Ian Byrne

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is responsible for regulating advertising in the UK across traditional forms of media and takes environmental issues into account. The ASA operates independently of Government, and I would encourage the Hon. Member to reach out to the ASA to discuss this issue further.

We plan to consult later this year on the implementation of our manifesto position not to issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields.

The Government’s priority is a fair, orderly and prosperous transition in the North Sea in line with our climate and legal obligations, which drives towards our clean energy future of energy security, lower bills, and good, long-term jobs.

The Government believes the only way to protect billpayers permanently is to speed up the green transition towards homegrown clean energy. The creation of Great British Energy will help us harness clean energy and have less reliance on foreign, volatile energy markets and will help in our commitment to be a clean energy superpower by 2030.

In the short-term, we are continuing to deliver the Warm Home Discount which provides a £150 annual rebate on energy bills for eligible low-income households. I am also having regular discussions with energy suppliers to ensure that consumers are supported this winter, especially the most vulnerable.

We will soon launch a call for evidence on pricing practices for live events tickets, which will include dynamic pricing, alongside a consultation on new protections for consumers on the resale of tickets.

Through the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced £40 million to trial a new kinship allowance in up to ten local authorities. This will test whether paying an allowance to cover certain costs, such as supporting a child to settle into a new home with relatives, can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends.

In October 2024, the department announced the appointment of the first National Kinship Care Ambassador, to advocate for kinship children and their carers, and to work directly with local authorities to help improve services whilst sharing good practice across areas. We also published new Kinship Care statutory guidance for local authorities, which sets out the support and services local authorities should provide to kinship families.

From September 2024, the role of Virtual School Heads has been expanded to include championing the education, attendance and attainment of children in kinship care.

The government is extending the delivery of over 140 peer support groups across England, and the department is also delivering a package of training and support for all kinship carers across England. In addition, the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund continues to provide therapeutic support for some children in kinship care.

The government recognises the challenge that many kinship carers face in continuing to work alongside taking in and raising a child. The department is introducing kinship leave for its own employees and are dedicated to keeping this area under review to ensure working kinship families receive the support they need.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. That is exactly what we will do, and we will be outlining more detail in due course.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate’s (DWI) current guideline limit on individual types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) of 100 nanograms per litre for treated drinking water was set in 2021 based on an assessment of existing scientific knowledge. These limits were agreed with the UK Health Security Agency to be robust levels with an appropriate margin to ensure our drinking water is not a danger to human health.

Work continues across the Government to help us assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources, and potential risks to inform policy and regulatory approaches.

In July we also announced a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan to deliver on our legally binding targets to save nature. This includes how best to manage chemicals, including the risks posed by PFAS.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) monitors and enforces animal welfare legislation in abattoirs on behalf of Defra. Legislation sets out strict requirements to protect the welfare of animals when slaughtered and Official Veterinarians of the FSA are present in all approved slaughterhouses to monitor and enforce animal welfare requirements. The FSA has a zero-tolerance policy to animal welfare breaches and will take appropriate action where these occur.

We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.

The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are fully considering.

As part of the get Britain working plan, more disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve.

Good quality work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. We want people to avoid poverty, and for this to happen we must ensure that disabled people and people with health conditions have the opportunity to work and save for as long as they wish and are able to.

Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group who need access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time. We have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including disabled Universal Credit claimants. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres, Access to Work grants and the Work and Health Programme, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.

Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme.

We are reviewing the Ombudsman’s report along with the evidence provided during the investigation.

We need to consider the views that have been expressed on all sides including the points raised by representatives from the WASPI Campaign who I met recently, the first Government Minister to do so for 8 years.

Once this work has been undertaken, the Government will be in a position to outline its approach.

There has been no specific estimate made regarding the number of newborn babies losing their sight in one eye due to insufficient staffing levels. As per the National Health Service newborn and infant physical examination (NIPE) screening programme, the vision of newborn babies must be assessed within 72 hours of birth, and at the six-to-eight-week checkup. Further information on the NIPE is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/nhs-newborn-and-infant-physical-examination-nipe-screening-programme

We recognise the concerns around workforce shortages. Whilst change will not happen overnight, we are committed to training thousands more midwives to better support women and babies throughout pregnancy and beyond.

