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 her Department is taking to reduce the use of food banks in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels. To inform this work, DWP officials have engaged with a range of organisations to better understand the complex food support landscape. We also continue to provide substantial funding to Local Authorities to support those most in need and extended the Household Support Fund by a further year until March 2026, providing funding of £742 million in England. This will ensure low-income households can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as food.
Alongside this, the Child Poverty Taskforce is exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. The Strategy will look at four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty. Our plan to Make Work Pay, will help more people to stay in work, improve job security and boost living standards, including by increasing the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour to boost the pay of three million workers. It is a core part of the mission to grow the economy, raise living standards across the country and create opportunities for all.
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 recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of levels of access to hyperbaric treatment for people in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not undertaken an assessment for the Surrey Health constituency specifically.
A revised service specification for hyperbaric oxygen services in England was subjected to stakeholder testing in July 2024, and public consultation took place during September 2024.
NHS England published the feedback received in November 2024, which is available at the following link:
Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-engagement-report-November-2024.pdf
The updated service specification was published in January 2025, and is available at the following link:
Hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-services-all-ages-Service-specification-January-2025.pdf
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing redress to people impacted by forced adoptions between 1945 and 1976.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This abhorrent practice should never have taken place, and our deepest sympathies are with all those affected.
We take this issue extremely seriously and are considering what more can be done for those who were impacted by historical forced adoption.
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 pastoral teams in schools in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Schools have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of their pupils and are best placed to decide what pastoral support to provide based on the needs of their pupils, making the best use of their funding and taking the best available evidence-based advice. The Autumn Budget 2024 confirmed an additional £2.3 billion for the core schools budget for 2025/26 compared to 2024/25. This means that overall core schools funding will reach over £63.9 billion in 2025/26.
Good pastoral support is important to achieving high and rising standards in schools and breaking down barriers to opportunity, helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.
Specifically in relation to pupil’s mental health and wellbeing, the government will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by 2029/30 by expanding NHS-funded Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs). Expansion will be overseen by Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and these teams currently cover 26% of pupils and learners in schools and colleges in Surrey Heartlands ICB, compared to 52% coverage nationally.
The government will also recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults, and open new Young Futures hubs with access to mental health support workers.
To support education staff, the department provides guidance and practical resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing in schools. For example, a resources hub and a toolkit to help choose evidence-based early support for pupils. These can be found here: https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/.
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 Designated Safeguarding Leads in schools in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the incredibly important role designated safeguarding leads (DSLs) play in keeping children and young people safe in schools. We support them to do this through our robust safeguarding framework, ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE), the statutory guidance that all schools and colleges, including schools in Surrey Heath constituency, must have regard to when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
KCSIE is clear that every school must have a DSL who should take lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection. Annex C of the guidance supports DSLs to understand the role and expectations placed on them.
The department regularly reviews KCSIE to see where it needs to be strengthened to ensure it continues to provide the support that DSLs need.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that disabled court users have equal access to (a) legal representation and (b) appropriate support in court jurisdictions.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Legally-aided advice and representation is available to disabled people on the same basis as it is to the wider population. The issue must usually be in-scope of legal aid, and applicants are subject to means and merits tests, if applicable.
Duty solicitors may be available in some proceedings to help ensure individuals, regardless of disability, are able to access representation.
The Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service offers on the day in-court emergency representation to anyone at risk of losing their home.
At the magistrates’ court, a disabled person who has been charged with a criminal offence is entitled to the same legal protections and support as any other defendant. This includes access to the Court Duty Solicitor Scheme, which provides free legal advice and assistance to unrepresented individuals on their first appearance.
With regards to financial eligibility for legal aid, there are several disability-related payments that are disregarded from the income assessment for criminal and civil legal aid. These include Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, direct payments and Attendance Allowance.
Our current grant programmes are providing over £6 million of grant funding up to March 2026 to over 60 organisations across the advice sector. This funding will help organisations to sustain and improve their legal support provision, including support at court where necessary.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) provides reasonable adjustments for disabled court and tribunal users in accordance with its legal duty under the Equality Act 2010. To meet its wider Public Sector Equality Duty and the commitments in its vulnerability action plan, HMCTS also has a wider duty to take steps to avoid treating people less favourably because of their disability. Court and tribunal users are encouraged to get in touch with HMCTS to discuss any particular adjustments or support they require, to enable their individual needs to be met when they attend court.
