Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department holds a copy of the contract for the National Investigation Service to investigate COVID-19 Bounce Back Loan fraud nationwide of September 2020 that was signed by both the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy and the National Investigation Service.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I confirm that the Department holds a copy of the contract for the National Investigation Service to investigate COVID-19 Bounce Back Loan fraud nationwide of September 2020 that was signed by both the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy and Thurrock Council (being the host of the National Investigation Service).
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his planned timetable is for the implementation of reforms to the enforcement of standards in local government following his Department's response to the Strengthening the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England consultation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are continuing to engage closely with the sector on the detailed design of the proposed reforms and will bring forward the necessary legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her planned timetable is for primary schools to apply for funding under the £10 million Libraries for Primaries scheme; and how will primary schools be able to apply for that funding.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has responsibility for the Dormant Assets Scheme, which is providing funding to support the primary school library commitment, previously announced by the Chancellor.
Through the Scheme, £132.5 million has been allocated to increasing disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability over the long term. This includes a commitment to ensuring that every primary school in England has a library space by the end of this Parliament.
The Government is working with The National Lottery Community Fund to co-design the programme and develop more of the specifics around its delivery. Further details will be announced in due course, including expected timelines and funding criteria.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his planned timetable is for requiring estate managers to join an approved redress scheme, under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement published on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of mandating restaurants in England to display their food hygiene rating.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Evidence from Wales and Northern Ireland demonstrates that mandatory display has improved transparency, which encourages businesses to achieve better levels of compliance with hygiene requirements.
Introducing a statutory scheme in England with mandatory display of ratings at premises and online, would require primary legislation and the securing of a suitable legislative vehicle and parliamentary time. Ministers will consider the options in due course supported by the FSA.
In the meantime, the FSA is continuing to work with its local authority partners to deliver an excellent Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2025 to Question 76468 on National Investigation Service: Audit, if he will publish the report into NATIS conducted by the Public Sector Fraud Authority; and what recommendations did the Public Sector Fraud authority make on the governance of the National Investigation Service.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department is not planning to publish the report or recommendations from the Public Sector Fraud Authority’s review of the National Investigation Service at this time. Any future publication will be coordinated with the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, who oversee the PSFA. Disclosure would risk revealing sensitive operational, policy, and commercial information, which could prejudice law enforcement activities and undermine ongoing policy development and commercial interests. The balance of public interest lies in maintaining the confidentiality of this information to protect the effectiveness of counter-fraud operations and ensure robust policy formulation.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking support patients with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a pathway of care and treatment from diagnosis of FND.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In August, NHS England updated the Specialised Neurology Service Specification, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/specialised-neurology-services-adults/
The updated service specification includes specific reference to functional neurological disorder (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.
In October 2025, the National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance on rehabilitation for chronic neurological disorders, including acquired brain injury, with the reference code NG252. This guidance includes FND within its scope.
There are also 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 Neurology Transformation Programme, which aim to improve care for people by reducing variation and delivering care more equitably across England.
There are a number of policies outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan which should have a positive impact on care for patients with FND. More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of technology will all support people to manage FND closer to home.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, under what powers the National Investigation Service was able to seize and forfeit money.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Accredited Financial Investigators from the National Investigation Service used powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, including s294 for seizure of cash, s297A for forfeiture of cash and s303Z9 for forfeiture of money held in accounts.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) review and (b) update the guidance entitled Children and young people’s continuing care national framework, published on 22 January 2016.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Framework for Children and Young People’s Continuing Care, published by the then Department of Health, now the Department of Health and Social Care, in January 2016 is intended to support good practice locally, providing guidance for integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities on the process for assessing, deciding, and agreeing packages of care for children and young people.
There are currently no plans to review or update the Children and Young People's Continuing Care National Framework.
ICBs are responsible for the provision and commissioning of services to meet the needs of their local populations. NHS England supports ICBs to implement the National Framework for Children and Young People’s Continuing Care, and it has now started to collect Children and Young People’s Continuing Care activity data as part of the All-age Continuing Care Patient Level Dataset which launched on 1 April 2025, and which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to review workforce speciality training allocations in the NHS; and if he will take steps to increase the number of (a) training posts and (b) permanent positions for newly qualified doctors in (i) General Practice, (ii) sexual health, (iii) haematology specialties and (iv) other positions.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July, we will work across the Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training. The Plan also sets out that over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need.
In acknowledgement of doctors’ concerns about jobs and access to training places, the Government made an offer to the British Medical Association’s Resident Doctors Committee to double the previously announced increase in specialty training places in the 10-Year Health Plan to 2,000, bringing 1,000 of these forward to next year, create an alternative training pathway, and take steps to prioritise UK medical graduates and doctors with significant NHS experience for specialty posts. The new specialty training posts will focus on specialties where there is greatest need. On top of this commitment, NHS England has already made changes to the specialty training application process this year to reduce competition and support UK graduates.
The Government has committed to training thousands more general practitioners (GPs) and has increased the number of available GP training places by an additional 250 from September 2025. This brings the total number of GP training places to 4,250 per year.
As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is for GPs to determine how they run their operations, including staffing arrangements.
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in GPs 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 cash increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.
Since October 2024, we have funded primary care networks with an additional £160 million to recruit recently qualified GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. Over 2,500 individual GPs have now been recruited, preventing them graduating into unemployment. This was a measure to respond to feedback from the profession and to help solve an immediate issue of GP unemployment.