The responsibility for staffing levels should remain with clinical and other leaders at a local level, responding to local needs, supported by national and professional bodies’ guidelines, and regulated by the Care Quality Commission.

The following table shows the number of doctors in training in the ophthalmology specialty in England, in each of the last five years:

Source: General Medical Council, National Training Survey, via Data Explorer, available at the following link:
https://gde.gmc-uk.org/postgraduate-training/postgraduate-trainees/postgraduate-trainees-summary-data

NHS England is working closely with the Independent Healthcare Providers Network and the wider sector to ensure we have appropriate mechanisms to track and monitor the independent sector’s impact on the long-term National Health Service capacity landscape. From October 2024, NHS England will be reporting independent sector activity data based on the Secondary Uses Service data submissions, to which a large number of independent sector provider sites currently report. This will therefore enable us to more fully capture the sector’s activity.

NHS England continues to explore opportunities for the independent sector to support the NHS in the areas of greatest need, including in diagnostics and the most challenged specialties, while ensuring that NHS care remains free at the point of use. NHS England meets regularly with all independent sector providers to encourage this collaborative working.

The Government is providing £82 million to fund the recruitment of more than 1,000 newly qualified general practitioners, via the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS), so patients can get the care they need.

The ARRS provides funding for several additional roles to help create bespoke, multi-disciplinary teams. All these roles are in place to assist general practice doctors in reducing their workload and assisting patients directly with their needs, allowing doctors to focus on more complex patients and other priorities, including continuity of care.

This government will bring back the family doctor for those who would benefit from seeing the same clinician regularly, for example, those living with chronic illness. This will improve continuity of care, which is associated with better health outcomes and fewer accident and emergency attendances.

The classification codes required to identify pathways where patients may have glaucoma or macular degeneration do not allow for distinction between the two conditions.

The following table provides an estimate of the number of patients who have been waiting longer than 18 weeks for treatment specifically for wet macular degeneration and glaucoma in England, Merseyside, and Liverpool, via the latter’s integrated care boards (ICBs), as a snapshot for the week ending 10 November 2024, extracted on 15 November 2024:

Source: Waiting List Minimum Data Set (WLMDS), NHS England.

However, these figures may include patients that also have other conditions, as full coding for glaucoma and macular degeneration procedures requires diagnostic codes that are not available in the WLMDS.

The WLMDS is weekly management information that is subject to less validation than the monthly official statistics. There may be issues regarding the quality and completeness of the recorded data, which is not routinely reviewed centrally.

We work to protect and promote human rights in Pakistan through our diplomatic engagement and programme funding. The UK will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people as laid down in Pakistan's Constitution and in accordance with international standards. I (Minister Falconer) underlined the importance of promoting religious tolerance and harmony when I met with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister Azam Tarar on 19 November. On 20 November, I attended a meeting with Pakistan's Minister of Interior Mosin Naqvi, where the British High Commissioner and I raised concerns about threats of violence directed towards Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan.

We remain gravely concerned about the deteriorating health provision in Gaza, particularly in the north. It is unacceptable that northern Gaza now has no fully functioning hospitals. On 5 November, I reiterated this in a call with Israel's Ambassador to the UK. At a UK-chaired meeting of the UN Security Council on 12 November, Lord Collins expressed our condemnation of Israel's ongoing aid restrictions. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary pressed Israel to increase aid flow in calls with their counterparts on 19 and 27 October. This Government is clear that Israel must also do much more to protect civilians, healthcare infrastructure and humanitarian workers, including the medics northern Gaza desperately needs. The UK is supporting the provision of essential healthcare to Palestinians, including through field hospitals operated by UK-Med in Gaza, and through support to the Egyptian health ministry to care for medically evacuated Palestinians.

