Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what analysis his department has undertaken of the staffing and capacity pressures identified in the Amos Review's interim report, and what options are being examined to support maternity and neonatal units facing these challenges.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling the retention and recruitment challenges that face the National Health Service. This includes work in maternity and neonatal services to introduce a midwifery and nursing retention self-assessment tool, mentoring schemes, a Graduate Guarantee that has already delivered 700 additional roles for newly qualified midwives, and funded speciality training for neonatal nurses to have the additional skills they need to care for critically ill babies. In addition, the Department’s upcoming workforce plan will make sure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
Baroness Amos’ interim report details insights gathered so far in the national independent investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal care. Evidence is still being collected and analysed, and a coherent single set of national recommendations will be published in June. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will chair a new National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce that will address the interim insights and final recommendations of the investigation, forming them into a national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to introduce a formalised interdepartmental framework to help prevent gaps in planning between her Department and the Home Office on issues with potential animal‑welfare impacts.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A formalised interdepartmental framework is not required. Defra works closely with the Home Office across a range of policy areas where there are potential animal welfare impacts. Moreover, Government policy proposals are subject to the standard processes of collective agreement which provides a further opportunity for departments to coordinate effectively and ensure that any cross-cutting issues are fully considered.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to set out a timeline for the process and completion of the independent review of the prevalence of and support for mental health conditions, ADHD and autism announced on 4 December 2025.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what will the independent review of the prevalence of and support for mental health conditions, ADHD and autism be used for.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of decision‑making times on people subject to No Recourse to Public Funds restrictions who are awaiting the outcome of a family visa application.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The number of family visa applications outstanding for more than 12 months is not currently available from published statistics. The relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
All family visa applications are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the Immigration Rules and in line with the published family visa processing times available here: Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK. Where applicants require their application to be expedited owing to their individual compelling and compassionate circumstances, we will consider each case on its own merit.
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, including service standards for processing visa applications, where applicable. The department is also in the process of implementing technology changes to improve efficiency and support faster processing of family visa applications.
Applicants on certain family routes may choose to use optional priority or super priority services, where available, for an additional fee to receive a faster decision on their application. Applicants using the priority service will usually receive a decision within five working days.
Further information on the priority service is available here: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying for a faster decision - GOV.UK
When an individual is considered for assessment of Change of Conditions, various No Recourse to Public Funds conditions are checked, with ‘destitution’ being one of these conditions.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help mitigate the potential impact of delays in family visa applications on applicants who are unable to work while awaiting a decision.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The number of family visa applications outstanding for more than 12 months is not currently available from published statistics. The relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
All family visa applications are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the Immigration Rules and in line with the published family visa processing times available here: Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK. Where applicants require their application to be expedited owing to their individual compelling and compassionate circumstances, we will consider each case on its own merit.
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, including service standards for processing visa applications, where applicable. The department is also in the process of implementing technology changes to improve efficiency and support faster processing of family visa applications.
Applicants on certain family routes may choose to use optional priority or super priority services, where available, for an additional fee to receive a faster decision on their application. Applicants using the priority service will usually receive a decision within five working days.
Further information on the priority service is available here: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying for a faster decision - GOV.UK
When an individual is considered for assessment of Change of Conditions, various No Recourse to Public Funds conditions are checked, with ‘destitution’ being one of these conditions.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many family visa applications have been outstanding for more than 12 months; and what steps her Department is taking to expedite overdue cases.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The number of family visa applications outstanding for more than 12 months is not currently available from published statistics. The relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
All family visa applications are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the Immigration Rules and in line with the published family visa processing times available here: Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK. Where applicants require their application to be expedited owing to their individual compelling and compassionate circumstances, we will consider each case on its own merit.
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, including service standards for processing visa applications, where applicable. The department is also in the process of implementing technology changes to improve efficiency and support faster processing of family visa applications.
Applicants on certain family routes may choose to use optional priority or super priority services, where available, for an additional fee to receive a faster decision on their application. Applicants using the priority service will usually receive a decision within five working days.
Further information on the priority service is available here: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying for a faster decision - GOV.UK
When an individual is considered for assessment of Change of Conditions, various No Recourse to Public Funds conditions are checked, with ‘destitution’ being one of these conditions.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies on pollutant reduction within river improvement programmes of the report by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology entitled Review of the Classification Framework for Ecological Status/Potential under the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) England and Wales Regulations, published in July 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2025, the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) published an independent review of the suitability of the Water Framework Directive ecological classification framework for measuring and assessing the health of the water environment. Among its suggestions was to employ a ‘surface waterbody biodiversity audit’ to inform policies on reducing pollution to the water environment.
We committed in the recently published Water White Paper to explore setting new ambitious targets for the water environment and are considering a wide range of inputs as part of these explorations, including the UKCEH report. Meanwhile, we continue to work towards our obligation to secure continuous improvement for the water environment.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of expected outcomes for babies with spinal muscular atrophy living in areas (a) included in the in-service evaluation of newborn screening for SMA and (b) not included in the in-service evaluation.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the challenges faced by those living with rare diseases and their families and is committed to improving outcomes. This is why the National Health Service is planning a large-scale in-service evaluation (ISE) of screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in newborn screening services. This ISE is due to start in January 2027 and will offer screening to over 400,000 babies.
As the ISE is still in the planning stages, the Department has not yet made a comparative assessment of expected outcomes for babies identified through the evaluation compared with babies born in areas not included in the evaluation.
Babies born outside the evaluation would continue to receive the current standard of care, including access to specialist clinical assessment and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved treatments where clinically appropriate. Clinical decisions for babies with suspected or confirmed SMA are made by specialist clinicians, regardless of where a child is born.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has asked NHS England to investigate whether it would be appropriate and feasible for the ISE to be rolled out across the whole of England.
Any screening programme that would impact approximately 650,000 babies per year in the UK must be underpinned by high quality robust evidence that demonstrates that screening will do more good than harm. The ISE will help inform a future UK National Screening Committee recommendation on whether screening for SMA should be added to the NHS Newborn Blood Spot Screening Programme.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 13th February 2026 to question 105615 on play based pedagogy, if she will update initial teacher training and CPD frameworks to include evidence‑based training on play‑based pedagogy.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises that continuous improvement is essential to transform the training and support for all new teachers. That is why we are committing to a full review of the delivery of the Early Career Teacher Entitlement, including the framework content of the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework, in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for trainees and early career teachers based on the most up to date evidence.
As part of the review, we will be seeking evidence and views from stakeholders from across the education sector.
We also want to ensure that National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) continue to offer the best possible support to teachers and leaders. In 2025, we announced a review of the NPQ courses.
To aid the review, the department published two calls for evidence to seek recent, relevant and high-quality research. We are considering a wide range of responses to ensure that review succeeds in improving pupil outcomes through updated NPQ courses that better meet the needs of education leaders based on the latest robust evidence.