Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce the time taken for and costs associated with Court of Protection applications for care decisions and (b) ensure families have access to clear, publicly available guidance on those processes.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HMCTS is working to increase overall system capacity to decrease processing times across all types of applications. Measures taken include a targeted action plan to allocate additional administrative resources in response to higher demand, as well as training and upskilling new staff. Additional judicial sitting days have been added to support performance improvement. HMCTS is also working on improvements to the new case management system, to help reduce overall end-to-end processing times.
Guidance on the court process is publicly available on GOV.UK. In addition, online application forms which assist users with ‘in application’ guidance and prompts are also available for some types of applications.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the theft of (a) farm equipment and (b) livestock.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We will be implementing the Equipment Theft Act, making it harder for criminals to sell on stolen vehicles and equipment and assisting the police with identifying the owner.
The Act’s secondary legislation will require forensic marking to be applied to new All-Terrain Vehicles and for the details to be registered on a property database, for forensic marking to be applied to all new GPS units for use in agricultural and commercial settings, and for the details to be registered on a property database. This provides an important additional tool to help police identify if an item is stolen and to return it to its rightful owner.
Additionally, the Crime and Policing Bill introduces a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked by GPS or other means, which will help the police in tackling stolen equipment and machinery.
This financial year we have provided the first Home Office funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit. The NRCU, takes the lead on improving co-ordination and partnership working, which provides police forces with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime, such as the theft of farming machinery and livestock theft.
We have also worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the new Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy which has just recently been published (25th November). The strategy sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling crimes that predominantly affect rural communities, including theft of farming machinery and livestock theft as priority areas of focus for policing.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of clause 9 (c)(5) of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 on public information on water quality.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Regulation 9 of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 amends Regulation 15A of the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 and requires the appropriate Minister to prepare and publish a report on the bathing season or seasons for that year.
It broadly makes the same provision for publication of annual reports as under the previous Regulation 15A but with consequential changes to reflect that there will be a discretion to set different bathing seasons under amendments made by Regulation 5 of the 2025 Regulations. There is no change in the frequency of reports (annual) nor in the content of the reports required.
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, pursuant to the answer of 8 October 2025 provided to question 76507, (i) how many NICE Technology Appraisal approved therapies are not being provided in contravention of obligations by a) Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust b) Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and c) Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and (ii) what the names of these therapies are.
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: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the apprentice rate for those over 21 or in their first year of their apprenticeship from £7.55 to the minimum wage for their age of £12.21.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government remains committed to ensuring that apprentice wages support the attraction of talented individuals into apprenticeships and remain fair for employers. The Government considers the expert and independent advice of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) when setting minimum wage rates.
Apprentices are entitled to the apprentice rate if they are aged under 19 or aged 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship. In all other cases, they are entitled to the minimum wage for their age, so all apprentices who are aged 19 and over and have completed the first year of their apprenticeship are entitled to the minimum wage for their age. Many employers pay their apprentices more than the minimum and the latest data shows that the median gross hourly pay for apprentices in general in 2023 was £11.63 an hour.
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 the adequacy of the £2.61 meal rate paid to Oxfordshire schools for providing universal infant free school meals, taking into account rising (a) food, (b) energy and (c) staff costs.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We spend around £600 million per year ensuring close to 1.3 million additional infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the universal infant free school meal (UIFSM) policy in 2014.
The department has not made a formal assessment of UIFSM funding for Oxfordshire schools, but we meet regularly with the sector, including school food caterers, and draw on these insights to inform our policy thinking.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives fellows to improving equality, diversity and social mobility in the legal profession; and what steps he taking to further these aims.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice recognises the contribution of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) and its Fellows in improving equality, diversity and social mobility in the legal profession. I reflected this when I delivered a welcome address at the CILEX annual conference this month in Birmingham, noting that CILEX is a valuable engine of social mobility in the profession. Data showing the diversity of CILEX members is published by CILEX Regulation (CRL) in its biennial Diversity Data Survey. The most recent published survey is available here: https://cilexregulation.org.uk/diversity-data/.
The legal profession in England and Wales, together with its regulators, operates independently of Government. Under the Legal Services Act (LSA) 2007, the responsibility for regulating the sector sits with approved regulators, overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). CRL is the independent regulatory body of CILEX. Encouraging an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession is one of nine regulatory objectives under the LSA 2007, which the LSB, approved regulators, and the Office for Legal Complaints, have a duty to promote.
Recent action by CRL includes publishing its first Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy, issuing its next biennial Diversity Data Survey, expanding diversity reporting in enforcement, and revising qualifying employment and experience requirements to remove barriers. CRL is refreshing its EDI Strategy this year. Steps taken by CILEX include establishing the CILEX Foundation in 2021 to remove financial and social mobility barriers and launching the CILEX Judicial Academy in 2024 to help increase diversity within the judiciary by supporting lawyers – including CILEX professionals – aspiring to judicial careers.
While respecting independence, the Ministry of Justice maintains regular dialogue with the legal services representative bodies and regulators on a range of issues including improving equality, diversity, and social mobility in the profession.
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 the adequacy of student maintenance grants in meeting students' living costs.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The previous government removed maintenance grants, and the real-terms value of loan support for students has reduced by more than 20% over the last five years. It is essential that our government improves this.
That is why we will reintroduce targeted means-tested maintenance grants before the end of this Parliament, funded by a levy on international student fees. The grants will support students from low-income households studying courses aligned with our missions and the Industrial Strategy, and we will set out further detail at the Autumn Budget.
Additionally, the government will increase maintenance loans in line with forecast inflation every academic year. This will provide students with long-term financial certainty on the financial support they will receive while studying and ensure that students from the lowest income families receive the largest year-on-year cash increases in support.
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, pursuant to the answer of 5 November 2025 provided to question 86540, how many new radiotherapy treatment machines will be provided to a) Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (b) Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the Government’s £70 million investment in new radiotherapy treatment machines, the Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust will receive one LINAC radiotherapy machine to replace an existing machine. The Oxford University Hospitals Trust will not receive any new radiotherapy machines from this investment. Responsibility for investing in new radiotherapy machines remains with local systems.
NHS Trusts which have radiotherapy treatment machines were invited to apply last year to replace a machine, with funding coming from the £70m investment. Machine allocation was based on various criteria such as the age of the machine being replaced, the proportion of older machines in use within the trust, and the trust’s performance on radiotherapy.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps are being taken to support young people living in supported housing to move on.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We have invested over £1 billion in homelessness and rough sleeping services this year, which can be used flexibly to address a range of local needs, including support for young people. The Spending Review protects this record level of investment to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping for the next three years.
For young people ready to live independently, we are delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, backed by the £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme. We are also reforming the private rented sector to give more security to tenants, bringing an end to rental bidding, outlawing discrimination against prospective tenants with children or those who receive social security benefits; and preventing landlords from demanding large amounts of rent in advance.