Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates in cases of violence against women and girls.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
This Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. A key part of this will be delivering effective prosecutions, and we continue to see improvements in the prosecution of VAWG offences.
As Solicitor General, I superintend the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is continuing to transform its approach to adult rape prosecution through the implementation of its new national operating model, based on robust evidence from Operation Soteria. Through this work, the CPS has seen substantial increases in referral, charge, and prosecution volumes for adult rape.
These improvements have also informed the Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan with policing which launched in November 2024. Better partnership with policing has already led to modest initial increases in domestic abuse referrals, setting a strong foundation for future improvements. Pilots are now underway in three CPS areas, to improve timeliness of investigations, efficiency of charging decisions and communication throughout cases.
To address the increasingly complexity of VAWG offending and the holistic needs of victims, the CPS will also begin implementation of its 2025-30 VAWG strategy. This will ensure prosecutors have the right skills and tools to prosecute VAWG effectively.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help tackle pay disparities for disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling pay disparities for disabled people is a major focus, hence bringing forward measures to address them in the King’s Speech.
In March, we launched a consultation on proposals to introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting for large businesses.
Through the upcoming Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, we will make the right to equal pay effective for disabled people. Our Call for Evidence, launched in April, seeks views on this.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
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 shift care from hospitals into the community.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is vital to move services from hospital to community. The Chancellor made funding available for 380,000 more talking therapies for patients and put in place a £26 million capital investment scheme for mental health crisis centres. A lot of work has been done, but there is a lot more still to do.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, If he will make a comparative assessment of the adequacy of NHS care at (a) weekends and (b) weekdays.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service is committed to ensuring safe, high-quality care is available to patients seven days a week, whether they require emergency treatment or ongoing care. While there are natural variations in activity levels between weekends and weekdays, such as lower elective activity at weekends, hospital teams prioritise urgent care needs to ensure timely and effective treatment regardless of the day. Hospital staffing on weekends is designed to address the severity of patients' conditions and the demands on services.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help improve safety for (a) children and (b) other vulnerable road users.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 19 November 2024, Active Travel England and the Department for Transport published guidance for local authorities in England on how to set up and manage a School Streets scheme. The guidance can be viewed online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-streets-how-to-set-up-and-manage-a-scheme.
The Highway Code was updated in 2022 to improve road safety for cyclists and pedestrians, by strengthening pedestrian priority on pavements and at crossings and introducing the Hierarchy of Road Users, which places those road users most at risk in the event of a collision at the top of the hierarchy. The Highway Code makes it clear that those in charge of vehicles that can cause the greatest harm in the event of a collision bear the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger they pose to others.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure that the output of the Curriculum and Assessment Review includes a focus on schools adopting (a) inclusive and (b) nurturing approaches to education.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Ealing Southall to the answer of 14 November 2024 to Question 13149.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
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 ensure that people facing homelessness are discharged safely from hospital in winter 2024-25.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have published guidance and supporting materials for health and care staff on discharging people at risk of, or experiencing homelessness. This ensures that every health and care interaction with a homeless person acts as an opportunity to provide support and signposting, with the aim of ending rough sleeping. The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the development of the Government’s plans for social and affordable housing. Further information on the published guidance and supporting materials for health and care staff on discharging people at risk of, or experiencing homelessness, is available at the following link:
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to take steps to require schools to make an assessment of the social, emotional and behavioural needs of pupils.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Schools and further education colleges are required to identify and address the special educational needs (SEN) of the children and young people they support. In the case of mainstream settings, they must use their best endeavours to make sure that a child or young person who has SEN gets the support they need.
Schools report on the pupils they identify with social, emotional and mental health needs through the School Census. In 2024, 316,327 pupils were identified as having a social, emotional and mental health need as a primary type of need.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was between referral for and receipt of a colonoscopy in each trust in each year between 2020 and 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data is not held centrally on the average waiting time between referral for and receipt of a colonoscopy in each National Health Service trust, each year between 2020 and 2024.
Data is published on the median waiting times nationally for colonoscopies. The median waiting times value represents the point at which 50% of people have been in the waiting list for more than this value, and 50% of people have been in the waiting list, waiting less than this value. It does not directly capture the time from the referral to the test.
The following table shows the median waiting time measured in weeks, in August, which is the latest published month of data, each year from 2020 to 2024.
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Median waiting time | 8.5 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.1 |
Source: monthly activity and waiting list data for diagnostics is published by NHS England, and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/monthly-diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average overall cost for bowel cancer patients was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on the average overall cost for bowel cancer patients is not specifically recorded.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has set out how the Department will receive an additional £22.6 billion in resource spending in 2025/26, compared to 2023/24, which will support the National Health Service to deliver 40,000 additional elective appointments a week, to help bring down waiting lists, which includes appointments for cancer patients.