Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to support a) airlines and b) travel agents in ensuring the return of British citizens in the Middle East.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department and I have continued to engage with the aviation sector throughout the conflict to understand the impacts on their operations, plans for minimising disruption, and the support they are providing to their customers. This collaboration and engagement included Ministerial attendance at the Third Aviation Council meeting and direct engagement with all major UK airlines, airports and key foreign carriers. My Department and I have worked in tandem with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and airlines, to ensure that any British Nationals who wish to leave the region can, through both commercial routes and repatriation flights supported by the Government.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support he is giving to local authorities in Staffordshire to take enforcement action against the sale of a) tobacco b) fruit flavoured vapes and c) alcohol to under 18s.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is supporting local authorities to take enforcement action against the underage sales of tobacco, vapes, and alcohol.
On tobacco and vapes, the Government is providing up to £10 million annually until 2028/29 for Trading Standards, to support the enforcement of illicit and underage sales in England. This funding is being used to boost the Trading Standards workforce by recruiting 120 new apprentices, including one apprentice in Staffordshire, enabling more underage sales test purchases and swifter enforcement action against illicit activity.
Alongside this, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will introduce £200 fixed penalty notices in England and Wales for certain tobacco and vape offences, including underage sales, to empower Trading Standards to take swifter action to fine those who choose to break the law and sell to anyone underage, putting the public’s health at risk. The bill will also provide ministers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland with regulation making powers to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products. This will strengthen enforcement against retailers who breach tobacco and vape age of sale regulations.
On alcohol, the Home Office supports local authorities through the Licensing Act 2003 and Section 182 guidance, which require licensed premises to operate a mandatory age verification policy at the point of sale. Enforcement of underage sales rests with local licensing authorities, Trading Standards, and the police, who can prosecute, including for persistent sales, and seek licence reviews or revocation to protect children from harm.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact the Heraeus bone cement supply delays will have on the elective waiting time targets.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of National Health Service systems to manage the bone cement supply delays in their local context. NHS England has been working closely with systems to manage the temporary supply disruption affecting certain Heraeus bone cement products. A letter was issued to systems in February 2026 and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/heraeus-medical-bone-cement-products/
NHS trusts have reviewed and clinically prioritised their orthopaedic waiting lists to ensure available stock is safely and appropriately used, taking into account patient need, staff familiarity with alternative products, and local supply constraints. Where delays to planned joint procedures are unavoidable, trusts are expected to maintain transparent and timely communication with affected patients, so they remain fully informed about changes to their care treatment pathway.
NHS England has advised trusts to make best use of any freed-up clinical capacity, including focussing on new outpatient activity, and strengthening clinical triage for patients waiting more than 18 weeks. These steps are intended to reduce the risk of knock-on effects for elective waiting time performance. Every effort is being made to sustain progress on Referral to Treatment performance while this temporary supply issue is resolved.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to help keep patients informed of the delays to their joint surgeries due to Heraeus bone cement supply delays.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of National Health Service systems to manage the bone cement supply delays in their local context. NHS England has been working closely with systems to manage the temporary supply disruption affecting certain Heraeus bone cement products. A letter was issued to systems in February 2026 and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/heraeus-medical-bone-cement-products/
NHS trusts have reviewed and clinically prioritised their orthopaedic waiting lists to ensure available stock is safely and appropriately used, taking into account patient need, staff familiarity with alternative products, and local supply constraints. Where delays to planned joint procedures are unavoidable, trusts are expected to maintain transparent and timely communication with affected patients, so they remain fully informed about changes to their care treatment pathway.
NHS England has advised trusts to make best use of any freed-up clinical capacity, including focussing on new outpatient activity, and strengthening clinical triage for patients waiting more than 18 weeks. These steps are intended to reduce the risk of knock-on effects for elective waiting time performance. Every effort is being made to sustain progress on Referral to Treatment performance while this temporary supply issue is resolved.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for decisions on Access to Work claims.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to reducing waiting times in Access to Work so that people can access the support they need. We prioritise applications from customers who are due to start work within the next four weeks, as well as renewals for existing grants, to minimise disruption to employment.
The Pathways to Work Green Paper launched a consultation on the future of Access to Work which has now concluded. Following over 47,500 responses from individuals, charities and other stakeholders, as well as 18 consultation events, we published our summary of the responses to the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation on 30 October 2025.
We are now considering the responses and will bring forward our proposals for reforming Access to Work as soon as we are able to.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (Network and Information Systems) Bill, a) what estimate she had made of the shortage of the cybersecurity skills which will be necessary to implement and comply with the new regulations created by the Bill and b) what steps the department is taking to address skills gaps.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill was introduced in November 2025 to increase UK defences against cyber attacks. The Bill has been developed in close collaboration with regulators to ensure that they have the right information and tools they need to be supported and effective under the new framework.
This includes allowing regulators to recover all the costs of their activities under the regime so that they can be sufficiently resourced, enhancing their impact through clearer information gateways, and establishing a unified set of objectives so that regulators can better focus their resources. DSIT will also issue clear guidance to support regulators as they exercise their functions and will monitor and evaluate the new framework following its implementation to review the effectiveness of the regime, which could include regulator capability.
New regulated entities being brought into scope of the Bill are in highly technical, high skill sectors and will have guidance and support they can draw from Regulators, Government and NCSC to help them to drive up cyber maturity and effectively manage risks to the essential services they provide. To further support the development of cyber security skills, the £187 million TechFirst programme will fund up to 4,000 students, researchers and innovators entering frontier industries, and help local firms fill around 1,000 tech roles, including cyber security roles.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department will take to mitigate the risk of supply delays of bone cement, and other medical supplies.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has very well-established processes in place to help manage disruption to the supply of medical products when it occurs, always very seriously considering the needs of individual patients.
The Department’s National Supply Disruption Response acts as the single point of contact for the medical supply industry, and has been supporting the bone cement shortage since early February this year. Together with NHS England and NHS Supply Chain we have organised a formal coordinated national incident response, including daily meetings with operational colleagues, development of clinical guidance, and close engagement with suppliers, professional bodies, and the devolved administrations.
The incident management group was able to secure additional supplies from alternative, clinically assured suppliers, which are now being actively used. Elective orthopaedic activities have resumed.
These measures ensured that trauma and urgent care continued safely during the shortage, with orthopaedic waiting lists prioritised according to clinical needs.
The Department continues to hold regular discussions with NHS England on the supply position, operational impact, and alternative products, using well-established incident coordination arrangements.