It is the UK's long-standing policy that any determination as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a competent national or international court, and not for governments or non-judicial bodies. This approach ensures that any determination is above politics, lobbying and individual or national interest.

We are clear that Israel can and must do more to get aid into Gaza. The Prime Minister stressed this in a call with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on 19 October, and the Foreign Secretary reiterated this in his call with the then Foreign Minister Katz on 27 October. On 5 November, I spoke to the Israeli Ambassador to the UK to underline the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East's key role in delivering lifesaving aid to those most in need. As the Prime Minister said on 28 October, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is simply unacceptable, particularly in the North. October saw the lowest number of humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza since the crisis began. We continue to work alongside partners to press for an immediate ceasefire, the release of the hostages and a significant increase in aid to Gaza.

The UK condemns human rights violations by the Myanmar military, including airstrikes on civilian infrastructure, gender and sexual-based violence, and forced recruitment, including of children. The UK has announced 19 rounds of targeted sanctions, most recently in October 2024 against suppliers of aviation fuel and equipment to the Myanmar military. We consistently use our role as penholder at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to maintain a spotlight on Myanmar, convening four UNSC meetings on Myanmar this year including to address human rights violations and calling for humanitarian action. In April, we co-sponsored a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Myanmar and in May we coordinated a statement with partners calling for an immediate end to violence from all sides in Myanmar.

The Home Office is committed to ensuring everyone, including the elderly, people with low English language ability and the most vulnerable, are properly supported as we transform our immigration system.

People can nominate a ‘helper’ and give them limited access to their account, so that they can assist with creating a UKVI account, completing details to access an eVisa, and with any immigration application.

Where a person is unable to manage their own affairs due to, for example, age or disability, a ‘proxy’, who is authorised, can create and manage the account on behalf of the person. People can also contact the UK Visas and Immigration Resolution Centre (https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk for support via email and webchat, and telephone. They can also support people through the online journey by helping them to access or recover their account, update their personal details and assisting them with technical issues with their online immigration status, and where necessary, verify the person’s status through alternative means.

For those inside the UK our Assisted Digital service is available to provide support by phone and email to those who need help with IT-related aspects of creating a UKVI account. Access needs can include any disability that requires support to use online services, a lack of device or a lack of internet access. More information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/assisted-digital-help-online-application

We are also taking further steps to reduce the number of circumstances where people need to provide evidence of their immigration status, by developing services to make the relevant immigration status information available automatically through system to system checks with other government departments and the NHS.

We have ensured that the wording used to explain how to create a UVKI account and get access to an eVisa is simple and can be easily translated using various free online services. In consultation with stakeholders, we are also considering providing some information about the transition to eVisas in other languages.

We are also working closely with our partner agencies in delivering engagement activity with community groups, as they will be producing guidance materials translated into key languages.

On 18 September 2024, we announced that the Government is providing up to £4m in dedicated grant funding to a UK wide network of voluntary and community sector organisations to deliver valuable support to those who need it, during the transition from physical immigration documents to eVisas. The list of organisations is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evisa-community-support-for-vulnerable-people.

The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and this can have a devastating impact on those affected. The homelessness statistics show that 4,850 (1.5%) households had an employment status of ‘student/training’ and were threatened with homelessness or were homeless in 2023-24.

As announced at the Budget on 30 October, funding for homelessness services is increasing by £233 million compared to this year, bringing total spend to nearly a billion in 2025-26. The increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping.

The government have long recognised that demands for extortionate rent in advance place a considerable financial strain on tenants and can exclude certain groups from renting altogether. We are very clear that the practice of landlords demanding large amounts of rent in advance must be prohibited.

Although it might be argued that the interaction of the new rent periods in clause 1 of the Renters’ Rights Bill, which are a month or 28 days, and the existing provisions of the Tenant Fees Act 2019, relating to prohibited payments, provide a measure of protection against requests for large amounts of advance rent, the government believe there is a strong case for putting this matter beyond doubt. I am giving careful consideration as to how best that might be achieved through the Renters’ Rights Bill.

I refer my hon. friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 11383 on 31 October 2024.