Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2025 to Question 24912 on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, whether the measures to implement the provisions needed to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty will be complete by the UN Ocean Conference in June 2025.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government is completely committed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the "High Seas Treaty" or "Global Ocean Treaty"), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Legislation to implement the BBNJ Agreement will be introduced as soon as the legislative timetable allows.

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 number of (a) non-bond and (b) other private creditors have reached debt restructuring agreements; and what information his Department holds on when Zambia is expected to complete the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Zambia has now reached agreement on restructurings with its official creditors and private bondholders, though progress was slow initially. Good faith negotiations continue with remaining commercial creditors. The UK has been clear that private creditors must play their part in debt restructurings. The Paris Club, and now the G20 as part of the Common Framework process, are also clear on our collective expectation that private creditors must participate in restructurings on terms at least as favourable as those provided by government creditors, to ensure comparability of treatment. The UK continues to push for the improvement and expansion of the Common Framework to all lower and middle-income countries, including through our participation in the Paris Club, G20 Finance Track, and the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2024 to Question 17264 on Children: Epilespy, what steps her Department is taking with governing bodies to ensure that all schools (a) develop a policy for supporting pupils with medical conditions, (b) ensure the arrangements they put in place are sufficient to meet their statutory responsibilities and (c) ensure that policies, plans, procedures and systems are properly and effectively implemented.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Governing bodies must ensure that the arrangements they put in place are sufficient to meet their statutory responsibilities and that policies, plans, procedures and systems are properly and effectively implemented. This includes the duty under Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions and the duties under the Equality Act 2010. The effectiveness of a school is assessed through inspection by Ofsted.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential reasons for health professionals leaving the NHS, to the lowest available data level; and what steps his Department is taking to promote improved staff retention.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England publishes quarterly data on the broad reasons for staff leaving and staff movements in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations, support organisations, and central bodies in England. This is published as part of the NHS Workforce Statistics publication, which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics

In addition, the latest timeseries data, which runs to September 2024, is available at the following link:

https://files.digital.nhs.uk/CC/67A0A8/NHS%20Workforce%20Statistics%2C%20September%202024%20Reasons%20for%20Leaving.xlsx

The Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, to ensure the retention of our hardworking and dedicated staff. NHS England is leading the National Retention Programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts.

Retention efforts are aligned with the NHS People Promise, which was co-developed with staff to reflect what matters to them. This ensures that trusts have access to proven retention strategies and data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his polices on global climate action of (a) the US Executive Order entitled Putting America First in International Climate Agreements, dated 20 January 2025 and (b) other polices of the new US Administration on (i) climate finance commitments and (ii) international agreements; and if he will take steps to increase levels of climate adaptation funding for developing countries.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK notes the US Executive Order entitled Putting America First in International Climate Agreements and other climate-related policy steps, these are a matter for the US. The UK will continue to work with all countries and partners to tackle the urgency of the climate and nature crisis and will pursue an energy policy that gets UK household bills down in the long-term. Our next International Climate Finance commitment will be carefully determined through the multi-year Spending Review.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what additional funding she plans to provide to local authorities in rural areas to improve road safety.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

We have awarded local authorities £185.8 million of funding between 2017 and 2024 through the Safer Roads Fund to improve the safety of England's most high risk 'A' roads. To date, it has funded 445.3 miles of rural roads which make up 62.4% of all funded routes.

We acknowledge there is more that can be done; therefore, my Government is developing a road safety strategy, the first in over ten years, and we will set out more details in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to improve road safety in North Herefordshire constituency in the 2025-26 financial year.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Local authorities often use Integrated Transport Block funding for road safety improvements: the Department hopes to announce ITB allocations for 2025/26 for Herefordshire and other authorities shortly. This will allow Herefordshire County Council to decide how best to use the available funding: the Department does not get involved in local authority decision making of this sort.

On highways maintenance, all local authority allocations for highway maintenance block capital funding in 2025/26, including for Herefordshire County Council, were announced by the Secretary of State for Transport on 20 December 2024 and are published on gov.uk. Herefordshire County Council will be receiving an uplift of over £6.1 million compared to the current financial year, taking its total funding for the year to nearly £23 million.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the BBC Board on the broadcasting of public information films to promote public health.

