Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consultation has his Department undertaken with vending and automated retailing businesses and other relevant stakeholders before proposing restrictions on the sale of high-energy caffeine drinks.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department engaged with relevant stakeholders, including representatives of the vending and automated retail sector, prior to publishing its proposals for banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks.
Building on initial engagements, the Department ran a 12 week consultation, which was open from 3 September 2025 to 26 November 2025. This formal consultation invited views from all interested parties, including businesses operating in the vending and automated retailing sectors, on the proposed age restriction and its implementation.
The Department is currently reviewing all consultation submissions and will set out a formal consultation response in due course.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of council tax exemption and discount rules for families required to live away from their homes for extended periods due to a child undergoing prolonged hospital treatment.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Councils are responsible for administering the council tax system, including considering the circumstances applying to a household and its eligibility for a discount or exemption. As well as the mandatory 25% discount where a household only has one adult occupant, councils have discretion over the level of discount provided in respect of unoccupied or second homes, which may be relevant where a family or family member is temporarily absent for medical reasons. Councils are able to design their working age council tax reduction schemes to ensure that households continue to receive support during periods of absence. In addition, councils have discretionary powers to provide a discount to taxpayer for any reason where they consider this appropriate.
The government recently consulted on modernising and improving the administration council tax. This included seeking views on any other groups which should be considered for council tax disregard/discounts. The consultation has now closed, and we are currently reviewing all responses. The government will publish its response to this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to implement a sustainable funding model for independent adult hospices.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have provided a £125 million capital funding boost for eligible adult, and children and young people’s, hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. We will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements as part of our MSF. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.
Officials are working closely with a number of stakeholders from the hospice sector in the development of the MSF.
Additionally, the recently published Medium-Term Planning Guidance and the Model ICB Blueprint set out that ICBs should act as strategic commissioners with core functions including: understanding current and projected total service utilisation and costs; identifying underserved communities; assessing quality, performance, and productivity of existing provision; and significantly reducing avoidable unplanned hospital admissions.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of reports of Palestinian civilian deaths since the announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We urge all parties to respect the terms of the ceasefire that came into effect on 10 October 2025, and we continue to press for the implementation in full of the 20-point peace plan endorsed by the United Nations Security Council on 17 November 2025.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will review the scope of the Plastics Packaging Tax to exempt EN 13432–certified compostable materials; and what assessment has been made of the potential impact of including compostable materials within the tax on growth and innovation in the biodegradable and biobased materials industry and on the delivery of the UK’s circular economy objectives.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policymaking process. The Plastic Packaging Tax provides a price incentive for businesses to use recycled plastic in the manufacture of plastic packaging.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department made an assessment of trends in the levels of current waiting times for cancer treatment in NHS Humber and North Yorkshire and NHS West Yorkshire sub-ICBs prior to funding decisions for the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cancer patients are waiting too long for diagnosis and treatment on the National Health Service, including in Humber and North Yorkshire and NHS West Yorkshire. The Government is investing an extra £26 billion in the NHS and opening up community diagnostic centres at evening and weekends, to help diagnose cancer earlier.
We have also invested £70 million of funding into new radiotherapy treatment machines to replace older, less efficient machines. These new machines are currently being rolled out to trusts throughout the country. These newer machines will reduce treatment times, boost productivity, and allow more patients to be seen over the same period.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish (a) the long list of NHS trusts considered by the Chair for inclusion in the Independent Maternity and Neonatal Investigation and (b) the selection criteria used by the Investigation team to assess those trusts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 14 NHS trusts to be looked at as part of the independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation were announced on 15 September 2025. There are no plans to publish the long list of NHS trusts considered by the chair for inclusion in the investigation.
The 14 NHS trusts were selected by the independent investigation based on a variety of factors, including results from the Care Quality Commission’s Maternity Patient Survey and Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK’s perinatal mortality rates, in addition to variation in case mix, trust type, geographic coverage, provision of care to individuals from diverse backgrounds, and family feedback.
Three of the trusts have been included due to their inclusion in previous investigations or reviews, these three trusts being the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who has been selected to represent (a) midwifery, (b) obstetrics and (c) neonatal care for his Independent Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The list of Expert Advisers supporting Baroness Amos is published in the terms of reference. They include:
a) Professor Julia Sanders and Lesley Sharkey, both midwives.
b) Professor Alex Heazell and Dr Christine Ekechi, both obstetricians.
c) Dr Edile Murdoch and Dr Alison Bedford-Russell, both neonatologists.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mechanisms exist to ensure public safeguarding of victims when police investigations into child sexual exploitation are paused due to the mental health needs of those victims.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
It is crucial police and law enforcement have the capabilities and skills to effectively tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation and take robust action to better safeguard children, ensuring victims and survivors receive appropriate care and support throughout the process.
The Government is investing in a range of significant measures to ensure that the police can respond to victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation with empathy, compassion and professionalism, investigating thoroughly and working with other services to reach the best possible outcome in every case. This includes investing in the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce which is working with forces to improve how they investigate child sexual abuse and exploitation, providing practical, expert, on the ground support, including on how to embed trauma-informed approaches to their investigations and engagement with victims and survivors.
We are also investing in the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection (NCVPP) which launched in April 2025 to improve the policing response to VAWG and child sexual abuse and exploitation. Centralising policing expertise to tackle these crimes will drive national coordination, with the development of strengthened specialist training for officers ensuring they offer consistent protection for victims and survivors.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the support available to victims of child sexual exploitation when court proceedings are paused due to the victim's mental health needs.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (ISVA) roles, including children's ISVAs (CHISVAs), are intended provide information about the criminal justice process to the victim, including what to expect at each stage.
Statutory guidance published in May 2025, under section 16 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 and related regulations, aims to improve the consistency of support delivered by these roles. The guidance outlines that both ISVAs and CHISVAs can provide emotional and practical support to children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse. This support can continue while court proceedings are paused.
When the victim is able to re-engage in the court proceedings, the offered support can include sitting with or near the victim in the courtroom (if the courtroom layout allows) or any other place where the victim takes part, unless there is good reason for the judge/magistrate to refuse.
Pre-recorded cross-examination is also available so that children can avoid the stress of giving evidence in a live trial setting, which many find traumatic.
In addition, the Ministry of Justice provides grant funding to over 60 specialist support organisations in England and Wales through the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF). Organisations in receipt of RASASF funding deliver activities that help victims of sexual abuse, including recent and non-recent victims of child sexual abuse, to cope, build resilience, and move forward with their lives. This is complimented by specific support for child victims of sexual exploitation offered by the Home Office through their Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse fund.