Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 support Integrated Care Board’s in providing community ear wax removal services to the public.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning local National Health Services, including ear wax removal services, and in doing so must consider how best to improve population health and achieve best value for money.
ICBs take account of relevant guidance on ear wax removal produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng98/chapter/Recommendations
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 improve access to ear wax removal services in Stockton West constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning local National Health Services, including ear wax removal services, and in doing so must consider how best to improve population health and achieve best value for money.
ICBs take account of relevant guidance on ear wax removal produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng98/chapter/Recommendations
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has issued guidance to the Metropolitan Police on the circumstances in which conditions that effectively prevent a protest from taking place may be imposed under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 in the last 12 months.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 allow the police to impose conditions on public processions and public assemblies as necessary to prevent serious public disorder, serious damage to property, or serious disruption to the life of the community.
Any conditions that are necessary can be placed on the public procession or public assembly, including the location or route, time and date, or prohibiting individuals entering any public space specified. These powers do not allow police to ban protests or prevent protests from taking place.
Decisions on how to police demonstrations are an operational matter for the police, working within the legal framework of the Public Order Act 1986. In making these considerations, the police must always balance decisions with the right to peaceful protest.
The College of Policing is responsible for providing guidance and operational advice for frontline policing. The College of Policing produces the Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice. Alongside this, the Protest Operational Advice Document is published jointly by the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the revised bird gathering licensing regime on animal welfare, including the ethical rehoming of captive-bred birds and the maintenance of genetic diversity in breeding populations.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As there has been no revision of the bird gathering licence regime, no impact assessment has been required.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the evidential basis is for the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s amendments to licensing conditions for bird gatherings, particularly the prohibition on the sale and exchange of captive-bred birds at licensed events.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings (such as shows) of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on GOV.UK.
The most recently published qualitative 2025 risk assessment (November 2025) sets out the risk of transmission of avian influenza at gatherings. The exact conditions of issued licences, including activities which can take place at a gathering (such as sales), are determined based on the assessed risk of each gathering.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consultation the Animal and Plant Health Agency undertook with avicultural event organisers, birdkeeping societies and representative bodies prior to the introduction of revised bird gathering licensing requirements.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials engaged proactively with stakeholders during summer 2025 including show organisers, auctioneers and breed societies, to better understand achievable conditions for gatherings. Engagement was via a number of stakeholder groups which occur regularly, and a series of individual discussions with key impacted parties. This process helped to shape a set of template conditions which could mitigate the disease risk associated with some gatherings.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to review the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s bird gathering licensing framework to allow (a) unified and (b) compatible licensing for mixed-species exhibitions with a demonstrated record of compliance and biosecurity.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The decision as to whether to allow gatherings by way of a general licence is kept under regular review and is informed by regular qualitative risk assessment containing the latest scientific and ornithological evidence and veterinary advice. Defra can also exercise discretion to permit gatherings by granting specific licences. For each application for a licence to hold a gathering of poultry, an individual risk assessment will be completed, and mitigating conditions will be set out in the licence.
In England the general licence for gatherings of Psittaciformes (e.g. parrots and budgerigars), birds of prey and racing pigeons permits a gathering including a mix of these birds. If the organiser of a gathering is granted a specific licence to hold a gathering including other orders of birds, that gathering can also include birds covered by general licence. It is therefore possible, subject to licence, to hold mixed-species exhibitions.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the evidential basis is for the introduction of separate licensing regimes for (a) psittaciformes and (b) poultry and passerines.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The most recently published qualitative 2025 risk assessment (November 2025) sets out the overall risk of transmission of avian influenza associated with gatherings for each order of birds. The overall risk associated with psittaciformes is assessed as low, whereas the overall risk associated with poultry (galliformes) or passerines is assessed as medium.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any documented cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have occurred in the UK within captive Psittaciformes kept under indoor, high-biosecurity conditions.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 2022 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed on 9 premises of which each had at least one captive Psittaciform bird. The department cannot comment on biosecurity of individual premises, as this is not public information; of these premises, three were domestic households, two were recorded as breeders, one was an educational establishment, and the others were open farms or sanctuaries.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many planned inpatient admissions expressed as a total number and as a percentage of all inpatient admissions were a) cancelled by hospitals and NHS authorities, b) cancelled by patients and c) cancelled because patients did not attend in each of the last three years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Appointments cancelled by hospitals or other National Health Service authorities do not appear in statistics as completed appointments. For admitted patients, the Department does not hold data on the cause of cancellations or where patients did not attend their operation.
Data on the number of last-minute cancelled operations is published by NHS England. Last minute means on the day the patient was due to arrive, after the patient has arrived in hospital or on the day of the operation or surgery. It does not include cancelled operations before the day of the operation. Data is available by year and quarter and includes the number of cancellations and the percentage these represent of total elective admissions. This is available at the following link, within the ‘Time Series’ report:
For outpatient appointments, data on cancellations and patients that did not attend their appointment is published by NHS England. Data is available by year and includes the number of cancellations, whether these were hospital or patient cancellations, and the percentage these represent of total elective admissions. This is available on the following link, within "Hospital Outpatient Activity, 2024-25: Report Tables":