Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate (i) young people's financial literacy and (ii) financial education initiatives.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. the Member for Carshalton and Wallington to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43513.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to develop a national financial education strategy.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. the Member for Carshalton and Wallington to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43513.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will participate in the 2029 PISA financial literacy assessment.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department will consider participation in the 2029 PISA financial literacy assessment in mid-2026 when more information on the study and its available options is provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This may include piloting the financial literacy assessment at the field trial stage to evaluate the feasibility of delivering this option, particularly the impact on securing school participation and the extent of the additional burden on schools and pupils.
Securing school and pupil participation in PISA can be challenging due to the study taking place in year 11, which is a busy GCSE year, and the increased burden of administering any additional options is an important consideration in this context.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of disputes involving the Child Maintenance Service on the backlog of cases in the family courts; and what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken to resolve those disputes.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Should a Child Maintenance (CM) claimant dispute a decision made by DWP, they can request a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) to review the decision made. Subsequently, if they are still dissatisfied with the decision, they can appeal to His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). Once DWP are notified of the appeal, the Department has 42 days to prepare their appeal response or lapse the appeal if we can improve the decision.
To reduce the time taken to resolve Child Maintenance Service (CMS) disputes that have reached Appeal stage, the disputes service has taken the following actions:
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that mortgage lenders do not require EWS1 forms where there is no legal requirement; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of those requirements on leaseholders’ ability to sell their homes.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
External Wall System (EWS1) forms are not a legal or regulatory requirement in any circumstance.
My Department works closely with the mortgage lending industry to understand the challenges in the market for flats affected by fire safety issues, and we are encouraging mortgage lenders (banks and building societies) to move away from the use of EWS1s as a valuation tool, as some mortgage lenders are already doing. I met major mortgage lenders last month to reiterate this, and ask that they accept alternative evidence, for example the building’s Fire Risk Assessment (which the Responsible Person for a building is legally required to conduct) or, Fire Risk Appraisal of the External Wall.
I welcome the recently updated joint statement on cladding, signed by 10 major mortgage lenders, confirming they will consider lending on properties in buildings 11 metres and above, where the building is in a remediation scheme 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. An EWS1 form should not be required in these scenarios.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many eye care professionals are delivering NHS Special School Eye Care Service under Primary Ophthalmic Service contracts as of March 2025; and how many special schools are in receipt of that service as of March 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England published a range of documents to support the commissioning of sight testing in special educational settings on 25 March 2025, and integrated care boards will now be in the process of planning to procure local services. The scale of the roll out will be dependent on educational establishments choosing to host a service.
There are currently 22 proof-of-concept contractors continuing to deliver the sight testing and dispensing service in 83 day and residential special schools. Data on the number of practitioners delivering the National Health Service special schools eye care service within those contracts is not held centrally.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the rollout of the NHS special schools eye care service will begin; and what his planned timeline is to offer this to all special schools in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England published a range of documents to support the commissioning of sight testing in special educational settings on 25 March 2025, and integrated care boards will now be in the process of planning to procure local services. The scale of the roll out will be dependent on educational establishments choosing to host a service.
There are currently 22 proof-of-concept contractors continuing to deliver the sight testing and dispensing service in 83 day and residential special schools. Data on the number of practitioners delivering the National Health Service special schools eye care service within those contracts is not held centrally.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is on track to meet its target for GP appointment waiting times by the end of the Parliament.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to make it easier for everyone to see a general practitioner (GP) when they need to, by improving access to appointments. We will bring back the family doctor, train thousands more GPs, guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one, and end the 8:00am scramble for appointments by delivering a modern booking system.
We have invested £82 million into ARRS (Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme) which has enabled the recruitment of over 1,500 recently qualified GPs across England since October 2024 which will increase the number of appointments available, benefitting thousands of patients that are struggling to access care.
We’ve also just delivered the biggest boost to GP funding in years, with an £889 million uplift to the GP Contract for 2025/26, with GPs now receiving a growing share of National Health Service resources. For the first time in four years, the General Practitioners Committee England backed the new contract, which includes key reforms to improve access, for instance by making sure patients can request appointments online throughout core hours.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to meet his target for GP appointment waiting times.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to make it easier for everyone to see a general practitioner (GP) when they need to, by improving access to appointments. We will bring back the family doctor, train thousands more GPs, guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one, and end the 8:00am scramble for appointments by delivering a modern booking system.
We have invested £82 million into ARRS (Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme) which has enabled the recruitment of over 1,500 recently qualified GPs across England since October 2024 which will increase the number of appointments available, benefitting thousands of patients that are struggling to access care.
We’ve also just delivered the biggest boost to GP funding in years, with an £889 million uplift to the GP Contract for 2025/26, with GPs now receiving a growing share of National Health Service resources. For the first time in four years, the General Practitioners Committee England backed the new contract, which includes key reforms to improve access, for instance by making sure patients can request appointments online throughout core hours.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his target is for GP wait times by the end of this Parliament.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to make it easier for everyone to see a general practitioner (GP) when they need to, by improving access to appointments. We will bring back the family doctor, train thousands more GPs, guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one, and end the 8:00am scramble for appointments by delivering a modern booking system.
We have invested £82 million into ARRS (Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme) which has enabled the recruitment of over 1,500 recently qualified GPs across England since October 2024 which will increase the number of appointments available, benefitting thousands of patients that are struggling to access care.
We’ve also just delivered the biggest boost to GP funding in years, with an £889 million uplift to the GP Contract for 2025/26, with GPs now receiving a growing share of National Health Service resources. For the first time in four years, the General Practitioners Committee England backed the new contract, which includes key reforms to improve access, for instance by making sure patients can request appointments online throughout core hours.