Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the prevention stream of the health mission; and when he plans to publish an update from the mission board.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to tackling the United Kingdom’s biggest killers and building a fairer UK, where everyone lives longer, healthier lives. This is why our Health Mission sets out to shift away from a model geared towards late diagnosis and treatment, to one where there is focus on prevention and more services are delivered in local communities.

We have already acted with the landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill passing committee stage on 30 January 2025. We are committed to banning junk food advertising to children. A 9pm TV watershed and 24-hour online ban on paid-for advertising of less healthy food and drink products targeting children are on track to come into force across the UK on 1 October 2025. We have also committed to banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to young people aged under 16 years old.

Alongside this, we are exploring all interventions that will improve public health across a range of the UK’s biggest killers and help deliver the shift from treatment to prevention. Further details on our approach will be shared as we move forward.

Mission Boards are Cabinet Committees. It is a long-established precedent that information about the proceedings of the Cabinet or of any committee of the Cabinet is not normally shared publicly; this includes mission boards.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on providing smoking cessation support to patients who are in hospital receiving care for cardiovascular disease.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England has prioritised, and given new funding to integrated care boards (ICBs) for, the rollout of tobacco dependence services in hospital settings. Decisions on the scale and makeup of the services are agreed locally between ICBs and providers, based on local priorities. Where services are available, they will be accessible to people with the greatest need, including those with cardiovascular disease.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has appointed consultants to assess locations across the country as potential new town sites; whether Lichfields has been appointed to assess the M3/A303 corridor; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure there are no conflicts of interest in the appointment of consultants particularly in cases where a consultant has a vested interest in the development of a new town site.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government has tasked the New Towns Taskforce, an independent expert advisory panel chaired by Sir Michael Lyons, with developing recommendations to ministers on suitable locations for new towns, as well as how to fund and deliver them. The Taskforce will submit its final report this summer.

The Taskforce will not be sharing information about its locations evidence base prior to publication of the final report.

Any use of external expertise will be carried out in line with established procurement rules in place for using external consultants. This includes ensuring that any conflicts are declared before any work begins and that appointed bodies are recused from decisions in which they have a conflict of interest.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to (a) increase the (i) frequency of trains and (ii) number of carriages per train on all South Western Railway services operating between Winchester and London, (b) reduce the high cost of fares on this route, (c) tackle (A) delays and (B) cancellations affecting these services, (d) improve the compensation scheme for passengers experiencing journey disruptions and (e) ensure that ensure that concerns of South Western Railway passengers are (1) listened to and (2) acted upon.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Department officials are in regular conversation with South Western Railway regarding their service provision in response to demand. When reviewing train services, the Department needs to assess business cases and balance demand with value for the taxpayer in its considerations.

The Department’s aim is to keep the price of rail travel at a point that works for both passengers and taxpayers, where possible. We are also committed to simplifying the fares and ticketing system and driving innovation across the network.

The Rail Minister recently met with South Western Railway regarding their operational performance, as he has done and continues to do with all Operators, as this is a key priority of the Department.

On 25th May 2025, SWR will be the first operator to be nationalised following the introduction of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024. This will lead to the introduction of Great British Railways which will bring track and train together under one directing mind, with a relentless focus on improving services for passengers and customers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether prevention and public health will feature in the 10 year health plan.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Yes. The Government’s Health Mission sets out our ambition to build a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, which will be published later this year, will set out broader actions for how we shift health and care systems in England towards preventing ill-health rather than treating sickness.

Refusal of Citizenship to refugees who have made irregular crossings

Snares

Bank closures

Healthy lunches

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell

Ending the sale of tickets to captive orca and dolphin shows

Mobile phone usage in schools

Community pharmacies

Postural Tachycardia Syndrome

Shortages of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy

Changes to Overseas Development Assistance

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will introduce legislation to ban the commercial movement of pregnant dogs.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP. The Bill will close loopholes in the non-commercial pet travel rules that are abused by unscrupulous traders and give the government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to the United Kingdom. We will use these powers to prohibit the bringing into Great Britain of heavily pregnant dogs and cats.

We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing the importation of ethically-sourced puppies that are under six months old.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP. The Bill will close loopholes in the non-commercial pet travel rules that are abused by unscrupulous traders and give the government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to the United Kingdom. We will use these powers to prohibit the bringing into Great Britain of puppies and kittens under six months old.

This prohibition and any appropriate exemptions will be delivered via secondary legislation at a later date. Any such exemptions will need to be finely balanced against the risk of creating loopholes that could be exploited.

Found: _NC30 Max Wilkinson Victoria Collins Caroline Voaden Dr Danny Chambers Jess Brown-Fuller .

Found: _NC30 Max Wilkinson Victoria Collins Caroline Voaden Dr Danny Chambers ★.

Found: _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett Jess Brown-Fuller .

Found: _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett Jess Brown-Fuller .

Found: _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett Jess Brown-Fuller .

Found: _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett Jess Brown-Fuller .

Found: _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett Jess Brown-Fuller .

Found: _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett Jess Brown-Fuller .

Found: _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett Jess Brown-Fuller .