Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 help tackle addiction issues in under 18s.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The most effective and sustainable approach to tackling addiction in children and young people is by giving them the best start in life and by keeping them safe, well, and happy. Our mission-based approach will ensure that every child has the best start in life and that we create the healthiest generation of children ever.
Statutory guidance on relationships, sex, and health education requires all primary and secondary schools to ensure that pupils know the key facts and risks associated with alcohol and drug use, smoking, vaping, and gambling, as well as how to manage influences and pressure, and to keep themselves healthy and safe.
The Department has worked with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to develop the lesson plans on alcohol and drugs, and has commissioned an update of the resources to be published later this year. Further information is available at the following link:
https://pshe-association.org.uk/drugeducation
The Government also has an alcohol and drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce alcohol and drug use and its harms by providing awareness to young people, parents and concerned others. Further information on Talk to FRANK is available at the following link:
In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department allocated local authorities £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery, which includes funding for services for children and young people with, or at risk of developing, alcohol and/or drug problems. Future targeted funding for drug and alcohol treatment services beyond 2025 will be announced very shortly.
The Government is providing £70 million of additional funding for local authority-led Stop Smoking Services in England in 2024/25, which includes adults and under 18 year olds, building on existing funding made available via the Public Health Grant. The Government will also provide a further £70 million of funding for Stop Smoking Services in 2025/26.
While vaping can be an effective way for adult smokers to quit smoking, children should never vape. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will break the cycle of addiction and protect children from future harm by banning the advertising and sponsorship of vaping and nicotine products, and will provide powers to regulate their flavours and packaging, and will change how and where they are displayed in shops. The bill will bring about definitive and positive change to stop future generations from becoming hooked on nicotine. It will create the first smoke-free generation, and will ensure that children turning 16 years old this year or younger can never legally be sold tobacco.
The Government is committed to reducing gambling-related harm through regulatory reform to strengthen protections. We continue to work with Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the National Health Service, and other delivery partners to consider how best to achieve this. Since 2019, treatment and support for under 18 year old’s experiencing gambling-related harm has been available through the NHS National Gambling Clinic.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse is of hospital repairs over the last 12 months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The total cost of hospital repairs in England is collected by NHS England’s Estates Returns Information Collection (ERIC) for each financial year.
The latest ERIC data, for the 2023/24 financial year, showed that capital investment reported by National Health Service trusts for changing and improving existing buildings totalled £1,718,500,000, whilst capital investment for maintaining existing buildings totalled £738,600,000. The published version of this dataset is available at the following link:
Capital investment for repairing NHS hospitals occurs throughout the financial year based on engagement with individual NHS organisations. In this context, cost data for months that fall during the 2024/2025 financial year is not finalised as the financial year is not yet complete, making this the most recent 12 months of data available.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the safety of LED headlights on cars (a) generally and (b) on country roads.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All types of road vehicle headlamps are designed, tested, and approved to internationally recognised standards to help prevent undue glare and ensure safety on a broad range of roads and environments.
However, noting increased public concern about headlamp glare, Government has commissioned independent research to better understand the root causes and develop potential countermeasures. This work is underway and due to deliver in summer 2025; it will include real-world assessment of glare on a broad range of road types and scenarios including country roads.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to help ensure rail stations are step free.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since April 2024, step free upgrades at 13 stations have been completed, with a further 18 due to be completed by April 2025. This will be the most stations completed in one year since the programme started in 2006. This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of awareness amongst police constabularies of the legislation around the use of prescribed medical cannabis.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
CBPMs were placed in Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 (“the 2001 Regulations’”) in 2018. This means that specialist clinicians can prescribe CBPMs where they deem it clinically appropriate and in the best interests of their patients, and patients may legally possess CBPMs when in possession of a valid UK prescription or if they are a participant in a clinical trial. Home Office Circular 018/2018, summarising the introduction of CBPMs, was published when the measures came into force.
Home Office circulars are aimed primarily at law enforcement, including the police, and are published on gov.uk. Circular 018/2018 is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/circular-0182018-rescheduling-of-cannabis-based-products-for-medicinal-use-in-humans.
The Home Office liaises with the police to support awareness and understanding of drug legislation across police forces. This includes liaison through the National Police Chief’s Council
Additionally, the Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care contributed to the guidance document “‘Medical cannabis (and cannabis oils)” , which is available on the NHS’ page on at the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/medical-cannabis/.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 tackle delays to care packages.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market and to commission services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. In performing that duty, a local authority must have regard to current and likely future demand for such services, and consider how providers might meet that demand.
The Government has announced that a revised policy framework for the Better Care Fund in 2025/26 will shortly be published. This will outline redefined goals that emphasise its commitment to shifting care from hospital to home, and from sickness to prevention.
The Government is supporting local authorities by making up to £3.7 billion of additional funding available for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on protecting women from online harassment.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Equalities Ministers have regular discussions with their colleagues across Government about tackling online harassment as part of the Government's commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. These include the Safer Streets Mission Board and Violence Against Women and Girls Ministerial meetings.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 increase awareness of the warning signs of lobular breast cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase the knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, including symptoms of lobular breast cancer, as well as encouraging body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an early point.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including lobular breast cancer. Further information can be found on the NHS.UK website.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many organs were donated for transplant in 2024.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of organs donated, the number of donors, and the number and percentage of organs donated that were transplanted, from the UK Transplant Registry, between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024, as of 10 January 2025:
United Kingdom solid organ donor type | Number of donors | Organs donated | Organs transplanted |
Living donors | 938 | 938 | 938 (100%) |
Deceased donors | 1,385 | 4,513 | 3,787 (84%) |
Note: there are many reasons why organs cannot be transplanted, including the organ being clinically unsuitable.
Figures are subject to change due to the delayed notification of living organ donor transplants and the current proximity to the end of 2024.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 adequacy of the time taken to diagnose (a) mouth and (b) throat cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made on the adequacy of mouth and throat cancer diagnosis waiting times.
However, it is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer as early and quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and ultimately to improve outcomes.
The Department is committing to improving waiting times for cancer treatment, starting by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, to support faster diagnosis and access to treatment.