Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
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 consult with people who have rare conditions on the integration of NHS England functions into his Department.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to renew the UK Rare Diseases Framework.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government remains committed to improving the lives of people living with rare diseases and their families, and will be working with the devolved administrations this year to review what comes next following the expiry of the UK Rare Diseases Framework in 2026.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to help ensure that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis are followed by NHS staff.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines are not mandatory, but the Government does expect healthcare commissioners to take the guidelines fully into account when designing services to meet the needs of their local population, and to work towards their implementation over time. NHS England remains committed to supporting integrated care boards to ensure equitable access and evidence-based care. This partnership will support the integration of best practices and insights to enhance service quality and consistency across the system.
There are steps that the Government is taking to improve care for patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). It is a priority for the Department to publish the final ME/CFS delivery plan by the end of June 2025. The plan will focus on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease. The responses to the interim delivery plan consultation, along with continued close engagement with other parts of the Government, the National Health Service, and external stakeholders including the NICE, will inform the development of the final ME/CFS delivery plan.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions with my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a whole host of issues across our brief, including myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care including ME/CFS. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on ME/CFS to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
Together with the Medical Research Council, which is part of UK Research and Innovation, we are actively exploring the next steps for research in ME/CFS, and we will outline further research actions as part of the final ME/CFS Delivery Plan, which we aim to publish by the end of June. The plan will focus on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease. This will outline the additional support we will offer to the research community to increase the volume and quality of applications and, therefore, increase the allocation of funding to this area.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will publish the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) Delivery Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We aim to publish our myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), final delivery plan by the end of June 2025.
The plan will focus on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease. The responses to the interim delivery plan consultation, along with continued close engagement with other parts of the Government, the National Health Service, and external stakeholders, will inform the development of the final ME/CFS delivery plan.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled Government to launch £360m Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, published on 19 May 2025, whether he plans to also introduce a (a) cross-Departmental and (b) long-term strategic plan for the fishing and seafood sector.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government will always stand up for the British fishing industry and coastal communities. Launching the “Fishing & Coastal Growth Fund” and investing £360 million over the next 12 years will support the next generation of fishermen and breathe new life into our coastal communities.
We will be engaging with other Government Departments to target investment where it matters most. For example, continuing our work with the Department of Business and Trade on promoting the seafood sector to export our high-quality produce across the world.
We recognise the calls from across the sector for a long-term strategy for fisheries and seafood. We are keen to engage with stakeholders to explore this further and shape a strategic approach that supports the industry's future.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled Government to launch £360m Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, published on 19 May 2025, whether the £360 million includes funding for offshore wind developments.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have launched the £360 million “Fishing & Coastal Growth Fund” to support the next generation of fishermen and breathe new life into our coastal communities. We will work with the fishing and seafood sector and coastal communities to understand how to target investment where it matters most.
Alongside this, on 21st May this Government published a working paper setting out proposals for mandatory community benefits for low carbon infrastructure and Shared ownership in Great Britain. Under the proposals developers would be required to contribute a set amount to a community fund. This work is being led through the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The Government supports offshore wind projects through the Contracts for Difference scheme, which guarantees a set price per MWh of electricity for 15 years, indexed to inflation.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the (a) secondary and (b) related conditions of people claiming PIP.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information is collected on secondary and related conditions during a claimant’s assessment. However, information on secondary and related conditions is not held centrally for analysis and it would therefore incur disproportionate cost to the department to undertake analysis on it, as it would require the manual investigation of individual claimant records.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that people in rural areas remain connected during the digital switch over.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The digital switchover is an industry led programme, but we do not want anyone to be excluded by virtue of the programme. That is why customers, including in rural communities, will not have their landlines migrated to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) without an available stable internet connection (VoIP only requires a minimum speed of 0.5mbps) and communication providers agreed a checklist of steps to protect vulnerable customers during the migration in November 2024. This includes landline dependent customers in rural communities.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department plans to provide for targeted mainstream provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
Overall schools funding is increasing by £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year and will total over £64.8 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25. Most schools’ funding is not allocated or ring-fenced for specific purposes. Schools decide how to spend their budgets to meet their legal duties and other responsibilities, including support for their pupils with SEND.
Of the increase in total schools funding, £1 billion will be for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion.
Decisions on schools funding for the years beyond 2025/26 will be taken following the forthcoming spending review.