Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
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 ensure that retailers (a) provide (i) clear, (ii) accurate and (iii) impartial information on the nutritional sufficiency of infant formula products in (A) retail outlets and (B) online shopping channels and (b) display brands of infant formula together on retail shelves.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Infant feeding is critical to a baby’s healthy growth and development. The Government is committed to giving every child the best start in life and that includes helping families to access support to feed their baby.
Whilst breastfeeding has significant health benefits, we recognise that for those families that cannot or choose not to breastfeed, it is vital that they have access to infant formula that is affordable and high quality. Infant formula regulations ensure that all infant formula is suitable for meeting the nutritional needs of babies, regardless of the price or brand.
The Government welcomes the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study report on infant formula and follow-on formula. The report included recommendations related to clear, accurate and impartial information on the nutritional sufficiency of all infant formula products on product labelling and in retail settings as well as a recommendation related to displaying all brands of infant formula together and separate from other formula milks. We will carefully consider its findings and recommendations and respond in due course.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
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 ensure that healthcare settings provide (i) timely, (ii) clear, (iii) accurate and (iv) impartial information on the nutritional sufficiency of infant formula products and (b) implement standardised infant formula labelling on products.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Infant feeding is critical to a baby’s healthy growth and development. The Government is committed to giving every child the best start in life and that includes helping families to access support to feed their baby.
Whilst breastfeeding has significant health benefits, we recognise that for those families that cannot or choose not to breastfeed, it is vital that they have access to infant formula that is affordable and high quality. Infant formula regulations ensure that all infant formula is suitable for meeting the nutritional needs of babies, regardless of the price or brand.
The Government welcomes the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study report on infant formula and follow-on formula. The report included recommendations related to clear, accurate and impartial information on the nutritional sufficiency of all infant formula products on product labelling and in retail settings as well as a recommendation related to displaying all brands of infant formula together and separate from other formula milks. We will carefully consider its findings and recommendations and respond in due course.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish funding by the Better Care Fund to support unpaid carers for (a) 2023 and (b) 2024, by region.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 March 2025 to Question 33291.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of placing a new statutory duty on local authorities to ensure all unpaid carers are able to take regular breaks.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This Government is committed to ensuring families have the support they need. We want to ensure that people who care for family and friends are better able to look after their own health and wellbeing. Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers such as respite and breaks.
The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.
The Commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support. Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service is clear that a fresh approach to supporting and involving unpaid carers is required to improve outcomes for carers, people needing care and the NHS.
We will carefully consider these findings as part of our 10-year plan for reforming and modernising the NHS and as we develop plans to reform adult social care, including through the National Care Service.
Further, I recently met with employers and the Department for Business and Trade to discuss how employers are driving best practice in supporting working carers. The Government is committed to reviewing the implementation of Carer’s Leave and examining the benefits of introducing paid Carer’s Leave.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that Group B Streptococcus-specific enriched culture medium testing is available in hospital laboratories.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Enriched culture medium testing is used in National Health Service laboratories. Current clinical practice is that if a routine urine test in pregnancy indicates a bacterial infection, microbiology techniques, such as enriched culture medium plates, should be used to identify the bacteria.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the (a) development and (b) future rollout of a Group B Streptococcus vaccine.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has identified that maternal vaccine products to protect infants against group B streptococcus (GBS) are currently in development. A sub-committee of the JCVI will be stood up to evaluate the benefits of a GBS vaccination programme.
Should a GBS vaccine be approved for use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the JCVI would review evidence on the safety, efficacy, impact, and cost-effectiveness of a potential vaccination programme. Based on this evidence, the JCVI would provide advice to the Department in order to develop a vaccination policy and decide on any potential future roll out in England.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that the results of the GBS3 trial are acted upon (a) quickly and (b) effectively.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) stands ready to receive the results of the GBS3 trial. The UK NSC Secretariat is in close and regular contact with the researchers. The committee will consider the evidence from the trial, once the report is available.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the provision of specialists in female urology across England to ensure that women suffering from recurrent episodes of UTIs receive the highest levels of care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made by the Department. Such services are locally managed and commissioned in accordance with the population’s needs.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to require integrated care boards to remove requirements for (a) same sex couples and (b) single women to have privately-funded IVF cycles before they are accepted for NHS-funded IVF cycles.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that fertility treatment across the National Health Service in England is subject to variation in access. Work continues on joint advice from the Department and NHS England about the offer around NHS-funded fertility services, including the issues for female same sex couples.
Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. We expect these organisations to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England. NICE is currently reviewing these guidelines.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the recently published policy framework for the Better Care Fund will support unpaid carers; and whether the Better Care Fund includes any ringfenced funding for supporting unpaid carers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Better Care Fund (BCF) includes funding that can be used for unpaid carer support, including short breaks and respite services for carers. As set out in the BCF policy framework published on 30 January 2025, to meet the objectives of the BCF, local areas should provide support for unpaid carers.
Funding for supporting unpaid carers is not ringfenced within the BCF. Local authorities and integrated care boards agree the amount of BCF funding in their locality that will be committed to support carers, in the context of other sources of funding and with reference to their statutory duties to support unpaid carers. As a result, actual spend by local authorities on services to support carers may differ.