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 he is taking to ensure that park home residents are consulted during the consideration of potential change to the 10% commission payable to site owners on sale of a park home.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 10581 on 25 June 2026.
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 steps he is taking to improve the availability of local in-person support services for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis, particularly within the Henley and Thame constituency.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The Government is committed to ensuring that people experiencing a mental health crisis can access timely, high-quality support close to home.
Significant progress has also been made in strengthening the mental health crisis care pathway. This includes the NHS 111 mental health option, the expansion of crisis cafés, sanctuaries and crisis houses, the rollout of crisis text services across England, the delivery of 88 Mental Health Response Vehicles across local systems, and full national coverage of 24/7 liaison mental health teams in acute hospitals.
In addition, £473 million of capital funding over four years is supporting the development of new models of care, including community-based mental health centres and mental health emergency departments, helping to shift care closer to home and improve access to timely support.
Decisions about the configuration and delivery of local mental health services, including crisis support available to people in the Henley and Thame constituency, are the responsibility of the local integrated care board, which is best placed to assess the needs of its local population and commission services accordingly.
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, when he plans to respond to the letter of 28 May 2026 from the hon. Member for Henley and Thame on the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We received the Hon. Member’s correspondence of 28 May 2026 and will reply in due course.
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, pursuant to the answer of 25 June 2026 to UIN 10802, what criteria her Department uses to make decisions on publishing such information.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government judged that publication of the information requested would not be appropriate as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Disabled Facilities Grant system delivery model, involving upper-tier authorities, district councils and housing providers, on the time taken to to provide home adaptations for people with progressive or terminal conditions; and whether he will bring forward proposals to simplify the process.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The government recognises the importance of timely home adaptations for people with progressive or terminal conditions. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide adaptations within set timescales for people who satisfy a needs assessment, eligibility criteria and a means test. Local authorities can also agree a more generous local housing assistance policy.
In June, my colleague the Minister of State for Care at the Department for Health and Social Care wrote to all council leaders in England strongly encouraging them to review and update their housing assistance policies to enable fast tracking of support, and to consider waiving the means test, for those with Motor Neurone Disease and other rapidly progressing conditions.
To speed up delivery and simplify decision making across all local government services, including the Disabled Facilities Grant, this government has brought forward proposals to end the two-tier system and establish new single-tier unitary councils.
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, whether her Department plan to respond to the petition entitled Jason's Law delivered to 10 Downing Street on 25 February 2026.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has received the petition and it will be considered in the usual way.
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, when he plans to respond to the letter of 2nd June 2026 from the Hon. Member for Henley and Thame.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I replied to the Hon. Member’s correspondence of 2 June about the NHS Thames Valley Integrated Care Board on 9 July 2026.
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 he has made of the number of newly qualified midwives in England in 2026 unable to secure employment within NHS maternity services; and whether he plans to introduce a nationally funded employment pathway, including guaranteed entry-level posts, to ensure adequate recruitment to meet workforce demand.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the difficulties newly qualified midwives are experiencing in securing employment in the National Health Service. NHS England actively monitors future nursing and midwifery student numbers, current vacancies, and staff turnover and is taking action to support newly qualified midwives into NHS employment.
We are investing £10.6 million to fund an additional 1,000 temporary roles to help newly qualified midwives join the NHS. The new roles for graduates will help build on the success of the 2025 Graduate Guarantee that means every newly qualified midwife in England will have the opportunity to apply to join the NHS.
The National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, which is comprised of family representatives, clinicians, and other experts, and chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will oversee the development of a new national action plan to drive systemic and sustained improvement across maternity and neonatal care. This will include how to support the maternity and neonatal workforce. This is in addition to a new 10 Year Workforce Plan, due to be published soon, to ensure we have the right people, in the right places, with the rights skills to deliver care to patients when they need it.
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 he has made of the potential impact of maternity services not recruiting newly qualified midwives on patient safety, continuity of care and overall costs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the difficulties newly qualified midwives are experiencing in securing employment in the National Health Service. NHS England actively monitors future nursing and midwifery student numbers, current vacancies, and staff turnover and is taking action to support newly qualified midwives into NHS employment.
We are investing £10.6 million to fund an additional 1,000 temporary roles to help newly qualified midwives join the NHS. The new roles for graduates will help build on the success of the 2025 Graduate Guarantee that means every newly qualified midwife in England will have the opportunity to apply to join the NHS.
The National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, which is comprised of family representatives, clinicians, and other experts, and chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will oversee the development of a new national action plan to drive systemic and sustained improvement across maternity and neonatal care. This will include how to support the maternity and neonatal workforce. This is in addition to a new 10 Year Workforce Plan, due to be published soon, to ensure we have the right people, in the right places, with the rights skills to deliver care to patients when they need it.
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 he has made of whether funding provided to local authorities for Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG) is adequate for them to meet the cost of adaptations, in the context of increases in construction and labour costs; and what estimate he has made of the aggregate funding required by local authorities for delivering DFGs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
In England, we continue to fund the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which is delivered by local authorities. This grant helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes to make them safe and suitable for their needs.
We have confirmed £723 million of funding for the DFG in 2026/27. We continue to keep funding levels under review to ensure the DFG supports those who can benefit most. Following consultation, we introduced a new approach to allocating DFG funding to local authorities in England from 2026/27 to ensure funding for the grant is better aligned with local needs. Transitional protection means no local authority received less than they did in June 2025. The response to the consultation can be found at the following link:
The upper limit for DFG awards is currently set at £30,000, however, local authorities have a high degree of flexibility to fund adaptations above this amount where they judge it is appropriate.