First elected: 5th May 2016
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Gill Furniss, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Gill Furniss has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Gill Furniss has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Reservoirs (Flood Risk) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Holly Lynch (Lab)
Toilets (Provision and Accessibility) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Paula Sherriff (Lab)
The House of Commons leads on the recruitment of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioner. We expect that the formal appointment will be made shortly.
Future standards this year will set new homes and buildings on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuel markets and ensures they are fit for a net zero future.
As part of the Warm Homes Plan, the Government is considering the role that finance may play in supporting homeowners with the upfront costs of energy efficiency improvements, solar panels, and installing low carbon heating.
Further details about how the Government will increase the deployment of domestic solar panels will be set out in the forthcoming Solar Roadmap.
In England we are committed to nature protection and recovery. This includes delivering our legally binding biodiversity target to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2042.
We will create, restore and connect wildlife-rich habitat, reduce pressures on species including from pollution and climate change, and take targeted action to recover specific species.
The Environmental Improvement Plan is being reviewed and we have confirmed the commitment to restoring 75% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) to favourable condition by 2042. SSSIs continue to be one of the most effective tools for protecting and enhancing biodiversity and deliver a wide range of health and socio-economic benefits.
A priority for this Government is to support building the homes and infrastructure we desperately need while protecting the environment.
Mandatory biodiversity net gain, which became a requirement for most developments in February 2024, is an important means of enabling this.
Officials are working closely with the construction, environmental, and local authority sectors to monitor the delivery of biodiversity net gain to ensure its success.
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets needs to have a valid licence issued by their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences. Anyone carrying on a licensable activity without a licence faces up to 6 months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.
Defra has been working on a post-implementation review of the Regulations. This review considers whether the Regulations have met their objectives, and where there could be scope to further improve the protections they provide.
There has not been a recent assessment of the adequacy of regulations on towing of trailers by motorcycles, and there are no plans to review or amend the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations in relation to these matters. Nothing has been identified to the Department to indicate that there is a need to amend Regulations at this time.
The Department and NHS England are taking a number of steps to support systems to deliver cost-effective, lifesaving prehabilitation and rehabilitation services. Local planning for prehabilitation and rehabilitation services is devolved to National Health Service trusts and Cancer Alliances in their locality.
NHS England has highlighted the positive impact of efficient prehabilitation and rehabilitation on cancer outcomes and the potential for them to lead to cost savings. The PRosPer Cancer Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation learning programme, launched in partnership between NHS England and Macmillan Cancer support, aims to support allied health professionals and the wider healthcare workforce in developing their skills in providing personalised care, prehabilitation, and rehabilitation in the cancer pathway.
The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will look at how we can improve patient outcomes and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, including prehabilitation and rehabilitation services where appropriate.
The Department is committed to funding health and care research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) across England, and to ensuring that the research we support is inclusive and representative of the populations we serve. We know that cancer survival rates are generally lower in people living in more deprived areas.
In 2024, the NIHR made equity, diversity, and inclusion a condition of funding for all domestic research awards. This means applicants must demonstrate how their research will contribute towards the NIHR’s mission to reduce health and care inequalities, with a focus on participant inclusion from diverse populations of the United Kingdom.
NIHR research infrastructure has national coverage across the whole of England. Our infrastructure schemes aim to build research capacity and capability across the country across all geographies and settings. In line with prior commitments, the Department has increased funding for research infrastructure schemes delivering cancer research outside the Greater South East, including Biomedical Research Centres, Clinical Research Facilities, and HealthTech Research Centres.
Through the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN), the NIHR supports 100% of National Health Service trusts in England to deliver research, operating across 12 regions throughout the country. From 2026/27, the RDN will adopt a new national funding model for NHS support costs and research delivery. This will be a consistent, nationally agreed funding distribution model across all regions of England and will reduce regional variations of health research delivery investment, and better enable clinical trial opportunities across all areas, including underserved areas and settings.
The NIHR also provides an online service called Be Part of Research which promotes participation in health and social care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest. This makes it easier for people to find and take part in health and care research that is relevant to them.
