Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason his Department's settlement of Lariam claims involved a non-disclosure agreement with solicitors acting for veteran claimants.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Hilary Meredith Solicitors and the Ministry of Defence agreed to the inclusion of a confidentiality clause in the court order covering the damages settlement. It is a common feature of out of court settlements to keep confidential the amount of damages paid to claimants as well as the amount of legal costs paid to their solicitors.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that missing medical records on the use of Lariam by armed forces personnel are (a) located and (b) provided to those personnel.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence is not aware of any issues concerning missing medical records on the use of Lariam (mefloquine) by Armed Forces personnel. The Department can additionally confirm there are no outstanding requests for any medical records where a person believes they have been prescribed Lariam (mefloquine).
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total cost was of the sums agreed by his Department with Hilary Meredith Solicitors Ltd in connection with cases relating to the use of Lariam by armed forces personnel; and how many such claims have been settled.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Damages have been settled in all 434 claims brought by Hilary Meredith Solicitors against the Ministry of Defence relating to the use of Lariam. The claimants' legal costs have still to be resolved.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department holds information on UK participation in civilian radiation experiments conducted by the US during the Cold War.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
There is no evidence of any UK participation in unethical US radiation experiments on humans.
Officials located ministerial correspondence dating from 1996 that summarise the details of UK conducted voluntary civilian experiments involving the use of low-level radioactive material at Harwell, Porton Down and AWE Aldermaston, dating back to the 1950s. These experiments were conducted appropriately and with due regard to the health and safety of the individuals involved who received a radiation dose significantly less than average national UK background radiation exposure. No reported illnesses or fatalities have resulted from these studies.
I will place a copy of that document in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether results of (a) blood tests, (b) urine tests and (c) chest x-rays taken from UK troops serving at nuclear weapons tests were shared with (i) the US, (ii) Canada, (iii) Australia and (iv) New Zealand.
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. The Ministry of Defence is looking comprehensively at what information the Department holds regarding nuclear test veterans' medical records. I will update this House when we are in a position to share findings.
On the hon. Member's specific question about information shared with the US, Canada, and New Zealand, we have not been able to find any evidence of this. General aspects of radiological and health protection management were shared with Australia during the tests. The 1985 Australian Royal Commission was provided with information on the management of radiological and health protection.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the prevalence of asbestos in (a) defence equipment platforms and (b) his Department's (i) buildings and (ii) other infrastructure.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
We take the health and safety of our Service personnel and defence employees extremely seriously and have robust procedures for managing asbestos which comply with Health and Safety regulations.
Asbestos registers are held for Defence Equipment Platforms along with asbestos elimination/management plans that detail the quantity of Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) present. An annual report is submitted to the Health and Safety Executive on the progress made in eliminating asbestos from Defence Equipment Platforms.
The Department is responsible for circa 1,967 sites and each building with confirmed asbestos is listed on the relevant site asbestos register.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Ofwat’s recent enforcement package on Northumbrian Water was in respect of overflows from sewage works in South Shields constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat recently concluded its investigation into Northumbrian Water securing an enforcement package of £15.7 million, including £2 million allocated to further reduce spills at specific overflows.
Ofwat does not hold post code specific data on sewage overflows, however South Shields was included in their investigation and factored into subsequent enforcement: OFF-SEN-25-06-04-Northumbrian-Water-final-decision-document.pdf.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of eligible families are receiving Healthy Start in South Shields constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/
The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start and does not currently hold data on the number of people eligible for Healthy Start.
An issue was identified with the source data that is used to calculate uptake of the NHS Healthy Start scheme. The NHSBSA has therefore removed data for the number of people eligible for the scheme and the uptake percentage from January 2023 onwards.
The issue has only affected the data on the number of people eligible for the scheme. It has not prevented anyone from joining the scheme or continuing to access the scheme if they were eligible.
The number of people on the digital scheme for South Tyneside in March 2025 was 1,162. The NHSBSA does not hold data on local constituencies. The following table shows the number of people on the digital scheme for all ward areas in South Tyneside, of which South Shields is a part:
Local authority | Ward | People on digital scheme |
South Tyneside | Beacon and Bents | 44 |
South Tyneside | Bede | 93 |
South Tyneside | Biddick and All Saints | 160 |
South Tyneside | Boldon Colliery | 65 |
South Tyneside | Cleadon and East Boldon | 2 |
South Tyneside | Cleadon Park | 50 |
South Tyneside | Fellgate and Hedworth | 54 |
South Tyneside | Harton | 59 |
South Tyneside | Hebburn North | 79 |
South Tyneside | Hebburn South | 65 |
South Tyneside | Horsley Hill | 82 |
South Tyneside | Monkton | 42 |
South Tyneside | Primrose | 71 |
South Tyneside | Simonside and Rekendyke | 121 |
South Tyneside | West Park | 49 |
South Tyneside | Westoe | 26 |
South Tyneside | Whitburn and Marsden | 24 |
South Tyneside | Whiteleas | 76 |
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many families receive Healthy Start in South Shields.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures on the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/
The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start. The number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme for South Tyneside in March 2025 was 1,162. The following table shows the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme, broken down by all ward areas in South Tyneside, of which South Shields is a part, as the NHSBSA does not hold data on local constituencies:
Local authority | Ward | People on the digital scheme |
South Tyneside | Beacon and Bents | 44 |
South Tyneside | Bede | 93 |
South Tyneside | Biddick and All Saints | 160 |
South Tyneside | Boldon Colliery | 65 |
South Tyneside | Cleadon and East Boldon | 2 |
South Tyneside | Cleadon Park | 50 |
South Tyneside | Fellgate and Hedworth | 54 |
South Tyneside | Harton | 59 |
South Tyneside | Hebburn North | 79 |
South Tyneside | Hebburn South | 65 |
South Tyneside | Horsley Hill | 82 |
South Tyneside | Monkton | 42 |
South Tyneside | Primrose | 71 |
South Tyneside | Simonside and Rekendyke | 121 |
South Tyneside | West Park | 49 |
South Tyneside | Westoe | 26 |
South Tyneside | Whitburn and Marsden | 24 |
South Tyneside | Whiteleas | 76 |
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Tumour-infiltrating Lymphocytes therapy has been licenced in the UK.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has not licenced any medicines that can be described as tumour infiltrating lymphocyte therapy.