Steve Darling MP: written questions 2026
167 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Gaming Machines: PrizesDepartment for Digital, Culture, Media and SportTabled 14 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 18767More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has considered raising the stakes and prizes cap for adult gaming centres.
Answer: The government has been clear that it will not look to make additional deregulatory changes to the adult gaming sector until further improvements are made on customer protections. Government officials meet regularly with the Gambling Commission and repres...
Answered 22 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordGaming Machines: PrizesDepartment for Digital, Culture, Media and SportTabled 14 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 18766More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to review the maximum stakes and prizes limits for Category B3 and C gaming machines in adult gaming centres.
Answer: The government has been clear that it will not look to make additional deregulatory changes to the adult gaming sector until further improvements are made on customer protections. Government officials meet regularly with the Gambling Commission and repres...
Answered 22 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordUniversal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 14 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 18765More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress his Department has made in the completion of the Universal Credit split payment impact assessment; and whether they plan to use split payments as the default mechanism for all joint
Answer: The Department is currently considering the policy design specification provided by the Scottish Government for its proposal to make split payments the default option for Universal Credit customers in Scotland. The Department has no plans to make split pa...
Answered 22 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordAssistance Animals: TravelDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 18764More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her timetable is for the introduction of measures to simplify the movement of assistance dogs between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Answer: Securing less burdensome arrangements for non-commercial pet travel to the EU, including for assistance dogs, remains a UK Government priority. As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sa...
Answered 21 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordAssistance Animals: Pet Travel SchemeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 18763More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the enforcement action against the use of European pet passports on assistance dog users.
Answer: Securing less burdensome arrangements for non-commercial pet travel to the EU, including for assistance dogs, remains a UK Government priority. As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sa...
Answered 21 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordAssistance Animals: Pet Travel SchemeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 18762More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the feasibility of introducing a digital passport system for assistance dogs; and what consideration has been given to the development of digitalised pa
Answer: Securing less burdensome arrangements for non-commercial pet travel to the EU, including for assistance dogs, remains a UK Government priority. As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sa...
Answered 21 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordAssistance Animals: TravelDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 18761More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with key stakeholders on negotiating an exemption from Animal Health Certificate requirements for assistance dogs travelling between the UK and the Europea
Answer: Securing less burdensome arrangements for non-commercial pet travel to the EU, including for assistance dogs, remains a UK Government priority. As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sa...
Answered 21 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordAssistance Animals: TravelDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 18760More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help facilitate the movement of assistance dogs accompanying their owners travelling from the UK to the EU.
Answer: Securing less burdensome arrangements for non-commercial pet travel to the EU, including for assistance dogs, remains a UK Government priority. As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sa...
Answered 21 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordAccess to Elected Office for Disabled People FundDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 13 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 18205More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will provide an update on the Access to Elected Office Fund; and when it is likely that applications for support will open.
Answer: It is this government’s ambition to see more disabled people in public office. We have been clear that we will champion disabled people’s rights and work closely with them so that disabled people’s views and voices are at the heart of decision-making. We ...
Answered 17 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: PetsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 13 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 18204More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of Battersea’s new Cost of Cute campaign.
Answer: Defra recognises the importance of conformation and genetic health in dogs and cats and supports education of owners and breeders to promote responsible breeding. As part of the Animal Welfare Strategy, this Government has committed to launch a consultati...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordAdministration of EstatesTreasuryTabled 10 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17830More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans does she have to decrease the time taken to return savings to estates of the deceased.
Answer: On 19 May, I updated Parliament that from the week commencing 25 May, NS&I would start to contact affected estates, with holdings of £10 or more, to reunite them with the holdings owed to them. Remediation will be delivered in phases. NS&I has sin...
Answered 17 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordChurches: Repairs and MaintenanceChurch CommissionersTabled 10 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17829More
Question: To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what plans they have to ensure the preservation of historic church buildings in England.
Answer: The National Church Institutions recognise the importance of maintaining England’s historic church buildings across England such as the Grade I listed All Saints, Babbacombe and St John the Baptist, Paignton. Parish Churches are not only places of worship...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: UpratingDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 10 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17828More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what consideration has he given to broadening the scope of countries where the UK state pension receives an annual increase.
