Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of redundancies among university-employed clinical academics on NHS clinical capacity; how many NHS programmed activities are currently provided by university-employed clinical academics; and what estimate has been made of the potential additional cost to NHS trusts of replacing clinical activity lost as a consequence of reductions in university clinical academic posts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care works closely with the Department for Education on an on-going basis covering a wide range of matters to ensure the education system is supporting healthcare students, while delivering value for money for taxpayers.
Decisions regarding the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) and any potential impact of such decisions on university budgets or staffing are a matter for the Department for Education, who manage the SPG and associated budget.
The Department of Health and Social Care has had no discussions with the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust or the University of Nottingham regarding the Future Nottingham restructuring programme. Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Education concerning the withdrawal of Strategic Priorities Grant support for clinical academic pay, and what assessment has been made of whether reductions in university clinical academic posts resulting from financial pressures on higher education could increase NHS workforce expenditure.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care works closely with the Department for Education on an on-going basis covering a wide range of matters to ensure the education system is supporting healthcare students, while delivering value for money for taxpayers.
Decisions regarding the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) and any potential impact of such decisions on university budgets or staffing are a matter for the Department for Education, who manage the SPG and associated budget.
The Department of Health and Social Care has had no discussions with the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust or the University of Nottingham regarding the Future Nottingham restructuring programme. Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has discussed with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham the potential effect of the Future Nottingham restructuring programme on the number of clinical academic staff providing NHS services and on the clinical capacity available to the Trust.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care works closely with the Department for Education on an on-going basis covering a wide range of matters to ensure the education system is supporting healthcare students, while delivering value for money for taxpayers.
Decisions regarding the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) and any potential impact of such decisions on university budgets or staffing are a matter for the Department for Education, who manage the SPG and associated budget.
The Department of Health and Social Care has had no discussions with the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust or the University of Nottingham regarding the Future Nottingham restructuring programme. Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department provides to (a) households and (b) businesses on ways to lawfully dispose of waste that is unsuitable for regular weekly collections.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Government guidance advises households to use local recycling centres, council bulky or special collection services, or authorised private waste operators where waste cannot be collected routinely. Businesses must use registered waste carriers or permitted facilities and ensure waste is managed lawfully. Guidance can be found at: Household waste; Business waste; Duty of care code.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the outcomes of the Early Language Support for Every Child pathfinder sites; and whether she plans to increase funding for these sites beyond the initial two-year period.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department commissioned an independent evaluation of the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme. The interim evaluation, published in January 2026, found evidence of progress in implementing the programme and emerging benefits from earlier identification and support for children with speech, language and communication needs. It also identified challenges, including workforce capacity, staff training and development, and variation in local delivery.
The programme has been expanded to support up to 20,000 children. The final evaluation will provide further evidence on the programme’s delivery and outcomes.
There are currently no plans to provide further funding to ELSEC pathfinder sites beyond the existing programme period. Learning from ELSEC is being embedded in the wider special educational needs and disabilities reform programme through Experts at Hand. It has informed the Experts at Hand guidance, which identifies the ELSEC model as an approach that local areas may draw on when developing early identification and intervention support for children with speech, language and communication needs.
Through Experts at Hand, local areas can build on relevant features of the ELSEC model when designing their offer to reflect local needs and workforce arrangements.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to protect the sustainability of specialist STEM subjects at universities facing financial pressure.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Higher education (HE) providers are independent from government and as such are responsible for managing their finances. Nevertheless, this government remains committed to creating a secure future for our HE sector, so it can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy.
We continue to provide funding through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) annually to support teaching and students in HE. This includes funding to support expensive-to-deliver subjects, access and participation, and world-leading specialist providers. For the 2026/27 academic year, over two-thirds of the £1,252 million SPG recurrent (programme) budget has been allocated to providers to support the provision of high-cost subjects, for example medicine, dentistry, science, engineering and technology.
More broadly, the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper sets out the government’s commitment to placing the sector on a more sustainable footing, by supporting providers to drive efficiency, strengthen financial resilience and adopt more effective operating models.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential risks posed by Emergency Alerts to victims of domestic abuse who rely on concealed secondary mobile phones for their safety; and what measures are in place to mitigate those risks.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
Protecting victims of domestic abuse is always our priority. Both national tests of the Emergency Alerting capability were accompanied by a proactive public communications campaign. This included extensive engagement with charities and groups representing vulnerable communities, such as Refuge. Advice on how to opt-out of emergency alerts is available at all times of GOV.uk/alerts, and is included in the websites of a number of charities and organisations that support victims of domestic abuse.
