Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of graduates on Plan 2 loans that have debt interest growing faster than the loans can be paid off.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of England-domiciled Student Finance England borrowers with Plan 2 loans which have become liable to repay where interest accrued faster than the loan was being paid off in the 2025/26 financial year was 3.53 million (to the nearest 10,000). For these borrowers, the amount of interest accrued during the year was greater than the amount repaid. This figure includes borrowers who made repayments that were lower than the interest accrued, as well as borrowers who made no repayments during the year because they were not required to do so, including where their earnings were below the repayment threshold.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve consistency of access to genetic testing for people with Motor Neurone Disease.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England supports consistent access to genomic testing for eligible people with motor neurone disease (MND) through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service and National Genomic Test Directory. Testing can help identify an underlying genetic cause of MND, informing diagnosis and helping to determine eligibility for targeted treatments and research.
We recognise the particular challenges faced by carers in rural areas, including those caring for a loved one with MND. Local authorities have duties to assess carers’ needs and provide support where eligible, including practical support and respite care.
More broadly, we are working with the NHS, local authorities, the voluntary sector and people with lived experience to develop a new fast-track pathway for people with MND, aimed at providing more timely, coordinated and proactive support across health, social care and housing as an individual’s condition progresses. That will build on the existing work that NHS England is doing to commission specialised MND care through 27 neurology centres across the country, as well as local authorities being asked to fast-track access to care and support, improve joint working and anticipate the future needs of people with MND.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support carers in rural areas looking after people with Motor Neurone Disease.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England supports consistent access to genomic testing for eligible people with motor neurone disease (MND) through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service and National Genomic Test Directory. Testing can help identify an underlying genetic cause of MND, informing diagnosis and helping to determine eligibility for targeted treatments and research.
We recognise the particular challenges faced by carers in rural areas, including those caring for a loved one with MND. Local authorities have duties to assess carers’ needs and provide support where eligible, including practical support and respite care.
More broadly, we are working with the NHS, local authorities, the voluntary sector and people with lived experience to develop a new fast-track pathway for people with MND, aimed at providing more timely, coordinated and proactive support across health, social care and housing as an individual’s condition progresses. That will build on the existing work that NHS England is doing to commission specialised MND care through 27 neurology centres across the country, as well as local authorities being asked to fast-track access to care and support, improve joint working and anticipate the future needs of people with MND.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to fund services for deaf learners in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
High needs funding for children and young people with complex needs is continuing at an increased level of over £12 billion in the 2026/27 financial year, following an increase of 11% in 2025/26. Of that total, Lincolnshire Council is being allocated over £150 million through the high needs funding block of their 2026/27 Dedicated Schools Grant.
The department is also investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer. This offer is designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings by providing access to support from key services and health and specialist education practitioners.
For deaf children and young people in mainstream settings, this includes access to specialist teachers, such as teachers of the deaf, to support settings to identify and meet needs through timely, targeted approaches and adaptations to teaching.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help raise awareness of Lyme disease.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has run several campaigns to promote awareness of Lyme disease and has worked with local authorities and key stakeholders, including contributing to toolkits and guidance.
The UKHSA shares Lyme disease messaging through social, media and stakeholder channels and through general practitioner training days across the country. The Lyme Reference Laboratory also has a clinical helpline for doctors.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on the diagnoses and management of Lyme disease is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng95
Accompanying UKHSA guidance documents which describe clinical signs and symptoms are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/lyme-disease-guidance-data-and-analysis
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the Food Standards Agency spent on interpreters and related translation services in (1) 2022, (2) 2023, (3) 2024 and (4) 2025.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the Food Standards Agency’s spend on interpreters and related translation services in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025:
Financial Year | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 |
Expenditure on translation and interpretation services | £5,000 | £4,000 | Nil | Nil | £3,000 |
The data in the table relates to the Food Standards Agency’s Westminster budget. Expenditure in Wales and Northern Ireland, funded by the respective devolved administration, has been excluded. Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to promote Lincolnshire's cultural and heritage assets overseas to attract tourists.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS, through VisitBritain, promotes the UK's culture, heritage and tourism offer to international audiences, including destinations across Lincolnshire, as part of wider efforts to encourage visitors to explore beyond London and the South East.
Through its GREAT-funded international marketing campaign, Starring GREAT Britain, VisitBritain harnesses the global appeal of Britain's film and television locations to inspire overseas visitors to discover regional, rural and coastal destinations across the UK. As part of this screen tourism programme, VisitBritain highlights Lincolnshire destinations including Stamford and the Belton Estate, which featured as filming locations for Pride and Prejudice.
Lincolnshire also features in VisitBritain's East of England film and television itinerary, which showcases a range of the county's historic and cultural attractions, including Burghley House, Grimsthorpe Castle, the Belton Estate, Lincoln Cathedral and Lincoln Castle.
Alongside its screen tourism activity, VisitBritain promotes Lincoln as a destination in its own right through dedicated consumer-facing content highlighting the city's rich heritage, visitor attractions and accommodation offer. Lincoln is also featured across VisitBritain's international social media channels, supporting efforts to inspire overseas visitors to discover Lincolnshire and explore more of the UK beyond its gateway cities.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Number 10 North on the county of Lincolnshire.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
No10 North will play a vital role in transferring power out of Westminster and back into the hands of local communities, including those in Lincolnshire.
It is central to the Prime Minister’s commitment to spread good growth and opportunity across the UK, drive the Government’s devolution agenda and put decision-making closer to the communities it serves.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her department is using to decide which police forces to allocate the proposed additional 13,000 officers to.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
All 43 forces in England and Wales are supporting delivery of the Government’s commitment to provide 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of this Parliament.
As at 31 March 2026, we have delivered 3,814 additional police officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood roles. This exceeded the Year 1 target of 3,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel compared to March 2025.
Further details on neighbourhood policing workforce growth can be found here:
Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2026 - GOV.UK
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers were employed by Lincolnshire Constabulary in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
Information on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers, by police force area, as at 31 March 2007 to 2026 is available in the ‘Workforce Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a58d48c7eb057103bd945ba/open-data-table-police-workforce-220726.ods.