Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is taking to ensure transparency in the (a) operation and (b) maintenance of the UK orphan medicines register.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care and regulates medicine, medical devices and blood components for transfusion in the UK, with responsibility for ensuring medicines meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy.
The United Kingdom Orphan Register is publicly available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/orphan-registered-medicinal-products/orphan-register
The register is updated by the MHRA when a new orphan medicinal product or new orphan indication is authorised or their market protection expires. A process of checks to be carried out on the register on a periodic basis has been implemented to ensure that accuracy of the website is maintained.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people can effectively exercise their legal right to object to the use of their personal data for direct marketing.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published information on the right to object to the processing of personal for the purpose of direct marketing here: Right to object | ICO.
Anyone concerned about the handling of their personal data by any organisation has the right to complain to the ICO. The ICO has a range of tools to tackle the unlawful processing of personal data, including powers to issue substantial monetary penalties for serious breaches of the data protection legislation. Information about the ICO’s enforcement action can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase the recruitment of magistrates from (a) younger age groups and (b) ethnic minority communities.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice is committed to building a strong and sustainable magistracy that reflects the diversity of the communities it serves. Marketing materials are specifically designed to attract younger and more ethnically diverse candidates, and the Department keeps the recruitment process under review to ensure it supports applications from diverse applicants. In 2024-25, ethnic minority individuals constituted 23% of all magistrate appointments; and 41% of magistrate appointments were aged under 50.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to strengthen the collective rights of (a) leaseholders and (b) residents’ associations to (i) access information, (ii) influence management decisions, and (iii) protect shared funds.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 4 July, the government published a consultation on strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services. It can be found on gov.uk here.
For an overview of the proposals set out in the consultation, I refer the hon. Member to the associated Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS780).
The consultation closed on 26 September and we are analysing responses.
The government is committed to enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to the leasehold Right to Manage.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of reinstating (a) full public access and (b) navigation at Temple Footbridge in Hurley.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Full navigation access at Temple Footbridge will be reinstated once the central section of the bridge is removed and taken off site for inspection and secure storage. This is now expected to take place in November 2025, at a cost of approximately £450,000. Public pedestrian access will be reinstated once the bridge is either refurbished or replaced. The costs of this will be known once the outline design is completed in March 2026 and the removed central section in fully inspected.