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 he has made of the adequacy of progress on implementing the New Hospital Programme.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The previous government’s promise of 40 new hospitals by 2030 was a fantasy with no funding beyond March 2025. This government set out its approach to funding and delivering the Programme in the Plan for Implementation published last year. The Programme is making progress: seven schemes are providing care to patients with two more set to open shortly. Meanwhile, 10 contractors have been allocated to the new Alliance Framework to build eleven Wave 1 schemes.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 she is taking to help support farmers with the cost of fertiliser in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The fertiliser market is global, meaning the prices in Surrey, and across the UK, are strongly influenced by international fertiliser prices and the value of the pound. On 21 May I brought together senior leaders from across the food and farming supply chain to discuss pressures in the fertiliser market and hear directly from industry. We have provided guidance to support farmers to use fertilisers more efficiently – such as the nutrient management planning tool and promoting AHDB guidance and committed £120 million in funding in 2026 to trial new technologies and drive innovation in the agriculture sector.
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 she is taking to help clean waterways in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is taking action to tackle sewage pollution through stronger regulation and major investment, including over £11 billion between 2025 and 2030 to improve storm overflows. In Surrey Heath, this includes targeted monitoring and enforcement and requirements on Thames Water to reduce pollution and storm overflow discharges.
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 requirements are placed on Integrated Care Boards to ensure continuity of care for patients whose treatment pathways are disrupted by the closure of local musculoskeletal services.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that continuity of care is important, particularly for people with long term conditions. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning the significant majority of health services within the National Health Service for their local population, which includes a wide range of services, such as community, elective and outpatient care, within which musculoskeletal (MSK) services are typically planned and delivered.
Information on waiting times for MSK services is available at the following link:
To tackle waiting lists, we are working to deliver the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce community MSK waiting lists and transform community services to support people with MSK conditions.
As was reaffirmed in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are also committed to continue using independent sector capacity to improve access and reduce backlogs.
ICBs, as healthcare commissioners, are responsible for ensuring value for money is achieved through their contracts with providers. Provider procurement must take place within the rules of the provider selection regime, a flexible and proportionate process for selecting providers of healthcare services so that all decisions can be made with a view to securing the needs of the people who use the services, improving the quality of the services and improving the efficiency of service provision.
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 he has made of the potential impact of commissioning decisions by Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board on waiting times for musculoskeletal treatment.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that continuity of care is important, particularly for people with long term conditions. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning the significant majority of health services within the National Health Service for their local population, which includes a wide range of services, such as community, elective and outpatient care, within which musculoskeletal (MSK) services are typically planned and delivered.
Information on waiting times for MSK services is available at the following link:
To tackle waiting lists, we are working to deliver the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce community MSK waiting lists and transform community services to support people with MSK conditions.
As was reaffirmed in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are also committed to continue using independent sector capacity to improve access and reduce backlogs.
ICBs, as healthcare commissioners, are responsible for ensuring value for money is achieved through their contracts with providers. Provider procurement must take place within the rules of the provider selection regime, a flexible and proportionate process for selecting providers of healthcare services so that all decisions can be made with a view to securing the needs of the people who use the services, improving the quality of the services and improving the efficiency of service provision.
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 estimate he has made of waiting times for patients seeking alternative NHS musculoskeletal treatment following the withdrawal of local services.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that continuity of care is important, particularly for people with long term conditions. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning the significant majority of health services within the National Health Service for their local population, which includes a wide range of services, such as community, elective and outpatient care, within which musculoskeletal (MSK) services are typically planned and delivered.
Information on waiting times for MSK services is available at the following link:
To tackle waiting lists, we are working to deliver the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce community MSK waiting lists and transform community services to support people with MSK conditions.
As was reaffirmed in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are also committed to continue using independent sector capacity to improve access and reduce backlogs.
ICBs, as healthcare commissioners, are responsible for ensuring value for money is achieved through their contracts with providers. Provider procurement must take place within the rules of the provider selection regime, a flexible and proportionate process for selecting providers of healthcare services so that all decisions can be made with a view to securing the needs of the people who use the services, improving the quality of the services and improving the efficiency of service provision.
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 he is taking to ensure value for money when patients are referred to private providers for musculoskeletal treatment following reductions in NHS provision.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that continuity of care is important, particularly for people with long term conditions. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning the significant majority of health services within the National Health Service for their local population, which includes a wide range of services, such as community, elective and outpatient care, within which musculoskeletal (MSK) services are typically planned and delivered.
Information on waiting times for MSK services is available at the following link:
To tackle waiting lists, we are working to deliver the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce community MSK waiting lists and transform community services to support people with MSK conditions.
As was reaffirmed in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are also committed to continue using independent sector capacity to improve access and reduce backlogs.
ICBs, as healthcare commissioners, are responsible for ensuring value for money is achieved through their contracts with providers. Provider procurement must take place within the rules of the provider selection regime, a flexible and proportionate process for selecting providers of healthcare services so that all decisions can be made with a view to securing the needs of the people who use the services, improving the quality of the services and improving the efficiency of service provision.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that defence procurement supports SMEs in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We are delivering on the Defence Industrial Strategy by increasing MOD spend with SMEs by £2.5 billion by Summer 2028—taking total spend to £7.5 billion, a 50% uplift. This marks a step change in ensuring smaller businesses benefit from defence procurement. We are working with direct suppliers, SME Champions, industry bodies and regional defence security clusters to open up supply chains and ensure fair access to opportunities. Our new SME Commercial Pathway is increasing opportunities while simplifying, speeding up, and reducing the burden of contracting.
The Defence Office for Small Business Growth, launched by this Government, underpins these efforts, improving SME access to defence and supporting thousands of UK small businesses, including those in Surrey, to deliver the cutting-edge technologies our Armed Forces rely on.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to jury trials on the criminal justice system.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Courts and Tribunals Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 25 February 2026.
Alongside the Bill, an impact assessment of our proposed justice reforms was published. This includes an assessment of the impact of proposed changes in the threshold for who can access a jury trial - Courts and Tribunals Bill - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent the criminalisation of children while in care.
Answered by Catherine Atkinson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises the disproportionate number of care-experienced people among the custodial population in both the youth and adult estate and is taking steps to address this.
In November last year, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a review of the national protocol for reducing the criminalisation of this cohort. We intend to publish a strengthened protocol later this year. This will strengthen the guidance for agencies including the police, health services and local authorities.