Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Lee Pitcher Excerpts
Wednesday 5th March 2025

(1 day, 13 hours ago)

Commons Chamber
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Keir Starmer Portrait The Prime Minister
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We put a record amount into farming in the Budget—£5 billion. We have set out our road map for farming, which has been welcomed by the National Farmers Union. As the right hon. Lady knows, the vast majority of farms will not be affected by the provisions that we are putting in place.

Lee Pitcher Portrait Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)
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For months, my constituents in Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme have been telling me how fed up they are with not being able to get an appointment because of the 8 am scramble. The last thing they need when they are ill is to have to pick up the phone and wait, and fight again to be first. It is great news that the Government’s new GP contract will start to resolve that, but can the Prime Minister reassure my constituents who cannot use technology that they will still be able to book an appointment?

Keir Starmer Portrait The Prime Minister
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Last week, for the first time in four years, the British Medical Association agreed the GP contract with the Government, worth an extra £889 million. Patients will be able to request appointments online from October, but I absolutely reassure my hon. Friend and others that that will free up the phones for those who need them most, and help end the 8 am scramble.