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 tackle shortages of ADHD medication.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The resilience of the United Kingdom’s supply chains is a key priority, and we are committed to helping build long term supply chain resilience for medicines. The Department works in partnership with industry, the National Health Service, and the wider health system to help ensure the continuity of the supply of medical products, including for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines. These issues are often global in nature. We monitor and manage medicine supply issues at a national level, so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand, and therefore there are no specific measures for the West Midlands.

As a result of intensive work, some issues with ADHD medicines have been resolved. All strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, atomoxetine oral solution, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.

However, whilst the supply of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets has improved, issues still persist. We are continuing to work to resolve these remaining issues by engaging with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to assess the challenges faced and their actions to address them. We are also directing suppliers to secure additional stocks, expedite deliveries where possible, and review plans to further build capacity to support the continued growth in demand for the short and long-term. The Department is also working with new suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to improve supply and resiliency for the UK market.

We are supporting an ADHD taskforce that NHS England has established to examine ADHD service provision. The taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand. In collaboration with NHS England’s national ADHD data improvement plan, we plan to combine modelling for future growth forecasts, which will be shared with industry to improve demand forecasting for ADHD medicines.

The Department has worked with NHS specialists to develop advice on prescribing alternative ADHD medications. We expect that ADHD service providers should follow this guidance and offer rapid responses for urgent advice, especially for high-risk patients. To aid decision-making at the point of the prescribing and dispensing of ADHD medicines, we continue to update a list of available ADHD products on the Specialist Pharmacy Service website.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the reliability of train services (a) in Wiltshire and (b) from Melksham station.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

We are working closely with all operators to improve performance as it is the key focus for the Secretary of State. The Department is also working with Great Western Railway to provide a more robust service for Wiltshire and Melksham through improved rolling stock reliability and train crew availability. Performance in the last couple of periods has improved since carrying out significant improvement works around Westbury and driver related cancellations on Sundays have also reduced.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to extend the right to acquire to tenants living in rural areas.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

In "designated rural areas" properties cannot be sold under the Right to Acquire so as to preserve social housing in perpetuity for local people. The government has no plans to change this.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to increase funding for the building of social housing in rural areas.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 25804 on 10 February 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will supply Ukraine with additional Challenger 2 tanks.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

At present there are no plans to supply additional Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.

The UK's decision to send a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks to Ukraine in 2023 delivered a coherent and combat effective capability and spearheaded the provision of dozens of additional Western Main Battle Tanks from international partners.

We recently announced we will be providing Ukraine with more than 50 armoured and protected vehicles, including modernised T-72 tanks, by the end of spring, building on over 1,000 armoured, protected and logistics vehicles the UK has previously delivered to Ukraine.

We continue to work closely with the Ukrainian Government to ensure the capabilities we provide meet the priorities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect chalk streams.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Cleaning up our waters, including iconic sites such as chalk streams is a top government priority. That is why on 23 October 2024, the Secretary of State announced the launch of an independent commission to fundamentally transform how our water system works.

Fixing the systemic issues in the water system is essential to address the multiple pressures facing chalk streams, namely over abstraction, phosphorous pollution and physical modifications of habitats. Restoring our chalk streams to better ecological health is part of our holistic programme of reforms for the water sector.

Alongside this, we are continuing to direct investment to projects that will improve chalk streams. In 2024/2025, there are over 45 chalk stream projects receiving funding from the Government's Water Environment Improvement Fund, each leveraging private investment.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to protect chalk streams in Wiltshire when building new developments.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that to protect and enhance biodiversity and geodiversity, local plans should identify, map and safeguard components of local wildlife-rich habitats and wider ecological networks such as chalk streams. It is for local planning authorities to apply this policy when planning for new development.

Chalk streams are specifically referenced in the definitions of ‘natural environment’ and ‘environmental protection’ for the new system of Environmental Outcomes Reports that the government intend to introduce. This will ensure the protection of chalk streams is taken into account as part of this new approach to environmental assessment.

The government will consult on draft regulations in due course following policy development and engagement with key stakeholders. While we want to realise the benefits of reform as quickly as possible, we recognise the need to manage the transition to the new system carefully. Until a new system is implemented, current legislation on environmental assessment and its supporting guidance continues to apply.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, who has been appointed as Special Representatives for Nature and Climate; what their qualifications for these posts were; what their budget is; what their (a) aims and (b) objectives are; and whether any of these have been achieved.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Rachel Kyte CMG and Ruth Davis OBE were appointed as the UK's Special Representatives for Climate and for Nature, respectively, on 21 October and 15 November.

