Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that embassies, high commissions and consulates provide adequate support to families when a family member dies when abroad temporarily.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2025, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) assisted families of over 6,500 British nationals who died overseas, with extra support for those in vulnerable circumstances such as bereavement through murder, manslaughter, or suspicious death. Assistance includes providing country-specific guides, which inform families of local procedures and information on how to bring a loved one back to the UK. The FCDO always welcomes feedback on the service provided, and seeks to learn lessons from it, especially when a bereaved family feels that they have not had the support they would expect.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment on the impact of the changes to immigration rules on those currently in the visa renewal process.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In relation to the 2026 Spring Rules change, the Home Office has updated our identity requirements. The change to Rule 34(5)(a) will reduce the need for applicants to keep having to attend a Visa and Citizenship Application Service (VCAS) centre every time they make an immigration application for further permission to stay in the UK. This change will enable applicants who have previously enrolled their biometrics under controlled conditions, such as at a VCAS centre, and who are making a new in-country immigration application, to have their identity reused. The change to facilitate the re-use of digital identity neither creates new powers nor extends identity reuse to applicants overseas but will have required one-off implementation costs to the public sector. While unquantified, these implementation costs are likely to be offset by ongoing efficiency savings from modernising, digitising and streamlining application processes, which improve the customer experience whilst maintaining public safety.
In respect of wider Spring Rules changes, the Home Office has produced two impact assessments and two economic notes for the four Immigration Rules changes which met the threshold for requiring one. These are published alongside the Exploratory Memorandum and Statement of Changes on the GOV.UK website: Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC 1691, 5 March 2026 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure spousal visa applications remain affordable in the context of the additional costs of the immigration healthcare surcharge.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office has always provided for exceptions to the need to pay application fees in a number of specific circumstances. These include affordability-based waivers for entry clearance and leave to remain on family and human rights routes. In such cases, where an application is made on a family or human rights route and supported by clear and compelling evidence of unaffordability, either the Immigration Health Surcharge or both the visa fee and Surcharge may be waived. A fee waiver application must be submitted in-time and prior to the immigration application. Information on eligibility for Fee Waiver applications can be found on GOV.UK at the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/visa-fee-waiver-in-uk
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has provided in Bereavement Support Payments in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department provided £208m in Bereavement Support Payments during financial year 2024/25 (the latest year for which figures are currently available). Full figures are available in the outturn & forecast tables, found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-expenditure-tables
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2026 to Question 115740 on Ajax Vehicles: Procurement, what remedies his Department has available should General Dynamics UK be in material breach of its obligations under the contract to supply Ajax-family vehicles.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
DEFCON 514 did not exist at the point the Ajax contract was placed. However, the narrative conditions included in the Ajax contract are at least as favourable to the Authority as DEFCON 514.
If General Dynamics UK are determined to be in Material Breach of its obligations under the contract, the Authority has a range of remedies available to them to secure the successful delivery of the vehicles, including but not limited to, step in rights, demand recovery plans, or terminate.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2026 to Question 115740 on Ajax Vehicles: Procurement, for what reason DEFCON 514 was excluded from his Department’s contract with General Dynamics UK for the supply of Ajax-family vehicles.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
DEFCON 514 did not exist at the point the Ajax contract was placed. However, the narrative conditions included in the Ajax contract are at least as favourable to the Authority as DEFCON 514.
If General Dynamics UK are determined to be in Material Breach of its obligations under the contract, the Authority has a range of remedies available to them to secure the successful delivery of the vehicles, including but not limited to, step in rights, demand recovery plans, or terminate.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the number of staff dedicated to preparing the Defence Investment Plan over the last twelve months.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Investment Plan has been supported by a flexible cross‑Defence team, with personnel allocated at the right level to reflect the complexity of the work and ensure progress to publication.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has considered replacing the mark 1 30mm cannon on the Type 45 with the DS30M mark 2.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence keeps the capabilities of all Royal Navy platforms under regular review to ensure they remain aligned with operational requirements. The Type 45 Destroyers are equipped with a range of layered defensive systems that continue to meet current operational needs.
Any future consideration of alternative weapon systems would be assessed against cost, capability need, platform integration requirements, crew impacts, and overall value for money in the context of the developing Defence Investment Plan.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support hospices in Lewes constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the majority of palliative care and end-of-life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play a vital part in providing support to people at the end of their life, as well as their loved ones.
The Government is providing £125 million in capital funding for eligible adult, and children and young people’s, hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. Of this, St Peter and St James Hospice is receiving £392,580, St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne is receiving £793,464, and the Southern Hospice Group, which includes Chestnut Tree House Hospice and Martlets, is receiving £2,985,422, and together, these services support people in the Lewes constituency.
Children and young people’s hospices in England are receiving an additional £26 million in revenue funding for 2025/26, of which Chestnut Tree House will receive £713,000.
We have also recently announced the continuation of this funding, with approximately £80 million in revenue funding, to be provided over the next three years. I can confirm that Chestnut Tree House will receive £728,000 in 2026/27.
Additionally, the Government is developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. It will drive improvements in access, quality, and sustainability, and support integrated care boards to commission high-quality, personalised care. Through our MSF, we will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end-of-life care services, and we will also consider contracting and commissioning arrangements.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his department updated the Leonardo contract for new medium helicopters (NMH) in line with inflation.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Tenderers were required to hold their price for the duration of the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) procurement process, and there has been no change to the contract price from the received tender.
As I noted in my Written Statement to the House of 3 March 2026, this contract will supply our military with 23 modern helicopters, built in the UK, directly sustaining 3,300 British jobs at Leonardo Yeovil, and enables the potential for over £15 billion of export opportunities over the next decade.