Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has allocated for the high needs block of dedicated schools grants for each local authority for (a) this year and b) each of the last five years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocations by financial year are available at the following:
The total High Needs Block allocation for each local authority can be found in the ‘Allocations_summary’ sheet, in the column ‘High needs block (£s)’.
The allocations for 2026/27 are subject to further updates later this year.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 take steps to ensure that recreational water users, including paddlers, are considered in the development of the Clean Water Bill, including in relation to public access to inland waterways.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will bring forward legislation through the Clean Water Bill, announced in the King’s Speech on 13 May, to deliver major reforms to the water system.
Public health will be at the heart of these reforms, alongside measures to strengthen regulation, improve water quality and tackle pollution at source, as set out in the Water White Paper.
Targeted engagement is already taking place with stakeholders across the water sector to support policy development.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what date his Department expects to publish the interim statement on the Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will publish an interim update on the Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care shortly. The final MSF will be published this autumn.
The MSF will provide a clinically-led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation. Areas of action will be identified for those commissioning and delivering services, with associated performance and outcome metrics to support system accountability. The MSF will seek to embed palliative care and end-of-life care within a strategic commissioning model that is centred on population need.
We have been engaging with a range of stakeholders, from approximately 70 organisations, to inform the MSF’s development, including the Ambitions Partnership. We are also undertaking engagement with integrated care systems through National Health Service regional teams. We have also been working closely with teams leading on the other MSFs, to ensure that they align with each other.
Following the publication of the interim update, Department and NHS England officials will continue to engage closely with stakeholders on the development of the final MSF.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 support dental educational supervisors.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the important role dental educational supervisors play in supporting newly qualified dentists.
Dental Foundation Training is supported through payments to eligible practices, including the trainers grant for educational supervision. The Department keeps these payments under review as part of the annual pay review process.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he conducted with dentists before introducing changes to the NHS dentistry contract.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In Summer 2025, the Department ran a full public consultation on our proposed reforms to the dental contract. The consultation ran for six weeks and received almost 2,300 responses, including from those working in the dental sector, from professional bodies and charities. The Government response to the consultation was published in December and provides a summary of the results of the consultation. The response is available at the following link:
NHS England and the Office of the Chief Dental Officer have also engaged with the dental sector to support the implementation of these reforms, including through webinars, bulletins, and contract guidance. Clinical guidance will be published shortly.
We have engaged with key stakeholders throughout the process of developing these reforms, including through regular meetings with the British Dental Association.
The regulations introducing the first phase of these reforms came into force on 1 April, and the remainder of the reforms, including the introduction of complex care pathways, will be implemented from June 2026. These reforms will prioritise those with the greatest need, shifting care away from clinically unnecessary check-ups.
We remain committed to delivering further, fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. Discussions with key stakeholders have continued ahead of any further proposed amendments to the dental contract.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 increase the allocation of new dental school places.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will provide £11 million per annum at steady state, to increase the number of new dental school places by 50 each year. This is the first sustained expansion of domestic dental training places since 2007 and will take effect from the 2027/28 academic year.
The Minister of State for Skills and I have written to the Chair of the Office for Students (OfS) to increase the maximum fundable limit for dental school places in England from 809 to 859 places. The OfS has statutory responsibility for allocating funding for dental school places. The Minister of State for Skills and I have asked that the OfS focuses the expansion on new dental schools approved by the General Dental Council, but which do not currently receive government funding for places.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the maximum fundable limits for dental schools in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will provide £11 million per annum at steady state, to increase the number of new dental school places by 50 each year. This is the first sustained expansion of domestic dental training places since 2007 and will take effect from the 2027/28 academic year.
The Minister of State for Skills and I have written to the Chair of the Office for Students (OfS) to increase the maximum fundable limit for dental school places in England from 809 to 859 places. The OfS has statutory responsibility for allocating funding for dental school places. The Minister of State for Skills and I have asked that the OfS focuses the expansion on new dental schools approved by the General Dental Council, but which do not currently receive government funding for places.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 29 October 2025 to Question 69859 on AJM Healthcare: Wheelchairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that Integrated Care Boards adequately deal with complaints made about commissioned providers.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services, based on the needs of their local populations. There are a range of providers of National Health Service wheelchair services across England, and ICBs are responsible for monitoring service provision and effectively managing contracts with their commissioned providers. Complaints management is included as part of overall assurance for ICBs.
NHS England is aware there have been a number of separate complaints about the quality of services provided by AJM Healthcare, which are being dealt with on an individual basis by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. NHS England are working through the appropriate regional teams to gain intelligence from ICBs on quality concerns and contracting arrangements to fully understand the issues being raised. In addition, the 10 Year Health Plan makes a commitment to reviewing the complaints regulations, and NHS England and the Department are developing plans to achieve this.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 17 February 2026 to Question 111545 on AJM Healthcare, what discussions his Department has had with ICBs on complaints about the quality of services provided by AJM Healthcare.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services, based on the needs of their local populations. There are a range of providers of National Health Service wheelchair services across England, and ICBs are responsible for monitoring service provision and effectively managing contracts with their commissioned providers. Complaints management is included as part of overall assurance for ICBs.
NHS England is aware there have been a number of separate complaints about the quality of services provided by AJM Healthcare, which are being dealt with on an individual basis by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. NHS England are working through the appropriate regional teams to gain intelligence from ICBs on quality concerns and contracting arrangements to fully understand the issues being raised. In addition, the 10 Year Health Plan makes a commitment to reviewing the complaints regulations, and NHS England and the Department are developing plans to achieve this.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support England Hockey to help ensure there is appropriate provision of playing facilities for amateur hockey clubs.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding into grassroots sport across England, including providing support for England Hockey.
We are also investing £98 million into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities across the UK through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2025/26. Projects funded through the programme include new artificial multi-sport grass pitches, changing pavilions and floodlights. At least 40% of funded projects have a multi-sport offer, allowing more people to participate in a wider variety of sports.
£85 million will be invested through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities across the UK in 2026/27, with £68.35 million to be invested in England. An additional £15 million will be invested into innovative facilities in England, to allow more people to participate in sports they wish to.