Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to introduce a ban on the import of foie gras.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government shares the British public's high regard for animal welfare and has made clear that the production of foie gras from ducks or geese using force feeding raises serious welfare concerns.
We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to promote the highest food production standards.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether children with complex needs who are home educated are eligible to receive free school meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Free meals are available to registered pupils of state-funded schools meeting the eligibility criteria, either on school premises or at any place where education is provided.
The department also expects local authorities to consider free meal provision for children and young people receiving education otherwise than at school, commonly referred to as EOTAS, in accordance with Section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014. This is set out in our published guidance.
In addition to this, all schools have duties under the Equality Act 2010 towards individual disabled children and young people. As this relates to school food provision, schools are required to make reasonable adjustment for disabled pupils to ensure they aren’t put at substantial disadvantage. Further information is available in our published guidance.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Pharmacy First initiative in relation to reducing the workload for GP surgeries.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service pharmaceutical services delivered in community pharmacy are subject to evaluations to assess various outcomes such as clinical appropriateness and impacts on other parts of the NHS. The National Institute of Health and Care Research is conducting an evaluation of Pharmacy First to assess how the service has been implemented across England, including impacts on prescribing in the general practice (GP) setting, use of hospitals and how the service has impacted access and cost for different patient groups.
From July 2024 to February 2025, over 1.7 million Pharmacy First clinical pathway consultations were delivered by community pharmacies. In the same period, over 1.5 million minor illness referrals and 1.4 million consultations for urgent medical supplies were delivered by community pharmacies in England to support patients and help to alleviate the pressure on GP surgeries.
Pharmacy First compliments and enhances the already wide range of services offered by community pharmacy including the provision of health advice and sale of over-the-counter medicines for a wider range of minor illness to support patients to selfcare rather than attend a GP, helping to increase access to care for patients closer to home in their communities.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of the level of service for users provided by the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Through the Service Modernisation Programme, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has made significant improvements to both communications and digital service in order to provide separated parents a greater level of service.
The online digital service 'Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance ' through GOV.UK is a service open to any parent who needs to communicate with us and can receive unbiased advice and support to make an arrangement through CMS.
Through increased use of SMS text and email, an extensive review of letters, which focussed on making the letters easier for customers to understand, and by promoting self-service online through My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC), the CMS is ensuring customers have greater choice of how they communicate with us and access our service.
MCMC offers customers the ability to access and update information held on their case and request changes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. CMS has the ability to process simple changes through MCMC, automatically speeding up the time taken to make a change and greatly improving customer outcomes. These changes are a fundamental step towards the CMS modernisation goal of evolving our service to be predominately online.
Although online communication is the preferred option, CMS fully recognises digital is not suitable for all customers. For those customers who have to contact us by telephone, steps have been taken to update the service through efficient call routing. We have freed up resources to deliver a more responsive service which allows caseworkers more time to better assist customers who need to reach out to us via telephone. The CMS telephony opening hours are regularly reviewed based on the demand requirements; CMS has extended their telephony service to 6pm on weekdays to meet this demand.
On the 26 February 2024, the CMS removed the £20 application fee for those parents opting to use the service to ensure families on the lowest incomes do not face a barrier to accessing the service. As more customers apply to the CMS, the demand for the service is increasing. To allow CMS to meet this demand and provide an efficient service we continuously look at the resources we have and where we should focus our efforts in order to get the greatest value for money and deliver the best service to our customers. We review our overall resource supply twice yearly and take appropriate steps to ensure that staffing levels meet demands. We have an ongoing recruitment campaign for 2025; this will ensure CMS is resourced to meet current and future forecasted service demand.
Furthermore, we have taken timely action to review, evaluate and enhance tools and training material to support staff in delivering a quality service to our customers. We have improved training for new entrant colleagues and caseworkers and upgraded our Operational Instructions with around 90% transformed into Smart Instructions, making them easier for caseworkers to understand and use.
The CMS regularly gathers feedback from customers and stakeholders on our service. The Customer Experience Survey is a way in which the Department interacts with customers to understand their experience; this insight is used to inform ways to improve our service.
In the last month, CMS continued to exceed our official key performance indicators, demonstrating improved outcomes and service for customers. We are always working to modernise our service and how we communicate with our customers. Commencement of any additional activity as part of the Service Modernisation Programme will be informed by the value to our customers and the cost to the Department.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the communication of the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Through the Service Modernisation Programme, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has made significant improvements to both communications and digital service in order to provide separated parents a greater level of service.
The online digital service 'Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance ' through GOV.UK is a service open to any parent who needs to communicate with us and can receive unbiased advice and support to make an arrangement through CMS.
Through increased use of SMS text and email, an extensive review of letters, which focussed on making the letters easier for customers to understand, and by promoting self-service online through My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC), the CMS is ensuring customers have greater choice of how they communicate with us and access our service.
