Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Minister has responsibility for oversight of the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. The NMC is independent of Government, directly accountable to Parliament and is responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties. The UK's model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.
The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care oversees the bodies that regulate health and care professionals in the UK, which includes the NMC. As the Minister of State for Health (Secondary Care), I monitor the NMC’s performance and meet with the organisation regularly. In line with the Ministerial Code, details of all ministerial meetings, including those with the NMC, are published quarterly on the GOV.UK website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-overseas-travel-and-meetings
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times Ministers in his Department have met with representatives of the Nursing and Midwifery Council in the last 12 months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. The NMC is independent of Government, directly accountable to Parliament and is responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties. The UK's model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.
The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care oversees the bodies that regulate health and care professionals in the UK, which includes the NMC. As the Minister of State for Health (Secondary Care), I monitor the NMC’s performance and meet with the organisation regularly. In line with the Ministerial Code, details of all ministerial meetings, including those with the NMC, are published quarterly on the GOV.UK website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-overseas-travel-and-meetings
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether it remains his policy to cut energy bills by £300 by 2030.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It remains our intention to cut energy bills by up to £300 by 2030.
The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently.
The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past.
A clean power system will also help protect consumers from global gas prices and fluctuations which drove increases of over £1,300 in the electricity price cap for a typical household during winter 22/23.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average length of time taken is for the Nursing and Midwifery Council to resolve a disciplinary complaint.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold this information centrally. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. The UK's model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.
All registered health and social care professions in the UK pay an annual registration fee to their regulatory body. Registrant fees are used to fund the NMC's operations, including its fitness to practise processes. Being funded by registrant fees enables the NMC to maintain its independence, allowing it to take action if it identifies risks to patient safety or the public’s confidence in the profession.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hours of staff time are taken up by the average Nursing and Midwifery Council disciplinary process.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold this information centrally. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. The UK's model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.
All registered health and social care professions in the UK pay an annual registration fee to their regulatory body. Registrant fees are used to fund the NMC's operations, including its fitness to practise processes. Being funded by registrant fees enables the NMC to maintain its independence, allowing it to take action if it identifies risks to patient safety or the public’s confidence in the profession.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost to the public purse is of a Nursing and Midwifery Council disciplinary process.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold this information centrally. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. The UK's model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.
All registered health and social care professions in the UK pay an annual registration fee to their regulatory body. Registrant fees are used to fund the NMC's operations, including its fitness to practise processes. Being funded by registrant fees enables the NMC to maintain its independence, allowing it to take action if it identifies risks to patient safety or the public’s confidence in the profession.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's news story entitled British Muslim Trust appointed as new partner to monitor and tackle anti-Muslim hatred, published on 21 July 2025, when her Department was informed that Akeela Ahmed would be appointed CEO of the British Muslim Trust.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Combatting Hatred Against Muslims Fund was established this year to respond to the evolving nature of religious intolerance and targeted hate incidents faced by Muslim communities, which are at the highest level on record.
The British Muslim Trust (BMT) was appointed as the recipient of the Fund following a rigorous and transparent application process, in which it was the highest scoring applicant.
The application submitted by BMT on 18 May 2025 included information on their intentions for the staffing of key individuals, including the CEO. These plans were dependent on being identified as the preferred bidder for the Fund.
In establishing the BMT, The Aziz Foundation and Randeree Charitable Trust have worked closely with Akeela Ahmed MBE, who they intend to appoint as CEO, drawing on her decades of experience in working with grassroots organisations and policy-level anti-hate work.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there is (a) lesbian, (b) gay and (c) bisexual muslim representation on the Working Group to define Islamophobia.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The independent working group includes members from a cross-section of society and have been selected for their technical expertise and experience and ability to work to deliver the objectives set out in the Terms of Reference. Alongside drawing on their own expertise, the working group are engaging widely to ensure their proposed definition accounts for the variety of backgrounds and experiences of Muslim communities across the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many heat pump installations have been directly funded by his Department outside the Boiler Upgrade Scheme since July 2024.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Outside of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, between July 2024 and March 2025 inclusive, there have been 14,218 heat pumps installed under government schemes, including 11,035 under the Energy Company Obligation, 2,097 under the Home Upgrade Grant, 1,086 under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. The statistics are available to access on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/heat-pump-deployment-statistics).
The ECO is not a government-funded grant scheme, but instead a requirement on larger energy supplier to deliver energy efficiency and heating measures to low-income households.
Heat pumps are eligible for support under the Warm Homes: Local Grant and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund. The schemes started delivery in April 2025 and therefore installation figures are not yet available.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of aligning with the EU Emissions Trading System on the price of carbon in the UK.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The price of carbon allowances in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme is set by the market.
Linking the UK and EU ETSs is expected to create a larger, more stable market, which will lower the costs of decarbonisation for UK businesses. Many industry stakeholders, including Make UK, UK steel, and Energy UK, have voiced support for linking the two schemes, citing that linkage would align carbon prices and support business investment and certainty, by creating a larger and more liquid carbon market.