Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of staff undertaking additional work in private hospitals on NHS workforce capacity.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has made no assessment of the impact of National Health Service staff undertaking additional work in private hospitals on NHS workforce capacity.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure parents of children with SEND are informed of (a) their rights and (b) the protections available to them.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to publish a Local Offer, setting out in one place information about provision they expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people in their area who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those without an education, health and care plan.

Every local authority must have a SEND information, advice and support service. These provide free and impartial advice to children and young people with SEND and their parents and carers.

The department works with national organisations such as Contact, IPSEA and the National Network of Parent Carer Forums. We also fund local parent carer forums across England who gather the views and experiences of local SEND families to help shape and inform policy and provision and offer a valuable peer support network for parents and carers navigating the SEND system.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve recruitment and retention of general practitioners in Bristol North East.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Since October 2024 we have funded primary care networks with an additional £160 million to recruit recently qualified general practitioners (GPs) through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS). In the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) 44 GPs have been recruited via the scheme since October 2024.

Within the 2025/26 GP Contract, a number of changes have been confirmed to increase the flexibility of ARRS and allow primary care networks to respond better to local workforce needs. This includes GPs and practice nurses included in the main ARRS funding pot, an uplift of the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme, and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.

We are investing an additional £1.1 billion into GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest cash increase in over a decade and will facilitate the recruitment of GPs. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.

The Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB also has a successful GP and Nurse fellowship scheme to support retention of staff.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce delays in County Court proceedings relating to possession or enforcement actions against individuals living in vehicles.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) Part 55, 55.1 (a) states a possession claim means a claim for the recovery of possession of land (including buildings or parts of buildings), on which a vehicle might be parked.

The CPR stipulate that possession claims should be listed within 4-8 weeks. The most recent published statistics, covering the period July to September 2025 show that the median time from claim to order is 7.6 weeks. The timeliness of the subsequent enforcement of an order, where this is required, can be influenced by the actions of users as well as the court. For 2024 only 26% of possession claims required enforcement.

The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly data on possession claims at: Mortgage and landlord possession statistics: July to September 2025 - GOV.UK.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce delays in the home buying and selling process.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 87197 on 7 November 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to address gaps in Post-16 education and skills training provision in Bristol North East.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy sets out our vision for a world-leading skills system which breaks down barriers to opportunity, meets student and employers’ needs; widens access to high-quality education and training; supports innovation, research, and development; and improves people’s lives.

The government has established Skills England to ensure we have the highly trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade.

Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) are employer-led strategies designed to ensure post-16 technical education and vocational training align with local labour market needs. Business West is leading the development of the local LSIP working with the West of England Combined Authority, local businesses and delivery partners. The plan will be published in Summer 2026. Businesses are supported to partner with colleges and training providers to deliver vocational programmes, apprenticeships, and national initiatives such as Skills Bootcamps and T Levels.