Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide the latest figures of the number of children in East Surrey who have a) a SEND requirement and b) an EHCP, broken down per borough including Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead and Tandridge.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the number of pupils with special educational needs support and the number with education, health and care (EHC) plans is published in the statistical release here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2025-26.
Information on individual schools, including administrative district and ward is available in the supporting files.
Information on the number of EHC plans maintained by local authorities is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2026.
This publication covers all EHC plans for children and young people aged 0 to 25. It includes those in early years, further education, and who are educated other than in school. Information from this publication is not available for levels below local authority.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether factories producing military equipment met productivity targets, broken down by category in 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence does not hold information on productivity targets for individual factories producing military equipment. The Department continues to work closely with industry partners to monitor programme performance, ensuring that equipment is delivered to our Armed Forces in accordance with contractual commitments.
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 his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding eligibility for the human papillomavirus vaccination to all young adults under the age of 25, irrespective of sex or sexual orientation.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is offered routinely to all adolescents in school Year 8, and catch-up vaccination is available up to and including 25 years of age for females and for males born on or after 1 September 2006 who missed vaccination through the school-aged programme. HPV vaccination is also recommended for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men up to and including 45 years of age.
The Department keeps all vaccination programmes under review, taking into account the latest scientific evidence and the advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Any future changes to eligibility would be informed by the latest evidence and advice from the JCVI.
As part of the Government's 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is developing plans to expand access to HPV catch-up vaccination through community pharmacies for young people who missed vaccination at school, supporting the ambition to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2026 to question 16731, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of tracking response times to Mutual Legal Assistance requests.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We keep the effectiveness of the UK Central Authority under regular review and continually seek to improve its systems and processes including considering publishable data. I can assure you that we are committed to effectively providing mutual legal assistance objectively and impartially across the world in accordance with international commitments.
The UKCA is one of the busiest central authorities in the world, responding to requests that often involve complex legal processes across different jurisdictions. Requests concerning the most serious offences are treated as a high priority.
Response times depend on the timely cooperation of multiple law enforcement authorities. Where delays arise, we remain committed to progressing requests as quickly and effectively as possible.
The UKCA aims to acknowledge receipt of a new MLA request quickly and to respond to requests promptly. Requests concerning the most serious offences are treated as a high priority to ensure justice is done and that the UK maintains its reputation as a high-quality criminal justice partner.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the UK Central Authority in coordinating and responding to mutual legal assistance requests from other countries.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We keep the effectiveness of the UK Central Authority under regular review and continually seek to improve its systems and processes.
We are committed to providing mutual legal assistance objectively and impartially across the world in accordance with international commitments.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Mutual Legal Assistance requests the UK Central Authority received in 2025; what the average speed was at which these requests are responded to; and what the longest amount of time was between a MLA request and a response in 2025.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
In 2025 the UK Central Authority (UKCA) received 8,309 requests for Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) from other countries.
Please note that these figures are taken from a live operational system and are subject to change as records in that system are updated as cases progress.
Publishable data on the average time to respond to MLA requests is not currently held by the Home Office.
The UKCA aims to acknowledge receipt of a new MLA request within a few days of receipt, and aims to respond to requests promptly. Requests concerning the most serious offences are treated as a high priority to ensure justice is done and that the UK maintains its reputation as a high-quality criminal justice partner.
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 steps the Government is taking to prevent the advertising and promotion of vaping products in ways that appeal to children and young people, including through the use of child-friendly branding, flavour descriptions and in-store displays.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
It is incredibly worrying that 25% of 11 to 15 year olds have tried vaping. That is why we are committed to bringing about definitive and positive change to stop future generations from becoming hooked on nicotine. Evidence shows us that vapes appeal to children for many reasons, including packaging, product appearance, flavours, and vapes being easy to access.
The Tobacco and Vapes Act bans the advertising and sponsorship of all vapes and nicotine products, and the Government intends this to come into force from 1 June 2027, mirroring the impactful current restrictions on tobacco. The act also includes a range of new regulation-making powers for the Government. This includes powers that will enable us to introduce new restrictions on the packaging, product appearance, and display of vapes in shops.
We are consulting on introducing restrictions on tobacco, vaping, and nicotine product packaging, flavour descriptors, vape appearance, and changing where and how vapes are displayed in shops. We will listen very carefully to the views and evidence put forward by stakeholders.
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, what assessment he has made of the potential merits introducing a maximum temperature for workplaces.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
There is already a legal duty for employers to fully assess the risks to workers from extreme heat, and additionally to ensure a reasonable temperature for indoor workplaces.
The Government is committed to ensuring workplaces are safe in the modern world and in ‘Next Steps to Make Work Pay’, we committed to look at how to modernise health and safety guidance for extreme temperatures.
As part of this, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is progressing a wider review of the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) for the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 to ensure it is fit for purpose for a modern workplace.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made in fulfilling Commitment 86 in the 2025 Environmental Improvement Plan to make sure that everyone has access to green or blue spaces within a 15-minute walk from home.
Answered by Mary Creagh
This Government is committed to reducing physical and intangible barriers to accessing nature and ensuring everyone lives within a 15-minute walk of a green or blue space.
As set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), progress towards meeting these commitments is being made through work happening across government to both increase available natural space and make it more accessible. For example, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government's National Planning Policy Framework reform and Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework.
Actions being delivered by Defra include: the launch of the Wainwright Coast to Coast route and the King Charles III England Coast Path, creating nine new National River Walks, establishing three new National Forests, and publishing an Access to Nature Green Paper to explore further opportunities to enhance and expand access to green and blue spaces. Defra is also strengthening legislation to give National Parks and National Landscapes a clear mandate to widen the public’s access to nature by the end of this Parliament and publishing further details on supporting access to woodlands in a new Trees Action Plan.
Progress on delivery of the EIP will be set out in due course.
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, whether he has considered the potential merits of extending free school milk entitlement to children in reception.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Nursery Milk Scheme is a statutory scheme which allows early years childcare settings to reclaim the cost of providing one-third of a pint of milk per day to children under the age of five years old who attend a setting for two or more hours per day. Schools can claim reimbursement from the scheme in respect of their pupils aged under five years old.
The School Food Standards provide that milk must be available in schools for those who want it at least once a day during school hours. Separate legislation allows pupils who are eligible for free school meals to continue to receive free milk at school after the age of five years old. The Government is expanding eligibility of free school meals meaning that more children are able to access milk as part of their free meals.