Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the announcement of 13 March 2025 on the future of NHS England, how many people have been hired by NHS England since that date; and how many of those recruits were appointed to each non-medical role or staff group.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to respond to Question 124577 from the Rt hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many jobs at NHS England have been advertised since 13 March 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to the Question 16875 from the Rt hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I responded to the right hon. Member on 8 September 2026.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-07-08/16875
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what additional equipment will be available to members of the UK Active Reserve as a result of the Defence Investment Plan.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Investment Plan commits £298 billion of investment in Defence over the next four years and includes substantial investment in the capabilities that support the Whole Force, including our Reserves. This includes more than £5 billion for drones and autonomous systems, over £20 billion to increase the Army's lethality through technologies such as long-range missiles, artificial intelligence and armoured vehicles, and over £11 billion to strengthen munitions stockpiles and national production capacity.
These investments follow the Government's Defence Industrial Strategy, strengthening sovereign capability, increasing resilience in supply chains and supporting long-term growth across the UK defence sector.
Members of the Active Reserve train and operate alongside their Regular counterparts and are equipped from the same force structures. The Defence Investment Plan does not allocate a separate equipment budget specifically to the Active Reserve. Reservists will benefit directly from the significant investment being made across Defence to modernise capabilities, improve readiness and ensure our Armed Forces have the equipment they need to meet current and future threats.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of projected water supply and demand balances in the East of England to 2050; what estimate she has made of a projected water deficit under Water Resources East planning assumptions; and whether her Department has plans to address a deficit through new reservoirs, water transfers, demand management and regulatory reform.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The current Water Resources East plan sets out a series of water company measures, including demand management and leakage reduction interventions, new strategic reservoirs in Lincolnshire and the Fens, coastal desalination in Norfolk and Lincolnshire, and water recycling plants, in Suffolk and Essex.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of a unified, real-time water-level monitoring platform for the Fenland basin to support coordination between the Environment Agency, Internal Drainage Boards and water companies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency routinely shares hydrological information with Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) and water companies, with further live and historic data available via the online Hydrology Data Explorer. Regular liaison over periods of dry weather enables proactive data sharing and shared decision making about water level management.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate has been made of the number of additional members of the UK Active Reserve across each service that will be recruited as a result of the Defence Investment Plan.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Investment Plan has set out how we will be investing over £76 billion on people and veterans over the next four years. The £4.2 billion of funding for the Reserves represents the cost of Reserves pay and allowances.
The MOD does not routinely publish detailed breakdowns of spending for reasons of national security. In addition, individual annual settlements will be subject to planning cycles across the services.
This Government is committed to modernising the Reserve component. The Defence Investment Plan reaffirms the importance of the Reserve Forces to Defence’s future outputs. Work is underway to develop future Reserve structures, improve recruitment and retention, and ensure Reservists are aligned to the demands of modern warfighting and homeland resilience.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Partnership Funding formula adequately reflects the economic and strategic value of Grade 1 agricultural land in the Fens; and whether he has considered introducing additional weighting factors for flood defence schemes that protect such land.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Last October, the Government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy, including removing the old partnership funding formula.
Our funding rules will support farming and rural communities and improve resilience against flood risk across the country.
The previous rules gave higher payment rates for properties than agricultural or environmental benefits. We are now giving equal weighting to all different types of benefits – a positive change for rural areas.
We will review the new policy in 2028 to assess its effectiveness in managing flood and coastal erosion risk, allowing us to see if policy adjustments are needed.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Westminster Hall debate on the army reserve on 22 April 2026, whether a decision has been taken on any changes to the number of reserve service days in 2026-27.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Army does not set a number for RSDs, instead RSD allocations vary by Reservist. The Army manages Reserve workforce expenditure through actual spend monitoring and prioritises funding for activity that directly supports operational outputs.