Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the prevalence of respiratory disease and (b) the number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in South Shields constituency compared with national averages; what steps he is taking to ensure that respiratory health is prioritised; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a Modern Service Framework for respiratory care.

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

The Government will consider long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks (MSFs), including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future MSFs will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. After the initial wave of MSFs is complete, the National Quality Board will determine the conditions to prioritise for new MSFs as part of its work programme.

Data is available for emergency Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’. The following table shows the number of FAEs for South Shields and England where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’, for activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector, for 2024/25 and provisionally for 2025/26:

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.

Available data on trends in respiratory conditions can be found on the Department’s fingertips dataset. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data is available at regional, county, unitary authority, and integrated care board level. Information for South Tyneside can be found at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/Respiratory#page/1/gid/1/pat/15/ati/502/are/E08000023/iid/40701/age/163/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a respiratory Modern Service Framework, in the context of (a) NHS winter pressures and (b) health outcomes for long-term respiratory conditions and short-term respiratory illnesses such as flu.

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

The Government will consider long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks (MSFs), including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future MSFs will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. After the initial wave of MSFs is complete, the National Quality Board will determine the conditions to prioritise for new MSFs as part of its work programme. There has not, therefore, been a specific assessment made in relation to winter pressures.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will instruct the UK Health and Security Agency to add service personnel (a) who flew atomic surveillance missions and (b) for whom he recently extended the eligibility criteria for the Nuclear Test Medal to the long-term Government study into the mortality of nuclear veterans.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

This Government has reset the relationship with Nuclear Test Veterans and the organisations that support them. We remain committed to listening to their concerns and working collaboratively to address them.

In consultation with scientists at the UK Health Security Agency, we have established that it is not possible to add new individuals to the Nuclear Test Veteran longitudinal studies without biasing or affecting the results of the fifth and final analysis. It is important that these studies are carried out to the highest standards, therefore no new individuals have been added to the cohorts.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the recent declassification of the Merlin database and file reference ES 38/ZGWGV, whether service personnel took part in a mission to sample the Soviet nuclear weapon known as Tsar Bomba.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The information in ES38/ZGWGV suggests that Service personnel were involved in at least one sampling sortie after the Tsar Bomba test in October 1961. However, the unit records from this time are now held by The National Archives, and it is not possible to complete a full search without incurring disproportionate cost. No further information is held by the Ministry of Defence.

Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal 2026

Funding for fire and rescue services

117th anniversary of the West Stanley Pit Disaster

Found: Members present: Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Chair); Mr Calvin Bailey; Alex Baker; Lincoln Jopp; Emma Lewell

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2026 to Question 106994 on Veterans: Radiation Exposure, whether research on the effects of radiation on British servicemen held by the Technical Cooperation Programme of the Ministry of Defence is held in (a) this country and (b) another country; and by what body it is held.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Further to the answer provided to Question 106994, and recognising the gravity of this issue, the Department has been working to identify teams and bodies who may have, or may have had, an interest in this work. This may include entities which are now arms-length bodies.

As may be expected, the historical nature of these events is making it more challenging to locate, access and search information held in a variety of archives, both electronic and paper. In particular, it is unclear if records and archives relating to particular programmes or events include any material specifically relating to British Service personnel.

Officials are developing a more substantive overview of the situation. This will be included in the letter which was promised to Emma Lewell MP in response to Question 106994, and which will be copied to the hon. Member.

Found: Durham North East Sam Rushworth Westoe Crown Primary School NE33 3NS South Tyneside North East Emma Lewell

Found: Durham North East Sam Rushworth Westoe Crown Primary School NE33 3NS South Tyneside North East Emma Lewell