First elected: 1st May 1997
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Julian Lewis, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Julian Lewis has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Julian Lewis has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Julian Lewis has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Terminal Illness (Relief of Pain) Bill 2024-26
Sponsor - Edward Leigh (Con)
Microplastic Filters (Washing Machines) Bill 2024-26
Sponsor - Alberto Costa (Con)
Dogs (DNA Databases) Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Andrew Griffith (Con)
June Bank Holiday (Creation) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Peter Bone (Ind)
Nuclear Submarine Recycling (Reporting) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Luke Pollard (LAB)
Armed Forces (Derogation from European Convention on Human Rights) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Leo Docherty (Con)
Armed Forces Covenant (Duty of Public Authorities) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Gavin Robinson (DUP)
Armed Forces (Statute of Limitations) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Lord Benyon (XB)
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) travel advice to Ukraine states: 'If you travel to Ukraine to fight, or to assist others engaged in the war, your activities may amount to offences under UK legislation. You could be prosecuted on your return to the UK'. Their full advice is available here: Ukraine travel advice - GOV.UK.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which acts independently of police and government, will consider any information that is referred by the police and any decision to prosecute will be considered on a case-by-case basis and in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
To date, the CPS has not prosecuted any cases involving UK-linked foreign fighters in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
With apologies to the Hon. member, a response has now been issued.
The government will respond to the ISC regarding publication of its report on Iran in due course.
National Security Advisers and Deputy National Security Advisers have previously appeared in front of a range of Parliamentary Committees when necessary and appropriate to do so. This includes the Commons Defence Committee, the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, the Commons Public Accounts Commission, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the House of Lords EU Sub-Committee, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, and the Intelligence and Security Committee. Information on attendance at individual Committee evidence sessions is published by the relevant Committee, except in some limited circumstances on national security grounds.
Departments publish email addresses as the first means of contacting Ministers. All departments have processes to ensure correspondence via email reaches the intended Minister or team in a rapid manner, meaning there should be no reduction in the ability of MPs to contact Ministers' private offices. MPs may, in any such email correspondence, request a phone call with a departmental official or a member of the Minister's private office.
The Government continues to consider the use of artificial intelligence in all Government services. The potential impacts of using these tools in responding to correspondence from Parliamentarians and members of the public, and the implications for the function of correspondence to hold the Government to account, will form part of the Government’s ongoing considerations.
The Government has been clear that non-disclosure agreements should not be misused by employers to conceal misconduct in the workplace. There are already legal limitations as to what NDAs can be used for, meaning the relevant clause would be unenforceable if it attempted to prevent a worker from whistleblowing, require a worker to cover up iniquity, or prevent a worker from doing anything that they may be required to do by law. We continue to look at how to make improvements to ensuring the misuse of NDAs is not used to conceal misconduct in the workplace.
British Steel closed its coke ovens in 2023, so is now reliant on imports of coke, a processed coal product. Since the passage of the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act, British Steel has received coking coal from the United States of America, Colombia, and Australia. The company will keep its supply chains under review.
The Department for Business & Trade has not produced an assessment of the carbon footprint from the transportation of the coking coal required for the blast furnaces. However, the carbon footprint associated with transporting the coking coal to the UK can be calculated using publicly available data [such as the CarbonCare CO2 emissions calculator].
The Department works continually with Ofgem and the National Cyber Security Centre to ensure that regulations continue to capture the most critical operators of energy generation systems. Distributed and smaller-scale generation are key components of a smart and resilient energy system.
The Heath and Safety Executive and the North Sea Transition Authority are the relevant regulators for onshore shale gas extraction. They regulate compliance with the criteria set for plugging and abandoning wells at the end of their useful life.
The UK has a secure and diverse energy system. Over the past three years the market has successfully delivered sufficient supplies amidst a period characterised by high energy prices and uncertainties caused by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and conflict in the Middle East. The National Emergency Plan for Downstream Gas and Electricity also sets out the arrangements for the safe and effective management of downstream gas or electricity disruption.
Decisions on whether to abandon wells are ultimately a matter for the company. Hydrocarbon wells must be safely plugged and abandoned when they are no longer in use.
Data on gas import origins (including imports of liquified natural gas (LNG) from the US) is published each month in Energy Trends table 4.4. Further disaggregation of US LNG by method of extraction is not collected or available.
