Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her planned timetable is for the Norwich to Tilbury Great Grid Upgrade to be (a) constructed and (b) operational.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Norwich to Tilbury is being developed by National Grid, who are responsible for its construction and delivery. Under Ofgem's Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment framework, the licence delivery date for the project is December 2031. The project is the subject of a live application for development consent; it would not be appropriate to comment further on its timetable while that process is ongoing.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) he, (b) his ministers and (c) his officials have had discussions and meetings with his counterpart in Mauritius to discuss the Chagos Archipelago since 20 July 2026; and whether any discussions and meetings are planned for the remainder of 2026.

Answered by Uma Kumaran - Assistant Whip

The UK Government continues to engage with Mauritius on issues related to the UK/ Mauritius Agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia. We do not intend to provide a running commentary on these conversations.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Note 27 of her Department’s 2025/26 annual accounts, what estimate she has made of the level of public subsidy to rail services in each of the next five years.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department regularly forecasts the financial support required for passenger rail services as part of its financial planning.

The precise level of subsidy in future years will depend on a range of factors, including passenger demand, farebox revenue, the cost of operating services and the delivery of planned efficiencies. The Department’s current plans assume that financial support to passenger rail services will reduce over the Spending Review period, as ridership and revenue increase and efficiencies are delivered.

Budgets for individual financial years are confirmed through the Parliamentary Supply Estimates process. The Government has not set detailed budgets covering all five years requested, as this period extends beyond the current Spending Review settlement.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the grant formula funding to be provided to each of the five proposed unitary authorities in Essex under her local government reorganisations proposals in 2028/29.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the Secretary of State's oral statement of 7 September 2026.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of (a) the total costs of local government reorganisation and (b) the changes to staffing levels in Essex.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the Secretary of State's oral statement of 7 September 2026.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the total costs of cancelling the A12 Widening Scheme.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The current estimate was disclosed in the Department's 2025-26 Annual Accounts, representing costs incurred up to the end of the 2025-26 financial year. Any further costs will be calculated in due course.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she make an assessment of the potential (a) economic and (b) environmental impacts of establishing an offshore grid to connect offshore windfarms off of the coast of the East of England to the grid.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The government is committed to identifying the most efficient and environmentally sustainable approaches to connecting offshore wind generation to the electricity networks, including solutions coordinating offshore cabling where they are most optimal.

This is why the National Policy Statements require developers to consider opportunities for offshore coordination and assess designs against cost, and cumulative impacts on the water environment - justifying how the mitigation hierarchy (avoid, reduce, mitigate, compensate), has been applied to address possible impacts.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which offshore wind farms are scheduled to be connected to the grid in each of the next ten years; and what level of GW will be added to grid capacity from each development.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Offshore wind is crucial to the UK’s energy security and is already playing a central role in reducing billpayers’ exposure to volatile international fossil fuel markets and decarbonising the UK’s power sector, generating 17.7% of UK electricity in 2025, up from 0.8% in 2010 and 5.1% in 2015.

Through connections reform, NESO and the Network Companies are issuing revised connections agreements to projects in the queue. The contents of the revised offers are commercially confidential.

Once connections agreements are signed by customers, project details and connection dates are added to the publicly available Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) register (Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) register | National Energy System Operator).

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the changes to the Green Book social time discounting rate to 3% announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to revise the estimate of the net present value of the costs of the UK-Mauritius Treaty in respect of the future of the Chagos Archipelago.

Answered by Uma Kumaran - Assistant Whip

The value of payments under the UK-Mauritius Treaty were set out by the UK government at the time of signature and have not changed. No payments are due under the terms of the UK-Mauritius agreement until the Treaty has been ratified. Full details of the proposed payments have already been published in the Explanatory Memorandum accompanying the Treaty.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding has been allocated to invest in (a) GP practices and (b) health centres in Witham constituency.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As set out in the 10 Year Capital Plan, Government has committed over £200 million of Utilisation and Modernisation funding over four years to continue upgrading the general practice estate. The NHS East of England region has been provisionally allocated £25 million.

A further £200 million from this fund will support refurbishing the existing estate to deliver approximately 50 neighbourhood health centres this Parliament. We announced Wave 1 of neighbourhood health centre upgrade schemes in March 2026, with 27 sites across England selected to bring care closer to home.

Proposals for future waves of neighbourhood health centres are currently being assessed against the published criteria, as set out in the Neighbourhood Health Centre Guidance, with final decisions on future schemes yet to be confirmed. Projects that meet the criteria will be invited to develop detailed business cases before any final funding decisions are taken.

Across 2026/27 to 2029/30, the NHS East of England region has been allocated £579.6 million to deliver a left shift from hospital to community care and support the return to constitutional standards. The NHS Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust has been allocated £181.6 million in operational capital with they can allocate to local priorities over 2026/27 to 2029/30.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, If she has plans to increase the number of GP training places at Anglia Ruskin University.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government keeps the total number of medical school places under close review to ensure it meets England’s workforce requirements, and decisions on training numbers will be considered as part of the forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan.

General practice (GP) is a medical specialty, with doctors undertaking relevant specialty training following completion of medical school and the two-year Foundation Programme.

NHS England continues to expand the number of GP training places. An additional 250 GP training places will be available from September 2026, bringing the total number of training places to 4,500 with plans to expand further each year and reach 5,000 places by 2028.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to publish a medium term business plan for Greater Anglia rail services.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Greater Anglia's plans continue to be developed through the Department's rolling business planning process. Industry-wide planning is also in progress across Anglia Railway, ensuring that track and train are working together to deliver for customers. Business plans will be finalised in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a timetable for investment to be provided to schools in Witham constituency affected by RAAC for full remedial works to be undertaken.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department has committed to permanently removing Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) from schools and colleges. By 2029, every school and college in England that is not being substantially rebuilt will be RAAC-free, and every school with RAAC needing to be rebuilt through the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) will be in delivery.

There are seven schools with confirmed RAAC in Witham constituency. RAAC is being permanently removed from six schools through the SRP. Of these, three schools are already in delivery and three schools will shortly enter delivery. For one school, work to remove RAAC is being managed by the local authority, Essex County Council, with grant funding provided by the department.

SRP projects take on average between 2 to 5 years to complete. We will assess the individual timelines at each school once delivery begins.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the level of grant funding to Essex Police in each of the next five years.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

In 2026-27 Essex Police will receive up to £457.2 million of funding, an increase of up to £20.3 million compared to 2025-26, which equates to a 4.7% cash increase and 2.6% real terms increase.

The Police Funding Settlement is an annual process. Funding allocations for future years will therefore be determined at future Police Funding Settlements.