Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of peat soils on road maintenance.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 place a statutory duty on local highway authorities to maintain public highways, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.
The Department is aware of the challenges associated with peat soil. The Department is undertaking a comprehensive review of the highways maintenance guidance it provides to local highway authorities in the Well Managed Highways Infrastructure Code of Practice, which will incorporate and signpost best practice guidance for treating soil affected roads. This will be completed at the end of 2026.
To support local highway authorities in the maintenance of their highway networks, the Government has confirmed a record investment of £7.3 billion for local highways maintenance over the next four years. This record investment builds on the investment of £1.6 billion this financial year, a £500 million increase compared to the previous financial year.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to assess the maintenance of soil affected roads.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 place a statutory duty on local highway authorities to maintain public highways, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.
The Department is aware of the challenges associated with peat soil. The Department is undertaking a comprehensive review of the highways maintenance guidance it provides to local highway authorities in the Well Managed Highways Infrastructure Code of Practice, which will incorporate and signpost best practice guidance for treating soil affected roads. This will be completed at the end of 2026.
To support local highway authorities in the maintenance of their highway networks, the Government has confirmed a record investment of £7.3 billion for local highways maintenance over the next four years. This record investment builds on the investment of £1.6 billion this financial year, a £500 million increase compared to the previous financial year.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data her Department holds on the condition of roads in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Official statistics on the condition of local roads in England are published annually: Road conditions in England to March 2025 - GOV.UK. Local authorities in England are required to provide the Department for Transport (DfT) with data on the condition of local roads annually under the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s single data list.
DfT does not hold information on the condition of roads for Ely or East Cambridgeshire constituency but does hold information for Cambridgeshire.
In the financial year ending March 2025, the percentage of local A road and motorway in Cambridgeshire where maintenance should have been considered was 7%, for B and C road this was 16% and for unclassified road was 22%. For the same period, in England, the percentage of local A road and motorway where maintenance should have been considered was 5%, for B and C road was 7% and for unclassified road was 17%.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many civil servants in his Department are working on the Access to Work Scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Full Time Equivalent number of staff working on the Access to Work Scheme is currently 540.
Notes:
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the document entitled School level underlying data 2025, published on 5 June 2025, what assessment she has conducted on the reasons why 625 pupils in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency who are eligible for free school meals are not accessing them.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty which is why we are introducing a new eligibility threshold for free school meals ensuring all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives of as part of the Child Poverty Strategy published on 5 December. Under the expansion, over half a million additional pupils will become eligible for free school meals.
The department has not made a formal assessment of the situation in Ely, however, specific factors such as lack of knowledge, stigma, and language barriers may impact take-up of free school meals.
The department wants to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals. Introducing a new eligibility threshold for free school meals so that all children from households in receipt of universal credit will be eligible for free school meals from September 2026 will make it easier for parents to know whether they are entitled to receive free meals.
To support take-up, we are also rolling out improvements to the checking system that is available to all local authorities to help verify eligibility for free meals.
We welcome local authorities taking action to ensure government support reaches families, subject to them meeting legal and data protection requirements.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will introduce rolling three-year settlements for the health element of children's palliative care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. I am pleased to confirm the continuation of circa £26 million, adjusted for inflation, for the next three financial years, 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive, to be distributed again via integrated care boards. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.
We are also supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 5 November 2025 to Question 85520 on General Practitioners, what steps he is taking to improve access to GPs for people who are solely reliant on telephone bookings.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To support patients who depend on telephone bookings, recent contractual changes require all general practices to offer online booking throughout core hours, from 08:00 to 18:30. This is designed to ease pressure on phone lines by allowing those who prefer online booking to do so at any time, reducing long phone queues for patients who wish to continue using the telephone system. By better managing demand through expanded online access, practices can free up phone lines and improve the experience for those reliant on telephone bookings.
The GP Contract is also clear that patients should always have the option of telephoning or visiting their practice in person so that patients without access to telephone or online services are in no way disadvantaged.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 accessibility of GP appointments for the digitally excluded in areas with poor signal (a) coverage and (b) capacity.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In February 2025, the General Practitioners Committee England agreed to make it a contractual obligation for all general practices (GPs) to offer access to online services throughout core hours, from 08:00 to 18:30, bringing online access in line with walk-in and phone access. This change is designed to improve patient access and reduce long phone queues for those who wish to continue using the telephone booking system. By ensuring that online booking is available during all core hours, practices can better manage demand and free up phone lines for patients who rely on telephone access. This is making it easier and more convenient for patients to contact their practice at a time that suits them, offering them greater flexibility in their daily lives, benefiting those who may experience poor signal or coverage.
The GP contract is also clear that patients should always have the option of telephoning or visiting their practice in person, so those without digital access or in areas with poor signal are not disadvantaged
To further improve access and capacity, we have invested £1.1 billion in GPs, £160 million of which is to expand the GP workforce, with 2,500 more GPs having been recruited since October 2024, and £102 million to create more clinical space which will enable the delivery of 8.3 million extra appointments.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 5 November to Question 85518 on General Practitioners: Ely and East Cambridgeshire, if he will commission research to examine the workload of GPs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
There are currently over 200 projects involving general practice being funded by the NIHR and active as of November 2025. An example of research is NIHR168327, which will assess the impact of different models of integrating new or extended roles into primary care. This comparative analysis between Scotland and England will examine the impact of variations in funding, employment models, and deployment of new/extended roles on staff experiences, patient care and experiences, and general practice workload and satisfaction.
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including research about general practice. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
The review of the Carr-Hill formula is being conducted by National Institute for Health and Care Research. The review has commenced and will draw on a range of evidence and advice from experts, with key stakeholders including the Royal College of General Practitioners involved in the process. Implementation of any new funding approach will be subject to Ministerial decision, in the context of available funding and our commitment to substantively reform the GMS contract within this Parliament.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average wait time for a GP appointment was in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is available at the following link:
The time between booking and the appointment is not a proxy for “waiting times,” as patients may prefer to book routine appointments, for example regular tests or medicine reviews, further in advance.