The UK has no active commercial shale gas production and hence no emissions data from production to allow a comparison with emissions from imported gas.
The Department attaches great importance to providing timely responses to Member’s correspondence. Regrettably a processing error has severely delayed our response in this instance, for which the Department sincerely apologises. We are taking steps to correct this system to prevent further errors of this nature. We will provide a full response urgently.
The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) already require organisations to process personal data lawfully, fairly, transparently and securely, unless certain limited exemptions apply. Organisations are also required to meet additional conditions and safeguards when processing ‘special category’ data, or data that is more sensitive, such as DNA data.
The UK’s data protection legislation does not automatically prohibit the selling or sharing of personal data with third parties. Instead, it sets out a framework within which data sharing may safely take place.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s Data Protection Regulator, has published a statutory Code of Practice on data sharing which contains practical guidance for organisations on how to share data fairly and lawfully, available at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/data-sharing/data-sharing-a-code-of-practice/.
The ICO has also published guidance to help organisations processing special category data, available at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/lawful-basis/a-guide-to-lawful-basis/special-category-data/.
The Online Safety Act 2023 places duties on social media companies and search services. These include duties to tackle illegal content on their services. These services will need to put systems and processes in place to reduce the risk that users post this illegal content. They will also need to take it down where it does appear. If companies fail to comply with any of these duties, Ofcom has a range of strong enforcement powers, including issuing fines and applying to the court to initiate business disruption measures.
Since 2010, the grant scheme has returned nearly £350 million to listed places of worship across the UK. This has helped protect our listed places of worship and enabled them to continue their work as centres of worship and community assets.
The scheme will now run until the end of March 2026. As was the case with previous Governments, further spending commitments are a matter for the Spending Review.
As a general rule, students are eligible for fee and maintenance loans only if they have settled status in the United Kingdom and have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland for three years. Students resident overseas are not eligible for loans.
The department and the Office for Students (OfS) have a programme of investigations underway. Where these investigations have found abuse of the student finance system, there will be serious consequences. We have now also asked the Public Sector Fraud Authority to tackle this threat and take forward this work across government. The department will always take steps to recover student loans that have been paid to students who have not been attending their courses. Depending on the precise circumstances, recovery has been and will continue to be pursued either from the institution or the student.
The department is consulting until 4 April on subcontracted provision. The consultation proposes changes to the requirements for courses to attract student finance that will necessitate subcontracted providers with specific numbers of students to be registered and regulated by the OfS. Together with the work of the OfS, which is currently consulting on reforms to its registration requirements, the department’s consultation will ensure subcontracted provision is better protected from poor quality and the risk of the misuse of public funding.
The department will also take immediate action on the use of agents to recruit students. The government can see no legitimate role for domestic agents in the recruitment of UK students. We are taking urgent steps to prevent any further abuse of the system.
Higher education (HE) providers are independent and therefore responsible for decisions around pay, including for Vice-Chancellors and other senior staff. The government does not have a role in intervening in pay and staffing matters.
The department acknowledges that Vice-Chancellors manage large and complex organisations, and therefore, deserve a salary that reflects the responsibilities and challenges of their roles.
However, Vice-Chancellors' salaries should not be excessive or disproportionate. Where providers are facing financial challenges, we expect them to work with staff and unions to help identify how best to reduce unnecessary spend. All efficiency measures taken by the sector should provide better long-term value both for students and for the country.
In addition, transparency is crucial for students, staff, and the public. Therefore, the Office for Students, the independent regulator in England, requires HE providers to provide and publish justifications for Vice-Chancellors' remuneration. If concerns arise regarding senior staff pay, the Office for Students has the authority to conduct independent reviews to ensure that a provider’s governance arrangements are appropriate and effective.
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer I gave on 30 June 2025 to Question 62523. As a signatory of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the UK Government adheres to international maritime law and protects the innocent passage of vessels transiting through UK waters.
The UK Government consistently monitors UK waters to uphold the safety of mariners, the marine environment and the UK’s national security, which includes monitoring of tankers that are suspected of being associated with the movement of Russian oil.
As a signatory of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the UK Government adheres to international maritime law and protects the innocent passage of vessels transiting through UK waters.
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age. The ENCTS costs around £700 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations, such as including companion passes, would therefore need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability.
