James McMurdock MP: written questions 2026

3310 published records · newest first.

Written questions

Academic Freedom: SubversionDepartment for EducationTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2947More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New powers to protect vital free speech at universities, published on 20 April 2026, whether she has had discussions with the security services on ident
Answer: In February 2026, we hosted an event for university Vice Chancellors on foreign interference alongside my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Security, MI5 and cyber security services. At the event, we announced a new Academic Interference Reporting Ro...
Answered 16 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Academic Freedom: ComplaintsDepartment for EducationTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2946More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New powers to protect vital free speech at universities, published on 20 April 2026, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that students, staff
Answer: The Office for Students (OfS) will introduce its free speech complaints scheme on 1 September 2026, which will be available for higher education (HE) provider staff, non-student members and visiting speakers. HE students will, as now, be able to complain...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Academic Freedom: SubversionDepartment for EducationTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2945More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New powers to protect vital free speech at universities, published on 20 April 2026, what role the proposed free speech complaints scheme will play in t
Answer: The Office for Students’ free speech complaints scheme, open to higher education staff, non-student members and visiting speakers will come into force from 1 September, and will be an important route of redress for those who believe their lawful free spee...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Academic FreedomDepartment for EducationTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2944More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New powers to protect vital free speech at universities, published on 20 April 2026, what criteria will be used by the Office for Students to determine
Answer: The Office for Students (OfS) published regulatory guidance on higher education providers’ free speech duties in June last year. On 23 April, the OfS published an update on the complaints scheme and conditions of registration, encouraging providers to rev...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Academic FreedomDepartment for EducationTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2943More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New powers to protect vital free speech at universities, published on 20 April 2026, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of free speech
Answer: On Monday 20 April, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced she would make commencement regulations by June to bring into force the Office for Students’ (OfS) free speech complaints scheme for staff, external speakers and non-...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Academic Freedom: SubversionDepartment for EducationTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2942More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New powers to protect vital free speech at universities, published on 20 April 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of external ac
Answer: Any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK or to coerce universities to limit free speech and academic freedoms, will not be tolerated. Foreign interference concerns have been raised in relation to ...
Answered 1 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Academic Freedom: FinesDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2554More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New powers to protect vital free speech at universities, published on 20 April 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the level o
Answer: The government, through regulations, sets the parameters within which the Office for Students (OfS) can impose monetary penalties on registered providers. The OfS is an independent regulator, responsible for the regulatory decisions it makes, including th...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Academic Freedom: SubversionDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2553More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New powers to protect vital free speech at universities, published on 20 April 2026, what assessment she has made of trends in the role of student socie
Answer: Any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK or to coerce universities to limit free speech and academic freedoms, will not be tolerated. Foreign interference concerns have been raised in relation to ...
Answered 1 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Academic Freedom: SubversionDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2552More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New powers to protect vital free speech at universities, published on 20 April 2026, what information her Department holds on the countries most frequen
Answer: Any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK or to coerce universities to limit free speech and academic freedoms, will not be tolerated. Foreign interference concerns have been raised in relation to ...
Answered 1 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Academic Freedom: SubversionDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2551More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New powers to protect vital free speech at universities, published on 20 April 2026, what data her Department holds on incidents of foreign interference
Answer: Any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK or to coerce universities to limit free speech and academic freedoms, will not be tolerated. Foreign interference concerns have been raised in relation to ...
Answered 1 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
English Language and Mathematics: GCSEDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2550More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is providing additional support to schools and colleges in areas where an higher than average proportion of students do not achieve a grade 4 in GCSE (a) English and (b) Maths.
Answer: The department has committed £27.7 million this financial year to raise reading standards, including a statutory reading check for pupils in year 8 to help schools provide targeted support. In 2025/26, the English Hubs programme launched a pilot to suppor...
Answered 28 May 2026
Original Parliament record
Students: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2549More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support students at risk of dropping out due to changes in funding eligibility.
