Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Child Death Review Statutory and Operational Guidance (England), published in October 2018, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that every family that loses a child to Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood is assigned a key worker to act as a single point of contact.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom

NHS England is aware that not all parents who have lost their child to sudden unexplained death in childhood, are currently being assigned key workers. Departmental officials are working alongside NHS England and the National Child Mortality Database to acquire data on sudden unexplained death in infants. This is intended to increase our evidence base, understanding, and inform actions and policy on sudden unexplained death in childhood, including regarding assigning key workers as a single point of contact.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has had discussions with NHS England on ensuring that (a) reviews, (b) investigations and (c) complaints processes relating to maternity services include consideration of the (i) impact of ethnicity on the care received and (ii) potential role of (A) racism and (B) discrimination.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

NHS England, along with the devolved administrations and the Crown Dependencies, funds Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries to collate ethnicity data, in relation to all perinatal and maternal deaths across the United Kingdom. They publish annual surveillance reports which provide comparators of rates of mortality for women and babies from different ethnic groups. They also publish confidential enquiries, assessing care provision along the whole care pathway, to identify areas requiring improvement.

The Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations programme provides independent, standardised, and family focused investigations to provide learning to the health system. This includes analysis of data to identify key trends, and collaboration with system partners to escalate safety concerns.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that maternity services are reviewing (a) initiatives and (b) services based on the experiences of bereaved parents to ensure high standards of care for all patients in line with national and local guidelines.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

The Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships (MNVPs) provide a forum in all areas of England for engagement between maternity services and their users. In November 2023, NHS England published MNVP guidance, which made it clear that effective MNVPs will reach out to seldomly heard groups, including bereaved families. This engagement should be accessible and appropriate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that maternity and neonatal complaints systems are (a) transparent and (b) compassionate for parents.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

Anyone has the right to make a complaint about any aspect of National Health Service care, treatment, or service. The NHS Complaint Standards set out how organisations providing NHS services should approach complaint handling. They apply to NHS organisations in England, and independent healthcare providers that deliver NHS-funded care.

If complainants need assistance in making a complaint, officers from the Patient Advice and Liaison Service are available in most hospitals. Additionally, assistance can also be provided by the Independent NHS Complaints Advocacy Service.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's Response to the Government consultation on measures to reform post-termination non-compete clauses in contracts of employment, published on 12 May 2023, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to introduce a statutory limit of three months on the length of such clauses.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Introducing the statutory limit on the length of non-compete clauses of 3 months will require primary legislation. The Government will introduce this legislation when parliamentary time allows.

Found: Committee Monday 9 June 2014 Members present: Dame Anne Begg, in the Chair Graham Evans Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: Anne Begg, in the Chair Debbie Abrahams Graham Evans Sheila Gilmore Glenda Jackson Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: Hands, the Minister of State for Trade Policy; five meetings with the Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: Of course, Kwasi Kwarteng, the then Secretary of State, had the seven technology families.

Found: It also confirmed that two previous proposals had been taken to Paul Scully and Kwasi Kwarteng in

Found: details of these rounds in its articles The 5 BEIS, The Rt Hon Greg Hands MP and The Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: In September 2022, under the Truss government, then Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng presented a growth plan

Found: In the mini budget, the then Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced permanent tax changes which would

Found: However, in a press release published alongside the Bill the then Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: In September 2022, under the Truss government, then Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng presented a growth plan

Found: In the mini budget, the then Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced permanent tax changes which would

Found: - Edward Argar Chief Secretary to the Treasury (from 14/10/22 to 24/10/22) 49- - - - - - - - Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: An attempt to undo the havoc wreaked by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng. Remember them?

Found: Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities; Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: Cost-of-Living: John  Swinney  has  written  a   joint   letter  to Kwasi  Kwarteng  alongside finance

Found: • On 08 April 2022, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: 2022-06-09 00:00:00 Cyfarfod/Meeting Welsh Automotive Forum 2022-06-09 00:00:00 Cyfarfod/Meeting Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: and Enterprise - The Ministerial Forum for Trade 2021-07-14 00:00:00 Cyfarfod/Meeting Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: Cenedlaethol Eryri / Snowdonia National Park Authority 2021-11-16 00:00:00 Cyfarfod/Meeting Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: UNISON at a UK level has advised the UK business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, it will seek a judicial review

Found: emphases from the new cabinet and PM which would affect H2 policy and delivery, especially with Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: for additional funding support for social security benefits, made in a letter to the Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: The UK devolved governments are seeking an urgent meeting with Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to discuss immediate

Found: : the UK Government’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: On 30 November, the meeting was chaired by the Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Minister of State for Business

Found: The meeting was chaired by the Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean

Question

What discussions has the Minister had with the UK Government to secure continuation of the the Warm Home discount scheme, past its current end date of March 2021, for low-income households in Wales to help them heat their homes, and for further funding for organisations who provide assistance?

