Luke Akehurst

The United Kingdom has well-developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of risks. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years.

The scale of these capabilities is driven by classified planning assumptions derived from the United Kingdom’s National Security Risk Assessment. The Government sets out some of the main risks and emergencies that drive this common consequence planning in the National Risk Register, the latest version of which was published earlier this year: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-risk-register-2025

GOV.UK/prepare, the Government’s website for resilience and emergency planning, is designed to help people plan for potential hazards and equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and resources to respond effectively.

The United Kingdom has well-developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of eventualities. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years. This includes continuous reviews of the risk landscape through specific assessment and updating of NSRA risks. Plans are developed in line with the risk landscape and scalable to these risks.

The Government sets out some of the main risks and emergencies that drive this common consequence planning in the National Risk Register, the latest version of which was published earlier this year: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-risk-register-2025

GOV.UK/prepare, the Government’s website for resilience and emergency planning, is designed to help people plan for potential hazards and equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and resources to respond effectively.

The Procurement Act 2023, which is due to come into force on 24 February 2025, establishes a new public procurement regime, creating a simpler and more transparent system that will deliver better value for money.

Alongside this, a new National Procurement Policy Statement is being introduced aligned to the Government’s strategic priorities including growing the economy, creating high-quality local jobs, driving innovation and opening up opportunities to small businesses and social enterprises.

Contracting authorities are encouraged to consider how their procurement strategies can support domestic supply chains, including the vehicle manufacturing sector, while ensuring value for money for taxpayers.

This Government has greatly accelerated redress. We have launched the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) and Horizon Shortfall Scheme Appeals process. We have begun payments of a £75,000 fixed offer for those postmasters in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) who want to accept it. We deliver 89% of offers within 40 working days of receiving full claims. The total amount of redress paid under all schemes has more than quadrupled since July 2024. As of 29 August 2025, approximately £1,176 million has been paid in total redress to over 8,600 claimants across the three live Horizon schemes.

I am aware of the removal of the historical complaint records from the Hong Kong Ombudsman Office's website. While we recognise the importance of transparency and access to public information for businesses operating overseas, no formal assessment has been conducted on the specific impact of this change on UK businesses in Hong Kong. We continue to monitor developments in Hong Kong closely and maintain regular engagement with UK businesses to understand emerging concerns.

We are also working closely with colleagues across Whitehall, including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to ensure a coordinated approach to developments in Hong Kong that may affect UK commercial interests.

This Government will take a consistent, long term and strategic approach to managing the UK’s relations with China. We will co-operate where we can, compete where we have different interests, and challenge where we must. As an open economy, we welcome foreign trade and investment where it supports growth and jobs in the UK and meets our legal and regulatory requirements. We work closely with industry to build secure supply chains and back UK businesses. The government has also established Great British Energy to drive forward greater investment in clean, home-grown energy production and to build supply chains across the UK.

Work has already started across Government to deliver on our manifesto commitments. I will be meeting the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme Trustees shortly to discuss the best way to deliver the proposals.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for North Durham to the answer of 17 January 2025 to Question 24633.

The Government Fleet Commitment states that 100% of the central government car and van fleet will be fully zero emission by 2027. This represents a major opportunity for UK-based manufacturers, and the Department is working with them to ensure they can take advantage.

All drivers must have the correct insurance cover for the purpose they are using their vehicle for, and the police may check this when stopping a vehicle.

The Government takes uninsured driving seriously and tackles this through Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE), a scheme where the Motor Insurers’ Bureau and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency collaborate to identify uninsured drivers; police enforcement on the road and through Operation Tutelage.

An assessment suggested Chester-le-Street calls on Trans Pennine Express be increased to hourly services, which have now been implemented. As well as the LNER London to Newcastle trains be increased from two trains per hour to three trains per hour, now scheduled to start from December 2025.

Darlington should retain its two trains per hour to London by LNER and Durham should retain its one train per hour to London by LNER, both of which have been confirmed.

Other benefits to the North-east identified for introduction include more local trains north of Newcastle.

Network Rail is modelling the timetable to enable industry to focus on actions to ensure the timetable can be delivered reliably.

My Department works with stakeholders including Transport for the North, elected mayors, transport authorities and passenger groups, as well as train operators, to assess the demand for services. Rail North Partnership, through which the Department jointly manages Northern and TransPennine Trains’ contracts with Transport for the North, monitors operators’ planned train deployment to ensure this falls within the requirement on them to match capacity to demand within the constraints of the network.

The government knows that Britain needs a modern transport network to help kickstart economic growth. Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities. As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will pass the Better Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, to ensure networks can meet the needs to the communities who rely on them, including in County Durham and the North East.

