Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
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 impact of widening the deployment of play therapy in supporting paediatric MRI scans on costs.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. This involves ensuring that children receive the appropriate care and support whenever they need it.
To support this, NHS England and the charity Starlight have jointly launched the Play Well toolkit to help services identify opportunities to improve health play services. This guidance is the first publication of its kind, and is aimed at improving the experiences of babies, children, and young people.
Tools like the Play Well toolkit are intended to support best practice and reduce the need for sedation, which can contribute to better outcomes and potential cost savings. No formal assessment has yet been made of widening the deployment of play therapy in supporting paediatric MRI scans, specifically, on costs.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the merits of including low cost effective property flood resilience measures in (a) the Future Homes Standard and (b) building regulations.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to building the homes the country needs while ensuring they are safe from flooding. The Building Regulations set minimum standards for all new dwellings. The Future Homes Standard will focus on the energy efficiency and carbon emission standards within the Building Regulations and will not encompass flood resilience measures. Statutory guidance to the Building Regulations in Approved Document C promotes the use of flood resilient and resistant construction in flood prone areas, without placing undue costs onto any properties that do not require further flood resilience measures.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of producing standards on implementing sustainable urban drainage for (a) landowners, (b) local authorities and (c) businesses.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In June of this year, the Government introduced new national standards making clear that sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) should be designed to cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits in the form of flood prevention and storm overflow reduction, offering reuse opportunities, reducing run off, and helping to improve water quality, amenity, and biodiversity. The standards should be used by local authorities when assessing applications for development which could affect drainage on or around the site, see paragraphs 181 and 182 of the National Planning Policy Framework.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reviewing the current police widow(er)s’ pension regulations.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The 2015 police pension scheme is the scheme currently open to serving police officers. This scheme provides life-long survivor benefits for spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners, including those who remarry or cohabit after losing a spouse. The introduction of the 2006 police pension scheme meant that all eligible police officers were able to join a pension scheme with such survivor benefits.
For officers who joined policing prior to 2006, the 1987 police pension scheme provides a pension for the widow, widower or civil partner of a police officer who dies. In common with most other public service pension schemes of that time, these benefits cease to be payable where the widow, widower or civil partner remarries or cohabits with another partner.
From 1 April 2015, the 1987 Police Pension Scheme was amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers who have died as a result of an injury on duty to receive their survivor benefits for life regardless of remarriage, civil partnership or cohabitation.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of regulating the locksmith industry to protect people from rogue locksmiths.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK's framework for occupational regulation upholds public protection, while ensuring regulatory burdens on industry are proportionate. Although the locksmithing profession is not subject to statutory regulation, several self-regulating trade associations and accreditation schemes exist within the industry and provide training, conduct criminal record checks, and inspect their members.
The government keeps the occupational regulation regime under review and continues to monitor any concerns raised by the public or the industry, including those related to locksmithing.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 50325, what his planned timeline is for publishing the update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex area of work, involving several government departments and it is important that we get this right. We will be providing an update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s Report at the earliest opportunity however we are not currently able to give a timeline for a response.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of postnatal depression involved (a) engagement with and (b) mental health assessment of the woman’s partner by the relevant service in the most recent 12-month period for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally at this level of detail. The Government is committed to improving the support available to mothers, fathers, and partners who experience mental health difficulties, including postnatal depression, during the perinatal period.
Fathers and partners of women accessing specialist perinatal mental health services and maternal mental health services should be offered an evidence-based assessment for their mental health and signposted to sources of support as required. This can include NHS Talking Therapies services, which are available for anyone who needs support with their mental health. People can refer themselves online via the National Health Service website or by contacting their general practice.
In addition, in January 2025, the Department announced £126 million for the continuation of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme in 2025/26 in 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation. This includes £36.5 million for bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support, including for fathers.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
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 data on the number of (a) fathers who have accessed perinatal mental health services and (b) maternity outreach clinics that offer (i) evidence-based mental health assessments and (ii) signposting.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally at this level of detail. The Government is committed to improving the support available to mothers, fathers, and partners who experience mental health difficulties, including postnatal depression, during the perinatal period.
Fathers and partners of women accessing specialist perinatal mental health services and maternal mental health services should be offered an evidence-based assessment for their mental health and signposted to sources of support as required. This can include NHS Talking Therapies services, which are available for anyone who needs support with their mental health. People can refer themselves online via the National Health Service website or by contacting their general practice.
In addition, in January 2025, the Department announced £126 million for the continuation of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme in 2025/26 in 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation. This includes £36.5 million for bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support, including for fathers.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on support available for medical students.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care works closely with the Department for Education on an on-going basis, covering a wide range of matters to ensure the education system is supporting medical students.
For the 2025/26 academic year, the Government will increase the NHS Bursary tuition fee contributions, maintenance grants, and all allowances by 3.1%. For the 2025/26 academic year, the Government has also announced that maximum loans for living costs from Student Finance England, including reduced rate non-means tested loans for students in NHS Bursary years, will increase by 3.1%.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase availability of Givinostat for children.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department understands the impact that Duchenne muscular dystrophy has on those living with it and their families, and the urgent need for new treatment options. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS independently based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by the NICE, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance. The NICE is currently evaluating givinostat for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and its independent Appraisal Committee will meet to consider the evidence in July 2025.