Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to support (a) social and (b) cultural assimilation of legal immigrants arriving in the UK.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Immigration White Paper, published on Monday 12 May, announced proposals on a wide range of reforms, including in the areas of community cohesion, integration and English language requirements, further details of which will be set out in due course.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education,with reference to the Education Policy Institute's Annual Report 2025, what plans she has to review the (a) adequacy and (b) targeting of disadvantage funding across all education phases in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
In the 2025/26 financial year, 10.6%, representing £5.1 billion of the schools national funding formula (NFF), has been allocated through deprivation factors, as part of the 17.8%, representing £8.6 billion, allocated for additional needs overall. Schools with more pupils with additional needs therefore receive extra funding to help them to close attainment gaps. In 2025/26, the most deprived schools have, on average, attracted the largest per pupil funding amounts. The per pupil funding rates provided in respect of all NFF additional needs factors can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/674f2609d7e2693e0e47d02a/NFF_Policy_document.pdf.
Alongside the NFF, the department is providing over £3 billion in pupil premium funding in 2025/26 to improve the attainment and wider outcomes of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Pupil premium funding allocations can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2025-to-2026.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the pupil premium at reducing attainment gaps in (a) England and (b) in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Schools receive pupil premium, worth over £3 billion in 2025/26, to support disadvantaged pupils’ educational outcomes. South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency’s pupil premium allocation this financial year is £5.59 million.
The department published an evaluation of pupil and recovery premia in March 2025: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67dd5b7f0114b0b86e59f42b/Pupil_premium_and_recovery_premium_evaluation.pdf.
This contained positive findings, for example 85% of schools and 91% of trusts agreed that having pupil premium meant they had a better strategy for meeting disadvantaged pupils’ needs.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with local authorities on ensuring the safety of (a) wheelchair users, (b) people with visual impairments and (c) parents with prams when pavements are obstructed by parked vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with local authorities on these matters. The Government fully understands the serious problems that vehicles parked on the pavement, and other obstacles on the pavement, can cause for pedestrians, especially for people with mobility or sight impairments and those with wheelchairs, prams or pushchairs. The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible. In the meantime, local authorities can make use of existing powers to manage pavement parking, and it is up to them to decide where to restrict pavement parking and what enforcement is appropriate. Recent reforms by my Department to the process by which Traffic Regulation Orders are made will make it easier for them to do so.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of pavement parking on people with (a) sight loss, (b) mobility impairments and (c) other disabilities.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with local authorities on these matters. The Government fully understands the serious problems that vehicles parked on the pavement, and other obstacles on the pavement, can cause for pedestrians, especially for people with mobility or sight impairments and those with wheelchairs, prams or pushchairs. The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible. In the meantime, local authorities can make use of existing powers to manage pavement parking, and it is up to them to decide where to restrict pavement parking and what enforcement is appropriate. Recent reforms by my Department to the process by which Traffic Regulation Orders are made will make it easier for them to do so.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with care and support charities on proposed VAT rule changes.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government recognises the significant challenges facing the adult social care system and is committed to transforming the sector and supporting the care workforce. At the Spending Review the Government announced an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector to improve adult social care. This includes an increase to the NHS’s minimum contribution to adult social care via the Better Care Fund, in line with DHSC's Spending Review settlement.
Supplies of welfare services, including the provision of care, are exempt from VAT if they are supplied by eligible bodies, such as public bodies or charities.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increased National Insurance contributions on voluntary sector health organisations.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
To support social care authorities to deliver key services, in light of pressures, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. This is part of an overall increase to local government spending power of 6.8% in cash terms.
More widely, the Government provides support for charities, including hospices, via our tax regime, which is among the most generous of anywhere in the world. Tax reliefs for charities and their donors was worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 guarantee the inclusion of (a) Admiral Nurses and (b) other dementia specialist nurses as core members of the Neighbourhood Health Service.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Neighbourhood Health Service will bring together teams of professionals closer to people’s homes to work together to provide comprehensive care in the community. We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations, and so they could include dementia specialist nurses. While we will be clear on the outcomes we expect, we will give significant licence to tailor the approach to local need. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, that will mean the service will look different in rural communities, coastal towns, or deprived inner cities.
Provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We would expect ICBs to commission services, which may include dementia specialist nurses/admiral nurses, based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. NICE recommends providing people living with dementia with a single named health or social care professional who is responsible for coordinating their care.
Under the 10-Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services. We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 the 10-year dementia plan leads to a consistent standard of care and support for dementia patients across communities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.
We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
The Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.
Those with dementia will also benefit from more joined up care through co-created care plans, and by 2027, 95% of those with complex needs will have an agreed care plan.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to commission an independent review of how severity is defined in NICE appraisals and its effect on access to new cancer drugs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its recommendations. The severity modifier was introduced in January 2022 as part of a number of changes intended to make NICE’s methods fairer, faster, and more consistent.
NICE carried out a review of the implementation of the severity modifier in September 2024 and found that it is operating as intended. This showed that the proportion of positive cancer recommendations is higher, at 84.8%, than with the end-of-life modifier it replaced, at 75%, and the proportion of positive recommendations for advanced cancer treatments is also higher, 81.1% compared to 69%.
NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future method reviews.