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 she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing (a) transitional protections and (b) alternative arrangements for long-serving NHS employees who retired, accessed their NHS pension and subsequently returned to NHS employment in circumstances where they were not made aware that doing so could substantially reduce their contractual redundancy entitlement.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing transitional protections or alternative arrangements for staff who have previously claimed pension benefits.
Redundancy terms for National Health Service staff on the Agenda for Change contract in England are set out under Section 16 of the NHS Staff Terms and Conditions of Service handbook, a set of terms collectively agreed by national collective bargaining structures including the NHS Staff Council. This also applies to other NHS staff whose redundancy terms refer to Section 16 of the Agenda for Change contract in England.
Claiming pension benefits, such as via retire and return, does not mean that NHS staff are ineligible for redundancy payments. However, taking pension benefits may change the way in which contractual redundancy payments are calculated.
The handbook states that service used for the purposes of calculating previous pension benefits will not count for the calculation of a contractual redundancy payment. Statutory redundancy entitlements are unaffected.
The Department commissions NHS Employers to provide guidance for employers on a range of topics, including NHS redundancy arrangements and retirement options, which they can then use to communicate with their staff.
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 guidance her Department provides to (a) NHS employees considering retire-and-return arrangements regarding the potential effect of accessing their NHS pension on their future contractual redundancy entitlement and (b) to NHS employers on ensuring that staff are informed of any significant reduction in redundancy protection before making a decision to retire and return.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing transitional protections or alternative arrangements for staff who have previously claimed pension benefits.
Redundancy terms for National Health Service staff on the Agenda for Change contract in England are set out under Section 16 of the NHS Staff Terms and Conditions of Service handbook, a set of terms collectively agreed by national collective bargaining structures including the NHS Staff Council. This also applies to other NHS staff whose redundancy terms refer to Section 16 of the Agenda for Change contract in England.
Claiming pension benefits, such as via retire and return, does not mean that NHS staff are ineligible for redundancy payments. However, taking pension benefits may change the way in which contractual redundancy payments are calculated.
The handbook states that service used for the purposes of calculating previous pension benefits will not count for the calculation of a contractual redundancy payment. Statutory redundancy entitlements are unaffected.
The Department commissions NHS Employers to provide guidance for employers on a range of topics, including NHS redundancy arrangements and retirement options, which they can then use to communicate with their staff.
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 assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Newborn Behavioural Observations and the Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale within NHS maternity, health visiting and perinatal mental health services.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale (NBAS) and Newborn Behavioural Observations (NBO) are tools used to observe newborn behaviour. The NBAS is a more detailed assessment, while the NBO is more commonly used to support parent-infant relationships by helping parents understand their baby’s cues, communication, and capabilities.
The evidence base is small and of limited quality, although it suggests potential benefits for parental confidence, responsiveness, and early bonding. A Cochrane review concluded that further research is needed before wider recommendation.
It is for individual National Health Service trusts to decide whether staff should use and be trained in these tools, therefore no assessment has been made of their use within the NHS.
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 his Department periodically reviews the eligibility criteria for Medical Exemption Certificates granting free NHS prescriptions; and on what basis those criteria are chosen.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We keep all policies under regular review. This Government is also continuing to take action to make prescriptions more affordable for everyone, including freezing prescription charges for the 2026/27 financial year, both for single prescriptions and the three month and annual prescription prepayment certificates commonly used for long-term conditions.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to implement the findings of the December 2024 Court of Appeal ruling on animal welfare practices that breach the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The judicial review challenge relating to the legality of keeping fast-growing breeds of meat chickens was unanimously dismissed by the Court of Appeal. The Court made no declaration that the keeping of fast-growing breeds of meat chickens was unlawful and did not find Defra's policies or enforcement approach to be unlawful. The Government continues to keep animal welfare legislation and its implementation under review and remains committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare standards.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what technical or planning criteria he will consider before granting a hyperscale data centre project a Development Consent Order via the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) regime.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Any decision to grant a Development Consent Order will take into account matters raised at Examination, and the recommendation report of the Examining Authority.
As a business and commercial project, a data centre would first need to be directed into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) regime by the Secretary of State under section 35 of the Planning Act 2008 which sets out the legal tests which must be met in order for the Secretary of State to make such a direction. An application for a direction to be made under section 35 must demonstrate the proposed development complies with the criteria set out in the (then DCLG) Policy Statement of 4 November 2013, which can be found on here.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will shortly issue a new National Policy Statement for data centres. This will set out the national policy for this sector and the policy framework for decision-making in respect of data centres.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of an automatic release process for unclaimed Child Trust Funds traced by National Insurance number.
Answered by Rachel Blake
The Government agrees it is vital to step up efforts to reunite young people with their unclaimed matured Child Trust Funds (CTFs). Around three million accounts have now matured, of which over three quarters of a million remain unclaimed. Recognising the scale of the challenge and building on existing steps, Government has now put in place three new initiatives.
Firstly, HMRC is carrying out social research to better understand the barriers that may prevent young people from engaging with their CTF. This work is intended to improve our understanding of how young people respond to communications about their accounts, and how Government and industry can encourage more account holders to act.
Secondly, HMRC is writing directly to 21 year olds whose matured CTFs remain unclaimed. These letters will make young people aware that they have a CTF and encourage them to take steps to claim it.
Thirdly, Government has launched a dedicated CTF Taskforce, bringing together Government and CTF providers to improve tracing approaches and identify more effective ways to engage young people.
The Government is aware of proposals for the automatic release of funds in unclaimed matured CTF accounts. These savings belong to individual account holders and are held by private sector providers, meaning decisions about the funds rest with the account holder. The Government does not have the authority to access or transfer these funds and neither the Government nor providers hold information on bank accounts belonging to CTF account owners which could accept transferred funds.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to trace the owners of unclaimed Child Trust Funds.
Answered by Rachel Blake
The Government agrees it is vital to step up efforts to reunite young people with their unclaimed matured Child Trust Funds (CTFs). Around three million accounts have now matured, of which over three quarters of a million remain unclaimed. Recognising the scale of the challenge and building on existing steps, Government has now put in place three new initiatives.
Firstly, HMRC is carrying out social research to better understand the barriers that may prevent young people from engaging with their CTF. This work is intended to improve our understanding of how young people respond to communications about their accounts, and how Government and industry can encourage more account holders to act.
Secondly, HMRC is writing directly to 21 year olds whose matured CTFs remain unclaimed. These letters will make young people aware that they have a CTF and encourage them to take steps to claim it.
Thirdly, Government has launched a dedicated CTF Taskforce, bringing together Government and CTF providers to improve tracing approaches and identify more effective ways to engage young people.
The Government is aware of proposals for the automatic release of funds in unclaimed matured CTF accounts. These savings belong to individual account holders and are held by private sector providers, meaning decisions about the funds rest with the account holder. The Government does not have the authority to access or transfer these funds and neither the Government nor providers hold information on bank accounts belonging to CTF account owners which could accept transferred funds.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his department is taking to ensure that the development of solar farms supports the protection and enhancement of wildlife and natural habitats.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
All solar projects are subject to a rigorous planning process, in which the impacts on wildlife and habitats are considered.
Biodiversity net gain is also a legal requirement under the Environment Act 2021 and associated regulations. This means that to acquire planning permission, biodiversity must increase by 10% compared to what was on the site previously.
Well-designed solar farms can achieve gains significantly above 10% through supporting a range of ecosystem services including agriculture, regulating air quality, mitigating flood risk, creating new habitats and reducing carbon emissions. This is why organisations such as RSPB have expressed their support for solar farms.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to compare the quality of consumer mobile phone signal in specific geographic areas against the quality of service assurances published by mobile network providers.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The regulator, Ofcom, is responsible for reporting on mobile network coverage across the UK. Ofcom’s reporting in their Connected Nations reports and the coverage maps available in the ‘Map Your Mobile’ tool, is based primarily on coverage predictions from the mobile network operators (MNOs).
The Map Your Mobile tool includes crowdsourced data that indicates network performance at a postcode district level. In parallel, through the Mobile Market Review, Government is exploring how ‘good’ quality coverage and quality of service should be defined.
If a consumer believes that the service they receive does not reflect the coverage or service information provided by their operator, they should contact their provider. Providers are required to have clear complaints procedures and to be members of an independent Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme.