Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answers of 3 and 7 July 2025 to questions 62380 and 62381, what figures his Department used as the 31 March 2024 baselines to measure progress on reducing the number of adults (i) with a learning disability, including those who may also be autistic and (ii) who are autistic, with no learning disability, in mental health inpatient care based on Assuring Transformation data extracted from 31 March 2024.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The table attached presents an extract from the Assuring Transformation dataset, which shows the figures the Department uses as the 31 March 2024 baselines to measure progress on reducing the number of adults with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health inpatient care.
As Assuring Transformation is a live data collection system, late reporting will tend to increase the inpatient count when data are refreshed in subsequent months. The inpatient count in the latest month is therefore expected to rise and should be treated as provisional.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will take steps to ensure that Aliyah Day in May 2026 does not host the Israeli group Shivat Zion.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has no plans to host events commemorating Aliyah Day.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking through the tax system to support first time homebuyers.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government is committed to enabling more people to realise the dream of home ownership and mortgages have become more affordable under this Government thanks to increased economic stability and 6 interest rate cuts.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps she is taking in response to the attack by Israeli settlers on Al-Mughayyir Boys School in the occupied West Bank on 21st April 2026.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns settler violence and the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements. Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools, are unacceptable. We have raised concerns over settler violence with the Government of Israel, calling for those responsible to be held to account and for effective action to prevent further settler violence. We continue to urge Israel to meet its obligations under international law to protect civilians and ensure access to education. We continue to work with international partners to press for accountability and to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will set out the assurances his Department received from Capita on being able to meet their obligations under the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme prior to the contract being awarded.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in receiving their pension quotes are unacceptable. I want to reassure you that this Government has taken firm action to help put things right as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery. For priority cases, we have deployed additional resources and improved communication with affected colleagues, so that staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.
Existing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver improved performance and higher penalties for failure, including financial penalties. These have already applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Capita prioritised the most urgent cases and by the end of February, all death in service cases were either settled or progressed to the final stage or awaiting a member response. The same position was reached for ill health retirement applications by mid-March.
The Cabinet Office will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver the contractual service levels.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what contract penalty clauses relating to delivery failures were included in the Civil Service Pension Scheme administration contract.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in receiving their pension quotes are unacceptable. I want to reassure you that this Government has taken firm action to help put things right as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery. For priority cases, we have deployed additional resources and improved communication with affected colleagues, so that staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.
Existing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver improved performance and higher penalties for failure, including financial penalties. These have already applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Capita prioritised the most urgent cases and by the end of February, all death in service cases were either settled or progressed to the final stage or awaiting a member response. The same position was reached for ill health retirement applications by mid-March.
The Cabinet Office will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver the contractual service levels.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made recent assessment concerning NHS contracts awarded to Palantir.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Privacy by design is a core principle of the NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP). NHS England constantly assesses privacy and data management through strict information governance processes detailed in the NHS Federated Data Platform Information Governance Framework. Data in the NHS FDP remains under National Health Service control at all times.
Palantir does not control the data in the platform, nor are they permitted to access, use, or share it for their own purposes.
The contract has strict stipulations about confidentiality, and there is governance in place to monitor delivery and usage. NHS England is the data controller of the national instance of the NHS FDP. Every hospital trust and integrated care board who has their own instance of the NHS FDP has complete control over who has access to their data platform.
NHS England maintains continuous monitoring of the NHS FDP contract, to ensure it meets expectations. The NHS FDP is a major national digital infrastructure programme and is formally part of the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP). The NHS FDP programme is subject to the scrutiny, assurance, and value for money standards required of all GMPP programmes. NHS FDP’s whole life costs and benefits are assessed through the annual GMPP process.
The NHS FDP is subject to scrutiny by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) as part of the major projects review. NISTA’s latest data, published on 11 August 2025, sets out the projected benefits of NHS FDP at £777 million. The data records the Senior Responsible Owner Delivery Confidence rating as Green, the highest rating. The report is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nista-annual-report-2024-2025
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department holds data on the outstanding caseload in the County Court in England and Wales.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No data is held regarding outstanding caseloads in the County Court in England and Wales. Civil cases do not progress through the court system in a linear way. The vast majority of civil cases settle, are resolved by default judgment, or conclude outside of a final court hearing. Only about 3% of cases are disposed of at a final hearing. Given this, and the fact that civil claims are often driven by party behaviour, an outstanding caseload figure would not provide a fair or meaningful reflection of County Court demand or performance.
I can confirm County Court performance is improving, with the median time taken from claim issue to hearing falling for all tracks. The median time taken for small claims to go to trial was 36.1 weeks in October to December 2025, 6.4 weeks faster than the same period in 2024. The median time taken for fast/intermediate/multi track claims to go to trial was 9.3 weeks faster than the same period last year, at 57.4 weeks in the current quarter.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department collects data on document handling errors or lost filings in County Court civil cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally. The terms “document handling errors” and “lost filings” are broad and may encompass a wide range of issues, making it difficult to provide a specific or reliable answer. HMCTS is reducing the risk of administrative errors in civil claims through work to digitalise processes.
The Deputy Prime Minister has announced further modernisation of civil justice with £50 million investment to continue digitalising the County Court.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what is the Government doing to ensure residents without off-street parking can access domestic-rate electric vehicle charging.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle (EV).
The £25 million EV Pavement Channel Grant supports local authorities to roll out cross-pavement solutions which enable residents without off-street parking to benefit from cheaper and more convenient domestic EV charging. Residents can also access the Electric Vehicle Charge point Grant for Households with On-Street Parking. As announced on 25 February 2026, from 1 April this year, eligible applicants can receive up to £500 off the cost of installing a domestic charge point when paired with a cross-pavement solution.