Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what financial support she has provided to (a) the Government of Mauritius and (b) projects in Mauritius under the Strategic Partnership Framework Programme in 2025/26 and plans for the next five years.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There has been no change in the position since the previous occasions on which the Rt Hon Member has asked these questions (121712 and 8533), and I therefore refer her back to the most recent answers that she received, on 26 March and 16 June respectively.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Government of Mauritius on the financial contributions that the Government of Mauritius were expecting from the UK-Mauritius Treaty.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There has been no change in the position since the previous occasions on which the Rt Hon Member has asked these questions (121712 and 8533), and I therefore refer her back to the most recent answers that she received, on 26 March and 16 June respectively.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Inclusion Bases she is planning for schools in the Witham constituency in each of the next five years; and what funding is being made available to finance them.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As a core component of our £3.7 billion high needs capital settlement, the department will invest in a transformational expansion of inclusion bases.
This funding is allocated to local authorities, who know their schools and will determine how best to spend funding to meet local need. In the 2026/27 financial year, Essex has been allocated £21.2 million for high needs provision capital allocation.
Provision is currently inconsistent across the country, which is why we are also going to improve data collection on which schools have inclusion bases so we can make sure that all pupils are given the support they need.
For the first time, departmental guidance has been produced to help settings and local authorities set up and deliver high-quality provision in inclusion bases, as well as support improvement of existing bases.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding she will make available for flood defences in each of the next five years for (a) Witham constituency and (b) Essex.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is investing at least £10.5 billion until 2036 to construct new flood schemes and repair existing defences, protecting communities from the devastating impacts of climate change. Through the largest flood programme in history, this record investment will benefit nearly 900,000 properties.
The list of schemes receiving funding for 2026/27 was published in March and can be found here.
Projects to receive future government funding will be agreed in the usual way, on an annual basis, through the Environment Agency’s annual refresh process, which includes local representation from Regional Flood and Coastal Committees.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (i) methodology and (ii) timeframes of (a) housing growth and (b) pupil number growth forecasts did she use when deciding to not to proceed with funding for the proposed Lodge Farm Primary School in Witham.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Mainstream Free School projects were evaluated against consistent criteria on the need for places, value for money, and whether they would provide a distinctive or innovative education offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools. As part of the decision-making process, the department carefully assessed all available evidence, with a particular focus on the evidence of need for additional school places within the relevant planning areas, factoring in housing growth. To inform the decision we used the latest School Capacity survey data and took account of the local authority's longer-term projections. For Lodge Farm Primary and Nursery, the review found that current evidence does not show sufficient need for a new school.