Richard Foord MP: written questions
76 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Television: Data ProtectionDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 71511More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that internet-connected smart TVs do not monitor users’ activity without prior, informed consent; and if she will consider requiring such d
Answer: All organisations in the UK that process personal data must comply with the requirements of the UK GDPR, including ensuring any processing is lawful, fair and transparent. Providers of smart devices must consider how their products implement these princip...
Answered 8 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordGardens: ConservationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 71510More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will consider introducing a national scheme offering small grants to private individuals for the creation of climate-resilient, wildlife-friendly gardens.
Answer: We recognise the importance of individual action and the contribution that wildlife-friendly gardens can make to nature recovery and climate resilience. Our Land Use Consultation this year asked about approaches to support such outcomes in urban areas. We...
Answered 10 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordSelf-assessmentTreasuryTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69596More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment on (a) small business owners and (b) unrepresented taxpayers; and if she will consider delaying implementatio
Answer: HMRC are on track to implement Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax for those with income over £50,000 from April 2026, with a wide range of customers already testing the service in live running. MTD modernises the tax system and will help self-employe...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 10 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 66678More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the potential savings to the public purse of issuing the Winter Fuel Payment on a per-household basis.
Answer: No such estimate has been made. The Winter Fuel Payment is already a household payment paid on an individual basis. Winter Fuel Payments are typically £200 for a household with someone of State Pension age and £300 for a household with someone aged 80 or ...
Answered 16 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordImmunosuppression: DrugsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65462More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the reasons for the price differential between (a) ciclosporin and (b) other generic immunosuppressant drugs sold in UK pharmacies compared to the s
Answer: The Department has made no assessment of the reasons for the price difference between ciclosporin and other generic immunosuppressant drugs sold in United Kingdom pharmacies compared to other countries.The UK has well established mechanisms to control the...
Answered 16 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: Learning DisabilityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 12 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 59523More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will set out what (a) support and (b) safeguards are in place to assist adults with intellectual disabilities in completing benefit application forms; and whether information provided when applyi
Answer: The Department is committed to pursuing a just, equal and inclusive society, ensuring independence and control for all customers, including all disabled people and those with complex needs. This means we need to ensure that our customers have access to re...
Answered 23 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordMembers: CorrespondenceDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 3 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56910More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Minister of State for Care plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Honiton and Sidmouth dated 18 March 2025 on NHS dentistry in the South West.
Answer: I replied to the hon. Member on 25 June 2025.
Answered 26 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordChildminding: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 19 May 2025AnsweredUIN 53251More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will extend the deadline for the national Childminder Start-Up Grant scheme.
Answer: Childminders are a key part of the early years workforce. They offer high quality and flexible early education and care that can be tailored to the needs of parents and children. Attracting childminders to join the workforce and retaining them is of vital...
Answered 3 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordDriving Tests: DevonDepartment for TransportTabled 1 May 2025AnsweredUIN 49797More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of practical driving tests in rural Devon.
Answer: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. In recent months, DVSA has recruited new driving examiners into driving test centres ...
Answered 12 May 2025
Original Parliament recordWater Companies: Freedom of InformationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 24 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 47855More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of classifying water companies as public authorities for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Answer: Defra has not made an assessment.
Answered 1 May 2025
Original Parliament recordTeachers: TrainingDepartment for EducationTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45957More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to extend (a) bursaries and (b) other forms of financial support to trainee primary school teachers.
Answer: The bursaries the department offers are designed to incentivise more applications to initial teacher training (ITT) courses. We review bursaries each year before deciding the offer for trainees starting ITT the following academic year. In doing this, we t...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: ScotlandScotland OfficeTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 903753More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on support for the farming industry.
Answer: We have been working hard to positively reset relations. Earlier this month, I joined the Scottish Government’s Employment and Investment Minister, at the opening of a dairy innovation centre. This was the first project to be delivered through the joint B...
