Written questions by Pinkerton.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of palliative care services in Surrey Heath constituency.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB), including the Surrey Heartlands ICB, must commission. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care services are provided by the National Health Service, we recognise the pressures hospices are facing, which is why we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The nearest hospice, the Woking and Sam Beare Hospice, received £160,768 in 2024/25 and will receive £481,630 in 2025/26.We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which, until recently, was known as the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. The nearest children and young people’s hospice, the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice, received £1,879,000 in 2025/26.I can also now confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the three years of the next Spending Review period, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.Officials will present further proposals to ministers over the coming months, outlining the drivers and incentives that are required in palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of classroom support ratios in mainstream schools in Surrey Heath constituency.

School support staff, including classroom support staff, play a vital role in children’s education.Headteachers are responsible for recruitment and deployment in their schools as they are best placed to understand the specific needs of their pupils and make staffing decisions accordingly.The Education Endowment Foundation’s guidance report ‘Deployment of Teaching Assistants’ makes a number of recommendations to help schools make decisions about how to deploy their teaching assistants to ensure they are used effectively.In October 2024 the department released the new Financial Benchmarking & Insights Tool to support schools. This service helps schools view and improve their spending, provision and deployment of staff by making comparisons to similar schools.

If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of systems for the handling of human remains.

In July 2025 the Fuller Inquiry’s phase 2 final report was published, which looked at the wider national lessons for hospital and non-hospital settings where the deceased are cared for. It examined whether procedures and practices safeguard the security and dignity of the deceased across the range of settings and made 75 recommendations in total.This final report recommended the introduction of a statutory regulatory regime for those caring for the deceased. The Department will publish an interim update in winter 2025 and a final response by summer 2026. This will include updates on recommendations for the funeral sector and standards to protect the security and dignity of the deceased in all settings.

What steps her Department is taking to support schools experiencing staffing challenges in implementing SEND provision in Surrey Heath constituency.

Recruiting and retaining expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child. This is why the government’s Plan for Change is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools, and colleges over the course of this parliament.In May 2025, the department announced a 4% pay award to school teachers and leaders, which, combined with the previous year’s 5.5% award, will mean school teachers will see an increase in their pay of almost 10% over two years.The department’s interventions are having impact, with 2,346 more teachers across secondary and special schools in 2024/25. The latest census reported one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector, and more teachers are returning to state schools than at any point in the last ten years. The latest data showed 17,274 teachers returned to the classroom.There is significant work underway to ensure there is an appropriate training offer in place to support teachers and school leaders to create an inclusive school environment.Our core teacher training offer includes significantly more content on adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and this is supplemented by further SEND-specific training that is easy to access at any point in a teacher’s career through the Universal SEND Services contract. This programme aims to support the school and further education workforce, particularly in mainstream settings, to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND earlier and more effectively.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of expanding funding for preventative mental health support in schools in Surrey Heath constituency.

​​The government has committed to provide access to Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in every school. 23% of schools and colleges in Surrey Heath constituency were supported by an MHST in March 2025. Further data for 2024/25 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.​This has been available since 16 May 2025 at national, regional and local authority level, and since 10 July 2025 at constituency level. Around six in ten pupils nationally are expected to have access to an MHST by March 2026. Under government plans, all pupils will have access to MHSTs by 2029/30.​It is important that schools continue to have the freedom to decide what other pastoral support to offer their pupils based on need, making the best use of their funding. School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, taking total core school funding to £65.3 billion. ​

What steps her Department is taking to support schools to assist pupils experiencing mental health difficulties who do not meet the threshold for specialist services in Surrey Heath constituency.

​​The government has committed to provide access to Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in every school. 23% of schools and colleges in Surrey Heath constituency were supported by an MHST in March 2025. Further data for 2024/25 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.​This has been available since 16 May 2025 at national, regional and local authority level, and since 10 July 2025 at constituency level. Around six in ten pupils nationally are expected to have access to an MHST by March 2026. Under government plans, all pupils will have access to MHSTs by 2029/30.​It is important that schools continue to have the freedom to decide what other pastoral support to offer their pupils based on need, making the best use of their funding. School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, taking total core school funding to £65.3 billion. ​

What recent discussions her Department has had with Surrey County Council on the closure of SEND units in mainstream schools in Surrey Heath constituency.

