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, if his Department will engage with the ME community to develop an interim plan for supporting people with very severe ME until suitable long-term provision is in place nationally.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government published the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan in July 2025, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mecfs-the-final-delivery-plan
The plan focuses on three main areas to improve care and support for those with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease. It also sets out a series of actions, which will help address the key challenges and drive forward improvements to outcomes and quality of life for people living with ME/CFS in England.
The Department worked closely with ME/CFS patients, carers, clinicians, charities, research funders and researchers throughout the development of the plan. This engagement has helped to shape new and more ambitious actions that deliver meaningful change for the ME/CFS community.
Due to transformation in NHS England, the decision has been made to delay the action to review a case for a specialised service commission until April 2027. Until this time, integrated care boards (ICBs) should continue to commission appropriate services for patients with very severe ME/CFS as needed. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of services for all severity levels of ME/CFS. NHS England and the Department are developing a new template service specification for mild and moderate ME/CFS which will include reference to severe and very severe ME/CFS. Officials, alongside stakeholders, are considering interim measures to support people with very severe ME/CFS.
The Department and NHS England will continue to work with stakeholders across and beyond government and the NHS to progress the agreed actions set out in the plan and to ensure the best possible care for people with ME/CFS.
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 support people with very severe ME following the decision to pause development of a national specialist service until April 2027.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government published the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan in July 2025, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mecfs-the-final-delivery-plan
The plan focuses on three main areas to improve care and support for those with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease. It also sets out a series of actions, which will help address the key challenges and drive forward improvements to outcomes and quality of life for people living with ME/CFS in England.
The Department worked closely with ME/CFS patients, carers, clinicians, charities, research funders and researchers throughout the development of the plan. This engagement has helped to shape new and more ambitious actions that deliver meaningful change for the ME/CFS community.
Due to transformation in NHS England, the decision has been made to delay the action to review a case for a specialised service commission until April 2027. Until this time, integrated care boards (ICBs) should continue to commission appropriate services for patients with very severe ME/CFS as needed. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of services for all severity levels of ME/CFS. NHS England and the Department are developing a new template service specification for mild and moderate ME/CFS which will include reference to severe and very severe ME/CFS. Officials, alongside stakeholders, are considering interim measures to support people with very severe ME/CFS.
The Department and NHS England will continue to work with stakeholders across and beyond government and the NHS to progress the agreed actions set out in the plan and to ensure the best possible care for people with ME/CFS.
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 plans the Government has to introduce mandatory, up-to-date menopause training for all general practitioners; and whether there will be measures to ensure consistency in diagnosis and treatment across NHS services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that more needs to be done to support women experiencing the menopause. The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we reform the National Health Service.
General practitioners are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge, including on menopause, remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.
All United Kingdom registered doctors are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) Good Medical Practice. The training curriculum for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners, and has to meet the standards set by the GMC.
NICE published their updated guideline in November 2024 and recommended more treatment choices for menopause symptoms. The updated guideline aims to support healthcare professionals by providing them with the information they need to support evidence-based decisions about treatment choices, as well as information and support about menopause. The guideline recommends hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as the most effective treatment for vasomotor symptoms, and also recommends that for people over 40 years old healthcare professionals should consider menopause-specific cognitive behavioural therapy as an option for vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause in addition to HRT. HRT is the main treatment for menopause symptoms, and NICE recommends that for most women it is safe and effective.
The new women’s health data dashboard released last week reports on HRT use in different areas of the country and provides one measure of how consistently services are being provided.
NHS England will shortly publish an equity framework which will help systems identify and tackle inequalities in access to menopause care and regularly report on differences in HRT use for women of different ethnicities and of different socio-economic status.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential tax implications for recipients for civil of service pensions due to Capita delays with payments.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office acknowledges the potential tax implications regarding pension arrears. For the vast majority of members, receiving arrears will not result in a higher tax liability as they will remain within the same tax band across the relevant years. However, where an arrears payment causes a member to move into a higher tax bracket in the year of receipt, individuals may request a schedule from the scheme administrator (Capita) to submit to HMRC.
