being worked on by NHS England in line with their national service specification methods process, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/methods-national-service-specifications/Stakeholder test...
Answered 21 May 2026
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: ReorganisationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 22 Apr 2026AnsweredUIN 129240More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's document entitled Summary of the local government reorganisation process, published on 25 July 2025, if he will help support incoming shadow au
Answer: The Government continues to provide guidance and support to councils throughout the reorganisation process. We have issued explanatory guidance to councils undergoing local government reorganisation on Financial decisions before local government reorganis...
Answered 28 Apr 2026
Original Parliament recordSocial Services: PayDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Apr 2026AnsweredUIN 128869More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he intends to take steps through the fair pay agreement process for the adult social care sector to reduce the take-home pay gap between social care support workers and equivalent NHS Band
Answer: We plan to introduce the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in 2028, backed by £500 million of funding to improve pay and conditions for the adult social care workforce.The Fair Pay Agreement process will see a new body formed to negotiate changes to pay and t...
Answered 28 Apr 2026
Original Parliament recordHomelessness: ChildrenMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 121467More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that local councils provide homelessness assistance to children to prevent them being forced to sleep rough.
Answer: I wrote to council leaders and chief executives on Wednesday 25 February setting out local authorities’ legal duties to homeless families with children under the Housing Act 1996 and Children Act 1989. This letter made it clear that a child should never b...
Answered 24 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordHomelessnessMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 121461More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled A National Plan to End Homelessness, published on 11 December 2025, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues
Answer: The National Plan to End Homelessness announces a long-term ambition that no one should leave a public institution into homelessness. This parliament we will take the first steps towards this through joint cross-government targets to reduce the number of ...
Answered 24 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordLocal Housing AllowanceDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 17 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 121457More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the freeze in Local Housing Allowance on levels of rough sleeping and homelessness in England.
Answer: The causes of rough sleeping and homelessness are multifaceted and are driven by a range of factors, both personal and structural. Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are annually reviewed, usually in the Autumn. At Autumn budget 2025, the Secretary of St...
Answered 26 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordHousing FirstMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 121450More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote Housing First as an effective response to rough sleeping.
Answer: Housing First is an important intervention which evidence has shown can transform the lives of people with complex needs. We are funding Housing First and other forms of housing-led accommodation in 2025/26 through our £255.5 million Rough Sleeping Preven...
Answered 23 Mar 2026
Original Parliament record
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