Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the revised School Food Standards; and what steps he is taking to consult (a) schools, (b) public health experts and (c) other stakeholders in the process.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance. We are currently engaging with a range of stakeholders to help us understand the challenges around school food.
We intend to consult on these revisions and further details will be available in due course. We understand the importance of hearing from schools as part of this work and will ensure there are appropriate opportunities for their engagement.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that global development and health partnerships remain central to foreign policy objectives.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Work on international development, including global health, remains a priority for this Department. The Minister of State for International Development made this clear at the International Development Committee hearing on 12 May 2025, we will sharpen our focus on humanitarian, health and climate and nature. Making progress on our health and development agenda not only supports our broader foreign policy objectives but also contributes to the Government's health and economic growth missions.
At the UK-EU summit on 19 May, we affirmed our shared commitment to increasing our cooperation on health security, including to prevent and better mitigate against future pandemics and health crises. Later this year, the UK will co-host the replenishment of the Global Fund with South Africa.
At the Gavi Global Summit in Brussels on 25 June 2025 the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK will invest an additional £1.25 billion in support of Gavi's 2026 - 2030 programme. This commitment, alongside contributions from international partners, will help deliver Gavi to partner with countries such as yours to immunise up to 500 million more children, save up to 9 million more lives, and generate over $100 billion in economic benefits. The Minister of State for International Development also announced the UK will be investing a further £25 million in Gavi's Matching Fund to grow their work. Meeting investments from the private sector.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to support global health workforce development as part of the UK’s international health security agenda.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Strong, resilient health systems are essential for the delivery of the United Kingdom’s wider global health objectives of strengthening global health security, including tackling the threat of anti-microbial resistance and the spread of disease, and ending the preventable deaths of new-borns and children. The UK thus recognises the need to support developing countries with their health workforce.
Since 2022, the Department has committed £20 million in Official Development Assistance funding to the Global Health Workforce Programme. The programme aims to support the development of the health workforce in six African countries and regions, aiding them to build stronger, resilient health systems for health security and to make progress towards universal health coverage. It is aligned to the World Health Organization’s Working for Health Action Plan 2022-2030.
The Department’s Global Health Workforce Programme will conclude at the end of this financial year on the completion of its current grant. However, the UK will continue to support Global Health and Global Health Security including through key health multilaterals such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the World Health Organization. We also support the development of a global workforce for health security preparedness through technical assistance offered by the International Health Regulations Strengthening Programme, and in outbreak response through the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how revised school food standards will align with (a) wider Government strategies on health and (b) the 10-Year Plan for Health.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever and it is important that schools follow the latest nutritional guidance. We are working with experts on revising the School Food Standards, to ensure they support on strategies around health. The current School Food Standards already state one or more portions of vegetables as an accompaniment and one or more portions of fruit must be provided every day and at least three different fruits and three different vegetables each week.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
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 considered introducing further regulations on establishing (a) dog and (b) cat rescue organisations.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Companion animal rescue and rehoming organisations in England must comply with statutory welfare requirements set out in the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Members of the public can also check if the rescue centre they use is a member of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes, which has set clear standards for animal assessments, neutering and rehoming procedures that all members adhere to.
More broadly, the Department is developing an overarching approach to animal welfare and has initiated a series of meetings with key animal welfare stakeholders as part of this work. It will be outlining more detail of plans in due course.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
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 Cabinet colleagues on the health impact of high street regeneration.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The design of places where people live, work, and play have a significant role in shaping physical and mental health and wellbeing. Departmental minsters meet with Government colleagues to discuss cross-Government efforts to improve the public’s health, including the impact of the local built and natural environment on health. For example, ministers at the Department of Health and Social Care have met with ministers at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to specifically discuss the relationship between health, towns and planning.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the 10 year plan for the NHS will ensure that the NHS shifts from sickness to prevention.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will set out broader actions for how we shift the health and care systems in England towards preventing ill-health rather than treating sickness. Through the 10-Year Health Plan we want to take action to reduce the causes of the biggest killers and ensure that the National Health Service uses its relationship with patients to help patients improve and protect their own health.
We are already taking action, for instance enabling a smoke free generation through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and continuing the rollout of the NHS Health Check. We will build on the success of our vaccination and screening programmes and work with communities to understand what is preventing uptake.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help small businesses to improve their capacity to deliver workplace health interventions.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) introduced the Employment Rights Bill on 10 October which is currently passing through the House of Lords. We are also publishing an SME Strategy Paper later this year, which will result in positive and practical support to small and medium size businesses and employers across the UK.
The Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent Keep Britain Working Review as a part of the plan to Get Britain Working, focusing on what employers and government can do to encourage and support people living with ill-health in work.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help tackle disparities in leasehold maintenance charges for residents living in self-contained bungalows who are charged for communal amenities they cannot not use.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to ensuring that leaseholders, including those living in self-contained bungalows, are protected from unfair practices, including in relation to service charges.
Individual leases set out what services leaseholders may expect to receive and areas they can access, and what they should pay for.
Overcharging through service charges is completely unacceptable.
By law variable service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to works or services, the works or services must be of a reasonable standard. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges, they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.
Leaseholders may also access free, independent advice from the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE), which is funded by the Department and offers a range of online resources, as well as telephone and email support.
We intend to consult in the very near future on the measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 designed to drive up the transparency of service charges and to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of eligible families receive Healthy Start in Worthing West constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/
The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start and does not currently hold data on the number of people eligible for Healthy Start. The NHSBSA does not hold data on local constituencies. The table below shows the number of people on the digital scheme in the relevant local authorities as of 23 May 2025:
Local authority | Number of people on the digital scheme |
Blackpool | 1,434 |
City of Bristol | 2,778 |
County of Herefordshire | 736 |
Southampton | 1,677 |
Worthing | 348 |
Brighton and Hove | 1,041 |
East Suffolk | 1,129 |