This schedule allows HMRC to assess the tax on an accruals basis, spreading the income back to the years in which it was due to ensure the member pays the correct amount of tax.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she (a) is taking steps to reduce fuel duty and (b) has considered halving fuel duty to help reduce the cost of living.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has already taken action on fuel affordability at the pump.
At Budget 2025, the Government extended the 5p-per-litre cut for a further five months, until the end of August this year.
The Government has also cancelled the increase in line with inflation for 2026/27. Instead, rates will only gradually return to early 2022 levels by March 2027.
Since Autumn Budget 2024, the Government's decisions to freeze fuel duty will save the average motorist over £90.
Fuel duty raises approximately £24 billion each year, where this revenue helps fund the vital public services and infrastructure that people across the UK expect.
As with all taxes, the Government keeps fuel duty under review.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support young people with special educational needs and disabilities into employment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Pathways to Work guarantee will ensure an offer of personalised work, health and skills support to disabled people and people with health conditions. Access to Work can support workplace adjustments that go beyond what would normally be expected from an employer to enable work. Young people will also be eligible for additional support through the Youth Guarantee.
Through Pathways to Work, young people with special educational needs have access to tailored support, including help into supported employment through Connect to Work. Our local economic inactivity and youth guarantee trailblazers include testing approaches to targeted support for young people with SEND.
We've also launched a review into Young People Work and Health led by Alan Milburn to understand the reasons behind young people becoming NEET, with a particular focus on mental health and disability.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of a national strategy to discourage littering, particularly on roads and pavements.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Overall policy responsibility for litter sits with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which has recently published an updated Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. The Department for Transport supports local authorities and National Highways in tackling litter through a range of existing frameworks and initiatives, including activity focused on encouraging positive behaviour change and the effective use of enforcement powers.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her department has an estimation of the number of houses in Farnham and Bordon with poor broadband that will be left without a telephone connection following the landline to digital switchover.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Landlines are not being removed. The technology underpinning the analogue landline network, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), is being upgraded to digital Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
In order to function correctly, VoIP requires a minimum connection speed of just 0.5 megabytes per second. It is possible to order a VoIP landline without purchasing a broadband connection.
In November 2024, the Government secured additional safeguards from the telecoms industry. These include the provision of free battery back-ups for vulnerable and landline dependent customers to ensure access to emergency services go beyond the Ofcom’s minimum requirement of one hour in a power outage. Many communication providers have gone further, providing battery back-ups of 4-7 hours, with back-up time for VoIP-only connections likely to be at the higher end of this range as the battery run-time is primarily driven by power consumption.
In March 2026, the Government and industry agreed a new Fixed Telecoms Charter to extend these safeguards to all future fixed telecoms modernisation programmes.
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 the capacity is of NHS specialist menopause services; and what average waiting times are for women accessing these services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not centrally hold data on the number of patients in England awaiting specialist menopause services, although we do hold data on the broader gynaecology specialism, of which menopause services are a part. As of the end of January 2026, the median average waiting time for specialist gynaecology services is 15.3 weeks, with 56.9% of patient pathways waiting less than 18 weeks, up 1.8% from January 2025.
The Department does not hold detailed information on the capacity of National Health Service specialist menopause services.
The Government acknowledges that women suffering from symptoms of menopause have been failed for far too long, and we acknowledge the impact it has on women’s lives, relationships, and participation in the workplace. Menopause and menstrual problems will be among the priorities for the NHS’s new online hospital when it launches next year, providing faster access to specialist care.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what value for money assessment her Department has made of the expenditure of £14 million on the solar panel project in Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In the press release issued to mark the launch of British International Investment (BII) by the former Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in November 2021, the previous government specifically stated: "[This] builds on the Prime Minister's commitments at COP26 to help developing countries take advantage of clean technology and grow their economies sustainably, with the BII delivering billions in climate financing for projects like solar power, sustainable transport and disaster-resilient infrastructure over the next 5 years."
The investment in question will support delivery of a major new electrification project, led by a BII-owned company, which will provide a profitable return for UK investment, while also helping to prevent large-scale deforestation, reduce carbon emissions, and support stability in a conflict affected region. This is consistent with the UK's wider International Climate Finance strategy, established under the previous government.