MCMC offers customers the ability to access and update information held on their case and request changes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. CMS has the ability to process simple changes through MCMC, automatically speeding up the time taken to make a change and greatly improving customer outcomes. These changes are a fundamental step towards the CMS modernisation goal of evolving our service to be predominately online.
Although online communication is the preferred option, CMS fully recognises digital is not suitable for all customers. For those customers who have to contact us by telephone, steps have been taken to update the service through efficient call routing. We have freed up resources to deliver a more responsive service which allows caseworkers more time to better assist customers who need to reach out to us via telephone. The CMS telephony opening hours are regularly reviewed based on the demand requirements; CMS has extended their telephony service to 6pm on weekdays to meet this demand.
On the 26 February 2024, the CMS removed the £20 application fee for those parents opting to use the service to ensure families on the lowest incomes do not face a barrier to accessing the service. As more customers apply to the CMS, the demand for the service is increasing. To allow CMS to meet this demand and provide an efficient service we continuously look at the resources we have and where we should focus our efforts in order to get the greatest value for money and deliver the best service to our customers. We review our overall resource supply twice yearly and take appropriate steps to ensure that staffing levels meet demands. We have an ongoing recruitment campaign for 2025; this will ensure CMS is resourced to meet current and future forecasted service demand.
Furthermore, we have taken timely action to review, evaluate and enhance tools and training material to support staff in delivering a quality service to our customers. We have improved training for new entrant colleagues and caseworkers and upgraded our Operational Instructions with around 90% transformed into Smart Instructions, making them easier for caseworkers to understand and use.
The CMS regularly gathers feedback from customers and stakeholders on our service. The Customer Experience Survey is a way in which the Department interacts with customers to understand their experience; this insight is used to inform ways to improve our service.
In the last month, CMS continued to exceed our official key performance indicators, demonstrating improved outcomes and service for customers. We are always working to modernise our service and how we communicate with our customers. Commencement of any additional activity as part of the Service Modernisation Programme will be informed by the value to our customers and the cost to the Department.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Oral Statement of 20 May 2025 on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Official Report, what discussions he has had with (a) his Israeli counterpart (b) other Israel representatives on that Statement.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 20 May, I summoned the Israeli Ambassador to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and made clear the UK's opposition to expanded military operations in Gaza and rising violence & intimidation by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. The UK will not stand by as this happens. We continue to have similar conversations at all official levels with the Israeli system to urge Israel to take action against violent settlers and halt settlement expansion which directly endanger the viability of a two-state solution.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress phase 2 of the Schools Rebuilding Programme has made on Tiverton High School.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will begin working with Tiverton High School this quarter as it enters delivery. We will work closely with the Responsible Body to determine how best to proceed.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of consulting with experts from the voluntary support sector during the (a) planning for and (b) piloting of mental health support teams in schools.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the NHS Operational Planning Guidance 2025/26, integrated care boards are responsible for planning and implementing mental health support teams. Since the inception of the programme, guidance to local commissioners has been to engage with local partners including the voluntary sector in planning for mental health support teams, mapping local support, and through representation in local governance.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 to ensure that deafblind people can access care needs assessments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014 and Care and Support (Assessment) Regulations 2014, local authorities are responsible for ensuring deafblind people in their area access the right care and support. This includes making contact with and keeping a record of all deafblind people in their area and ensuring that needs assessments are carried out by a person who has specific training and expertise relating to individuals who are deafblind. In addition, under the Equality Act (2010), local authorities must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.
The Government recognises the many challenges facing the adult social care system and is taking steps to improve access to adult social care. We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will make clear recommendations to define and build an adult social care system that will meet the current and future needs of our population. The commission will consider older people’s care and support for working age disabled adults separately, recognising that these services meet different needs.
In the interim, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are assessing how well local authorities in England are performing against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to the access and provision of care and support for deafblind people. Support for deafblind people will form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care. In that context, the CQC will report when there is something to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice or an area for improvement. If the CQC identifies a local authority has failed or is failing its functions to an acceptable standard, my Rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has powers to intervene. The CQC has published over forty local authority ratings and reports, which are available at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 to help ensure that social care reform tackles barriers faced by (a) disabled people with complex needs and (b) deafblind people.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is taking forward a package of reforms to enable more people to live independently for longer, including older adults, disabled people, and those with complex needs. For example, in 2025/26, we are providing up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities, including an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.
We are also providing £172 million across this and the last financial year, for approximately 15,000 home adaptations, and are introducing new national standards and trusted guidance for care technologies such as remote monitoring. In addition, to strengthen the workforce, we are legislating for the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for care workers and are providing a £2,000 uplift to the Carer’s Allowance.
We have also launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will work with people who draw on care and support, their families, staff, and the wider sector to build a system that meets the current and future needs of our population. These improvements will help support the quality of adult social care for all who draw on it, including disabled people with complex needs and deafblind people.