Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 ensure Trusts uphold their legal obligations under the (a) Equality Act 2010 and (b) duty of care for staff returning from serious illness such as cancer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We hugely value all National Health Service staff and are committed to improving organisational culture and working conditions, so we can keep staff healthy, motivated, and retain their valuable skills.
A cancer diagnosis is regarded as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, which means that employers have a duty of care to consider any reasonable adjustments to help the employee to return to work in a timely and safe way, and with their health needs in mind.
NHS trusts are expected to have local policies and procedures in place to support staff who have long-term health conditions, including cancer.
The NHS Terms and Conditions of Service handbook sets out interventions that should be considered under the Employment Rights Act 1996 when managing an employee’s return to work. There are tools and resources available to employers to assist their employees returning to work, and this includes NHS England’s NHS Health and Wellbeing framework, and the Sickness Absence toolkit published by NHS Employers. Further information on the NHS Health and Wellbeing framework and the Sickness Absence toolkit is available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.nhsemployers.org/toolkits/sickness-absence-toolkit
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of not including prostate cancer referral guidance for asymptomatic men in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines on prostate cancer relate to symptomatic patients. Guidance on prostate cancer referral for asymptomatic men can be found in the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prostate-cancer-risk-management-programme-overview
NICE guidelines do not provide guidance on screening of asymptomatic people which is the responsibility of the UK National Screening Committee.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the provision of military intelligence to Ukrainian forces.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Secretary regularly speaks with his US counterpart regarding our collective support to Ukraine’s armed forces in response to Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion.
As the hon. Gentlemen will understand, we do not comment on Intelligence matters. However, we have always been clear that the UK will do everything we can to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position across all aspects of our support, particularly defence and security.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of issuing research and development bonds of up to £20 billion per year.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Government investment in research and development (R&D) underpins the UK’s excellence in its universities and research institutes and stimulates private sector innovation, driving growth and higher living standards. On average, every £1 of government spending delivers £7 of economic benefits in the long term. At the recent Spending Review, the government therefore prioritised R&D – increasing R&D funding to £22.6 billion per year by 2029-30, an above-inflation increase.
Our core gilt programme is the most stable and cost-effective way of raising finance to fund the day-to-day activities of the government, owing to the depth and liquidity of the market. This is, in part, down to the fungibility of the instruments issued to the market. Issuing bonds aimed at financing specific areas of spending risks fragmenting the gilt market, which would not be consistent with the government’s debt management objective of minimising the long-term cost of financing, taking into account risk.
The government keeps under regular review the introduction of new debt instruments. The government would however need to be satisfied that any new instrument would meet value-for-money criteria, enjoy strong and sustained demand in the long term, and be consistent with wider fiscal objectives.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure the timely delivery of Betchwood Vale Academy.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is engaging with local authorities and trusts and progressing work on special and alternative provision free schools in line with our vision for the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. Projects are at different stages of development, which means we have been prioritising operational decisions on those that are due to open in the shorter term.
Departmental officials are in the process of reviewing all the documentation for Betchwood Vale Academy before submitting a new planning application for the school.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his letter to the hon. Member for Dorking and Horley, dated 4 June 2025, if he will set out the legislative vehicles his Department are considering to address the identified shortcomings in mental capacity law.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 4 June 2025, I wrote to Fiona Laskaris and the Hon. Member for Dorking and Horley, Chris Coghlan MP to confirm my commitment to review the full range of policy and legislative levers in relation to the practical application of mental capacity law. This important work requires careful consideration. The most recent meeting with officials was on 17 June, and we will set out our plans in due course.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's planned timetable is for its public consultation on the application of mental capacity law.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 4 June 2025, I wrote to Fiona Laskaris and the Hon. Member for Dorking and Horley, Chris Coghlan MP to confirm my commitment to review the full range of policy and legislative levers in relation to the practical application of mental capacity law. This important work requires careful consideration. The most recent meeting with officials was on 17 June, and we will set out our plans in due course.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what oversight exists to (a) monitor and (b) audit legal expenditure by NHS Trusts in Employment Tribunal cases.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neither the Department nor NHS England monitor or audit legal expenditure by National Health Service trusts in Employment tribunal cases. NHS trusts are responsible for overseeing their own Employment Tribunal cases, which would include monitoring and auditing the legal expenditure. Legal expenditure in Employment Tribunal cases may however be subject to financial audit scrutiny by the NHS trusts’ external auditors, subject to local audit materiality.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has considered the merits of expanding the functions of the Public Guardian to include responsibility for appropriate discharge of mental capacity assessments.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has responsibility for the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005, which provides a framework for making decisions on behalf of adults who are unable to do so for themselves. The statutory Code of Practice issued under the Act provides guidance to practitioners on the conduct of capacity assessments in keeping with the principles of the MCA.
The Public Guardian is the statutory office holder created by the Act whose core functions relate primarily to registering lasting powers of attorney and supervising court appointed deputies. We have no current plans to expand these functions.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to create national guidelines for preventing adult grooming.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is taking a range of actions to prevent the grooming and exploitation of vulnerable adults.
To tackle criminal exploitation, we are introducing a new cuckooing offence in the Crime and Policing Bill to target criminals who groom and exploit vulnerable people in order to take over their homes for criminal purposes. We are also introducing a new offence of coerced internal concealment to address the appalling practice whereby criminals exploit children and vulnerable adults to cause them to internally conceal items such as drugs for criminal purposes. Both offences will be supported by statutory guidance for police as well as non-statutory multi-agency guidance which will include information on preventative action to protect those at risk of these terrible forms of adult grooming and exploitation.
In terms of adult grooming for sexual exploitation, we are working closely with police and others to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement operational intensifications aimed at tackling modern slavery threats and targeting prolific perpetrators.