Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps they have taken to reform the performance management regime for the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC); and when they expect substantive changes to that regime to be implemented.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has undertaken a period of engagement with its contracted Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract Providers regarding the performance management arrangements under these contracts. Discussions and a review of the performance management regime have now concluded. The Home Office and the providers were unable to reach agreement on proposed changes to the regime. As the Home Office cannot unilaterally amend the contractual terms without the agreement of the relevant providers, the existing performance management regime remains in full force and effect.
Excess profits of £45.9m have been returned to the Department since 2019 in relation to the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract’s profit share provisions. A further breakdown of this figure cannot be provided at this time.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if they will list the excess profits recorded under each of the seven regional Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC) for each year from 2019 to 2024; and how much has been returned to the Department by the respective contract providers for each of those years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has undertaken a period of engagement with its contracted Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract Providers regarding the performance management arrangements under these contracts. Discussions and a review of the performance management regime have now concluded. The Home Office and the providers were unable to reach agreement on proposed changes to the regime. As the Home Office cannot unilaterally amend the contractual terms without the agreement of the relevant providers, the existing performance management regime remains in full force and effect.
Excess profits of £45.9m have been returned to the Department since 2019 in relation to the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract’s profit share provisions. A further breakdown of this figure cannot be provided at this time.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if they will list the total number of performance failures recorded under each of the seven regional Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC) in each year from 2019 to 2024; and what the total value of the financial penalties levied in response was in each of those years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are currently engaged in the management and oversight of asylum accommodation contracts, broken down by (a) directly employed departmental staff and (b) external contractors and consultancy personnel; and what the total annual cost is of (i) directly employed staff, including salaries, employer National Insurance contributions and pension costs, and (ii) external contracts for consultancy or contract management services.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress she has made on implementing the recommendations of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in the report entitled Economics of music streaming, Session 2021-22, HC 50; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that non-featured performers and other contributors to recorded music are adequately remunerated for the streaming of their work.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ensuring that music creators are fairly compensated for their work is crucial to the ongoing success of our world-class music industry, as this is what allows them to invest their time, effort, and money into creating music.
Through the Creator Remuneration Working Group, we collaborated on this matter with key industry stakeholders, including major and independent record labels and music creator representatives.
In July 2025, we were delighted to welcome the new label-led principles as an output of these discussions. This includes targeted support for legacy artists, songwriters and session musicians, with the commitment from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and the Musicians’ Union to increase fees for session musicians by 40% for pop and 15% for classical sessions. The UK’s major labels have also launched bespoke packages to deliver benefits for UK creators.
To track progress and measure success, the government has worked with industry to implement a robust process to monitor and review the impact of the Principles. The Government will then assess the need for further intervention to ensure this package delivers on its objective to bring about real change.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the payment of (a) PAYE income tax and (b) National Insurance contributions in respect of UK-based employees is considered as evidence that an organisation is operating in the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In relation to the licensing of businesses for the purposes of Sponsoring overseas employers, the evidential options to demonstrate that they have a UK footprint and trading presence are set out in Appendix A of the Sponsor guidance.
This can be found at: Sponsor guidance appendix A: supporting documents for sponsor applications - GOV.UK
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the maintenance cost to councils of ageing water infrastructure.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department collects data about local authorities’ expenditure and income relating to all services through the General Fund Revenue Outturn data collection. All expenditure data on environmental and regulatory services for 2024-25 are published within the local authority revenue expenditure and financing statistics and can be found in the RO5 tables. This does not include a specific breakdown for maintaining water infrastructure.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits to the effectiveness of highway maintenance of mapping underground water infrastructure.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Responsibility for the management and maintenance of local roads, including associated assets such as drainage, rests with local highway authorities. Local decision‑making allows authorities to reflect local conditions, risks and priorities when planning and delivering maintenance activities.
To support local highway authorities in the maintenance of their highway networks, the Government has confirmed a record investment of £7.3 billion for local highways maintenance over the next four years, which gives local highway authorities the flexibility to invest in data, maintenance and preventative interventions in line with local needs and best practice.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of ageing water infrastructure on road surfaces.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Effective management of surface water is an important part of maintaining the road network. Poor drainage can accelerate the deterioration of road surfaces and structures, increase the need for reactive maintenance, and contribute to the undermining of earthworks and other highway assets. This is why drainage is treated as a core component of highway asset management, and why the Department supports a whole‑life, risk‑based approach to maintaining highway infrastructure.
The Government is providing record levels of funding for local roads maintenance. Between 2026‑27 and 2029‑30, the Government is investing £7.3 billion in local highways maintenance, giving local highway authorities the certainty and flexibility to plan preventative maintenance, including for drainage and other associated assets.
In addition, the Department recently launched the Structures Fund, which will support local highway authorities to repair or replace large transport structures such as bridges, tunnels, retaining walls and other critical assets. This will help protect the resilience of the local road network and reduce the longer‑term impacts of asset deterioration, including those linked to water and drainage.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of social care support available to those diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In October 2025, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidance on rehabilitation for chronic neurological disorders, including acquired brain injury, with the reference code NG252. This guidance includes functional neurological disorder (FND) within its scope.
NHS England’s updated Specialised Neurology Service Specification, published in August 2025, includes specific reference to FND. It states that all specialised neurology centres must include access to treatment services for FND. Service specifications are important in clearly defining the standards of care expected from organisations funded by NHS England to provide specialised care.
There are a number of other national-level initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with neurological conditions, including FND, such as the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the recently completed Neurology Transformation Programme, which aim to improve care for people by reducing variation and delivering care more equitably across England.
Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. In doing so, they should use local population and market data to inform commissioning decisions and encourage a wide range of service provision to ensure that people have a choice of appropriate and high-quality care services in their local area, including for conditions such as FND.