Early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan, which will build on the shifts in care set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, to diagnose cancers earlier. Through the 10-Year Health Plan, we will make it easier for people to access cancer screening, diagnostics, and treatment in patients’ local areas, backed by the latest technology to drive up this country’s cancer survival rates. We will increase participation in screening programmes by taking innovative approaches like self-sampling for cervical screening and digital booking.
The National Cancer Plan, to be published later this year, will include further details on how we will speed up diagnosis, as well as how we will prioritise screening programmes and improve participation, including participation from people in deprived areas.
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan for England, we are committed to ensuring all hospitals integrate ‘opt-out’ smoking cessation interventions into routine care. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England has prioritised and put new funding out to integrated care boards (ICBs), which includes Humber and Yorkshire ICB, South Yorkshire ICB and West Yorkshire ICB, for the rollout of tobacco dependence services in hospital settings, including acute and mental health inpatient settings and maternity services. Future funding decisions are subject to the Spending Review process.
The Government recognises the importance of women and girls being able to access adequate information and care for menstrual health conditions and reproductive health.
The women’s health area on the National Health Service website brings together over 100 health topics including pages on heavy periods, endometriosis, adenomyosis, and contraception. This provides women with information on hormonal and non-hormonal treatment options for menstrual health conditions, and information on the different types of hormonal and non-hormonal contraception methods, including where to get them and how well they work at preventing pregnancy.
NHS England has also developed a shared decision tool to help women and general practitioners make decisions about the best treatments for heavy menstrual bleeding. This is available at the following link:
Clinical guidelines also support healthcare professionals to provide evidence-based care. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidelines on a range of women’s health topics, including heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis, and contraception, and has also published a guideline on shared decision making.
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, encouraging body awareness to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an early point.
Department of Health and Social Care officials work closely with colleagues in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to raise awareness of cervical cancer in lower and middle income countries. For example, the Government has committed £1.65 billion to Gavi from 2021 to 2025, which provides the human papillomavirus vaccine to help protect the most vulnerable girls from the leading cause of cervical cancer.
The Government will prioritise women’s health, placing women’s equality at the heart of our agenda and ensuring women’s health is never again neglected. Spinal cord injury centres provide life-long services and support, providing ongoing advice and management for those under their care. They provide advice to general maternity services in managing pregnancy in line with individual need, as well as information, advice, and support to women regarding the practical elements of breast feeding, as required.
The Three-Year Delivery plan for Maternity and Neonatal services sets out the vision for women to experience personalised, joined-up, high-quality care right through to the postnatal period with handover to health visiting services and general practices (GPs). According to NHS England guidance, all women who have given birth should be offered a check-up with their GP six to eight weeks after giving birth. The check-up will cover a range of topics such as mental health, physical recovery, breastfeeding, and support with family planning. Women should be provided with practical support and information that reflects how they choose to feed their babies. Providers should ensure that, for women with spinal cord injuries, care is tailored to their individual needs.
NHS England is also rolling out perinatal pelvic health services to reduce rates of perineal tears, and maternal mental health services to provide additional mental health support and improve outcomes for women.
The Department is working closely with 75 local authorities across England, including Sheffield, to improve their infant feeding services, including breastfeeding support, through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. These services are helping families to access face-to-face and virtual infant feeding support whenever they need it, and in a location that suits them. This could be at home, in their family hub, or in a hospital setting.
At a national level, families across the United Kingdom can access round-the-clock support and advice on breastfeeding through the National Breastfeeding Helpline.
NHS England Specialised Commissioning has a Clinical Reference Group (CRG) for specialised women’s services that provides clinical advice and leadership for complex obstetrics and maternity, and complex gynaecology and fertility preservation services. Specialist gynaecological services are commissioned in line with the service specification published by the CRG.
Furthermore, there is a CRG for rehabilitation and complex disability and spinal cord injury services. Specialist services for spinal cord injuries are commissioned in line with the service specification published by the CRG. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence also has guidance on the assessment and early management of spinal cord injuries, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng41.
