Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to develop a modern service framework for kidney disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board will oversee the development of a new series of service frameworks.
The modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and will then identify the best evidenced interventions and the necessary support for delivery.
Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of a modern service framework for kidney disease on improving outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease who have received organ transplants.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board will oversee the development of a new series of service frameworks.
The modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and will then identify the best evidenced interventions and the necessary support for delivery.
Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
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 need for a Modern Service Framework for kidney disease to improve (a) earlier diagnosis, (b) care quality and (c) outcomes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board will oversee the development of a new series of service frameworks.
The modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and will then identify the best evidenced interventions and the necessary support for delivery.
Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress her Department has made on implementing the actions outlined in the document entitled Green Book Review: Findings and Actions, published on 11 June 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor has listened to regional leaders who have said that, for too long, the Green Book has downplayed the importance of local outcomes and the potential of targeted regional investment. The Chancellor commissioned a new review of the Green Book.
The conclusions of that review were published in June, setting out a new approach to public sector appraisal that will deliver a more effective assessment of place-based interventions. This includes the introduction of place-based business cases that will galvanise departments across Whitehall and highlight the reinforcing effects of different investments within an area.
Liverpool, Plymouth, Port Talbot and Birmingham will be the first early adopters of place-based business cases. HM Treasury will also publish an updated Green Book at the start of 2026.
A cross-government taskforce has been established to develop the approach to place-based business cases and oversee their implementation. This taskforce is currently comprised of the Second Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury responsible for regional growth and devolution, the Director General for Local Government, Growth and Communities in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Director General for Public Transport and Local Group in the Department for Transport, and the CEO of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish the membership of the Green Book Review taskforce.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor has listened to regional leaders who have said that, for too long, the Green Book has downplayed the importance of local outcomes and the potential of targeted regional investment. The Chancellor commissioned a new review of the Green Book.
The conclusions of that review were published in June, setting out a new approach to public sector appraisal that will deliver a more effective assessment of place-based interventions. This includes the introduction of place-based business cases that will galvanise departments across Whitehall and highlight the reinforcing effects of different investments within an area.
Liverpool, Plymouth, Port Talbot and Birmingham will be the first early adopters of place-based business cases. HM Treasury will also publish an updated Green Book at the start of 2026.
A cross-government taskforce has been established to develop the approach to place-based business cases and oversee their implementation. This taskforce is currently comprised of the Second Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury responsible for regional growth and devolution, the Director General for Local Government, Growth and Communities in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Director General for Public Transport and Local Group in the Department for Transport, and the CEO of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many users of the Motability scheme there are in Bassetlaw constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is unable to provide figures for the number of Motability Scheme users there are in Bassetlaw constituency, because only information related to PIP claimants with an active Motability Scheme contract is held centrally for analysis.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
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 has made progress on the Residual Waste Infrastructure Capacity Note.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra published the Residual Waste Infrastructure Capacity Note and an accompanying statement on 30 December 2024. This statement set out that government will only back new Energy from Waste projects that meet strict conditions. Proposals for new facilities will have to demonstrate a clearly defined domestic residual waste treatment capacity need to facilitate the diversion of residual waste away from landfill, or enable the replacement of older, less-efficient facilities. Additionally, new facilities will have to maximise efficiency and support the delivery of economic growth, net zero and the move to a circular economy.
We are considering how best to reflect the approach in this statement in the new set of national policies for development management which we have committed to producing, and in updates to National Policy Statements.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he plans to take to support the clean energy transition through the adoption of new nuclear power.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan makes clear that nuclear will play an important role in our future energy system, providing low-carbon, baseload power to the grid.
We are delivering the biggest new nuclear building programme in a generation having committed almost £17 billion at the recent Spending Review.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to amend the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 to allow widows to continue to receive pension income following remarriage.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The 1987 Police Pension Scheme provides a pension for the widow, widower or civil partner of a police officer who dies. In common with most other public service pension schemes of that time, these benefits cease to be payable where the widow, widower or civil partner remarries or cohabits with another partner.
With the introduction of the 2006 and 2015 police pension schemes, all eligible police officers were able to join a pension scheme that provides life-long survivor benefits for spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners, including those who remarry or cohabit after losing a spouse.
From 1 April 2015, the 1987 Police Pension Scheme was amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers who have died as a result of an injury on duty to receive their survivor benefits for life regardless of remarriage, civil partnership or cohabitation.
There are no plans at this time to make any further changes to benefits accrued in the 1987 police scheme.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has set a minimum quality threshold under the apprenticeship accountability framework for training providers to continue offering new starts on a standard in the apprenticeship programme in England for the academic year 2025-26; and when she plans to communicate information about the required threshold to providers.
Answered by Janet Daby
The Apprenticeship Accountability Framework (AAF) is the department’s main tool for improving apprenticeship quality. The AAF evaluates Qualification Achievement Rates alongside nine other quality indicators, such as Ofsted outcomes, withdrawal rates and feedback from apprentices and employers, using updated data throughout the year.
The AAF sets minimum thresholds for each quality indicator, reflecting the department's baseline expectations for apprenticeship quality. If a provider's performance falls below these thresholds, it triggers a management conversation between the department and the provider, rather than an automatic cessation of starts on a standard.
The quality indicators and their minimum thresholds are detailed in the Apprenticeship Accountability Framework and Specification, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-training-provider-accountability-framework/apprenticeship-training-provider-accountability-framework-and-specification--2#accountability-policy-for-apprenticeship-training-providers. The department will continually review these indicators and thresholds, using the latest available data from the current and previous academic years, while considering sector consultation and feedback to ensure they are appropriately set.
Any changes to the AAF, including updates to quality indicators and their minimum thresholds, will be communicated to the sector.