As far as possible, the Cabinet Office engages with the media ahead of the transmission of an Alert to provide notice to the public. In a ‘live’ activation scenario, pre-planned public communications are difficult to ensure but will always be considered where possible. Please be assured that we are learning from each activation to ensure that the capability is being used in the most effective way.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the government is taking to increase the delivery of osteoporosis clinics within the East Midlands.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In Lincolnshire, investment has been made to increase access to osteoporosis diagnosis and secondary fracture prevention. There are three dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scanners serving the county, and an additional scanner at Grantham, operational since March 2024, which has helped to reduce waiting times across the county by supporting patients to typically be seen within two to three weeks.
Alongside increased diagnostic capacity, the local service plans to provide bone mineral density scanning, bone health advice, therapy-compliance support, and bone health and falls assessments. With ongoing service development, the fracture liaison element aims to support patients by telephone or through outpatient clinics, with the aim of identifying people at risk following a fragility fracture and reducing the likelihood of further fractures.
At the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UHDB), osteoporosis care is provided through the Osteoporosis and Fracture Liaison Service. The service is delivered by a multidisciplinary team comprising four consultant specialists and 3.9 whole-time equivalent clinical nurse specialists, who run both consultant-led and nurse-led clinics. Referrals are accepted from general practices, hospital specialties, and orthopaedic fracture clinics, ensuring patients can access specialist assessment following a fracture or where osteoporosis is suspected. Dedicated clinics are provided across the trust, including a monthly clinic at Queen's Hospital Burton.
The service offers comprehensive diagnostic and treatment pathways, with DEXA bone density scanners available at multiple sites to support timely diagnosis. Once diagnosed, patients can access osteoporosis treatments through medical day case units at both hospital sites. When staffing allows, the team also delivers patient education sessions in community settings to help people better understand their condition and reduce their risk of future fractures.
UHDB has recently strengthened its diagnostic capability through the Department’s funding for a new state-of-the-art DEXA scanner for Queen's Hospital Burton. The trust has recently strengthened diagnostic capacity through the installation of a new DEXA scanner as part of the community diagnostic centre (CDC) phase 2 programme at Walton Hospital. This additional capacity is helping to improve access to diagnostic testing and support earlier diagnosis and treatment.
Performance data for July 2026 showed that 89% of patients received their DEXA scan within six weeks, helping ensure timely assessment and reducing waiting times for patients requiring investigation of osteoporosis and bone health conditions.
There is a hospital service for Mid-Nottinghamshire provided by Sherwood Forest Hospitals. This provides the diagnosis and initial treatment following fragility fracture and the more complex ongoing treatment, with primary care providing less complex ongoing treatment. In the city and south, Nottingham University Hospitals provide the initial diagnosis following a fragility fracture, and the more complex treatment is provided by Nottingham CityCare in the community, with primary care providing a service for less complex care.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to attract more international visitors to the UK.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to attracting more international visitors to the UK and works closely with VisitBritain, the national tourist board, to showcase Britain as a premier holiday destination.
To capitalise on the growing trend of screen tourism and drive inbound visits, VisitBritain launched its global "Starring Great Britain" campaign in January 2025. This initiative leverages the UK’s rich film and television heritage to inspire travelers to explore diverse locations across the UK, from the Houses of Parliament and Lyme Park to the Lake District and the Highlands. The launch was supported by a wider advertising campaign across the UK’s largest and most valuable inbound visitor markets including Australia, the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries, France, Germany and the USA.
The Government is committed to supporting the sector through the forthcoming Visitor Economy Growth Strategy, which will set out a long term plan to attract more international visitors to the UK, boost value, and deliver sustainable growth across regional visitor economies.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her department is taking to improve existing arrangements, or to develop new policy and funding mechanisms, to support the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department will invest approximately £1.8 billion in 2026/27 through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which funds and supports high-quality health, public health, and social care research across the National Health Service, academia, and industry through open, competitive funding and independent expert review.
The Department is continuing to strengthen the NIHR’s contribution to the Government’s Health and Growth Missions, the 10-Year Health Plan, and the Life Sciences Sector Plan by supporting research into prevention and long-term conditions, accelerating innovation adoption, improving commercial clinical trial delivery, and strengthening research delivery capacity across the health and care system.
Recent developments include the introduction of the NIHR Innovation Catalyst, a new national Research Delivery Network funding model, and the establishment of the NIHR Council to provide independent advice and assurance. The Department also continues to oversee the NIHR’s performance, delivery, and value for money through established governance and contractual arrangements, while the OneNIHR agenda is improving coordination, consistency, and efficiency across the organisation to ensure it remains well placed to deliver against Government priorities.