Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on the River Thames Scheme.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The River Thames Scheme is a proposed flood risk management project being developed by the Environment Agency and Surrey County Council. It is a landscape-based project designed to reduce flood risk to over 11,000 homes and businesses, while also creating new green open spaces and sustainable travel routes.
The River Thames Scheme is currently in mid project review. This review is to ensure that the scheme remains efficient, cost-effective and aligned with long-term goals; and to ensure the project delivers flood risk benefits in a robust and sustainable manner.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Integrated Care Boards to facilitate the return of used (a) wheelchairs and (b) other medical equipment.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In October 2024, the Department published the Design for Life roadmap, a new strategy to transition away from all avoidable single-use medical technology (MedTech) products towards a functioning circular system by 2045. This includes improving systems that enable the return of mobility aids, such as wheelchairs, and many other types of MedTech.
The Design for Life Roadmap is available at the following link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/679ca015a9ee53687470a2ed/design-for-life-roadmap.pdf
This was developed in discussion with a collaborative of more than 80 stakeholders from the UK MedTech industry, the health family, and academia, with wide support across the sector. Moving forward, the Department will continue to engage with the expanding collaborative, including with integrated care boards, to design and implement the systems that facilitate greater levels of return of used MedTech.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of taxing horse racing at the same rates of other types of gambling on the horse racing industry.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government consultation on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one closed on 21 July 2025. Responses are now being analysed and a response to the consultation will be published at Autumn Budget 2025.
If any changes are made to gambling duties at a future Budget following the consultation, they will be accompanied by a Tax Information and Impact Note which will set out the expected impacts.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many wheelchairs the NHS have issued in the last year.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services.
Data on the number of National Health Service wheelchairs issued is not held centrally. While NHS England collects quarterly data from ICBs through the National Wheelchair Data Collection, which supports the drive for improvements in wheelchair services, this is ICB-level data that does not include specific data on individual services, such as numbers of wheelchairs issued. Further information about the National Wheelchair Data Collection is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/national-wheelchair/
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the evidential basis is for encouraging children with SEND into mainstream schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department has published independently commissioned insight from the Delivering Better Value programme. This research suggests that, if the system were extensively improved, including using early intervention and better resourcing mainstream schools, tens of thousands more children and young people could have their needs met without the need for lengthy waits and assessments, and have their needs met in a mainstream setting, rather than a specialist placement. Further detail on the research is available here: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63b6e5debb4b0114060dc226/66421eaae18cb50ccc378780_66421a046d5569ec0ad11674_DBV%20-%20Phase%201%20Insights%20Summary_Website%20v1.0_Final.pdf.
Further details of the government's intended approach to special educational needs and disabilities reform will be set out in a White Paper in the autumn.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has agreed a new two-year contract to put asylum seekers in the Mercure Stanwell Hotel.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It has been the longstanding policy of the Home Office under successive governments not to disclose information about specific hotels which may or may not be used for asylum accommodation.
However, the Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders to fulfil our statutory obligations and deliver our commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels, by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to close the asylum hotel in Spelthorne constituency.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It has been the longstanding policy of the Home Office under successive governments not to disclose information about specific hotels which may or may not be used for asylum accommodation.
However, the Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders to fulfil our statutory obligations and deliver our commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels, by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent people residing in asylum hotels from taking up illegal employment.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is determined to tackle illegal working, and since coming to office, we have increased the number of raids, arrests and fines against offenders to their highest level in almost a decade.
We have also secured pledges from delivery firms to increase verification checks on their drivers, and introduced new legislation in the Border Security Bill to make employment checks mandatory in the gig economy. It remains very disappointing that the party opposite chose to vote against those crucial measures.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press release entitled UK to purchase F-35As and join NATO nuclear mission as Government steps up national security and delivers defence dividend, published on 24 June 2025, whether his Department plans to buy fewer F-35B aircraft.
Answered by Maria Eagle
The Ministry of Defence will initially purchase 12 F-35A aircraft from within previously agreed F-35B purchase schedules. Future F-35 purchases will be reviewed as part of the Defence Investment Plan, which will conclude in the autumn.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the average time was for an export license to be granted to a defence business from first application to approval in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
During 2024, the median processing time in SPIRE for all completed Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL) applications was 16 working days. On average, completed SIEL applications account for around 95% of all completed licence applications. We do not gather the median processing time per sector.