Answer: UK State Pensions are payable worldwide, without regard to nationality and are only uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for uprating. This approach has...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordVisas: Skilled WorkersHome OfficeTabled 10 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17827More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to provide full grandfathering or full transitional protection for Skilled Worker visa holders and their dependants who were already granted leave before any earned settl
Answer: The government’s proposals for settlement reform were set out in the Command Paper ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’ (CP1448) and were the subject of a public consultation between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026.We received over 200,000 responses fro...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordVisas: FamiliesHome OfficeTabled 10 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17826More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consideration she has given to the introduction of a service standard for family visa applications.
Answer: The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, including service standards for processing visa applications where applicable.Service standards for out-of-country family visas are published here: Family: customer service ...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordBreast Cancer: DrugsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 10 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17825More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his department has taken to make the drug Enhertu available for people with secondary breast cancer in England, following the increase in NICE’s cost effectiveness thresholds in April 20
Answer: Following the increase in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) cost-effectiveness thresholds in April 2026, NICE, NHS England, and the manufacturers have resumed discussions to explore whether a commercial offer can be agreed tha...
Answered 17 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordCancerDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 10 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17824More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on the Cancer Plan commitment to define and count recurrent cancers, starting with metastatic breast.
Answer: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell on 1 July 2026 to Question 10831.
Answered 17 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordCataracts: SurgeryDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 10 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17823More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to tackle the backlog of cataract operations, including for those who need the operation to undertake driving exams.
Answer: As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. We met our interim target of...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordSocial Media: BusinessDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17822More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans she has in place to ensure that businesses accounts on social media are protected from unfair suspension, to mitigate the financial impact on their business.
Answer: The Government recognises the importance of social media to UK businesses. Under the Online Safety Act, regulated services must operate accessible and effective complaints procedures, enabling users, including businesses, to challenge account suspensions ...
Answered 17 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordPigs: Animal WelfareDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17821More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consideration has she given to launching an independent review into the pig industry, to determine whether piglet thumping continues to be practised.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Gorton and Denton on 4 June 2026 to PQ UIN 3739.
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordFree School MealsDepartment for EducationTabled 9 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17467More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate they have made of the number of children eligible for free school meals who are not registered to receive them.
Answer: The department only collects data on pupils who are both eligible for and claiming free school meals. Children not claiming free school meals could be eligible or ineligible to claim them. As a result, no recent estimate has been made of the number of chi...
Answered 4 Aug 2026
Original Parliament recordHealth VisitorsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 9 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17466More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average caseload per health visitor is (a) in the Devon Integrated Care Board area and (b) across all Integrated Care Board areas.
Answer: The information requested is not currently available. We expect to be able to publish this data in Autumn 2026. This will be a new publication in response to the Government’s commitment to strengthening Health Visiting and will report on the zero to 19 ye...
Answered 15 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordSpeech and Language Therapy: ChildrenDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 9 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17465More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on how many children are currently waiting for NHS speech and language therapy in the Devon Integrated Care Board area.
Answer: Community health services, including children’s speech and language therapy services, are locally commissioned to enable systems to best meet the needs of their communities.In the Devon Integrated Care Board area, the average waiting time between referral...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordSpeech and Language Therapy: ChildrenDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 9 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17464More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is between referral and commencement of NHS speech and language therapy for children aged 0–11 in the Devon Integrated Care Board area.
Answer: Community health services, including children’s speech and language therapy services, are locally commissioned to enable systems to best meet the needs of their communities.In the Devon Integrated Care Board area, the average waiting time between referral...
Answered 16 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordCrown Court: ExeterMinistry of JusticeTabled 8 Jul 2026AnsweredUIN 17066More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information HM Courts and Tribunals Service holds on failures of the Digital Audio Recording Transcription and Storage system at Exeter Crown Court in each year from 2018 to 2025, including (a) the number of
Answer: HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) uses the Digital Audio Recording, Transcription and Storage (DARTS) system across the Crown Court estate to record hearings. HMCTS and its suppliers hold various forms of information relating to DARTS maintenance an...
Answered 13 Jul 2026
Original Parliament record
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