Asked by: Chris Kane (Labour - Stirling and Strathallan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of applications for naturalisation as a British citizen were processed within the UK Visas and Immigration six-month service standard in the latest period for which data is available; and what steps her Department is taking to meet this service standard.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes regular data on the processing of applications for British citizenship on the Gov.uk website. This includes performance against the service standard for completing applications. The most recent Migration Transparency data published in November 2024 shows that 99.9% of straightforward applications were decided within service standard.
The link to the latest Migration Transparency Data can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/passport-citizenship-and-civil-registrations-data-q3-2024.
Asked by: Chris Kane (Labour - Stirling and Strathallan)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Spirit Drinks Verification Scheme on small-scale craft production.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue & Customs’ Spirits Drinks Verification Scheme (SDVS) conducts assurance of spirit producers wishing to apply for Geographic Indication status, ensuring their processes and products comply with established standards. As the SDVS is not limited to craft producers and engagement with the scheme is voluntary, no assessment of the impact on small scale craft producers has been undertaken.
However, the government recognises the importance of protecting and promoting the unique status of the UK’s traditional spirit drinks industry. That is why at Autumn Budget we announced an investment of up to £5m to improve the SDVS and ensure the fees HMRC charge producers for its verification service are as low as possible.
Asked by: Chris Kane (Labour - Stirling and Strathallan)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent progress she has been made in removing dangerous cladding from building across the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Statistics on the progress of remediating unsafe cladding on 11m+ buildings in England are published monthly here: Building Safety Remediation - GOV.UK.
The latest published statistics, as at 31 October 2024, shows progress over the last three months as: 120 more buildings in England are known to have started or completed remediation works on unsafe cladding since the end of July, and 86 more buildings are known to have completed remediation.
The published statistics also include data on remediation progress of buildings in Northern Ireland progressing remediation via the Cladding Safety Scheme.
Building safety is a devolved matter and the progress of remediation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a matter for their respective devolved administrations.
Asked by: Chris Kane (Labour - Stirling and Strathallan)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussion with the Scottish government on the Cladding Remediation Programme in Scotland.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Building standards and remediation are a devolved matter. Scottish Government have taken a different remediation approach in terms of identification, assessment and scope.
We support the collective improvement of the safety of the UK’s built environment and regularly work with colleagues in Scotland and other devolved Governments to support them in driving remediation and protecting affected residents.
Asked by: Chris Kane (Labour - Stirling and Strathallan)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking taken to (a) encourage growth in, (b) support small scale craft produce in and (c) reduce barriers to entry to the spirits industry.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Budget the Government announced a number of measures to help reduce business costs and encourage growth within the spirits industry. These included:
o Legislation to abolish the Alcohol Duty Stamp Scheme. From 1st May 2025 approximately 3500 spirit producers, bottlers and labellers will no longer need to comply with the duty stamp requirements, saving industry an estimated £6.5m annually.
o Investment of up to £5m into HMRC’s Spirit Drinks Verification Scheme, to reduce costs for spirit producers registering traditional products for Geographic Indication.
o Increased generosity of Small Producers Relief, available to producers of spirit-based products under 8.5% abv.
The Government is also simplifying the administration of alcohol duty, reducing burdens and supporting growth. From March 2025 HMRC’s arrangements for duty returns and payments will be reformed, supported by a new online service. As a result, many small spirit producers will no longer require costly duty deferment arrangements to underwrite their monthly liabilities.
Additionally, reform of the production approvals required by spirit producers will mean they will no longer be required to operate separate excise warehousing facilities for the storage, bottling and labelling of their own products.
Beyond simplification and investment in the alcohol duty system, the Department for Business & Trade (DBT) also leads a government effort, working with devolved governments and the sector, to support this important industry. DBT helps boost spirit exports by leveraging trade agreements and removing barriers. They recently obtained recognition of the Scotch Whisky Geographic Indicator in Brazil, valued at £25m over five years. DBT also continue to spotlight UK spirits at global trade shows in key markets, including a trade mission to India in November this year and Germany in March 2025. Finally, the Export Academy food and drink programme, launched in October, offers dedicated upskilling to both emerging and experienced exporting distilleries.
