Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the National Security Adviser discussed media freedoms in his recent meeting with President Vučić.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 20 October to Question 81835.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that rail operators provide sufficient staffing and passenger management during major route disruptions.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department expects train operators and Network Rail to have plans in place to support passengers during major disruption, including appropriate staffing.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what measures are in place to ensure that assistance services in rail stations for disabled and vulnerable passengers remain functional during significant service disruptions.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All train and station operators are required, under their Accessible Travel Policy, to provide assistance to disabled and vulnerable passengers during periods of disruption. This includes, where appropriate, the provision of alternative accessible transport.
Operators must set out in their Accessible Travel Policy how they will communicate with passengers and deliver assistance during disruption, including for those who have booked help in advance. These policies are approved and monitored by the Office of Rail and Road.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of passenger notification procedures for planned engineering works that result in disruption to rail services.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Standard practice is for journey planner websites like National Rail Enquiries and train operating company websites to start showing alternative travel information 12 weeks in advance. Network Rail is responsible for coordinating and validating timetables for the national rail network and works with all the train operating companies to ensure passengers are adequately informed of planned engineering works.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
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 improve outcomes for patients with (a) strokes and (b) transient ischaemic attacks in Leeds Central and Headingley constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Stroke care for the Leeds Central and Headingley constituencies is provided by the Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust (LTHT).
To improve outcomes for patients with strokes and transient ischaemic attacks, LTHT provides 24/7 stroke specialist nurse cover for emergency admissions. LTHT has increased the mechanical thrombectomy service to seven days a week between 8:00am and 3:00pm as of 1 November 2025. By this time next year, the trust expects to have this service running 24/7.
LTHT is also working with the Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust to implement an early supported discharge team within stroke services. From January to March 2026, both trusts will be appointing a joint workforce of therapists and community colleagues to ensure patients receive timely access to care.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether multi-year revenue funding for children's hospices will go to (a) regional and (b) local ICBs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the Children’s Hospice Grant.
I am pleased to confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the next three financial years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local integrated care boards on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.
This approach is in line with National Health Service devolution and promotes a more consistent national approach, supporting commissioners in prioritising the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he has considered the potential merits of establishing a database of licensed weight loss injection providers that is easily accessible to the public.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All GLP-1 medicines, which are licensed injections for weight loss, are prescription only medicines, which means they can only be prescribed by a healthcare professional.
GLP-1 medicines can be purchased privately. A consultation with a healthcare professional must happen before the prescription can be issued, so that the prescriber can carry out proper checks and make sure the patient is aware of the benefits and risks of taking the medicine.
GLP-1 medicines should not be bought from unregulated sellers such as beauty salons or via social media, or from anywhere without a prior consultation with a healthcare professional.
To guarantee receipt of a genuine GLP-1 medicine, it must be acquired from a legitimate pharmacy, including those trading online, with a prescription issued by a healthcare professional.
Patients can check if the pharmacy, online or otherwise, is legitimate. For pharmacies based in Great Britain, patients can check on the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) website whether it is properly registered, which is available at the following link:
https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/registers
For pharmacies based in Northern Ireland, patients can refer to the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) website, which is available at the following link:
https://registers.psni.org.uk/
For further information about use of online pharmacies, patients can also refer to the GPhC’s guide on how to keep safe when getting medicines or treatment online, which is available at the following link:
The GPhC and the PSNI could also be contacted for more information on their actions on helping patients to obtain these medicines safely.
Patients can also visit the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) #FakeMeds website for tools and resources to help purchase medicines or medical devices safely online, with further information available at the following link:
https://fakemeds.campaign.gov.uk/
To promote safe access to GLP-1 medicines and increase public awareness of these resources, the MHRA has published guidance for the public highlighting important information such as how to obtain them safely and key risks to be aware of. Further information on the MHRA’s guidance is available at the following link:
Patients can also check the credentials of the healthcare professional prescribing the medicine via the relevant United Kingdom professional regulator, such as the:
- General Medical Council for doctors;
- the Nursing and Midwifery Council for nurse independent prescribers;
- the GPhC for pharmacists in Great Britain;
- the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland; and
- the respective regulatory bodies for other non-medical prescribers.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing details to the public on how to report suspected unlicenced vendors providing weight loss injections.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), acting on behalf of my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is responsible for the regulation of medicines intended for human use in the United Kingdom. This includes applying the legal controls on the retail sale, supply, and advertising of medicines, which are set out in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.
Sourcing weight loss medicines from unregulated suppliers significantly increases the risk of receiving a product which is either falsified or not authorised for human use. Products purchased in this way will not meet the MHRA’s strict standards for quality, safety, and efficacy and can therefore pose significant risks.
Protecting the public from the dangers of falsified and unregulated medicines is one of the MHRA’s highest priorities.
Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, the MHRA and its partners seized approximately 17 million doses of illegally traded medicines with a street value of more than £37 million. The MHRA is constantly working to develop new and innovative ways to combat the trade in illegal medicines. These measures include:
- introduction of the Yellow Card scheme, which enables healthcare professionals and patients to report suspected fake medicines and adverse drug reactions, with referrals being assessed and acted upon as appropriate. Further information is available at the following link:
https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/;
- implementation of a web-based reporting scheme allowing users to report suspicious online sellers to the MHRA;
- rollout of an online service which will allow users to check if a website has been deemed ‘Not Recommended’ by the MHRA;
- publication of a #Fakemeds campaign which explains how to access medicines through safe and legitimate online sources, with further information available at the following link:
https://fakemeds.campaign.gov.uk/; and
- public guidance on how to safely access and use GLP-1 medications, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/glp-1-medicines-for-weight-loss-and-diabetes-what-you-need-to-know/glp-1-medicines-for-weight-loss-and-diabetes-what-you-need-to-know.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting the call for the renewal of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara mandate.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has consistently voted for UN Security Council Resolutions that renew the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, including the latest Resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on 30 October 2025.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the United Nation Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council entitled Situation concerning Western Sahara, published on 30 September 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of that report; and if she will raise this matter at the Security Council.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government consistently urges all states to uphold international law, and we continue to encourage constructive engagement with the political process led by the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General Mr Staffan de Mistura in support of finding a just, lasting, and mutually agreed resolution to the Western Sahara dispute. The UK shares a bilateral Human Rights Dialogue with Morocco, the third session of which is due to take place in London by the end of the year and will cover a range of topics.