Answered 23 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: CostsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 3 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44167More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has considered changes to the benefits system to reflect increases in costs for (a) building and contents insurance, (b) home maintenance, (c) boiler servicing and (d) other homeowner-relate
Answer: The Department has not recently considered changes to the benefit system to reflect increases in costs for (a) building and contents insurance, (b) home maintenance, (c) boiler servicing and (d) other homeowner-related costs.
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordSouth West Water: InfrastructureDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43618More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding South West Water was required to contribute to infrastructure to meet (a) environmental and (b) water quality standards between 2013 and 2025.
Answer: Since 2015 Ofwat has set total expenditure allowances which allow for companies to meet their obligations under the environment and water quality programmes. Based on data provided by Ofwat, the figures for South West Water are set out below. South West W...
Answered 10 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment Tribunals Service: EnforcementDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 26 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 41534More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the level of financial penalty for employers who do not pay their ex-employee promptly after losing a tribunal.
Answer: The Government is committed to considering further improvements to the way that people can enforce their employment rights, including the role that Acas, Employment Tribunals and the Fair Work Agency play in ensuring workers’ have access to an effective j...
Answered 3 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordMaternity Services: DevonDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 26 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 41533More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department taking to ensure that maternity hospitals are adequately staffed to ensure high quality care for pregnant women in Devon.
Answer: The Government is committed to tackling the retention and recruitment challenges that face the National Health Service. Bringing in the staff we need will take time, but this is an absolute priority for the Government.NHS England is leading a range of ini...
Answered 3 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordCountryside Stewardship Scheme and Sustainable Farming Incentive: Common LandDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 20 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39980More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that common land can enter (a) Sustainable Farming Incentive and (b) Countryside Stewardship schemes.
Answer: We fully recognise the importance of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) for common land – and we strongly want the schemes to be available to commons as we move forward. We will be reforming the SFI offe...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordOrthopaedics: SurgeryDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39979More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of people requiring osseointegration transfemoral surgery in England.
Answer: Using the available data, we are unable to identify the number of people currently waiting for osseointegration transfemoral surgery in England.Regardless of why patients are waiting for treatment, the Government has committed to reducing waiting times an...
Answered 26 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordStreaming: SportsDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 20 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39978More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent streaming platforms from monopolising digital sports content.
Answer: The Government is keen to ensure that key sporting events remain available to watch for free in years to come.The Media Act 2024 includes several important reforms to the listed events regime. In particular, it closes the potential ‘streamer loophole’ tha...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordVeterans: Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland OfficeTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39143More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he plans to re-open judicial processes for British military veterans in new legacy legislation.
Answer: The Government is committed to repeal and replace the Northern Ireland (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 and to implement mechanisms that are human rights compliant and can command confidence across communities in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. We...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAdoption and Special Guardianship Support FundDepartment for EducationTabled 17 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38694More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to make the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund a permanent initiative.
Answer: An announcement on funding for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund will be made shortly. All future decisions will be considered as part of the next spending review.
Answered 29 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: SubsidiesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 5 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 35785More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to resolve technical issues within the Rural Payments Agency that prevent common landowners applying for the Sustainable Farming Incentive due to in
Answer: 68% of common land is currently taking part in our agri-environment schemes. Defra will continue to work with our delivery partners to ensure future schemes will be accessible to managers of common land.
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: WalesWales OfficeTabled 4 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 903068More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on support for the farming industry in Wales.
Answer: The Government is steadfastly committed to the farming sector. We protected the farm budget at its current level and allocated £337m to the Welsh Government at the Autumn Budget. The Welsh Government in their budget have used this to maintain the Basic Pa...
Answered 12 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordHousing: ConstructionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 25 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33612More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the planning system supports small-scale self-build developments.
Answer: The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes measures designed to strengthen support for self and custom build housing by promoting mixed tenure development, including plots for self and custom build, and strengthe...
Answered 5 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordRussia: UkraineForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 11 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30692More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the potential merits of establishing a special tribunal on the crime of aggression following Russia’s invas
Answer: The UK supports work towards establishing a Special Tribunal on the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine as a means of promoting accountability for atrocities in Ukraine. The UK has played an active role in discussions with Ukraine and close partners in th...
Answered 21 Feb 2025
Original Parliament record
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