Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to implement the healthy food standard policy announced as part of the 10-year health plan for England within the current Parliament; and if he will publish a timeline for these legislative or regulatory changes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. The plan committed to introducing mandatory healthy food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector before the end of this Parliament and targets to increase the healthiness of sales in all communities.
To fulfil this commitment, the Government is working towards a Spring 2026 public consultation on Healthier Food Targets and Reporting. Decisions on policy proposals and implementation will be taken following consultation.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the publication of the new nutrient profiling model announced in the 10-year health plan for England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. The plan also stated that the Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) 2004/5, which underpins the advertising and promotions restrictions on ‘less healthy’ food and drink products, is out of date. Updating the standards to reflect the latest dietary advice will strengthen the restrictions and more effectively target the products of most concern to childhood obesity.
The Government intends to publish the updated NPM next year and will consult on the application of the NPM to the advertising and promotions restrictions.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which (a) individuals and (b) organisations have been appointed to governance structures responsible for developing the Modern Service Frameworks for Dementia and Frailty.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We intend to engage with a range of partners over the coming months to enable us to build a modern service framework which is both ambitious and practical, to ensure we can improve system performance for people with dementia and frailty both now and in the future.
No specific individuals or organisations have been appointed at this time. However, we intend to formalise a governance structure for the development of the modern service framework shortly which we will share with partners in due course.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to review the operation of assessed household charges where a household is unable to have a water meter fitted.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the importance of fair charges for households that are unable to have a water meter fitted. Currently, water companies have the ability to charge by water meters on a mandatory basis in areas designated as water stressed.
Defra is committed to working with Ofwat to ensure to ensure a smooth rollout of 10.4m smart water meters over the next five years (2025-30) and is considering the recommendations made by the Independent Water Commission and the 'Learning from experience' report from Baringa to ensure vulnerable customers are protected during the rollout.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with food retailers on ending the use of cages for hens.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department remains firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to continue working closely with all stakeholders to deliver high standards. The major retailers have pledged to stop selling shell eggs from caged hens by the end of 2025, with some retailers extending that pledge to products containing liquid or processed egg.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to bring regulation on packaging of cigars and cigarillos in line with that for cigarettes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the November 2024 Government response to the consultation 'Mandating quit information messages inside tobacco packs', we are considering introducing more stringent packaging requirements for all tobacco products, including cigars and cigarillos, tobacco related devices, cigarette papers, and herbal smoking products.
We ran a call for evidence on standardising packaging for all tobacco products between November 2024 and January 2025. We will publish a consultation next year on future regulations. We will listen very carefully to the views and evidence put forward by stakeholders.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when further details on the Structures Fund will be announced.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Structures Fund will enable local highway authorities to repair run down bridges, decaying flyovers and worn-out tunnels across England. We will publish more information about the fund in due course and encourage all MPs to highlight the opportunity to their local councils.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the statutory guidance entitled Allotment disposal guidance: safeguards and alternatives, published on 30 January 2014, remains in effect.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The 2014 statutory allotment disposal guidance remains in effect.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the UK National Screening Committee on targeted prostate cancer screening.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee keeps my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care informed of progress on its current review into prostate cancer screening, which includes targeted screening.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2025 to Question 75816 on Heart Diseases: Young People, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that people who are (a) asymptomatic and (b) unaware of a family history also are screened.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the United Kingdom, national screening programmes are introduced based on the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries on all aspects of population and targeted screening and supports implementation.
The UK NSC last reviewed screening for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in people under the age of 39 years old in 2019 and concluded that population screening should not be offered. Information on that review is available at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/sudden-cardiac-death/
The UK NSC is currently examining the evidence for SCD screening and will open a public consultation to seek comments from members of the public and stakeholders on this in due course.