Spinal cord injury centres provide life-long services and support, providing ongoing advice and management for those under their care. The service provides advice to general maternity services in managing pregnancy in line with individual need.
We recognise that having a spinal cord injury can create additional challenges for women and girls when it comes to managing their period. Women with spinal cord injuries are provided with menstruation and contraception information and advice during their first inpatient episode of care, and details are included in their discharge plan, which is shared with their general practitioner (GP) or primary care team. Through the spinal cord injury centres and voluntary sector, women have access to female discussion forums.
Both the Multidisciplinary Association of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals and the Spinal Injuries Association have provided free webinars for staff and those with spinal cord injuries, called Menstruation to Menopause.
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has published a Women’s Health Library, which brings together educational resources and guidelines on women’s health from the RCGP, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare. This resource is continually updated to ensure GPs and other primary healthcare professionals have the most up-to-date advice, to provide the best care for their patients.
The Government will continue to work with the NHS as it delivers its three-year maternity and neonatal plan to grow our maternity workforce, develop a culture of safety, and ensure women and babies receive safe, compassionate care. In the three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, NHS England set out their ambition that all women should receive personalised, joined-up, high-quality care during pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period, including access to specialist care when required. Providers should ensure that women with spinal cord injuries have a personalised care and support plan that is tailored to their specific needs and choices and made in conjunction with appropriate specialist input.
The Government will prioritise women’s health, placing women’s equality at the heart of our agenda and ensuring women’s health is never again neglected. Symptoms of uterine prolapse can usually be improved with pelvic floor exercises and lifestyle changes, but sometimes medical treatment is needed. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced guidance on the management of pelvic organ prolapse in women, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng123
For patients who need surgery for uterine prolapse, NHS England’s Specialised Commissioning Clinical Reference Group (CRG) for specialised women’s services has produced a service specification for specialised complex surgery for urinary incontinence and vaginal and uterine prolapse, which is available at the following link:
MSK conditions, such as osteoporosis, disproportionately impact women. One in three women will experience an osteoporotic fracture in their lifetime, compared to one in five men. Women are more at risk of developing osteoporosis due to hormone changes that happen at menopause, and which directly affect bone density.
For all people, including those with spinal injuries, regular exercise and healthy eating are important factors in preventing osteoporosis. Weight-bearing exercise and resistance exercise can improve bone density and help to prevent osteoporosis. Eating foods rich in calcium and vitamin D, or taking vitamin D supplements, is also an important way people can maintain their bone health and reduce their risk of osteoporosis.
The drug Raloxifene is also recommended by the NICE for the primary prevention of osteoporotic fragility fractures in postmenopausal women. In addition, the Government is committed to expanding access to Fracture Liaison Services, a globally recognised secondary fracture prevention model for those with osteoporosis, which can reduce the risk of refracture by up to 40%. With NHS England, we are considering a range of options to identify the most effective ways of improving the quality of, and access to, the Fracture Liaison Service model and the interventions it provides.
To support early diagnosis of osteoporosis, including in those with spinal cord injuries, the Government is investing £1.5 billion of capital funding in 2025/26 for new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners to build capacity for over 30,000 additional procedures and over 1.25 million diagnostic tests as they come online.
Specialist services for spinal cord injuries are commissioned in line with the service specification published by NHS England’s Specialised Commissioning CRG. Spinal cord injury centres provide life-long services and support, providing ongoing advice and management for those under their care. Through the spinal cord injury centres and voluntary sector, women have access to female discussion forums.
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is central to the Government’s commitments to give every baby the best start in life, and to deliver the healthiest generation of children ever.
Sheffield is one of 75 local authorities the Government is funding to ensure parents and carers can access Start for Life services from conception to the age of two years old. We work closely with them to support programme implementation across all funded strands, and they have opened seven Family Hub sites with Start for Life services at their heart since 2023. We also signpost policy toolkits, provide guidance, and facilitate the sharing of good practice between local authorities.
The Autumn Budget announcement included £69 million to continue delivery of a network of Family Hubs in 2025/26. The Department will confirm Start for Life funding in due course.
