Paul Foster Portrait

Paul Foster

Labour - South Ribble

6,501 (13.9%) majority - 2024 General Election

First elected: 4th July 2024


Paul Foster is not a member of any APPGs
Paul Foster has no previous appointments


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Paul Foster has voted in 74 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Paul Foster Division Votes

Debates during the 2024 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op))
Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
(2 debate interactions)
Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op))
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
(2 debate interactions)
Al Carns (Labour)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
(2 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Ministry of Defence
(4 debate contributions)
Department for Transport
(1 debate contributions)
Home Office
(1 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
View all Paul Foster's debates

South Ribble Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Petitions with highest South Ribble signature proportion
Paul Foster has not participated in any petition debates

Latest EDMs signed by Paul Foster

16th December 2024
Paul Foster signed this EDM on Monday 16th December 2024

Prison maintenance insourcing

Tabled by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
That this House notes with alarm the rising levels of squalor and disrepair in prisons, with the National Audit Office estimating the maintenance backlog has doubled to £1.8 billion in the past four years; further notes with alarm recent reports by the Independent Monitoring Boards highlighting how broken and outdated …
36 signatures
(Most recent: 15 Jan 2025)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 22
Independent: 8
Green Party: 3
Democratic Unionist Party: 2
Plaid Cymru: 1
9th December 2024
Paul Foster signed this EDM as a sponsor on Tuesday 10th December 2024

Institutes of Technology

Tabled by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
That this House commends and celebrates the 21 Institutes of Technologies across the UK for their outstanding contribution to delivering high-quality, advanced technical education and training in a wide array of STEM fields; and notes that they play a vital role in addressing industry skills gaps by responding to the …
25 signatures
(Most recent: 20 Jan 2025)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 13
Liberal Democrat: 3
Conservative: 3
Independent: 2
Green Party: 2
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
Scottish National Party: 1
View All Paul Foster's signed Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Paul Foster, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


Paul Foster has not been granted any Urgent Questions

Paul Foster has not been granted any Adjournment Debates

Paul Foster has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

Paul Foster has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 11 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
9th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been spent on flood prevention works to protect the village of Croston in South Ribble constituency in the last five years; and what funds are allocated for future improvements.

Protecting communities around the country from flooding is one of the Secretary of State’s five core priorities.

To ensure we protect the country from the devastating impacts of flooding, the Government will invest £2.4 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences.

In South Ribble, the £7.3 million Croston Flood Scheme was completed in 2017 - protecting 438 properties. In the last 5 years (2019 -2024) there has been a further investment of around £500,000 for reconditioning projects, electricity running costs and repair works for the scheme and flood defence in Croston Village. An additional £42,000 is planned for 2024/25.

Emma Hardy
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
9th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of pensioners receive Pension Credit in South Ribble constituency; and how many of these are new recipients since 31 July 2024.

The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
5th Sep 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in South Ribble constituency received a winter fuel payment in the 2023-24 financial year.

Annual statistics on the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients and households by local authority and by Westminster parliamentary constituency are made publicly available via GOV.UK. The latest release contains data on individual and household level statistics for winter 2022 to 2023. For Winter 2022 to 2023, 22,044 people received a Winter Fuel Payment in South Ribble constituency.

Emma Reynolds
Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
5th Sep 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in receipt of Pension Credit in South Ribble constituency; and if she will make an estimate of the number of people who are not claiming Pension Credit but are eligible in that constituency.

Caseload statistics are routinely published and made publicly available via DWP Stat-xplore. At February 2024, there were 1,528 people claiming Pension Credit in South Ribble constituency.

Information relating to Pension Credit eligibility is only available via take-up statistics. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, these statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas.

Emma Reynolds
Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
10th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the NHS to pay for all medications supplied to hospices.

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
10th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which hospices (a) have all medication supplied (i) for free and (ii) at a discounted rate and (b) do not have medication supplied by the NHS.

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
15th Oct 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will undertake a review of NHS policy on the assessment of individual funding requests to support children for whom prescribing medical cannabis could help prevent repeated admissions to hospital.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published technology appraisals recommending Epidyolex, a licensed form of cannabidiol extracted from cannabis, for the treatment of seizures associated with two rare forms of epilepsies, specifically Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis complex.

Deciding whether to prescribe an unlicensed cannabis-based medicine, a medicine that has not been assessed or approved by the medicines regulator, is a clinical decision, and the funding of medicines within the National Health Service is governed by well-established processes and evidence-based guidelines produced by the NICE. The NICE found that there is insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness to support a population-wide recommendation in relation to unlicensed cannabis-based medicines for severe treatment-resistant epilepsy. The NICE also calls for further research.

Following the publication of the NICE’s guidance, NHS England and The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has agreed funding for two trials relating to the use of cannabis-based medicines for the treatment of difficult-to-treat epilepsies. These will be world-first trials and will be crucial in informing future NHS funding decisions. Due to commercial confidentiality, further information on the trials cannot be released at this time.

Where a treatment is not currently routinely funded by the NHS in England, an NHS clinician can, on behalf of their patient, make an application for funding in exceptional clinical circumstances. This is known as an Individual Funding Request (IFR). In making an application for an IFR, clinicians must demonstrate that the patient in question is clinically exceptional compared to the wider group of patients with the same condition, and is likely to derive greater benefit from the treatment. Each case is assessed on an individual basis, and is not a process the Government can seek to influence.

