Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support people with Parkinson’s disease to participate in clinical research.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with Parkinson's disease, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, life-saving treatments.
The Department is supporting the delivery of Parkinson's disease clinical research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) that funds research and research infrastructure to support patients and the public to participate in high-quality research.
The Department funds NIHR research infrastructure which provides world-class research expertise, specialist facilities, a research delivery workforce and capacity across all aspects of human health, including Parkinson's disease. To improve delivery at scale, the NIHR Research Delivery Network and Commercial Research Delivery Centres are established to support rapid and efficient delivery of clinical trials and provide dedicated capacity and capability across the country.
The Government is committed to supporting research into Parkinson’s disease to improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care. This includes the £26 million EJS ACT-PD trial, which is the world’s largest clinical trial of treatments to slow or stop the progression of Parkinson’s disease. The EJS ACT-PD trial is co-funded by the NIHR, the Medical Research Council, and multiple Parkinson’s charities. The EJS ACT-PD trial opened for recruitment in October 2025, aiming to recruit 1,600 participants in its first phase from more than 40 hospitals across the United Kingdom.
The NIHR is also investing £20 million over 4 years into the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI). The UK DRI, primarily funded by the Government, is partnering with Parkinson’s UK to establish a new £10 million research centre dedicated to better understanding the causes of Parkinson’s and finding new treatments.
In April 2026, the NIHR launched the Parkinson’s Disease Translational Research Collaboration, supported by several charities, to link national expertise and infrastructure across the National Health Service and academia. The collaboration seeks to widen access to research opportunities and speed up the translation of disease-modifying therapies and precision diagnostics for Parkinson’s disease and related disorders.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the whole-life environmental impact of replacing existing petrol and diesel vehicles with new zero-emission vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has set out its intention to phase out the sale of new pure petrol and diesel cars from 2030, and to phase out the sale of all new non-zero emission cars and vans from 2035. The Government has no plans to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles already in use or those sold before the phase out dates.
The Government has extensively assessed the impact of transitioning to zero emission vehicles and expects current petrol and diesel vehicle owners to benefit substantially from the lower running costs of switching to an electric vehicle, reduced air pollution, and reduced noise pollution.
The Department for Transport has published analysis of the whole-life environmental impact of electric vehicles available on GOV.UK. The analysis shows that, over their lifetime, electric cars are estimated to save at least 65% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to a petrol equivalent, and that this is likely to rise as renewable energy generation increases.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how the Government decided on the measures related to obesity within the National Policy Planning Framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the government response to Question 161 of the proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the risk that removing minimum requirements for clinical representation on integrated care board boards will lead to poorer commissioning decisions and higher long-term costs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Clinical leadership is essential to effective commissioning. Every integrated care board (ICB) is required to have appropriate clinical leaders as members of their board, typically a Medical Director and Nursing Director. In addition, ICBs should ensure that primary care expertise, including pharmacy, dentistry and ophthalmology, is embedded within ICB decision-making.
More broadly, ICBs have a duty to keep the membership of their boards under review to ensure they have the necessary experience and expertise, and the flexibility to supplement their board membership as needed.
It is also important that boards are effective strategic commissioners, which is why we have proposed removing provider representatives from ICB boards, in line with our commitment to simplify and focus National Health Service accountability.
We expect local clinical leadership, including all areas of primary care, to be closely involved in the work of developing neighbourhood health provision.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department will take to protect and strengthen the clinical voice in the new integrated care structures.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Clinical leadership is essential to effective commissioning. Every integrated care board (ICB) is required to have appropriate clinical leaders as members of their board, typically a Medical Director and Nursing Director. In addition, ICBs should ensure that primary care expertise, including pharmacy, dentistry and ophthalmology, is embedded within ICB decision-making.
More broadly, ICBs have a duty to keep the membership of their boards under review to ensure they have the necessary experience and expertise, and the flexibility to supplement their board membership as needed.
It is also important that boards are effective strategic commissioners, which is why we have proposed removing provider representatives from ICB boards, in line with our commitment to simplify and focus National Health Service accountability.
We expect local clinical leadership, including all areas of primary care, to be closely involved in the work of developing neighbourhood health provision.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how her Department will ensure that clinical representation on integrated care boards is protected, given the estimated £1 billion to £1.3 billion cost of the reorganisation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Clinical leadership is essential to effective commissioning. Every integrated care board (ICB) is required to have appropriate clinical leaders as members of their board, typically a Medical Director and Nursing Director. In addition, ICBs should ensure that primary care expertise, including pharmacy, dentistry and ophthalmology, is embedded within ICB decision-making.
More broadly, ICBs have a duty to keep the membership of their boards under review to ensure they have the necessary experience and expertise, and the flexibility to supplement their board membership as needed.
It is also important that boards are effective strategic commissioners, which is why we have proposed removing provider representatives from ICB boards, in line with our commitment to simplify and focus National Health Service accountability.
We expect local clinical leadership, including all areas of primary care, to be closely involved in the work of developing neighbourhood health provision.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her department has made an assessment of the potential impact on pubs of Extended Producer Responsibility fees being applied to goods that do not enter the household waste stream and they already pay for through commercial waste management.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an assessment of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging, including cumulative costs. This assessed packaging producers as a whole but did not provide a separate estimate for the brewing sector.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that her Department’s packaging reforms do not unnecessarily contribute to an increase to the cost of living.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an assessment of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging, including cumulative costs. This assessed packaging producers as a whole but did not provide a separate estimate for the brewing sector.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her department will publish the call for evidence about implementation of the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility scheme.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an assessment of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging, including cumulative costs. This assessed packaging producers as a whole but did not provide a separate estimate for the brewing sector.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish a comparative analysis of glass packaging Extended Producer Responsibility fees in other advanced economies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an assessment of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging, including cumulative costs. This assessed packaging producers as a whole but did not provide a separate estimate for the brewing sector.