Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for a paid for priority and super priority application to be turned around and decided.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Visa processing times for priority and super priority applications are published on the UKVI website at Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK and Visa decision waiting times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK. UKVI are currently processing applications on the overwhelming majority of its visa routes within their published customer service standards.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance the department has provided to people trapped in the UK, who are visiting from Iran.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office continues to monitor the situation in Iran and its impacts. We recognise the disruption to travel routes through the Middle East and the impact on people whose onward travel has been delayed.
Those already living in the UK who have permission to stay should continue to follow their immigration conditions. For those whose permission to stay is due to expire, there are a variety of existing routes under the Immigration Rules to allow a person to extend or vary their permission in the UK. Guidance on varying permission to stay can be found on the GOV.UK website: Vary your immigration application - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what conversations his Department has had with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office regarding cancer patients visiting the UK on a visa who are undergoing treatment in Iran; and whether it has a plan to deal with the impact of the war on people with cancer in this predicament.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not issued any specific guidance for Iranians with health conditions who are visiting the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the Department of Health and Social Care has not engaged in discussions with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office concerning Iranians visiting the UK who require cancer treatment.
In England, the National Health Service is a residency‑based system and only those who are ordinarily resident in the UK, or otherwise exempt under the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, are entitled to NHS care without charge, however, decisions about whether treatment is provided are always made by clinicians on the basis of clinical need, and urgent or immediately necessary care must not be delayed or denied because of charging considerations.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has provided to Iranians visiting the UK, who have with health conditions, that are unable to return to Iran.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not issued any specific guidance for Iranians with health conditions who are visiting the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the Department of Health and Social Care has not engaged in discussions with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office concerning Iranians visiting the UK who require cancer treatment.
In England, the National Health Service is a residency‑based system and only those who are ordinarily resident in the UK, or otherwise exempt under the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, are entitled to NHS care without charge, however, decisions about whether treatment is provided are always made by clinicians on the basis of clinical need, and urgent or immediately necessary care must not be delayed or denied because of charging considerations.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his department is taking to help ensure that businesses sympathetically consider when their customers are receiving palliative care in debt recovery and repossession cases.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises the importance of responsible and fair practices for debt recovery and understands the negative impact that aggressive or wrongful pursuit of debt can have on individuals. Firms which collect on consumer credit agreements or mortgages must be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which expects firms to treat customers fairly and has a range of supervisory and enforcement tools to address breaches of its rules. The FCA also requires that firms consider customer vulnerability, including health conditions, to ensure staff have the right skills and capability to respond.
The Government also has a number of measures in place to help people to avoid repossession, as well as providing protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, which makes it clear that repossession must always be the last resort for lenders.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time is for the Child Maintenance Service to resolve complaints escalated beyond initial review.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold centrally collated information on the average time taken for the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to resolve complaints escalated beyond initial review.
CMS follows the Department’s complaints service standard, aiming to resolve complaints, or provide a clear resolution plan, within 15 working days. For more complex cases, they keep complainants updated on progress and advise when a full response can be expected.
CMS continues to strengthen its complaints handling processes, drawing on insights from the Independent Case Examiner and operational feedback to support ongoing improvements and enhance the customer experience.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will review the statutory guidance on school attendance to allow exemptions for term-time holidays for children in foster care with complex needs and SEND when travel during peak holiday periods is not feasible.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
There are currently no plans to review our approach to term-time holidays. Schools may grant a leave of absence for exceptional circumstances at their discretion by judging each application on the specific facts. However, generally a holiday would not constitute an exceptional circumstance. The school year is structured so that there are opportunities for holidays outside of term-time. Schools and local authorities also have considerable flexibility to plan term dates themselves and hold INSET days and other occasional days at quieter times of the year, allowing parents and carers to plan breaks at times that suit them.
This government recognises there can be considerable additional pressures on some pupils and their parents and carers, including for children in foster care with complex needs. However, all children have a right to a full-time education and we do not believe the solution is to endorse additional time away from school.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the extent to which administrative errors by the Child Maintenance Service contribute to the creation of incorrect arrears; and what steps his Department is taking to rectify such cases.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to providing timely, transparent, and accurate information to parents. To support this, CMS uses proportionate controls to ensure calculation accuracy, including verified income from HMRC and Child Benefit systems, dedicated verification processes, and a three tier quality framework. These measures help minimise administrative and calculation errors that could otherwise contribute to incorrect arrears being created.
Where CMS identifies—either through its internal checks or following a parent’s challenge—that a single accidental error relating to the maintenance calculation has occurred, it can apply a correction without requiring a full Mandatory Reconsideration (MR), provided the challenge is raised within legislative timescales. The CMS also operates a liability schedule which acts as the authoritative record of assessed liability, payments received, and arrears, ensuring over‑ and under‑payments are correctly reconciled.
All calculation decisions may be challenged through the MR process, which allows a parent to request a review before appealing to His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. During MR, CMS reassesses the decision and considers any new information; where an error is confirmed, the decision is revised accordingly.
Through the Service Modernisation Programme, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has strengthened accuracy and communication by introducing enhanced digital tools, clearer written communications, expanded use of SMS and email, and greater self‑service functionality. These improvements, including automated processing of simple case updates through My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC), enable parents to access and update case information 24/7, improve accuracy, reduce administrative errors, and speed up changes.
The Department rigorously monitors accuracy and continues to meet the National Audit Office (NAO) monetary error target of under 1%, ensuring robust oversight of error rates and arrears calculations.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce investigation times in cases related to sexual offences.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Rape and sexual offences are among the most harmful crimes in society and can have devastating impacts on victims, their loved ones, and communities. The Home Office has invested £13.1 million to launch the new National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Public Protection (NCVPP) to improve the national response to violence against women and girls and child sexual abuse.
Through the NCVPP, we are continuing to support Operation Soteria and ensuring that police forces build the strongest possible, suspect‑focused cases to bring perpetrators of these horrific crimes to justice. This includes embedding victim-orientated, trauma-informed training at frontline, specialist and leadership levels so that officers are equipped to deliver high-quality investigations, to support victims better, and to build capability across forces in the long term.
We are embedding specialist rape and sexual offence teams in every police force in England and Wales, to ensure the right expertise is in place to investigate these crimes effectively, and we are working closely with the NCVPP to ensure a consistent national approach.
We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that the right powers are available for the authorities to tackle sexual crimes, bring perpetrators to justice and manage sex offenders.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made on the cost of travel surveys to the public and their value for money.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Travel surveys can provide vital evidence to enable better targeting of investments to improve transport for people and businesses across the country. The cost of conducting travel surveys will vary by the methods, scope and other factors involved.