Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on the school-rebuilding programme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has committed £1.4 billion to continue the current School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) in 2025/26, reconfirming the department’s commitment to rebuild or refurbish 518 schools and sixth form colleges across England, prioritising delivery based on need. All schools within the programme are prioritised for delivery according to the condition of their buildings, readiness to proceed, and efficiency of delivery. Expected delivery timeframes have been communicated to all responsible bodies.
Just over half of SRP projects have started various stages of delivery activity and, so far, the department has handed over 28 projects, including refurbished or rebuilt schools. We plan to increase the number of existing school rebuilding projects that we will start delivery on in this financial year to 100, so work can start more quickly, and more children and teachers will ultimately benefit from new school buildings sooner.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of classifying severe chronic anorexia as a disability rather than solely a mental health condition.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no such assessment. Under the Equality Act 2010, a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on an individual’s ability to do normal day to day activities.
The Equality Act 2010’s guidance on matters to be taken into account in determining questions relating to the definition of disability, refers to a range of impairments from which a disability can arise, including eating disorders. Further information is available at the following link:
We recognise the devastating impact an eating disorder can have on someone’s life, and that the earlier treatment is provided, the greater the chance of recovery. NHS England is continuing to expand community-based eating disorder service capacity, including crisis care and intensive home treatment. By improving care in the community, the National Health Service can improve outcomes and recovery, reduce rates of relapse, prevent eating disorders continuing into adulthood and, if admission is required as a very last resort, reduce lengths of stay in urgent and emergency care.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with Integrated Care Boards and hospital trusts to prevent falls inside hospitals.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are informed by NHS England that there have been no recent discussions or directives to hospitals or integrated care boards on the prevention of falls inside hospitals, although we are aware of wider work to support fall prevention, including NHS England’s public health initiative, Harnessing the benefits of physical activity, and the ongoing National Audit of Inpatient Falls that NHS England commissions via the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership. Further information on Harnessing the benefits of physical activity and the National Audit of Inpatient Falls is available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/public-health/harnessing-the-benefits-of-physical-activity/
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will consider the adoption of new formal partnership mechanisms with Town and Parish Councils in new unitary authorities formed through Local Government reorganisation in England.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government values the role currently played by town and parish councils in local government. We strongly encourage all local authorities to involve their town and parish councils in their plans to ensure that their contribution to local public services is recognised in future arrangements.
Whether or not an area has town and parish arrangements in place, they will be expected to imbed neighbourhood working into new unitary councils empowering frontline councillors to be the community convenors they were elected to be.
Local authorities operate independently of central government. The government believes that individual local authorities are best placed to determine how they can most effectively collaborate to support the wellbeing of their citizens.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what long-term investment her Department is making in cycling and walking infrastructure within the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Future government investment in cycling and walking is being considered alongside all other transport priorities as part of the Spending Review. On 28 March, I informed Parliament of my intention to publish a third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy following the conclusion of the Spending Review. This will allow us to say more on the long-term funding for active travel, as required by the 2015 Infrastructure Act.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to require (a) developers and (b) housing associations to have robust warranties in place which include cover for (i) incomplete and (ii) inadequate work.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s plans to ensure new build homes are of sufficient quality are being taken forward outside of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. This includes reforms set out in the answer to Question UIN 37745 on 19 March 2025.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 provide clarity on levels of funding for (a) children’s and (b) adult hospices.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing services within the National Health Service. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between integrated care board (ICB) areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.
We are, however, at a national level, also supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The Government has released the first £25 million tranche of the £100 million capital funding, with Hospice UK kindly allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England. An additional £75 million will be allocated in the coming weeks for use in 2025/26.
Additionally, we are providing £26 million revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant. NHS England has now communicated the details of the 2025/26 funding allocation and dissemination to individual hospices.
In February 2025, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, and long-term sector sustainability, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, was discussed at length.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to decarbonise schools in order to meet the emission reduction targets by 2035.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to supporting the UK net-zero carbon targets. Since 2021, the department’s own building standards require that all new school buildings delivered by the department are net-zero carbon in operation and are adapted to climate change.
Additionally, the department recently announced the £80 million Great British Energy Solar Accelerator Programme, in partnership with GB Energy, that will install solar and other technologies, such as electric vehicle (EV) chargers, in 200 targeted schools and colleges, prioritising those in areas of deprivation, to start in 2025/26.
The department is providing support for all schools and colleges to start on their journey towards net zero via our new online sustainability support for education platform and our climate ambassador programme. Where schools are considering options to become more sustainable, including considering decarbonisation of their energy supply, our ‘Get help for buying’ service provides support to ensure that schemes procured are of high-quality and value to the sector. More information can be found at: https://gethelpbuyingforschools.campaign.gov.uk/.
Details of other government funding available to public bodies for sustainability, prepared by the Crown Commercial Service can be found at: https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/social-value/carbon-net-zero/funding-and-grants.
Capital funding allocated to the school sector each year can also be used for projects that improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of school buildings, as well as improving the condition of the estate to keep schools safe and operational.
The department has allocated £2.1 billion in condition funding for the 2025/26 financial year, which is £300 million more than the previous year.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in employers National Insurance Contributions on levels of employment.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for Budget Responsibility published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) in March 2025, which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances, including their forecast on levels of employment https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2025/#:~:text=Real%20earnings%20grow%20by%201.4,%2D26%20to%202029%2D30.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of replacing Capita with a tri-service agency on the armed forces recruitment process.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
On 6 February 2025 AFRP announced the award of the contract to Serco, for the new tri-service Armed Forces Recruiting Service (AFRS). It will provide a streamlined, single-entry point for prospective recruits, with the aim of recruiting from the broadest spectrum of society to attract the best talent into the Armed Forces. The service will launch in 2027, replacing the individual schemes run by the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force.