Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 impact of economic factors and the consumption of ultra-processed foods on the prevalence of diet-related illnesses and mental health conditions, and what steps are being taken to address these upstream determinants of public health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) considered the evidence on the impact of processing on health, including mental health, in 2023 and 2025. The SACN concluded that the observed associations between higher consumption of processed and ultra processed foods and adverse health outcomes are concerning. The SACN noted that studies to date appear to inconsistently account for important factors such as socioeconomic status.
The SACN recommend that on balance, most people are likely to benefit from reducing their consumption of processed foods high in energy, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, and which are low in fibre. These recommendations align with existing policies for supporting healthier diets and advice to consumers. The SACN will keep the topic of food processing and health under review.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ 2024 report on Food Insecurity also considered inequalities in access to a healthy sustainable diet. Data from the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey report shows that participants in higher income households, and households in less deprived areas, were closer to meeting some dietary recommendations. However, where diets failed to meet recommendations, this was consistent across the range of income and deprivation.
The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to develop their cross-Government Food Strategy, which aims to improve affordability and access to healthier food, to help both adults and children live longer, healthier lives.
Earlier this year, the Government committed to reviewing the School Food Standards to reflect the most recent Government dietary recommendations. Free school meals will also be extended to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026.
Healthy Start provides funding to pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households to support a healthier diet. In April 2026, the value of weekly payments will increase by 10%.
The Department is working closely with the Child Poverty Taskforce to develop and deliver an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has plans to review the legislation governing Class F council tax exemptions, specifically the treatment of inherited properties that were occupied at the time of death and vacated more than six weeks later; and whether he will consider extending exemptions to cover the probate process and up to 12 months after probate is granted, regardless of occupancy status at the time of death.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Properties which are unoccupied because the occupant has passed away, and probate has been granted on their estate, are exempt from council tax from the point of death until six months after the grant of probate or the signing of letters of administration (a class F exemption). Where the property remains occupied by another person, it is liable for council tax in the same way as any other property. The Government has no plans to amend class F council tax exemption.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to allocate funding to support the Great South West Partnership from April 2026.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following a four-week public consultation, in March 2025 the Government announced its intention to end funding for Pan-Regional Partnerships, with an exceptional, time-limited award of £281,250 for the Great South West Pan-Regional Partnership for the 2025/26 financial year.
Pan-Regional Partnerships, including the Great South West, have made a valuable contribution, supporting collaboration between local authorities and government and taking forward a breadth of work on shared growth opportunities. However, as our English Devolution White Paper sets out, we are now moving to a different model of regional collaboration, where we are keen to support new models driven by local leaders.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of clarifying whether regulation 25A of the Building Regulations that relates to Approved Document L includes extensions where the new wall or roof area adds 25% to the surface area of the building.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Regulation 25A of the Building Regulations 2010 concerns the use of high-efficiency alternative systems in new buildings and does not apply to extensions.
The energy efficiency standards that apply to extensions to existing dwellings are set out in Approved Document L: Conservation of fuel and power, Volume 1 (dwellings), Section 10.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 ensure seamless patient care for communities living on county boundaries, such as those between Somerset and Devon; and if he will take steps to (a) ensure interoperability of clinical records between NHS trusts and (b) issue guidance to Integrated Care Boards to prevent treatment restrictions based on administrative boundaries.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government's 10-Year Health Plan includes the objective of delivering a single patient record. This will allow staff, wherever they deliver care, to access the key information they need, from all of an individual’s medical records. Mandatory information standards, which all providers have to follow, will ensure the interoperability of systems within the National Health Service.
NHS England’s Who Pays? guidance sets out a framework for establishing which NHS organisation has responsibility for commissioning an individual’s care and which has responsibility for paying for that care. It came into effect from 1 August 2025 and can be found at the following link:
The Strategic Commissioning Framework for integrated care boards (ICBs) seeks to ensure that ICBs take a consistent approach to commissioning services, to secure the best outcomes for their population. It can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/strategic-commissioning-framework/
ICBs are responsible for undertaking health needs assessments to understand the health and wellbeing needs of their local population, including identifying inequalities and planning services accordingly.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will set out whether any military bases within the UK are being used for non-military purposes.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Currently, three military bases have been made available to the Home Office to support their efforts in providing accommodation for asylum seekers.
In addition, the Ministry of Defence permits third parties to use its bases for activities, provided these are compatible with military operations. This arrangement also generates income for the Department.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimates his Department has made of the time it will take to get all service family accommodation up to the Decent Homes Standard.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As set out in the recommendations of the Defence Housing Strategy, the Defence Housing Service will develop proposals to address the condition and standards of overseas family homes. As a baseline, we are using the 2006 Government’s Decent Homes Standard for all Defence family homes in the UK, regardless of location. Where needs differ as a result of property location, proposals will be developed as part of the ongoing work of the Defence Housing Strategy.
This Government’s historic £9 billion Defence Housing Strategy will deliver a generational renewal of military homes, with nine in 10 Defence homes modernised or upgraded.
Work to raise the minimum standard of 1,000 of the worst military family homes has proceeded at pace across the UK since April 2025, with works due to complete by the end of December 2025.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 it her policy that Core Reform 3 of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 will not be used for (a) the purposes of cost cutting and (b) to change the classification of a bathing water.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Core Reform 3 introduces discretion to set more locally tailored bathing seasons and monitoring periods that better reflect bathing water usage.
To amend a site’s bathing season, there would need to be a robust evidence base to support this action including that due account had been taken of all public comments and suggestions.
Details of implementation will be worked through in partnership with the Environment Agency through a small-scale pre-implementation research project. Following this analysis, we will publish guidance and expand stakeholder engagement to further develop this reform.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure the methodology for Core Reform 2 of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 will be subject to effective scrutiny.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The consultation on reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 ran from 12 November to 23 December 2024.
We are committed to working with stakeholders to ensure that feasibility and disproportionate cost are assessed through transparent and robust modelling and analysis.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken to process tax refund applications by HMRC; and if she will make a statement on measures to improve efficiency and accountability in HMRC’s service delivery.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC recognise that repayments are important for customers. They prioritise them to ensure they are processed as quickly and securely as possible.HMRC balance the provision of prompt payments to eligible customers with effective revenue protection from fraudsters. For Self Assessment repayments for example, once the repayment is created it goes through automated fraud and compliance checks. In 2024-25, after these checks, 93.1% of the repayments were paid automatically within a few days.
HMRC continues to invest in automation and to review their internal processes to ensure repayments are issued as quickly as possible.
HMRC recognise too the importance of keeping the customer, and where appropriate the customer’s representative, informed of progress and are exploring ways of doing that more effectively.
In the meantime, HMRC’s online ‘Where’s My Reply’ tool can help customers understand when they can expect to receive a response.