The department has committed to permanently removing Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) from schools and colleges. By 2029, every school and college in England that is not being substantially rebuilt will be RAAC-free, and every school with RAAC needing to be rebuilt through the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) will be in delivery.

There are seven schools with confirmed RAAC in Witham constituency. RAAC is being permanently removed from six schools through the SRP. Of these, three schools are already in delivery and three schools will shortly enter delivery. For one school, work to remove RAAC is being managed by the local authority, Essex County Council, with grant funding provided by the department.

SRP projects take on average between 2 to 5 years to complete. We will assess the individual timelines at each school once delivery begins.

As set out in the 10 Year Capital Plan, Government has committed over £200 million of Utilisation and Modernisation funding over four years to continue upgrading the general practice estate. The NHS East of England region has been provisionally allocated £25 million.

A further £200 million from this fund will support refurbishing the existing estate to deliver approximately 50 neighbourhood health centres this Parliament. We announced Wave 1 of neighbourhood health centre upgrade schemes in March 2026, with 27 sites across England selected to bring care closer to home.

Proposals for future waves of neighbourhood health centres are currently being assessed against the published criteria, as set out in the Neighbourhood Health Centre Guidance, with final decisions on future schemes yet to be confirmed. Projects that meet the criteria will be invited to develop detailed business cases before any final funding decisions are taken.

Across 2026/27 to 2029/30, the NHS East of England region has been allocated £579.6 million to deliver a left shift from hospital to community care and support the return to constitutional standards. The NHS Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust has been allocated £181.6 million in operational capital with they can allocate to local priorities over 2026/27 to 2029/30.

As a core component of our £3.7 billion high needs capital settlement, the department will invest in a transformational expansion of inclusion bases.

This funding is allocated to local authorities, who know their schools and will determine how best to spend funding to meet local need. In the 2026/27 financial year, Essex has been allocated £21.2 million for high needs provision capital allocation.

Provision is currently inconsistent across the country, which is why we are also going to improve data collection on which schools have inclusion bases so we can make sure that all pupils are given the support they need.

For the first time, departmental guidance has been produced to help settings and local authorities set up and deliver high-quality provision in inclusion bases, as well as support improvement of existing bases.

Mainstream Free School projects were evaluated against consistent criteria on the need for places, value for money, and whether they would provide a distinctive or innovative education offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools. As part of the decision-making process, the department carefully assessed all available evidence, with a particular focus on the evidence of need for additional school places within the relevant planning areas, factoring in housing growth. To inform the decision we used the latest School Capacity survey data and took account of the local authority's longer-term projections. For Lodge Farm Primary and Nursery, the review found that current evidence does not show sufficient need for a new school.

The Government is committed to ensuring that National Health Service organisations have the capital investment they need to maintain and improve healthcare facilities.

Over the period between 2026/27 and 2029/30, the East of England region has been allocated significant capital funding, including £536 million from the Constitutional Standards Recovery Fund to support secondary and emergency care capacity. This funding will support investments across key areas, including diagnostics, urgent and emergency care, mental health, community care, and electives.

In addition, the region has been allocated over £277 million from the Estates Safety Fund for 2026/27 to 2029/30 to address critical infrastructure and safety risks, alongside a further indicative £346 million for estate works up to 2034/35.

Operational capital funding is also allocated to systems within the region to support day-to-day investment in NHS infrastructure and equipment. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust has been allocated over £181 million in operational capital funding for the period between 2026/27 and 2029/30, to be prioritised according to local need.

The department does not hold this data.

Whilst no specific estimate has been made, total full-time equivalent general practitioners (GPs) in Witham constituency have increased from 32.9 in April 2022 to 43.29 in April 2026.

As independent businesses that hold contracts with the National Health Service, general practices determine the staffing skill mix to best suit the patients they serve. GP services are commissioned and assured by integrated care boards to meet the needs of changing populations and demographics.