The Department for Transport conducted a review of the ENCTS and is currently considering next steps. The review did not consider adding companion passes to the statutory criteria for the scheme.
Currently, local authorities in England have the power to go beyond their statutory obligations under the ENCTS and offer additional discretionary concessions, such as extending the travel time criteria for the ENCTS.
The government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Hampshire County Council has been allocated £14 million of this funding. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services for passengers can be used in whichever way they wish. This could include extending the discretionary concessions available in the local area to include companion passes.
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. The ENCTS costs around £700 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations, such as extending the eligibility criteria, would therefore need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability.
Local authorities in England have the power to go beyond their statutory obligations under the ENCTS and offer additional discretionary concessions, such as offering companion passes for those travelling with someone eligible for the ENCTS.
In its response to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the AEA Technology case, the department agreed to consider the PAC recommendation to ‘ensure that people have an adequate route of appeal when considering complaints about their occupational and personal pensions, through a review of the Ombudsman’. Progress on the PAC and subsequent WPC recommendations were paused due to the General Election. The department remains committed to providing the PAC with an update once the Cabinet Office has considered how it would like departments to scope and schedule a new series of reviews for public bodies.
People claiming Employment Support Allowance are being migrated to Universal Credit, but anyone on Personal Independence Payment will remain on it. Customers who move to UC following the receipt of a migration notice from ESA have their LCW or LCWRA moved with them to UC.
So, for the vast majority of cases there is no need for a new WCA.
The Work Capability Assessment is a functional assessment that applies to both UC & Employment and Support Allowance. Receipt of other benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) do not provide an automatic passport to LCW or LCWRA as the assessment criteria are different. Therefore, customers in receipt of PIP only, may be referred for a WCA if they declare a health condition when making their claim to Universal Credit.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health, Baroness Merron, is the Minister with responsibility for life sciences and innovation, and cell and gene therapies are included in this remit.
In September 2024, the Department stood up an advanced therapies co-ordination group which aims to create a joined-up ecosystem that will support the development, regulation, and delivery of advanced therapy medicinal products in the United Kingdom. This group is chaired at the Senior Civil Service Grade 1 level. We note the recent report from the Cell and Gene Collective, titled Tomorrow’s Science, Today’s NHS, including the ask for a Minister to chair the group, and we will consider the report’s recommendations in due course.
Improving the early diagnosis of cancer, including lobular breast cancer, is a priority for NHS England. The National Health Service will improve cancer survival rates and hit all NHS cancer waiting time targets, so that no patient waits longer than they should.
To increase awareness of lobular breast cancer, NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of breast cancer. Further information can be found on the NHS.UK website, which is available at the following link:
The NHS Breast Screening Programme offers all women in England between the ages of 50 and 71 years old the opportunity to be screened every three years for breast cancer, to help detect abnormalities and intervene early to reduce the number of lives lost to breast cancer. However, lobular breast cancer is difficult to detect using imaging scans, such as mammogram.
The Department invests £1.5 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24 reflecting its high priority.
The Department has invested £29 million into the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NIHR Biological Research Centre in 2022, supporting their efforts to strengthen research into cancer, including lobular breast cancer. Wider investments into breast cancer research include a £1.3 million project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening through mammography, including lobular breast cancer.
The Department continues to work closely with NHS England on the development of the National Cancer Plan to achieve the overall goal of fewer lives lost to cancer, including to lobular breast cancer. The plan will be published later this year.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent, expert body that develops evidence-based guidelines for the National Health Service on best practice. While the NICE currently has no plans to issue guidance on paediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) and paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcus (PANDAS), should the evidence base develop further, we would look to the NICE to update clinical policy.
In the meantime, integrated care systems are responsible for planning care for their populations’ conditions, and clinicians will want to take account of any new research and developments in guidance, such as those being overseen by the PANS PANDAS Steering Group, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to their patients.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, including for children and young people, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
NHS England has a legal duty to annually assess the performance of each ICB in respect of each financial year, and to publish a summary of its findings. This assessment must include how well the ICB has discharged its functions.
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is currently funding research to develop a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for prolapse, incontinence, and mesh complication surgery. This will enable women to self-report the ways in which any surgical treatment for these conditions, mesh and non-mesh related, has affected their quality of life. Once testing of the PROM is completed, women will be able to complete it as part of their care. It will also be suitable for use by national registries and with women taking part in clinical trials. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of women’s health, including pelvic mesh.