We also plan to empower local transport authorities through reforming bus funding. By giving local leaders more control and flexibility over bus funding they can plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities. The Department will work closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on the government’s ambitions.

We published new analysis alongside the Get Britain Working White Paper which shows that there are 45,000 young people out of work, education and training across the North East.

Those young people are being failed.

The data is not robust enough to be broken down further at constituency level, but our Youth Guarantee will ensure everyone aged 18-21 in England can access quality training, educational opportunities or help to find work - wherever they live.

Primary progressive aphasia is a rare type of dementia where the recommended treatment is usually speech and language therapy, which is carried out by a speech and language therapist. NHS England is committed to delivering high quality care and support for every person with dementia, and central to this is the provision of personalised care and support planning for post diagnostic support.

Local authorities are required to provide or arrange services that meet the social care needs of the local population under the Care Act 2014.

Provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. It is the responsibility of the IBC to work within their geographical area to offer services that meet the needs of their population.

The Government has pledged to reform the National Health Service so that it better meets the needs of patients. This includes the current engagement exercise, which will help to shape the 10-Year Health Plan. This will be published in spring 2025 and is expected to underline the large shifts in how healthcare is provided.

The NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) has begun a programme of work with our partners to consider the future efficiency requirements and potential areas of investment for the future. While a Tourette's syndrome service may be considered within this process, it is likely that we will review the alignment of specialist support within the wider children and young people's mental health service pathways, including the links with local authorities on special educational needs and disability provision.

As commissioners, the ICB also undertakes an annual planning exercise to identify pathways that may require review. The pathway for the diagnosis and management of Tourette's syndrome, not only in County Durham, but across the North East and North Cumbria, will be identified through this exercise as an area for potential review in 2025/26. This will help us to understand where there are gaps in the provision of this specialist service that may potentially need to be addressed across the region. This planning exercise will require a prioritisation exercise to consider the clinical and cost benefits of a range of potential investment opportunities.

We are working closely, and at pace, with NHS England on this once in a generation funding boost. We will set out the details of the funding allocation and dissemination in the coming weeks.

In 2023, the Centre for Perioperative Care published revised National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs2). The standards were designed to reduce misunderstandings or errors, and to improve team cohesion. The NatSSIPs2 include a requirement for providers to have a local fire safety policy, in order to minimise the risk of surgical fires, and a management plan in the event of one occurring.

The NatSSIPs2 should form the basis of improvement work, inspections, and curricula. The standards support National Health Service organisations in providing safer care, and to reduce the number of patient safety incidents related to invasive procedures in which surgical fires can occur.

At this time, the Department has no plans to make training mandatory or to introduce further policies in relation to surgical fires

The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver three big shifts in the focus of healthcare, from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

The Department will also refresh the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan to fit the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, so the National Health Service has the staff it needs to treat patients on time again. NHS England continues to lead on a range of initiatives to boost retention of existing staff and ensure the NHS remains an attractive career choice for new recruits.

The Government recognises that a cancer-specific approach is needed to meet the challenges in cancer care, and to improve outcomes for people living with cancer. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new national cancer plan, which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients. We will continue to ensure that we train the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it, and the cancer plan will reflect this.

We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be, and will provide updates on this in due course.

This Government stands firm on human rights, including China's repression of the people of Tibet. We champion freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all in the UK and abroad, and work to uphold the right to FoRB through the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora, and through bilateral engagement. For example, On July 2 the UK convened an event in Geneva to reaffirm the right to FoRB for all, including Tibetan Buddhists and the right to choose their own religious leaders.

The UK views the Dalai Lama as a respected spiritual leader and strong human rights advocate. It is our longstanding position that the appointment of the next Dalai Lama is a matter for the Tibetan Buddhist community across the world, in line with FoRB.

We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor, Energy Secretary and I all raised human rights recently with our Chinese counterparts.

The UK has called for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to be granted unfettered and immediate access to the hostages in Gaza and Palestinian detainees to deliver on their independent visiting role, as enshrined within the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The UK reaffirms our support for the ICRC as the only humanitarian actor with the experience, capability, independence, and mandate to carry out their important responsibilities. As the Prime Minister said on 21 July, the UK demands an immediate ceasefire to stop the slaughter, that the UN be allowed to send humanitarian assistance into Gaza on a continuing basis to prevent starvation, and the immediate release of the hostages.

We continue to call on the Myanmar military to allow full, unrestricted humanitarian access in Myanmar and to respect fundamental humanitarian principles, including in Rakhine state. One in four households in Myanmar are in acute food insecurity. The UK has reached over 650,000 people with humanitarian food support in 2024, through our humanitarian programme. We will continue to maintain a spotlight on the humanitarian situation in Myanmar and will continue to provide vital humanitarian assistance and support.

