Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the size of the Public Health Grant provided to local authorities is proportional to the population of each local authority.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Public Health Grant allocations have been confirmed for the next three years to enable local authorities to plan and make the best use of the funding available. The majority of funding which makes up the Public Health Grant will continue to be distributed as in previous years with an equal percentage uplift, ensuring that the most deprived local authorities continue to receive on average more than twice as much funding per person as the least deprived. During this period, we are also using bespoke methods, which consider deprivation and service need, to distribute the previously separate funding components for smoking and addiction services which have now been consolidated into the Public Health Grant.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to review safety checks carried out on Royal Navy Merlin Mk2 and Mk4 helicopters.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A full investigation is being conducted into the cause of the crash involving a Royal Navy Merlin helicopter on 3 June 2026. All military flying operates under robust Military Aviation Authority regulations, with Royal Navy aircraft subject to rigorous and continuous safety assurance and maintenance regimes, which are kept under continual review.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans the Department have to provide additional funding to support the delivery of the dental hygienist apprenticeship where the cost of clinical training exceeds the apprenticeship funding band.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
To ensure the overall affordability of the programme, the maximum government contribution to the cost of any apprenticeship, including the level 6 dental hygienist standard, is £27,000. Employers are able to negotiate a price for their apprentice’s training and assessment with the training providers, in the knowledge that the funding band sets the maximum that government is prepared to contribute towards the training and assessment for each apprenticeship.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to publish the response to the Covid-19 Inquiry Module 4 recommendations on the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Inquiry published its report relating to the development of COVID-19 vaccines and the implementation of the vaccine deployment programme on 16 April 2026. The Government will consider the findings and recommendations in detail and will respond within six months of publication, by 16 October 2026. The Government remains committed to learning the lessons needed from the COVID-19 Inquiry to protect and prepare us for the future.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes in level of tariff-free steel import quotas from 1 July 2026 on trends in the level of costs to British manufacturing businesses.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has engaged extensively with manufacturers and wider industry to inform the design of the new steel trade measure, including through ongoing discussions and a Call for Evidence in 2025.
The policy has been developed to strike the right balance between securing the future of domestic steelmaking while maintaining secure supply chains. We have set quota levels to reflect the specific needs of the UK steel sector, calibrated against the UK’s production capability and demand levels.
The measure only covers steel requirements that can be met in the UK. In some instances, this is not feasible for technical reasons. Where this is the case, quotas have been designed to allow for sufficient imports to ensure these goods continue to be available to UK downstream users without unnecessary additional costs.
We will keep the measure under review, including a review after twelve months to ensure it remains effective and fit for purpose.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic impact of the proposed change in imported steel tariffs above quota limits from 1 July 2026 on manufacturing businesses.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has engaged extensively with manufacturers and wider industry to inform the design of the new steel trade measure, including through ongoing discussions and a Call for Evidence in 2025.
The policy has been developed to strike the right balance between securing the future of domestic steelmaking while maintaining secure supply chains. We have set quota levels to reflect the specific needs of the UK steel sector, calibrated against the UK’s production capability and demand levels.
The measure only covers steel requirements that can be met in the UK. In some instances, this is not feasible for technical reasons. Where this is the case, quotas have been designed to allow for sufficient imports to ensure these goods continue to be available to UK downstream users without unnecessary additional costs.
We will keep the measure under review, including a review after twelve months to ensure it remains effective and fit for purpose.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the level of availability of specialist steel grades that are cannot be produced domestically following proposed changes in the rate for non-tariff-rate quota imported steel from 1 July 2026 on the level of risk to supply chains.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has engaged extensively with manufacturers and wider industry to inform the design of the new steel trade measure, including through ongoing discussions and a Call for Evidence in 2025.
The policy has been developed to strike the right balance between securing the future of domestic steelmaking while maintaining secure supply chains. We have set quota levels to reflect the specific needs of the UK steel sector, calibrated against the UK’s production capability and demand levels.
The measure only covers steel requirements that can be met in the UK. In some instances, this is not feasible for technical reasons. Where this is the case, quotas have been designed to allow for sufficient imports to ensure these goods continue to be available to UK downstream users without unnecessary additional costs.
We will keep the measure under review, including a review after twelve months to ensure it remains effective and fit for purpose.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what consultation he has held with manufacturers on proposed changes to steel quotas and tariffs from 1 July 2026.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has engaged extensively with manufacturers and wider industry to inform the design of the new steel trade measure, including through ongoing discussions and a Call for Evidence in 2025.
The policy has been developed to strike the right balance between securing the future of domestic steelmaking while maintaining secure supply chains. We have set quota levels to reflect the specific needs of the UK steel sector, calibrated against the UK’s production capability and demand levels.
The measure only covers steel requirements that can be met in the UK. In some instances, this is not feasible for technical reasons. Where this is the case, quotas have been designed to allow for sufficient imports to ensure these goods continue to be available to UK downstream users without unnecessary additional costs.
We will keep the measure under review, including a review after twelve months to ensure it remains effective and fit for purpose.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure Parkinson's patients are supported with speech and language therapy.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Speech and language therapy provision is commissioned locally by integrated care boards. NHS England has revised the national service specification for specialised neurology following extensive consultation with clinical and charity partners. The service specification, published in August 2025, includes guidance on both specialised and core neurology services. The specification includes an annex which provides greater clarity for neurology sub-specialties, including movement disorders, under which Parkinson’s disease would fall. The annex states that integrated care systems (ICSs) should have local access to a multi-disciplinary team within their region. This should include speech and language therapists, as well as other allied health professionals.
Additionally, the national specialised commissioning neurology transformation programme has developed guidance as part of an ICS toolkit, specifically to support the implementation of the service specification.
As of January 2025, there are over 7,700 full-time equivalent speech and language therapists employed in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. This is an increase of over 300, or 4.7%, compared to the previous year, and over 1,400, or 23.6%, compared to five years ago.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure female armed forces personnel are equipped with properly fitted, purpose-designed body armour.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Department’s priority is to ensure all service personnel receive appropriate and equitable levels of protection. We are initiating a capability change project for Complex Geometry Body Armour, which will include the development of a suitable testing regime and Human Factors Integration work to ensure this capability delivers improved fit and operational effectiveness for servicewomen.
In parallel, we will continue the procurement of Tactical Ballistic Plates, which will replace the in-service single-sized OSPREY plates. These will be available in four sizes to provide an improved fit for a wider range of personnel and reduced weight for most users, with initial deliveries expected from 2028.