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

Ministers engage regularly with a variety of stakeholders to discuss a range of topics, including but not limited to the promotion of public health. A partnership between the Department and the BBC promotes physical activity through the Couch to 5K app. Since its launch in 2016, it has been downloaded over 7 million times, with over 9 million runs completed last year alone.

The Department promotes public health through the Better Health range of websites, apps and support tools which were visited over 20 million times in the last year.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what additional funding she plans to provide to local authorities in rural areas for road repairs.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

This Government takes the condition of our country’s roads very seriously and is committed to supporting both rural and urban authorities in maintaining and renewing their highway networks. We have announced a £500 million highway maintenance funding uplift for the 2025/26 financial year, which will allow local highway authorities across England to do the equivalent of fixing an additional seven million potholes.

Funding for local highway maintenance is based on the assets for which local highway authorities are responsible. The Department allocates capital funding based on a formula that includes the length of roads each authority is responsible for as well as the number of structures they are required to maintain. Rural authorities are generally responsible for more miles of roads than urban authorities, and this is reflected in their funding allocations.

Herefordshire County Council is the local highway authority responsible for the condition and maintenance of roads in the North Herefordshire constituency, and the Department for Transport has allocated it £22.9 million to help it carry out its local highway maintenance responsibilities in 2025/26. This is £6.1 million more than in the current financial year, or an increase of around 37%. It is Herefordshire County Council’s responsibility to decide how that funding is used, based on local needs and priorities.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to women that are more likely to live with a musculoskeletal condition.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, and women’s equality will be at the heart of our missions. Women’s health hubs have a key role in shifting care out of hospitals and reducing gynaecology waiting lists. As of December 2024, 39 out of the 42 integrated care boards reported that they had a women’s health hub. Reporting from integrated care boards to NHS England shows that the pilot funding has been used to open or expand a total of 88 hubs.

The Government recognises that musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions disproportionately impact women, and we are working jointly with NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time team to deliver our MSK Community Delivery Programme to further reduce MSK community waiting times.

We also know that more than one in three women, compared to one in five men, will sustain one or more osteoporotic fractures in their lifetime. On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan. This set out funding to boost bone density scanning (DEXA) capacity, to support improvements in early diagnosis and bone health. This is expected to provide an estimated 29,000 extra scans per year once all are fully operational. DEXA scans are a vital component of the early diagnosis of osteoporosis.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund permanent.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

I refer the hon. Member for North Herefordshire to the answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 26025.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of new legislative measures to protect the welfare of farmed fish.

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

Current legislation already provides protection for farmed fish kept for the production of meat or other products whilst on farm and during transport. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any protected animal, including fish, or to fail to provide for the welfare needs of a protected animal, for which that person is responsible. Legislation on the protection of animals at the time of killing also requires that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.

The Animal Welfare Committee’s updated Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing was finalised in 2023. As a result of this a GB-wide joint government and industry working group on farmed trout has been examining the issues raised in the report to explore potential options for more detailed welfare at killing requirements. This co-design work is making good progress. The Scottish Government is also working closely with the salmon industry regarding more detailed welfare at killing requirements. We are awaiting the completion of this group’s work and we will then explore all the potential next steps, including options for creating detailed guidance and new legislation.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reduction in ODA spending on the ability of recipient countries to respond to (a) resource scarcity and (b) food insecurity.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security, and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review on the basis of various factors including impact assessments.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the next iteration of the (a) NHS Long Term Workforce Plan and (b) 10-year Health Plan will include targets for increasing medical specialty training places in (i) anaesthetics and (ii) other medical specialties.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to training the staff we need, including anaesthetists and all other medical specialities, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We have launched the 10-Year Health Plan which will set out a bold agenda to reform and repair the National Health Service. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. NHS England has funded 70 additional training posts in anaesthesia in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Further expansion will be determined by the upcoming Spending Review and the planned refresh of the Long Term Workforce Plan. The content of the plan will be confirmed at the earliest opportunity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether funding for additional higher anaesthetic training places will continue in 2025-26.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to training the staff we need, including anaesthetists and all other medical specialities, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We have launched the 10-Year Health Plan which will set out a bold agenda to reform and repair the National Health Service. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. NHS England has funded 70 additional training posts in anaesthesia in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Further expansion will be determined by the upcoming Spending Review and the planned refresh of the Long Term Workforce Plan. The content of the plan will be confirmed at the earliest opportunity.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on 6 February 2025, Official Report, House of Lords, column 803, if he will make it his policy to review the Government's redactions of the Intelligence and Security Committee's report entitled Russia, Session 2019-21 HC 632, published on 21 July 2020.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