Answered by Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs

The Welsh Government has maintained a close dialogue with the UK Government regarding proposals for reform of the Warm Homes Discount (WHD) and the impact the COVID 19 Pandemic has had on the plans to consult on new arrangements. My officials discussed the scheme with UK Government officials on 30 April and I will be writing to Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP regarding the scheme shortly.  

Based on figures for people in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee, I understand from National Energy Action Wales approximately 80,000 households in Wales currently receive the WHD payment directly as part of the core group. This is estimated to be worth more than £10 million to Welsh households. It is imperative the UK Government announces its intention regarding the immediate future of the scheme so our advice providers in Wales can continue to support lower income and fuel poor households in Wales.  

Found: ‘A coordinated approach’ with Devolved Administrations In the Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, the Secretary

Found: Government Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Exiting the European Union, Kwasi Kwarteng

Found: Transcript. 16 October: Letter from the Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP regarding post-Brexit carbon pricing

<p>I've not seen that poll, Janet. They also wanted local councils to—[<em>Interruption</em>.] They also wanted councils to flog off the houses they had built, so they introduced the disastrous right-to-buy policy, which is still supported to this day by the Conservative Party. The majority of homes that were sold under this policy were never replaced, and it represented a mass sell-off of public assets into the private sector. And more recently, it was the Conservative Government of Liz Truss and&nbsp;Kwasi Kwarteng that crashed the UK economy, that sent inflation soaring, not only—[<em>Interruption.</em>] Yes.</p>

<p>I think a budget is best judged in the context of the budgets that precede it and follow it. Obviously, there isn't a budget that precedes this one, other than the disastrous Conservative budgets, but the ones that follow it then put it into context, and you need to judge those over those months and years.</p>
<p>So, let's take for example the 1987 budget of Nigel Lawson, which at the time was lauded for £2.6 billion of tax cuts, which led to Margaret Thatcher winning the 1987 general election. But what it also led to was a consumer boom that led us into one of the worst recessions we've seen, and it took us from 1987 to 1997 to recover from, and the Conservatives digging themselves out of their own hole of their making. So, a budget that is welcomed immediately or a budget that is attacked immediately needs to be judged in that context, and this is a budget that fixes the foundations. And it is about ideology. Conservatives want—and I'm sure you'd agree—a small state, limited and constrained public services, and an attempt at lower taxes. But when you attempt to lower taxes, you find out you get the experience that Nigel Lawson had, or you get the experience that&nbsp;Kwasi Kwarteng had under Liz Truss. That is what happens when you try and achieve a small state in a European country.</p>
<p>Labour's priority is to prioritise those public services, and that means that those with the broadest shoulders do need to carry something of the burden, which is where the tax cuts came from, but it can only be judged again over that period of time in which the budget plans take effect. And of course, we also need to think of pensioners. I noticed the comments about the winter fuel allowance, but next year's state pension increase is 4.1 per cent because of the triple lock, and you will see—[<em>Interruption</em>.] And it is happening next year, under this Labour Government, and you will see it. [<em>Interruption</em>.]</p>
<p>The £1,700 million boost to the Welsh Government's budget is also massively significant, and we await with interest the Welsh Government's budget in December, when the Cabinet Secretary will unveil exactly how that will contribute to the many areas that are required as a result of 14 years of austerity. We've also seen a pay boost for up to 70,000 Welsh workers through an uplift to the national living wage—you cannot not support that—and I also welcome the £25 million provided to make coal tips safer. And I actually believe—perhaps I'm feeling a little bit Conservative on this one—that some of that money needs to be matched with private money, and that's what's happening in Caerphilly, with the redevelopment of the coal tip and coal being removed and made safe as a result of private sector involvement. I think we can still have that private sector involvement, which is then supported by £25 million this year from the UK Government.</p>