Their biographies and objectives are set out at https://www.gov.uk/government/people/rachel-kyte and https://www.gov.uk/government/people/ruth-davis.

These roles are covered by wider Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) budgets. The Special Representatives have agreed priorities with departments, which are being implemented.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will have discussions with Network Rail on the potential merits of a Devizes Parkway railway station.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Future rail infrastructure investment will be considered as part of the current Spending Review, which will conclude in June 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will take steps to ensure that new build houses will not be placed in (a) coastal areas at risk for rising sea levels and erosion and (b) upstream flood areas that will also be at risk for rising sea levels.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

National planning policy is clear that development should be directed to areas with the lowest possible flood risk from all sources, including from the sea.

Where development is proposed in areas at risk of the impacts of coastal change, development should not be approved unless it can be demonstrated that it will be safe for its lifetime.

Development proposals would have to pass these robust tests to proceed in such locations.

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 (a) improve child and adolescent mental health services and (b) increase the speed of diagnosis for (i) ADHD and (ii) autism.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Too many children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long. We are determined to change that. We will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across children and adult services to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England and introduce open access Young Futures hubs in every community.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

In April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people and adults referred to an autism assessment service. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.

We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD including timely access to services and support.

In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England is carrying out detailed work to develop a data improvement plan, understand the provider and commissioning landscape and capture examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services.

Refusal of Citizenship to refugees who have made irregular crossings

Interstitial Lung Disease

West Bank

Heathrow airport third runway expansion

Injury on Duty Award Scheme

Replacement of Personal Independence Payments with a voucher system

Building consensus on a pathway to spending 3% of GDP on defence

Future of the adoption and special guardianship support fund

Tackling the climate and nature crisis

Mobile phone usage in schools

Impact Assessments of changes to Official Development Assistance

Social care day of action

Regional Inequalities in energy pricing

Changes to Overseas Development Assistance

Treatment of Israeli hostages

Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide charity

Supporting British farmers

Citizenship for refugees

Safety regulations for large-scale battery storage facilities

Postural Tachycardia Syndrome

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Found: Sullivan David Burton-Sampson Catherine Fookes Jess Asato Anna Dixon Jim Shannon Helen Hayes Brian Mathew

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Found: Sullivan David Burton-Sampson Catherine Fookes Jess Asato Anna Dixon Jim Shannon Helen Hayes Brian Mathew

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Found: _174 Brian Mathew .

Found: Sullivan David Burton-Sampson Catherine Fookes Jess Asato Anna Dixon Jim Shannon Helen Hayes Brian Mathew

Found: _174 Brian Mathew .

Found: Sullivan David Burton-Sampson Catherine Fookes Jess Asato Anna Dixon Jim Shannon Helen Hayes Brian Mathew

Found: _174 Brian Mathew .

Found: Sullivan David Burton-Sampson Catherine Fookes Jess Asato Anna Dixon Jim Shannon Helen Hayes Brian Mathew

Found: _174 Brian Mathew .

Found: Sullivan David Burton-Sampson Catherine Fookes Jess Asato Anna Dixon Jim Shannon Helen Hayes Brian Mathew

Found: _174 Brian Mathew .

Found: Sullivan David Burton-Sampson Catherine Fookes Jess Asato Anna Dixon Jim Shannon Helen Hayes Brian Mathew

Found: capacity for their assessments of capacity. 41 COMMITTEE STAGE Thursday 27 February 2025 _174 Brian Mathew

Found: Sullivan David Burton-Sampson Catherine Fookes Jess Asato Anna Dixon Jim Shannon Helen Hayes Brian Mathew

Found: COMMITTEE STAGE Wednesday 26 February 2025 44 _174 Brian Mathew .

Found: Sullivan David Burton-Sampson Catherine Fookes Jess Asato Anna Dixon Jim Shannon Helen Hayes Brian Mathew

Found: _174 Brian Mathew .

Found: Sullivan David Burton-Sampson Catherine Fookes Jess Asato Anna Dixon Jim Shannon Helen Hayes Brian Mathew

Found: _174 Brian Mathew .

Found: COMMITTEE STAGE Friday 21 February 2025 48 _174 Brian Mathew .

Found: Sullivan David Burton-Sampson Catherine Fookes Jess Asato Anna Dixon Jim Shannon Helen Hayes Brian Mathew

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The International Development Committee is launching a new inquiry into how the UK Government is involving the needs and voices of women in its development efforts.