Patrick Spencer MP: written questions
75 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Parental Leave and Parental PayDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 4 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 97416More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending neonatal care pay and leave to parents of all critically ill children under 16.
Answer: The Department for Business and Trade recognises the heartbreaking situation faced by parents of seriously ill children. We will consult on a leave and pay entitlement for parents in this situation in 2026. Further detail is included in the terms of refer...
Answered 16 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordGeneral Practitioners: ResignationsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 28 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 95562More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs have left NHS practice since July 2024.
Answer: Overall, between July 2024 and October 2025, the number of fully qualified, full-time equivalent (FTE) general practitioners (GPs) increased by 1,687.In the period covering September 2024 to September 2025, the latest period for which the data is availabl...
Answered 5 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordPrimary Care: Digital TechnologyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 25 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 94393More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that digital exclusion is not a barrier to accessing primary care.
Answer: Digital technology is being used to help health and care professionals communicate better and enable people to access the care they need quickly and easily, when it suits them.Since 1 October, general practices (GPs) have been required to keep their onlin...
Answered 1 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordFarms: Government AssistanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 24 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 94101More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help retain farm businesses.
Answer: We have allocated £11.8 billion this parliament to sustainable farming and food production, targeting public money where it delivers most value: actions that support nature to produce good food and grants for cutting-edge technology. We are making supply ...
Answered 4 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPatients: Per Capita CostsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 24 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 94100More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the per patient funding was in (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26 for (i) Central Suffolk and North Ipswich ICB and (ii) England.
Answer: The total recurrent revenue allocation per head figures for the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB), as well as for England overall, can be found from the ICB allocations published on the NHS England website. The column titled ‘Re...
Answered 1 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordGeneral Practitioners: Rural Areas and Urban AreasDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 93537More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of patients have waited more than 21 days for a GP practice appointment in (a) rural and (b) urban areas in 2025.
Answer: NHS England publishes monthly data on general practice appointments (GPAD), including the approximate length of time between appointments being booked and taking place, although this is not a proxy for “waiting times”. There are a number of factors which ...
Answered 2 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: WaterDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 21 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 93536More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to (a) reopen the water management grant for farmers and (b) introduce new support to improve farm productivity through more efficient use of water and secure water s
Answer: The Water Management Grant is designed to help improve farm productivity and water resilience through supporting investment in irrigation infrastructure and construction of reservoirs on-farm. Our last round, worth up to £6 million, closed to new applicat...
Answered 1 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordCountryside Stewardship SchemeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 20 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 93274More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Countryside Stewardship agreements will end in each of the next six months.
Answer: There are almost 5,820 Countryside Stewardship (CS) Agreements that are due to expire within the next six months (November 25 – April 26). This figure covers all Countryside Stewardship Agri-environment schemes, including Mid-Tier, Higher-Tier, Capital Ag...
Answered 4 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordGeneral Practitioners: FinanceDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 93273More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the GP funding formula review plans to consider the challenges of providing primary care services in rural areas.
Answer: The review of the general practice funding formula, the Carr-Hill formula, is being conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The purpose of the review is to ensure that funding for general practice is distributed equitably and is ...
Answered 26 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 19 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 92714More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much money has been allocated to the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund in 2025, 2026 and 2027.
Answer: £46.7 million was allocated to the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund in 2025. Funding for future years is yet to be decided and is subject to departmental business planning.
Answered 1 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Land UseDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 92368More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of land have been taken out of food production in the last year.
Answer: Agricultural land can be taken out of human food production for a variety of reasons, including for agricultural purposes (for example when it’s used to produce animal feed, as bare fallow within the annual crop rotations or for temporary crops such as le...
Answered 25 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordAgricultureDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91884More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the 2025 harvest on (a) farm profitability and (b) business viability.
Answer: We regularly publish statistics on farm incomes and profitability. The latest figures on Farm Business Income covering the 2024/25 year were published on 20 November 2025: Farm business income - GOV.UK.
