Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make new capital funding available for school buildings in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We are investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.
As part of this, in 2025/26, Lincolnshire County Council was allocated almost £6 million to invest across its maintained schools. Capital funding for other bodies responsible for schools in South Holland and the Deepings are also available on GOV.UK. We expect to publish capital allocations and the outcomes of the Condition Improvement Fund for the 2026/27 financial year in the spring.
We are also investing almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools within the existing programme, with a further 250 schools to be selected within two years. We plan to open a nomination round early in 2026.
Lincolnshire has also been allocated £62.2 million of Basic Need capital funding to support it to create mainstream school places needed between May 2024 and September 2028.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people deemed to be from under-represented groups are subject to different vetting procedures as part of the hiring process for police officers in England.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
All applicants joining the police as officers or staff are subject to the same rigorous checks and vetting procedures to ensure that only the most suitable candidates are selected. This is set out in the College of Policing’s vetting code of practice and its vetting authorised professional practice (APP).
The Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect the MPS on their recruitment and vetting practices and asked them to provide an assessment in relation to other forces in England and Wales.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people eligible for winter flu vaccinations received them in 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
For England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes provisional vaccine uptake data throughout the flu season. Weekly national level data for general practice (GP) patients is available from October to January, at the following link:
Monthly national and regional level data for GP patients, school-aged children, and frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) is available from October to January. The latest monthly data for the 2025 to 2026 season includes all vaccinations given between 1 September to 30 November 2025, and is avaiable at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figures
Up to 4 January 2026, over 18 million people eligible for the national programme had been vaccinated so far this season.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) social media and (b) other media subscriptions his Department has paid for in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Subscriptions are delegated to team level and not managed departmentally.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with (1) Chrohn's and (2) Colitis in (a) South Holland and the Deepings and (b) Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neither the Department nor NHS England hold data on the total number of people diagnosed with Crohn’s disease or colitis in South Holland and the Deepings or Lincolnshire in each of the last five years. However, the following table shows a count hospital admissions (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis Crohn's disease or colitis and where the patient was resident in Lincolnshire or South Holland and the Deepings, each year from 2020/21 to 2024/25:
Year | South Holland and Deepings | Lincolnshire | ||
Crohn’s | Colitis | Crohn’s | Colitis | |
2020/21 | 125 | 305 | 2,350 | 3,355 |
2021/22 | 175 | 410 | 2,765 | 4,295 |
2022/23 | 180 | 480 | 3,130 | 4,890 |
2023/24 | 165 | 465 | 3,390 | 5,275 |
2024/25 | 75 | 190 | 3,675 | 6,455 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, published by NHS England
Notes:
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers retired due to ill health in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officers leaving the police service and their reasons for leaving, including medical retirements, as at 31 March each year, in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
Information on the number of police officers leaving the police service by reason for leaving, including medical retirements, between the years ending 31 March 2007 and 2025 can be found in the ‘Leavers Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687a364d312ee8a5f0806b7c/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers-230725.ods
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers hired in the last ten years in England underwent standard vetting procedures prior to their hiring.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the vetting of new recruits over the last ten years. This information is held by each individual police force.
Following the Metropolitan Police Service’s (MPS) Operation Jorica review, the Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect them on their recruitment and vetting practices and asked them to provide an assessment in relation to other forces in England and Wales.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to remove business rates for early years providers.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Business rates are a broad-based tax on the value of non-domestic properties, including nurseries.
To protect small businesses, the Government has frozen the small business multiplier for 2025-26. Taken together with Small Business Rates Relief, this intervention ensures that over a million properties will be protected from inflationary increases.
More broadly, in 2026-27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements. We are investing over £1 billion more in the early years entitlements this year compared to 2025-26, to deliver a full year of the expanded entitlements, and an above inflation increase to entitlements funding rates.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been released in error from HM Prison Peterborough since July 2024.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point national action plan to reduce releases in error, which includes strengthening release checks across prisons and an independent review led by Dame Lynne Owens.
Totals for releases in error, including a breakdown by releasing prison (or Prisoner Escort Custody Services), are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab), and provide data up to March 2025.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been released in error from North Sea Camp Prison since July 2024.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point national action plan to reduce releases in error, which includes strengthening release checks across prisons and an independent review led by Dame Lynne Owens.
Totals for releases in error, including a breakdown by releasing prison (or Prisoner Escort Custody Services), are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab), and provide data up to March 2025.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected.