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 his Department plans to review the requirement for park home residents to pay a 10 per cent commission to site owners upon the sale of their home.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 69040 on 24 July 2025.
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, if his department is considering extending the eligibility for the winter covid-19 vaccination programme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, involving hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19. Population immunity to COVID-19 has been increasing due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity following recovery from infection and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 having reduced significantly since COVID-19 first emerged.
The focus of the JCVI advised programme has therefore moved towards targeted vaccination of the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality. These are the oldest adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed.
On 13 November 2024, JCVI published advice on who should be offered vaccination in autumn 2025. On 26 June 2025, the government accepted the JCVI’s advice that in autumn 2025, a COVID-19 vaccination should be offered to the following groups:
- adults aged 75 years old and over;
- residents in care homes for older adults;
- individuals aged six months old and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in the UK Health Security Agency Green Book.
As for all vaccines, the JCVI keeps the evidence under regular review.
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, whether his department will considered introducing a covid-19 booster vaccination programme for front line NHS staff.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, resulting in hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19. On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme for spring 2025, autumn 2025, and spring 2026. This advice is available at the following link:
On 26 June 2025, the Government accepted the JCVI’s advice that for autumn 2025, a COVID-19 vaccination should be offered to adults aged 75 years old and over, residents in care homes for older adults, and the immunosuppressed aged six months old and over.
In line with JCVI advice, frontline health and social care workers (HSCWs) and staff working in care homes for older adults will not be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination under the national programme for autumn 2025. This is following an extensive review by the JCVI of the scientific evidence surrounding the impact of vaccination on the transmission of the virus from HSCWs to patients, protection of HSCWs against symptoms of the disease, and staff sickness absences.
In the current era of high population immunity to COVID-19, additional COVID-19 doses provide very limited, if any, protection against infection and any subsequent onward transmission of infection. For HSCWs, this means that COVID-19 vaccination likely now has only a very limited impact on reducing staff sickness absence. Therefore, the focus of the programme is now on those at greatest risk of serious disease and who are therefore most likely to benefit from vaccination.
Any HSCW who is otherwise eligible, because of their age or due to immunosuppression, is encouraged to take up the offer of vaccination.
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, what recent discussions his Department has had with Woking Borough Council on the steps it has taken following his predecessor Department's report of its non-statutory review into Woking Borough Council’s finances, investments and related governance in 2023.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department regularly engages with both local authorities and Commissioner teams during interventions. Commissioners are required to regularly submit formal reports on progress and challenges in the local authority to the Department. The reports of the Woking Borough Council commissioners since their appointment in May 2023 are publicly available on gov.uk here.
Alongside the government's decision to establish two unitary authorities in Surrey, we have committed to repay in-principle £500 million of Woking Borough Council’s debt in 2026-27 as a first instalment. We will continue to explore what further debt support is required at a later point. Any support must take into account value for money for the local and national taxpayer.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had recent discussions with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on granting a licence to allow (a) renovations and (b) other maintenance works to proceed at Sutton Place in Woking.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the hon member to the answers that I gave to Parliamentary Question UIN 80792 and Parliamentary Question UIN 84508 on 20 October and 28 October respectively.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to regulate animal (a) rescues and (b) sanctuaries.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Rescue and rehoming establishments in England must provide for the five basic welfare needs of the animals set out in the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is an offence to cause any animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for its welfare. Anyone who is cruel to an animal, or does not provide for its welfare, may be banned from owning animals. They may also face an unlimited fine, be sent to prison, or both.
We are considering whether there is a need for further regulation of this sector as part of our development of an overarching approach to animal welfare. The Prime Minister has committed to publish an Animal Welfare Strategy later this year.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to take steps to (a) encourage the acquisition of dogs through (i) reputable rehoming organisations and (ii) breeders and (b) otherwise promote responsible dog ownership.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government encourages people to adopt from responsible rescue and rehoming organisations. Members of the public can check if the rescue centre they use is a member of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes, which has set clear standards for animal assessments, neutering and rehoming procedures for their members.
The Government also encourages prospective owners who choose to buy a dog to do so through reputable breeders. Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, anyone breeding and selling dogs as a business or who breeds three or more litters in a 12-month period must hold a valid licence from their local authority and meet strict welfare standards.
The Government has reconvened the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce to explore measures to promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. We look forward to receiving the findings and recommendations from the taskforce in due course.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the status is of sanctions on Sutton Place in Woking constituency.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
OFSI does not generally comment on specific cases. For further information about how OFSI takes licensing decisions, please see the OFSI’s general guidance here, and OFSI’s supplemental licensing guidance here.
Designations under UK sanctions regimes are published on the OFSI Consolidated List, which provides details of individuals and entities subject to financial sanctions, including asset freezes. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) also maintains the UK sanctions List, which outlines relevant regimes and listings. Where a designated person (DP) owns or controls economic resources, such as property, those resources are subject to an asset freeze. This means that dealing with or making funds or economic resources available to or for the benefit of a DP, whether directly or indirectly, is prohibited unless authorised by either a General Licence or Specific Licence from OFSI or an applicable legislative exception.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of improving (a) traceability and (b) transparency in dog breeding through strengthened (i) regulation and (ii) microchipping requirements.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra completed a Post-Implementation Review of the Licensing of Activities Involving Animals Regulations 2018, which regulate dog breeding. The Government is considering the findings and will be outlining more detail on next steps in due course.
Compulsory dog microchipping was introduced in England in 2016. All dogs over 8 weeks must be microchipped and relevant information including breeder details recorded with a Defra-compliant database operator, which helps support traceability.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of removing the tax on sustainable fuel on the UK's motorsport sector.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Liquid biofuels and renewable fuels are taxed at the same rate as their petrol and diesel equivalents. The main rate is 52.95 pence per litre. The government keeps the tax system under review, with changes announced at fiscal events.