Rebecca Smith MP: written questions 2026
171 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Written question 29864Department for TransportTabled 14 Sept 2026Awaiting answerUIN 29864More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2026 to Question 26119 on East West Rail Line, what works and assurance activities remain outstanding before Winslow Station can be fully handed over; and on what date she
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordWritten question 29863Department for TransportTabled 14 Sept 2026Awaiting answerUIN 29863More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2026 to Question 26241 on Road Works: Compensation, what data her Department holds on the number of defective street works reinstatements identified in each of the last fiv
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordRailway Stations: ConstructionDepartment for TransportTabled 14 Sept 2026Awaiting answerUIN 29862More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2026 to Question 21977 on Railway Stations: Construction, if she will provide, for each completed station construction project since 2020 for which her Department holds rec
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordLarge Goods Vehicles: LicensingDepartment for TransportTabled 14 Sept 2026Awaiting answerUIN 29861More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2026 to Question 21972 on Large Goods Vehicles: Licensing, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of reform of the Goods Vehicle Operator Lic
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordShipping: International WatersForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 14 Sept 2026Awaiting answerUIN 29860More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with international partners on preventing the introduction of unilateral or discriminatory charges on commercial vessels transiting international
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordLiver Diseases: Social Security Benefits and UnemploymentDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Sept 2026Awaiting answerUIN 29755More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the relationship between liver disease, benefit claims, and unemployment rates; and what assessment she has made of how those rates correlate with t
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordPermitted Development RightsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 10 Sept 2026Awaiting answerUIN 29078More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of amending permitted development rights to facilitate building and improving active travel routes.
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: DevonMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 10 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 29018More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Oral Statement of 7 September 2026 on Local Government Reorganisation, Official Report, columns 667-669, if she will set out the process to review the Gover
Answer: As set out by the Secretary of State in her oral statement of 7 September, the Government has withdrawn the March 2026 decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and paused decisions for the other 14 areas while a full review of the local govern...
Answered 15 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordRailways: StandardsDepartment for TransportTabled 9 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 28579More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 August 2026 to Question 14997 on Railways: Standards, how many (a) scheduled train services and (b) station calls have been removed from planned timetables since 5 July 2024, broken
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the Answer of 4 August 2026 to Question 14997.
Answered 14 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordRailways: TrespassDepartment for TransportTabled 9 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 28578More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2026 to Question 17399 on Railways: Trespass, how many of the 65,540 trespass incidents recorded by the British Transport Police occurred in each financial year from 2021-22 to
Answer: The British Transport Police have provided the following data with the yearly breakdown of the number of trespass incidents recorded for the period requested.YearTrespass incidents2021/2212,1012022/2312,0332023/2413,0462024/2514,0672025/2614,293Total65,54...
Answered 14 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: ReorganisationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 8 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 28263More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to her answer of 7 September 2026 to the Honourable Member for Exmouth and Exeter East, when a decision will be made as to whether elections to the existing local author
Answer: The Secretary of State confirmed in her oral statement on 7 September 2026 that the plan is for elections scheduled for May 2027 to go ahead on existing boundaries, and this was also set out in a letter to councils on the same date.
Answered 15 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordLarge Goods Vehicles: Electric VehiclesDepartment for TransportTabled 8 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 28197More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2026 to Question 19484 on Large Goods Vehicles: Electric Vehicles, what operational assumptions her Department uses in its total cost of ownership analysis for zero-emissio
Answer: The Department for Transport's operational assumptions regarding the total cost of ownership of zero emission HGVs will be published alongside the next consultation on the HGV CO2 emissions regulatory framework.
Answered 11 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordRegulation: Economic GrowthDepartment for Business, Innovation, Science and TradeTabled 7 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 27824More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, when he plans to introduce the Regulating for Growth Bill.
Answer: The Regulating for Growth Bill is set to be introduced in the current parliamentary session, when parliamentary time allows.
Answered 10 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordBluetongue Disease: Disease ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 27731More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will consider a coordinated programme combining large-scale vaccination, Culicoides surveillance and systematic genetic monitoring, similar to measures adopted in France, to tac
Answer: This Government keeps its approach to bluetongue under continual review and considers scientific evidence and international experience when developing control policies. While the decision to vaccinate remains one for animal keepers, in consultation with t...
