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, for what reason British medical graduates are not prioritized over international medical graduates for foundation year placements.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England keeps the selection process for foundation training under review to make sure it works well for applicants and for building a sustainable workforce to provide the best possible care for patients.
We are committed to ensuring that the number of medical foundation training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable, nurtures homegrown talent and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.
Internationally educated staff remain an important part of the workforce, and our Code of Practice for International Recruitment ensures stringent ethical standards when recruiting health and social care staff from overseas. However, the Government is also committed to growing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join the NHS.
In summer 2025, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's document entitled Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, published on 12 December 2024, whether the new planning reforms require private infrastructure providers to submit business plans for strategic Community Infrastructure Levies that align with local plans.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December does not require that private infrastructure providers submit business plans for strategic Community Infrastructure Levies that align with local plans.
The Framework states that, to ensure faster delivery of public service infrastructure, local planning authorities should work proactively and positively with promoters, delivery partners and statutory bodies to plan for required facilities and resolve key planning issues before applications are submitted.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of encouraging Community Infrastructure Levy contributions in place of S106 Agreements under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for new developments through upcoming planning reforms.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is not intended to make individual planning applications acceptable in planning terms.
As a result, some site-specific impact mitigation may still be necessary for a development to be granted planning permission.
Some of these needs may be provided for through the levy but others may not, particularly if they are very local in their impact.
There is still a legitimate role for development specific planning obligations, even where the levy is charged, to enable a local planning authority to be confident that the specific consequences of a particular development can be mitigated.
The government is committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timetable is for the rollout of the 2025 Pay As You Go rail scheme for stations which did not receive contactless ticketing on 2 February 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Pay As You Go (PAYG) contactless ticketing launched at 47 further stations in the South East on 2 February, joining 6 stations on the Chiltern railways line that went live in June last year. We recently announced that PAYG with contactless would be extended to a further 49 stations in 2025. Further details on any wider expansion of PAYG will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timeline is for the (a) announcement and (b) implementation of the post-2025 phase of the Pay As You Go rail rollout.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
PAYG contactless pilots have been announced in both Manchester and the West Midlands, expanding PAYG to more than 90 additional rail stations, which are due to be launched in 2026. Further details on any wider expansion of PAYG with contactless in the South East will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many stations will be announced in the 2026 phase of the Pay As You Go rail rollout.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
PAYG contactless pilots have been announced in both Manchester and the West Midlands, expanding PAYG to more than 90 additional rail stations, which are due to be launched in 2026. Further details on any wider expansion of PAYG with contactless in the South East will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to ensure that town and parish councils are in place prior to the abolition of district and borough councils.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Devolution White Paper was clear that we know people value the role of governance at the community scale. All levels of local government have a part to play in bringing improved structures to their area through reorganisation. We will therefore want to see stronger community arrangements when reorganisation happens in the way councils engage at a neighbourhood or area level.
The power to create and restructure town and parish councils is devolved to principal local authorities, which can review and make changes to local governance arrangements through Community Governance Reviews. In doing so, they are expected to take the views of local people into account.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including a rail station’s distance from London as a deciding factor in compiling the list of stations for the Pay As You Go rail rollout.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We want to expand ticketing innovations such as PayAsYouGo (PAYG) where possible. We will be considering a number of factors to determine stations which could be included in the future phases of PAYG with contactless rollout.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to implement contactless ticketing at Dorking Deepdene station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We have committed to expanding Pay As You Go (PAYG) contactless ticketing to further stations in the South East and recently announced that PAYG with contactless would be extended to a further 49 stations in 2025, including stations that are within the Dorking area; Dorking (Main), Box Hill and Westhumble, Reigate, and Leatherhead. Further details on any wider expansion of PAYG will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that her target for new home building is not impacted by local government reorganisation.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Government has recommitted to delivering 1.5 million homes over this Parliament in our Plan for Change. These targets still apply to councils throughout the process of reorganisation.
The potential impact of local government reorganisation on individual areas will be a matter for local councils to consider as they develop their proposals for reorganisation. As set out in the published criteria for proposals, unitary structures must prioritise the delivery of high quality and sustainable public services to citizens; proposals should show how new structures will improve local government and service delivery and should avoid unnecessary fragmentation of services.