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 been made of the potential merits of increasing funding for palliative care services in (a) Surrey Heath constituency and (b) Surrey.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB), including the Surrey Heartlands ICB, must commission. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care services are provided by the National Health Service, we recognise the pressures hospices are facing, which is why we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The nearest hospice, the Woking and Sam Beare Hospice, received £160,768 in 2024/25 and will receive £481,630 in 2025/26.
We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which, until recently, was known as the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. The nearest children and young people’s hospice, the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice, received £1,879,000 in 2025/26.
I can also now confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the three years of the next Spending Review period, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.
The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.
Officials will present further proposals to ministers over the coming months, outlining the drivers and incentives that are required in palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of (a) external and (b) internal insulation installations completed under Government energy efficiency schemes that require remediation in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government commissioned an independent statistical audit, however this sample was designed to estimate the overall rates of non-compliance across Great Britain. The samples are not large enough to reliably perform any regional analysis. As we continue with further audits, we will seek to begin to collect this data.
The statistical audit was commissioned by Ofgem in April 2025. Two random samples of audits of external (EWI) and internal wall installations (IWI), across the household populations of both schemes were commissioned to understand non‑compliance rates.
98% of EWI audits need to be remediated. For IWI, that number is 29%.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Government energy efficiency schemes in reducing fuel poverty in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The fuel poverty rate in Surrey Heath constituency in 2023 was estimated to be 7.1% of households.
Tackling fuel poverty is a priority for this Government. We are committed to publishing a new fuel poverty strategy for England which will ensure that many more fuel poor households achieve affordable warmth by 2030, alongside our Warm Homes Plan.
In March we allocated around £1.8 billion to local authorities and social housing providers through the Warm Homes: Local Grant and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund to help upgrade homes and to tackle fuel poverty. Support for home upgrades is also available via the Energy Company Obligation.
Financial support is available through the Warm Home Discount which has been expanded for this winter increasing the total number of households that are estimated to receive the discount from 3.2 million to around 6 million.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) internal and (b) external insulation installed under Government energy efficiency schemes are fitted to a high standard in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Companies installing insulation under the Government’s energy efficiency schemes must be registered with Trustmark and carry out work to the PAS2035 standard.
We have improved the quality assurance and consumer protection systems since identifying the issues with solid wall insulation under ECO4 and GBIS.
We will be offering a comprehensive on-site audit to all households that received external wall insulation under ECO4 and GBIS and any issues will be fixed at no cost to the householder.
TrustMark and certification bodies can suspend companies who do not meet the expected standards, and will continue to enforce the robust, published reinstatement policy.
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 adequacy of funding levels for early intervention support for children in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government aims to set up every child, regardless of their background, to have the best start in life. As announced in our strategy ‘Giving every child the best start in life’, our Best Start Family Hubs will have a dedicated staff member supporting early identification of additional needs and providing support and guidance to families.
Local authorities should distribute special educational needs inclusion funding for children with low and emerging needs. Disability access funding is designed to support disabled children's access. For children with complex needs, funding is available from local authorities’ high needs budgets.
In the 2025 Spending Review, we announced that funding for schools is increasing by £4.2 billion by 2028/29 compared to 2025/26. This will take per-pupil funding to its highest ever level and enable us to transform the SEND system for all children, from their early years and into school. We are continuing to develop plans to ensure all children get the outcomes and life chances they deserve.
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 increased SEND responsibilities on (a) teacher and (b) headteacher retention in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
For 2025/26, we announced a Targeted Retention Incentive (TRI) worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools. Three schools in Surrey Heath constituency are eligible for the TRI.
In 2024, the department began delivery of the mandatory National Professional Qualification for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators. Participants will develop the essential skills needed to set the strategic direction and conditions to support pupils with SEND to thrive.
To ensure that there are sufficient, high quality teachers and headteachers, the department has increased the core schools budget by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, totalling £65.3 billion. This is alongside the near 10% pay award for teachers over the last two years to ensure teaching is once again a respected and attractive profession.
The department is already seeing positive signs that the investment is delivering. The workforce has grown by 2,346 teachers full-time equivalent between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools, the schools where they are needed most. This year also has one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools to (a) deliver inclusive education and (b) promote understanding of diverse backgrounds in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, including those in Surrey Heath, as well as ensuring special and alternative provision schools cater to those with the most complex needs.
The Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme tests a new model, providing health and education specialist support to upskill mainstream primary schools to better meet the needs of neurodivergent pupils at whole-school level. Schools in Surrey Heath have participated in this programme.
Our new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams will work with mainstream schools to help them become more inclusive places as one of four priority areas for improvement.
Ofsted will be holding leaders to account for inclusion. For the first time they have set out an explicit focus on inclusion in their new framework, which includes gathering evidence on how well schools understand disadvantaged pupils' needs.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support mainstream schools managing high-needs SEND pupils in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, including those in Surrey Heath, as well as ensuring special and alternative provision schools cater to those with the most complex needs.
The Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme tests a new model, providing health and education specialist support to upskill mainstream primary schools to better meet the needs of neurodivergent pupils at whole-school level. Schools in Surrey Heath have participated in this programme.
Our new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams will work with mainstream schools to help them become more inclusive places as one of four priority areas for improvement.
Ofsted will be holding leaders to account for inclusion. For the first time they have set out an explicit focus on inclusion in their new framework, which includes gathering evidence on how well schools understand disadvantaged pupils' needs.
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 steps his Department is taking to protect (a) swans and (b) pond wildlife in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In England all wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, including Swans. This makes it an offence to kill, injure or take wild birds and to take or damage their eggs and nests.
Other priority and threatened species, including pond wildlife, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing pre-1997 indexation protections for individuals in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has no plans to change the way pre-1997 indexation is applied to defined benefit occupational pension schemes.
The minimum legal requirements for indexation must be appropriate across all defined benefit schemes. Changing these minimum requirements would increase the liabilities and costs for all schemes.
The reforms in our Pension Schemes Bill give trustees more flexibility to share surplus with sponsoring employers, and better negotiate benefits for members, including discretionary increases.