Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of increased collaboration between health and social care agencies to administer care and support plans, including the provision of walking aids and equipment and the availability of a single service for users.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to the Hon. Member for Wokingham on 17 February 2026 to Question 111500.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
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 impact of longer, block contracts for providing Wheelchair Services for NHS patients on waiting times for delivering equipment.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to the Hon. Member for Wokingham on 17 February 2026 to Question 111500.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
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 appointing a senior lead for wheelchair services in (a) his Department and (b) integrated care boards.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to the Hon. Member for Wokingham on 17 February 2026 to Question 111500.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase the NHS’s annual budget for Wheelchair Services.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to the Hon. Member for Wokingham on 17 February 2026 to Question 111500.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of Discord when considering the proposed social media restrictions for young people; and whether she has considered including Discord within the scope of those restrictions as a social media platform.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
We plan to use the same model for social media restrictions as Australia. Their approach includes user-to-user platforms that allow users to post material, alongside algorithms, with a set of exemptions.
We will set out the final detail in regulations this year. We are going further than Australia by introducing world-leading restrictions on stranger communications to stop strangers discovering and communicating with children, including on gaming platforms.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reclassification of certain offences to summary only on reducing the backlog in the Crown Courts.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Part 1 of the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts considered the potential impact of reclassifying certain triable either way offences as summary only offences. Sir Brian Leveson’s analysis indicated that reclassification, together with restricting the right to elect for a Crown Court trial, would reduce demand on the Crown Court, but would not be sufficient to address the scale of the backlog.
Reclassification also raises significant operational concerns, including impacts on law enforcement powers. Sir Brian recognised that the Government may wish to go further to achieve the savings needed for our criminal courts to continue functioning and, as a result, the Government decided to proceed with reforms to remove the right to elect for a Crown Court trial for all triable either way offences, and to introduce a power to increase magistrates’ court sentencing powers.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, What recent progress he has made on the implementation of £34 million for criminal advocates.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have been working to ensure that the up to £34 million per year investment in criminal legal aid advocate fees delivers the greatest possible impact and lasting benefit. It will support the long-term sustainability of the advocate profession while aligning with broader criminal justice reforms.
We intend to launch a consultation shortly, setting out our proposals for this investment. On 3 July 2026, we laid a statutory instrument to invest £3.5 million of this funding in preparatory fees, ensuring that investment reaches the criminal Bar as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure court proceedings are not delayed by the late arrival of prisoners.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are taking a cross-system approach to improving the timely delivery of prisoners to court. Lord Timpson and I have established a Prisoner Delivery Oversight Board, bringing together senior leaders from across the Criminal Justice System to monitor performance, identify the causes of delays and drive operational improvements.
The Board receives regular performance information and is overseeing joint work between His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, Police, and Prisoner Escort and Custody Services suppliers to improve end-to-end prisoner delivery processes. This includes detailed operational reviews to better understand the causes of delays and identify opportunities to improve performance.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions her Department have had on the scope, conduct or progress of its review of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act with the Law Commission.
Answered by Rachel Blake
The government is keen to ensure that the law governing co-operatives and community benefit societies is clear and supports their growth. That is why we are funding the Law Commission’s independent review of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014.
The Law Commission review is considering ways to update and modernise the legislation for co-operatives and community benefit societies - including charitable community benefit societies - ensuring that it fits the nature and needs of these societies as well as ensuring that regulation is proportionate and effective.
HM Treasury is the sponsoring department for the review and maintains an ongoing dialogue with the Law Commission on its progress, while respecting the Commission's independence.
The Law Commission expects to publish their report and a draft bill later in 2026. Once published, the government will then carefully consider its recommendations to understand whether reform of the legislation is needed to ensure these businesses are supported to grow and succeed into the future.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of properties placed in Family Protection Trusts.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The Treasury has not made any estimate of the number of properties placed in Family Protection Trusts.
Since 1 September 2022 most types of UK express trusts have been required to register with HMRC through the Trust Registration Service (TRS). However, this service does not distinguish between Family Protection Trusts and other types of trusts, and only partial information on property holdings is recorded on TRS. As such, it is not possible to use the information held on TRS to estimate the number of properties placed in Family Protection Trusts.