Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing equal incentives for homeowners to install (a) heat batteries and (b) other low-emission heat sources.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Heat batteries are a promising technology because they utilise time-of-use tariffs, do not require outside space, and can be cheaper to install than heat pumps in some circumstances. However, they are less efficient than heat pumps and will therefore use more energy to meet the same heating demand.
The Department is exploring, through studies like the Homes for Net Zero Trial, the role heat batteries could play in the future. As the evidence base develops, we will continue to review the incentives available and whether this is sufficient, appropriate, and in line with our net zero ambitions.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of planned increases to (a) National Insurance Contributions and (b) the National Minimum Wage on the viability of early years providers; and what steps she plans to take to ensure nurseries are supported to prevent closures.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Since July, this government has had to take some tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, but we are continuing to invest in the early years sector, supporting the delivery of the entitlements and recognising the vital role the sector plays in giving children the best start in life.
The department expects to provide over £8 billion for early years entitlements in the 2025/26 financial year, which is a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as the department continues to rollout the expansion of the entitlements to eligible working parents of children aged from nine months.
On 10 December, the department published details of local authorities’ early years entitlements funding for 2025 to 2026. The funding rates for 2025/26 include funding to reflect the national living wage announced at the Autumn Budget 2024.
HM Treasury are also increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500 and expanding this to all eligible employers, meaning some smaller providers may pay no National Insurance at all in the 2025/26 financial year. The government has confirmed that public sector employers, including those in the early years sector, will be compensated for the increase in their National Insurance contributions.
On top of over £8 billion through the core funding rates, the department is also providing an additional £75 million in an expansion grant for 2025/26 to support the sector in this pivotal year to grow the places and the workforce needed to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025. This is in addition to the largest ever uplift in the early years pupil premium, increasing rates by over 45% to up to £570 per eligible child per year. This unprecedented increase is an investment in quality early education for those children who need it most, in the areas that need it most to tackle childcare deserts and give children the support they need to be ‘school ready’ at age 5 and go on to achieve and thrive.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, supports the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
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 steps his Department is taking to help improve NHS provision of (a) dental care for pregnant women, (b) radiography services for cancer patients, (c) GP access in areas with significant housing developments and (d) audiology services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pregnant women and new mothers are entitled to free National Health Service dental care. The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Woking constituency, this is the NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB.
We will get the NHS diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, so more patients survive, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system. We will also be spending £70 million on new radiotherapy machines, to ensure the most advanced treatment is available to the patients who need it.
We are aware of the additional demand and challenges placed upon primary care infrastructure by rapid housing development. We are working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to address this issue.
The NHS has a statutory duty to ensure that there are sufficient medical services, including general practices, in each local area, with funding and commissioning reflecting population growth and demographic changes.
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 steps his Department is taking to tackle shortages of ADHD medication in Woking.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department monitors and manages medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. Information is not collected on a local level. The Department has been working hard with industry and NHS England to help resolve supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved, and all strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.
We are continuing to work to resolve supply issues where they remain, for methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets. We are engaging with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to assess the challenges faced and their actions to address them. We are also directing suppliers to secure additional stocks, expedite deliveries where possible, and review plans to further build capacity to support continued growth in demand for the short and long-term. We expect supply to improve in the UK throughout December 2024 and January 2025. However, we anticipate supply to be limited for some strengths, and we continue to work with all suppliers to ensure that the remaining issues are resolved as soon as possible. To improve supply chain resiliency, we are also working with prospective new suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to expand the UK supplier base.
We are supporting an ADHD taskforce that NHS England is establishing to examine ADHD service provision. The taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand. In collaboration with NHS England’s national ADHD data improvement plan, we plan to combine modelling for future growth forecasts, which will be shared with industry to improve demand forecasting for ADHD medicines.
To minimise the impact of the shortages on patients, the Department has worked with specialist clinicians, including those within the NHS, to develop management advice for NHS clinicians to consider prescribing available alternative brands of methylphenidate prolonged release tablets generically, or available alternative ADHD medicines. To support ADHD patients throughout the NHS, we would expect all ADHD service providers and specialists to follow our guidance, which includes offering rapid response to primary care teams seeking urgent advice or opinions for the management of patients, including those known to be at a higher risk of adverse impact because of these shortages.
To aid ADHD service providers and prescribers further we have widely disseminated our communications and continually update a list of currently available and unavailable ADHD products on the Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) website, helping ensure that those involved in the prescribing and dispensing of ADHD medications can make informed decisions with patients. The SPS website also offers additional guidance from NHS England specialists to help systems and healthcare professionals manage ADHD supply disruptions.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of widening the accessibility criteria for the English national concessionary travel scheme to include peak travel for disabled bus pass holders to help ensure that they can reach (a) work and (b) educational commitments.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. Local authorities in England have the power to go beyond their statutory obligations under the ENCTS and offer additional discretionary concessions, such as extending the times at which concessionary passes can be used.
The Department publishes statistics on concessionary travel annually on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/concessionary-travel-statistics-year-ending-march-2024/concessionary-travel-statistics-year-ending-march-2024. For the year ending March 2025, 83 out of 85 Travel Concessionary Authorities are offering some form of enhanced discretionary concession in addition to meeting the statutory requirements under the ENCTS.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of local authorities in England which provide bus travel concessions beyond the legal statutory requirements of the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. Local authorities in England have the power to go beyond their statutory obligations under the ENCTS and offer additional discretionary concessions, such as extending the times at which concessionary passes can be used.
The Department publishes statistics on concessionary travel annually on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/concessionary-travel-statistics-year-ending-march-2024/concessionary-travel-statistics-year-ending-march-2024. For the year ending March 2025, 83 out of 85 Travel Concessionary Authorities are offering some form of enhanced discretionary concession in addition to meeting the statutory requirements under the ENCTS.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to introduce a moratorium on Right to Buy sales before proposed changes come into effect.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government does not intend to introduce a moratorium on Right to Buy sales before any further changes come into effect.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Goods Vehicles (Plating and Testing) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2017 to permit 44 tonne operations.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Permitted weights are governed by the Road Vehicles (Authorised Weights) Regulation 1998, as amended. Under these regulations, many goods vehicles are already permitted to operate at up to 44 tonnes.