NHS England has established nine specialist mesh centres across England, ensuring that women in every region with complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse get the right support. Each mesh centre is led by a multi-disciplinary team to ensure patients get access to the specialist care and treatment that they need, including pain management and psychological support.
The National Health Service’s service specification sets out the standards of care expected from organisations funded by NHS England to provide specialised care. The specification for complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence, vaginal or internal, and external rectal prolapse states that specialised mesh centres must use trust appraisal systems to ensure that surgeons are appropriately trained, current in their practice, that they adhere to clinical and NICE guidance, comply with Pelvic Floor Registry data requirements, and report complications. The service specification is available at the following link:
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and we are taking steps to return to the 18-week standard. The Elective Reform Plan sets out how the National Health Service will reform elective care services to meet the 18-week referral to treatment standard by March 2029.
There are nine specialist mesh centres across England, ensuring that women in every region with complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse get the right support. Each mesh centre is led by a multi-disciplinary team to ensure patients get access to the specialist care and treatment that they need, including pain management and psychological support. NHS England publishes data on referral to treatment waiting times, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/
Data is published at the level of specialties, for example gynaecology, and is not routinely published at sub-speciality level. The most recent waiting time data held by NHS England from 2024 indicated that the average waiting time across the nine centres was 28 weeks.
The surgery to remove mesh implanted for stress urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse is a relatively new surgical discipline. Expertise is, therefore, concentrated in a limited number of specialist centres led by a core multi-disciplinary team, including consultant specialists in urogynaecology, urology, and pain management. Patients, when requesting treatment for mesh complications, can exercise patient choice and be referred to another centre, ensuring that they can be seen by another surgeon where appropriate.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops its guidance on new medicines independently and the Department has had no discussions with the NICE about its appraisal of fenfluramine for the treatment of Lennox Gastaut syndrome. Furthermore, I am not aware of any correspondence or representations from hospitals in Southampton on this matter.
The NICE recently published draft guidance that recommends fenfluramine for the treatment of patients meeting specific clinical criteria, and registered stakeholders now have an opportunity to appeal. The NICE currently expects to publish final guidance on 26 March 2025.
Mefloquine, commercially known as Lariam, is effective in the prevention and treatment of malaria and is licensed for use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the United Kingdom. The current product information for mefloquine states that neuropsychiatric adverse reactions may occur during treatment and includes warnings and precautions to minimise these risks. It also states that such adverse reactions may persist for months, or longer, even after discontinuation of the drug. It has not been established, however, that such adverse reactions may be permanent.
The UK was involved in the European Union’s safety review in 2013 which concluded there was a need for additional measures to strengthen the existing safety warnings for neuropsychiatric effects. A range of regulatory actions were implemented in Europe and the UK, including a letter to healthcare professionals highlighting the strengthened warnings about psychiatric effects in the product information for mefloquine, prescribing guides and checklists for healthcare professionals, and an alert card for patients. These documents are available at the following link:
https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/9670/smpc
An article highlighting the new advice was also published in the MHRA’s Drug Safety Update newsletter, which is available at the following link:
Subsequently, in 2014, the mefloquine product information was revised to warn that some psychiatric reactions may occur after discontinuation of mefloquine and may persist for some time after discontinuation. These updates were implemented across Europe including in the UK. Annual reminder letters highlighting the main risks associated with mefloquine and the patient checklist and alert card were issued until 2021 after which time it was agreed that due to low use of the product and a lack of enquiries for the risk minimisation materials annual letters were no longer required. The patient checklist and alert card remain available in the UK.
As with any medicine, clinicians are responsible for making prescribing decisions for their patients, considering best prescribing practice and the local commissioning decisions of their respective integrated care boards (ICBs). They are also expected to take account of appropriate national guidance on clinical effectiveness and safety, and are accountable for their prescribing decisions, both professionally and to their service commissioners. Prescribers are responsible for ensuring that any side effects experienced by their patients are addressed promptly; they should work with their patient to decide on the most suitable management plan, with the provision of the most clinically appropriate care for the individual always being the primary consideration.
It is important that in such cases, National Health Service organisations are as transparent as possible within the bounds of the law, and that independent homicide reports are published and shared in line with legal guidance and with engagement from families. These decisions are for the organisations which commissioned the reports on a case-by-case basis.
