Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the answer of 23 December 2025 to Question 100077 on Telecommunications: Innovation, whether she plans to connect all populated areas with (a) high and (b) very high connectivity as defined by Ofcom.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government is working with the industry to deliver high quality digital connectivity right across the UK, whether this is fixed, or mobile connectivity. Our ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030, and we expect this to be delivered through the mobile operators' commercial network rollout plans. Ofcom, as the telecommunications regulator is responsible for reporting on coverage.
For both non-standalone and standalone 5G, high and very high confidence thresholds are used. These thresholds are explained in detail in the methodology annex published alongside the Connected Nations 2025 report. This states that high confidence is associated with a probability of at least 80% of coverage being present in the predicted location and a 95% probability for very high confidence.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to review and reform Dartmoor Commons legislation this Parliament.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is no commitment or timescale for implementing a review or reform of provisions as set out in the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Newton Abbot sent on the 27 of November 2025 with case ref MW04041.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
As the majority of the issues raised do not fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, in line with Cabinet Office guidance, the correspondence was transferred out of the Department and accepted by the Home Office.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2024 to Question 52063 on a pump watch petrol price comparison platform, what recent progress he has made on implementing a statutory open data scheme for fuel prices.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Motor Fuel Price (Open Data) Regulations 2025, which provide the statutory footing for the Fuel Finder scheme, came into force on 18 December 2025. Registration to Fuel Finder has now launched for all petrol stations across the UK. Price reporting obligations for retailers will commence on 2 February and will require all petrol stations in the UK to report their prices within 30 minutes of a change.
Motorists will begin to see the benefits of Fuel Finder later this year as near‑real‑time price data is made available to consumer app and navigational service providers.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2024 to Question 52063 on a pump watch petrol price comparison platform, if he will implement a statutory open data scheme for fuel prices.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Motor Fuel Price (Open Data) Regulations 2025, which provide the statutory footing for the Fuel Finder scheme, came into force on 18 December 2025. Registration to Fuel Finder has now launched for all petrol stations across the UK. Price reporting obligations for retailers will commence on 2 February and will require all petrol stations in the UK to report their prices within 30 minutes of a change.
Motorists will begin to see the benefits of Fuel Finder later this year as near‑real‑time price data is made available to consumer app and navigational service providers.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Newton Abbot dated 16 December 2025 on an FOI relating to a request to search for and provide copies of documents then held by the private office of the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson relating to a meeting with Peter Thiel on 28 August 2019.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Cabinet Office responded to the hon. Member’s request on 8 January 2026, within the statutory time limit.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to take into account the time spent on Ukraine Scheme visas and the Ukraine Sponsorship, family, extension and permission extension schemes to qualify for the (a) and (b) 5 year pathway to permanent residence.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 1 September, the Government announced in parliament that the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) would be extended for an additional 24 months to enable those eligible to obtain a further period of permission following their initial permission under UPE.
Individuals who currently have permission under the UPE scheme will be able to apply for the extension online, in advance of their current permission expiring. More detail on the application process will follow in due course.
By requesting Ukrainians to submit an application to further extend their permission, the Home Office can continue to identify those who are still in need of the UK’s sanctuary and residing primarily in the UK, as well as ensure that adequate safeguarding measures are in place for the most vulnerable applicants.
The UK Government has always been clear that our offer of temporary sanctuary under the Ukraine Schemes does not lead to settlement in the UK, nor can it be relied upon to count towards the continuous qualifying period for the purposes of a Long Residence application.
However, the UPE extension reflects a generous and meaningful commitment to support those displaced by the conflict, while also respecting the Ukrainian Government’s strong desire for the future return of its citizens when it is safe to do so. The Government will continue to monitor developments in Ukraine closely and act responsibly in its response.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that the 24-month extension to the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) is applied automatically for those already holding UPE visas.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 1 September, the Government announced in parliament that the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) would be extended for an additional 24 months to enable those eligible to obtain a further period of permission following their initial permission under UPE.
Individuals who currently have permission under the UPE scheme will be able to apply for the extension online, in advance of their current permission expiring. More detail on the application process will follow in due course.
By requesting Ukrainians to submit an application to further extend their permission, the Home Office can continue to identify those who are still in need of the UK’s sanctuary and residing primarily in the UK, as well as ensure that adequate safeguarding measures are in place for the most vulnerable applicants.
The UK Government has always been clear that our offer of temporary sanctuary under the Ukraine Schemes does not lead to settlement in the UK, nor can it be relied upon to count towards the continuous qualifying period for the purposes of a Long Residence application.
However, the UPE extension reflects a generous and meaningful commitment to support those displaced by the conflict, while also respecting the Ukrainian Government’s strong desire for the future return of its citizens when it is safe to do so. The Government will continue to monitor developments in Ukraine closely and act responsibly in its response.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England issues internal guidance to staff on the use of language in planning documents to avoid ambiguity about whether requirements are mandatory.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medium-Term Planning Framework sets national delivery targets for integrated care boards (ICBs) and providers over multiple years. It sets performance expectations, based on nationally determined policies and budgets, and outlines enabling activities which will help ICBs and providers to deliver against said expectations.
Whilst the Medium-Term Planning Framework does not impose requirements as in legislation or the Government mandate, ‘must’ and ‘expected to’ language is used for priority targets and where a nationally consistent approach would be beneficial, for example to reduce unwarranted variation or to ensure that specific Government commitments are met. The word ‘should’ is used in cases where local flexibility is appropriate based on local determination, demographics, and/or prioritisation.
No internal guidance is issued to staff within NHS England specifically on the use of language within the Medium Term Planning Framework, but the text is checked to ensure consistency with the aforementioned principles. A suite of supporting materials, including technical guidance, webinars, and planning standards, are developed and shared across NHS England regions and the wider National Health Service system to support a clear understanding of the expectations and potential approaches to delivery set out in the Medium-Term Planning Framework.
The regionally led assurance process for planning returns allows NHS England to work with ICBs and providers to understand variance from the asks within the Medium-Term Planning Framework, where warranted.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS organisations are expected to justify deviations from NHS England planning guidance where such guidance is non-mandatory.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medium-Term Planning Framework sets national delivery targets for integrated care boards (ICBs) and providers over multiple years. It sets performance expectations, based on nationally determined policies and budgets, and outlines enabling activities which will help ICBs and providers to deliver against said expectations.
Whilst the Medium-Term Planning Framework does not impose requirements as in legislation or the Government mandate, ‘must’ and ‘expected to’ language is used for priority targets and where a nationally consistent approach would be beneficial, for example to reduce unwarranted variation or to ensure that specific Government commitments are met. The word ‘should’ is used in cases where local flexibility is appropriate based on local determination, demographics, and/or prioritisation.
No internal guidance is issued to staff within NHS England specifically on the use of language within the Medium Term Planning Framework, but the text is checked to ensure consistency with the aforementioned principles. A suite of supporting materials, including technical guidance, webinars, and planning standards, are developed and shared across NHS England regions and the wider National Health Service system to support a clear understanding of the expectations and potential approaches to delivery set out in the Medium-Term Planning Framework.
The regionally led assurance process for planning returns allows NHS England to work with ICBs and providers to understand variance from the asks within the Medium-Term Planning Framework, where warranted.