First elected: 4th July 2024
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Monica Harding, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Monica Harding has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Monica Harding has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Monica Harding has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Monica Harding has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The department has made Safety Valve agreements with 38 local authorities. These are: Bath and North East Somerset, Barnsley, Bexley, Blackpool, Bolton, Bracknell Forest, Bristol, Bury, Cambridgeshire, Croydon, Darlington, Devon, Dorset, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Isle of Wight, Kent, Kingston upon Thames, Kirklees, Medway, Merton, Norfolk, North Somerset, North Tyneside, Richmond upon Thames, Rotherham, Salford, Slough, South Gloucestershire, Southwark, Stoke-on-Trent, Surrey, Torbay, Wiltshire, Wokingham and York. All agreements are published on GOV.UK and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-very-high-deficit-intervention.
Of these, five agreements are currently suspended. The local authorities with suspended agreements are Bath and North East Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Hillingdon and Norfolk.
All Safety Valve local authorities receive ongoing support through the monitoring process.
The high needs national funding formula will be used to allocate high needs funding to local authorities in the 2025/26 financial year. Provisional 2025/26 national funding formula allocations for local authorities have now been published and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs-2025-to-2026.
For 2025/26, Surrey County Council has been allocated a provisional high needs funding amount of over £239 million. This represents an increase of 7% per head of their projected 2 to 18-year-old population, compared with their 2024/25 formula allocation.
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The department is providing an increase of almost £1 billion for local authorities’ high needs budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND in England to £11.9 billion.
The department is now in the process of calculating indicative high needs funding allocations for local authorities next year, which will be published shortly.
It is for the local authorities to decide how they manage their spending to secure the best possible outcomes for children and young people within the resources available.
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission jointly inspect local area SEND provision to ensure there is joined-up support for children, young people and their families. These inspections are published and enable the department to intervene in cases of significant concern. The inspections also allow the department to work with local areas and professional advisors to address any areas of weakness that might be identified.
The Safety Valve programme helps local authorities provide an improved special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) service by maximising the impact of their high needs budget and promoting a more stable and effective system for children and young people with SEND. Safety Valve agreements were established only if both the local authority and the department agreed that the proposals would improve services for children and young people with SEND. The future use of Safety Valve agreements is under review.
Existing Safety Valve agreements do not in any way release local authorities from their obligation to fulfil their statutory duties to children and young people with SEND, and no agreement would have been made if it compromised a local authority’s ability to meet these obligations. The department regularly reviews the implementation of all Safety Valve agreements through our monitoring process, and provides support and intervention if they go off track. The department does not hold any data on the potential impact of Surrey’s Safety Valve agreement regarding funding per education, health and care plan.
The Safety Valve programme helps local authorities provide an improved special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) service by maximising the impact of their high needs budget and promoting a more stable and effective system for children and young people with SEND. Safety Valve agreements were established only if both the local authority and the department agreed that the proposals would improve services for children and young people with SEND. The future use of Safety Valve agreements is under review.
Existing Safety Valve agreements do not in any way release local authorities from their obligation to fulfil their statutory duties to children and young people with SEND, and no agreement would have been made if it compromised a local authority’s ability to meet these obligations. The department regularly reviews the implementation of all Safety Valve agreements through our monitoring process, and provides support and intervention if they go off track. The department does not hold any data on the potential impact of Surrey’s Safety Valve agreement regarding funding per education, health and care plan.
The Environment Agency (EA) has confirmed that the six Wastewater Treatment works (WwTW) inspected in the River Mole Catchment in the current financial year, referenced in the response to PQ 13669 on Rivers: Sewage, are as follows:
In the time since the response to Question 13669 was provided, the EA has inspected three additional WwTW in the Rive Mole catchment:
The EA has confirmed plans for a fourfold increase in water company inspections – 4000 by end of March 2025 - to hold companies to account, including unannounced inspections.
The increase in inspections will allow the EA to conduct more in-depth and independent audits to get to the root-cause of incidents, reducing the reliance on operator self-monitoring.
Following Storm Henk, the Environment Agency (EA) has undertaken a significant amount of debris clearance on weir structures, including the removal of a number of sunken & stricken vessels. The cost of the clean-up operation undertaken by our teams and supply chain partners has been more than £1 million over the last 6 months.
The main flood risk reduction plan currently being developed along this area is the proposed River Thames Scheme (RTS). It is a partnership between the EA, Surrey County Council and other local partners, that will reduce the risk of flooding for communities from Staines to Teddington, including between Weybridge and Long Ditton. This will be achieved through the creation of a new flood channel, in two parts, and capacity improvements to Sunbury, Molesey and Teddington weirs on the Thames and to the river in the Desborough area. RTS will reduce flood risk to around 11,000 homes and 1,600 businesses.
The EA are also looking at how to reduce the impact of flooding in Thames Ditton. Measures under consideration include raised barriers and property flood resilience measures to reduce the impact of flooding and allow a faster recovery. Any solution must be cost beneficial to attract public funding.
The main flood prevention plan currently in development along this part of the River Thames is the proposed River Thames Scheme (RTS). It is a partnership between the Environment Agency (EA), Surrey County Council, and other local partners that will reduce the risk of flooding for communities from Staines to Teddington, including between Weybridge and Long Ditton. This will be achieved through the creation of a new flood channel, in two parts, and capacity improvements to Sunbury, Molesey and Teddington weirs on the Thames and to the river in the Desborough area. The RTS is planning to reduce flood risk to around 11,000 homes and 1,600 businesses.
