Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the use of Defence Bonds for financing military expenditure; and whether her Department has had recent discussions with financial investors on their issuance.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
As the Prime Minister announced in February, we are fully funding the path to 2.5% by reducing ODA spending. That is why we can announce a £10.9bn real-terms increase to the MOD budget over the Spending Review period. On top of this, we are recognising the contribution provided by our intelligence agencies on defence, in line with practice among our Allies. This means that in 2027-28 we expect to reach 2.6% of GDP
The increase in defence spending will be funded by reducing ODA from 0.5% to 0.3% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2027, and reinvesting it into defence.
The government’s core gilt programme is the most stable and cost-effective way of raising finance to fund the day-to-day activities of the government, owing to the depth and liquidity of the market. This is, in part, down to the fungibility of the instruments issued to the market. Issuing bonds aimed at financing specific areas of spending risks fragmenting the gilt market, which would not be consistent with the government’s debt management objective of minimising the long-term cost of financing, taking into account risk.
The government keeps under regular review the introduction of new debt instruments. The government would however need to be satisfied that any new instrument would meet value-for-money criteria, enjoy strong and sustained demand in the long term, and be consistent with wider fiscal objectives.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 2 April 2025 to Question 39995 on Long Covid: Clinics, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the delivery of long covid care by integrated care boards.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services for people with long COVID. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local need and priorities, and to improve outcomes.
To support clinical leadership in this area, NHS England has worked in partnership with the British Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine to establish the Clinical Post-COVID Society to facilitate the ongoing sharing of best practice, to support people affected by long COVID. Further information about the society can be found at the following link:
https://www.clinicalpcs.org.uk/
Earlier this year, NHS England completed a long COVID stocktake, aiming to provide a nationwide overview of service delivery in commissioning and contracting, assessing access, activity, and outcomes. The findings confirmed the widely recognised challenges of significant variation in care delivery across England and a lack of comprehensive activity data.
Executive NHS England board members were updated on the current provision of long COVID services, noting those challenges. Discussions considered service prioritisation and potential COVID Inquiry recommendations.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to remove parental rights from people convicted of rape in cases where a child has been conceived as a result of that offence.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has received a number of representations seeking to broaden the parental responsibility measure in the Victims and Courts Bill, including proposals to restrict the exercise of parental responsibility by individuals convicted of rape in cases where a child has been conceived as a result of that offence. We are carefully considering these suggestions as the Bill progresses through Parliament.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the freight throughput was in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) passing through Felixstowe port in the most recent 12 months for which data are available; and how many and what proportion of those TEUs were transported out of the port by rail by destination distribution centre in the same period.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Container throughput passing through Felixstowe port in the calendar year 2023 was 3.246 million TEU.
Source: DfT Port Freight Statistics 2023. Data for the 2024 will be published 30th July 2025.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6698eaf1fc8e12ac3edaff36/port0203.ods
The Department for Transport does not periodically collect data on hinterland movement of freight from seaports and therefore cannot provide the proportion of TEU that was transported out of the port by rail by destination distribution centre in the same period.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many overheating incidents have been logged in NHS hospitals in the East of England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 665 overheating incidents logged in National Health Service hospitals in the East of England over the past five years. The following table shows the number of overheating incidents logged in NHS hospitals in the East of England in each of the last five years:
Year | Overheating incidents in East of England |
2023/24 | 77 |
2022/23 | 105 |
2021/22 | 218 |
2020/21 | 265 |
2019/20 | Not collected |
Source: Estates Returns Information Collection data, available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to introduce additional regulatory mechanisms to ensure the financial viability of community energy schemes under the Great British Energy Bill.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the role community groups play in our efforts to tackle climate change. In March, we published a response to a consultation, started by the previous government, on the barriers to community energy. We will learn from the responses to the consultation to inform our future work on community energy.
The Government also recognises requests to take steps to better enable local energy markets. The Secretary of State previously commissioned Ofgem to explore the policy and regulatory barriers and solutions for the community energy sector. The energy industry has also been working to make changes to industry rules to support local trade of energy, including modification P442 of the Balancing and Settlement Code, which came into effect in February 2025. The Department is working closely with Ofgem and other key stakeholders to develop this work further.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of adopting a spatial energy planning approach to better align land use planning with net zero objectives.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In October 2024, the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments, jointly commissioned the National Energy System Operator to develop a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP): the first ever spatial energy plan for Great Britain, to support a more actively planned approach to energy infrastructure across both land and sea. The SSEP will help bring about an efficient and net zero consistent energy system and provide greater clarity to industry, investors, consumers and the public. The plan’s methodology was published in May 2025, with the SSEP due to be published in 2026.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans his Department has to publish a national strategy on community energy.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the importance of communities being at the heart of the energy transition and the benefits of communities owning energy infrastructure in their own community. Great British Energy will take forward the Local Power Plan and working alongside DESNZ to unlock regulatory changes will drive forward an expanded community energy sector across the UK. We will say more about the Local Power Plan in due course.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to publish clear guidance on the definition of community energy; what steps he is taking to tackle (a) capacity and (b) skills shortages in its development; and what steps he is taking to ensure that funding can be (i) accessed and (ii) utilised at local level.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the role community energy plays in ensuring that the public benefits directly from the energy transition and, in partnership with Great British Energy (GBE), is taking steps to maximise that role, including exploring a definition for community energy which could provide clarity to a number of relevant stakeholders when engaging with community energy organisations.
GBE will supercharge existing support to local and community energy projects. To support stakeholders in accessing and deploying funding, GBE will also provide commercial, technical and project planning assistance, increasing capacity and capability to build a pipeline of successful projects in local areas.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that rural and off-grid communities are fully integrated into the UK’s grid transition.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) are upgrading local electricity distribution networks to enable the decarbonisation of households and businesses across Great Britain, including in rural areas. For the current electricity distribution price control (2023-2028), Ofgem have allowed £22.2bn of upfront investment, including £3.1bn for network upgrades for low-carbon technologies. Regional Energy Strategic Plans will consider local area energy requirements and will inform DNO investment plans for the next electricity distribution price control (2028-2033), ensuring timely reinforcement of local electricity networks for rural communities.