Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department to ensure that 5% of GDP is spent on defence before 2035.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At the Spending Review, we set budgets taking ‘core’ defence spending to 2.6% by 2027; next Parliament we have an ambition to reach 3% when fiscal and economic conditions allow.
Additionally, under the new NATO Defence Investment Pledge, the government has committed to hitting a headline ambition of 5% of GDP in the Parliament after next (2035-36). The 5% will be split into 1.5% of defence and security related spending and 3.5% of core defence spending with the overall ambition, trajectory and split to be reviewed in 2029.
We will set out our plans for the next spending review period at Spending Review 2027.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is her Department's policy on targets for net migration.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government recognises and values the contribution that legal migration makes to the UK.
But under the previous Government, between 2019 and 2024, net migration almost quadrupled, heavily driven by a big increase in overseas recruitment.
The Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper, published on 12 May, sets out reforms to legal migration, so that we can restore order, control and fairness to the system, bring down net migration and promote economic growth.
Previous governments have set targets and then not met them, which has undermined the credibility of the system. Instead, we want to restore public confidence with a series of steps to replace our failing system with one that reduces net migration substantially.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support the solar industry.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government supports ground mount solar through its Contracts for Difference scheme, which has supported 7.5GW so far. It supports demand for rooftop solar by various means, including favourable tax treatment, permitted development rights, new building standards, the Smart Export Guarantee, and the £13.2bn being made available through the ambitious Warm Homes Plan.
The Government recently published the Solar Roadmap, which set out actions for government and industry to remove barriers to deployment. Progress will be monitored by a Ministerially chaired Solar Council, allowing industry representatives to engage directly on any challenges or opportunities which arise.
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 his Department's planned timetable is for increasing the annual provision of specialty training places for resident doctors.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan published in July 2025, over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course
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 potential merits of conducting efficiency savings to fund more (a) clinical staff and (b) equipment in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance made it clear that the National Health Service must live within the budget it is allocated, reduce waste and increase productivity to deliver growth against demand. The Autumn Statement 2024 reaffirmed a 2% NHS productivity growth target for 2025/26, and the recent Spending Review set out the commitment to achieve 2% productivity growth across the Spending Review period, supported by up to £10 billion of technology and digital investment.
As part of the 2025/26 planning process, all NHS systems set efficiency and savings targets necessary to achieve a balanced financial position, and planned delivery of the other national priorities set out in planning guidance including recovering elective activity. To help organisations identify savings and plan for 2025/26, NHS England shared core productivity and efficiency metrics with benchmarked opportunities. For a given budget, savings and productivity opportunities can enable the same level of clinical staff to do more activity, or can involve savings to non-clinical areas or reduction in input costs, for example, procurement and agency savings, to enable reinvestment in additional clinical staff or non-capitalised equipment.
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, how many GPs have (a) been hired and (b) left practice since July 2024.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between June 2024 and June 2025, the most recent period for which data is available, 2,611 full time equivalent (FTE), or 4,174 headcount, fully qualified general practitioners (GPs) joined general practice, while 1,760 FTE, or 2,756 headcount, fully qualified GPs left general practice.
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 recent steps his Department has taken to increase the recruitment of GPs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are starting to see consistent growth in the general practitioner (GP) workforce. In July 2025, there were 658 more fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs working in practices than in July 2024.
The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs in primary care networks (PCNs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25. This is part of our initiative to secure the future pipeline of GPs, with over 1,000 doctors otherwise likely to graduate into unemployment in 2024/25. Data on the number of recently qualified general practitioners for which PCNs are claiming reimbursement via the ARRS show that, since 1 October 2024, over 2,000 GPs were recruited through the scheme.
Newly qualified GPs employed under the ARRS will continue to receive support under the scheme in the coming year as part of the 25/26 contract. Several changes have been confirmed to increase the flexibility of ARRS. These include: GPs and practice nurses included in the main ARRS funding pot; an uplift of the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme; and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.
We are boosting practice finances by investing an additional £1,092 million in general practice to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP contract in 2025/26 is faster than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.
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 funding his Department has allocated to GP practices to hire more GPs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are starting to see consistent growth in the general practitioner (GP) workforce. In July 2025, there were 658 more fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs working in practices than in July 2024.
The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs in primary care networks (PCNs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25. This is part of our initiative to secure the future pipeline of GPs, with over 1,000 doctors otherwise likely to graduate into unemployment in 2024/25. Data on the number of recently qualified general practitioners for which PCNs are claiming reimbursement via the ARRS show that, since 1 October 2024, over 2,000 GPs were recruited through the scheme.
Newly qualified GPs employed under the ARRS will continue to receive support under the scheme in the coming year as part of the 25/26 contract. Several changes have been confirmed to increase the flexibility of ARRS. These include: GPs and practice nurses included in the main ARRS funding pot; an uplift of the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme; and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.
We are boosting practice finances by investing an additional £1,092 million in general practice to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP contract in 2025/26 is faster than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential benefit of changing the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence test by (a) using CCTV on test vehicles and (b) introducing detailed written feedback for failed tests.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No assessment has been made by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) of the benefits of using CCTV on test vehicles, as part of the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC). The existing testing framework for large vehicles already incorporates structured reporting and feedback mechanisms.
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, whether she plans to intervene in negotiations on the Horserace Betting Levy to (a) increase the rate to 11.5% and (b) include overseas races within the scope of that levy.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Horserace Betting Levy is vital for the financial sustainability of horseracing.
The Government believes a voluntary deal is the fastest path towards delivering appropriate funding for the sport.
We continue to encourage the betting and racing industry to resume negotiations and reach a new agreement in the best interests of horseracing.