Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Department has made of the adequacy of the time taken to process applications to purchase voluntary National Insurance contributions through the International Pensions Centre before the April 2025 deadline.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department continually monitors processing times, including allocating additional resources and streamlining processes where possible and working collaboratively with HMRC.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Department will consider backdating State Pension increases in cases where delays were caused by administrative issues.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Any arrears will be backdated to the date on which the individual made their payment to HMRC.
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 steps his Department is taking to ensure that the National Maternity Taskforce includes balanced representation between (a) professional bodies and (b) families with lived experience of maternity services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will be made of up a breadth of expertise. This will include people who bring clinical and international perspectives, those who can speak to the inequalities within maternal health, workforce representatives, and families with lived experience.
We are currently engaging with families, including service user representatives, as well as other individuals and organisations in the maternity and neonatal sector, on the make-up of the taskforce and its terms of reference, and we will carefully consider their feedback.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is committed to ensuring the voices of women and families are at the heart of improving maternity and neonatal care.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce (a) delays and (a) improve communication in the processing of Access to Work applications for (i) disabled people requiring essential equipment to remain in employment and (ii) other applicants; and if will undertake a review of current service standards to ensure timely support for applicants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recognise the importance of clearing the backlog, which is why last year we increased the number of staff working in this area by 27% and we have continued to streamline delivery practises. We remain committed to reducing waiting times for claims, prioritising customers starting a job within the next four weeks.
In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of Access to Work and how to improve the scheme so that it helps more disabled people in work. We are considering all aspects of the scheme as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation.
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 steps he is taking to help ensure that diagnostic imaging in the NHS is reported within 4 weeks.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring patients receive their diagnostic test results quickly is a priority for the Government. NHS England’s guidance, published in August 2023, sets out that imaging reports must be provided within four weeks, or 28 days, of image acquisition. All National Health Service providers and imaging networks are expected to meet this standard. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/diagnostic-imaging-reporting-turnaround-times/
Achieving this relies on good digital connectivity, IT infrastructure, home working solutions, and approved insourcing models established across imaging departments and networks. That is why the Government is investing in digital diagnostic transformation through NHS England’s Diagnostics Digital Capability Programme, which ensures that networks have a core set of digital capabilities to improve the quality, safety, and productivity of care.
The 2025 Spending Review settlement commits to a major transformation of care delivery, moving from analogue to digital systems, hospital to community-based care, and from treatment to prevention. To support this, the NHS productivity plan is backed by a nearly 50% increase to NHS technology and digital transformation spend in 2025/26, totalling up to £10 billion by 2028/29.
NHS England has also formed 22 imaging networks across the country to improve the quality, safety, and productivity of care, and to accelerate test reporting through digital investment.
The Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025, sets out a whole system approach to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament including transforming and expanding diagnostic services to reduce waits for test results.
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, pursuant to the answer of 8 October 2025 provided to question 76507, (i) how many NICE Technology Appraisal approved therapies are not being provided in contravention of obligations by a) Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust b) Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and c) Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and (ii) what the names of these therapies are.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps is he taking to ensure the transition to green energy is cost efficient for (a) his department with i. transmission systems, ii. distribution systems and iii. energy sources, and (b) consumers with i. heat pumps, ii. EV chargers and iii. insulation.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Network regulation is a matter for Ofgem, who regulates network operators through a price control process. Government supports Ofgem in developing a price control that delivers the transition to clean energy, while maximising value for money for consumers. Ofgem has a duty to protect the interests of consumers, whilst maintaining the financial stability and resilience of the transmission and distribution network operators.
As all households move towards clean heat technologies, low income and fuel poor households will need more support to enable them to make greener choices. Government is focused on incentivising moves to cleaner, affordable heating and making this attractive and easy for the public. Our Warm Homes Plan will support investment in heat pumps and other energy efficiency upgrades to help cut bills.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Clean Power plan for helping those in fuel poverty and those currently using gas boilers in transitioning to clean greener energy.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We recognise that we need to support households struggling with bills whilst we transition to clean power by 2030. This is why we delivered the Warm Home Discount to around 3 million eligible low-income households last winter. On 19 June 2025, we announced that we are expanding the Warm Home Discount to around an additional 2.7 million households. This means that from this winter, around 6 million low-income households will receive the £150 support to help with their energy bills.
We are also delivering improvements to home energy efficiency through a number of schemes including the Warm Homes: Social Housing Decarbonisation, Warm Homes: Local Government and the continuation of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which is supporting thousands of households to upgrade their heating systems. As more homes are made energy efficient this will reduce carbon emissions, reduce overall energy demand and reduce energy bills for consumers.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the current costs of energy per Kw/h compared to other European countries.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department publishes bi-annual statistical tables comparing the UK’s gas and electricity prices to the price of countries in the European Union. International energy price comparison statistics - GOV.UK
These are provided in pence per kWh and are aggregated by consumption bands both including and excluding taxes. Separate tables are provided for domestic and non-domestic consumers.
The prices are derived by taking the total of the monetary value of energy consumed divided by the total volume of energy. Therefore, these are representative of average prices and are not disaggregated by unit rate and standing charge.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities have a clear process to follow for shared ownership and community benefit clean energy planning permission.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the Clean Power Action Plan, we made it clear that where communities host clean energy infrastructure they should feel tangible and enduring benefit of doing so. Shared ownership plays a key role in ensuring all communities can share the benefits from the transition to net zero 2050.
We are in the process of reviewing responses to our recent working paper and will continue to explore the role of local authorities in community benefit funds and shared ownership opportunities.