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 he is taking to improve early diagnosis of osteoporosis.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Funding was recently announced to boost bone density scanning capacity, to support improvements in bone health and early diagnostics for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, such as osteoporosis. This will provide an estimated 29,000 extra scans per year.
As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England’s Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. With a £3.5 million funding boost, GIRFT teams will deploy their proven Further Faster model to work with integrated care board leaders to further reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with osteoporosis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness, (b) potential and (c) adequacy of relations between the UK and North Africa.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The relationship between the UK and the countries of North Africa focuses on a range of shared interests, including trade and investment, working together on migration, regional stability, and people-to-people links. There is greater potential, including to increase trade from £11bn, and to meet demand for greater English language capacity. We are working to develop comprehensive partnerships to tackle irregular migration and have regular dialogues on regional stability, such as the importance of tackling Russian efforts to increase its presence in the region and aligning efforts to address the conflicts of the Sahel and wider Middle East.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness, (b) potential and (c) adequacy of relations between the UK and East Africa.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
East Africa and the UK have strong people-to-people ties, vital trading relations, critical security partnerships, and British institutions such as the BBC are hugely popular. We have a significant Official Development Assistance (ODA) portfolio - in October 2024, Lord Collins visited Ethiopia, where he announced £16m in funding to support the Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme, and Seychelles, to sign an ambitious economic security partnership on illicit finance. As penholder on Somalia at the UN Security Council, we delivered a mandate for the new African Union Stabilisation and Support Mission. With sufficient stability, East Africa has potential for greater commercial cooperation with UK and the new Africa approach will set out a distinctive UK offer which addresses shared interests and strengthens partnerships.
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 discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the adequacy of the Disabled Facilities Grant.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has meetings with Cabinet colleagues on a range of health and social care issues.
We are giving older and disabled people more independence in their own homes through an immediate in-year uplift to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) of £86 million in 2024/25. This increase will provide around 7,800 additional home adaptations. This is on top of the £625 million paid to local authorities in May 2024. The Government also announced an £86 million additional investment in the DFG for 2025/26 at the Budget, bringing total funding for 2025/26 to £711 million also.
To ensure the DFG is as effective as possible, we will continue to keep different aspects of the grant under consideration. As part of this, we are reviewing the suitability of the current upper limit and will set out further detail in due course.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions (a) she and (b) her Department has had with the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee since July 2024.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The work of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee is delivered by the Cabinet Office, not by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. While my officials are in regular contact with the Secretariat team in the Cabinet Office and offer their support, any questions relating to the activity of, and approach taken by, the Committee should be addressed by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support youth democracy in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) alternative provision and (d) sixth forms and colleges in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to improving the rates of electoral registration and encouraging the engagement of young people and has committed to lowering the voting age to 16 for all elections in the UK.
It is up to schools, sixth forms, further education providers and alternative provision settings to decide what steps to take to support youth democracy in the context of their duty to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Ofsted’s inspection framework assesses how well schools, colleges and independent learning providers promote the values.
For secondary schools, democracy is currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which covers parliamentary democracy, the key elements of the constitution of the United Kingdom, the power of government and how citizens and Parliament hold it to account. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship, using non-statutory programmes of study at key stages 1 and 2.
Support for curriculum delivery is available through optional, free and adaptable resources from Oak National Academy (Oak). Oak launched its new curriculum sequences for secondary citizenship earlier this academic year, with the full package of curriculum resources expected to be available by autumn 2025.
The UK Parliament run educational tours for pupils, youth and community groups to see how Parliament works in action. The UK Parliament also produce resources which can be downloaded or ordered for free, tailored to different age groups.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport funds the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) to support young people to engage in the democratic process. Every two years, the UKYP runs ‘Make Your Mark’, open to all 11 to 18-year-olds in the UK, to enable them to vote on what are the most important issues for young people.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness, (b) potential and (c) adequacy of relations between the UK and West Africa.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK and West Africa have shared interests from security to investment and development to climate resilience. But West Africa is also a diverse region, with the UK valuing its partnership with each West African nation. For example, the Foreign Secretary visited Nigeria in November and agreed a new Strategic Partnership enabling greater UK-Nigerian cooperation on shared priorities. On 7 January, Lord Collins attended Ghanaian President John Mahama's inauguration, strengthening ties with Ghana and other regional leaders. Lord Collins also visited Ghana and Senegal in September focusing on UK support to boost growth, clean energy, food security and women's empowerment. In his speech at the UK/Francophone West and Central Africa Trade Forum on 4 December, Lord Collins highlighted the Government's desire to strengthen UK trade partnerships across the region.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness, (b) potential and (c) adequacy of relations between the UK and sub-Saharan Southern Africa.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary launched a five-month consultation to inform the UK's new approach to the African continent during a visit to Nigeria and South Africa in November 2024. Our goal is a fundamentally transformed partnership that delivers mutual long-term benefits, driving our domestic economic growth and addressing migration priorities. The UK enjoys warm relations with the different countries in sub-Saharan Southern Africa, illustrated by the numerous visits to the region by me, the Foreign Secretary and the Minister for Africa in 2024. The Minister for Africa has upcoming trips to Botswana and Tanzania in January 2025.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many times Ministers in his Department have engaged with the leadership of the Southern African Development Community since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Ministers, including the Foreign Secretary and I, have enjoyed broad engagement with the leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) during visits to South Africa, Malawi and Zambia. The Minister for Africa, Lord Collins, has had three ministerial engagements with the Tanzanian government and the current Chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Affairs. Lord Collins is due to meet with Southern African Development Community leadership during his upcoming visit to Botswana (14-16 January 2025), discussing areas of mutual interest, including energy reform and regional security.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the level of net migration in the last five years.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Under the previous government, between 2019 and 2023, net migration more than quadrupled, heavily driven by a big increase in overseas recruitment.
This Government is clear that net migration must come down and is committed to tackling skills shortages and labour market failures here in the UK.
We have already set out a new approach to end the over reliance on international recruitment and boost economic growth to link the UK’s immigration, labour market, and skills systems to train up our homegrown workforce
We have also commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee to review key sectors, and our long-term plan will see departments working across government, alongside other agencies and experts, to build our skills base and reduce our reliance on migration.
Furthermore, following the Prime Minister’s speech on migration on 28th November 2024 - the Government will publish a White Paper later this year setting out measures to reduce net migration and link the points-based system with requirements for training in the UK.