Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
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 of retail sold magnets on the safety of cerebrospinal fluid shunts programmable externally by magnets.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusions on the market in the United Kingdom are safe, effective, and manufactured to the highest standards of quality. The Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (MDR 2002) establish the statutory framework that medical devices must meet in order to comply with these standards.
All medical devices, including cerebrospinal fluid shunts programmable externally by magnets, must comply with the MDR 2002, which include bearing the UKCA or CE marking on the packaging or labelling of the device. Manufacturers or their UK representatives must monitor use of these devices when used in the UK. The manufacturer holds the legal responsibility for obtaining the necessary certification and registering their medical devices with the MHRA, the UK Competent Authority. Higher risk medical devices are assessed and approved by Approved Bodies in the UK or Notified Bodies in the European Union.
As part of meeting the requirements of the regulations, manufacturers have to provide instructions which would include any special operating instructions, any warnings and/or precautions to take, and precautions to be taken as regards exposure, in reasonably foreseeable environmental conditions, to magnetic fields. In addition, some manufacturers provide further standalone information on this topic, an example of which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of school policies that restrict mobile‑phone use on pupil's health and safety.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department’s new, stronger guidance on mobile phones in schools is clear that all schools should be mobile phone-free by default. Pupils should not have access to their devices during lessons, break times, lunch times, or between lessons.
The guidance is clear that exceptions to a mobile phones policy may be required for children with specific special educational needs, disabilities or medical conditions. This includes users of health tech or assistive technology.
Where school leaders need to make additional exceptions or flexibilities to their policies based on a child’s individual needs, we trust them to do so.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of Capita’s performance in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme; and what steps she is taking to improve service levels.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In November 2023, the Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita. This was under the previous government. The Scheme transferred to Capita on 1 December 2025. We are aware that Capita’s current performance is having a detrimental impact on some members.
We are working urgently with Capita to resolve these issues, and to ensure that civil servants, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.
We have established a cross-departmental team to work with Capita to develop and implement a recovery plan. Alongside this, Capita is increasing staffing in key areas, to increase processing times in relation to new retirements and support for members, particularly those impacted by delays.