Representations sent in by trusts and local authorities are currently being considered. Final decisions taken by ministers on individual projects will be communicated by letter as soon as possible.

The department is progressing projects that will meet the needs of communities and provide a unique offer for students who would otherwise not have access, without damaging the viability of existing local schools and colleges.

We have written to trusts, local authorities and MPs setting out the position on individual projects as well as offering more detailed feedback.

All projects were evaluated in line with consistent criteria set out in a Written Ministerial Statement in October 2024, including published school capacity data (SCAP24), in line with the department’s longstanding approach to assessing pipeline projects, as well as other data from local authorities, such as plans for future housing developments.

Final decisions on projects where a ‘minded to cancel’ letter was issued will be made once trusts and local authorities have had the opportunity to submit any new evidence. Representations should be made by 30 January 2026.

Mainstream projects were evaluated against consistent criteria on the need for places, value for money, and whether they would provide a distinctive or innovative education offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools.

We will invest at least £3 billion over the next four years to create around 50,000 places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) across England. To support this investment, we are not proceeding with some mainstream free school projects.

For Lodge Farm Primary and Nursery, the review found that current evidence does not show sufficient medium‑term need for a new school in the proposed Witham and Hatfield Peverel location. The trust and local authority can submit any further evidence for ministers to consider by 30 January 2026. The local authority has been offered just over £600,000 additional funding to provide the 12 special educational needs unit places that were planned for this school.

Funding decisions on station renovations such as Witham will be taken in due course, as part of departmental planning for 2025/26 and beyond. At this time, there are no timescales for when delivery of a Witham upgrade scheme might be possible.

What estimate he has made of the number of jobs provided by businesses in Witham constituency.

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the extraordinary work that she does locally to promote apprenticeships. I believe she was involved in a jobs fair on 24 January, hosted by Reed, which was highly successful. The employment rate in her constituency is 81%, well above the national average, which I put down almost entirely to the work that she is doing. She asked how we would proceed. We already have swaps, bootcamps and returnerships, but I am indeed looking at specific areas of the labour market, particularly in the context of migration changes, where we may be able to do more on a strategic basis.

As it is Apprenticeship Week, will the Secretary of State join me in thanking businesses in Witham for everything that they are doing to employ youngsters and put them on that apprenticeship pathway? Those businesses, however, are crying out for a labour market strategy that will help them to harness the skills and the upskilling that they need in certain sectors. Would the Secretary of State be prepared to advance that, and push it, across other Departments?

The Office for National Statistics estimates that 36,000 jobs were provided by employers in Witham in 2022.

I could not agree more with my right hon. Friend, and I share her passion, so I would be delighted to come and see the scheme in place in her constituency. We take reading very seriously; we have risen from joint 10th to joint eighth in the progress in international reading literacy study league tables, and in those surveys it is the least able children who are improving fastest.

In light of the Government’s new emphasis on numeracy in schools, may I make a plea that the Government do not forget about literacy in schools and in particular how we can continue to raise standards? My initiative “Get Witham Reading” has been running for 10 years now, and I urge colleagues on the Front Bench to come to Witham to see the scheme in action this year and see how it has raised standards in education.

Future locations for community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are currently under review. NHS England is working with integrated care systems, diagnostic networks and primary care services to assess and determine the location and configuration of services for future CDCs, based on the needs of the local population. This review will consider a number of sites in Mid and South Essex.

No date has been set for the upgrade of Witham station. Greater Anglia, the operator of the station, continues to explore opportunities to progress with the redevelopment, which is subject to wider affordability constraints.

The Government does not hold this information.

Air pollution has reduced significantly since 2010 – at a national level emissions of fine particulate matter have fallen by 11%, while emissions of nitrogen oxides are at their lowest level since records began. The Government is committed to going further and is taking a range of actions to improve air quality, including through the landmark Environment Act 2021 and by implementing the Clean Air Strategy.