Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Extended Producer Responsibility regulations on horticultural businesses in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has worked closely with industry throughout development of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR). In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment did not split the assessment by sector or specific constituencies.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to employers’ National Insurance contributions on state-funded schools in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Schools in Surrey local authority are receiving £14.3 million to support them with the increased costs to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) from April 2025. Schools have autonomy over how they use this funding as their precise spending, including NICs costs, vary based on the staffing decisions each school makes.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of (a) trends in the level of access to and (b) the adequacy of cardiovascular care services in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Frimley Health and Care Integrated Care Board (ICB), which covers Surrey Heath, has been working with partners to improve cardiovascular services in the area.
This includes work with the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust on a range of improvements to pathways and the adoption of innovation, such as using artificial intelligence with echocardiography and with primary care nurses and primary care to support blood pressure improvements. The Frimley ICB also plans to expand new pathways for ‘breathlessness’ to cover a wider geographical area, improving access for those that require this service.
Furthermore, the Frimley ICB has been working with pharmaceutical companies on a range of initiatives to improve cardiovascular health, such as clinics delivered by nurses and clinical pharmacists for people with chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and/or hypertension.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of making number plate cloning a criminal offence.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is already a criminal offence, punishable by a fine of up to £1000, to supply a number plate without checking if the purchaser is entitled to use the registration number. It is also an offence to use a cloned number plate on a vehicle which on conviction, can lead to an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to review the guidance on the display of flags to ensure it remains aligned with (a) current practices and (b) community expectations.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has no current plans to amend the guidance in question.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing public expenditure on schools in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Across the spending review, core schools funding, including special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) investment, will increase from £65.3 billion in the 2025/26 financial year (including the additional funding announced in May 2025) to £69.5 billion by the 2028/29 financial year. Taken together, this grows per-pupil spending over this spending review period by 2.7% in real terms. Decisions on how that funding will be allocated across mainstream schools and high needs will be taken in due course.
The national funding formula (NFF) allocates funding for schools to local authorities based on school and pupil characteristics. The government will be reviewing the operation of the schools NFF for 2026/27 and future years. The funding impact on individual local authorities will therefore also depend on the outcome of this review. This will be announced later in the year.
Surrey is the local authority responsible for allocating funding in Surrey Heath constituency. Through the dedicated schools grant (DSG), Surrey is receiving £895.8 million for mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year. This represents an increase of 2.2% per pupil compared to the 2024/25 financial year, excluding growth and falling rolls funding. On top of that, schools are also receiving additional funding for National Insurance contributions increases, as well as to support with staff pay rises.