Asked by: Chris Kane (Labour - Stirling and Strathallan)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to support rural community organisations undertaking community-led broadband installations.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), the government provides a subsidy of up to £4,500 for residents and businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband via local community-led broadband projects.
Approximately 2,300 premises in Stirling and Strathallan have received a gigabit-capable connection via the GBVS and its previous iterations. The voucher scheme is currently paused in the constituency while Building Digital UK finalises the scope of a wider Project Gigabit contract for Central and Northern Scotland.
Asked by: Chris Kane (Labour - Stirling and Strathallan)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what community-led rural gigabit broadband projects are in development with Building Digital UK.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), the government provides a subsidy of up to £4,500 for residents and businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband via local community-led broadband projects.
Approximately 2,300 premises in Stirling and Strathallan have received a gigabit-capable connection via the GBVS and its previous iterations. The voucher scheme is currently paused in the constituency while Building Digital UK finalises the scope of a wider Project Gigabit contract for Central and Northern Scotland.
Asked by: Chris Kane (Labour - Stirling and Strathallan)
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 (a) support research into and (b) promote awareness of (i) Guillain-Barré Syndrome, (ii) Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy and (iii) other related inflammatory neuropathies.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as rare inflammatory neuropathies. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities, collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, which include increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals and improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. We remain committed to delivering under the framework and will publish an annual England action plan in 2025.
Pioneering research is an underpinning theme of the UK Rare Diseases Framework, and the Department funds and supports research into rare diseases through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In the last five financial years, multiple studies, including one that is currently live, on rare inflammatory neuropathies have been supported by NIHR infrastructure.
The NHS Genomics Education Programme is working to increase overall awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals. Guillain-Barré syndrome, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, and other inflammatory neuropathies are part of the core training curriculum for neurology trainees, for which competency has to be demonstrated before being placed on the specialist register.
Asked by: Chris Kane (Labour - Stirling and Strathallan)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has has been made on ensuring appropriate treatment for people suffering from epilepsy; and what steps he has taken to implement the 2018 review by Dame Sally Davies on the therapeutic and medicinal benefits of cannabis based products.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are a range of anti-seizure medications that can be prescribed for the treatment of epilepsy that have been shown to be effective at reducing the number of seizures a person experiences. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on epilepsies in children, young people, and adults, provides clinicians with evidence-based advice around starting a patient on anti-seizure medication. It outlines that clinicians should develop an individualised anti-seizure medication treatment strategy with their patient, taking safety considerations into account, and regularly monitoring and reviewing their patient’s medications. The NICE guidance also includes recommendations on non-pharmacological treatments for epilepsy, such as adhering to a ketogenic diet.
In June 2018, Professor Dame Sally Davies, the former Chief Medical Officer for England and Chief Medical Advisor to the Government, published a review to explore the therapeutic benefits of cannabis-based products for medicinal use. Professor Davies recommended ‘that the whole class of cannabis-based medicinal products be moved out of Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001’.
Following advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the Government accepted the recommendation and amended the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 (the 2001 Regulations) and Misuse of Drugs (Designation) Order 2015. This introduced a legal route for cannabis-based products for medicinal use to be prescribed by doctors on the General Medical Council specialist register, in the strictly controlled circumstances required by the 2001 Regulations, without the requirement for a Home Office licence
There are no outstanding actions from the review.
Asked by: Chris Kane (Labour - Stirling and Strathallan)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS prescriptions for cannabis based products there have been in each year since 2018.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the total number of National Health Service prescriptions for licensed cannabis-based medicines, namely Nabilone, Sativex, and Epidyolex, dispensed in the community in England against an NHS prescription between January 2018 to September 2024:
Time period | Items |
2018 | 2,591 |
2019 | 2,636 |
2020 | 2,674 |
2021 | 2,973 |
2022 | 4,003 |
2023 | 5,192 |
2024 | 4,326 |
Total | 24,395 |
Source: NHS Business Services Authority
Note: data for 2024 is from January to September.
Data on unlicensed cannabis-based medicines is withheld in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulations, due to the number of items attributed being to fewer than five patients, and an enhanced risk of the release of patient identifiable information.