Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of clarifying whether regulation 25A of the Building Regulations that relates to Approved Document L includes extensions where the new wall or roof area adds 25% to the surface area of the building.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Regulation 25A of the Building Regulations 2010 concerns the use of high-efficiency alternative systems in new buildings and does not apply to extensions.
The energy efficiency standards that apply to extensions to existing dwellings are set out in Approved Document L: Conservation of fuel and power, Volume 1 (dwellings), Section 10.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 ensure seamless patient care for communities living on county boundaries, such as those between Somerset and Devon; and if he will take steps to (a) ensure interoperability of clinical records between NHS trusts and (b) issue guidance to Integrated Care Boards to prevent treatment restrictions based on administrative boundaries.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government's 10-Year Health Plan includes the objective of delivering a single patient record. This will allow staff, wherever they deliver care, to access the key information they need, from all of an individual’s medical records. Mandatory information standards, which all providers have to follow, will ensure the interoperability of systems within the National Health Service.
NHS England’s Who Pays? guidance sets out a framework for establishing which NHS organisation has responsibility for commissioning an individual’s care and which has responsibility for paying for that care. It came into effect from 1 August 2025 and can be found at the following link:
The Strategic Commissioning Framework for integrated care boards (ICBs) seeks to ensure that ICBs take a consistent approach to commissioning services, to secure the best outcomes for their population. It can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/strategic-commissioning-framework/
ICBs are responsible for undertaking health needs assessments to understand the health and wellbeing needs of their local population, including identifying inequalities and planning services accordingly.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will set out whether any military bases within the UK are being used for non-military purposes.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Currently, three military bases have been made available to the Home Office to support their efforts in providing accommodation for asylum seekers.
In addition, the Ministry of Defence permits third parties to use its bases for activities, provided these are compatible with military operations. This arrangement also generates income for the Department.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimates his Department has made of the time it will take to get all service family accommodation up to the Decent Homes Standard.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As set out in the recommendations of the Defence Housing Strategy, the Defence Housing Service will develop proposals to address the condition and standards of overseas family homes. As a baseline, we are using the 2006 Government’s Decent Homes Standard for all Defence family homes in the UK, regardless of location. Where needs differ as a result of property location, proposals will be developed as part of the ongoing work of the Defence Housing Strategy.
This Government’s historic £9 billion Defence Housing Strategy will deliver a generational renewal of military homes, with nine in 10 Defence homes modernised or upgraded.
Work to raise the minimum standard of 1,000 of the worst military family homes has proceeded at pace across the UK since April 2025, with works due to complete by the end of December 2025.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 it her policy that Core Reform 3 of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 will not be used for (a) the purposes of cost cutting and (b) to change the classification of a bathing water.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Core Reform 3 introduces discretion to set more locally tailored bathing seasons and monitoring periods that better reflect bathing water usage.
To amend a site’s bathing season, there would need to be a robust evidence base to support this action including that due account had been taken of all public comments and suggestions.
Details of implementation will be worked through in partnership with the Environment Agency through a small-scale pre-implementation research project. Following this analysis, we will publish guidance and expand stakeholder engagement to further develop this reform.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure the methodology for Core Reform 2 of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 will be subject to effective scrutiny.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The consultation on reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 ran from 12 November to 23 December 2024.
We are committed to working with stakeholders to ensure that feasibility and disproportionate cost are assessed through transparent and robust modelling and analysis.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken to process tax refund applications by HMRC; and if she will make a statement on measures to improve efficiency and accountability in HMRC’s service delivery.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC recognise that repayments are important for customers. They prioritise them to ensure they are processed as quickly and securely as possible.HMRC balance the provision of prompt payments to eligible customers with effective revenue protection from fraudsters. For Self Assessment repayments for example, once the repayment is created it goes through automated fraud and compliance checks. In 2024-25, after these checks, 93.1% of the repayments were paid automatically within a few days.
HMRC continues to invest in automation and to review their internal processes to ensure repayments are issued as quickly as possible.
HMRC recognise too the importance of keeping the customer, and where appropriate the customer’s representative, informed of progress and are exploring ways of doing that more effectively.
In the meantime, HMRC’s online ‘Where’s My Reply’ tool can help customers understand when they can expect to receive a response.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the current level of availability is for service family accommodation; how this level has changed over the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Afghan resettlement programme on those levels of availability.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department did not record data to accurately determine stock availability until April 2023. As this information cannot be gathered retrospectively, data prior to this date is unavailable.
The table below shows a year-on-year comparison of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) availability from April 2023 to April 2025, including current availability as at November 2025.
| Apr 23 | Apr 24 | Apr 25 | Nov 25 |
Total SFA | 47,793 | 47,770 | 47,638 | 47,697 |
Number of available vacant properties | 1,978 (4.14%) | 1,372 (2.88%) | 2,213 (4.65%) | 2,745 (5.76%) |
The allocation of SFA for the Afghan Resettlement Programme has been carefully planned to minimise the impact on Service families.
This involves utilising surplus SFA, properties earmarked for disposal, and void properties requiring refurbishment. Refurbishing otherwise unfunded void properties not only supports SFA demand but also delivers a lasting benefit to the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Universal Credit savings threshold for disabled claimants who are permanently unable to work and need to pay for (a) mobility equipment, (b) vehicle repairs, (c) respite care and (d) other disability-related costs; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (A) introducing exemptions to and (B) increasing the Universal Credit savings threshold for disabled people who are unable to work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provides a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition. PIP is non-contributory, and non-means-tested. Individuals can choose how to use the benefit, in the light of their individual needs and preferences.
The benefit can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, and help with travel costs to appointments. It can also act as a passport to additional support such as premiums and additional amounts paid within certain benefits, Carer’s Allowance for an informal carer or the Blue Badge scheme. The benefit has been consistently uprated in line with inflation since it was introduced and was last increased by 1.7% from 7 April 2025.
The current system allows people to continue to receive benefit even though they may have an amount of capital from £6,000 by gradually reducing the level of their entitlement. The capital limit above which Universal Credit entitlement ends is above £16,000.
Whilst we keep all policies under review there are no current plans to change the capital limits for disabled customers.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 ensure that disabled people who are (a) unable to work and (b) on Universal Credit awaiting a Work Capability Assessment are not left in financial hardship for extended periods due to the time taken (i) by her Department to undertake that Assessment and (ii) to access additional support elements.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
People on low, or no income or earnings who have a health condition or disability which restricts the amount of work they can do, can claim UC. They must provide medical evidence to support their claim - most commonly a Statement of Fitness for Work, usually referred to as a fit note. Claimants whose health condition or disability continues for four weeks or more are referred for a work capability assessment (WCA).
Universal Credit awards include a standard allowance, which is the core component of any award and is paid according to age and household unit. The purpose of the standard allowance is to provide towards basic living costs. Additional amounts are added to provide for individual needs such as housing, children, disability, and childcare costs.
Demand for initial WCA assessments has risen so we continue to prioritise initial claims. This enables us to ensure that claimants receive the right level of benefit, and we establish capability for work at the outset of a claim.