Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance NHS England has issued to NHS trusts on ensuring continuity of access to appropriately competent engineering personnel outside normal working hours where the knowledge or competence required to respond to failures of critical hospital infrastructure is held by only one, or a small number of, employees; and what guidance has been issued on mitigating any associated operational and business continuity risks.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England supports organisations through technical guidance that sets out expectations for the safe management, competence, and resilience of healthcare engineering services. Relevant guidance includes:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/HTM_00.pdf
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when a decision is expected regarding phasing out cages for laying hens, following her department's consultation which closed on the 9th March 2026.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently analysing the responses to the consultation, and a formal response is expected to be published this year.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department is making on phasing out cages for laying hens.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently analysing the responses to the consultation, and a formal response is expected to be published this year.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what alternative, proactive and binding measures he will put in place to help protect human rights in the context of the Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Modernising Corporate Reporting (MCR) consultation proposes refocusing the Annual Report to provide financially material information to investors and creditors. Proposed changes in the consultation do not alter the legal framework protecting human rights. The Government expects all companies to respect human rights throughout their operations and supply chains, in line with the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct and the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what is the total amount of child maintenance arrears owed in inactive cases; and, in these cases, what funds have been recovered by the service in the last 5 years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested on all inactive cases is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will legislate to require defibrillators in all new-build housing and commercial developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 80347 on 20 October 2025.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department holds data on the level of the basic state pension if the original earnings link had been retained compared with the current rates of basic state pension (both for those pre- and post-2016) today, and (using projections) in 2030.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department does not hold data showing what the basic State Pension would be today, or in 2030, had the original earnings link been retained.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what conditions are attached to the Ministry of Defence's university alliance funding, and whether a university that takes protest guidance from an arms company remains eligible.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Universities Alliance (DUA) is not a funding mechanism and does not distribute funding to member universities. Membership does not provide preferential access to research funding, contracts or commercial opportunities. Universities continue to be funded and commissioned through the established routes.
The DUA protects freedom of speech as set out in the DUA Charter for all members.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the arrangements in NHS acute hospitals in England for providing estates and engineering cover outside normal working hours; and whether his Department holds information on the number or proportion of acute hospitals that operate a formal engineering on-call or standby rota.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data is not collected centrally. National Health Service organisations are locally responsible for the management and organisation of their engineering services based on the type, extent, and relevant risks involved. This needs to be consistent with health and safety legislation which requires organisations to identify and manage risks arising from the failure of critical building and engineering systems. Guidance is provided to them to ensure their local arrangements meet national standards.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of regional disparities in accessing cardiac rehabilitation and psychological support services for sudden cardiac arrest survivors.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF), published on 7 July, sets out 12 immediate priorities for the next three years. This includes a priority focused on strengthening and scaling cardiovascular rehabilitation to drive measurable improvements in outcomes and reduce regional inequalities across the country.
A delivery plan to support the system to implement the CVD MSF will be published later this year. The framework can be seen in full at the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cardiovascular-disease-modern-service-framework