Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide a long-term sustainable funding model for palliative and end of life care providers in the 10 Year Health Plan.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.
As part of the work to develop the 10-Year Health Plan, we will be carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including those in the hospice sector.
In February 2025, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, and long-term sector sustainability, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, was discussed at length.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) locally-led mutual aid networks and (b) civil society on funding for peacebuilding programmes.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ministers meet regularly with mutual assistance networks during their visits to countries facing humanitarian needs. During his visit to the Chad-Sudan border in January 2025, the Foreign Secretary announced £20 million in additional funding to support people in Sudan and Chad, including support to mutual aid groups, such as the Emergency Response Rooms. The previous Minister for Development also met with these networks during recent visits to both Sudan and Ethiopia where they are involved in both relief and peacebuilding, and where we have allocated UK Official Development Assistance to peacebuilding programmes in Tigray. A major purpose of the Integrated Security Fund is to provide support to civil society actors in conflict environments. Similarly, the UK continues to invest in the Peacebuilding Fund, the UN's primary mechanism supporting conflict prevention and peacebuilding activity in over 40 countries including Sudan, South Sudan, West Africa, and the Sahel. The FCDO engages regularly with civil society working on conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding, including on funding for programmes.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking diplomatic steps to encourage conflict parties in Sudan to remove (a) travel permits, (b) internal travel notifications for humanitarian staff, (c) unpredictable visa procedures and (d) other bureaucratic barriers to humanitarian access.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to raise the critical issue of humanitarian access and the bureaucratic impediments placed by the warring parties on relief agencies. At the UN Security Council in December 2024 and again in January this year, we called for the warring parties to lift bureaucratic impediments and let aid get to those who need it. The former Minister for Development also engaged directly with the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, on the UN response and the bureaucratic obstacles it faces. In recent bilateral engagements with the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, General Burhan, the UK lobbied against impediments including lengthy delays in the provision of visas for international humanitarian personnel.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help ensure that conflict parties in Sudan facilitate consistent humanitarian access through (a) cross-border and (b) crossline routes.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is playing a leading role in response to the crisis in Sudan, including efforts to facilitate more consistent humanitarian access. Through a commitment of £226.5 million we are delivering lifesaving aid to over one million people. In April, the Foreign Secretary will convene Foreign Ministers in London to host an event marking the two year anniversary of the conflict. The event aims to increase international attention to the human cost of the conflict and to help deliver a more effective and scaled-up humanitarian response, including more consistent cross-border and crossline access. In February, the former Minister for Development also convened a meeting with her counterparts which sought to strengthen the UN-led international humanitarian response and improve aid access.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which (a) sectors and (b) regions he plans to prioritise following changes to Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what consultations he plans to hold with (a) humanitarian and (b) international development (i) partners and (ii) stakeholders on changes to Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government remains fully committed to the UK playing a globally significant role on development; it is both in our national interest and in the interest of our partners across the globe.
We are currently working through the details of the Prime Minister's announcement, including engagement with a range of stakeholders. We will continue to work with British International Investment to focus and maximise the impact of its work in line with our missions and the wider geopolitical situation.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include diabetes (a) care and (b) prevention in the NHS 10-year plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving diabetes care in all parts of the country.
More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their long-term conditions, including diabetes, closer to home. Moving from sickness to prevention will help us reduce the causes of the biggest killers, and provide treatment earlier, rather than only intervening when conditions deteriorate.
As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we have launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in diabetes services to take part in that process so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should, and what the potential solutions are. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to change food-labelling regulations to make sugar levels in in food products clearer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The level of sugar in food and drink is already shown on food and drink packaging, in the majority of cases, which enables consumers to make informed choices. There are no plans at this time to change food labelling regulations regarding sugar levels in food. However, we continue to monitor the evidence on how food labelling impacts the choices and consumption habits of consumers.
General food labelling legislation sets out requirements for food labelling. It is mandatory for food and drink packaging to include a nutrition declaration, which shows the quantities of nutrients contained within them, including sugar. The legislation also allows for the inclusion of voluntary additional information on the packaging, which may help to inform consumers.
The United Kingdom has implemented the multiple traffic lights (MTL) label, which is a voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labelling system. It provides nutritional information for products at a glance in a simple and easy way that consumers can understand. The MTL label shows the quantity of energy, fat, saturates, sugar, and salt contained in the food or drink. The UK was one of the first countries to introduce a national front-of-pack labelling system and it continues to be widely used by consumers and some businesses.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many local authorities have not fulfilled their statutory duty to provide recreational leisure-time activities for young people; and what steps the Government are taking to support those local authorities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government does not hold the data requested. Local authorities fund youth services from their Local Government Settlement in line with local need, and this was increased to more than £69 billion in 2025/26 - a 6.8% increase in cash terms compared to 2024/25.
Additionally, we will be launching the Local Youth Transformation pilot this year, which will support local authorities to build back capability to improve local youth offers. We will share more information in due course.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available to companies seeking to (a) train and (b) employ autistic job seekers.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Neurodivergent people bring many positive benefits to workplaces but face particular barriers to employment, which is reflected in a poor overall employment rate. As a government, we want to support all forms of neurodiversity in the workplace by encouraging employers to adopt neuro-inclusive working practices so that everyone can thrive at work.
On 29 January this year, the Government launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity to advise us on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work. Many of the panel are diagnosed or identify as neurodivergent and/or have familial experience alongside their professional experience and expertise.
The panel will consider the reasons why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate. Recommendations are expected to include employer actions that can support the inclusion of neurodivergent people, including in recruitment and day to day workplace practices.
Employers have a key role to play. Our support to employers includes the online Support with Employee Health and Disability service, to support employers managing health and disability in the workplace. This includes questions of disclosure and equipping employers to feel confident having conversations about health and disability. The Disability Confident scheme also signposts employers to expert resources which support the employment of disabled people, including neurodivergent people.