Asked by: Rebecca Harris (Conservative - Castle Point)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether provision for capital investment in (a) new and (b) updated healthcare facilities in Castle Point constituency is being made available over the next five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Significant capital investment is being made available to support both new and improved healthcare facilities across the NHS East of England region over the next five years.
The region has been allocated £536 million between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to increase secondary and urgent and emergency care capacity. This funding will support a range of local transformation priorities, including diagnostic facilities, urgent treatment centres, emergency departments, and the completion of elective and surgical hub schemes.
In addition, the region has been allocated £277.2 million through the Estates Safety Fund between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to address critical infrastructure and safety risks, alongside a further £346.5 million planning assumption for estates through to 2034/35.
The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust has also been allocated £181.6 million in operational capital funding for the 2026/27 to 2029/30 period, which can be used to support the maintenance, improvement, and modernisation of healthcare facilities where this is a local priority.
Asked by: Rebecca Harris (Conservative - Castle Point)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of changes in passenger numbers on c2c rail services in each of the next ten years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has not made or published a ten-year estimate of passenger numbers specifically for c2c rail services. Future passenger demand forecasts are developed as part of business planning, investment appraisals, and rail industry forecasting processes, but projections are subject to significant uncertainty and are not routinely published on an operator-by-operator basis for the next ten years.
However, over the next ten years we would expect c2c to continue to grow passenger numbers. Long-term planning strategic advice, such as the Essex Thameside Strategic Advice, is published on Network Rail's website.
Asked by: Rebecca Harris (Conservative - Castle Point)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the payments her Department will receive from c2c rail services in each of the next five years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport (DfT) has not made a published estimate of the subsidy/premium for each operator in each of the next five years. Exact costs and income levels are agreed during the rolling business planning process. Information on subsidy/premium for each operator will be published next year in DfT's annual report and accounts.
Asked by: Rebecca Harris (Conservative - Castle Point)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what performance targets she has set for c2c rail services since nationalisation.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since being transferred into public ownership, c2c has continued to be monitored against the rail industry’s established performance measures, including punctuality & reliability, cancellations and passenger satisfaction, and remains subject to the same performance oversight arrangements as other publicly owned operators. All train operators are required to publish performance against targets on their website.
Asked by: Rebecca Harris (Conservative - Castle Point)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the additional costs incurred by each school in Castle Point constituency as a result of the increase in employers' National Insurance Contributions in 2026/27.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department estimates the impact of changes to schools’ costs, including employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs), at a national level and does not estimate the costs incurred by individual schools, including schools in Castle Point constituency.
There is no increase in employers’ NICs in 2026/27, compared to 2025/26. The government agreed that public sector employers would receive support in recognition of the increase in their NICs from April 2025 and provided support to schools through the NICs Grant in 2025/26.
Funding allocated in 2025/26 through the NICs Grant was rolled into the schools National Funding Formula (NFF) in 2026/27, to help simplify the funding system and keep funding fair. The department’s NFF policy document is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69417d442d5e7e863253755a/The_national_funding_formula_for_schools_and_high_needs_-_2026_to_2027.pdf.
Asked by: Rebecca Harris (Conservative - Castle Point)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the number of pupils in Castle Point constituency that will have an EHCP in each of the next five years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Data on the number of school pupils with education, health and care (EHC) plans per year is collected through the school census and broken down by Parliamentary constituency. The published statistics are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/085e68f9-b90c-4324-ca11-08dee0eeb30d.
The department has not made an estimate of the number of pupils with an EHC plan by Parliamentary constituency over the next five years.
Asked by: Rebecca Harris (Conservative - Castle Point)
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 estimate of the number of FTE GPs at surgeries in Castle Point constituency over each of the next five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
As independent businesses that hold contracts with the National Health Service, practices determine the staffing skill mix to best suit the patients they serve. GP services are commissioned and assured by integrated care boards to meet the needs of changing populations and demographics.
Total full-time equivalent GPs in Castle Point constituency have increased in the past five years, from 31.37 in May 2022 to 41.58 in May 2026.
Asked by: Rebecca Harris (Conservative - Castle Point)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the amount of business rates to be paid by businesses in the retail, leisure, and hospitality sector in Castle Point constituency in 2026/27.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office (VO), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government.
At the Budget, the VO announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.
In recognition of the impact of the revaluation on bills, the Government has introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills.
The Government has also introduced new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefit over 750,000 properties.
Recognising the value they bring and the challenges they face, in addition to the support announced at Budget, the Government has introduced a 1-year 15 per cent relief for all pubs and live music venues in 2026/27. For the following two years, their bills will then be frozen in real terms.
The Government recognises that hotels have expressed concerns about how they are valued for business rates. Hotels valuations are undertaken in a different way to some other sectors. The methodology used is well established, but, as with pubs, the Government has announced it will review the way hotels are valued to ensure it accurately reflects the rental value for these sectors.
Asked by: Rebecca Harris (Conservative - Castle Point)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding she will make available for flood defences in each of the next five years for (a) Castle Point constituency and (b) Essex.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment agency is currently in the early stages of the funding allocation process, with funding allocations to be confirmed in 2027 for the following financial years.
Asked by: Rebecca Harris (Conservative - Castle Point)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made a estimate of levels of congestion on the A13/A130 junction at Sadler’s Farm (a) now and (b) in each of the next 20 years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Whilst traffic management on the local road network is the responsibility of the local highway authority, the Department recognises that congestion affects daily journeys and economic growth. That is why Essex County Council is eligible for over £230 million in highways maintenance funding over the next four years.
More widely, the Department for Transport continues to legislate for new lane rental schemes to reduce congestion from roadworks and are devolving powers to mayors to establish future schemes, allowing local leaders to address congestion on their network.