Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen diplomatic cooperation with European allies in the context of US foreign policy.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In March, the Prime Minister convened international leaders to shape our support for Ukraine. The Foreign Secretary met EU High Representative Kallas, spoke to his Polish and French counterparts, and attended a Weimar+ meeting in Madrid. We are setting up structures to ensure our partnerships deliver in the long-term, including through summits with Ireland, France and the EU, and groups like the European Political Community, Calais Group and Joint Expeditionary Force. We look forward to re-starting negotiations on a UK-Germany treaty once the new German government forms. We continue to work closely with European partners in multilateral fora such as the Council of Europe and OSCE.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to highway authorities affected by the M25/A3 roadworks to cover the increased wear and tear and maintenance costs on diversion routes.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The strategic and local road networks are frequently used to support diversions for one another, typically without the need for compensation from either party. From the early stages of the project, extensive engagement was undertaken with Surrey County Council which is the main local authority impacted by the works. This included detailed discussions on diversion routes that would utilise Surrey County Council’s road network to support the scheme's delivery. The development of these diversion routes carefully considered local communities, road widths, weight and height restrictions, junction configurations, and other relevant constraints.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the fee status is of Ukrainian refugees when applying for university; which fee level they fall under; and what financial support they are provided with.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Those who have been granted leave under one of the Ukraine schemes generally qualify for home fee status and higher education student support in England, without being required to meet the normal 3 year ordinary residence test.
Higher education providers set their own fees in line with the relevant legislation.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) troops, (b) tanks and (c) other military vehicles the United Kingdom had in Estonia on 27 March (i) 2025 and (ii) 2021.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Since 2017, the UK has been the Framework Nation to Estonia as part of the NATO construct, enhanced Force Presence (eFP). This construct provides members of the Alliance positioned along the Eastern Flank of NATO (Host Nations) with bilateral guarantees from other NATO members.
The UK’s presence in Estonia has been centred on an Armoured Battle Group, based in Tapa and comprising up to 1,300 Service personnel and high end warfighting capabilities. These capabilities included the Challenger 2 Armoured Tank, numerous Anti-Tank capabilities, armoured infantry and artillery. In addition the Battle Group is supported by Divisional level assets such as Short Range Air Defence and long range strike artillery.
Following the Madrid NATO summit in 2022 and the full invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the Alliance increased the level of support to Host Nations, with Framework Nations agreeing to reinforce with up to a Brigade in times of crisis. This was termed Forward Land Forces (FLF). To date, the UK has achieved this through the allocation of 12 Armoured Bde and associated capability. Bilaterally, the UK will reinforce Estonia with the balance of a Brigade. This year, 12 Bde are being replaced by 4 Bde, reinforced with an Aviation Task Force. This transition will be showcased on Ex HEDGEHOG, a Baltic wide demonstration of the FLF construct.
Both 2021 and 2025 saw UK personnel numbers remain stable at around 700 personnel in country.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the United Kingdom is contributing to the NATO Hedgehog Exercises.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK has endorsed the deployment of 4 Brigade and four Typhoons to Exercise HEDGEHOG. The UK will provide roughly 2,500 Service personnel towards the exercise, in addition to the Forward Land Forces armoured battle group already deployed in Estonia, comprising circa 800 soldiers. France will also provide support, alongside Finland and the US. This is an excellent demonstration of close cooperation in the name of European security.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a GCSE in Ukrainian.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Woking to the answer of 2 April 2025 to Question HL5393.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a British Sign Language GCSE.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department is in the process of developing a British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE. This landmark GCSE is an important step towards greater recognition of BSL as a language and will foster better communication between Deaf and hearing communities.
The department published subject content for the BSL GCSE in December 2023. Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator, is developing assessment arrangements and will launch a technical consultation on this in due course.
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 he will take steps with NHS England to improve the provision of respite homes for mums and babies post traumatic birth.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the significant physical and psychological consequences of birth trauma and the devastating impact this can have on some women. We are fully committed to improving the quality and consistency of care for women throughout pregnancy, birth, and the critical months that follow, and to ensuring that when a woman experiences a traumatic birth, there is a broad range of support available
In relation to the psychological impact, bespoke mental health pathways support women who experience mental health difficulties as a result of labour. These services are provided through specialist perinatal mental health services, maternal mental health services, and mother and baby units. Mother and baby units are specialist, in-patient units for some women with mental health problems, designed to keep mothers and their babies together. Specialist staff nurture and support the mother infant relationship on the ward, while at the same time the mother receives treatment and care. 165 mother and baby unit beds have now been commissioned, and maternal mental health services have been set up in 41 out of the 42 local areas across England to provide care for women with moderate to severe or complex mental health difficulties, arising from birth trauma or loss in the maternity/neonatal context.
With regards to physical health, NHS England’s national service specification for perinatal pelvic health services sets out the expected standards of care to improve the prevention and identification of pelvic health issues, and to increase access to physiotherapy for pelvic health issues during pregnancy and for at least one year after birth. These services work with maternity services across England to implement the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injuries care bundle, to reduce rates of anal sphincter, or perineal, injuries resulting from labour and vaginal birth.
All women are now offered a general practitioner (GP) check six to eight weeks after birth that should focus on the mothers physical and mental health needs. This is an opportunity for GPs to listen to women in a discrete, supportive environment, in order to provide personalised postnatal care for their physical and mental health, and includes an explicit reference to birth trauma for the first time.
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 plans to take to work with volunteers to (a) add resilience to the NHS workforce, (b) reduce waiting lists and (c) move care out-of-hospital and into the community.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has always benefitted from the generous support of volunteers. Volunteers will continue to play an important and complementary role in the NHS and care system, supporting patients, families, and staff.
NHS England invested £10 million last year to support programmes across 15 integrated care systems to improve volunteering infrastructure. NHS England is also continuing to invest in the NHS volunteer recruitment portal and deliver on recommendations from the NHS Volunteer Taskforce Report from 2023.
A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and those who support our workforce, so we can ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the right care to patients when they need it.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of approved driving instructor (ADI) tests; and if she will make it her policy to temporarily extend the two-year qualification period applicable after passing part one of the ADI.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) understands that waiting times remain high for approved driving instructor (ADI) tests and has a rolling programme of recruitment and training for ADI examiners.
Since December 2024, the DVSA has also made available weekend slots for ADI part 2 and part 3 tests.
When managing the book to hold list, DVSA’s deployment team will look at the part 1 expiry date to help prioritise trainee driving instructors whose expiration date is approaching.
The legislation requires that a part three test is booked, not taken, before the expiry of the part one test. The DVSA has put measures in place to support candidates whose part one pass is due to expire by allowing them to book a part three test online, or if no tests are available they can book a test to hold. Both of these options meet the regulatory requirements.
The two-year qualifying period is set in legislation and there are no plans to extend this.