Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of additional children in Nottinghamshire who will become eligible for free school meals following recent changes to the eligibility criteria; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact on the level of child poverty of this policy.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to widening opportunity and tackling child poverty. Expanding free school meals to all children in households receiving Universal Credit is expected to lift around 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this parliament and put around £500 a year back into families' pockets.
The department anticipates that over half a million additional pupils nationally will become eligible as a result of this expansion. Published departmental analysis estimates that there are around 45,000 children in households receiving Universal Credit in Nottinghamshire. These children are within the group that may benefit from the expansion of free school meals eligibility, subject to meeting the relevant eligibility requirements and being registered for free school meals.
Providing a free, nutritious meal supports children's wellbeing, attendance, readiness to learn and educational attainment, and helps ensure that children flourish and succeed regardless of their background.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of funded early years childcare places in Nottinghamshire; and what steps he is taking to support providers to meet demand and improve access for working families in suburban and rural communities.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department continues to work with local authorities to strengthen their sufficiency planning for children, including reviewing whether statutory requirements are clear enough and exploring how to improve data on the availability of suitable places, such as for those needing specialist support.
In 2026/27, the government is also expecting to spend over £9.5 billion on early years entitlements, supporting more parents, especially mothers, to balance family life and work. This funding reflects a full year of eligible working parents being able to access 30 hours of childcare from nine months until their children start school, and an expected increase in funding rates.
Recent statistics show that 1.7 million eligible children were registered for government funded entitlements.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support the improvement of bus services in suburban and rural communities, including Gedling, Burton Joyce, Lambley, Woodborough and Bestwood Village; and what steps she is taking to support local transport authorities to improve bus service frequency and reliability.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the vital role of buses in connecting people with jobs, education, healthcare, family and friends.
Earlier this year, the Government confirmed funding through the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) for the remainder of the Spending Review period. The formula takes account of the needs of each local transport authority and specifically includes rurality. East Midlands Combined Authority will receive £67 million under the LABG. To support affordability, on 22 July, we also announced that single bus tickets will be capped at £2 from 1 January 2027. This is particularly important in rural areas where uncapped single fares can be higher.
Alongside this funding, the Government recognises that there are different ways of improving bus services and the needs of urban and rural areas differ. The East Midlands Combined Authority uses the Enhanced Partnership (EP) model to deliver their local bus services. This allows Local Transport Authorities to work with their bus operators to deliver improvements to bus services in their area.
Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) can play an important role in ensuring communities can access transport services in areas where more traditional, regular stopping services may not be viable. This includes funding and supporting local transport authorities to deliver DRT services, such as Nottsbus On Demand. We published DRT best practice guidance in December 2025 which provides local authorities with a guide to setting up and deploying DRT schemes.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that proposals to bring Battery Energy Storage Systems within the Environmental Permitting Regulations include requirements for (a) effective regulatory oversight and compliance with Battery Safety Management Plans and (b) consultation with residents living in close proximity to approved Battery Energy Storage System developments on those plans.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is making progress with proposals to include Battery Energy Storage Systems within the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPRs). Officials have met with a range of key stakeholders to define potential thresholds and regulatory requirements. Applications for permits under EPRs are subject to a consultation process.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce sewage discharges into the River Trent and its tributaries in Nottinghamshire; and how the Government is holding water companies accountable for improving water quality and reducing pollution incidents.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Through the Sewage Overflow Programme the Environment Agency has required the water company to implement 38 projects to address overflow issues on the Trent.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to GP appointments in Nottinghamshire; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the level of Government funding in general practice on appointment availability and waiting times for patients in Gedling constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are expanding capacity in general practices which will help deliver more appointments to patients across England, including in Nottinghamshire.
Since October 2024, we have funded primary care networks with an additional £160 million to recruit general practitioners (GPs) through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. Additionally, the new Practice Level GP Reimbursement Scheme, backed by £292 million of ringfenced funding, will help practices hire additional GPs or fund additional sessions with existing GPs to strengthen capacity, access, and improve patient satisfaction, whilst also addressing GP unemployment and underemployment.
We now have the highest number of GPs since 2015. As of July 2024, there were 27,735 fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs, and now there are 30,552, which is an extra 2,800 GPs. We delivered 15.8 million more appointments over the past year than in the previous year and we have asked practices to ensure that they see those who need a clinically urgent appointment on the same day.
As a result, patient experience is also improving, with nearly 77% of patients reporting ease of contact, up 16% since July 2024, and overall satisfaction is improving as well. Specific, integrated care board information on GP appointments is available at the following link:
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to specialist multidisciplinary care, assistive technology and timely equipment provision for people living with motor neurone disease; and what steps is NHS England taking to reduce geographical inequalities in access to those services.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 3 November in response to Question 38637.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has assessed the potential merits of introducing transitional or exceptional arrangements to allow adoptive families to continue working with appropriately qualified, non-Ofsted registered therapists in areas where no Ofsted registered provision exists.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Under the Care Standards Act 2000, organisations that undertake work to support adopted children, or children who are being prepared for adoption, need to register with Ofsted as an adoption support agency. This is to ensure that providers are suitable and properly qualified. Successive regulations have, however, increased flexibilities, enabling all those working under contract with an adoption agency or adoption support agency to provide services without registration. This ensures that provision is widened while keeping quality secure. It is not open to the department itself to introduce transitional or exceptional arrangements.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to include addiction or substance use disorder within the statutory definition of a mental disorder for the purposes of the Mental Health Act.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
The Mental Health Act 1983, specifically Section 1, subsection 3, states that “Dependence on alcohol or drugs is not considered to be a disorder or disability of the mind” for the purposes of the act, and we did not amend this in the Mental Health Act 2025 that passed in December. We have no plans to change the definition of mental disorder.
We know that people with co-occurring substance use and mental health needs do not receive the integrated, person-centred care they require and deserve. The Department and NHS England have recently published Co-occurring mental health and substance use delivery framework, which is available at the following link:
This framework commits the Department and NHS England to delivering several national actions to improve delivery of integrated, person-centred care across drug and alcohol treatment and mental health services. The framework also includes recommended actions on how the health system can also work together to improve outcomes for those with co-occurring needs.
Asked by: Michael Payne (Labour - Gedling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve military housing.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The last government had 14 years to fix Defence family housing and failed, delivering instead record low levels of satisfaction.
We reversed the disastrous privatisation of military housing.
And our landmark £9 billion housing strategy will renew or repair 9 in 10 homes and we are legislating to create a new Defence Housing Service which will put the interests of service personnel first.
We have already rapidly improved military homes transforming 1,000 of the worst homes – ahead of schedule.
Labour has delivered more in eighteen months than the party opposite managed in fourteen years.