Answered 18 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordBluetongue Disease: Disease ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 27730More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's long-term education, vaccination and disease-control strategy is to prevent bluetongue virus serotype 3 becoming an annual cycle of infection, reproductive losses
Answer: Bluetongue will likely recur in 2027. The best way to protect against reproductive and production losses is to vaccinate early. Defra supports the industry-led Battle Bluetongue campaign and continues to encourage animal keepers to speak to their vet abou...
Answered 18 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordBluetongue Disease: Disease ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 27729More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what work is being done by her Department to establish how epidemiological, genetic, meteorological and geographical evidence explain the pattern and speed of bluetongue virus serotype
Answer: Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) work closely with scientific partners to monitor and assess the spread of bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3). Epidemiological, meteorological, virus characteristics and geographical evidence is used to ...
Answered 18 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordBluetongue Disease: Disease ControlDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 27728More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to meet farmers, veterinary professionals, scientists and livestock industry representatives to discuss a national strategy to tackle the spread of bluetongue virus s
Answer: Defra engages regularly with farmers, veterinary professionals, scientists, devolved governments and livestock industry representatives on bluetongue virus (BTV-3). Baroness Hayman met industry leaders and veterinary representatives on 8 September to disc...
Answered 18 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordAirports: FreightDepartment for TransportTabled 2 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 26804More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of access to slots at coordinated UK airports for operators of dedicated air freight and cargo services; and whether she plans to take steps to improve access to slo
Answer: The government recognises the crucial role air freight plays in transporting goods to and from the UK, which benefits consumers and businesses and facilitates growth in large parts of the economy beyond aviation.An independent slot coordinator is responsi...
Answered 7 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordAirports: Construction and Planning PermissionDepartment for TransportTabled 2 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 26803More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2026 to Question 13566, if she will publish a list of legislative and statutory requirements that apply to the planning and construction of airports.
Answer: The Government does not maintain, and does not plan to publish, a single consolidated list of all legislative and statutory requirements that apply to the planning and construction of airports. Doing so would be disproportionate and would duplicate inform...
Answered 7 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordParking: Fees and ChargesDepartment for TransportTabled 2 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 26802More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of local authority parking charges based on vehicle dimensions on the uptake of electric vehicles.
Answer: The Department has not made such an assessment. Local traffic authorities are responsible for developing parking policies that balance the needs of different road users.
Answered 7 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordSpeed Limits: CamerasDepartment for TransportTabled 1 Sept 2026AnsweredUIN 26362More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with (a) police forces, (b) regional road safety partnerships and (c) course providers on mitigating the financial impact on instructors of cancellations of (i) speed awareness and
Answer: The Department is working closely with National Highways, Home Office, and National Police Chiefs’ Council to ensure the Home Office approved solution for cameras affected by the anomaly is implemented as quickly as possible, once rigorous testing is comp...
Answered 9 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordPedestrian Crossings: DesignDepartment for TransportTabled 28 Aug 2026AnsweredUIN 24904More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2026 to Question 470 on Pedestrian Crossings: Design, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of adopting the Welsh Government's amendments to section 14 of the Tra
Answer: As set out in Better Connected: a strategy for integrated transport that was published on 2 April this year, the Department is updating the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions to permit new, simpler zebra crossings. The Department for Transpo...
Answered 4 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordFoster CareDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 28 Aug 2026AnsweredUIN 24903More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases of overpayment to a birth parent of (a) Disability Living Allowance for children and (b) Carer's Allowance have been identified in each of the last five years, in cases where the child ha
Answer: The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Answered 10 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordFoster CareDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 28 Aug 2026AnsweredUIN 24902More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information sharing arrangements are in place between local authorities and his Department when a child enters foster care; what steps his Department is taking to ensure that benefit entitlement is
Answer: The person responsible for the child is also responsible for informing the Department of changes that may affect the child’s entitlement to Disability Living Allowance for Children. If the child is placed in foster care, DWP would appoint the foster carer...
Answered 11 Sept 2026
Original Parliament recordChildren: MaintenanceDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 28 Aug 2026AnsweredUIN 24901More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents in receipt of Universal Credit received child maintenance at the latest date for which figures are available; how many such parents were (a) in employment and (b) not in employment; and
Answer: The information requested is not readily available. The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) does not routinely collect or record information on whether a receiving parent is in receipt of Universal Credit or their employment status. While the Department holds...
Answered 7 Sept 2026
Original Parliament record
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