Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that a higher proportion of housing is affordable in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) other rural areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771).
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
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 the effectiveness of the national spinal cord injury database.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The effectiveness of the National Spinal Cord Injury Database (NSCID) is kept under review and is subject to small incremental improvements to reflect changes to spinal cord injury services, and to maintain compliance with legislation. NHS England has been working with spinal cord injury charities to provide them with data within the parameters of information governance, UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), data security, and data protection legislation, and data sharing agreements are in place.
Plans to enable patients to connect with charities are in development, which will require working in close collaboration with clinicians who will discuss the option of connecting the patient with a charity at the appropriate moment in their treatment pathway. NHS England has processes in place which enable stakeholders to request access to data held in the NSCID. These processes are compliant with existing information governance, UK GDPR, data protection, and data security legislation and policies. Each request for access to data is assessed in accordance with legislation and accompanying policies.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing access to the national spinal cord injury database to (a) charities and (b) other stakeholders.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The effectiveness of the National Spinal Cord Injury Database (NSCID) is kept under review and is subject to small incremental improvements to reflect changes to spinal cord injury services, and to maintain compliance with legislation. NHS England has been working with spinal cord injury charities to provide them with data within the parameters of information governance, UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), data security, and data protection legislation, and data sharing agreements are in place.
Plans to enable patients to connect with charities are in development, which will require working in close collaboration with clinicians who will discuss the option of connecting the patient with a charity at the appropriate moment in their treatment pathway. NHS England has processes in place which enable stakeholders to request access to data held in the NSCID. These processes are compliant with existing information governance, UK GDPR, data protection, and data security legislation and policies. Each request for access to data is assessed in accordance with legislation and accompanying policies.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will review the effectiveness of the Supply of New Cars Order 2000.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Supply of New Cars Order 2000 was introduced following a Competition Commission investigation, to remedy or prevent the adverse effects identified by the Competition Commission in relation to the car retail market. Responsibility for reviewing the Supply of New Cars Order lies with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which keeps markets remedies under review. While the CMA has not initiated a review of this order at this time, it welcomes submissions where existing remedies may no longer be fit for purpose.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support the integration of refugees.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Government is committed to ensuring that refugees can integrate in the UK. The Immigration White Paper introduced reforms designed to improve integration and community cohesion. Further details will be set out in due course.
Ministers across Government, including MHCLG, DWP and DfE, are working closely together to improve outcomes for refugees, the economy and society as a whole.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including essential safeguarding aspects of the law in the curriculum.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) has a vital role to play in supporting pupils’ wellbeing, health and safety. Pupils are taught a range of topics in relation to safeguarding, and guidance sets out that they should be made aware of the relevant legal provisions when relevant topics are being taught.
The RSHE statutory guidance is currently under review. The department is looking carefully at responses to the public consultation conducted last year, considering the relevant evidence and discussing with stakeholders before setting out next steps to make sure the guidance draws from the best available evidence.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her international counterparts on preventing violence against women and girls.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government has set an unprecedented mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
The cross-government violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy will set out the strategic direction and concrete actions to deliver on this ambition, informed by the best available evidence, including from other countries.
As part of our evidence-gathering, we have engaged extensively with a wide range of international partners and stakeholders to share perspectives and learning regarding the prevention of VAWG. We have also engaged with countries that look to the UK to understand and observe effective practices that we implement to prevent VAWG.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to respond to findings of the consultation on Managing Pavement Parking which closed on 22 November 2020; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of granting local authorities outside London more enforcement powers to manage pavement parking.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. As soon as the Government has decided its preferred way forward, we will announce the next steps and publish our formal response. In the meantime, local authorities can make use of existing powers to restrict and enforce pavement parking.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of funding available for Music Hubs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government has committed £79 million per year for the Music Hubs programme, inclusive of the 2024/25 academic year. The 43 Music Hubs partnerships across England offer a range of services, including musical instrument tuition, instrument loaning and whole-class ensemble teaching. To widen access to musical instruments, the government is investing £25 million in capital funding for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year. This funding enables Music Hubs partnerships to better cater to the needs of the children and young people they work with.
The government believes creative subjects like music, art and drama are important elements of the rounded and enriching education every child deserves. Future programme budgets will be considered as part of the spending review and subsequent business planning process.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
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 the potential implications for his policies of his Department's consultation on The licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England, published on 2 September 2023.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to taking action to address longstanding concerns about the safety of the cosmetics sector and is exploring options for further regulation in this area. This includes considering the proposals that the Department previously consulted on for the introduction of a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England. We will set out the details of our approach at the earliest opportunity.