ISC reports, including the Russia report, contain highly classified material which would damage the operational capabilities of UK intelligence agencies if published unredacted. All ISC reports go through a number of administrative stages and processes before publication. This includes security checks to make sure there is nothing in the report that would be prejudicial to the continued discharge of the functions of the security and intelligence services. Redactions to the Russia report were made on grounds of national security and still apply.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, for what reason the Government uses the marginal cost pricing system for electricity.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The wholesale electricity market, like most commodity markets worldwide, is based on marginal pricing. This reflects the value of consuming or generating an additional unit of electricity at any given time and ensures that generators increase or decrease their output to meet demand.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce the gender pain gap for women.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Through the call for evidence for the Women’s Health Strategy, women told us that they had not always been listened to by healthcare professionals and that more needs to be done to improve research, evidence, and data on women’s health. It is unacceptable that women’s pain is dismissed, as this can lead to unnecessary suffering or a delayed diagnosis.

The Women’s Health Strategy for England sets out ambitions to boost the participation of women in all types of research, and for more research into women’s experiences. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has funded a range of research into women’s experiences. This includes a qualitative study into patient and healthcare professionals' experiences of the management, diagnosis, and treatment of endometriosis, which is available at the following link:

https://www.fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR156216

It also includes a study to develop a patient-reported outcome measure for prolapse, incontinence, and mesh complication surgery, which is available at the following link:

https://www.fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR152187

The NIHR expects to implement its sex and gender policy in spring 2025. This will ensure that research considers sex and gender across every stage of the research cycle, facilitating both an assessment of funding into topics that impact men and women and, crucially, a greater understanding of how women might be impacted differently.

Work continues to implement the Women's Health Strategy. In the longer term, our priorities for delivering the strategy will be aligned with the 10 Year Plan and the Government's missions. The 10 Year Plan will set out how we tackle the inequities that lead to poor health, including for women.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to publish a plan for improving outcomes for people living with musculoskeletal conditions.

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

Over 17 million people in England live with a musculoskeletal (MSK) condition, and improving their health and work outcomes will help deliver the Government's missions to build a National Health Service fit for the future and kickstart economic growth.

The Get Britain Working white paper sets out the Government’s plans to reform employment, health, and skills support to tackle rising economic inactivity levels. MSK conditions are one of the leading conditions reported by people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness in the United Kingdom, and in the white paper, the Government announced that we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First Time MSK Community Delivery Programme, which will work directly with integrated care boards to further reduce MSK community waiting times.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, columns 631-634, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reduction in the level of Official Development Assistance to 0.3% of gross national income on the UK's global reputation for supporting global action on climate change.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security, and Official Development Assistance (ODA), including that the UK will continue to play a key role in tackling climate change. Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reduction in ODA spending on climate security.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security, and Official Development Assistance (ODA), including that the UK will continue to play a key role in tackling climate change. Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of Government (a) subsidies and (b) support to fossil fuel companies in the last 12 months.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The UK does not give any subsidies to fossil fuel companies and follows the International Energy Agency’s definition of a fossil fuel subsidy.

Where data is available, estimates of the cost of tax reliefs available to oil and gas companies are published on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-relief-statistics.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the document by NHS England entitled 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance, published on 30 January 2025, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the removal of the NHS target for completion of annual health checks for people with a learning disability on health inequalities for people with learning disabilities in Herefordshire.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance for 2025-26 addresses the urgent challenges facing the NHS, as highlighted by the Darzi investigation. My Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, recently announced a series of reforms to the NHS operating model to move power from the centre to local leaders. In keeping with these reforms, we are giving systems greater control and flexibility over how funding is deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.

NHS England recognises the importance of the learning disability annual health check. The NHS Operational Planning Guidance for 2025/26 still requires integrated care boards to report on the number of people on the quality outcome framework learning disability register aged 14 years old or over who receive an annual health check during the quarter. The planning guidance is not a catalogue of everything the NHS does, nor is it the sole evidence of our priorities. It remains important that people with a learning disability and autistic people have the right, tailored support in place.

