Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, where the UK recognises as the capital of the State of Palestine.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is the longstanding position of the UK Government that Jerusalem should be a shared capital of two states, with its final status determined as part of a negotiated, peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians, respecting the access and religious rights of all peoples. The future status of the British Consulate General in Jerusalem will be decided in light of progress towards this historic goal.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to open an Embassy in Palestine.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is the longstanding position of the UK Government that Jerusalem should be a shared capital of two states, with its final status determined as part of a negotiated, peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians, respecting the access and religious rights of all peoples. The future status of the British Consulate General in Jerusalem will be decided in light of progress towards this historic goal.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to promote soil education among planning officers, developers, landowners and the public.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of soil education and promoting the importance of soil health, through sustainable and responsibly managed soil practices.
Defra continues to engage with the industry to disseminate a range of material to support planning officers, farmers and land managers to make informed choices about how to sustainably manage their soil. This includes engaging with the British Society of Soil Science to introduce a soil scientist apprenticeship programme to increase the number of qualified experts to support them.
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by protecting and enhancing sites of geological value and soils. The associated guidance is clear that soil is an essential natural capital asset that provides important ecosystem services. More broadly, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have also established a ‘Planning Capacity & Capability’ programme to develop a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that local planning authorities have the skills and capacity they need.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the press release entitled Fresh drive to boost Pension Credit take-up as new figures reveal large regional gaps in those receiving benefit worth around £4,300 a year, published on 30 October 2025, if he will publish constituency level analysis.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Ad-hoc statistics on households potentially eligible for Pension Credit were published by DWP for the financial year 2023 to 2024 and are available at: Households potentially eligible for Pension Credit, 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK. Table 4a provides a breakdown of eligible households in receipt of Pension Credit, potentially eligible households and Pension Credit receipt rate by parliamentary constituency.
These are estimates based on administrative data and are not derived from the official statistics (available here: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2024 - GOV.UK). The official statistics should be used for estimates of Pension Credit take-up at the Great Britian level, with the ad-hoc statistics providing breakdowns at lower levels of geographical areas.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect Best and Most Versatile agricultural land from development.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) underlines the importance of the Best and Most Versatile agricultural land which is the land most valuable for food production. Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be used in preference to that of higher quality.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press release entitled Online GP appointment requests available everywhere from today, published on 1 October 2025, if he will consider allowing online appointment requests to be made 24 hours per day.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 1 October 2025, general practices (GPs) have been required to offer access to online services throughout core hours, from 8:00am to 6:30pm, bringing online access in line with walk-in and phone access. This change aims to improve patient access, reduce long phone queues, and help GPs to manage demand more effectively.
National Health Service advice is that patients can contact 111 if their GP is closed, ensuring that those with urgent health concerns receive timely guidance and, where necessary, are directed to appropriate care pathways.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing planning protections for high-functioning soils by designating them as Soil Conservation Zones.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has no plans to assess or introduce new planning-based protected designations for high functioning soils.
However, the Government recognises the importance of improving and protecting soil health, through sustainable and responsibly managed soil practices. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that the planning system should protect and enhance soils and ensure new development does not lead to unacceptable levels of soil pollution. It also requires planning authorities to safeguard ‘best and most versatile land’ (BMV) agricultural land. Surveys under the Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) system are required to be carried out on agricultural land, so that planners can determine whether a site contains BMV land before making planning decisions.
Other soil functions are also protected or managed through various existing mechanisms within the planning system, including those relating to flood risk, pollution and contaminated land, biodiversity, landscape and cultural heritage.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the average cost per elector of elections for a) Police and Crime Commissioners and b) Mayors.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publishes detailed reports on the cost of running Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections, including the average cost per elector. These reports are available on gov.uk here.
It is intended that a report on the cost of the 2021 PCC elections will be published in due course. The cost of the 2024 PCC election is subject to future publication once all the costs relating to that poll have been finalised and settled.
For combined authority mayoral and local authority mayoral elections, costs are met by the relevant local authorities. MHCLG does not hold any data on the cost of these elections.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many visas a) his Department, b) the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, c) the UK Health Security Agency, d) the Care Quality Commission, e) the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, f) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, g) NHS Blood and Transplant, h) NHS Business Services Authority and i) NHS Resolution have sponsored since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 December 2025 to Question 96902.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS has spent on agency staff by employment type in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Temporary staffing allows the National Health Service to meet workforce demand fluctuations without the need to increase capacity above that which is required on a sustained basis. NHS England publishes the total agency spend for providers on a quarterly basis. This includes all employment types, as NHS England does not hold a split of spend by employment types. The latest data is available up to September 2025 which can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publications/financial-performance-reports/
In addition, the following table shows total agency spend each year for the last five years
Quarter 2 2025/26 (3 months July 25 to September 25) | £674 million |
Quarter 1 2025/26 (3 months April 25 to June 25) | £360 million |
Quarter 4 2024/25 (12 months April 24 to March 25) | £2,074 million |
Quarter 4 2023/24 (12 months April 23 to March 24) | £3,024 million |
Quarter 4 2022/23 (12 months April 22 to March 23) | £3,463 million |
Quarter 4 2021/22 (12 months April 21 to March 22) | £2,960 million |
Quarter 4 2020/21 (12 months April 20 to March 21) | £2,436 million |