Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of introducing a presumption against building onshore wind developments on deep peat on the Government’s (a) biodiversity and (b) peatland restoration targets.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government has considered the impact of planning regulation around wind farm development on peatland restoration and biodiversity.

The Government recognises the importance of England’s peatlands for biodiversity, water, and carbon storage. That’s why we are investing significantly in protecting and restoring nature, including peatlands.

There are existing protections for peatland habitats within the National Policy Planning Framework. In addition, this Government recently consulted on updated National Policy Statements for renewable energy development, which included updated guidance around peatland and onshore wind developments.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of doctors accused of sexual misconduct were placed under interim suspension by the GMC between 2018 and 2025.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold this information centrally.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is the regulator of all medical doctors, physician assistants, and physician assistants in anaesthesia, still legally known as anaesthesia associates and physician associates, practising in the United Kingdom. The GMC is independent of the Government, being directly accountable to Parliament, and is responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties. The United Kingdom’s model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any doctors were erased or struck off due to sexual misconduct between 2018 and 2025.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold this information centrally.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is the regulator of all medical doctors, physician assistants, and physician assistants in anaesthesia, still legally known as anaesthesia associates and physician associates, practising in the United Kingdom. The GMC is independent of the Government, being directly accountable to Parliament, and is responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties. The United Kingdom’s model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee’s Second Report of Session 2024–25, Gridlock or growth? Avoiding energy planning chaos, published on 7 July 2025, when he plans to publish the Government’s response.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Government is grateful to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee for its scrutiny of the draft updated National Policy Statements. The Committee’s conclusions and recommendations have been carefully considered and the Government response will be published once the final updated National Policy Statements are laid in Parliament later this year.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of introducing a presumption against building onshore wind developments on deep peat on the UK’s ability to meet its carbon emissions reduction targets.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has considered the impact of planning regulation around wind farm development on peatland, including on deep peat, recognising the importance of England’s peatlands for biodiversity, water, and carbon storage.

There are existing protections for peatland habitats and deep peat within the National Policy Planning Framework. The Government also recently consulted on updated National Policy Statements for renewable energy development, including guidance around peatland and onshore wind.

This will ensure a balanced approach to onshore wind development and peatland protection, where Government can enable nature’s recovery while not impeding our commitments to Net Zero and Clean Power 2030.

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 whether the absence of mandatory strike‑off in the new MPTS guidance for proven sexual misconduct by doctors adequately protects patients.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The new guidance for Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service tribunals includes more detail about assessing the seriousness of an allegation and the features that may increase the seriousness. The guidance now also includes sanction bandings. These indicate the range of outcomes that can be expected in different case types, once a tribunal has decided whether a doctor poses a low, medium, or high level of risk to the public.

In cases relating to sexual misconduct, because the level of current and ongoing risk to public protection will generally be considered medium or high, tribunals should consider suspension or erasure. The guidance sets out that in cases where misconduct is found to be sexually motivated, the inherent seriousness is likely to be high, and that makes any outcome short of erasure from the register inappropriate.

The Department monitors how regulators perform their duties and will continue to engage with the General Medical Council, including assessing how the new guidance impacts the outcomes of tribunal findings in cases of sexual misconduct.

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 effectiveness of (a) (i) communications and (ii) public advertising on NHS dentistry and (b) oral health initiatives to improve patient access to NHS dental services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are currently no national communication campaigns on National Health Service dentistry and oral health initiatives to improve patient access and therefore no assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the communications and public advertising on NHS dentistry and oral health initiatives aimed at improving patient access to NHS dental services.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local populations and to determine the priorities for investment. They are also responsible for deciding how best to communicate about their services for patients.

NHS England is responsible for maintaining and updating the NHS.uk website for England, which provides information and services to help patients manage their health including on dentistry.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much NHS England spent on (a) communications and (b) public advertising relating to NHS (i) dentistry and (ii) oral health initiatives in each of the last five years.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has spent no money on communications or advertising relating to National Health Service dentistry or oral health initiatives in the last five years.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local populations and to determine the priorities for investment. They are also responsible for deciding how best to communicate about their services for patients.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of nurses and midwives accused of sexual misconduct were placed under interim suspension by the NMC between 2019 and 2024.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold this information centrally. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. The NMC is independent of the Government, directly accountable to Parliament, and is responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties. The UK's model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.

Found: Josh Fenton-Glynn will start the questions.

Found: Josh Fenton-Glynn will start the questions.