Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Scotland Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts
Wednesday 1st May 2024

(6 months, 3 weeks ago)

Commons Chamber
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Rishi Sunak Portrait The Prime Minister
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What the hon. Lady did not acknowledge at all is that Israel suffered an appalling terrorist attack that killed hundreds of its citizens, and it does have the right to defend itself. Of course, as I have been crystal clear, we want to see humanitarian law respected and adhered to by all parties. Too many civilians have been killed, and we want to see Israel take greater care to avoid harming civilians. I have made these points repeatedly to Prime Minister Netanyahu, specifically about the impact of any military incursion into Rafah, and we continue to say to the Israelis at all levels that we want to see more aid going in, and bring about a hostage deal so that we can move towards a sustainable ceasefire.

Andrew Selous Portrait Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)
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Q6. The 60% increase in funding for special educational needs and disabilities is extremely welcome, but challenges around the recruitment of community paediatricians mean that some children in Leighton Buzzard, Dunstable and Houghton Regis are waiting too long for an assessment. What can the NHS do to attract more of the 39,000 additional doctors recruited under this Government into community paediatrics, as a specialty that is incredibly rewarding and important?

Rishi Sunak Portrait The Prime Minister
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My hon. Friend is right, and he joins me in welcoming the significant action that we have already taken to improve children’s health, whether that is reducing sugar in children’s food, or the £600 million we have invested to improve the quality of sport and physical activity in schools. The NHS has established a special group to ensure that the recovery of paediatric services keeps pace with that of adult elective care, and he will be pleased that the NHS long-term workforce plan, which we have fully backed, doubles the number of medical school places in England and increases specialty training places. That will increase the size of the pool from which community paediatricians can be drawn in the future.