Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on small and medium-sized developers of the withdrawal of water neutrality requirements and associated credit schemes; and whether he plans to introduce a refund or compensation mechanism for developers who purchased credits in good faith before the policy change.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water Neutrality has only been applied in Sussex North and Defra has not run any credit schemes for water neutrality in Sussex North.
Natural England withdrew its position statement advising water neutrality for new development in the Sussex North region in October 2025 following close joint working with Southern Water, the Environment Agency, Defra and environmental partners. This work has delivered a robust package of measures that protects the Arun Valley’s internationally important wetlands while allowing sustainable housing growth to resume, unblocking around 21,000 homes. By ending a four‑year pause and restoring certainty to the planning system, the withdrawal supports small and medium‑sized developers by allowing stalled development to proceed again.
We recognise that some developers engaged with local water neutrality mitigation schemes, including the purchase of water credits, in good faith during the period in which the approach to water neutrality applied. Defra does not operate or hold a financial interest in these schemes, which have been developed and managed by local authorities or private providers. As such, questions relating to refunds or compensation are a matter for the relevant scheme operators, who are best placed to advise on their individual policies and arrangements.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support his Department plans to provide to people who are unable to secure private rented tenancy because they have an active County Court Judgment or are subject to an Individual Voluntary Arrangement.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 93111 on 27 November 2025.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what accountability mechanisms are in place to ensure that Integrated Care Boards meet national service specifications for neurological conditions; and what steps he is taking where ICBs do not meet service specifications.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s Neurology Transformation Programme, which ended in March 2026, was a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care to support integrated care boards (ICBs) to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients. This focuses on providing access equitably across the country, care as close to home as possible, and early intervention to prevent illness and deterioration in patients with long-term neurological conditions. A toolkit was developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model, which includes components on delivering acute neurology services, improving health equity in neurology, and improving community neurology services.
ICBs are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their local population, including for patients with neurological conditions. NHS England continues to set national standards, service specifications, and clinical access policies, which ICBs are expected to apply. Additionally, ICBs are also expected to take National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance into account when considering appropriate care, including for patients with neurological conditions, although these guidelines are not mandatory.
Decisions about how services are prioritised and funded remain a matter for local discretion, and there is no mechanism for the Department to mandate or require specific provision.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Answer of 9 March 2026 to Question 117035 on Arms Trade: Israel, how many of the five licences referenced are for IDF training; and what equipment is covered by those licences.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As referenced in my answer to Question 117035, all five licences were for IDF/Israeli Government training. The equipment covered by those licences included non-lethal ammunition only used in training and not suitable for operational use, components for body armour, components for military training equipment, and various goods permitted to be exported under an Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL).
These exports are in line with the Government’s decision in September 2024 to suspend licences for exports to Israel of equipment that could be used in military operations in Gaza.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Maintenance Service sends template letters to clients stating that a call was attempted in cases where no call was made.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) uses standard letter templates for efficiency, including references to attempted contact, but these are intended to reflect activity recorded on a case. If a letter indicates an attempted call, this should be based on a genuine attempt logged by CMS staff or its telephony systems. Template SMS messages are also sent to customers after failed call attempts.
If a customer believes they have received a letter that does not accurately reflect what has occurred, they are encouraged to raise the matter with the CMS directly so it can be investigated and corrected where appropriate.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the Child Maintenance Service's service level agreement is for contacting clients; and how compliance with that agreement is measured.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) takes a flexible and tailored approach to customer contact, with standards aligned to the nature and complexity of different enquiry types. This ensures customers receive support appropriate to their circumstances and chosen contact channel, rather than through a single overarching service target.
Compliance within these standards is monitored through a range of performance indicators, enabling CMS to assess responsiveness and quality, and to support continuous improvement.
Where specific standards are in place, such as for complaints, CMS aims to contact complainants within 15 working days to provide an outcome or agree next steps.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will conduct an investigation into whether Watchkeeper drone components are being exported from the UK to Israel to support drone exports to Romania.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Watchkeeper unmanned aerial system (UAS) components are licensed from the UK to Israel solely for the purpose of supporting onward export to a Romanian UAS programme.
The Department has published extensive information on our export licences to Israel. This is available here: Israel export control licensing data: 31 July 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) how many people have been assessed at a PIP assessment as having a progressive and life-limiting condition who do not qualify for Special Rules, (b) are in receipt of a fixed-term award, and (c) what is the length of these fixed-term awards.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Special Rules for End of Life exists to ensure that there is timely support for claimants reaching the end of their life. These claimants will receive faster, easier payments of PIP (among other benefits) and will receive the highest rate of benefit payment. The Department regards a PIP claimant as nearing the end of life if they suffer from a progressive disease and the person’s death in consequence of that disease can reasonably be expected within 12 months based on a clinical diagnosis. There is no change to their benefit entitlement should the claimant live longer than these 12 months.
It is not possible to provide a definitive estimate of the number of claimants who have any progressive or life-limiting condition but do not meet the above criteria for Special Rules. This is because, unless a claimant is submitting evidence of eligibility for Special Rules, the department only collects information on the health conditions of claimants, not their severity or whether they are life-limiting and progressive.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether academies and free schools will be classed as public settings for the purpose of the Government's ambition that half of all food served in public settings is either locally sourced or certified to higher environmental standards.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is open to considering all lawful means of achieving its ambition that half of all food purchased across the public sector should be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards. Approximately half the £4.9bn annual spend on public sector food and catering in England is attributable to education settings, which represents a significant opportunity to deliver healthy outcomes for the public, contribute to sustainability goals and support domestic growth.
Defra has published a new national procurement policy statement. It sets expectations for Government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that we think high-quality British producers are well-placed to meet.
Further, the Government is currently assessing what food the public sector buys and where it comes from. This will help inform our future approach on public sector food procurement, including for state-funded education settings.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether as part of the Timms Review his Department intends to make reductions in total PIP expenditure.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have launched the Timms Review to ensure we have a system that supports disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence, including through employment.
The Review is being co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, carers, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard.
The group has established its ways of working, themes for the Review, launched a Call for Evidence, and outlined its varied approach to evidence gathering. It will continue to meet regularly over the course of this year to determine the Review's strategic direction, priorities and its recommendations. I cannot pre-empt the outcome of this work, but the Terms of Reference for the Review stipulate that “the Review will operate within the OBR’s projections for future PIP expenditure”.