Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 implications for his Department’s policies of the reports by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government welcomes the inquiry’s investigations, including the recent Module 2 report. The Government thanks Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough work on these serious issues. We will consider the findings and recommendations in detail and respond in due course. The Government remains committed to learning the lessons needed from the COVID-19 Inquiry to protect and prepare us for the future.
The Government will also provide regular progress updates on commitments made following reports. The first progress update, on the Inquiry’s Module 1 report on resilience and preparedness, was published 8 July 2025, and is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-government-response-to-the-covid-19-inquiry-module-1-report/uk-government-uk-covid-19-inquiry-response-module-1-implementation-update
It included an update on the Department’s commitments, such as the intention to publish a health and care pandemic preparedness strategy. The next update is scheduled for January 2026.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 ensure that the findings and recommendations of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry are incorporated into future pandemic planning and preparedness exercises.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a top priority for the Government, and we are embedding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic within our pandemic preparedness. We aim to have flexible, adaptable, and scalable capabilities that can respond to any infectious disease or other threat, along all routes of transmission, rather than relying on plans for specific threats.
The Government is committed to learning the lessons from the United Kingdom COVID-19 Inquiry to protect and prepare us for the future. On 16 January 2025, the Government published its response to the inquiry’s module one report on resilience and preparedness. The Department has committed, as part of this response, to publishing a new pandemic preparedness strategy that will show how we are embedding our new approach to pandemic preparedness. The response is published online and is available at the following link:
In Autumn 2025, the Department and the UK Health Security Agency conducted Exercise PEGASUS, a national exercise on the UK’s preparedness for a pandemic, which concluded live participation on 5 November. It aimed to test our ability to respond to a pandemic, involving all regions and nations of the UK, as well as thousands of participants. The exercise has provided valuable experience which is being used to inform our strategy and planning.
Exercises like this are an essential and valuable tool to test our preparedness, capabilities, and response arrangements in the context of a pandemic. Future domestic and international exercises to test our preparedness and defences to biological threats, including pandemics, should factor in findings and lessons from a variety of sources to inform their design. This was an important part of the design of Exercise PEGASUS, the tier one pandemic preparedness exercise, where a variety of lessons, including from previous pandemic exercises such as Exercise CYGNUS, as well as recommendations from the COVID-19 Inquiry, were factored into the exercise’s design and planning.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she will consider extending the proposed alignment of the personal allowance for pensioners with the new State Pension rate.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As announced at the Budget, the government will ease the administrative burden for pensioners whose sole income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027-28.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of amending the Computer Misuse Act 1990 on (a) coordination between law enforcement agencies and (b) effectiveness of the cybersecurity industry in disrupting cybercrime.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is conducting an ongoing review of the Computer Misuse Act. As part of the review, we are scoping several proposals to update the Act, including how we can better support legitimate cybersecurity researchers so they can operate within a clear and supportive legal framework, while maintaining robust safeguards.
Engagement, including with the cyber security industry, is underway to refine the approach and an update will be provided in due course.
We will continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies to ensure any changes to the Act protect their ability to successfully investigate cybercrime.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a National Development Management Policy for older people’s housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 69042 on 24 July 2025.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the continued inclusion of UK (a) film and (b) television content within the definition of European works in the forthcoming revision of the EU’s Audio-visual Media Services Directive.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As the UK is no longer an EU Member State, it is not formally involved in the review of the EU’s Audiovisual & Media Services Directive. However, the Government routinely engages with European partners (EU institutions, EU Member States and non-EU countries) – for example, through DCMS Minister of State Ian Murray’s attendance at an EU Informal Council in Copenhagen of culture and media ministers on 3 and 4 November.
It is clear from this engagement that there is a solid understanding in Europe of the valuable contribution that the UK makes to the European audiovisual ecosystem and the benefits of working together. Through this engagement, we collaborate with our partners on shared policy challenges, celebrate our cultural diversity, drive growth in our respective sectors, and make the case for continued European works status for UK content.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of retail businesses that will be affected by the (a) business rates reduction for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure properties and (b) higher business rates multiplier in Leigh and Atherton constituency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century.
As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000 from 2026/27. This permanent tax cut will ensure they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government is sustainably funding this by introducing a higher tax rate on properties with RVs of £500,000 and above.
The final design, including the rates, for the new business rates multipliers will be announced at Budget 2025, so that the Government can factor the revaluation outcomes and broader economic and fiscal context into decision-making. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Holiday Activities and Food programme on levels of (a) food insecurity and (b) support for families during school holidays.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The holiday activities and food programme (HAF) ensures that children who are eligible for free school meals can access enriching activities and healthy meals during school holidays, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. On 28 August, the department announced that over £600 million has been confirmed for the programme for the next three financial years, from 2026/27.
This multi-year commitment gives parents and providers certainty that clubs will be available over what can otherwise be an expensive holiday period, ensuring that children and young people continue to benefit from enriching holiday experiences and nutritious meals. The programme also opens work opportunities for parents on low incomes to support their families.
Almost five million HAF days were provided across the Christmas, Easter and summer holidays this year, reaching over half a million children. During summer 2024, over 628,000 children attended the HAF programme.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 clear the backlog for the Overseas Registration Exam.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The General Dental Council (GDC), as the independent regulator of dentists and dental care professionals in the United Kingdom, is responsible for overseeing provision of the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE).
The GDC shortly expects to be able to announce the outcome of its procurement for a new provider to deliver the ORE from April 2026.
Once the new exam provider has been announced, the GDC will meet with me to present its action plan to reduce the waiting list for the ORE. This meeting will take place in the coming weeks. I will continue to meet regularly with the GDC to monitor and review progress as its plan is implemented.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
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 support Integrated Care Boards to use flexible commissioning to improve (a) dental provision and (b) efficiency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Flexible commissioning is available to commissioners where they have identified a need that cannot be easily met through the provision of mandatory services.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to commission primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local populations, and to determine the priorities for investment. Commissioners are encouraged to work with local dental network chairs, managed clinical network chairs, dental public health experts, professional representatives, and with the public as appropriate and necessary to discharge statutory duties. NHS England published guidance on flexible commissioning in 2023, which is available at the following link: