Every parliamentary written question tabled by Ben Maguire this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–20 of 560 · this parliament
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of reports of the (a) torture, (b) mistreatment, and (c) denial of adequate medical care, of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli custody.
Awaiting answer.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has made representations to the Government of Israel on the (a) detention, (b) welfare, and (c) legal status of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, including reports that he has been held without charge and subjected to torture and medical neglect.
Awaiting answer.
What steps her Department is taking to ensure that banking misconduct compensation schemes provide independent mechanisms for reviewing cases where applicants were wrongly excluded from previous redress processes.
Awaiting answer.
Media and Sport, what support her Department is giving to the live comedy industry.
Awaiting answer.
Whether there will be a threshold for population size for inclusion in the National Active Travel Network.
The National Active Travel Network will bring together both urban and rural networks, such as National Cycling Network, linking towns and villages across England into a single national plan. Local authorities are responsible for deciding how to plan their...
Whether access to blue space will be considered in including routes in the National Active Travel Network.
The National Active Travel Network will bring together both urban and rural networks, such as National Cycling Network, linking towns and villages across England into a single national plan. Local authorities are responsible for deciding how to plan their...
Whether her department plans for the proposed National Active Travel Network to connect small centres of population.
The National Active Travel Network will bring together both urban and rural networks, such as National Cycling Network, linking towns and villages across England into a single national plan. Local authorities are responsible for deciding how to plan their...
What steps his Department is taking to advance the UK's preparedness in relation to modern drone warfare.
Within the UK, there is now a thriving drones, counter-drones and autonomous systems ecosystem which enables spiral development, flexibility and modularity. This demonstrates how the UK is taking several steps to employ modern drone technologies in offens...
When his Department will publish a response to the working paper on community benefits and shared ownership for low carbon energy infrastructure.
We are in the process of reviewing responses and intend to publish a response setting out our next steps in due course.
Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of adding asthma to the list of long-term medical conditions that are exempt from prescription charges.
There are no current plans to review the list of prescription charge exemptions or the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate. The Government has not specifically assessed the impact on patient health ...
What assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing transitional financial support for people to train as paramedics under the Plan 2 university-only model, in the context of the availability of
There are different routes to becoming a paramedic, including traditional full-time university study and apprenticeship pathways. Students undertaking traditional higher education routes to becoming a paramedic, such as on their first degree-level course ...
Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications (a) her department has received to the Slurry Infrastructure Grant Scheme Rounds 1 and 2; (b) have been approved to progress; (c) have been submitted, and; (d) have had grant funding agreements offered.
As of 24 April, the Rural Payments Agency has received: 2,087 applications received (a) to the Slurry Infrastructure Grant Scheme Rounds 1 and 2 – Stage 1 1,175 have been approved (b) to progress to Stage 2 441 applications submitted (c) to the 2nd stage Once these checks are passed the applicant is then invited to submit a Full Application – ‘Stage Three’. 259 Full Applications received to date of which 186 have had (d) grant funding agreements offered.
Food and Rural Affairs, what measures she is taking to support farmers with their applications to the Slurry Infrastructure Grant Scheme.
The Slurry Infrastructure Grant Scheme is supported through a range of measures provided by Defra and the Rural Payments Agency. These include cross-department working with Environment Agency (EA) colleagues to address any issues and proactively working with customers to enable the grant funding agreement to be offered. Further contact is due to commence with all customers who have outstanding applications, to provide an update on progress and discuss any concerns they may have.
Food and Rural Affairs, when she intends to launch the third round of the Slurry Infrastructure Grant Scheme.
The Slurry Infrastructure Grant first opened in 2022 and has run for two rounds. The grant supports farmers to build 6-month slurry storage and to cover stores with impermeable covers to reduce ammonia emissions. The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund 2026 grant supports farmers, growers, foresters and contractors to buy equipment and technology that improves productivity, animal health and welfare, and slurry management. Through the Environmental Improvement Plan, published last year, the Government has committed to work with stakeholders to reduce water pollution and ammonia emissions from farming through streamlined regulation and develop detailed proposals on the extension of environmental permitting for dairy and intensive beef farms for consultation. Improved slurry infrastructure, with appropriate capacity and emission reducing features like covers, is one of the mitigation measures that will be considered as we develop these regulatory proposals, as well as the potential for further financial support.
What assessment his Department has made of (a) the prevalence of respiratory disease and (b) the number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in North Cornwall constituency compared with national averages.
Data is available for emergency finished admission episodes (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’. The following table shows the number of FAEs where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’ for North Cornwall and England, for activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector, for 2024/25 and provisionally for 2025/26:Westminster Parliamentary Constituency of Residence2024/25 (August 2024 to March 2025)2025/26 (April 2025 to February 2026)North Cornwall810945England612,876676,170Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England. Available data on trends in respiratory conditions can be found on the Department’s Fingertips dataset. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data is available at regional, county, unitary authority, and integrated care board level. Information for Cornwall is available at the following link:https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/Respiratory#page/1/gid/1/pat/15/ati/502/are/E06000052/iid/90933/age/314/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1
If she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the processing of VAT repayments to businesses.
Between 1 June to 30 November 2025, HMRC processed around 1.4 million VAT repayment returns, with around 93% paid promptly, within 5 days. As part of its responsibilities for the collection and management of the VAT system, HMRC will select cases where necessary to undertake further enquiries to verify that the repayment is due and correct. These checks are treated as a high priority, and HMRC seeks to resolve any checks as quickly as possible while minimising involvement or inconvenience for businesses.
How many business VAT repayment claims have been outstanding for more than 30 days as of 20/04/2026.
HMRC does not publish figures on VAT repayment claims that are outstanding for more than 30 days or any specific time period, as this could risk providing insight into repayment controls and may be exploited for fraudulent purposes. Such figures would also not reflect the dynamic nature of VAT repayment processing, with cases opening, progressing and resolving on a daily basis.
What steps HMRC is taking to help ensure that businesses awaiting VAT repayment(s) receive their funds within an adequate timeframe.
HMRC aims to ensure that businesses receive VAT repayments promptly by applying automated checks when returns are received and undertaking further enquiries only where required. This approach balances the need for timely repayment with appropriate safeguards. HMRC keeps these processes under regular review and actively seeks opportunities to increase efficiency, and cases are handled as a priority to minimise delay and inconvenience for businesses
Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Housing Ombudsman Service's (a) funding, (b) staffing levels and (c) case management capacity for its caseload and adherence to published timescales.
The Housing Ombudsman is an independent, impartial and free service for social housing residents.My Department remains committed to ensuring it meets its strategic objectives and is delivering value for money.Since 2021 to this year, demand for the Housing Ombudsman’s services will have increased by 500%. We have been working closely with the Ombudsman to ensure it has the resources and capacity need to meet this increasing demand.Following consultation, the Housing Ombudsman published its 2026-27 Business Plan on 15 April. Both the final Business Plan and a consultation response summary can be found on the Housing Ombudsman’s website here.Fees will be increased to £9.64 per home in 2026-27 to deal with ongoing increases in demand. This increase will support the Ombudsman in meeting its KPIs on determination times (90% of high risk cases resolved within four months and 50% of other cases resolved in six months) and will help to reduce the number of their older cases.The Business Plan also makes clear that in 2026-27 the Housing Ombudsman will undertake a discovery exercise on alternative fee models that recognise positive complaint handling to potentially replace the per home charge and will work with my Department to support an earlier consultation.
Whether the Government is working with regulators and professional bodies to strengthen endometriosis education.
The Government acknowledges the importance of ensuring healthcare professionals are adequately trained and educated on women’s health conditions, including endometriosis, and we have taken action to address this.The standard of undergraduate medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), the independent regulator of the medical profession, which set the outcomes and standards expected at undergraduate level. Medical schools are responsible for their curricula. The delivery of these undergraduate curricula must meet the standards set by the GMC, who then monitor and check to make sure that these standards are maintained.The curriculum for specialty training is set by individual royal colleges and faculties. The GMC approves curricula and assessment systems for each training programme. Curricula emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is responsible for publishing the postgraduate curriculum for general practitioners (GPs) and ensuring it remains up to date. The RCGP curriculum covers endometriosis as part of its gynaecology and breast health module.GPs are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. The RCGP has worked with partners, including Endometriosis UK, to develop educational resources relating to endometriosis to support GPs and other healthcare professionals to deliver the best possible care for women, based on the latest evidence.