Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure the NHS Find a dentist online service contains accurate information.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of tax calculations made through HMRC's Simple Assessment procedure were subsequently found to be incorrect in each of the last five years.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Simple Assessments are based on data from customers and third parties, such as employers, pension providers, Department for Work and Pensions and financial institutions. If any of this data is incorrect, customers can raise a query by identifying the errors and providing corrected figures to HMRC. HMRC will then revise or withdraw the assessment.
HMRC does not hold data centrally on the number of Simple Assessments amended or withdrawn over the past five years
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the mean average length of time from submission to payment for (a) the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (b) the Group Litigation Order Scheme and (c) the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government has greatly accelerated redress. The total amount paid to victims has increased fivefold since July 2024. We have begun payments of a £75,000 fixed offer for those postmasters in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) who want to accept it.
For HSS, the average time from claim submission to final settlement payment is 183 working days, inclusive of fixed sum and full assessed claims.
For GLO, the average time from full claim submission to final settlement payment is 64 working days, inclusive of fixed sum and full assessed claims.
For HCRS, it has taken on average 7 working days from claimants submitting their claim to receiving payment, with all settled claims to date being fixed sum settlements.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 reduce waiting times for gynaecological referrals in Shropshire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to driving down waiting times in England, including for gynaecological services in Shropshire. We have wasted no time in getting to work cutting National Health Service waiting lists and ensuring people have the best possible experience during their care.
We promised change, and we’ve delivered early, with a reduction in the national waiting list between June 2024 and June 2025 of over 252,000, despite over 21 million referrals onto the list since July 2024.
We have fulfilled our pledge to deliver over two million more elective care appointments early. More than double that number, 4.9 million more appointments, have now been delivered as of June 2025.
This marks a vital First Step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029.
Between July 2024 and June 2025, the gynaecology waiting list at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust fell by 17.9%, dropping from 4,197 patients to 3,445. During the same period, the percentage of patients starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral rose significantly from 43.8% to 64.4%, marking an improvement of 20.6%.
The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, committed to providing quicker access for patients to common surgical hub procedures by ramping up the number of surgical hubs over the next three years.
There are currently 120 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England as of September 2025. This includes three surgical hubs within the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System. The most recent to open in the region was the Princess Royal Hospital Elective Surgical Hub, which opened in June 2024 and offers gynaecological services.
These dedicated and protected surgical hubs transform the way the NHS provides elective care by focusing on providing high volume low complexity surgery, as recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
The Elective Reform Plan also commits to transform and expand diagnostic services and speed up waiting times for tests, a crucial part of reducing overall waiting times and returning to the referral to treatment 18-week standard. There is currently one community diagnostic centre (CDC) in the region, the Shrewsbury Telford and Wrekin Community Diagnostic Centre in Telford. This CDC is providing additional diagnostic capacity to see patients away from hospital sites, providing key diagnostic tests such as computed tomography and ultrasound, thereby reducing unnecessary hospital visits.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of HMRC's simple assessment procedure.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Simple Assessment enables HMRC to collect Income Tax from individuals without the need for customers to complete a Self Assessment return. As Simple Assessment tax calculations are based on data HMRC already holds, customers benefit from a simplified process. If a customer believes their Simple Assessment is wrong, they can query it with HMRC.
HMRC continues to improve the Simple Assessment process, including by making the Simple Assessment notice clearer for customers; expanding customer payment options; and trialling payment reminders.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on making clear recycling labels mandatory for pharmaceutical packaging.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to introducing mandatory recycling labelling for packaging. We are aiming to do this in 2028 once we have reviewed the potential to bring forward an approach that is consistent with the provisions being established under PPWR for the EU.
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues. The Secretary of State has not yet had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the details of the labelling requirements as this is still to be developed following review of the EU equivalent regime.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that developer funding contributes to the improvement of sporting facilities in the local area.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I will continue to discuss how the planning system can contribute to the provision of local sporting facilities with my ministerial colleagues at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, helps local authorities assess likely increases in demand for sports facilities, and advises on how Section 106 agreements with developers can be used to secure the necessary improvements or creation of these facilities to benefit the community.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of rural broadband coverage.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Rural broadband coverage is not good enough. We are delivering nationwide gigabit broadband, through Project Gigabit.
Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, 89% of premises benefitting from government broadband schemes were in rural areas.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the Stroke Association’s report entitled Unlocking Potential: A Bold Vision for Stroke Care in England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We welcome the report of the Stroke Association and its recommendations, which are closely aligned with the 10-Year Health Plan’s three big shifts of hospital to community, analogue to digital and treatment to prevention.
This Government is committed to ensuring fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). That is why this Government has set an ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next 10 years.
To deliver on this ambition, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England are working together to understand both the scale of the challenge and the opportunities for progress across the prevention, treatment and management of CVD.
We are engaging with stakeholders to put the best available evidence and expert opinion at the heart of this ambition and to gather a diverse range of views.
We have committed in the 10-Year Health Plan to publish a Modern Service Framework for CVD in 2026. This will identify and set standards for the best evidenced interventions, drive innovation in CVD prevention and management, and reduce unwarranted variation in healthcare.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to reduce the time HMRC takes to process tax repayment claims.
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, 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.