Written Question
Monday 9th February 2026
Asked by:
Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question
to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Answer of Question 108286 on Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust: ADHD and Autism, what steps he is taking to help support Surrey and Borders to meet their diagnostic targets for the assessment of neurodevelopmental disorders in children.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services. This guidance intends to help the National Health Service improve autism assessment services and improve the experience for those referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also set out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism.
Since publication, NHS England has been supporting systems and services to identify where there are challenges for implementation and how they might overcome these.
NHS England established an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) taskforce which brought together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support. The final report was published on 6 November 2025, and we are carefully considering its recommendations.
Building on the work of the Independent ADHD Taskforce, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced on the 4 December 2025 the launch of an Independent Review into Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism. The review will inform our approach so that people with ADHD and autistic people have the right support in place to enable them to live well in their communities.
Written Question
Monday 9th February 2026
Asked by:
Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question
to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on the River Thames Scheme; what her planned timetable is for that scheme; and what the (a) current and (b) projected expenditure is for that scheme, in the context of the project’s mid-project review.
Answered by Emma Hardy
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Significant progress has been made in preparing for The River Thames Scheme to undergo Statutory Consultation to inform the application of a Development Consent Order (DCO).
The mid-project review, initiated by Project Sponsors: The Environment Agency (EA) and Surrey County Council, is ensuring the scheme design is optimised before finalising the DCO.
In addition, the Sponsors commissioned the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) to independently assess the readiness of the project and sponsoring organisations to deliver the project. The cost of the development work up to this point has been £104 million.
The EA will be bringing forward an updated business case this Summer, which will set out the revised timetable to submit the DCO, an updated cost assessment, and any revised arrangement for delivery of the scheme.
Subject to approval of this business case, the next stage in progressing the project is to secure the DCO.
Speech in Public Bill Committees - Thu 05 Feb 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Third sitting)
"I broadly agree. This is one of those difficult areas where there can be overlap. I have sympathy with the argument that it is important to use any opportunity, and in particular this Bill, to raise fraud.
We focus on financial fraud, but this area is not limited to that, …..."Ben Spencer - View Speech
View all Ben Spencer (Con - Runnymede and Weybridge) contributions to the debate on: Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Third sitting)
Speech in Public Bill Committees - Thu 05 Feb 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Fourth sitting)
"I really appreciate my hon. Friend’s intervention. It goes incisively to the heart of the concern about how these provisions are currently drafted. I really struggle to see how an OES that is providing a service to another OES could effectively argue that it is not within the full scope …..."Ben Spencer - View Speech
View all Ben Spencer (Con - Runnymede and Weybridge) contributions to the debate on: Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Fourth sitting)
Speech in Public Bill Committees - Thu 05 Feb 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Fourth sitting)
"Will the Minister give way?..."Ben Spencer - View Speech
View all Ben Spencer (Con - Runnymede and Weybridge) contributions to the debate on: Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Fourth sitting)
Speech in Public Bill Committees - Thu 05 Feb 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Third sitting)
"Clause 3 will amend the relevant provisions of the NIS regulations, stipulating that operators of essential services are within scope of the regulations whether or not they are operating an essential service in the UK, and regardless of jurisdiction in which they are established. Providers of public electronic communications networks …..."Ben Spencer - View Speech
View all Ben Spencer (Con - Runnymede and Weybridge) contributions to the debate on: Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Third sitting)
Speech in Public Bill Committees - Thu 05 Feb 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Third sitting)
"As I risk getting into trouble with Mr Stringer, I will not respond to the hon. Member for Lichfield. I look forward to the opportunity to debate this issue again, perhaps in the emergency Budget in the next couple of weeks.
Clause 6 brings large load controllers, which provide the …..."Ben Spencer - View Speech
View all Ben Spencer (Con - Runnymede and Weybridge) contributions to the debate on: Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Third sitting)
Speech in Public Bill Committees - Thu 05 Feb 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Fourth sitting)
"This clause is one of the provisions that has given rise to widespread industry concern regarding its scope and implications. Business supply chains, particularly for large operators of essential services and multinational companies, are becoming ever more complex. The increased digitisation of service provision across the board means that the …..."Ben Spencer - View Speech
View all Ben Spencer (Con - Runnymede and Weybridge) contributions to the debate on: Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Fourth sitting)
Speech in Public Bill Committees - Thu 05 Feb 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Third sitting)
"I am very happy to give way on taxation...."Ben Spencer - View Speech
View all Ben Spencer (Con - Runnymede and Weybridge) contributions to the debate on: Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Third sitting)
Speech in Public Bill Committees - Thu 05 Feb 2026
Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Fourth sitting)
"On a point of order, Ms McVey. What mechanism is available to Members who are concerned that there is a factual error in the impact assessment? How can that be corrected?..."Ben Spencer - View Speech
View all Ben Spencer (Con - Runnymede and Weybridge) contributions to the debate on: Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (Fourth sitting)