<p>Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement and for your time yesterday to discuss this plan further. Like everyone else here, I believe it's extremely important that we tackle racism in our society, and I wholeheartedly support your intentions of creating a plan that systematically addresses this issue.</p>
<p>However, I'm enormously frustrated by the fact that any progress that seems to be made with regard to this is undermined by the actions of a few people. I am, of course, referring to the appalling actions by the Labour MP Dawn Butler in sharing a Tweet describing Kemi Badenoch as a</p>
<p>'member of white supremacy's black collaborator class'</p>
<p>and&nbsp;representing 'white supremacy in blackface', and bizarrely suggesting, and I quote, that</p>
<p>'a victory for Badenoch is an obvious, unprecedented and once inconceivable victory for racism'.</p>
<p>I appreciate that you may see this as a UK Government issue, but I'd like to point out that we are all part of the United Kingdom, and every corner is affected by this. You talk in your plan about learning and leadership, but there appears to be a lack of this in the Labour Party as a whole. We should never forget the comments of Rupa Huq MP, who had to apologise to the then Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, for describing him as 'superficially black', and the Labour MP Zarah Sultana, who has publicly stated, and I quote, that Kemi Badenoch</p>
<p>'is&nbsp;one&nbsp;of the&nbsp;most nasty&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;divisive figures&nbsp;in&nbsp;British politics'</p>
<p>and that her election marks a shift to the far right. In reality, Cabinet Secretary, the Welsh Government, as part of your anti-racist plan, should be showing leadership on this and publicly calling out any acts of racism, and, in this case, using any influence you have to put pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to put a stop to the racial hate that exists amongst some Labour Party politicians. You should be publicly voicing your concerns that Dawn Butler has not been suspended from the Labour Party, because, Cabinet Secretary—and I'm not making this as a political point—the truth is if the Labour Party are not going to take action against racism in its ranks, then you lose credibility and people are going to see your plan as not worth the paper it is printed on.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I am not blaming you in any way, and I'm sure that you were just as shocked as anyone else here. But I hope you see my point: you have to see how the lack of any substantial action towards people in the Labour Party, like Dawn Butler and others, for comments they choose to share, is a slap in the face to you and the work you're trying to do here, because it says to ethnic minorities and people of colour that if you have a voice or an opinion that differs to what people believe you should conform to, then you're not only racist but a race traitor. This, Cabinet Secretary, should not be tolerated whatsoever. Therefore, will you take this opportunity to publicly recognise the negative consequences of Dawn Butler's actions to our desire to end racism, and publicly call for her to be stripped of the Labour Party whip because of her comments?</p>
<p>With that said, I would like to pick up a few things from the anti-racist action plan. Firstly, you have aspirations of a recruitment target of 20 per cent of all successful candidates recruited externally to be from an ethnic minority background, in order to reflect the 6 per cent of the population in Wales that are from a minority ethnic background. The issue with this, as I see it, is that this creates a bias in the recruitment system, and, whilst I see what you are trying to achieve, I don't think it actually stops racism. If anything, I think it can actually contribute to it, because it can easily create a sense that ethnic minority communities have been given jobs to meet a Welsh Government target rather than their ability to do the job, and this further creates the public impression that ethnic minorities do not need to work as hard as others to get public sector jobs. You have talked about improving social cohesion, but I think this 20 per cent target decreases it.</p>
<p>I believe, Cabinet Secretary, that it would be better to implement a system whereby job applications are completely anonymous until the final stages, and that recruitment panels could be ethnically diverse to ensure impartiality with regards to race or ethnicity. This would ensure that the best candidates are picked for roles and that there's a fair recruitment process. It would also mean that anyone who is employed from an ethnic minority background is seen, without question, to be the best person for that job. Moreover, we have to accept that there's an inherent bias towards the types of jobs that different ethnic groups and different genders will seek out and, therefore, if you're going to aim to improve ethnic diversity among the public sector, I believe that you would need to look at this on the whole and look carefully at the nuances of the types of employment areas that groups gravitate towards, and not have targets for every department. Do you accept, Cabinet Secretary, that this 20 per cent target can in itself encourage racism, and will you look to amend it accordingly?</p>
<p>Finally, Cabinet Secretary, I'd like to pick up a point about racism and xenophobia towards white people. You have said that inequality and racism continues to be felt very deeply by ethnic minority communities in Wales, and I believe this is true for all communities. We only have to see the statistics regarding white working-class boys. Sadly, also—and this is something that is expressed to me quite regularly, and we see it covered quite regularly in the media—in some areas across Wales, there's a fundamental dislike towards English people, who are seen as foreigners and outsiders, and that it is culturally unacceptable to exclude them or to make racist remarks about them. You make no mention of this in your action plan, which, in my mind, shows that you have completely ignored this as something that exists. Until this is addressed, you won't make the strides in making Wales the anti-racist nation we would all like to see. With this in mind, what action will you take to recognise that racism and inequality exists towards white Welsh and English people, and accept that measures need to be put into place to help stop this as well? Thank you.</p>

