Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the value of stand-alone batteries in the Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme for homes where solar PV is not present and may not be suitable.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Domestic batteries are an eligible measure under the Warm Homes: Local Grant. Batteries can only be installed where they complement existing or new solar PV. This is to ensure that households realise the full benefits of installing a battery.
Measure eligibility policy for the Grant is kept under review.
All measures installed under Government schemes must adhere to the latest PAS 2035:2023 guidance and installers must be Trustmark registered and PAS 2030:2023 certified for energy performance measures and MCS certified for low carbon heating measures such as batteries.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of enabling stand alone batteries (without solar PV) to contribute towards a properties EPC rating.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the Home Energy Model (HEM): Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) consultation, we proposed how technologies including batteries could contribute to future EPC ratings.
The introduction of HEM will enable a half hour resolution that can more accurately estimate the impact of batteries on a home’s energy performance.
We are currently reviewing the consultation responses, including on the weighting of the different technologies in the EPC metrics. We will publish a Government Response by the end of the year.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps is he taking to include stand-alone batteries in the Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Domestic batteries are an eligible measure under the Warm Homes: Local Grant. Batteries can only be installed where they complement existing or new solar PV. This is to ensure that households realise the full benefits of installing a battery.
Measure eligibility policy for the Grant is kept under review.
All measures installed under Government schemes must adhere to the latest PAS 2035:2023 guidance and installers must be Trustmark registered and PAS 2030:2023 certified for energy performance measures and MCS certified for low carbon heating measures such as batteries.
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 steps is he taking to (a) make the pharmacy contract more sustainable and (b) reform the price concession mechanism.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 25 February, the Department began the 2026/27 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework consultation with Community Pharmacy England, to consider any proposed changes to the reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors in 2026/27. The outcome of the consultation will be published in due course.
The Department reviewed the price concession process as part of the 2022/23 and 2023/24 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework Funding. This review resulted in the implementation of several improvements including:
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 steps he is taking to help reduce the average waiting time for a decision from the Housing Ombudsman Service.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 118414 on 10 March 2026.
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 steps his Department is taking to support the uptake of the Play Well toolkit, as laid out in Action 8 for Children and Young People with Cancer, in the National Cancer Plan 2026.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan, published on the 4 February 2026, sets out several commitments and ambitions on children and young people’s cancer, to be delivered within the next ten years.
This includes commitments to improve the experience of staying in hospital for young cancer patients. The National Health Service and Starlight's Play Well toolkit will help services deliver high-quality play provision for children, while youth support coordinators will help teenagers and young adults with education, emotional support, and fertility concerns
Decisions on funding services are for local commissioners and this toolkit supports those decision makers to establish services that are high quality and effective. NHS England continues to promote the use of the toolkit and the importance of child focussed care within services.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the reliability of train services in the East of England.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The December 2025 timetable changes for the East Coast Main Line have increased capacity on the network and improved connectivity. The Rail Minister has met with the Managing Directors of train operators and their Network Rail counterparts in the East of England, to ensure continued focus on delivering good performance.
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 steps he has taken to develop a national diagnostic and treatment pathway for craniocervical instability.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Craniocervical instability (CCI) is a complex condition managed through existing specialised neurology and spinal pathways. There is currently no single national diagnostic or treatment pathway for CCI and no plan to change that at this time. Instead, care is provided through existing specialised neurology and spinal pathways in centres with the appropriate clinical expertise.
NHS England continues to review emerging clinical evidence through its established specialised commissioning processes. We will continue to monitor developments in this area and work with NHS England to ensure that patients can access the most appropriate care based on the best-available evidence.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s policies of national implementation models of online parenting support in Australia.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department recognises the importance of parenting support as being critical to a child’s development and aims to help more parents support their child’s communication, language, literacy, social and emotional skills. Parents have the biggest influence on their child’s early learning and many benefit from well-timed support and advice.
Best Start Family Hubs provide both a building that is a welcoming place for families, and a network of services, including virtual and digital support. Help for families will be delivered through open-access parenting programmes via blended delivery of physical, virtual and outreach activities. It will include the Best Start Parent Hub website that brings together trusted advice and guidance parents need in one place, links families to their local Best Start Family Hub, and allows parents to check their eligibility for childcare support. The department is considering how best to implement digital parenting support as part of the national Best Start in Life offer.
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 he will make a comparative assessment of the outcomes for children in the critical 1,001 days in (a) areas with Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies and (b) areas without Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health, and life chances. Prioritising quality support during the critical 1,001 days offers a real opportunity to improve outcomes, reduce health disparities, and deliver on our ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children.
From April 2026, Best Start Family Hubs will expand to every single local authority, backed by over £500 million to reach up to half a million more children. This funding will enable integration of health services in Best Start Family Hubs across all local authorities and is fundamental to improving outcomes for babies, children, and their families and for delivering on neighbourhood health.
The Department has commissioned an independent evaluation to help us understand the effectiveness and impact of Start for Life, now Healthy Babies, services. The final report, expected in 2026, will identify comparison groups where appropriate and will be integral to making evidence-based decisions for improving outcomes for babies and children.