Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with (a) Citizens Advice, (b) disabled people and (c) carers as part of the upcoming Timms Review.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to co-producing the Timms Review with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. This will include carers' organisations so that the voices of unpaid carers are heard.
I have been engaging widely over the summer, including with welfare rights organisations, to consider how to approach the review and how it can best be co-produced. I will share more details on this and how disabled people and other stakeholders will be involved in the review as plans progress.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will include targets to improve diagnosis times for myeloma in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers such as myeloma, as well as other unstageable cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, in order to improve outcomes.
To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.
We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancer earlier and treating it faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will include targets to improve diagnosis times for myeloma in the National Cancer Plan for England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers such as myeloma, as well as other unstageable cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, in order to improve outcomes.
To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.
We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancer earlier and treating it faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to end recruitment freezes in maternity services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The guarantee will ensure that there are enough positions for every newly qualified midwife in England. The package of measures will unlock thousands of jobs, ensuring thousands of new posts are easier to access by removing barriers for National Health Service trusts, creating opportunities for graduates and enabling a seamless transition from training to employment.
Vacant maternity support worker posts will be temporarily converted to Band 5 midwifery roles, backed by £8 million to create new opportunities specifically for newly qualified midwives and to further ease the recruitment strain.
These new measures aim to tackle graduates’ concerns about job availability and ensure the NHS has the right staff to provide the best possible care to patients everywhere.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide funding for newly qualified midwifery posts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The guarantee will ensure that there are enough positions for every newly qualified midwife in England. The package of measures will unlock thousands of jobs, ensuring thousands of new posts are easier to access by removing barriers for National Health Service trusts, creating opportunities for graduates and enabling a seamless transition from training to employment.
Vacant maternity support worker posts will be temporarily converted to Band 5 midwifery roles, backed by £8 million to create new opportunities specifically for newly qualified midwives and to further ease the recruitment strain.
These new measures aim to tackle graduates’ concerns about job availability and ensure the NHS has the right staff to provide the best possible care to patients everywhere.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of caring responsibilities on levels of social isolation among unpaid carers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.
Local authorities have duties to support unpaid carers and are required to deliver sustainable, high-quality care and support services.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will launch an investigation into the Co-op’s lone working practices.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has the policy lead for regulation of workplace health and safety in Great Britain. The primary responsibility for managing risk to health and safety lies with employers. An employer is the person or organisation that is legally responsible, under health and safety law, for managing and controlling risks created by their work activities. It is for the employer to determine the best way to manage those risks taking account of the circumstances of their business and work activity.
There may be greater risks for lone workers without direct supervision or someone to help them if things go wrong, and an employer must identify the risks to lone workers and put control measures in place to protect them. HSE provides guidance on lone working: Lone working: Protect those working alone - HSE which includes advice on violence in the workplace.
HSE has not made an assessment of the Co-op’s Project Lunar.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to increase the Universal Credit rate for people under 25 ahead of the Autumn Budget 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to increase the Universal Credit rate for people under 25.
Under the Social Security Administration Act 1992 the Secretary of State is required by law to review State Pension and benefit rates each year to see if they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices or earnings.
We have uprated benefit rates for 2025/26 in line with inflation, with 5.7 million Universal Credit households forecast to gain by an average of £150 annually.
In addition, we have introduced our Universal Credit bill which legislates to rebalance Universal Credit by bringing in, for the first time ever, a sustained above inflation increase to the UC standard allowance for all claimants.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to update the existing regulations on composition, marketing and labelling of commercial infant and toddler foods.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Children’s early years provide an important foundation for their future health and strongly influence many aspects of wellbeing in later life.
The Government has published voluntary industry baby food guidelines as part of our comprehensive strategy to give children the best start in life. The guidelines challenge businesses to reduce the levels of salt and sugar in commercial baby food and drink products aimed at those aged up to 36 months. The guidelines also set out voluntary labelling actions for industry, in addition to reinforcing legislative requirements around labelling and health and nutrition claims. This will help to support parents and carers to make informed choices about what to feed their children.
Businesses have 18 months from the publication of these guidelines, therefore by February 2027, to deliver the required changes. We will monitor industry progress towards implementing the sugar, salt, and labelling guidelines.
It is vital that we maintain the highest standards for foods consumed by babies and infants, which is why we also have regulations in place that set nutritional, compositional, and labelling standards for commercial baby food. These ensure that commercial baby foods are suitable for infants and young children and require businesses to ensure labelling is clear and not misleading. The regulations also set labelling standards to ensure consumers have clear and accurate information about the products they buy.
The Best Start in Life health website has advice for parents and carers on successful weaning of infants to introduce healthy solid foods, and is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/
It has been updated to provide new advice on shop-bought baby food and healthy weaning practices. The update has been made in light of the increased availability and range of commercial baby food products, highlighting the need for clear and consistent advice for parents and carers.
We continue to keep these regulations under review to ensure that the composition of infant food and drinks reflects the latest scientific advice and dietary guidelines. The voluntary industry baby food guidelines should support improvements in this area.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to encourage cyclists to undertake Bikeability training.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In February, the Department and Active Travel England (ATE) announced £30 million to provide Bikeability cycle training to children. The Bikeability Trust operates a number of outreach programmes to encourage more people to access cycle training, including Cycle to School Week and Get Cycling in Schools. Outside of the Bikeability schools programme, local authorities can use revenue funding awarded by ATE to support cycle training delivery for children and adults.