Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
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 improve NHS diagnostic processes for glioblastoma brain tumours.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Department is working with NHS England in taking steps to improve diagnostic processes in the National Health Service for all patients with cancer, including those with glioblastoma brain tumours.
We will get the NHS diagnosing cancer, including brain tumours, on time, diagnosing it earlier and treating it faster so more patients survive, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system. We will address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times, providing the number of CT, magnetic resonance imaging and other tests that are needed to reduce cancer waits.
To do this, we set out expectations for renewed focus on cancer targets in the Elective Reform plan, published on 6 January 2025. We have asked systems and providers to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the Faster Diagnosis Standard, to reduce the number of patients waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer. Any new CDCs will be expected to include specific capacity for cancer testing as part of activity plans, enabled either through direct provision or via freeing up acute hospital capacity for more complex cancer tests.
In September 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) announced new research funding opportunities for brain cancer research, including glioblastoma, spanning both adult and paediatric populations. This includes a national NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium, to ensure the most promising research opportunities are made available to adult and child patients and a new funding call to generate high quality evidence in brain tumour care, support, and rehabilitation.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the devolved administrations on development of a new HIV Action Plan.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Health is a devolved matter and it is the responsibility of individual governments to commission comprehensive healthcare based on population need. All four nations, however, are committed to reducing HIV transmissions.
The new HIV Action Plan, which is due to be published in summer 2025, will apply to England only. Government officials in England meet regularly with their counterparts in the devolved governments, to share information and best practice on our response to HIV.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to help ensure the representation of women in political institutions in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In the UK's engagement with international partners and Syrian contacts, we have stressed the importance of inclusivity and respect for human rights, including for women.
Senior FCDO officials recently travelled to Damascus, where they discussed the importance of an inclusive transitional political process, protecting the rights of all Syrians. The UK joined talks in Aqaba on 14 December, hosted by Jordan, with Arab, US, UN and EU partners, during which we collectively underlined the importance of respect for human rights, including for women.
Support to women and girls is at the heart of the UK's policy and programmes in Syria, including through active engagement with women's rights activists, women-led organisations and women involved in the political process.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to help ensure that women's rights are protected in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In the UK's engagement with international partners and Syrian contacts, we have stressed the importance of inclusivity and respect for human rights, including for women.
Senior FCDO officials recently travelled to Damascus, where they discussed the importance of an inclusive transitional political process, protecting the rights of all Syrians. The UK joined talks in Aqaba on 14 December, hosted by Jordan, with Arab, US, UN and EU partners, during which we collectively underlined the importance of respect for human rights, including for women.
Support to women and girls is at the heart of the UK's policy and programmes in Syria, including through active engagement with women's rights activists, women-led organisations and women involved in the political process.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the EU on the impact of General Product Safety regulations on small and medium businesses sending goods to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government maintains a dialogue with the EU on matters of mutual interest. The updated General Product Safety Regulation largely formalises the reality of how businesses are already operating in the UK and the measures are therefore likely to have limited impact. Where businesses need to make changes, we expect that they will be adapting anyway in order to continue trading with the EU. We are keeping this matter under careful review and are supporting small and medium businesses through providing detailed guidance and via regular engagement to ensure we are enabling them to trade freely across the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government plans to take to monitor the impact of General Product Safety regulations on SME's and sole traders sending goods to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is supporting SMEs to comply with the new General Product Safety Regulation. We have published guidance and have been engaging with businesses directly. We will keep the guidance under review and will continue to engage with businesses directly to monitor the situation and to ensure we are supporting them to trade freely across the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
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 adequacy of the current age range for bowel cancer screening.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Based on advice from the UK National Screening Committee, NHS England committed in the Long Term Plan to extend the age range of people eligible for bowel screening using the FIT home testing kit from age 60 down to age 50.
The age extension for bowel screening is already underway. NHS England started in April 2021 with the 56-year-old cohort and, based on modelling and clinical advice, has planned to gradually reduce to age 50 by 2025. This has been done to ensure that screening centres could manage any required increase in colonoscopy capacity.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the report by Amnesty International entitled You feel like you are subhuman: Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of the report by Amnesty International, entitled "You feel like you are subhuman: Israel's genocide against Palestinians in Gaza". The UK is fully committed to international law. The UK Government's long-standing policy is that any formal determination as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a competent national or international court, such as the International Court of Justice, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. Since 2 September, the UK has suspended relevant export licences to Israel for use in military operations in the Gaza conflict, following a review which concluded there is a clear risk that UK export items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law. The UK remains resolute in our call for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages cruelly held by Hamas since 7 October 2023 and urgent action to address the humanitarian crisis.