Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of directing Ofsted to ensure that one third of inspections are carried out without notice.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Ofsted typically gives a short period of notice of its inspections, to support the effective conduct of the inspection visit. It retains the ability to inspect without notice where it has concerns about a provider. For example, in early years inspections, notice normally takes place at around midday on the day before the inspection. Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, there were 1,400 unannounced inspections (16%) in early years settings.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has considered increasing the cap on house prices from £250,000 for Help to Buy ISAs outside of London, in the context of increases in house prices nationally.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government is committed to helping first time buyers own their own home, and will do this by building 1.5 million more homes.
The Government keeps savings policy under review, any changes of this kind would be made at a relevant fiscal event.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure there will be sufficient (a) GPs, (b) hospitals and (c) other healthcare facilities for the potential new town in Adlington, Cheshire East.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning health care services within their regions. This includes ensuring service providers are able to meet the reasonable needs of their patient population. Where necessary, ICBs can commission local enhanced services which can vary in scope and funding, to fit the needs of the patient population.
We recognise the challenges facing areas of significant housing and population growth and the pressure that this can place upon local health infrastructure, including primary care.
Local planning authorities are responsible for negotiating and agreeing developer contributions to support necessary associated infrastructure when new housing developments are built, including GP practices and primary care provision.
The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to determine how developer contributions from new housing developments can be better used towards local health services and infrastructure.