In the case of the independent investigation into the care and treatment provided to Valdo Calocane, the NHS took the decision to publish the investigation’s report in full in line with the wishes of the families and given the level of detail already in the public domain.
The Department will work with NHS England and partners to set out next steps for how future independent mental health homicide reports should be published to ensure that NHS organisations act as transparently as possible, in line with their legal obligations.
The National Health Service continues to offer rewarding careers, with many thousands of people choosing to study nursing and midwifery every year. The Department monitors the information published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) which shows that healthcare courses were in high demand during the pandemic and now we are seeing a decrease in number of applicants across these programmes. The following table shows the number of acceptances to undergraduate nursing courses in England, from 2019 to 2024:
Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Acceptances | 19,770 | 25,510 | 25,815 | 23,240 | 20,790 | 20,920 |
Source: data is from UCAS, and is available at the following link:
https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-end-cycle-data-resources-2024
While the data from UCAS is not detailed enough to report acceptances to individual branches of nursing, the Office for Students tracks the number of starters on learning disabilities nursing routes, through their Higher Education Students Early Statistics Survey. The following table therefore shows the number of undergraduate starters on learning disabilities nursing courses from 2016 to 2023:
Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
Starters | 495 | 315 | 375 | 425 | 580 | 570 | 535 | 345 |
Source: data is from the Office for Students, and is available at the following link:
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/data-collection/get-the-heses-data/
Prior to the student funding reforms in 2017, nursing, midwifery, and allied health professions training places were centrally commissioned by Health Education England (HEE). All students on HEE commissioned places would have been in receipt of a non-means tested NHS Bursary and had their tuition fees paid. However, the Department does not hold the information that is able to confirm the proportion of Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Learning Disabilities) students who were in receipt of means tested elements of the National Health Service’s bursaries scheme or other allowances available to students in the year prior to their discontinuation.
The Department does not hold information on the percentage of students currently on Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Learning Disabilities) degree courses who are in receipt of apprenticeships.
Local authorities should determine the volume and type of services, including care home beds, that are required to meet their responsibilities under the Care Act 2014. National Health Service integrated care boards, local authorities, and providers should work together to ensure that efforts to discharge individuals from hospital into social care are joined up and make best use of the available resources, in line with the duty to cooperate as set out in Section 82 of the NHS Act 2006.
In December 2024 there were, on average, 12,000 adult patients in acute hospital beds per day with delayed discharges, 5% fewer than in December 2023.
We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The employer National Insurance rise will be implemented from April 2025, and NHS England has set out the approach to funding providers in planning guidance for the next financial year.
There is no published guidance regarding young people under 18 years old travelling abroad for gender reassignment surgery. NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Services, which are commissioned in line with NHS England's interim service specification and the Cass Review, do not make referrals for surgical interventions.
The Government strongly discourages parents from taking their child abroad for gender reassignment surgery. Parents should seek advice from appropriate medical professionals if they believe their child has gender incongruence.
A wide variety of medicines are used for the purpose of pain-relief, and they have differing levels of regulation. Some items can be bought off-the-shelf without a prescription, whilst others require authorisation from a medical professional. The Human Medicines Regulations 2012 set out the responsibilities which certain medical professionals may undertake regarding the supply and administration of regulated medicines. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 sets out the legal framework for the prevention of misuse of controlled drugs.
Decisions about what medicines to prescribe and administer are made by the doctor or other qualified medical personnel responsible for that part of the patient’s care. They must always satisfy themselves that the medicines they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed and administered, and they must take account of appropriate national guidance on clinical effectiveness. Clinicians are responsible for the decisions they make regarding the administration of medicines, and they are regulated by the relevant regulatory body for their profession.
Professional regulators are responsible for setting and enforcing their own standards for the healthcare professionals that they regulate. The General Medical Council (GMC) is the regulator of all medical doctors practising in the United Kingdom, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the regulator of nurses and midwives in the UK. Both the GMC and the NMC are independent of the Government, are directly accountable to Parliament, and are responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of their statutory duties.
