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, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the inclusion of Oxford University Hospitals Trust in the rapid review of NHS maternity services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The investigation will carry out rapid reviews of up to ten trusts with specific issues. The process of determining which trusts to review is ongoing, and once decided, they will be announced as soon as possible.
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 support NHS Trusts with (a) additional pharmacist staff salaries, (b) the cost of additional monitoring blood tests and (c) additional service delivery costs when new drug treatments are funded for NHS patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme, published on 4 April 2025, governs transactions between providers and commissioners of secondary healthcare by setting the rules for determining the amount payable for the provision of healthcare services. In short, it defines the basis for fairly reimbursing National Health Service trusts for the work they do. More information on the scheme is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/25-26-nhs-payment-scheme/
Prices in the scheme have been updated to reflect the latest NHS pay awards. The 2025/26 prices have been calculated in part by updating 2024/25 pay award prices, published in September 2024. for inflation and efficiency;
The scheme includes a published list of 2025/26 prices reflecting the latest pay awards, which are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2025-26-nhs-payment-scheme/
This list includes the price paid to NHS trusts for persons who solely require a blood test. High-cost drugs, which can include those that have just received approval, are excluded from prices and are subject to separate agreement on appropriate funding between providers and commissioners.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent changes to National Insurance contributions on the financial viability of early years settings.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life.
Despite tough decisions to get public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest in supporting early education and childcare providers, including social enterprise nurseries, with the costs they face.
In the 2025/26 financial year, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements, rising to over £9 billion in 2026/27. We are also providing the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45%, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. The department is also providing £25 million in respect of additional National Insurance contributions (NICs) costs through the Early Years NICs and Teachers Pay Grant, for public sector employers in the early years. This is in addition to a further £75 million through the early years expansion grant to support the sector as it prepares to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has conducted a review of the consistency of early years funding implementation across local authorities in England.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will review early years funding, including the early years national funding formulae, consulting on a set of changes by summer 2026. We will review how funding is distributed both nationally and locally to ensure the funding system is fair and effective at reflecting the costs of delivery and appropriately targeting additional need.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a regulatory body for antenatal education organisations.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are cutting the number of regulatory bodies as they are overwhelming the National Health Service system and taking focus away from the basics of patient care. The changes we are making will improve quality and safety by making it clear where responsibility and accountability sits at all levels of the system, and making it easier for staff, patients, and users to directly feed into the system to improve quality of care.
We therefore have no plans currently to introduce a further regulatory body specific to antenatal education organisations.
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 has taken to (a) improve access to antenatal care education for women and families and (b) ensure that high-quality (a) information and (b) information on birthing is delivered during antenatal classes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Maternity services are commissioned by integrated care boards (ICBs), and it is the responsibility of local commissioners to ensure services, including antenatal education, are designed to be accessible and high-quality.
As was set out in the 2025/26 National Health Service operational planning and contracting guidance, when taking decisions, ICBs and providers are asked to pay particular attention to challenged and fragile services, including maternity and neonatal services, thereby delivering the key actions of the Three Year Delivery Plan and continuing to address variation in access, experiences, and outcomes. Antenatal care is a key focus of the plan.
In addition, NHS England expects ICBs to have due regard to relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. For antenatal care education, NICE guidelines recommend offering antenatal classes to all first-time mothers and their partners, covering a range of topics, including preparing for labour and birth. It also advises that classes should be considered for women in subsequent pregnancies where there may be a benefit.
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 she is taking to (a) help tackle online harassment and (b) improve protection for people in public life.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
As Chair of the Defending Democracy Taskforce, I want to be clear: the harassment or intimidation of elected representatives - whether online or in person - is never acceptable. The work we are taking forward includes working across Government with the police, parliamentary authorities, to actively review our levers to tackle the harassment and intimidation of elected representatives, candidates, and electoral staff. For example, the Online Safety Act 2023 now requires platforms to remove illegal content - including threats and abuse - with Ofcom enforcing compliance.
But we must go further. The threat is evolving, and so must our response. Under the Taskforce's renewed mandate, we are reviewing how to strengthen protections and close any gaps. Measures such as the new aggravating factor in the recently published Elections Strategy introduce clearer consequences for behaviour that crosses the line into abuse. I also welcome the important work of the Speaker's Conference and look forward to its final recommendations.
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, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Designate a bathing water: guidance on how to apply, updated on 15 May 2025, for what reason applications cannot include organised swim events.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As per the criteria set out on GOV.UK, for a site to be eligible for designation as a bathing water, it must be used by an average of at least 100 bathers a day during the bathing season (15 May to 30 September). User surveys must be taken at a site to evidence this.
An organised swim event is likely to result in an unusually high number of bathers for that day and therefore would not provide a fair reflection of the number of bathers per day during the bathing season.
The application guidance will continue to be reviewed for suitability.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to introduce noise cameras.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Further to my response to PQ66815, the Department does not currently have plans to introduce noise cameras but is keeping up to date with any advancements in this technology. It is ultimately for local authorities and the police to consider what the most appropriate enforcement routes may be for addressing issues with excessive vehicle noise within their area.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 63264 on Water: Reform, what her planned timetable is for the implementation of wider reform one.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In November 2024, the Government, jointly with the Welsh Government, consulted on Reforms to The Bathing Water Regulations 2013, in the first shake-up to the Bathing Water Regulations since they were introduced.
We have begun policy development and research, including epidemiological studies, to determine how best to implement both of the wider these reforms detailed in this consultation consulted on; clarifying and expanding the definition of ‘bathers’ and using multiple monitoring points at each bathing water site to classify water quality. This work will take into account any potential environmental, societal and access impacts of these reforms. We are keen to work closely with stakeholders in the development of any future reforms and a timetable for any implementation will be agreed once this work has concluded.