Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41564, under what circumstances the Windrush Commissioner could move from operating on a non-statutory basis to a statutory basis.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Windrush Commissioner will be a public appointee, operating independently of the Home Office to serve as an advocate and trusted voice for victims, families and impacted communities affected by the Home Office Windrush Scandal.
To maintain momentum, drive early progress, and shape and refine the role in practice, the Commissioner will initially operate on a non-statutory basis.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the rollout of suicide prevention training on staff in police custody suites.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the response to PQ 38138 published on 20th March 2025.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what role her Department has in setting (a) standards and (b) contents of training for firefighters.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is the responsibility of Fire and Rescue Authorities to ensure that firefighters receive the appropriate equipment and training they need to safely respond to the wide range of incidents which they attend. The Government will continue to work closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council to ensure fire and rescue services have the resources they need to keep the public safe.
The Fire Standards Board is chaired independently of the Government and oversees the identification, development and maintenance of fire standards for fire and rescue services in England.
The Government has accepted in principle the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry’s recommendation to establish a college of fire and rescue. A necessary first step will be to consult on the most appropriate functions for a college – which could, as recommended by the Inquiry, include training provision and standards – and how it could best be structured and delivered. We expect to launch this consultation later in 2025. Implementing a new professional body for the fire and rescue sector would be a complex, long-term project requiring legislation and investment.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on ensuring firefighters receive suicide prevention training.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Every suicide is a tragedy, and we recognise the valuable role that firefighters play in attending these emergency incidents.
As part of the Government’s mission to reduce the lives lost to suicide we are recruiting 8,500 new mental health workers who will be specially trained to support people at risk, and we continue to back fire and rescue services to provide suicide support and training for firefighters.
Firefighters, alongside other emergency services, play an important role in attending emergency incidents relating to suicides. It is for each fire and rescue service to provide support and training for firefighters in relation to these types of emergency incidents.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral answer of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice on 11 March 2025 to Question 903119 on Female Offenders, whether that specialised training is available to all staff.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Foundation training programme for all new prison officers includes learning in relation to suicide and self-harm. For officers working in the female estate, there is an additional week of Foundation training which gives officers an understanding of the potential for increased risk factors for women in custody in relation to self-harm and suicide.
There is additional Suicide and Self Harm training that deals specifically with suicide prevention across the custodial estate, the target audience of which is all staff across HM Prison & Probation Service.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to raise awareness of the impact of migraines on children’s education.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people receive the right support to succeed and thrive in their education and as they move into adult life.
Pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education. In 2014, the government introduced a duty on schools to support pupils with all medical conditions and has published statutory guidance intended to help governing bodies meet their legal responsibilities. This guidance sets out the arrangements they will be expected to make, based on good practice. Schools should ensure they are aware of any pupils with medical conditions and should have policies and processes in place to ensure these can be well managed.
The government recognises that migraines can impact a child or young person’s concentration and school attendance. As a result, schools must use their best endeavours to make sure a child or young person gets the special educational provision they need. This includes monitoring the progress of pupils regularly and putting support in place where needed, including arranging diagnostic tests where appropriate.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to raise awareness of the impact of migraines in the workplace.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Health and Social Care are committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with migraines, with their employment journey.
The Disability Confident Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. A digital information service for employers, (Support with Employee Health and Disability), has been developed to offer guidance on making reasonable adjustments, supporting employees to remain in work, and understanding legal requirements.
Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. We announced in the recent Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding.
In addition to this work, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have launched the Keep Britain Working Review. This review will consider how to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more disabled people and people with health conditions; promote healthy workplaces and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the average time taken to process nominations for national honours.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Processing the large number of nominations for national honours can be lengthy but it is critical to ensure the integrity of national honours is maintained. Verifying information about nominees can take time to ensure the independent process has been completed to the standards expected.
Of course we are always looking at ways to use technology to improve and speed up processes, including in honours.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his planned timetable is to establish a duty of candour for public servants.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government remains committed to implement a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities. The details of this Bill will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much NHS England has spent on (a) drug and (b) alcohol treatment in (i) prisons, (ii) young offender institutions, (iii) immigration removal centres and (iv) other secure settings in the last three financial years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A detailed analysis of NHS England’s spend on drug and alcohol treatment in prisons, young offender institutions (YOIs), immigration removal centres (IRCs), and other secure settings is not available at the level requested. This is because mental health and substance misuse are not necessarily individual contracts and, in most instances, are part of combined total healthcare contracts. Therefore, we are only able to report combined figures for both mental health and substance misuse treatment. The following table shows the combined costs of mental health and substance misuse treatment in the secure estate, from 2021/22 to 2023/24:
Schedule of mental health and substance misuse in secure settings | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Mental health and substance misuse in adult prisons | £205,900,000 | £195,700,000 | £211,000,000 |
Mental health and substance misuse in YOI's and other youth secure settings | £13,600,000 | £13,000,000 | £18,300,000 |
Mental health and substance misuse in IRC's | £2,800,000 | £4,300,000 | £4,700,000 |