<p>Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, there's no disguising the fact that the closure of the blast furnace is a disaster for the Welsh economy and no package can compensate for that. It is a disaster. Those who engaged with the management of Tata in the UK have known for some time that the mind had been made up by the boardroom in India. It's regrettable that the position couldn't be changed by an incoming Labour Government, but it's quite clear that they were not for shifting.&nbsp;We've had some rewriting of history this afternoon in the Chamber by the Conservatives. It's quite clear that there was a serious attempt by Tata to engage the UK Government back when Kwasi Kwarteng was business Secretary, but Boris Johnson's chaotic prime ministership would not engage with it, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were not interested in it, and a decision was taken to withdraw. And there's nothing that's been able to be done since then to change their minds. So, shame on the Conservatives for trying to rewrite that history. This is their failure to take steel making seriously as a strategic economic sector.</p>
<p>We look forward to seeing the arc furnace constructed, but in the meantime there are so-called downstream businesses throughout Wales that rely on the feedstock that had been coming out of Port Talbot. Trostre in my own constituency relies on that material being supplied to them. I met with the UK chief exec of Tata and there are some concerns locally whether Trostre will get the supplies it needs in a timely manner to continue to meet its order book. So, when the Government is engaging with Tata on an ongoing basis around this package, can you please make sure the pressure is maintained to make sure they honour their commitments for the feedstock that's essential for keeping Trostre and other downstream businesses going?</p>

<p>Well, there are&nbsp;two points where I simply disagree with the Member. The first is about trying to give a different meaning to what has been said by the business Secretary, in that Tata up to this point had been unmovable. The conversations that are now taking place are about whether it's possible to move them, not just with the prospect of a different Government, with different resources and different ambitions for steel, but the reality of that Government being in place.</p>
<p>And actually, when you generously claim that the previous UK Government found Tata unmovable throughout its time, that simply isn't true. It is simply not true. When I met Kwasi Kwarteng as the business Secretary at the steel council in Cardiff, the conversations that were already taking place with Tata made clear that a different and a better deal would have been possible. The challenge was the occupants of 10 and 11 Downing Street at the time, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, could not agree between them about whether they wanted to take that deal and to get to a space where a different level of co-investment, with a different outcome for steel making and steel communities, would actually have happened.</p>
<p>We are where we are now, Mark, because the previous Conservative Government did a deal that&nbsp;Kemi Badenoch described as 'good news'. She went to Port Talbot and said it was good news. That's what happened. So, the idea that this has been the only immovable result possible is something that I reject completely, and if you went to a steel-working community and tried to claim that, I think you'd get a pretty industrial response.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>I don't accept that it's impossible for companies who know that there is work that'll carry with the licences already issued in the North sea, and that somehow that will undermine our position on energy security. I just think that was not an honest statement made by the previous Government, and it will not save us in our planet obligations. Actually, some of the biggest challenges that came have been in turning off more mature forms of renewable energy. The undermining of the growth in solar power that took place in the early 2010s was a mistake. The undermining and the prevention of onshore wind in England is a problem not just in England, but affects bill prices everywhere, including here in Wales.</p>
<p>And again, I think Kwasi Kwarteng got a huge number of things wrong, but even he had been very clear in public that actually, onshore wind was mature and cost effective, and then the Government he was part of essentially stopped it taking place in England. We need to take advantage of the assets that we have and to invest in them for the future. Our energy security will not come from continuing to tie ourselves to a fossil-fuel future. We need genuine energy security about the assets we have now, to make sure that we learn some of the lessons that have come from the very recent past and the continuing present. You can't trust someone like Putin, with all of his oil and gas assets, and that means you have to invest in what works here. That is onshore wind, it is getting into offshore wind, and making sure we can generate the power that we need. So, the race for clean power to 2030 is important for the whole of the UK, and Wales should benefit from that, not just in terms of having energy sources that are renewable—that of course underpins what we do—but it's also the fact that, to get there, you have to see energy created in Wales, and then the jobs that I want to see come from them.</p>
<p>So, these are all things that will deliver energy security, and I think the argument around North sea oil is a distraction from where we need to be. The investment that will carry on for the licences that are already there will carry on. The much bigger investment need, with the jobs that will come from it here in Wales, will be from exploiting our renewable energy potential, and I look forward to us doing that with vigour and purpose in this Senedd term and in the next one, and indeed in the life of this Government across the UK that is committed to Britain being a clean superpower by 2030. That would be a huge achievement for all of us.</p>

