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 information he holds on the number of patients waiting longer than the Kent Integrated Dermatology Service's four week deadline for issuing biopsy results, in each of the last six months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on the number of patients waiting longer than four weeks for their biopsy results.
The Government is spending £600 million of capital this year on diagnostics, including funding for the automation of histopathology laboratories, for the first time ever, to improve productivity. We are also funding all pathology networks to increase digital capabilities by March 2026, which will reduce unnecessary waits and repeat tests, to ensure that patients receive their results sooner, including those in Kent.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money the UK Government collected in 2024 from tariffs imposed on goods imported from illegal settlements within the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC only publish receipts at a national level, and they cannot be broken down further with sufficient accuracy, due to the way the information is captured.
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, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating more supported living accommodation for autistic adults.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises the important role played by supported housing in helping disabled, older and other vulnerable people to live safely, well and independently, including autistic adults. The 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme includes delivery of supported housing. Through the Spending Review announced on 11 June, we are providing the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation, confirming £39 billion for a successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36. We are also announcing a 10-year social housing rent settlement from 2026 at Consumer Price Index + 1%, alongside a consultation to follow shortly on how to implement social rent convergence.
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 improve ambulance response times in Tunbridge Wells.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the pressures on the National Health Service and the impact this is having on ambulance response times, including in Tunbridge Wells.
We are determined to turn things around, and our 10-Year Health Plan will be published in the summer, setting out major NHS reforms to move healthcare from the hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.
The NHS Urgent and Emergency care plan 2025/26, published on 6 June 2025, requires health systems to focus on those areas likely to have the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care services this year. The plan includes actions that will reduce category 2 ambulance response times to 30 minutes and reduce ambulance handovers to 45 minutes, helping to get 550,000 more ambulances back on the road.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2025 to Question 56005 on Visas: Health Professions, what provisions are in place to appeal visa applications for dependents of skilled health workers that were rejected due to issues with birth certificates issued by the country of origin.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Individuals in those circumstances are entitled to apply for an administrative review of the decision. If they wish to challenge the outcome of that review, they can apply for judicial review.
There is no right to an appeal or an administrative review of a decision to reject an invalid application. Such decisions are subject to judicial review.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visa applications for dependents of skilled health workers were rejected due to issues with birth certificates issued by the country of origin in 2024.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of implementing the Firearms Act 2023 without a transitional period to apply for personal firearm certificates on miniature rifle clubs.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Firearms Act 2023 introduced legislation to strengthen firearms controls by making it a requirement for the operator of a miniature rifle range to have a firearm certificate and undergo police licensing checks.
The Firearms Act 2023 was commenced on 1 May 2025 and police forces had been preparing for implementation in advance of this date, including by considering applications from miniature rifle club operators prior to commencement to ensure that operators could comply with the requirements of the new legislation.
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 take steps to review regional differences in the (a) diagnosis, (b) treatment and (c) ongoing care for people with coeliac disease across NHS services in England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Most services for long-term conditions, including for people with coeliac disease, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). It is the responsibility of ICBs, working with clinicians, service users, and patient groups, to develop local services and care pathways that meet patients’ needs. The Government expects ICBs to take account of relevant guidelines and best practice in designing their local services, and to ensure consistency of approaches between ICBs.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of conditions for use by healthcare professionals and commissioners in England. NICE guidelines are not mandatory and do not replace the judgement of clinicians in determining the most appropriate treatment for individual patients.
The NICE guideline, Coeliac disease: recognition, assessment and management, published in 2015 and reviewed in 2019, is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng20
The NICE also publishes clinical knowledge summaries (CKS) as a source of information mainly for national Health Service staff working in primary care. A CKS on the clinical management of coeliac disease, which was last revised in May 2020, is available at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/coeliac-disease/
We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and improve care for people, including those with long-term conditions like coeliac disease. A central and core part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to make it more accessible, proactive, and tailored for patients wherever they live in England.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many private homes adaptation were (a) completed on schedule and (b) were completed behind schedule by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation in 2024; and how many of those projects are still incomplete.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
In 2024 the Defence Infrastructure Organisation completed three private home adaptation projects, all of which were completed on schedule.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the rule change preventing nurseries and preschools from charging for additional hours on the financial viability of early years providers; and what steps she is taking to support childcare providers with operational costs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
The department does not prevent early education and childcare providers from charging parents for hours that are additional to any government funded early education place to which they are entitled. These are a private transaction between parents and their provider.
However, where providers agree to offer early education entitlements places that are funded by the taxpayer, it is a statutory requirement that those places must be available free of charge to parents. This means that mandatory charges associated with entitlements places are not permitted, and this was confirmed by the High Court in February this year. However, as departmental statutory guidance sets out, providers may offer and charge parents for food and extras, such as nappies, on an optional basis.
Next year alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements. This is a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25.
The government is delivering the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% to up to £570 per eligible child per year.
The department has confirmed funding rates for 2025/26 and announced a new £75 million expansion grant to support providers to deliver the additional staff and places required for next September.
A further £37 million of capital funding has been allocated to create or expand 300 school-based nurseries.