Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether (a) Government services and (b) critical national infrastructure faced disruption as a result of the Cloudflare outage on 18 November 2025; and what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the economy of that service outage.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is leading government’s response to the Cloudflare outage which occurred on Tuesday 19 November 2025. We understand that Cloudflare services were restored on Tuesday evening, and DSIT is engaging with Cloudflare to understand the full impact of this incident, and how such events can be mitigated in the future.
DSIT has identified disruption to some online Government services, which were restored within hours of the incident. We are not aware of any disruption to Critical National Infrastructure.
The outage affected a wide range of organisations across all sectors, and it will take some time to fully understand the scale of the economic impact.
The Government recognises the importance of robust protections for the services essential to our society and economy – that is why we introduced the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill on 12 November.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of financial pressures in local government on the delivery of effective planning enforcement.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local planning authorities have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance. It is for authorities to decide how and when they use their powers depending on the circumstances of each case.
It is also for local planning authorities to ensure they have the resources in place to carry out their planning enforcement function effectively.
For a summary of the steps the government is taking to support capacity and capability within local planning authorities, including within their enforcement teams, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with (a) officials and (b) local authorities on making planning enforcement a non-discretionary service.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local planning authorities have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance. It is for authorities to decide how and when they use their powers depending on the circumstances of each case.
It is also for local planning authorities to ensure they have the resources in place to carry out their planning enforcement function effectively.
For a summary of the steps the government is taking to support capacity and capability within local planning authorities, including within their enforcement teams, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of (a) loss and (b) damage to (i) English heritage and (ii) buildings of historic importance due to unlawful development.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has made no specific assessment of trends in relation to historic buildings and unlawful development.
The government is committed to the protection of the historic environment.
There are strong protections in both the National Planning Policy Framework and legislation to support the conservation and enhancement of heritage assets.
The government has also given local planning authorities a wide range of enforcement powers in relation to unauthorised development, including specific powers in relation to designated heritage assets, with strong penalties for non-compliance.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support his Department is providing to local planning authorities to ensure the protection of (a) buildings and (b) areas of historic importance.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has made no specific assessment of trends in relation to historic buildings and unlawful development.
The government is committed to the protection of the historic environment.
There are strong protections in both the National Planning Policy Framework and legislation to support the conservation and enhancement of heritage assets.
The government has also given local planning authorities a wide range of enforcement powers in relation to unauthorised development, including specific powers in relation to designated heritage assets, with strong penalties for non-compliance.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to correspondence dated (a) 16th July 2025, (b) 8 September 2025 and (c) 8 October 2025 from the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge, on final approval for the rebuild of Weybridge Health Centre.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I responded to the Hon. Member’s correspondence on 13 November 2025.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any further action or information is needed to determine whether final approval for the rebuild of the Weybridge Health Centre will be granted.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions and correspondence he and his officials have had on the decision for final approval of the rebuild of the Weybridge Health Centre; and what timescale has been established for a final decision to be made.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2025 to Question 75683 on Neurodiversity: Children, what discussions he has had with NHS Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board on the steps they are taking to ensure that assessment pathways for neurodevelopment disorders in children meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has had no such discussion with the Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board (ICB).
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines are developed by experts based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and through extensive engagement with stakeholders. They are not mandatory, but National Health Service commissioners are expected to take them fully into account in designing services to meet the needs of their local populations.
The NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB advises that additional investment has been secured by the local system to increase capacity within the assessment pathway, and it is working to increase the earlier support available. The ICB is also continuing delivery of the Partnerships for the Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme, which brings together ICBs, local authorities, and schools, working in partnership with parents and carers to support schools to better meet the needs of neurodivergent children and their families.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Transport (Duty to Cooperate) Bill on the economy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government will outline its position on this Bill during the scheduled second reading.