Wellbeing benefits of outdoor education to young people

Support for young disabled people after education

Personal Independence Payment

DARC in Wales

Bank closures

Coalfields Regeneration Trust funding

Chronic urinary tract infections and women's health

Carbon monoxide safety

Independent advisory panel on Department for Work and Pensions-related deaths

Royal Television Society and withdrawal of award to journalists in Gaza

Reductions in welfare spending

Tackling the climate and nature crisis

Keeping transport workers safe

Future of the adoption and special guardianship support fund

Adult education

Workplace disabilities and sickle cell disease

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

World Kidney Day 2025

Illegal modification of e-bikes and e-scooters

Plastic pollution

Community pharmacies

Rail fare increase

Triggers to Claiming Personal Independence Payment report

UK-USA trade deals and the NHS

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in York

Shortages of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy

Own Books and World Book Day

Impact Assessments of changes to Official Development Assistance

VAT on Automated External Defibrillators

Colleges Week 2025

Skilled worker legislation impact on government workers

Ending the sale of tickets to captive orca and dolphin shows

Oversight of homelessness

Covid-19 Day of Reflection 2025

50th anniversary of Solace Women's Aid

Mobile phone usage in schools

Impact of independent sector provision of cataract surgery

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Israel’s military presence in the West Bank

Impact of tool theft on tradespeople

Right to peaceful protest

Anniversary of the Darfur genocide

West Bank

Treatment of Israeli hostages

Social care day of action

Climate Change Committee's 7th Carbon Budget

Educationally subnormal schools in the 1960s and 1970s

National oversight mechanism

Cap exemption under Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme

Changes to Overseas Development Assistance

British Science Week

Content warnings for infant mortality

Energy price cap increase

Regional Inequalities in energy pricing

Homelessness

Citizenship for refugees

Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide charity

Supporting British farmers

Increases in rail fares

LGBTQI+ people in immigration detention

Cash acceptance

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Mr Toby Perkins (Chair); Julia Buckley; Ellie Chowns; Barry Gardiner

Found: In turn, carers continue to receive financial support.48 Ellie Chowns (Green) introduced amendments

Found: _NC8 Jess Asato Ellie Chowns Rachael Maskell Neil Duncan-Jordan Caroline Voaden Manuela Perteghella

Found: 2025 _NC3 Apsana Begum Florence Eshalomi Carla Denyer Liz Saville Roberts Sorcha Eastwood Ellie Chowns

Found: _NC3 Apsana Begum Florence Eshalomi Carla Denyer Liz Saville Roberts Sorcha Eastwood Ellie Chowns

Found: _NC8 Jess Asato Ellie Chowns Rachael Maskell Neil Duncan-Jordan Caroline Voaden Manuela Perteghella

Found: _NC3 Apsana Begum Florence Eshalomi Carla Denyer Liz Saville Roberts Sorcha Eastwood Ellie Chowns

Found: _NC8 Jess Asato Ellie Chowns Rachael Maskell Neil Duncan-Jordan Caroline Voaden Manuela Perteghella

Found: _NC3 Apsana Begum Florence Eshalomi Carla Denyer Liz Saville Roberts Sorcha Eastwood Ellie Chowns

Found: _NC8 Jess Asato Ellie Chowns Rachael Maskell .

Found: Margaret Mullane Rosie Duffield Lillian Jones Kim Johnson Mr Richard Quigley Ian Byrne Ellie Chowns

Found: _NC8 Jess Asato Ellie Chowns .

Found: Anna Sabine Rachel Hopkins Neil Duncan-Jordan Vikki Slade Cameron Thomas Lizzi Collinge Ellie Chowns

Found: _NC3 Apsana Begum Florence Eshalomi Carla Denyer Liz Saville Roberts Sorcha Eastwood Ellie Chowns

Found: Anna Sabine Rachel Hopkins Neil Duncan-Jordan Vikki Slade Cameron Thomas Lizzi Collinge Ellie Chowns

Found: Margaret Mullane Rosie Duffield Lillian Jones Kim Johnson Mr Richard Quigley Ian Byrne Ellie Chowns