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 steps she is taking to improve access to brain cancer clinical trials for patients in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the press release issued on the GOV.UK website on 14 October 2026, available at the link below, which provides the latest update on the action the Government is taking in this area across the country as a whole:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/brain-cancer-patients-to-see-faster-development-of-new-treatments
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 steps his Department is taking to help parents plan for changes to their Universal Credit entitlement when a child leaves eligible education or training in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Published Universal Credit guidance provides detailed information explaining when children cease to be regarded as qualifying children/young people, and therefore claimants no longer qualify for an extra amount in their UC award. In addition, claimants are periodically prompted to confirm that their children remain in full-time non-advanced education or approved training, making them aware that a change in the child’s status may lead to a change to the award. This allows claimants to prepare for changes to future entitlement.
Further information can be found on Universal Credit if you have children - GOV.UK.
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 steps her Department is taking to improve tumour tissue preservation capacity for brain cancer patients in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Members to the answer provided on 22 September in response to Question HL2877.
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 impact of increased opportunities for outdoor play and outdoor learning in primary schools on (a) educational attainment, (b) attention spans, (c) behaviour, and (d) wellbeing.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department believes that outdoor play and outdoor learning can be a valuable part of a rich and broad education, for example in physical education and geography, or a school’s enrichment offer. Nature, outdoors and adventure is one of five categories of enrichment set out in the new Enrichment Framework for schools and colleges. The link for this framework can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-enrichment-framework-for-schools-and-colleges.
Current UK and international evidence, including work supported by the department and the University of Oxford, shows that school-based nature programmes benefit young people’s mental health and wellbeing, particularly by reducing stress and anxiety. The studies suggest that greater access to green space in schools is associated with lower rates of pupil absence. The study in question can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829226000997.
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 steps his Department is taking to ensure that support under the Crisis and Resilience Fund takes account of costs faced by households affected by disability and long-term health conditions in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Crisis and Resilience Fund provides support to households with a wide range of needs, including those affected by disability and long-term health conditions. Local authorities such as Surrey County Council have the funding, flexibility, and discretion to design support that reflects local needs and priorities within the broad scope of DWP’s guidance.
DWP has compliance and monitoring processes to monitor delivery, including requiring local authorities to submit annual delivery plans and six-monthly management information returns.
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 her Department has made of the potential impact of operating costs on the ability of hospices to maintain care services in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 13 July in response to Question 16185, which sets out the steps the Government is taking to support hospices throughout England.
The Prime Minister and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, have made clear their commitment to improve the quality and availability of palliative care and end-of-life care through a new Modern Service Framework, as set out in the answer of 14 September to Question 27682.
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 steps her Department is taking to ensure that NHS funding for hospices reflects the cost of providing palliative and end of life care in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 13 July in response to Question 16185, which sets out the steps the Government is taking to support hospices throughout England.
The Prime Minister and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, have made clear their commitment to improve the quality and availability of palliative care and end-of-life care through a new Modern Service Framework, as set out in the answer of 14 September to Question 27682.
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 steps the Department is taking to help support access to hospice care for patients and families in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 13 July in response to Question 16185, which sets out the steps the Government is taking to support hospices throughout England.
The Prime Minister and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, have made clear their commitment to improve the quality and availability of palliative care and end-of-life care through a new Modern Service Framework, as set out in the answer of 14 September to Question 27682.
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 steps her Department is taking to ensure that hospices have sustainable funding in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 13 July in response to Question 16185, which sets out the steps the Government is taking to support hospices throughout England.
The Prime Minister and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, have made clear their commitment to improve the quality and availability of palliative care and end-of-life care through a new Modern Service Framework, as set out in the answer of 14 September to Question 27682.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how many relocations of public limited companies’ operational headquarters from the UK to EU member states his Department has recorded in each calendar year since 2015.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
No such estimate has been made. The national notional council tax level is used to calculate resource adjustment, a measure which accounts for the different council tax raising ability between local authorities based on the number and band of properties. To fully account for ability to raise council tax, following consultation, the government set the notional level at the average level of council tax in England.
The council tax level assumed for each of the six councils in calculating their Core Spending Power for 2026-27 to 2028-29 is based on the actual Band D level for each council in 2025-26. The actual level of council tax remains a local decision for individual councils, taking into consideration a range of local factors including the impact on taxpayers.