Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 73379 on Armed Forces: Vehicles, if his Department will centrally record data on the length of time that military assets are not (a) deployed and (b) operational.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Yes. The British Army uses an application called JAMES (Joint Asset Management and Engineering Solutions) to centrally track and manage all equipment.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the suspension of new applications for refugee family reunion on children seeking to reunite with family members.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The suspension of the refugee family reunion route is temporary while the Government undertakes a full review and reform of the current family rules to ensure we have a fair and properly balanced system. In the meantime, those with protection status can use other family routes to sponsor a partner and child to come to the UK. Information relating these changes are published on gov.uk at Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC 1298, 4 September 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will publish an impact assessment on suspending new applications under the refugee family reunion route.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The suspension of the refugee family reunion route is temporary while the Government undertakes a full review and reform of the current family rules to ensure we have a fair and properly balanced system. In the meantime, those with protection status can use other family routes to sponsor a partner and child to come to the UK. Information relating these changes are published on gov.uk at Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC 1298, 4 September 2025 - GOV.UK.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of permanently linking local housing allowance rates to the bottom 30th percentile of local private rents to help ensure (a) affordable housing support and (b) a reduction in levels of child poverty.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
My department is working closely with MHCLG as they develop the Long-Term Housing Strategy and through the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping.
The review of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates considers a range of factors, including impact of the rental market and decisions on LHA will be taken in the context of achieving the Government’s priorities and goals within this challenging fiscal environment.
LHA was increased to the 30th percentile of local market rents in April 2024 costing an additional £1.2 bn in 2024/25 and £7bn over 5 years. LHA is not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
Any future decisions on LHA policy will include consideration of market rents and impacts of LHA rates, including on poverty.
For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. DHPs can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.
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 information her Department holds on the cost to the public purse of funds spent by local authorities on public persuasion on local government reorganisation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s invitation to councils is clear on the importance of local engagement in the development of proposals. It is for councils to decide how to do this, including what resource is used, and the department does not hold information on this. Local authorities must have regard to the Recommended Code of Practice on Local Authority Publicity in coming to decisions on communications addressed to the public.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason he plans to reduce the allocation of NHS funding for mental health services in 2025-26.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are determined to transform NHS mental health services, with a shift to prevention and earlier intervention. Spending on mental health support will increase relative to 2024/25 and is forecast to amount to £15.6 billion in 2025/26. That is an increase of £688 million in cash terms.
All integrated care boards are expected to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS) in 2025/26 by increasing their investment in mental health services in line with their overall increase in funding for the year.
Mental health’s share of total National Health Service spend has fallen slightly by 0.07% in 2025/26 as a result of increased investment in other areas, for example in bringing down waiting lists for elective operations and additional investment in general practice. While elective and GP investment is not included in mental health funding, mental wellbeing is a biopsychosocial phenomenon and this funding is also likely to impact positively on mental health outcomes.
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 discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury on improving communication between HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions on cases involving voluntary National Insurance contributions paid while working abroad.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We work closely with HMRC on Voluntary National Insurance Contributions, sharing information where appropriate and proactively identifying ways we can improve our working practices.
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 her Department has considered the recommendation of the Children’s Commissioner’s report entitled Growing up in a low-income family: Children’s experiences, published in July 2025, to introduce a triple lock to uprate child-related benefits.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Poverty Taskforce, co-chaired by the Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, is committed to listening to the voices of children and families and embed the voices of these families directly into their work.
The Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s report, Growing up in a low-income family: Children‘s experiences, was commissioned by the Child Poverty Taskforce to provide evidence on children’s lived experience of poverty to support the development of an ambitious child poverty strategy. The findings of the report make for uncomfortable reading, but it is vital that we face up to the reality of what children in poverty are feeling so we can develop a Strategy that is fit for purpose and truly responds to the needs of children as they set out from their perspective. This valuable research forms part of the Taskforce’s ongoing wider work to ensure those voices are a central part of developing a strategy.
The Child Poverty Unit, based in the Cabinet Office, worked closely with the Office of the Children’s Commissioner on the report, including at research design and reporting stages, and the findings have already been considered as part of strategy development.
The Child Poverty Taskforce will publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. We are considering all available levers, to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy. The Taskforce is considering the report’s recommendations in advance of publication.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the level of landfill tax on (a) housebuilding costs, (b) housing affordability and (c) the delivery of new homes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government consulted on proposals for reform of landfill tax on 28 April following a call for evidence in 2021. The consultation closed on 28 July, and the government is currently considering responses.
The government is committed to delivering 1.5 million homes over 5 years as set out in the Plan for Change. We are considering the potential impacts of proposed Landfill Tax reforms on housing delivery and HM Treasury is working with the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government to assess these impacts.
The government will respond to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with the Treasury on the cost of a rollout of smart ticketing across newly nationalised routes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are overhauling the complex fares and ticketing system to make it easier for passengers to trust that they are buying the right ticket and getting the best fare. The rollout of smart ticketing solutions will play an important role in achieving this and improving the passenger experience.
We have committed to expanding Pay As You Go (PAYG) with contactless ticketing to further stations in the Southeast, with an additional 49 stations to be rolled out this year. Additionally, we have announced plans to launch PAYG in both Manchester and the West Midlands, expanding PAYG to more than 90 additional rail stations in 2026. Furthermore, digital pay as you go trials are part of plans to modernise our transport system. The first trial launched at the beginning of September in the East Midlands, with three remaining trials launching in Yorkshire from the end of September.
We are working closely with Train Operating Companies to deliver these projects, with public ownership and the move to Great British Rail (GBR) ensuring we are delivering for both passengers and taxpayers across the network.