Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
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 merits of Local Authorities commissioning gambling harms prevention; and of their capacity to do so.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In April 2025, the statutory gambling levy came into effect to fund the research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harm across Great Britain. In its first year, the levy has raised nearly £120 million, with 30% allocated to gambling harms prevention activity.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which is responsible for the implementation and oversight of the gambling levy, remains confident that levy commissioners are best placed to make decisions on the future of their work programmes regarding the research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harms.
As prevention commissioners, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in England and the Scottish and Welsh administrations continue to work collaboratively on the development of their respective work programmes, drawing on expertise from across the system. OHID will employ a ‘test and learn’ approach as they transition to the new levy system, to better-understand what interventions are most effective in preventing gambling harms at a local, regional, and national level.
Local authorities are well placed to play a central role in preventing gambling‑related harms across local communities. An OHID-led stocktake of local authority activity in this space indicated that whilst some activity is already underway, there is appetite within local authorities to do more.
OHID are developing a fund for all upper-tier local authorities across England, which will aim to strengthen local capacity to tackle gambling‑related harm by facilitating improved understanding of local need and supporting the development of effective local and regional networks. This will be delivered alongside the Gambling Harms Prevention: Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise grant fund which launched in January to fund voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations to deliver prevention activity across England until March 2028. Further information on the Gambling Harms Prevention: Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise grant fund is avaiable at the following link:
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with organisations impacted by the delay in the publication of the EHRC Code of Practice on single-sex spaces.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations provides guidance on all protected characteristics, not solely sex and gender reassignment. This is a legally complex document which will have an impact on service providers up and down the country. We are working at pace to review it with the care it deserves.
We have set out our expectation for service providers to follow the law as clarified by the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers ruling and seek specialist legal advice where necessary.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2025 to Question 96315 on Sports: Finance, how much of the £400 million announced for investment into grassroots sports facilities she anticipates will be spent in 2026, and on which sports will that funding be spent.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s announcement of £400m of investment into grassroots sports over the next four years will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in communities that need them across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 56,855 non-pitch-based sport facilities in England, which can be broken down by local authority. More details can be found here.
We are working on our plans for future grassroots sports funding and we will continue to engage the Devolved Governments and our local partners across the UK on this matter. We will provide an update early in 2026.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December to Question 96978 on Sports: Facilities, what data relating to non-pitch-based sports infrastructure her Department holds; and whether it holds datasets on local authority breakdowns.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s announcement of £400m of investment into grassroots sports over the next four years will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in communities that need them across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 56,855 non-pitch-based sport facilities in England, which can be broken down by local authority. More details can be found here.
We are working on our plans for future grassroots sports funding and we will continue to engage the Devolved Governments and our local partners across the UK on this matter. We will provide an update early in 2026.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the £400 million announced for grassroots sports facilities on 19 June 2025 will include Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s announcement of £400m of investment into grassroots sports over the next four years will ensure that we continue to deliver high-quality multi-sport facilities in communities that need them across the UK, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.
According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 56,855 non-pitch-based sport facilities in England, which can be broken down by local authority. More details can be found here.
We are working on our plans for future grassroots sports funding and we will continue to engage the Devolved Governments and our local partners across the UK on this matter. We will provide an update early in 2026.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2025 to Question 96307 on Emigration, if her Department will make an assessment of of the potential impact of the emigration of people aged (a) 18-25, (b) 26-35, (c) 36-49, and (d) 50+ years old on (i) the levels of revenue raised through taxation and (ii) the sustainability of the public finances.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) assesses the fiscal implications of migration as part of its Economic and Fiscal Outlook and long-term fiscal projections.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding domestic training places compared instead of continuing current levels of international recruitment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 8 December 2025, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which would put in place emergency legislation in the new year which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would apply to current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that.
Other measures in the offer include creating 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year, cost related measures, such as reimbursement for exam fees, to address the unique costs that resident doctors face, and increasing the less than full time allowance by 50% to £1,500.
This is in addition to steps already taken by NHS England in September to tackle competition for speciality training places this year by changing General Medical Council registration requirements and limiting the number of applications that can be submitted by individuals.