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordProof of Identity: Digital TechnologyDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80722More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure the inclusion of people (a) in rural areas and (b) with poor connectivity in the proposed digital ID scheme.
Answer: The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, setting out the proposed approach in more detail and seeking views on this. This will include the proposed approach to estimating and monitoring the costs invol...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordProof of Identity: Digital TechnologyDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80721More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to ensure that lessons learned from previous IT projects will be considered in the development of the proposed digital ID scheme.
Answer: The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, setting out the proposed approach in more detail and seeking views on this. This will include the proposed approach to estimating and monitoring the costs invol...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordProof of Identity: Digital TechnologyDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80720More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help ensure the inclusion of people living in (a) rural areas and (b) with poor internet connectivity in the proposed digital ID scheme.
Answer: The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, setting out the proposed approach in more detail and seeking views on this. This will include the proposed approach to estimating and monitoring the costs invol...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordProof of Identity: Digital TechnologyDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80719More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed Digital ID scheme on data security.
Answer: The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, setting out the proposed approach in more detail and seeking views on this. This will include the proposed approach to estimating and monitoring the costs invol...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordProof of Identity: Digital TechnologyDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80718More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an estimate of the potential cost of the implementation of a digital ID system.
Answer: The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, setting out the proposed approach in more detail and seeking views on this. This will include the proposed approach to estimating and monitoring the costs invol...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: SuffolkHome OfficeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80717More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many failed asylum seekers are residing in Suffolk.
Answer: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of asylum seekers in receipt of support, by support type and by local authority, is published in table Asy_D11 of the ‘Asylum support det...
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordUndocumented Migrants: CostsHome OfficeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80716More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the estimated annual cost of providing (a) healthcare, (b) education, and (a) welfare support to illegal migrants in (i) the UK and (b) in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency.
Answer: The Home Office does not hold the information sought in these questions at the level of granularity requested.Collating and verifying that information for the purposes of answering these questions could only be done at disproportionate cost and would also...
Answered 21 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: SuffolkHome OfficeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80715More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of unresolved asylum claims on local (a) councils and (b) services in Suffolk; and what additional resources she is providing to Suffolk Council to
Answer: The Home Office continues to work closely with local authorities to manage all the pressures arising from the provision of asylum accommodation including the impact on wider local authority obligations and plans.The Home Office has delivered various grant...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylumHome OfficeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80714More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many outstanding asylum claims there are; and what the average time taken is for those claims to reach a final decision.
Answer: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘asylum detailed datasets’ as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.Data on the number of claims awaiting an initial decision, broken down by duration, is published in table Asy_D03. ...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordUndocumented Migrants: DeportationHome OfficeTabled 16 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77950More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list the countries with which the Government is conducting negotiations for the return of illegal migrants. started.
Answer: Listing the countries with which the Government is conducting negotiations relating to the return of illegal migrants, either to their country of origin or a country through which they travelled to the UK, would be unhelpful in fostering and building on r...
Answered 13 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordUndocumented MigrantsHome OfficeTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77390More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her priorities are to tackle illegal immigration; and how these differ from her immediate predecessor.
Answer: As the Home Secretary has set out, she will do whatever it takes to secure our borders; working to restore order to the asylum system, ensuring that the rules are properly respected and enforced, and working upstream to tackle those facilitating illegal m...
Answered 13 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: HousingHome OfficeTabled 12 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76917More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the cost of housing asylum seekers in (a) hotels, (b) private rental accommodation and (c) council housing in each of the last five financial years.
Answer: The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.
Answered 17 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUndocumented Migrants: English ChannelHome OfficeTabled 12 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76916More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of small boat crossings since 4 July 2024.
Answer: The Border Security Command was established to provide strategic leadership in tackling small boats, ensuring our approach is informed by a single and shared understanding of the threat through the integrated use of intelligence, assessments, data and evi...
Answered 17 Sept 2025
Original Parliament record
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