Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many planned cataract surgeries have been delayed in each of the past 12 months due to integrated care boards not having enough money in their financial-year budget to pay the private providers delivering the procedures.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold this data.
Integrated care boards have existing contractual powers to manage activity by providers, which were enhanced in 2025/26 with central support for setting and managing activity. Commissioners’ use of these powers support systems to live within their means and deploy better financial discipline than previous years where systems have overspent. As these powers are exercised by local systems, no national assessment has been made.
We expect the use of activity management provisions by local systems to support efforts achieving the goal of at least 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment by March 2026 whilst living within financial budgets set for 2025/26.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support British nationals in Indonesia that are unable to travel home due to the conflict in the Middle East.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 16 March in response to Question 118590.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any of NHS England's responsibilities or functions have been fully transferred to the Department of Health and Social Care since the announcement of NHS England abolition in March 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 impact of the NHS England voluntary redundancy scheme on its ability to deliver its functions.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many assaults on staff in NHS A&E departments have been recorded each year since 2019.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on external consultants for the ongoing reorganisation of the NHS since 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what conversations she has had with the British wool industry about the impact of the Home Office's withdrawal of the visa concession for temporary employment as sheep shearers on the existing challenges of workforce availability faced by the industry.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the response given on 3 March 2026 to the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe on to PQ UIN 114322.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to support small haulage companies with fuel costs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is taking action to ensure that fuel at the pump remains affordable. At Budget 2025, the Government extended the 5p-per-litre cut for a further five months, until the end of August this year. The Government has also cancelled the increase in line with inflation for 2026/27; instead, rates will only gradually return to early 2022 levels by March 2027. The 5p cut was introduced at following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when prices reached a peak of over £1.90 per litre.
The Government's action on fuel duty will save the average heavy goods vehicle more than £800 in 2026/27 compared to the plans inherited from the previous government. This follows an extended period where freezes to fuel duty have resulted in substantial savings for the haulage industry.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her department holds on the profit margins for producers, processors and retailers at each stage in the milk supply chain.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK dairy industry is a resilient and dynamic sector operating in an open market where profit margins are established by the interaction of those in supply chains including farmers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers.
Defra does not collect or hold information on profit margins for individual businesses at any stage of the milk supply chain. Defra does, however, work closely with dairy sector supply chains to monitor the dairy market via engagement with industry stakeholders and through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group.
Defra publishes information for England on the cost of production of milk in the Defra Farm Business Survey, and gross margins for dairy enterprises in England in Table 14.2 of Farm Business Survey Farm Accounts for England.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 ambulance station closures on ambulance response times in (a) Shropshire (b) rural areas and (c) England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made. Responsibility for the delivery, implementation, and funding decisions for services ultimately rests with the appropriate National Health Service commissioner. The West Midlands Ambulance Service have two hubs in Shropshire and no current plans to change that.
Integrated care boards are best placed to work with and consult local health and care organisations, local authorities and local stakeholders to decide how to best deliver and meet their local population care needs and national targets for ambulance response times. The Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 commits to reducing ambulance response times for Category 2 incidents to 30 minutes on average this year.