The EA is also looking at how to reduce the impact of flooding in Thames Ditton. Measures under consideration include raised barriers and property flood resilience measures to reduce the impact of flooding and allow a faster recovery.
It is Ofwat's responsibility, through the price review process, to independently scrutinise company plans and ensure the prices water companies charge customers are fair and proportionate.
The Government is committed to taking action to address water poverty and help vulnerable customers with their water bills. All water companies, including Thames Water, have measures in place for customers who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, including measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support.
Furthermore, we expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their public commitment to end water poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to this end.
It is Ofwat's responsibility, through the price review process, to independently scrutinise company plans and ensure the prices water companies charge customers are fair and proportionate.
The Government is committed to taking action to address water poverty and help vulnerable customers with their water bills. All water companies, including Thames Water, have measures in place for customers who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, including measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support.
Furthermore, we expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their public commitment to end water poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to this end.
Since 2019, there have been a total of 39 pharmacy closures in Surrey, and four in the Esher and Walton Constituency. In Surrey, this has broken down as: seven closures in 2019; six in 2020; four in 2021; two in 2022; and 15 in 2023, with a further five having closed between January and 30 September 2024. In Esher and Walton, there were no closures between 2019 and 2022. Three closed in 2023, and one closed between January and 30 September 2024.
We are aware of the reduction in the number of pharmacies in recent years, and recognise that pharmacy closures can impact on local communities. Local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served, and must keep these assessments under review. Integrated care boards give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from the new contractors. Contractors can also apply to open a new pharmacy to offer benefits to patients that were not foreseen by the PNA.
Patients can also access the approximately 400 Distance Selling Pharmacies who must operate nationally and send medicines to patients’ home free of charge. In rural areas, dispensing doctors can also supply medicines.
Since 2019, there have been a total of 39 pharmacy closures in Surrey, and four in the Esher and Walton Constituency. In Surrey, this has broken down as: seven closures in 2019; six in 2020; four in 2021; two in 2022; and 15 in 2023, with a further five having closed between January and 30 September 2024. In Esher and Walton, there were no closures between 2019 and 2022. Three closed in 2023, and one closed between January and 30 September 2024.
We are aware of the reduction in the number of pharmacies in recent years, and recognise that pharmacy closures can impact on local communities. Local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served, and must keep these assessments under review. Integrated care boards give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from the new contractors. Contractors can also apply to open a new pharmacy to offer benefits to patients that were not foreseen by the PNA.
Patients can also access the approximately 400 Distance Selling Pharmacies who must operate nationally and send medicines to patients’ home free of charge. In rural areas, dispensing doctors can also supply medicines.
This data is published annually by NHS England in the NHS Payments to General Practice Report and will be available in due course.
We know that general practices (GPs) are working hard to deliver for their patients, and are delivering more appointments than ever before, however we know that some patients are struggling to access the care they need, and GPs are struggling to deliver it.
The GP Contract requires NHS England to arrange an annual review of GP contractors’ performance against their contractual obligations. Integrated care boards also consider concerns or complaints raised by patients, and can take action where services are not meeting the needs of their local population.
Data on patients registered at a general practice (GP) is published on a monthly basis, and is as follows for 2023/24: at the beginning of 2023/24, 1 April 2023, the largest practice had 106,308 patients, and the median average practice had 8,383 patients; and at the end of 2023/24, 1 April 2024, the largest practice had 98,469 patients, and the median average practice had 8,620 patients.
NHS England has overall responsibility for ensuring that there are sufficient primary medical services to meet the reasonable requirements of patients throughout the country. To do so, they will contract providers, such as GPs, to provide these services. GPs are required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs of the patients registered at their practice. This includes making their own workforce plans, and so there is no Government recommendation for how many patients a GP should have assigned.
We expect commissioners to act if services are not meeting the reasonable needs of their patients. Under GP Contract regulations, practices can apply to their commissioner to close their patient list to new registrations for a period of time for a number of reasons, including workload and staffing considerations.
This data is taken from the Patients Registered at a GP Practice data set, from NHS England Digital. It should be noted that practices can operate across multiple sites or use a digital first approach, which can account for a particularly large patient list. Further information on the data set is available at the following link:
The government is committed to taking steps to bring the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ private estates and unfair maintenance costs to an end and we will consult on the best way to achieve this.
In the interim, we will act to provide residential freeholders with greater protections by implementing the relevant provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. The implementation of that Act will require an extensive programme of secondary legislation, and we will set out the details in due course.
Information about appeals to the First-Tier Tribunal for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
The table below sets out the number of appeals to the SEND Tribunal against decisions made by Surrey County Council about education, health and care plans for the period 2020(1) to 2023 (the latest period for which data have been published) which were overturned(2) at Tribunal.
Year | Number |
2020 | 109 |
2021 | 277 |
2022 | 331 |
2023 | 395 |
1 - Data on appeals in 2019 are not available due to HMCTS Record and Retention policy requirements that data is deleted after three years from the conclusion of the appeal and six months if the appeal is withdrawn for SEND Tribunals. The full policy on Record and Retention can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62b47cfcd3bf7f0af821efef/health-education-social-care-chamber-rrds.pdf.
2 - The Tribunal reports a successful appeal if majority of appeals is found in favour of the parent or young person.