Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
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 11 June 2026 to Written Question 7918 on Antimicrobials, whether the expected timetable for contract award under the UK antimicrobial subscription model remains November 2026; and whether the Department is able to share a more specific expected date for contract commencement within quarter one of 2027.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Yes.
Specific dates for contract commencement within quarter one of 2027 will be communicated in due course.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of patients who no longer meet the criteria to reside in hospital in the Royal Hampshire County Hospital.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the number of patients who no longer meet the criteria to reside at a hospital level. However, figures by trust are published monthly by NHS England, and are available at the following link:
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to release the dog breeding public consultation referred to in its Animal Welfare Strategy for England.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working to bring forward the dog breeding reform consultation. It will be published in due course.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the department is taking to support livestock farmers affected by bluetongue with reduced stock costs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the challenges bluetongue presents for livestock keepers and is continuing to review the support available to farmers affected by the disease. Farmers can access funded veterinary advice through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she will publish her response to the consultation on the SEND proposals in the Schools White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Earlier this year, the department consulted on proposals to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. Our aim is to create a more inclusive education system that ensures all children and young people, including those with SEND, can achieve and thrive. This will ensure every child across the country receives the right support locally, at an early stage and without a fight.
Almost 10,000 people responded to the consultation and more than 3,000 attended events across the country. Since the consultation closed, we have continued to listen and develop our proposals in response to feedback.
We are committed to co-designing the reforms with children, families and professionals, and to testing and refining the proposals collaboratively to ensure they work in practice.
We are currently analysing the feedback and will publish our response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is her latest estimate of the cost of a) increasing the upper capital limit for social care to £100,000 and b) increasing the lower capital limit for social care to £25,000.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 29 July, as set out in the link below, the Prime Minister set out his objectives to reform the social care system, and brought forward the timetable for Baroness Casey’s commission to inform that reform programme:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-sets-out-new-path-to-fix-social-care-together-29-july-2026
All aspects of the current system will be reviewed as part of that process, including capital limit thresholds, and we will continue to update Parliament on a regular basis.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Mental Health Strategy for England will aim to improve outcomes specific to family carers of those with severe mental illness.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the many challenges that people care for loved ones with severe mental illnesses face every day, and we will consider the needs of family carers as we develop a new mental health strategy designed to ensure better support is accessible to people across the country with mental health needs.
The forthcoming Mental Health Strategy for England will set out the Government’s priorities for improving mental health and wellbeing and will be informed by engagement with people with lived experience, and their families and carers.
Alongside this, the Government is developing a Modern Service Framework for severe mental illness, which will set consistent standards across the country so that people with severe mental illness receive the best quality, evidence-based, and equitable care and support. Recognising the important role that carers and families play is an important part of this.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Transformation Programme on WPS claim response times.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The War Pension Scheme (WPS) Transformation Programme has been in place since September 2024, with the aim of improving the accuracy and efficiency of WPS claim processing.
A range of measures have been introduced to improve WPS claim processing times. These include flexible resource management, allowing teams to reallocate staff as needed and training personnel in multiple skillsets to enhance efficiency and resilience.
To accelerate the clearance of outstanding claims, overtime and weekend working have been implemented alongside the additional recruitment of administrative and caseworker staff.
With the operational system delivered, transformation continues via a WPS Recovery Taskforce, established in June 2025 to continue to support service delivery improvements. This taskforce focuses on stabilising the system, monitoring operational performance, and identifying further areas for improvement.
The capacity of the working resource is now considered to be sufficient and effective enough to complete the processing of as many claims as are being received.
Throughout the claims process, all cases are managed in strict date order at every stage to ensure fairness, with priority given to those with a terminal illness and to claimants over the age of 90.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what date he expects the Transformation Programme to be in operation for WPS claims.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The War Pension Scheme (WPS) Transformation Programme has been in place since September 2024, with the aim of improving the accuracy and efficiency of WPS claim processing.
A range of measures have been introduced to improve WPS claim processing times. These include flexible resource management, allowing teams to reallocate staff as needed and training personnel in multiple skillsets to enhance efficiency and resilience.
To accelerate the clearance of outstanding claims, overtime and weekend working have been implemented alongside the additional recruitment of administrative and caseworker staff.
With the operational system delivered, transformation continues via a WPS Recovery Taskforce, established in June 2025 to continue to support service delivery improvements. This taskforce focuses on stabilising the system, monitoring operational performance, and identifying further areas for improvement.
The capacity of the working resource is now considered to be sufficient and effective enough to complete the processing of as many claims as are being received.
Throughout the claims process, all cases are managed in strict date order at every stage to ensure fairness, with priority given to those with a terminal illness and to claimants over the age of 90.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of enforcement resources at main border points of entry to prevent the illegal movement of dogs into the UK.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As outlined in its manifesto, this Government is committed to ending puppy smuggling. This Government operates one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in Europe and keeps resource allocation for these checks under review in close liaison with enforcement agencies.
The Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Act 2025 gives the Government powers to introduce measures to strengthen current enforcement mechanisms. This Government will continue to work with UK enforcement bodies as it develops these measures, including on resource impacts.