The UK has announced up to £25 million in life-saving support for those affected by the recent earthquake in Myanmar, including up to £5 million to match public donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal. So far this support has provided food, water, healthcare, and shelter supplies to over 300,000 people. The UK funds local actors who can directly access affected populations, overcoming humanitarian access restrictions to support the most vulnerable communities.

The UK does not fund the military regime in Myanmar, and the regime has no involvement in directing our programmes. To manage the increased risk of aid diversion due to security and access constraints, we contract a third party to monitor our humanitarian programmes, verifying activities have taken place and flagging any allegations of aid diversion or other malpractice.

Since the coup, the UK has provided over £170 million to Myanmar in lifesaving humanitarian assistance, including healthcare provision through the Access to Health (A2H) Fund. The UK is the largest donor to A2H, which has supported vulnerable populations with critical nutrition services, maternal and child health interventions, and immunisation services since 2021. In 2024, UK-funded support provided essential health services to approximately 1.2 million people.

The UK has announced up to £25 million in life-saving support for people affected by the recent earthquake in Myanmar, including £2 million to the (A2H) Fund. So far, UK funding has reached over 48,000 people with healthcare services following the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is operationally independent from the Home Office and as such the Home Office does not hold any demographic information about the subjects of DBS checks in England and Wales. The DBS itself only holds demographic information that is mandatory for the processing of disclosure checks and barring referrals.

Whilst the right to protest is a fundamental part of our democracy, this right does not extend to activities that promote violence or criminal damage.

The decision to investigate potential criminal activity is a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of government. Home Office Ministers cannot interfere in operational decisions of this nature, as to do so could undermine their independence.

However, the Government will always support the police in using their powers as robustly as possible to prevent crime and maintain public order and safety where appropriate.

Whilst the right to protest is a fundamental part of our democracy, this right does not extend to activities that promote violence or criminal damage.

The decision to investigate potential criminal activity is a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of government. Home Office Ministers cannot interfere in operational decisions of this nature, as to do so could undermine their independence.

However, the Government will always support the police in using their powers as robustly as possible to prevent crime and maintain public order and safety where appropriate.

We do not routinely comment on the detail of operational matters or specific threats. But national security is the first duty of any government, and we take any malicious activity that might pose a significant threat to our security and public safety extremely seriously.

Iran’s malign activity, including the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The UK has more than 450 sanctions designations in place on Iranian individuals and entities, in response to the regime's human rights violations, nuclear weapons programme, malign influence internationally and state threats. The UK has also sanctioned the IRGC in its entirety, with the IRGC Intelligence Chief most recently being sanctioned this month.

The National Security Act 2023 provides a significant toolkit for our intelligence services and law enforcement agencies in the fight against state threats. This means that the UK is now a harder target for those states which seek to conduct hostile acts against the UK, including espionage, interference in our political system, sabotage and assassination.

In concert with partners, the UK Government will continue to use all tools at our disposal to protect the UK and its overseas interests against any threats from the Iranian state.

The Government is committed to an investigation or inquiry into the policing of the events at Orgreave on 18 June 1984 and will consider options for delivering this. We will ensure that the House is updated as soon as practicable.

In line with prevailing procurement rules at the time, the contracts for the Ajax, Challenger 3 and Boxer programmes did not contain specific targets in relation to generating social value.

The Ministry of Defence actively monitors opportunities to enhance social value and UK prosperity through these programmes. Suppliers in the North East support jobs and social value across Defence.

The Manufacturing phase contracts for the tier 2 supply chain are being agreed by RBSL, the Prime Contractor. The programme will award approximately 60% of supply chain contracts to the UK with a significant contribution from the North East.

RBSL have sites in Telford and Newcastle; the proportion of work undertaken at each site is a matter for RBSL.

The design, development and manufacture of the Challenger 3 tank is being undertaken by RBSL from its sites in Telford, Shropshire and Washington, Tyne and Wear. Challenger 3 sub-system design and manufacturing, including the fabrication of the turret structure and manufacture of the sighting systems, is being carried out by the wider UK supply chain.

Approximately 60% of the Challenger 3 supply chain will be provided by UK suppliers. North East suppliers represent a significant contribution to this figure.

The Boxer programme is planned to deliver 60% by value of the original production contract from the UK.

The long-term support solution for the programme is still under development but will look to build on the hundreds of UK jobs that have already been protected during the manufacture of the platform. It is not yet known what proportion of that supply chain will be based in the UK and North East.