Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of patients have waited more than 21 days for a GP practice appointment in (a) rural and (b) urban areas in 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes monthly data on general practice appointments (GPAD), including the approximate length of time between appointments being booked and taking place, although this is not a proxy for “waiting times”. There are a number of factors which can influence the timing of appointments, and it is not possible to estimate the time between the patient’s first attempt to contact their surgery and an appointment.
In England, in September 2024, 44.1% of appointments took place on the same day as they were booked, and 81.8% took place within two weeks of booking, 88.8% within 21 days, and 10.8% occurred after more than 21 days. NHS England does not include information on rurality in this publication.
In our newly published Medium-Term Planning Framework we have set an ambitious new target to deliver all urgent appointments on the same day, helping to ensure the patients who need urgent care will be prioritised.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to (a) reopen the water management grant for farmers and (b) introduce new support to improve farm productivity through more efficient use of water and secure water supplies, in the context of the latest Environment Agency figures showing much of the country continues to be in drought or prolonged dry weather.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Water Management Grant is designed to help improve farm productivity and water resilience through supporting investment in irrigation infrastructure and construction of reservoirs on-farm. Our last round, worth up to £6 million, closed to new applications in October 2024.
We are working to simplify and rationalise our grant funding from 2026 onwards to ensure it is targeted towards those who need them most and where they can deliver the most benefit for food security and nature.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the per patient funding was in (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26 for (i) Central Suffolk and North Ipswich ICB and (ii) England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The total recurrent revenue allocation per head figures for the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB), as well as for England overall, can be found from the ICB allocations published on the NHS England website. The column titled ‘Recurrent Allocation £/head’ in each allocations tab provides the per-patient funding figure both by ICB and for England as a whole:
- allocations for 2023/24 to 2024/25 are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/icb-allocations-combined-2023-24-and-2024-25-v1.2.xlsx; and
- allocations for 2025/26 are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/icb-allocations-combined-2025-26-v1.3.xlsx.
The figures represent the total recurrent revenue allocation per head based on National Health Service registered populations as assumed at the time allocations were set. Consecutive years are not directly comparable as the delegated responsibilities of ICBs changed over time. Capital and non-recurrent revenue are not included in this summary, and specialist services were not delegated in 2023/24 and were commissioned directly by NHS England.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
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 ensure that digital exclusion is not a barrier to accessing primary care.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Digital technology is being used to help health and care professionals communicate better and enable people to access the care they need quickly and easily, when it suits them.
Since 1 October, general practices (GPs) have been required to keep their online consultations tools on throughout core hours, from 8am to 6:30pm, Monday to Friday, for non-urgent and routine requests.
Patients are able to get in touch with their GPs via an online form during these hours to request an appointment or raise a query.
We understand that not all patients can or want to use online services. To ensure that patients are not digitally excluded, the GP Contract is clear that patients should always have the option of telephoning or visiting their practice in person, and all online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing a GP. We have also committed to work with digital transformation teams in integrated care boards and with groups at risk of digital exclusion to ensure digital solutions are inclusive.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much money has been allocated to the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund in 2025, 2026 and 2027.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
£46.7 million was allocated to the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund in 2025. Funding for future years is yet to be decided and is subject to departmental business planning.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the GP funding formula review plans to consider the challenges of providing primary care services in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The review of the general practice funding formula, the Carr-Hill formula, is being conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The purpose of the review is to ensure that funding for general practice is distributed equitably and is targeted towards areas that need it most. The review will consider unavoidable costs based on geographical areas, including delivering services in rural areas.
The review has commenced and will draw on a range of evidence and advice from experts. Implementation of any new funding approach will be subject to ministerial decision, in the context of the available funding and our commitment to substantively reform the General Medical Services Contract within this Parliament.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of land have been taken out of food production in the last year.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Agricultural land can be taken out of human food production for a variety of reasons, including for agricultural purposes (for example when it’s used to produce animal feed, as bare fallow within the annual crop rotations or for temporary crops such as leguminous mixes for environmental and soil health benefits). It is therefore not possible to provide accurate data on how much land has been taken out of food production as this can differ each year.
Estimates of the utilised agricultural area in England (which also includes bare fallow and land for environmental benefit) stands at 8.8 million hectares in 2025 and this area has remained broadly stable over the past decade.
Agricultural land area statistics are available here.
Detailed statistics on domestic food production are available in Chapters 7 and 8 in Defra’s Agriculture in the United Kingdom publication.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the 2025 harvest on (a) farm profitability and (b) business viability.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We regularly publish statistics on farm incomes and profitability. The latest figures on Farm Business Income covering the 2024/25 year were published on 20 November 2025: Farm business income - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many failed asylum seekers are residing in Suffolk.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of asylum seekers in receipt of support, by support type and by local authority, is published in table Asy_D11 of the ‘Asylum support detailed datasets’.
Individuals receiving Section 4 support have had their asylum claim refused but they are destitute and there are reasons that temporarily prevent them from leaving the UK. Please note that Section 95 support data includes some failed asylum seekers who had children in their household when their appeal rights were exhausted.
The latest data relates to as at 30 June 2025. Data for as at 30 September 2025 will be published on 27 November 2025. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure the inclusion of people (a) in rural areas and (b) with poor connectivity in the proposed digital ID scheme.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, setting out the proposed approach in more detail and seeking views on this. This will include the proposed approach to estimating and monitoring the costs involved and savings - while accounting for the outcomes of the consultation.
The Government will work closely with expert stakeholders to make the programme as effective, secure and inclusive as possible, including taking insights from previous IT projects where appropriate. We will also take best practice from other countries.
Inclusivity is central to our thinking as we design this. The Government will deliver a comprehensive inclusion programme to ensure everyone eligible is able to access the new digital ID. This will include targeted support for those who may struggle to access or engage with digital services.