Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 efficiency of the (a) storage, (b) procurement and (c) emergency dispensing of antiviral medications for high-risk patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medicines, including antivirals, are stored in accordance with Good Distribution Practice, which is regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. These will typically be held by medicine wholesalers who sell them on to community pharmacies and hospital pharmacies. Individual pharmacies will have their own procurement strategies. They should plan and manage stocks in line with demand, in order to ensure medicines are available to patients when needed.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will conduct a review into the (a) supply chain and (b) distribution of prescription medication to pharmacies in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues, and regulatory issues. We have drawn on up-to-date intelligence and data on the root causes of medicine supply issues, with manufacturing problems being the most dominant root cause.
The resilience of UK supply chains is a key priority, and we are continually learning and seeking to improve the way we work to both manage and help prevent supply issues and avoid shortages. The Department, working closely with NHS England, is taking forward a range of actions to improve our ability to mitigate and manage shortages and strengthen our resilience. As part of that work, we continue to engage with industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and other colleagues across the supply chain as we progress work to co-design and deliver solutions. We have plans underway to increase the awareness of our work. Given that there is a large amount of work already underway to ensure supply chain resilience, there are no current plans to conduct a new supply chain review.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) existing and (b) proposed legislation complies with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of biological sex.
Answered by Nia Griffith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
The Supreme Court’s ruling makes clear that for the purposes of the Equality Act, the term ‘woman’ refers to a biological woman. The ruling has provided clarity for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges and sports clubs. This Government will continue to protect single-sex spaces based on biological sex.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has already committed to supporting service providers with updated guidance; they will consult widely as they develop this. All government departments should follow the clarity the ruling provides.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the long-term resilience of small businesses in (a) England and (b) Essex.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Business cash levels have been resilient and have strengthened since the pre-pandemic and pre-referendum periods. According to figures published by BVA BDRC, in Q1 2025, 29% of SMEs were holding over £10,000 in credit balances compared to 23% in 2018 and 2019. SMEs have also increased their levels of cash relative to their turnover, with credit balances amounting to 28% of turnover in Q1 2025 compared to 24% in 2018 and 2019.1
The Southeast Growth Hub is where small and medium sized businesses across Essex can benefit from specialist advice on how to scale up, access new markets and receive financial support through the British Business Bank.
1 SME Finance Monitor – March 2025
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that pharmacies can access high-cost, short shelf-life medications rapidly.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the United Kingdom, community pharmacies are private businesses which provide National Health Services, and therefore, for the majority of medicines which they supply in accordance with a prescription, they have their own buying arrangements. Not all manufacturers supply to all wholesalers and not all pharmacies use the same wholesalers, so there may be some specific manufacturer’s products that a pharmacy may not easily be able to source.
Professional guidance advises that where a pharmacy is unable to supply a medicine promptly, if they have established there is not a shortage, then they should talk to the patient to discuss the possible options available to them. These can include:
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients with valid NHS prescriptions for (a) molnupiravir and (b) similar antivirals were unable to obtain their medication within the recommended treatment window in the last 12 months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not have information about the date of the onset of patient symptoms, which is the start of the five-day treatment window. The service level from the distributor in the last 12 months was 99.2% for molnupiravir and paxlovid, another COVID-19 antiviral, with the standard delivery being either the same day or the day after, in more remote locations.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 ensure patients can collect prescriptions in a timely manner (a) on bank holidays, (b) on weekends and (c) in general.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are required to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served by local pharmacies. Access to community pharmacies during weekdays, evenings, and the weekend is considered as part of these assessments. If a PNA identifies any gaps in the provision of essential services either within or outside normal working hours, or a need for improvement or better access, contractors can apply to meet this need.
Integrated care boards (ICBs), as the commissioners of primary care services, give regard to PNAs when commissioning and planning local service provision. ICBs have various tools at their disposal to ensure patients can access medicines through local pharmacies, including commissioning extended pharmacy opening hours and maintaining a rota, directing and funding local pharmacies to open during bank holidays.
Patients can also choose to access medicines and pharmacy services through any of the over 400 National Health Service online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver prescription medicines free of charge to patients’ homes.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 improve transparency around (i) care quality and (ii) safeguarding in domiciliary care services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To ensure adult social care providers, including domiciliary care services, meet fundamental standards of quality and safety, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors, inspects, and regulates these services. All inspection reports on individual providers are made publicly available.
Dr Penny Dash undertook a review of the CQC’s operational effectiveness in 2024, during which she uncovered significant concerns about the CQC’s internal operation. In response, the CQC is taking immediate action to help ensure that it is carrying out its regulatory work with sufficient depth and frequency. This will enable the CQC to address delays in the reporting on the quality and safety of care in all care services, including domiciliary care services, increasing transparency for both providers and the public who use these services. I met with Sir Julian Hartley on 14 March 2025, where we discussed the CQC’s recent challenges, and how we will continue working closely together on key priorities.
Additionally, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have statutory duties relating to safeguarding adults. Local Safeguarding Adults Boards help to provide transparency through a requirement that they carry out a Safeguarding Adult Review when an adult with care and support needs has died or has experienced serious abuse or neglect. The Department commissioned a national analysis of all such reviews that took place between 2019 and 2023. This work is published and serves to identify priorities for improvement, and is available at the following link:
https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/second-national-analysis-safeguarding-adult-reviews-april-2019-march-2023-executive#conclusions-and-improvement-priorities
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with private transportation companies on the use of AI in (a) recruitment and (b) performance management.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are committed to boosting the responsible adoption of AI across all parts of the economy.
As the Government takes the AI Opportunities Action Plan forward, the Secretary of State and the rest of his department will continue to engage widely with stakeholders in all sectors. We are, and will continue to be, engaged with stakeholders to encourage AI adoption across the entire economy.
Ministerial meetings are published according to normal transparency requirements on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of VAT increases on privately run children's day nurseries.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
Local authority-maintained schools provide education for no charge, so are outside the scope of VAT. Additionally, some other providers are exempt from VAT. The provision of nursery services by a provider registered with Ofsted, as a supply of welfare rather than of education services, is also exempt. Local authority-run schools and nurseries can recover some of their VAT through the Section 33 scheme, which aims to ensure that VAT does not divert locally-collected taxes away from their intended use. Private nurseries, like private schools, cannot recover their VAT. Any change to this approach would come at a cost to the exchequer and any reduction in tax paid is a reduction in the money available to support important public services, including the NHS and policing. The government therefore has no plans to change the VAT treatment of nurseries. However, all taxes are kept under constant review.
From this year, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25. The early years pupil premium rate has increased by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. We are also providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant and £25 million through the forthcoming National Insurance contributions grant for public sector employers in early years.