Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2026 to Written Question 36689 on Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations, whether his Department as data controller makes the rectification of factual inaccuracies in Work Capability Assessment reports under Article 16 UK GDPR dependent on (a) the assessment supplier upholding a complaint and (b) those inaccuracies affecting the (i) assessment advice and (ii) benefit decision.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Whilst the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is the data controller, our contracted assessment suppliers act as DWP’s data processors in delivering assessments under the Functional Assessment Services contract, and we share responsibility for how claimant data is handled.
Where a claimant raises a complaint about factual inaccuracies in the Work Capability Assessment report and that complaint is upheld, the supplier may revise the assessment advice. DWP may then review and, where appropriate, revise the benefit decision in light of the updated or additional advice.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of reduced ground-rent income on the ability of freeholders to fund the maintenance of residential buildings.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278) and to Annex 5 of the draft Impact Assessment for the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, which can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure further education colleges take account of students’ disabilities and health conditions when applying attendance requirements.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education colleges currently set their own attendance policies, drawing on relevant guidance such as the funding rules. Further education colleges have duties under the Equality Act and the special educational needs and disabilities Code of Practice. This means they should consider the individual circumstances of disabled students and those with health conditions when applying attendance requirements, and put appropriate support and reasonable adjustments in place to enable them to participate fully in education.
The government is investing in support for monitoring attendance in further education so all young people can be supported to have a good level of attendance, recognising that some young people may face a range of barriers to their regular attendance. The department is also working with the sector to identify effective strategies to support attendance and to design a monitoring approach that meets the needs of those using it every day.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of undertaking a cost-benefit analysis of the potential return on investment of funding ring-fenced biomedical research into ME/CFS to help inform the government’s strategy in reducing long-term sickness and economic activity.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment of the potential merits of undertaking a cost-benefit analysis of the potential return on investment of funding ring-fenced myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) research. I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 21 October in response to Question 35172 regarding the Department’s position on ring-fenced funding.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Department will meet with the family of Hannah Byrne and listen to their lived experience to inform their joint review with the FCDO and the MOJ of how support is provided to families bereaved abroad.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Thank you for raising this case. My office will be in touch to discuss this further.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to engage with families bereaved abroad to inform the updated Consular and Crisis Strategy.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our services, processes and strategies are under constant review to ensure we are providing the best support possible to British nationals and to meet the challenges facing British nationals overseas today and in the future. We will consider carefully what support we provide to bereaved families, drawing on lessons learnt from recent and current cases and our customer insight and feedback work.
We publish detailed country-specific bereavement information that covers registering a death, the process of post-mortems and navigating local procedures. Consular staff work with local authorities to help families navigate those processes.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve information sharing and family liaison support for bereaved families awaiting international letters of request.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
When a British national dies overseas, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) can provide practical and compassionate consular support to bereaved families. We tailor that support to the circumstances of the case and the needs of the family. Our role is to help families understand local procedures, provide information and guidance, liaise with relevant authorities where appropriate, and signpost to further sources of support. The processing of International Letters of Request is a matter for the Home Office.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Audio recordings at health assessments, updated on 29 June 2026, whether a procedure exists for correcting, amending or annotating a health assessment report where an audio recording shows that it does not accurately reflect what occurred, separate from any mandatory reconsideration or appeal of the benefit decision.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Telephone and face-to-face health assessments are audio recorded as standard, unless the claimant chooses to opt out. The recording provides an accurate record of the assessment.
The assessment report completed by the assessment supplier’s health professional provides advice to the department and is considered alongside any supporting evidence when determining a claimant’s entitlement to benefit by DWP.
Suppliers have established processes for investigating complaints, including the facility to listen to audio recordings if available.
If concerns are identified regarding the quality or accuracy of an assessment report, the assessment supplier will investigate the matter and, where deficiencies are found, apologise and advise DWP if the issue may have had an impact on the advice provided or on the entitlement decision.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the current average waiting time is between a data protection complaint being lodged with the Information Commissioner's Office and a case officer being assigned; and what steps are being taken to address complaints that have significantly exceeded this average.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Information Commissioner's Office transitioned to become the Information Commission on 30 September 2026. While DCMS is its sponsor department, the Information Commission remains independent and accountable to Parliament.
The Information Commission assesses each complaint against its Data Protection Complaints Framework. The Information Commission advises that complaints are typically triaged within two and a half months of submission, and those not requiring further investigation are on average resolved within 5 days from being triaged/allocated. Those requiring further investigation are currently assigned to a case officer approximately 10 months after submission. The Information Commission is prioritising the most serious cases and exploring process and technology improvements to reduce waiting times.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the testimony evidence submitted to her Department on 15 July 2025 by Surrey County Council on SEND with the Department’s response entitled Local SEND Reform Feedback for Surrey, in which Q9 states "Surrey demonstrates strong engagement with parents, young people, schools and health partners".
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Local Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Reform Plan feedback provided to the Surrey Local Area Partnership was based only on the department’s assessment of Surrey’s Local SEND Reform Plan and is not a reflection of Surrey’s SEND performance more broadly. In the plan, Surrey Local Area Partnership demonstrated a strong commitment to co-production with meaningful engagement on the development of the plan across the partnership, but recognised that further strengthening of wider engagement is required.
Going forward, officials from the department and NHS England, alongside expert advisers, will regularly support and challenge Surrey as it implements the plan and strengthens the quality of existing support for children and young people with SEND. The department will continue to engage Parent Carer Forums and local stakeholders to assess the quality of partnership working and, where concerns are raised, will work with the local area to support the improvement and effective delivery of its plan.