Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether (a) Government services and (b) critical national infrastructure faced disruption as a result of the Microsoft Azure outage on Wednesday 29 October 2025; and what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the economy of that service outage.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is leading Government’s response to the Microsoft Azure outage that took place on Wednesday 29 October 2025. We understand that all Azure services were restored on Wednesday evening, and DSIT is in contact with Microsoft to understand how such events can be mitigated in the future.
DSIT has identified disruption to online Government services across several departments, which were restored within hours of the incident.
We are not aware of any major disruption arising from this event affecting Critical National Infrastructure but will continue to work with relevant operators to understand the full impact.
The outage affected a wide range of organisations across all sectors and it will take some time to fully understand the scale of the economic impact.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge, case reference BS35944, dated (a) 15 July 2025 and (b) 8 September 2025 .
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to transparency and accountability, including through clear and timely responses to correspondence. I can confirm that your letter to the Minister for the Cabinet Office dated 15 July, and subsequent email 8 September, have been passed to me as the Minister responsible for this policy, and I have replied to your letter. Please accept my apologies for the delay.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what government services faced disruption as a result of the Amazon Web Services outage on Monday 20 October; and what assessment her Department plans to make of the cost to the economy of that service outage.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Many government departments use AWS services, and we are aware that the Home Office, DVLA, DWP and HMRC all experienced impacts as a result of the outage on Monday 20 October.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is working with both departments and AWS to better understand the impacts, and will use this to inform future work on government digital resilience.
The cost of the outage is not yet known.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2025 to Question 75683 on Neurodiversity: Children, what discussions he has had with NHS Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board on the steps they are taking to ensure that assessment pathways for neurodevelopment disorders in children meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to correspondence dated (a) 5 March 2025, (b) 13 May 2025 and (c) 11 June 2025 from the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge, case reference BS35623.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to transparency and accountability, including through clear and timely responses to correspondence. I can confirm that your letter to the then-Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster dated 5 March, and subsequent emails of 13 May and 11 June, have been passed to me as the Minister responsible for this policy, and I have replied to your letter. Please accept my apologies for the delay.
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, what assessment he has made of the adequacy performance of Surrey and Borders NHS FT assessment pathway for neurodevelopment disorders in children.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has recognised that, nationally, demand for assessments for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown significantly in recent years and that people are experiencing severe delays for accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future, recognising the need for early intervention and support, without the need for diagnosis.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for making appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to ADHD and autism assessments, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
In April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the NHS to deliver improved outcomes for people referred to an autism assessment service. NHS England has continued to support services to identify challenges and how they might overcome these. NHS England also established an ADHD taskforce to better understand the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June 2025, with the final report expected later in the year and we will carefully consider its recommendations.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) data sources and (b) methodology was used by South Western Rail to (i) measure the performance and (ii) monitor outage events of the lifts at Weybridge Station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
South Western Railway (SWR) uses the Network Rail data source system Citadel, which logs lifts reported out of use, alongside SWR customers advising of lifts out of use. This approach is used at all SWR stations with lifts including Weybridge. This data is then fed into a dashboard for measuring performance. The dashboard, lift performance and outage events are all discussed at a meeting held each rail period between SWR and Network Rail. This review feeds into improvement works and activities.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timeline is for replacement of the lifts at Weybridge Station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The lifts at Weybridge Station are expected to be replaced by Autumn 2026.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve (a) enforcement and (b) arrears recovery in child maintenance cases where the paying parent resides abroad.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) can only be used where the receiving parent, paying parent and any qualifying children are all habitually resident in the United Kingdom (UK). The CMS does not have jurisdiction where this does not apply.
The process for handling cases where the paying parent may be non-resident in the UK is managed according to a range of international treaties under the umbrella term REMO (Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders).
The UK has arrangements with a number of other countries and territories that allow a parent with care to claim maintenance from a non-resident parent resident in one of those countries. REMO can be used to register and enforce child maintenance orders internationally, or for example, when the paying parent is habitually resident in the UK but has assets and/or income in another country. If the paying parent has moved to an EU country, The CMS may be able to enforce collection of outstanding child maintenance arrears.
The CMS works closely with the Ministry of Justice, with whom the process is managed by, and the CMS's caseworkers are trained to signpost parents to that department for advice.
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, what his planned timetable is for agreeing the final funding arrangements for rebuilding Weybridge Health Centre.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The business case for the rebuild of Weybridge Health Centre has recently been submitted by Surrey Heartlands ICB to NHS England for review. In parallel, the NHS Property Services Board will be asked to approve the capital funding for this project and authority to enter into the contract. Subject to these approvals the new health centre will be fully completed in 2027.