Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to help position the UK as a global leader in blue finance.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has built its position as a leader in blue finance through policy engagement and our Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes. Through our portfolio of marine ODA programmes, Defra and FCDO work with a range of partners, including the UN, Multi-lateral Development Banks, not-for-profit partnerships and the private sector, to pilot and implement blue finance solutions that support sustainable blue economies.
The UK is committed to delivering a Sustainable Ocean Plan by 2027 as part of its active membership of the leader level High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy. Placing nature, economic growth, and food security at its core, the Sustainable Ocean Plan will provide clear guidance for public and private sector decision-makers on how the UK can achieve 100% sustainable management of our seas and oceans.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to (a) consult on and (b) develop a Sustainable Blue Economy Strategy.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has built its position as a leader in blue finance through policy engagement and our Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes. Through our portfolio of marine ODA programmes, Defra and FCDO work with a range of partners, including the UN, Multi-lateral Development Banks, not-for-profit partnerships and the private sector, to pilot and implement blue finance solutions that support sustainable blue economies.
The UK is committed to delivering a Sustainable Ocean Plan by 2027 as part of its active membership of the leader level High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy. Placing nature, economic growth, and food security at its core, the Sustainable Ocean Plan will provide clear guidance for public and private sector decision-makers on how the UK can achieve 100% sustainable management of our seas and oceans.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 reduce waiting times for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in South East Cornwall constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through our Plan for Change, we’re determined to give children and young people the best start in life, including in the South East Cornwall constituency.
The Government is expanding access to mental health support teams in all schools and colleges to reach all pupils by 2029, ensuring that every pupil has access to early support services.
More widely, we are investing £26 million in new crisis centres, rolling out young futures hubs, and hiring 8,500 more mental health staff to reduce waiting times.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 provide support for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to improve early intervention for children with emerging mental health difficulties.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through our Plan for Change, we’re determined to give children and young people the best start in life.
The Government is expanding access to mental health support teams in all schools and colleges to reach all pupils by 2029, ensuring that every pupil has access to early support services.
More widely, we are investing £26 million in new crisis centres, rolling out young futures hubs, and hiring 8,500 more mental health staff.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many at-sea boarding inspections of (a) UK and (b) EU flagged fishing vessels took place outside of six nautical miles in each year between 2015 and 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As fisheries control and enforcement is a devolved matter, each Devolved Administration is responsible for conducting inspections on vessels in their respective waters. Although the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) does not routinely publish specifics on inspections, the MMO annual reports which are published on gov.uk provide certain figures, for example during 2023/24 financial year, 37% of inspections at sea were conducted on non-UK vessels and 63% conducted within the UK domestic fleet. Information on the number of inspections carried out by Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish authorities in waters they are responsible for can be requested from the relevant devolved Government.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of women born in the 1950s who have died since 21 March 2024.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and National Records Scotland (NRS) publish annual data on deaths by sex and age group on their websites.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to international student policy on the finances of universities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has been clear that we welcome international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK. International students positively impact our higher education (HE) sector, economy, and society as a whole and enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK.
The Immigration White Paper, published in May, sets out a balanced approach - helping the government achieve our manifesto commitment on reducing net migration while maintaining the UK’s global competitiveness.
The Office for Students (OfS) has identified reliance on international student fee income as a risk to HE providers’ sustainability. It has been clear that providers will need to change their business models to protect their financial health as a response to this risk and others. HE providers are independent from government and as such are responsible for managing their finances.
This government has taken action to support the financial sustainability of universities after seven years of frozen tuition fee caps. The maximum fee for a standard full-time undergraduate course in the 2025/26 academic year was increased by 3.1%, from £9,250 to £9,535. To provide long-term certainty over future funding for the sector, so that it can focus on reform, we will increase tuition fee caps in line with forecast inflation in 2026/27 and 2027/28 and then legislate to increase tuition fee caps automatically for future academic years.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support higher education providers that have financial challenges in the next academic year.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has been clear that we welcome international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK. International students positively impact our higher education (HE) sector, economy, and society as a whole and enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK.
The Immigration White Paper, published in May, sets out a balanced approach - helping the government achieve our manifesto commitment on reducing net migration while maintaining the UK’s global competitiveness.
The Office for Students (OfS) has identified reliance on international student fee income as a risk to HE providers’ sustainability. It has been clear that providers will need to change their business models to protect their financial health as a response to this risk and others. HE providers are independent from government and as such are responsible for managing their finances.
This government has taken action to support the financial sustainability of universities after seven years of frozen tuition fee caps. The maximum fee for a standard full-time undergraduate course in the 2025/26 academic year was increased by 3.1%, from £9,250 to £9,535. To provide long-term certainty over future funding for the sector, so that it can focus on reform, we will increase tuition fee caps in line with forecast inflation in 2026/27 and 2027/28 and then legislate to increase tuition fee caps automatically for future academic years.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 improve facilities for healthcare workers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Health and Wellbeing Framework highlights the importance of getting the basics right such as providing access to good quality rest areas, food, and drink options.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals and support to work healthily and flexibly.
The New Hospital Programme will mandate that staff welfare spaces must occupy at least 6% to 7% of the total net internal area footprint for schemes that are fully compliant with the new standardised designs. This 6% to 7% minimum allocation will continue to be protected and maintained through the full life cycle of the building.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 help support the (a) health and (b) wellbeing of the NHS workforce.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health and wellbeing of National Health Service staff is a top priority. Local employers across the NHS have arrangements in place for supporting staff including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and a focus on healthy working environments. At a national level, NHS England has made available additional emotional and psychological health and wellbeing support.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out staff treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health. To further support this ambition, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace.