Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what measures the Government has enacted to ensure local plans identify and manage the impacts of development on chalk stream rivers; whether these include buffer zones, green corridors or exclusion zones; and whether such measures are mandated in planning policy guidance.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, more rules-based policies for decision-making and plan-making. The consultation includes explicit recognition of chalk streams as features of high environmental value.
Our proposed policy is clear that local plans must identify and manage the impacts of development on these sensitive areas, for instance by creating buffer zones or green corridors, while giving local authorities flexibility to decide which measures are best suited to their local context.
We have also set out more clearly expectations for development proposals to assess and mitigate adverse impacts to water quality on these sensitive waterbodies.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how explicit protection of chalk stream rivers is defined in government policy or guidance, as referenced during the Planning Reform debate on 16 December 2025.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, more rules-based policies for decision-making and plan-making. The consultation includes explicit recognition of chalk streams as features of high environmental value.
Our proposed policy is clear that local plans must identify and manage the impacts of development on these sensitive areas, for instance by creating buffer zones or green corridors, while giving local authorities flexibility to decide which measures are best suited to their local context.
We have also set out more clearly expectations for development proposals to assess and mitigate adverse impacts to water quality on these sensitive waterbodies.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his proposal to raise the threshold for consultation from 150 to 250 units would override an exclusion zone in a local plan.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Our consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system seeks views on raising the threshold for consulting Active Travel England on residential development from 150 to 250 units. It is expected that this will focus resources on sites which are most likely to be able to benefit from Active Travel England’s advice on enhanced active travel opportunities. No decisions will be made until we have fully considered views on the impacts of these proposals. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 13 January 2026.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is the Government taking to ensure that there are adequate Blue Badge parking spaces at NHS facilities in Hampshire and Surrey.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations decide how they provide parking locally, including whether it is charged for, based on the needs of patients, visitors, and staff, as well as environmental factors. The NHS car parking guidance requires free parking to be provided for four groups: disabled people; frequent outpatient attenders; parents of sick children staying overnight; and staff working night shifts. Further information is available at the following link:
These local decisions include the number of Blue Badge parking spaces.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that hospital parking is affordable and inclusive for staff and patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations decide how they provide parking locally, including whether it is charged for, based on the needs of patients, visitors, and staff, as well as environmental factors. The NHS car parking guidance requires free parking to be provided for four groups: disabled people; frequent outpatient attenders; parents of sick children staying overnight; and staff working night shifts. Further information is available at the following link:
These local decisions include the number of Blue Badge parking spaces.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase understanding of (a) politics and (b) Parliament within the national secondary school curriculum.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Pupils learn about politics and Parliament within citizenship at secondary school, as well as within history where relevant.
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review recommended that the curriculum should support democratic understanding and engagement. In response to the review, the department has committed to make citizenship compulsory in primary schools and to publish revised programmes of study to ensure that all pupils receive an essential grounding in a range of topics including democracy, government and law. We will consult on programmes of study next year, and the new national curriculum will be published in 2027 for first teaching in 2028.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to update the multi-criteria decision support analysis to ensure that hospital wave allocations within the New Hospital Programme reflect estate conditions and patient environment standards.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the New Hospital Programme’s Plan for Implementation, a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) tool was used to help prioritise schemes to support the development of funding options. Criteria included deliverability, estate condition, clinical outcomes and patient assessment of care environment for each of the hospitals falling within the scope of the review. The input data and scoring mechanism within the MCDA was reviewed with NHS England and Departmental colleagues to validate its appropriateness. The Programme reserves the right to adjust the delivery plan as schemes develop in the future.
The plan is available at the following link:
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that inclusive, safe and accessible youth spaces are available in every area following the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland v. The Scottish Ministers.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My department is committed to ensuring that our youth policies are inclusive and do not exclude any young people.
Our recent consultations with young people as part of our National Youth Strategy informed us that they wanted safe and welcoming spaces. To make sure that young people of all backgrounds can access safe spaces, we are investing £350 million to refurbish or build up to 250 youth facilities through our Better Youth Spaces programme.
We will review and update our policies wherever necessary to ensure legal compliance. We will also continue to uphold the Equality Act’s protections against unlawful discrimination and harassment.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support NHS trusts in managing and removing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) from hospital buildings; and how this work is prioritised within the New Hospital Programme.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 20 January 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced a new, realistic plan to deliver the New Hospital Programme (NHP) and we continue to work to these timelines. As set out in the Plan for Implementation, delivery expectations may be subject to change depending on local and national factors and the programme reserves the right to adjust the delivery plan as schemes develop in the future.
We are prioritising the seven hospitals built wholly or primarily from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), as part of Wave 1, with ongoing mitigations in place to ensure patient and staff safety. Priority will be given to the most affected buildings and services.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned a comprehensive site-by-site report into these seven hospitals, which will help inform individual development plans, which continue to progress at pace.
£1.6 billion will be provided to continue supporting NHS England’s national RAAC programme across the 2025 Spending Review period. The seven NHP RAAC replacement hospitals continue to receive funding and support from NHS England’s national RAAC programme ahead of the delivery of replacement hospitals.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS trusts can take to accelerate their eligibility for prioritisation within the New Hospital Programme queue.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 20 January 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced a new, realistic plan to deliver the New Hospital Programme (NHP) and we continue to work to these timelines. As set out in the Plan for Implementation, delivery expectations may be subject to change depending on local and national factors and the programme reserves the right to adjust the delivery plan as schemes develop in the future.
We are prioritising the seven hospitals built wholly or primarily from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), as part of Wave 1, with ongoing mitigations in place to ensure patient and staff safety. Priority will be given to the most affected buildings and services.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned a comprehensive site-by-site report into these seven hospitals, which will help inform individual development plans, which continue to progress at pace.
£1.6 billion will be provided to continue supporting NHS England’s national RAAC programme across the 2025 Spending Review period. The seven NHP RAAC replacement hospitals continue to receive funding and support from NHS England’s national RAAC programme ahead of the delivery of replacement hospitals.