Al Pinkerton

The last local area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspection by Ofsted and Care Quality Commission for Surrey was in September 2023. The department’s regional team has put in place systems to track outcomes against the areas for improvement found by inspectors and the progress made by children and young people with SEND. Surrey County Council are committed to working closely with the department to improve services.

Surrey County Council also entered into a Safety Valve agreement with the department in March 2022. Safety Valve agreements aim to improve the effectiveness of local authority high needs systems and ensure their long-term financial sustainability.

A new special school, Hopescourt School, will open in Walton-on-Thames in September 2024, delivered by Surrey County Council, with support from the department. The school will provide high quality specialist education for both autistic children and children who have communication and interaction needs. It will create up to 77 school places in its first year of opening, increasing to 200 at full capacity, as an 'all through-school'.

All children and young people with SEND or in alternative provision receiving the support to succeed is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The Government is committed to effectively protecting 30% of our land and sea by 2030. There are 181 Marine Protected Areas, including three Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), covering over 40% of English waters.

We are currently focusing on implementing management measures to ensure these three HPMAs receive the high level of protection needed and will consider next steps on HPMAs in due course.

It is essential to manage bottom trawling in our Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) appropriately due to the significant damage it can have on protected seabed habitats. 60% of England’s MPAs have bottom trawling restrictions already. The department is considering next steps in the context of our domestic and international nature conservation obligations and how we consider, and work with, the fishing industry as part of this.

Department officials work closely with South Western Railway and Network Rail to ensure that any areas of potential improvement that provide a positive outcome for both passenger and taxpayer are regularly considered and are introduced where possible. This includes within the Surrey Heath constituency, as well as between Camberley and London.

It is unacceptable that many children and young people are not receiving mental health care and support when they need it, and we know that waiting times for mental health services are far too long. The Government is determined to change that.

At a national level, the Government will recruit 8,500 additional staff across children and adult mental health services, and will introduce a specialist mental health professional in every school. The Government will roll out open access Young Futures hubs for children and young people in every community, including in Surrey Heath constituency and Surrey.

Responsibility for onward commissioning of mental health services sits with integrated care boards (ICB). It is the role of local ICB decision-makers to consider the implications of mental health services, specific to each geography and including from the perspectives of healthcare professionals, patient advocacy groups, and local authorities.

The Government is completely committed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the High Seas Treaty), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Work is in hand on the measures needed to implement the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement before the UK can ratify.

I have interpreted not-for-profit freeholders as referring to registered social landlords (RSLs).

All RSLs are required to meet the outcomes of the regulatory standards set by the independent Regulator of Social Housing. The Regulator holds private registered providers accountable for meeting the economic standards and both local authorities and private registered providers accountable on consumer standards. Appropriate action is taken when the outcomes of the standards are not being delivered.

Since April 2024, the Regulator has begun proactively seeking assurance that registered providers are meeting the standards through routine regulatory inspections. Where social tenants are unhappy with the quality of homes or services provided by their landlord they can complain to the Housing Ombudsman Service.

The Government remains committed to repealing and replacing the Legacy Act, in particular, those sections which have been most vehemently opposed by victims and survivors and found deficient by the court. The Government has already committed to bringing forward a remedial order under the Human Rights Act to remove conditional immunity provisions and we are considering the Dillon judgment. We are also consulting widely on a practical way forward that can obtain support and comply with our human rights obligations. I remain committed to retaining and reforming the ICRIR to further strengthen its powers and independence.

Both the High Court and Court of Appeal have recognised the ICRIR’s structural independence and wide powers to conduct effective investigations. The Government has confidence in the ICRIR’s ability to deliver results for victims and survivors.

This Government is committed to implementing the Windsor Framework in good faith and protecting the UK internal market.

We continue to work closely with businesses to support a smooth and effective transition to the new arrangements under the Framework. In September, the Government announced that the Trader Support Service has been extended to the end of 2025 and that a competitive procurement exercise will begin in early 2025 to deliver ongoing support to traders from 2026.

The UK Government’s investment of £126 million into the Mid South West Growth Deal and £36 million into the Causeway Coast and Glens Growth Deal will be focused on digital and innovation projects that take advantage of the opportunities of the future. The two Deals’ ambitious projects will create high-value jobs, increase skills and employability, and create exciting opportunities for foreign direct investment into the two regions.

Northern Ireland enjoys many advantages as a great place to invest and do business, including being part of the UK internal market and enjoying access to the EU single market for goods, and the Government takes every opportunity to make this case to investors.