National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers a required to adhere to the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss. The AIS conformance criteria, published in 2016, set out how organisations should comply with the AIS, with further information available at the following link:
The responsibility for monitoring compliance with the AIS sits with the commissioner of the service.
NHS England has completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss are met in health and care provision.
A revised AIS is being reviewed with a view to publication, and in the meantime NHS England is continuing to work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using these services.
Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are required to comply with the Accessible Information Standard and meet the information and communication support needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment or sensory loss, including patients using British Sign Language (BSL).
NHS England has undertaken a review of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), and a revised standard is being reviewed with a view to publication. Within the revised standard and implementation guide, there is specific mention of BSL in ‘requirements to implementing the standard’. These include organisations identifying and recording needs and ensuring that BSL interpreters meet the appropriate professional registrations.
The British Sign Language Act 2022 provides the legal recognition of BSL and helps to promote and facilitate its use. The Act also provides a specific duty on the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to prepare and publish a "British Sign Language report". This is a report describing what each named ministerial department has done to promote and facilitate the use of British Sign Language in their public communications. The Government is committed to championing the rights of disabled people, including Deaf BSL users, and will publish this data in the coming months.
Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are required to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.
NHS England has completed a review as part of its revision of the AIS. The review considered the effectiveness of the current AIS, how the standard is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement.
Once the revised standard receives publishing approval, NHS England will support implementation of it to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard and their roles and responsibilities.
Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are required to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, including deaf people.
NHS England has undertaken a review of the AIS. The review considered its effectiveness, how it is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement.
The revised standard is being reviewed with a view to publication, in the meantime NHS England will continue work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure by several routes that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the current standard implemented in 2016 and the importance of meeting the needs of disabled people using services.
A revised Accessible Information Standard (AIS) is being reviewed with a view to publication, and will include the sixth stage. The sixth stage requires consistent and regular reviews of people’s information and communication needs in patient or service user records on clinical management or administration systems.
In the meantime, NHS England is continuing to work to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the National Health Service are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using these services.
The use of data and evidence is embedded throughout our development of the 10-Year Health Plan and we will undertake intensive engagement with the public and workforce to gain insights into experiences, priorities and ideas for change.
We will invite stakeholders to submit evidence to the plan in a variety of ways, as well as using evidence collected as part of Lord Darzi’s Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England, to make sure the plan is based on the most reliable available evidence.
Unitaid are a leading funder of innovative tools to find and treat cervical cancer in low- and middle-income countries, with HPV tests the most accurate way to identify if a woman is at higher risk of developing cervical cancer. Together with partners, Unitaid's interventions lowered the cost of HPV testing by nearly 40 per cent and reduced the price of portable thermal ablation devices for treating precancerous lesions by more than 45 per cent. Unitaid's work is laying the groundwork for national cervical cancer elimination programs worldwide. We highly value our Unitaid partnership and have contributed more than half a billion pounds in funding.
Section 80AA of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (as amended and inserted by section 59 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023) provides for a list of generally safe states for whom asylum and human rights claims would be declared inadmissible; Georgia was added to that list by regulations.
Our current assessment of the situation in Georgia is set out in the relevant Country Policy and Information Notes, which are available on the gov.uk website.
We will continue to monitor the situation, working closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Should we consider that Georgia – or any other designated state – no longer meets the relevant criteria, we would ask Parliament to make the necessary amendments to the list.
All asylum and human rights claims admitted to the UK system, including those based on sexual orientation and gender identity, are considered in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
With specific respect to LGBT+ asylum seekers, whilst they are registering their claim, the Home Office ensures that these claimants are signposted to relevant NGOs specialising in the support of LGBT+ individuals. This is done through an information leaflet given to all asylum claimants at the point of claim which includes sections on legal advice, additional help and assistance with links to relevant legal bodies and support organisations.
The Home Office remains committed to delivering an asylum system that is responsive to all forms of persecution including those based on sexuality or gender identity and which supports claimants in providing all information relevant to their claim to facilitate fair and sustainable asylum decisions.