We have also made significant progress over the past year to improve the working lives of resident doctors. This includes agreeing an improved exception reporting system which will ensure doctors are compensated fairly for additional work, reviewing how resident doctors rotate through their training, and reforming and rationalising statutory and mandatory training to reduce unnecessary burden and repetition.
In August 2025, NHS England published The NHS’s 10 Point Plan which set out actions for NHS England and trusts to improve resident doctors working conditions by fixing unacceptable working practices and getting the basics right for resident doctors. It aims to tackle basic issues like payroll errors, poor rota management, lack of access to rest facilities and hot food, and unnecessarily repeating training.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the loss of UK-trained medical graduates to (a) alternative careers and (b) emigration.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 8 December 2025, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which would put in place emergency legislation in the new year which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would apply to current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that.
Other measures in the offer include creating 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year, cost related measures, such as reimbursement for exam fees, to address the unique costs that resident doctors face, and increasing the less than full time allowance by 50% to £1,500.
This is in addition to steps already taken by NHS England in September to tackle competition for speciality training places this year by changing General Medical Council registration requirements and limiting the number of applications that can be submitted by individuals.
We have also made significant progress over the past year to improve the working lives of resident doctors. This includes agreeing an improved exception reporting system which will ensure doctors are compensated fairly for additional work, reviewing how resident doctors rotate through their training, and reforming and rationalising statutory and mandatory training to reduce unnecessary burden and repetition.
In August 2025, NHS England published The NHS’s 10 Point Plan which set out actions for NHS England and trusts to improve resident doctors working conditions by fixing unacceptable working practices and getting the basics right for resident doctors. It aims to tackle basic issues like payroll errors, poor rota management, lack of access to rest facilities and hot food, and unnecessarily repeating training.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will issue guidance to the NHS on recruitment the recruitment of domestic graduates and non-UK applicants.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 8 December 2025, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which would put in place emergency legislation in the new year which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would apply to current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that.
Other measures in the offer include creating 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year, cost related measures, such as reimbursement for exam fees, to address the unique costs that resident doctors face, and increasing the less than full time allowance by 50% to £1,500.
This is in addition to steps already taken by NHS England in September to tackle competition for speciality training places this year by changing General Medical Council registration requirements and limiting the number of applications that can be submitted by individuals.
We have also made significant progress over the past year to improve the working lives of resident doctors. This includes agreeing an improved exception reporting system which will ensure doctors are compensated fairly for additional work, reviewing how resident doctors rotate through their training, and reforming and rationalising statutory and mandatory training to reduce unnecessary burden and repetition.
In August 2025, NHS England published The NHS’s 10 Point Plan which set out actions for NHS England and trusts to improve resident doctors working conditions by fixing unacceptable working practices and getting the basics right for resident doctors. It aims to tackle basic issues like payroll errors, poor rota management, lack of access to rest facilities and hot food, and unnecessarily repeating training.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to prioritise UK-trained medical graduates over overseas-trained applicants when allocating (a) Foundation Years and (b) speciality training posts; and if he will make it his policy to reintroduce a residency-based labour-market test for NHS training posts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 8 December 2025, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which would put in place emergency legislation in the new year which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would apply to current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that.
Other measures in the offer include creating 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year, cost related measures, such as reimbursement for exam fees, to address the unique costs that resident doctors face, and increasing the less than full time allowance by 50% to £1,500.
This is in addition to steps already taken by NHS England in September to tackle competition for speciality training places this year by changing General Medical Council registration requirements and limiting the number of applications that can be submitted by individuals.
We have also made significant progress over the past year to improve the working lives of resident doctors. This includes agreeing an improved exception reporting system which will ensure doctors are compensated fairly for additional work, reviewing how resident doctors rotate through their training, and reforming and rationalising statutory and mandatory training to reduce unnecessary burden and repetition.
In August 2025, NHS England published The NHS’s 10 Point Plan which set out actions for NHS England and trusts to improve resident doctors working conditions by fixing unacceptable working practices and getting the basics right for resident doctors. It aims to tackle basic issues like payroll errors, poor rota management, lack of access to rest facilities and hot food, and unnecessarily repeating training.