Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will summon the Israeli Ambassador to explain ask why (a) Israeli armed forces seized the British-flagged ship Madleen and (b) arrested British citizens on board that ship.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Minister for the Middle East summoned the Israeli Ambassador on 20 May to make clear that the UK stands firmly against Israel's resumption of military action in Gaza, its wholly inadequate plan for aid delivery and to demand that a full and unhindered resumption in the flow of aid into Gaza takes place immediately.
We are aware of the interception of the Madleen and the arrest of its passengers by Israeli Naval Forces. We understand that this happened without serious incident or injury to any passenger. There were no British Nationals aboard.
We pressed the Israeli authorities to ensure that any action they took would resolve the situation safely, with restraint, and in line with International Law. We will continue to urge that any Israeli actions following the interception of the vessel and arrest of its passengers must be in line with International Law.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support people living with multiple sclerosis in Woking constituency; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reforms to (a) disability benefits and (b) Personal Independence Payments on people with multiple sclerosis.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
Estimates of the impact of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reforms are made for England and Wales only and not at region or any lower-level geographic area. The department does not forecast benefit receipt at a regional level or below, nor have estimates of the behavioural impacts of the policy been produced at these levels.
I attended on 10 June a roundtable discussion with the MS Society on “Supporting people with MS to thrive in and out of work.” We are committed to working with people with MS on the design of our programme of employment support, which will receive an additional £1 billion per year of funding by the end of this Parliament
The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.
There will be no immediate changes to PIP eligibility. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. After that date, no one will lose PIP without first being reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional, who assesses individual needs and circumstance. Reassessments happen on average every 3 years. The OBR predicts that 9 in 10 of those on PIP daily living at the point any changes come in will still be receiving PIP by the end of the decade.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met.
We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I will lead. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.
Even with these reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to rise by 750,000 by the end of this parliament and spending will rise from £23bn in 24/25 to £31bn in 29/30.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to (a) manage and (b) accelerate the connection of the renewable energy projects in the transmission queue.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are working closely with Ofgem and the network companies to develop and deliver fundamental reform of the grid connections process. National Energy System Operator (NESO’s) proposals for connections reform were approved by Ofgem on 15 April.
These reforms will release up to 500GW of capacity from the oversubscribed connections queue, enabling accelerated connections for renewable energy projects that are ready and aligned with our strategic needs, as set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will undertake a review of the requirements non-UK nationals face when applying to train to become an educator.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department keep the requirements for applying to train to be a teacher under regular review to ensure that the best candidates wherever they are from can continue to access the appropriate training to become great teachers.
In addition to the requirements that apply to all candidates, those from overseas will need to show that they meet the eligibility requirements to get a visa and demonstrate that their school and university qualifications are equivalent to the required standard of a UK Bachelor’s degree and GSCEs (Grade 4) in mathematics, English and for teaching in primary schools science. They can do this by getting a statement of compatibility from the UK European Network of Information Centres.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will review the role of the Information Commissioner's Office.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We have considered the role of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) during the design of the Data Use & Access Bill. This Bill modernises the ICO’s governance structure, introduces a new framework with a principal objective and duties to provide strategic direction to its data protection activities. The Bill increases transparency and accountability to Parliament, businesses and the public; and supports the public with strengthened complaints procedures and enforcement powers. We hope it will soon be enacted.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people on legacy Employment and Support Allowance receive the same inflation increase as people on other benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is a single benefit with two strands, contribution-based ESA, ESA C (which was rebadged New Style ESA (NS ESA)), and income-related ESA (ESA IR).
Legacy ESA is made up of a contributory (ESA C) and income-related strand (ESA IR).
New claims to legacy ESA (i.e. ESA C and ESA IR) are no longer available. Only new claims to NS ESA can be made.
The Secretary of State has an annual Statutory duty to conduct a review of benefits and State pension rates to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices and/or earnings. The review will take place in the Autumn as is the convention.
The Pathways to Work Green Paper included proposals for the future rates of Employment and Support Allowance.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the risks of historic local authority accounts that auditors disclaim and have not fully checked.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government has implemented a number of measures to improve auditing arrangements for local bodies, including the introduction of statutory backstop dates for the publication of audited accounts. Two of these dates have now passed. As a result, the vast majority of local bodies have published audited accounts for financial years up to and including 2023/24.
Where disclaimed opinions are issued as a result of backstops, auditors’ statutory duties – including value for money reporting, making statutory recommendations, and issuing public interest reports – remain a high priority. The government recently announced £49 million in funding to support bodies impacted by the backstop measures.
In December 2024, the government set out its strategy to overhaul local audit. The strategy set out proposals to simplify and streamline the system including a clear purpose for local audit and its users, the establishment of the Local Audit Office, proposals for simplified and proportionate financial reporting, improvements to the system’s capacity and capability, and ways to build strong relationships between local bodies and auditors. The government also published a response to its consultation in April 2025, which outlined 16 further commitments to reform the system including simplifying financial reporting requirements and increasing capacity to avoid reliance on a small number of auditors.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to improve future auditing arrangements for local authorities.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government has implemented a number of measures to improve auditing arrangements for local bodies, including the introduction of statutory backstop dates for the publication of audited accounts. Two of these dates have now passed. As a result, the vast majority of local bodies have published audited accounts for financial years up to and including 2023/24.
Where disclaimed opinions are issued as a result of backstops, auditors’ statutory duties – including value for money reporting, making statutory recommendations, and issuing public interest reports – remain a high priority. The government recently announced £49 million in funding to support bodies impacted by the backstop measures.
In December 2024, the government set out its strategy to overhaul local audit. The strategy set out proposals to simplify and streamline the system including a clear purpose for local audit and its users, the establishment of the Local Audit Office, proposals for simplified and proportionate financial reporting, improvements to the system’s capacity and capability, and ways to build strong relationships between local bodies and auditors. The government also published a response to its consultation in April 2025, which outlined 16 further commitments to reform the system including simplifying financial reporting requirements and increasing capacity to avoid reliance on a small number of auditors.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Safety Valve agreement on the provision of special educational needs support in Surrey.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department is continuing to work with Surrey to deliver their safety valve plan, including providing ongoing support from both expert advisers. We regularly review the implementation of all safety valve agreements through our monitoring process, which takes place 3 times a year. Safety valve agreements were only made if both the local authority and the department’s expert special educational needs and disabilities advisers agreed that the proposals would give children and young people a better service and comply with the local authority’s statutory obligations.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether receipt of compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme impacts entitlement to benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Means tested benefits do not provide a specific disregard for a Criminal Injuries Compensation payment. However, it is very likely, due to the nature of these payments, that they will be regarded as a payment for personal injury and disregarded for 12 months from when the payment is received, or indefinitely if the payment is held in trust.
For Pension Credit, the treatment is similar with the main difference being that there is no requirement for it to be held in a trust.