The department has not received any proposals from mainstream schools in this area to close special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) units.The department has published allocations for £740 million high needs capital in 2025/26 to support children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. Of this funding, Surrey Council has been allocated £16.1 million.This funding is intended to create facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the (a) independence and (b) effectiveness of mechanisms for capturing patient feedback within health services in Surrey Heath constituency.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are required to consult the group of people for whom they have core responsibility, and any other person they consider it appropriate to consult when developing their joint forward plans. Local Healthwatch arrangements also provide a route through which patients may provide feedback on services in their area.As set out in the 10 Year Health Plan for England, the work of local Healthwatch bodies relating to healthcare will be brought together with ICBs and provider engagement functions to ensure patient and wider community input into the planning and design of services. Individual provider boards will be asked to ensure that they have robust mechanisms in place to collect and use patient feedback, ensuring that it is actively fed back to individual clinicians and clinical teams. Local authorities will have a similar role in relation to social care functions.

What steps her Department is taking to support parents with the cost of school uniform in Surrey Heath constituency.

I refer the hon. Member for Surrey Heath to the answer of 10 November 2025 to Question 79046.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of HMRC’s loan charge repayment policies on people in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025. The Government recognises the concerns raised about the loan charge. The independent review examined the barriers that prevent those people subject to the loan charge from reaching resolution with HMRC. HMRC continues to provide support for those affected, with agreed manageable payment plans and a well-established Extra Support Service. It has guidance and training in place for all customer advisors or settlement teams on identifying taxpayers who need extra support and providing reasonable adjustments to meet their needs.

What assessment his Department has made of the timeliness of postal services in Surrey Heath constituency.

The government does not collect or hold this information. Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, has a duty to ensure the provision of a financially sustainable and efficient universal postal service. It monitors Royal Mail’s provision of the universal service and has powers to investigate and take enforcement action if Royal Mail fails to achieve its performance targets as appropriate, taking account of all relevant factors.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed expansion of Farnborough Airport on (a) noise pollution and (b) air quality in Surrey Heath constituency.

Assessment of the potential impact of Farnborough Airport’s expansion is a matter for Rushmoor Borough Council as the local planning authority responsible for considering the airport’s planning application.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve real time monitoring of water quality in (a) rivers and (b) lakes to support safe access for swimmers in Surrey Heath constituency.

There are currently no bathing waters designated by Defra in the Surrey Heath constituency. The Environment Agency undertakes regular monitoring of the water quality in Surrey Heath constituency; the assessment and proposed actions are set out in The Thames River Basin Management Plan. Impacts from wastewater pollution are highlighted as a key pressure resulting in many waterbodies not currently achieving good ecological status. There have been significant pollution incidents at Camberley and Chobham Sewage Treatment Works in the last few years, and these are subject to ongoing Environment Agency investigations. The Environment Agency is currently transforming its regulatory approach including developing a larger specialised workforce and delivering a step change in inspections of Thames Water's permitted sites and associated enforcement. Water company investment of over £10 billion will improve over 2,500 storm overflows, targeted at those affecting the most sensitive sites for ecological and human health. Protected Sites Strategies will also help improve biodiversity in our coastal areas. Where a water body has been officially designated as a bathing water the Environment Agency will carry out regular testing of the water quality at each site, as well as inspecting for the presence of a range of pollutants. Information about water quality at each site is published online via the Swimfo service.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce sewage discharges and (b) prevent blue-green algae blooms in designated swimming areas in Surrey Heath constituency.

