Every parliamentary written question tabled by Alison Griffiths this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 41–60 of 195 · this parliament
Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has considered introducing year-round bathing water quality monitoring at designated bathing waters.
The Environment Agency monitors bathing waters during the annual bathing water season which runs from 15 May-30 September. In November 2025 the Government amended the Bathing Water Regulations (2013) to provide the opportunity for flexible, site‑specific ...
Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to review how bathing water quality information and sewage discharge data are communicated to the public in real time.
The Government is committed to improving the transparency and accessibility of data. Water companies must publish data on storm overflow discharges within one hour of discharges beginning. Water companies will provide equivalent coverage for 50% of emerge...
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the current frequency of bathing water testing at designated bathing sites in West Sussex.
The bathing water regulations require a minimum of monthly sampling during the bathing season. The Environment Agency exceeds this requirement by sampling all designated bathing waters at least fortnightly, with more frequent sampling undertaken where app...
Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with Southern Water on improving bathing water quality at coastal sites in West Sussex.
Recent discussions by Defra and its Arms Length Bodies with Southern Water have focused on improving bathing water quality at priority coastal sites in West Sussex, particularly those classified as ‘poor’ or ‘at risk’. The Environment Agency, Southern Wat...
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the current four-year rolling bathing water classification model.
Bathing water classifications are based on multiple years of monitoring data to provide a robust and reliable assessment of water quality. This approach for annual classifications helps smooth short-term variability in water quality and supports the ident...
Whether schemes supported through the Structures Fund are required to commence by a fixed deadline.
There is no specified date for the commencement of schemes funded through the Structures Fund. However, the Department intends for all funded schemes to be completed and reopened to traffic by 31 March 2030.The Department will assess proposed schemes in a...
Whether her Department permits local highway authorities to seek alternative funding or delivery mechanisms for critical bridge infrastructure projects where concurrent delivery through the Structures Fund woul
Local highway authorities are not required to utilise the Structures Fund for bridge infrastructure schemes. The Fund is only for those structures where repair or replacement is unaffordable from the local highway authority’s existing budgets and which re...
Whether local highway authorities may propose phased or deferred delivery timetables for proposed Structures Fund schemes where concurrent strategic infrastructure works would otherwise create significant cumul
There is no specified date for the commencement of schemes funded through the Structures Fund. However, the Department intends for all funded schemes to be completed and reopened to traffic by 31 March 2030.The Department will assess proposed schemes in a...
Whether her Department will assess the interaction of proposed Structures Fund schemes with existing Major Road Network and National Highways programmes affecting the same transport corridor.
There is no specified date for the commencement of schemes funded through the Structures Fund. However, the Department intends for all funded schemes to be completed and reopened to traffic by 31 March 2030.The Department will assess proposed schemes in a...
Whether the assessment of Structures Fund bids includes consideration of cumulative traffic impacts, emergency diversion routes, and wider network resilience during concurrent infrastructure works.
There is no specified date for the commencement of schemes funded through the Structures Fund. However, the Department intends for all funded schemes to be completed and reopened to traffic by 31 March 2030.The Department will assess proposed schemes in a...
Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of a proposed reduction in community inpatient capacity at Zachary Merton Hospital on the level of (a) the use of virtual wards, (b) care at home, and (c) provision at other community hospital sites in West Sussex.
The Department has not received a notification under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 about changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital and has not undertaken an assessment of potential impacts.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been asked by the Hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton to intervene in this matter and will consider and respond to that request in due course.
Pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2026 to Question 117219 on NHS, whether changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital had been notified to his Department under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006.
The Department has not received a notification under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 about changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital and has not undertaken an assessment of potential impacts.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been asked by the Hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton to intervene in this matter and will consider and respond to that request in due course.
Further to the Answer of 13 March 2026 to Question 117218 on NHS, whether his Department assessed the potential merits of exercising the call-in power under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 for proposed changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital.
The Department has not received a notification under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 about changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital and has not undertaken an assessment of potential impacts.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been asked by the Hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton to intervene in this matter and will consider and respond to that request in due course.
What was the average time between diagnosis and treatment for heart valve disease in (a) England and (b) West Sussex in the last five years; and whether he plans to set maximum recommended timeframes on this matter.
The National Health Service is continuing to work to reduce waiting times for elective care as part of the Government's commitment to return to the NHS Constitution standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks. The information requested on waiting times is not held in the format requested. Between January and December 2025, 73.3% of completed cardiothoracic surgery, for instance coronary artery bypass grafts, valve replacements, both aortic and mitral, lung cancer surgery, such as lobectomies, and aortic aneurysm repairs, referral to treatment pathways with a known clock start were completed within 18 weeks. This excludes 134 completed pathways with an unknown clock start date. In 2024/25, NHS England provided funding for 13 pathway improvement projects to have a positive impact on reducing the time for referral to treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic left sided valvular disease.
