Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for all appeals involving Surrey County Council the number of cases in which the Tribunal issued a) a notice proposing that the local authority be barred from further participation and b) a barring order preventing the local authority from taking further part in the appeal, reported separately for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 to date.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make assessment of the potential impact of companies denying employees (a) continuous service pay rises and (b) other accumulated benefits after being transferred from rolling fixed-term contracts to permanent contracts on those employees.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are no current plans to make such an assessment. Under the Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, employers must not treat employees less favourably because they are on fixed-term contracts than permanent employees doing the same or broadly similar work, unless justified on objective grounds.
Where transfers from one contract to another are being made through fire and rehire, the Employment Rights Bill will make it an automatic unfair dismissal if an employer dismisses an employee in order to change certain core terms in their contract such as a reduction to pay or leave, a change in overall hours or specified changes to shift patterns, unless the employer is in severe financial difficulties and could not reasonably have avoided the need to make the change.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to reduce the potential impact of (a) Pharmacy First and (b) pricing of NHS drug tariffs on community pharmacies.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral part of the fabric of our communities, as an easily accessible ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.
In 2025/26, the funding for the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework was increased to £3.1 billion. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. There is also additional funding available, for example, for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations, supporting pharmacies to continue to deliver a full range of services and support for their community.
As is custom and practice, the Department will consult Community Pharmacy England on any proposed changes to future reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors shortly.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her response is to the open letter from parents and carers of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Surrey, delivered to her Department (a) physically on 16 July 2025 and (b) electronically on 17 July 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department attaches great importance to the handling of correspondence from parliamentarians and fellow citizens. Correspondence often raises complex and serious concerns, as it has in this instance, and as a department we aim to provide high quality, tailored responses to the points raised.
I can confirm that a response to the open letter from parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in Surrey, dated 17 July 2025, was sent on 18 November 2025.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many notices of intention under Rule 7(3) have been issued by the First Tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) by local authority in each of the last three year.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data about how many notices of intention under Rule 7 (3) (by local authority) have been issued, and whether any barring orders have been made, by the First Tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) in each of the last three years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Data on non-compliance, complaints about non-compliance, or binding orders made, following a decision made by the Tribunal is not held centrally. The Tribunal does not have powers of enforcement over local authorities. Escalation of non-compliance of a Tribunal’s decision is to the Local Authority. If the decision is still not being complied with, this could be escalated to the Local Authority Ombudsman. Guidance about this is provided to appellants.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to (a) Section 51(2) of the Children and Families Act 2014 and (b) the powers of the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) to issue binding orders following appeal hearings, what (i) monitoring and (ii) reporting arrangements on compliance with binding Tribunal orders have been implemented following appeal hearings, broken down by local authority; what formal route of escalation is available to people where rulings relating to those appeal hearings are not implemented; and how many (A) notifications and (B) complaints relating to non-compliance have been received from (1) appellants and (2) local authorities since 2022.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data about how many notices of intention under Rule 7 (3) (by local authority) have been issued, and whether any barring orders have been made, by the First Tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) in each of the last three years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Data on non-compliance, complaints about non-compliance, or binding orders made, following a decision made by the Tribunal is not held centrally. The Tribunal does not have powers of enforcement over local authorities. Escalation of non-compliance of a Tribunal’s decision is to the Local Authority. If the decision is still not being complied with, this could be escalated to the Local Authority Ombudsman. Guidance about this is provided to appellants.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment the adequacy of the enforcement basis of drop-off charge systems operated by airports; and what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that motorists receive (a) clear and (b) accurate information on (i) airport drop-off charge system enforcement practices and (ii) the authority for issuing any related fines.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The provision and charging of car parking at airports, including drop-off and pick-up charges, is a matter for the airport operator as a commercial business to manage and justify. Any issue relating to car parking charges should be raised with the airport operator directly. However, the Department expects car parking at airports to be managed appropriately and for consumers to be treated fairly, which could include providing information on choices for parking, along with information on how to access them.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) monitoring and (b) reporting arrangements his Department has put in place to ensure that repeated non-compliance by local authorities in the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) is escalated to (i) the Department for Education, (ii) the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, (iii) Ofsted, (iv) the Care Quality Commission and (v) other relevant oversight bodies; and where this information is published.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data about whether any barring orders have been made by the First Tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) in each of the last three years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Data on non-compliance, following a decision made by the Tribunal is not held centrally. The Tribunal does not have powers of enforcement over local authorities. Escalation of non-compliance of a Tribunal’s decision is to the Local Authority. If the decision is still not been complied with, this could be escalated to the Local Authority Ombudsman. Guidance about this is provided to appellants.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any barring orders have been made by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal under Rule 8 of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008 in each of the last three years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data about whether any barring orders have been made by the First Tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) in each of the last three years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Data on non-compliance, following a decision made by the Tribunal is not held centrally. The Tribunal does not have powers of enforcement over local authorities. Escalation of non-compliance of a Tribunal’s decision is to the Local Authority. If the decision is still not been complied with, this could be escalated to the Local Authority Ombudsman. Guidance about this is provided to appellants.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with animal welfare groups about the welfare implications of the use of farrowing crates for pigs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 September 2025 to the hon. Member for Ashfield, PQ 73693.