Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider specific funding for mesothelioma nursing posts.

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

Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.

Funding provided to NHS trusts is not ringfenced for specific items such as staffing levels. Hospitals receive funding allocations which they can use at their discretion, based on local priorities.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure that the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider establishing a national clinical audit for people living with mesothelioma to understand a) the need for preventative measures and b) the scale of treatment needed.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Loughborough on 12 May 2025 to Question 46503.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to ensure that incidences of asbestos-related disease are accurately and consistently recorded to allow analysis of the scale of asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma nationally.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) produces and publishes statistics for asbestosis, mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer and non-malignant pleural disease in Great Britain.

The statistics are taken from multiple sources including THOR (The Health and Occupation Reporting Network), Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) and death certificates.

There is consistency in how data on asbestos-related disease is collected and analysed to tell us about the changing nature of risk to different populations. However, because of factors such as long latency of asbestos related diseases, the data tells us nothing about the effect of recent exposure or those that could still be occurring today.

HSE continues to monitor and assess evidence in this area.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2025 to Question 77524, whether he will recommend the work of the UK National Asbestos Register to the HSE in order to accelerate its work to create an asbestos census.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Health and Safety Executive is aware of the work being undertaken by the UK National Asbestos Register and others and is exploring a phased approach to improving its understanding of the legacy of asbestos remaining in buildings by gathering relevant data, with an initial focus on developing a better understanding of the scale of asbestos in the Government estate.

This should help to provide a more objective and reliable evidence base to inform decision making and a longer-term strategy for the management and removal of asbestos.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to ensure asbestos awareness training is provided to a) health and education workers or b) all public-sector workers in order to reduce the risk of contracting mesothelioma or another asbestos-related cancer.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR) require all dutyholders such as employers or building occupiers, including those in the public sector, to provide adequate information, instruction and training to workers who are liable to be exposed to asbestos.

These requirements extend to ensuring that information about the location and condition of any asbestos is provided to every person liable to disturb it.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether provisions of the UK-India trade deal address the freedom and human rights of minority groups in India.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The landmark UK-India trade deal includes chapters on labour, gender, environment and anti-corruption. In common with most free trade agreements it enables the two partners to discuss important matters including human rights on a regular basis. It is not our only means of advancing concerns.

The British High Commission in New Delhi and our network across India track human rights across the country. We engage Indian stakeholders on a range of human rights matters, working with Union and State Governments, and with civil society.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to request that NICE conduct an exceptional (expedited) partial review of the NICE Depression guideline (NG222) to consider the inclusion of intravenous racemic ketamine as an option for patients for whom electroconvulsive therapy is being considered.

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

The Department has no plans to ask the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to conduct a review of the NICE guideline on the treatment and management of depression, reference code NG222.

NICE is an independent body and is responsible for taking decisions on whether its guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence and changes in clinical practice. NICE operates an active surveillance programme and when new evidence emerges, it proactively considers whether existing guidance should be reviewed and, if appropriate, updated. Decisions as to whether NICE will create new, or update existing, guidance are overseen by an integrated, cross-organisational prioritisation board. NICE has no current plans to review intravenous racemic ketamine in the context of the depression guideline.

The Gatehouse in Oxford

World Cancer Day and breast cancer

World Cancer Day

Chinese Embassy

Cumulative disruption proposals and the right to protest

UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons

Nuclear Regulatory Review and habitats regulations

Deregistration of international non-governmental organisations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Use of UK bases by the United States and international law in relation to Greenland

Tribute to Lance Corporal George Thomas Hooley

Found: Current membership Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat; Oxford West and Abingdon) (Chair) Danny Beales (Labour

Found: of State for Public Health and Prevention 39 Victoria Street London SW1H 0EU Layla Moran

Found: Yours sincerely, Layla Moran Chair, Health and Social Care Committee

Found: of State for Public Health and Prevention 39 Victoria Street London SW1H 0EU Layla Moran

Found: of State for Health and Social Care 39 Victoria Street London SW1H 0EU Layla Moran

Found: of State for Public Health and Prevention 39 Victoria Street London SW1H 0EU Layla Moran

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Layla Moran (Chair); Danny Beales; Ben Coleman; Dr Beccy Cooper;

Found: Wednesday 30 October 2024 Virtual meeting Members present Layla Moran, in the Chair 1 Danny Beales