What was the average time between first presentation with symptoms and confirmed diagnosis of heart valve disease in (a) England and (b) West Sussex in the last five years.
The National Health Service is continuing to work to reduce waiting times for elective care as part of the Government's commitment to return to the NHS Constitution standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks. The information requested on waiting times is not held in the format requested. Between January and December 2025, 73.3% of completed cardiothoracic surgery, for instance coronary artery bypass grafts, valve replacements, both aortic and mitral, lung cancer surgery, such as lobectomies, and aortic aneurysm repairs, referral to treatment pathways with a known clock start were completed within 18 weeks. This excludes 134 completed pathways with an unknown clock start date. In 2024/25, NHS England provided funding for 13 pathway improvement projects to have a positive impact on reducing the time for referral to treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic left sided valvular disease.
What proportion of heart valve disease cases were diagnosed at an advanced stage in (a) England and (b) West Sussex; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the role of primary care in achieving early detection.
The National Health Service is continuing to work to reduce waiting times for elective care as part of the Government's commitment to return to the NHS Constitution standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks. The information requested on waiting times is not held in the format requested. Between January and December 2025, 73.3% of completed cardiothoracic surgery, for instance coronary artery bypass grafts, valve replacements, both aortic and mitral, lung cancer surgery, such as lobectomies, and aortic aneurysm repairs, referral to treatment pathways with a known clock start were completed within 18 weeks. This excludes 134 completed pathways with an unknown clock start date. In 2024/25, NHS England provided funding for 13 pathway improvement projects to have a positive impact on reducing the time for referral to treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic left sided valvular disease.
What is the average waiting time for diagnostic tests, including echocardiograms, for suspected heart valve disease in (a) England and (b) NHS trusts serving West Sussex for which the latest data is available.
An echocardiogram is the primary diagnostic test for suspected heart valve disease. Waiting times for echocardiograms are published in the diagnostics waiting times dataset (DM01) at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/Data is not available in DM01 for other tests used in the diagnostic pathway, for example electrocardiograms, chest X-rays, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging/computed tomography scans, and/or stress tests.As of the end of February 2026, the latest available data, the DM01 data shows that the median time patients were waiting for an echocardiogram in England was 3.2 weeks. The median time for patients waiting for an echocardiogram at the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust was 2.2 weeks.
Whether he has made an assessment of the variation in diagnosis times and access to treatment for heart valve disease by (a) region and (b) demographic group in England and West Sussex.
The Department recognises that variation in the provision of heart valve disease (HVD) services exists across England is taking action to address this.NHS England is strengthening consistency in the diagnosis and treatment to reduce variation in HVD diagnosis, including in West Sussex. This included echocardiography workforce initiatives to increase diagnostic capacity for HVD referrals for 2024/25. In 2025, the Getting It Right First Time programme published new and revised cardiology pathways to reduce delays and guide clinicians through diagnostic steps and treatment planning, and enhanced recovery protocols for Aortic Stenosis (advanced HVD).In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the British Heart Foundation are partnering for the £50m Inequalities, which will fund a five-year consortium to generate research focused on tackling inequalities in ethnic minorities, deprived communities and unequal cardiovascular disease outcomes between women and men. More information is available at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-50m-funding-to-tackle-inequalities-cardiovascular-disease
Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the number of private parking charge notices issued annually in England; and what assessment he has made of trends in those figures over the last five years.
The government uses publicly available DVLA Keeper at Data of Event Enquiry (KADOE) data as a proxy for the number of private parking charges issued annually. The following requests were made for car park management purposes. YearKADOE Requests (M)2018/196,905,3592019/208,557,0852020/214,507,3082021/228,564,7622022/2311,052,9862023/2412,772,3392024/2514,381,119
Communities and Local Government, what powers are available to local authorities to intervene where private parking arrangements are having a demonstrable negative impact on local businesses, including through compulsory purchase or other mechanisms.
No direct assessment has been made of the potential impact of private parking enforcement practices on footfall and consumer confidence in local high streets. However, the government is aware of motorist frustrations, and in accordance with the Private Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, intends to publish a Code which raises standard across the industry and better protects and supports motorists in autumn 2026. Under the Traffic Management Act 2004, local authorities must ensure that their parking policies are proportionate and support town centre prosperity. Local authorities have the power to compulsorily purchase land for provision of parking spaces under section 40 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. Local authorities also have compulsory purchase powers under the Town and County Planning Act 1990 to acquire land used for private parking to facilitate development or improvements in their areas.Compulsory purchase powers may be used where efforts to acquire the land by negotiations have failed and there is a compelling case in the public interest. More generally, local authorities have limited direct powers to intervene in private parking arrangements, and do not have powers to regulate private parking enforcement practices or charges. Private operators are self-regulated through membership of the accredited trade associations (the British Parking Associations or the International Parking Community).