Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has attended meetings with the Secretary of State for Education on the allocation of new dental school places since 1 January 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers regularly engage with ministerial colleagues on a range of issues.
The independent Office for Students (OfS) has statutory responsibility for allocating funding for medical and dental school places. Allocation outcomes are based on guidance issued by the Government, alongside an OfS assessment of provider capability.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of rural exception site policy in securing affordable rented housing in perpetuity for local people in rural and coastal towns.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 57293 on 16 June 2025.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2025 to Question 88046 on Economic Crime: British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, if she will make it her policy to collect data on the use of Exchange of Notes Arrangements in investigations.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
While we do not collect specific data on the use of Exchange of Notes Arrangements in investigations, we regularly review the effectiveness and usefulness of these arrangements as part of our ongoing policy considerations, including with law enforcement partners.
We are also mindful of the need to strike the appropriate balance when introducing any new reporting requirements on law enforcement agencies, ensuring that such measures support operational effectiveness without creating unnecessary burdens.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of registers of beneficial ownership in the Overseas Territories on the effective prosecution of fraud and economic crime.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government regards registers of beneficial ownership as key tools for tackling illicit finance, including investigating fraud and economic crime by law enforcement both in the UK and the Overseas Territories (OTs). The UK expects OTs to implement legitimate interest access registers at a minimum, and as soon as possible, in line with the commitments made at the Joint Ministerial Council in 2024. Our ultimate expectation is that the OTs implement fully public registers. I refer the Hon Member to my Written Ministerial Statements of 3 July and 22 July on this subject, and my contribution to the Westminster Hall debate on 5 November. I will provide a further update following the Joint Ministerial Council this month.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times exchange of notes arrangements have been used in investigations relating to economic crime to share beneficial ownership information between the UK on the one hand and the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories on the other in financial years (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21, (iii) 2021-22, (iv) 2023-24 and (v) 2024-25.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
In 2016 the UK, the three Crown Dependencies and six participating British Overseas Territories committed to share company beneficial ownership information on a bilateral basis between their participating law enforcement agencies.
The Home Office does not hold data on the number of investigations where the Exchange of Notes Arrangements have been used in investigations.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the availability of research into less survivable cancers; and what steps his Department is taking to incentivise people to undertake research into this area.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The Government is investing in new lifesaving and life-improving research to support those diagnosed with less survivable cancers. An example of this is the announcement of the NIHR’s new national Brain Tumour Research Consortium, which will bring together researchers from a range of different disciplines and institutions with the aim of making scientific advances in how we prevent, detect, manage and treat rarer but less-survivable cancers in adults and children.
The NIHR continue to welcome further high-quality proposals from researchers to inform approaches to prevention, treatment and care in relation to less survivable cancers.
Furthermore, the Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with rare cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments. The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the National Health Service will improve diagnosis and outcomes for all cancer patients in England, including for rare and less common cancers.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what processes the Child Maintenance Service has in place to verify claims of financial hardship made by paying parents when arrears repayment schedules are extended beyond the two-year debt steer principle.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.
When a paying parent does not make maintenance payments on time or in full, the CMS will initially negotiate a payment that is feasible for the parent to pay considering the individual circumstances of each case.
The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible taking into account all relevant circumstances.
After investigating the paying parent’s circumstances and financial situation discretion can be applied to negotiate an arrangement that extends beyond a two-year period, providing it is a reliable and consistent plan for the recovery of arrears.
When the CMS makes a discretionary decision, caseworkers must consider the welfare of any child affected by that decision.
If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS can request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary by issuing what we call a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). The CMS also has powers to deduct maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts including joint and business accounts.
If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures including order for sale where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removing driving licences, disqualification of passports and committal to prison.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps are taken by the Child Maintenance Service to assess the impact on the welfare of children when arrears repayment schedules are extended beyond the two-year debt steer principle.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.
When a paying parent does not make maintenance payments on time or in full, the CMS will initially negotiate a payment that is feasible for the parent to pay considering the individual circumstances of each case.
The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible taking into account all relevant circumstances.
After investigating the paying parent’s circumstances and financial situation discretion can be applied to negotiate an arrangement that extends beyond a two-year period, providing it is a reliable and consistent plan for the recovery of arrears.
When the CMS makes a discretionary decision, caseworkers must consider the welfare of any child affected by that decision.
If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS can request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary by issuing what we call a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). The CMS also has powers to deduct maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts including joint and business accounts.
If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures including order for sale where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removing driving licences, disqualification of passports and committal to prison.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Child Maintenance Service adheres to its debt steer principle that arrears should be repaid within a maximum of two years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.
When a paying parent does not make maintenance payments on time or in full, the CMS will initially negotiate a payment that is feasible for the parent to pay considering the individual circumstances of each case.
The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible taking into account all relevant circumstances.
After investigating the paying parent’s circumstances and financial situation discretion can be applied to negotiate an arrangement that extends beyond a two-year period, providing it is a reliable and consistent plan for the recovery of arrears.
When the CMS makes a discretionary decision, caseworkers must consider the welfare of any child affected by that decision.
If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS can request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary by issuing what we call a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). The CMS also has powers to deduct maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts including joint and business accounts.
If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures including order for sale where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removing driving licences, disqualification of passports and committal to prison.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many skilled worker visas were sponsored by Jhoots Group before their removal from the register of licensed sponsors on 24 October 2025.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information requested is not available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.