Foetal Valproate Spectrum Disorder: Fatalities
Debate between Cat Smith and Caroline Nokes(1 year, 11 months ago)
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Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
I congratulate the right hon. Member on securing this debate on such an important issue. She is touching on the issue of women currently taking sodium valproate when they are of child-bearing age and the number of pregnancies we are still seeing. While more needs to be done with GPs to ensure that these women understand the risks and that there are pregnancy prevention plans, does she agree that it is important to say that any women listening to our debate this evening should keep taking their medication until they have had that conversation with a GP, because sodium valproate is also a lifesaving drug?
Caroline Nokes
The hon. Lady is absolutely right, and I will come on to say that none of us is advocating that valproate be banned.
Housing Benefits (18 to 21-year-olds)
Debate between Cat Smith and Caroline Nokes(7 years, 8 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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Caroline Nokes
The policy is expected to affect 5,000 young people in the first year, and 10,000 a year in steady state.
Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
Given that the number of people rough sleeping has more than doubled since 2010, does the Minister think that the policy, which singles out young adults, will make that shameful statistic better or worse?
Caroline Nokes
As I have said repeatedly, we have put in place a long list of exemptions precisely to prevent homelessness. Those who are unable to return to the family home will be exempt from the policy, so we do not expect it to increase homelessness.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Cat Smith and Caroline Nokes(8 years, 4 months ago)
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Caroline Nokes
The new state pension is much more generous for many women. More than 3 million women stand to gain £550 a year by 2030 as a result of the changes.
Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
May I take this opportunity to welcome the Minister to her place? As a fellow feminist, I am sure she will agree that we are talking about our mothers’ generation, who broke down the barriers on equal pay. What message does it send to their daughters, a generation burdened with huge amounts of student debt, when their mothers have been short-changed by the lack of transitional arrangements for their state pension? What incentive is there for younger women to trust the Government when it comes to saving for their future?
Caroline Nokes
I thank the hon. Lady for her welcome.
What we have seen from the reforms that the Government have made is that women of her age and my age are doing more now to save for their future than ever before. It is really important to reflect that some of the previous arrangements dated back to the 1940s. The world has moved on an incredible amount since that time and, I would argue, absolutely for the better.