Until the evidence base improves, prescribers will remain reticent in prescribing, and no decision can be made by the NHS on routine funding. That is why the Government is committed to research and catalysing the generation of evidence to support use of these products.

Like any other area of medicine, manufacturers of these products must invest in research and clinical trials to ensure that cannabis-based medicines are proven both safe and effective before they can be considered for routine funding by the NHS. The NIHR remains open to receiving good quality proposals for research in this area as a priority, and stands ready to support researchers and manufacturers to develop applications.

Andrew Gwynne
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
15th Oct 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with the Lancashire Teaching Hospital Trust on the potential merits of enabling clinicians to prescribe unlicensed cannabis products to children for clinical reasons.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published technology appraisals recommending Epidyolex, a licensed form of cannabidiol extracted from cannabis, for the treatment of seizures associated with two rare forms of epilepsies, specifically Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis complex.

Deciding whether to prescribe an unlicensed cannabis-based medicine, a medicine that has not been assessed or approved by the medicines regulator, is a clinical decision, and the funding of medicines within the National Health Service is governed by well-established processes and evidence-based guidelines produced by the NICE. The NICE found that there is insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness to support a population-wide recommendation in relation to unlicensed cannabis-based medicines for severe treatment-resistant epilepsy. The NICE also calls for further research.

Following the publication of the NICE’s guidance, NHS England and The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has agreed funding for two trials relating to the use of cannabis-based medicines for the treatment of difficult-to-treat epilepsies. These will be world-first trials and will be crucial in informing future NHS funding decisions. Due to commercial confidentiality, further information on the trials cannot be released at this time.

Where a treatment is not currently routinely funded by the NHS in England, an NHS clinician can, on behalf of their patient, make an application for funding in exceptional clinical circumstances. This is known as an Individual Funding Request (IFR). In making an application for an IFR, clinicians must demonstrate that the patient in question is clinically exceptional compared to the wider group of patients with the same condition, and is likely to derive greater benefit from the treatment. Each case is assessed on an individual basis, and is not a process the Government can seek to influence.

Until the evidence base improves, prescribers will remain reticent in prescribing, and no decision can be made by the NHS on routine funding. That is why the Government is committed to research and catalysing the generation of evidence to support use of these products.

Like any other area of medicine, manufacturers of these products must invest in research and clinical trials to ensure that cannabis-based medicines are proven both safe and effective before they can be considered for routine funding by the NHS. The NIHR remains open to receiving good quality proposals for research in this area as a priority, and stands ready to support researchers and manufacturers to develop applications.

Andrew Gwynne
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
15th Oct 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has undertaken recent research on the use of medical cannabis for the treatment of epilepsy.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published technology appraisals recommending Epidyolex, a licensed form of cannabidiol extracted from cannabis, for the treatment of seizures associated with two rare forms of epilepsies, specifically Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis complex.

Deciding whether to prescribe an unlicensed cannabis-based medicine, a medicine that has not been assessed or approved by the medicines regulator, is a clinical decision, and the funding of medicines within the National Health Service is governed by well-established processes and evidence-based guidelines produced by the NICE. The NICE found that there is insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness to support a population-wide recommendation in relation to unlicensed cannabis-based medicines for severe treatment-resistant epilepsy. The NICE also calls for further research.

Following the publication of the NICE’s guidance, NHS England and The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has agreed funding for two trials relating to the use of cannabis-based medicines for the treatment of difficult-to-treat epilepsies. These will be world-first trials and will be crucial in informing future NHS funding decisions. Due to commercial confidentiality, further information on the trials cannot be released at this time.

Where a treatment is not currently routinely funded by the NHS in England, an NHS clinician can, on behalf of their patient, make an application for funding in exceptional clinical circumstances. This is known as an Individual Funding Request (IFR). In making an application for an IFR, clinicians must demonstrate that the patient in question is clinically exceptional compared to the wider group of patients with the same condition, and is likely to derive greater benefit from the treatment. Each case is assessed on an individual basis, and is not a process the Government can seek to influence.

Until the evidence base improves, prescribers will remain reticent in prescribing, and no decision can be made by the NHS on routine funding. That is why the Government is committed to research and catalysing the generation of evidence to support use of these products.

Like any other area of medicine, manufacturers of these products must invest in research and clinical trials to ensure that cannabis-based medicines are proven both safe and effective before they can be considered for routine funding by the NHS. The NIHR remains open to receiving good quality proposals for research in this area as a priority, and stands ready to support researchers and manufacturers to develop applications.

Andrew Gwynne
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
9th Oct 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients under the age of 18 are in receipt of an NHS funded cannabis-based (a) prescription and (b) medication.

The NHS Business Services Authority does not hold the information in the form requested as it is only a legal requirement for prescriptions to state the age for children under 12 years.

Between November 2018 and July 2024, 21,299 items of licensed cannabis-based medicines, namely Nabilone, Sativex and Epidyolex, were dispensed in the community in England against a National Health Service prescription.

Data on unlicensed cannabis-based medicines is withheld in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, due to the number of items attributed to fewer than five patients and enhanced risk of release of patient identifiable information.

Andrew Gwynne
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)