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, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing mechanisms to evaluate whether codes of practice issued by sector bodies are being effectively implemented in the management of retirement housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has not assessed the effectiveness of trade associations in the retirement housing sector or the merits of evaluating codes of practices in the management of retirement housing.
There are two government approved codes of practice which outline best practice for managing agents, landlords or other relevant parties for the residential leasehold sector and private retirement housing.
Where residents in leasehold properties, including retirement housing, are concerned about the management of their homes they may make a complaint against their landlord or managing agent, or seek a determination at the relevant court or tribunal. The enforcement of standards set out in these codes can be taken into account as evidence, at court or tribunal hearings. We continue to work with industry on improving best practice including on any new codes proposed by the sector.
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 26 November 2024 (HCWS249), the government is giving careful consideration to the recommendations from the Older People’s Housing Taskforce report including developing an overarching regulatory approach to the sector to safeguard consumers and give certainty to investors: reviewing and assessing existing codes, their applicability to different sub-sectors and how large-scale monitoring programmes could be delivered to increase compliance with these codes.
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, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of trade associations in the retirement housing sector in (a) setting and (b) monitoring standards for leasehold property management.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has not assessed the effectiveness of trade associations in the retirement housing sector or the merits of evaluating codes of practices in the management of retirement housing.
There are two government approved codes of practice which outline best practice for managing agents, landlords or other relevant parties for the residential leasehold sector and private retirement housing.
Where residents in leasehold properties, including retirement housing, are concerned about the management of their homes they may make a complaint against their landlord or managing agent, or seek a determination at the relevant court or tribunal. The enforcement of standards set out in these codes can be taken into account as evidence, at court or tribunal hearings. We continue to work with industry on improving best practice including on any new codes proposed by the sector.
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 26 November 2024 (HCWS249), the government is giving careful consideration to the recommendations from the Older People’s Housing Taskforce report including developing an overarching regulatory approach to the sector to safeguard consumers and give certainty to investors: reviewing and assessing existing codes, their applicability to different sub-sectors and how large-scale monitoring programmes could be delivered to increase compliance with these codes.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to protect people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis from discrimination by employers in Surrey.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. The Act defines ‘long-term’ as having lasted, or likely to last for at least 12 months, or likely to last for the rest of the life of the person. ‘Substantial’ is defined as more than minor or trivial.
Where an employee has an impairment, which falls within the definition outlined above, the Act makes it unlawful for their employer or someone they are seeking work from, to discriminate against them because of their disability. This would include the failure to make a reasonable adjustment as well as less favourable treatment.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission and Acas have published comprehensive guidance for employers on their obligations to disabled employees and job applicants under the 2010 Act and Acas provides a helpline for people who think they have experienced discrimination at work.
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) provides authoritative and impartial advice free to employees or employers in relation to employment discrimination issues via their website. and telephone helpline 0300 123 1100 or text relay service 18001 0300 123 1100. You can access the website here: http://www.acas.org.uk. Acas also provides employees and employers with Early Conciliation to help them resolve/settle their workplace dispute without going to court.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing greater oversight in the Single Justice Procedure for (a) elderly and (b) vulnerable defendants.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government keeps the operation of the Single Justice Procedure (SJP) under regular review. The SJP continues to be an important route for dealing with minor, non-imprisonable offences, such as certain vehicle-related offences, where the defendant has either pleaded guilty or not responded to an SJP Notice.
However, the Government is concerned about the consistency in standards of private prosecutors, including those who use the Single Justice Procedure. We know the importance of ensuring that the SJP is accessible and fair to all defendants, including those who are elderly or vulnerable.
That is why we launched a consultation on the Oversight and Regulation of Private Prosecutors which included a chapter on the SJP. This looks at the operation of the SJP generally, encompassing minor vehicle related offences. The consultation closed on 8 May and work is ongoing to analyse the responses received. These findings will inform future work in this area, including considerations for additional safeguards and support where appropriate, and we will legislate if necessary.
The Government response to the consultation is expected to be published later this year.