<p>Thank you for noting that the Prime Minister, just a few days into office, has come physically to Wales. That is a really positive statement. I didn't have the opportunity to meet the previous Prime Minister in Wales. I did see him briefly in Normandy. When people have been asked, of course, what they wanted at that election, I'm delighted the people of Wales chose to implement a blanket ban on Welsh Tory MPs, and we then have an opportunity to deliver on the manifesto on which 27 out of 32 Welsh MPs were elected. And&nbsp;Tata is a significant part of that.&nbsp;We are dealing, though, with a legacy of the previous deal offered by the Conservative Government, that Kemi Badenoch celebrated as being good news—that's essentially the plan that Tata are working too—with eye-watering job losses within it, and we are very much at the very end of the line on this.</p>
<p>And I do have to reflect yet again that, several years ago, when I was first appointed as the economy Minister at the time, Kwasi Kwarteng, as the business Secretary, attended a steel council in Cardiff, and there was a deal to be done that would have delivered significant co-investment and a different and a better future for steel at the time. It was the occupants of 10 and 11 Downing Street at the time who wouldn't sign up to that, and it's no surprise that Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have left us in no better a position now. We are, though, engaged in good-faith negotiations with the company. That is engagement from the Welsh Government, me and the economy Secretary, engaging directly with&nbsp;Jonathan Reynolds, as the new Secretary of State for Business and Trade, and conversations with the UK and the Mumbai leadership. Those negotiations are on the back of a manifesto that can now be delivered. The £0.5 billion that has not been spent, the £2.5 billion that is available to transform steel across the UK and those negotiations have a limited window over a period of weeks to succeed. We can't undertake those negotiations in public, and I don't think steelworkers or steel communities would expect that. What they do expect is that both Governments, here in Wales and across the UK, will fight for a better deal for steel and for steelworkers, and that is exactly what we are doing.</p>

<p>Thank you for the questions. The Member makes a point that I completely agree with and has underpinned our approach to this issue all the way through, that if the Tata proposals go ahead, it has a significant national impact. This isn't just an issue for steel communities. The footprint is so significant in economic activity and it would have long-term consequences. I have had a number of discussions, including in Mumbai, about UK Government engagement. The company don't give a list of all of the meetings they had, and you wouldn't expect them to necessarily say their fully unreserved view on the level of engagement that they have had. But I'm aware, from when I started the job as the economy Minister, that there was a proposal on the table, which was essentially ready to go, which would have seen co-investment in the future facilities in Port Talbot, and would not have had the consequences we are discussing now. You might remember Kwasi Kwarteng for his later appearance in public life, but, actually, at the time, he was making the case that the UK should be a steel-making country, and that, actually, the challenge was the occupants of 10 and 11 Downing Street agreeing on what that approach should be. If we had managed to secure agreement then, we would be in a different position today, workers would be in a different position today, the company’s commitment to the future would have been sealed at that point, and I believe that people would have much greater certainty about their future.</p>
<p>When it comes to metals, the type and the stock, the Member’s absolutely right. So, the tin-plate plant at Trostre—every Heinz can around the country and much more comes from that plant. It’s got really high-quality ratings, it’s really reliable, very well regarded in terms of what it does. The challenge, though, is how much metal they need, where it comes from, will they be reliant on competitors, and if you’re producing primary steel from a plant in the Netherlands, will that come to Trostre or will it go to the tin-plate plant that is next door to the blast furnace in the Netherlands? And how much steel can come in from other parts of the Tata business before a carbon border adjustment mechanism that could come in in 2027? So, the scale of what’s required is really significant and not to be taken for granted.</p>
<p>I had, to my face, a commitment that the businesses would be fully loaded. Now, I want to see that commitment kept. If it isn’t, there won’t just be the challenge of not giving a commitment to me. In real terms, what that will mean about the company’s relationship with its workforce, and its ability to look after workers—. In India, Tata has a good reputation. This, though, this event, I think will challenge that fundamentally within steel-making communities right across our country.</p>