Speeches by Stafford.

“10. What plans her Department has to tackle the special educational needs and disabilities funding shortfall identified in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s “Economic and fiscal outlook” of November 2025.”

“In Surrey, the high needs block deficit is forecast to rise to £165 million by 2027. Although Conservative-run Surrey county council has earmarked £144 million in reserves to ease that pressure, that cannot be a long-term solution. Can the Minister confirm whether and when Surrey’s safety valve agreement will be extend…”

“Part of the trial is to ask the child participants the Avon longitudinal study of parents and carers romantic relationships questionnaire. Is the Minister as concerned as I am that children under the age of 13 will be asked sexually explicit questions?”

“To continue on strikes, the cost of July’s industrial action was funded from existing NHS budgets. When Sir Jim was in front of us in September on strikes, he said, “but bearing the cost of that”—“that” being the strikes—“would be beyond our ability to cope with…It would be unreasonable for the NHS to do that, and it w…”

“Just one final point of clarification. You said you would not cut NHS budgets. Can you confirm you would not cut social care budgets as well?”

“Where is it going to come from, then?”

“Okay, so in spring?”

“So you will cut NHS budgets?”

“But you must have some idea, Secretary of State, and you must have some idea of where that money is going to come from when you have to spend it.”

“Forgive me; we don’t have much time. Where is the money going to come from?”

“This is my final question. Secretary of State, you stated very recently—I think it was earlier this month—that you will not cut NHS budgets to fund the pharma deal. Can you set out how you are going to fund that?”

“We are not going to make it in the timetable that you mentioned.”

“So essentially that target has been scrapped.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I am grateful to my right hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds), my constituency neighbour, for securing this debate. Housing and planning are among the issues I hear about most from my constituents across Farnham, Bordon, Haslemere, Liphoo…”

“That is not massively helpful. In which case, let us move on to funding. Is the Department on track to eliminate deficit support funding in ’26-27, given that 92 trusts are still in deficit?”

“Can you be a little bit more specific, Secretary of State?”

“Thank you, Chair. I have three, hopefully brief, questions with hopefully brief answers. First, as far as I am aware the Government are yet to publish any timescale or scope for the health Bill; when will the Bill be published?”

“Therefore, going forward, given that there will probably be more strikes—I hope there are not—are you, Secretary of State, going to give a guarantee that in future the NHS will not have to find internal savings to cover these strikes?”

“I do understand that.”

“But if money has been rightly saved in the NHS, that money has been spent on strike action rather than on improving services. Essentially, it has had an impact on frontline services, because that money could have been spent on improving x, y or z.”