Answer: As part of our work to protect public money in higher education (HE), we take swift and proportionate action to identify fraud and error in the student finance system.Where fraud or error has been identified, students may be required to repay the funding ...
Answered 3 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
NHS: BuildingsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2548More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to work with estate and infrastructure experts on the planning and delivery of NHS facilities.
Answer: Local National Health Service organisations are responsible for managing their estates and strategic infrastructure planning and acquiring and developing new facilities. This includes engaging appropriate estates and infrastructure experts.On a national l...
Answered 1 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
NHS: BuildingsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2547More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to standardise design approaches for new and refurbished NHS buildings.
Answer: Local National Health Service organisations are responsible for managing their estates and strategic infrastructure planning, including acquiring and developing new facilities.National guidance is provided to the NHS on how to best maintain their existing...
Answered 1 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
NHS: BuildingsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2546More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the level of utilisation across the NHS estate.
Answer: Data on the utilisation of the National Health Service estate is collected and published annually through the Estates Returns Information Collection. The latest data from 2024/25 is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-informati...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
NHS: BuildingsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2545More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential to increase utilisation of the existing NHS estate.
Answer: Data on the utilisation of the National Health Service estate is collected and published annually through the Estates Returns Information Collection. The latest data from 2024/25 is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-informati...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Students: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2511More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that students are not disadvantaged by errors made in the initial approval of student finance.
Answer: As part of our work to protect public money in higher education (HE), we take swift and proportionate action to identify fraud and error in the student finance system.Where fraud or error has been identified, students may be required to repay the funding ...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Students: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2510More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that cases of retrospective withdrawal of student finance do not occur in future.
Answer: As part of our work to protect public money in higher education (HE), we take swift and proportionate action to identify fraud and error in the student finance system.Where fraud or error has been identified, students may be required to repay the funding ...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Students: LoansDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2509More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent guidance her Department has issued to education providers on the eligibility of students to receive maintenance loans on courses.
Answer: As part of our work to protect public money in higher education (HE), we take swift and proportionate action to identify fraud and error in the student finance system.Where fraud or error has been identified, students may be required to repay the funding ...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Students: Part-time EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2508More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students will be required to repay (a) maintenance loans and (b) grants following the reclassification of their courses as distance learning.
Answer: As of 20 May 2026, the department is aware of 24,689 students that have been affected by the issue of higher education providers incorrectly classifying weekend-only courses on the Student Loans Company’s (SLC) course management system. The number of affe...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Students: Part-time EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2507More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of students who will withdraw from their courses as a result of losing access to maintenance loans and grants.
Answer: As part of our work to protect public money in higher education (HE), we take swift and proportionate action to identify fraud and error in the student finance system.Where fraud or error has been identified, students may be required to repay the funding ...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Students: Part-time EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2506More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students had their (a) maintenance loans and (b) grants withdrawn due to being reclassified as distance learners in the most recent 12-month period for which data are available.
Answer: As part of our work to protect public money in higher education (HE), we take swift and proportionate action to identify fraud and error in the student finance system.Where fraud or error has been identified, students may be required to repay the funding ...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Students: Part-time EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2505More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students were affected by the withdrawal of (a) maintenance loans and (b) grants linked to (i) weekend and (ii) flexible learning courses.
Answer: As of 20 May 2026, the department is aware of 24,689 students that have been affected by the issue of higher education providers incorrectly classifying weekend-only courses on the Student Loans Company’s (SLC) course management system. The number of affe...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
Mode Shift Revenue Support SchemeDepartment for TransportTabled 18 May 2026WithdrawnUIN 2504More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Guide to the Mode Shift Revenue Support Scheme, published in January 2026, whether she has conducted analysis of barriers to entry for small and medium-sized enterprises applying to that s
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament record
Mode Shift Revenue Support SchemeDepartment for TransportTabled 18 May 2026WithdrawnUIN 2503More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Guide to the Mode Shift Revenue Support (MSRS) Scheme published in January 2026, whether she has made an assessment of the long-term financial sustainability of freight flows supported by
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament record

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