Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the joint correspondence of 5 June 2026 from the hon. Member for Henley and Thame and Sean Gaul of Oxfordshire County Council regarding funding and support for RAF Benson Community Primary School and other schools serving military communities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I can confirm that a response to the correspondence of 5 June 2026 from the hon. Member for Henley and Thame and Sean Gaul of Oxfordshire County Council was sent on 21 October.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of NHS procurement processes on the ability of innovative SMEs to bring new products and services into the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2025/26, 10.5% of procurement expenditure for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and its arm’s-length bodies was awarded directly to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). DHSC does not centrally collect or hold equivalent data for National Health Service trusts or integrated care boards, which manage and report on their own procurement activity.
DHSC works regularly with colleagues across Government, including the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, on matters relating to procurement, economic growth, and investment. This includes consideration of how public procurement and NHS purchasing power can support growth, innovation, and opportunities across the United Kingdom, including for SMEs.
As a leading employer across the country, the NHS also continues to play its full part in supporting growth, training, and employment in local communities, in line with the Government's broader economic goals, and that includes ensuring procurement opportunities are available and accessible to SMEs.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate her Department has made of the administrative burden and costs incurred by SMEs when applying for NHS procurement opportunities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2025/26, 10.5% of procurement expenditure for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and its arm’s-length bodies was awarded directly to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). DHSC does not centrally collect or hold equivalent data for National Health Service trusts or integrated care boards, which manage and report on their own procurement activity.
DHSC works regularly with colleagues across Government, including the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, on matters relating to procurement, economic growth, and investment. This includes consideration of how public procurement and NHS purchasing power can support growth, innovation, and opportunities across the United Kingdom, including for SMEs.
As a leading employer across the country, the NHS also continues to play its full part in supporting growth, training, and employment in local communities, in line with the Government's broader economic goals, and that includes ensuring procurement opportunities are available and accessible to SMEs.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of NHS procurement expenditure was awarded directly to small and medium-sized enterprises in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2025/26, 10.5% of procurement expenditure for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and its arm’s-length bodies was awarded directly to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). DHSC does not centrally collect or hold equivalent data for National Health Service trusts or integrated care boards, which manage and report on their own procurement activity.
DHSC works regularly with colleagues across Government, including the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, on matters relating to procurement, economic growth, and investment. This includes consideration of how public procurement and NHS purchasing power can support growth, innovation, and opportunities across the United Kingdom, including for SMEs.
As a leading employer across the country, the NHS also continues to play its full part in supporting growth, training, and employment in local communities, in line with the Government's broader economic goals, and that includes ensuring procurement opportunities are available and accessible to SMEs.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what progress he has made on the parental leave and pay review.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Review launched on 1 July 2025 and is exploring how the system can better support working families and reflect the realities of modern work and childcare, while balancing the needs of businesses and the Exchequer.
The Review is engaging with a broad range of stakeholders, including business groups, individual businesses, academics and parent groups, through roundtables and other engagement activity, alongside evaluating other sources of evidence.
The Review will conclude in early 2027 with a set of findings in which the Government will outline next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment has been made of the potential impact of student loan interest rates on total debt; and what legislative steps are being taken to lower the overall debt burden on recent graduates.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recently published a set of statistics presenting analysis of earnings and lifetime repayment forecasts for student loans in England, which looks at the level of earnings required to reduce student loan balances, taking interest accrual into account. These statistics are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/student-loan-forecasts-earnings/2025-26.
The government has capped the maximum interest rates on Plan 2 and 3 student loans at 6% for the 2026/27 academic year. We are clear it does not resolve all the issues with the inherited Plan 2 system. We are considering a range of options to make the system fairer. However, to be fiscally responsible, we must consider how any change would be funded.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures her Department has in place to prevent the closure of financially vulnerable rural schools, including those affected by low pupil numbers and per-pupil funding arrangements within the academy school system.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities, many of which are in rural areas. There is a presumption against the closure of all rural maintained schools and departmental guidance states that both the department and the local authority need to agree to the closure of a rural academy. Additionally, the schools national funding formula accounts for the challenges faced by small schools in rural areas through the lump sum, which every school attracts regardless of size, and the sparsity factor.
In 2026/27, every school attracts a lump sum of £152,700 through the schools national funding formula irrespective of their size. In addition, through the sparsity factor, eligible primary schools can attract up to £58,600 and eligible secondary schools can attract up to £85,200. This sits alongside an increase in overall school funding, with the core schools budget rising by £2.3 billion to a total of £67.6 billion in 2026/27.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the Government has reassessed the factors that contribute to the use of a 500-litre minimum order for domestic heating oil deliveries; and what steps it is taking to ensure that rural households can access smaller delivery quantities where the upfront cost of larger orders presents financial difficulties.
Answered by Polly Billington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the pressures faced by households that rely on heating oil. Minimum order volumes are commercial practices that can reflect the fixed costs of delivery and operational constraints, including tanker metering.
Following the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study, the Government has committed to review the rules and regulations that may constrain minimum order volumes.
The Government published its formal response to the CMA heating oil report on 13 October. We will focus on a programme of reform to strengthening consumer protections.
A Written Ministerial Statement can be found here: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
The full response can be found here: Government response to the CMA heating oil market study - GOV.UK"
We are engaging with industry and UKIFDA to consider practical options for smaller deliveries, while ensuring that any changes do not undermine security of supply or lead to disproportionate costs for consumers.
The Government has improved support for vulnerable customers with more than £50 million of targeted support for low-income households that heat their homes with oil.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of whether split site funding provides adequate support for schools operating across multiple sites; and whether her Department has estimated the number of schools whose additional annual costs arising from split site arrangements exceed the funding provided.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The national funding formula (NFF) includes a split sites factor in recognition that schools operating across more than one site face additional costs. Schools attract a £55,100 lump sum payment for each of their additional eligible sites. Additionally, schools whose sites are separated by more than 100 metres will attract distance funding. The distance funding varies depending on how far apart the sites are, up to a maximum of £27,600 for sites which are at least 500 metres away from the main site.
The department consulted on the operation of the split sites factor before it was introduced in 2024/25, including the amount of funding to be allocated through the factor. We implemented the option which had most support from respondents, with only a minority (24%) supporting higher levels of funding through the factor. The government keeps all elements of the national funding formula under review as part of its ongoing consideration of school funding arrangements.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the response of 23 February 2026 to question 112545, what progress she has made on securing a reliable supply of testosterone and oestrogen HRT implants.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are continuing to work closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to ensure safe access to these products.
We have reached out to specialist importers in order to find alternative sources of both oestrogen and testosterone hormone replacement therapy (HRT) implants, which are not currently licensed in the United Kingdom, and it remains the case that the decision to prescribe an unlicensed imported medicine sits with the prescriber.
The MHRA is also working closely with current importers of the product and encouraging applications to supply products through the licenced medicines route.