Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what mechanisms exist to support waste-reduction trials with NHS trusts.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England are always looking at ways of reducing waste and increasing efficiency. NHS England has had many discussions with National Health Service trusts on the reduction, elimination, and reuse of single-use polypropylene curtains, and have published best practice with regards to safe and sustainable management of healthcare waste.
In addition, the Department has published the Design for Life Roadmap, a new strategy to transition away from all avoidable single-use medical technology (medtech) products towards a functioning circular system by 2045. This means designing, procuring, and processing medtech products in a way that maximises reuse, remanufacture, and recycling, thus preserving their value for as long as possible. The document sets out a plan of 30 actions to deliver the 2045 vision, which involve:
The Design for Life Roadmap is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/design-for-life-roadmap
As part of its work, the Design for Life programme maintains a list of products where circular alternatives are already available, and, for those with the highest potential benefits, explores means to accelerate adoption across the NHS. Ward curtains are on this product list, where a dedicated group, including procurement and clinical experts, are working to explore how the adoption of reusable versions can be supported.
With regards to trials, the Design for Life programme has commissioned several pilots within NHS trusts to explore safe transitions from single-use to reusables, where the results have been published and cascaded among the NHS community. Furthermore, NHS England has developed and deployed an Innovation Portal to help document, evaluate, test, and deploy innovations in waste management across the NHS in England.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had discussions with NHS trusts on the potential reuse of polypropylene ward curtains.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England are always looking at ways of reducing waste and increasing efficiency. NHS England has had many discussions with National Health Service trusts on the reduction, elimination, and reuse of single-use polypropylene curtains, and have published best practice with regards to safe and sustainable management of healthcare waste.
In addition, the Department has published the Design for Life Roadmap, a new strategy to transition away from all avoidable single-use medical technology (medtech) products towards a functioning circular system by 2045. This means designing, procuring, and processing medtech products in a way that maximises reuse, remanufacture, and recycling, thus preserving their value for as long as possible. The document sets out a plan of 30 actions to deliver the 2045 vision, which involve:
The Design for Life Roadmap is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/design-for-life-roadmap
As part of its work, the Design for Life programme maintains a list of products where circular alternatives are already available, and, for those with the highest potential benefits, explores means to accelerate adoption across the NHS. Ward curtains are on this product list, where a dedicated group, including procurement and clinical experts, are working to explore how the adoption of reusable versions can be supported.
With regards to trials, the Design for Life programme has commissioned several pilots within NHS trusts to explore safe transitions from single-use to reusables, where the results have been published and cascaded among the NHS community. Furthermore, NHS England has developed and deployed an Innovation Portal to help document, evaluate, test, and deploy innovations in waste management across the NHS in England.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 reduce levels of NHS waste.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England are always looking at ways of reducing waste and increasing efficiency. NHS England has had many discussions with National Health Service trusts on the reduction, elimination, and reuse of single-use polypropylene curtains, and have published best practice with regards to safe and sustainable management of healthcare waste.
In addition, the Department has published the Design for Life Roadmap, a new strategy to transition away from all avoidable single-use medical technology (medtech) products towards a functioning circular system by 2045. This means designing, procuring, and processing medtech products in a way that maximises reuse, remanufacture, and recycling, thus preserving their value for as long as possible. The document sets out a plan of 30 actions to deliver the 2045 vision, which involve:
The Design for Life Roadmap is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/design-for-life-roadmap
As part of its work, the Design for Life programme maintains a list of products where circular alternatives are already available, and, for those with the highest potential benefits, explores means to accelerate adoption across the NHS. Ward curtains are on this product list, where a dedicated group, including procurement and clinical experts, are working to explore how the adoption of reusable versions can be supported.
With regards to trials, the Design for Life programme has commissioned several pilots within NHS trusts to explore safe transitions from single-use to reusables, where the results have been published and cascaded among the NHS community. Furthermore, NHS England has developed and deployed an Innovation Portal to help document, evaluate, test, and deploy innovations in waste management across the NHS in England.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to (a) review and (b) amend carer's allowance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government keeps all aspects of Carer’s Allowance (CA) under review to see if it is meeting its objectives.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has a statutory duty to review State Pension and benefit rates each year based on a review of trends in prices and earnings growth in the preceding year. In April 2025 the rate of Carer’s Allowance increased by 1.7% to £83.30 per week.
We have taken steps to improve the way CA operates and to support those who can combine their caring responsibilities with some paid work, including changing the weekly CA earnings limit to match 16 hours work at National Living Wage levels. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since CA was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive CA between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result of investment worth around £500 million.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to improve safety standards in the construction industry.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In line with its published Strategy 2022 to 2032, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) focuses on the most effective and efficient ways to improve the health and safety performance of all industries in Great Britain, including construction. HSE uses a variety of approaches in the construction industry.
HSE visits construction sites where they have intelligence to suggest risk is not being managed adequately and investigates incidents in line with their published selection criteria. Planned inspection visits target work related health risks, the biggest cause of lost time and longer-term worker injury and address safety risks where present.
As well as site visits, HSE engages with construction through a variety of channels including delivering industry talks, stakeholder events and engaging with the media and publishing targeted articles. HSE works with and through stakeholders that represent a cross section of the industry including the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), the Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC) and Working Well Together (WWT).
There are dedicated HSE webpages and a range of freely available guidance to enable the construction industry to comply with health and safety law and keep themselves and others safe. HSE circulate a monthly construction e-bulletin which has 140,000 subscribers and, where needed, addresses specific safety risks.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October to Question 84069 on Physician Assistants, if his Department will set out a timeline for reviewing existing guidance for employers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is currently considering next steps for supporting the wider National Health Service and relevant stakeholders to implement the recommendations of the Leng Review, starting with those focused on patient safety, as requested by the Government.
We will continue to work closely and collaboratively with partners across the NHS, the clinical professions, and their representative bodies so that patients receive safe, effective, and compassionate care in line with the relevant legal and clinical processes. As part of this, NHS England will be working with NHS Employers over the coming months, supported by colleagues in the regions, to consider what guidance and support can be provided to the system to implement those recommendations related to the employment of physician assistants.
As further information to support implementation of the recommendations is available, it will be published at the following link:
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of the regulatory framework for the health and wellness sector.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has not made a recent assessment of the efficacy of the regulatory framework for the health and wellness sector.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans he has to meet with representatives of (a) museums and (b) galleries to discuss the potential impact of proposals for the implementation of a new subscription contracts regime on those organisations.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My department has regularly engaged with representatives from museums and galleries during the consultation on the implementation of the subscription regime (Consultation on the implementation of the new subscription contracts regime - GOV.UK). We are carefully considering the points they have raised about the impact of the proposals and will continue to engage closely with the sector.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September to Question 75141 on Multiple Occupation, if his Department will undertake such an assessment.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has no current plans to undertake such an assessment. We will keep the regulation of HMOs under review, including whether an assessment of trends in the level of HMOs and the potential impacts of these on local authorities is needed.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the number of Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman complaints which are upheld.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is independent of Government, and the Cabinet Office does not centrally keep records of, or track all, the recommendations made by the PHSO (including those upheld).
The PHSO’s investigation reports and recommendations are directed to relevant departments and Arms Length Bodies. The PHSO however does publish complaints data annually, for 2024-25, please find this here: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/organisations-we-investigate/annual-data-complaints