Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to improve the Child Maintenance Service.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government has announced ambitious plans to reform the CMS.

Moving all cases to a single service, where payments are collected and transferred will provide an improved service, quickly identifying and tackling missed payments and lifting more children out of poverty.

The Government has also been undertaking a review of the child maintenance calculation and announced its intention to publish a consultation.

The Department continues to optimise digital channels, delivering services more efficiently and effectively.

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 ensure equitable access England to (a) diagnosis, (b) treatment and (c) specialist rehabilitation services for patients with Functional Neurological Disorder.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The majority of services for people with neurological conditions, including functional neurological disorder (FND), are commissioned locally. Integrated care board (ICB) commissioners are best placed to configure services for their populations and are supported by clinical guidance.

More widely, NHS England’s Neuroscience Transformation Programme is supporting ICBs to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, which includes providing care closer to home.

NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and RightCare Toolkits, including the Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit, the Headache and Migraine Toolkit, and the Epilepsy Toolkit, aim to improve care for patients with neurological conditions by reducing variation.

On 15 October 2025, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published new guidance, titled Rehabilitation for chronic neurological disorders including acquired brain injury. The guideline covers rehabilitation in all settings for children, young people, and adults with a chronic neurological disorder, neurological impairment, or disabling neurological symptoms resulting from acquired brain injury, spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve disorder, progressive neurological disease, or FND. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10181

Found: Christopher Chope; Mr Lee Dillon; Graeme Downie; Tracy Gilbert; Gurinder Singh Josan; John Lamont; Lee Pitcher