Following the Shipman Inquiry's Fourth Report, published on 14 July 2004, the Government introduced tighter controls on the procurement, storage, supply and prescribing of controlled drugs, and established national and regional monitoring by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and a network of regional NHS Controlled Drug Accountable Officers. The CQC is responsible for making sure that health and care service providers, and other regulators, maintain a safe environment for the management and use of controlled drugs in England. The CQC does this under the Controlled Drugs (Supervision of Management and Use) Regulations 2013. These regulations strengthened system governance to monitor the safe use and prescribing of controlled drugs, and require greater co-ordination between the health system and police, to investigate and take action, to protect patients and the public against the misuse and diversion of controlled drugs. Further information on these regulations is available at the following link:
Individual universities are responsible for the courses that they offer. We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service. A central and core part of this plan will be our workforce, and how we ensure we train and provide the staff the NHS needs, including doctors and nurses, to care for patients across our communities.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities in England have a legal duty to support people with sight loss to develop practical skills and strategies to maintain independence.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is now assessing how local authorities are meeting the full range of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014. These assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for development, facilitating the sharing of good practice and helping us to target support where it is most needed.
Therefore, although the CQC is not currently required to assess vision rehabilitation services as a regulated activity, under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, this does mean that sensory services, including vision rehabilitation, form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care. In that context, the CQC will report on sensory services when there is something important to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement.
The CQC’s reports and ratings of local authorities are made public on their website.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is aware of concerns regarding modular neck hips and the risk of cobalt poisoning. We are investigating the issue with our stakeholders including the British Orthopaedic Association, British Hip Society, and the National Joint Registry to support.
The term modular neck covers a broad range of designs, and adverse incident reports of this sort typically include descriptions of symptoms rather than a definitive diagnosis of cobalt poisoning. In addition, it is not possible to uniquely identify cobalt poisoning from hip replacements in the ICD-10 coding scheme currently used in Hospital Episode Statistics.
The UK Medical Devices Regulations provide clear requirements for manufacturers to undertake post-market surveillance activities to ensure safety action is taken, when appropriate. The MHRA is working towards implementing a future regime for medical devices regulation. This will put in place strengthened legal requirements for how manufacturers monitor and report on their devices once they are being used in the real world.
We are aware that the US has announced significant changes to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), with impacts on media outlets including Voice of America. This is a matter for the US. On the future, I can't get ahead of the allocations process, but Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office staff are in close touch with the BBC on a range of issues. We have regular discussions at both senior and official level, including on World Service impact and reach, because it is right that the World Service innovates and remains nimble to meet the global challenges and needs of the day. Changes would be a decision for the BBC, in line with its operational and editorial independence, although if this were to involve the creation or closing of a full language service, the Foreign Secretary would need to approve that, in line with our Framework Agreement.
In September 2024, the Government announced a new joint Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Ministry of Defence Ukraine Unit, led by the Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary. This Unit integrates expertise across the two departments and helps ensure a joined-up approach to international engagement, in support of the Government's efforts to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position. The two departments are working seamlessly together to maximise the impact of UK defence support, ensure that Ukraine gets the military equipment it needs to resist Russian aggression; to deny the Kremlin the resources it needs to sustain its illegal war; and to build a coalition of countries willing and able to help ensure Ukraine's future security.
We share the US administration's desire to bring this war to an end. As the Prime Minister has said, we warmly welcome the agreement reached between the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on 11 March.
We are regularly engaging with the US, together with other international partners, to drive progress towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. The Foreign Secretary has been discussing this further with G7 partners at the Foreign Ministers' meeting.
It is for Ukraine to decide when and how to hold elections. On 19 February, the Prime Minister spoke to President Zelenskyy and reiterated his ongoing support and recognition of him as Ukraine's democratically elected leader. Ukraine's laws are clear that it cannot hold elections during martial law. Martial law continues to be in place due to Russia's ongoing war of aggression. Ukraine has a strong record of free and fair elections, and we are supporting Ukraine to hold them when it is appropriate to do so. We have been clear about the threat of Russian interference in the region and have been a long-standing partner in countering the threat from Russian disinformation.
The Government provides approximately one-third of the funding for the BBC World Service, with the remainder funded from the BBC Licence Fee. The BBC are operationally and editorially independent and set the budget for the World Service. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) provided £104.4 million of grant funding to the World Service in 2023/24, the most recent year for which there are published audited accounts.
FCDO Ministers engage routinely with the BBC on the World Service. The BBC discussed their plans for the World Service in 2025/26 with the FCDO, as part of the Spending Review process.
HMG does not provide any funding for BBC Monitoring.