There are currently no bathing waters designated by Defra in the Surrey Heath constituency. The Environment Agency undertakes regular monitoring of the water quality in Surrey Heath constituency; the assessment and proposed actions are set out in The Thames River Basin Management Plan. Impacts from wastewater pollution are highlighted as a key pressure resulting in many waterbodies not currently achieving good ecological status. There have been significant pollution incidents at Camberley and Chobham Sewage Treatment Works in the last few years, and these are subject to ongoing Environment Agency investigations. The Environment Agency is currently transforming its regulatory approach including developing a larger specialised workforce and delivering a step change in inspections of Thames Water's permitted sites and associated enforcement. Water company investment of over £10 billion will improve over 2,500 storm overflows, targeted at those affecting the most sensitive sites for ecological and human health. Protected Sites Strategies will also help improve biodiversity in our coastal areas. Where a water body has been officially designated as a bathing water the Environment Agency will carry out regular testing of the water quality at each site, as well as inspecting for the presence of a range of pollutants. Information about water quality at each site is published online via the Swimfo service.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing regulations requiring private healthcare providers to publish standardised pricing for diagnostic services in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department has not carried out an assessment of the potential merits of introducing regulations requiring private healthcare providers to publish standardised pricing for diagnostic services.In 2014, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded an investigation into the private healthcare market and published a report which concluded that the lack of sufficient publicly available performance and fee information on consultants was a feature in the provision of privately funded healthcare services by consultants, giving rise to adverse effect on competition. The report is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/533af065e5274a5660000023/Private_healthcare_main_report.pdfThe Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014 was made in response, and the CMA continues to monitor compliance to improve competition. The order is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/542c1543e5274a1314000c56/Non-Divestment_Order_amended.pdfThe Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) was set up following the report to publish information about the safety, quality and costs of private healthcare.On 10 October 2025, the CMA recognised the PHIN meeting the silver milestone on its journey toward being fully compliant with the CMA’s Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014. This recognised the PHIN engaging with the sector to facilitate compliance with the order so that 96% of consultants publish their consultation fees for self-pay patients, exceeding PHIN’s 90% target. Currently, 96% of all private procedures are carried out by consultants whose fees are on the PHIN website. The CMA’s letter recognising this milestone is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68e789cd187483de54d76690/_CMA_letter_to_PHIN_welcoming_achievement_of_silver_compliance_milestone.pdfWhere private healthcare providers are delivering services for NHS patients, this is delivered at NHS tariff prices.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to support low-income families with water bills in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government expects water companies to ensure support is available for vulnerable customers who are struggling to pay their bills. We are working with industry to keep current support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers across the country are supported. We welcome the commitment from companies to more than double the number of customers that will receive help with their bills through existing social tariffs – from 4% in 2020-25 to 9% by 2030.

Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to support residents who are unable to (a) sell or (b) remortgage their properties due to fire safety remediation works in Surrey Heath constituency.

Ten major banks and building societies have signed up to the industry statement on cladding. In doing so, they have committed to consider mortgage applications, even if a property has building safety issues, provided either the building has funding for works from government or the developer, or the property is protected by the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act, and the leaseholder has completed a ‘Leaseholder Deed of Certificate’ to evidence it. Officials engage regularly with these lenders to make sure they fulfil their commitment to lending as set out in the statement. If the Hon Gentleman is aware of cases in the Surrey Heath constituency where there is evidence that this is not happening, I would encourage him to contact my Department and my officials can follow this up.

What steps her Department is taking to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of affordable and accessible charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle (EV). Surrey County Council, which includes Surrey Heath constituency, was allocated over £3 million through the Government’s Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to leverage additional private investment and expand the amount of EV charging infrastructure across the area.We also recently announced a £25 million Electric Vehicle Pavement Channel Grant which is intended to empower local authorities to adopt pavement channels as part of their local charging solutions. Surrey County Council were allocated £225,000 to support the installation of pavement channels.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the long-term (a) social and (b) economic impact of the Post Office Horizon scandal on affected individuals in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department welcomes the findings of Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report which illustrates the significant and wide-ranging impacts on affected postmasters across the UK. As part of our response to that report we have made several changes which will improve postmasters experience in claiming for redress and ensure that the redress they receive is full and fair.

What steps his Department is taking to support victims of the Post Office scandal in Surrey Heath constituency.

As of 30 September 2025, approximately £1,229 million has been paid in total redress to over 9,100 claimants across all Horizon redress schemes. This represents a more than fivefold increase since July 2024, with more than 6,300 victims receiving compensation for the first time.We are taking a variety of measures to increase the pace of the delivery of redress across our schemes. This includes launching the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) and Horizon Shortfall Scheme Appeals process, committing to providing first offers on receipt of detailed claims within 40 working days.We continue to seek the views of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board to ensure fairness and consider ways we can speed up redress.