Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with R&A on the hosting of the Open Championship in 2028.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sporting bodies operate independently of the Government. Decisions on tournament hosting venues are rightly a matter for the relevant sporting bodies, in this case the R&A and its operational team.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of Chinese-made drones used by police forces on cyber security.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Decisions on operational equipment are made independently by police forces, who are best placed to assess their own operational needs while ensuring they have the tools necessary to protect the public.
The Government takes national and cyber security extremely seriously and regularly reviews risks, including from Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS). The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) have issued guidance for security professionals across public and private sector organisations on the appropriate security measures which should be taken to manage potential security risks via UAS technologies, including drones.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 adequacy of levels of access to medication by neurodivergent people who have been diagnosed (a) by the NHS and (b) privately.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, related to how the brain develops, rather than an illness. Although some approaches are particularly helpful for autistic people, and medication may be prescribed for co-existing issues, autism is not treated directly, including through medication.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards in England to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to medication services for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
It is for the responsible clinician to decide on the most appropriate treatment plan to manage ADHD in discussion with their patient. This decision is based on the clinician’s expertise regarding treatment options, evidence, risk and benefits and the patient’s personal circumstances as part of a shared decision-making process. The NICE guidelines on ADHD set out the considerations that healthcare professionals should account for when considering treatment options.
Shared care within the National Health Service refers to an arrangement whereby a specialist doctor formally transfers responsibility for all or some aspects of their patient’s care, such as prescription of medication, over to the patient’s general practitioner (GP). The General Medical Council (GMC) has issued guidance on prescribing and managing medicines, which helps GPs decide whether to accept shared care responsibilities. The GMC has made it clear that GPs cannot be compelled to enter into a shared care agreement. GP practices may decline such requests on clinical or capacity grounds. If a shared care arrangement cannot be put in place after the treatment has been initiated, the responsibility for continued prescribing falls upon the specialist clinician; this applies to both NHS and private medical care.
We have taken swift action to improve the supply of ADHD medications and, as a result, many issues have been resolved. However, some issues remain, and we are working with the relevant manufacturers to help resolve them, as soon as possible.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department made of the potential impact of the use of Chinese-made drones to survey critical national infrastructure sites on cybersecurity.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence takes the security of all its assets very seriously, but we do not comment on details as these could be useful to potential adversaries.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 increase capacity for training new GPs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training thousands more general practitioners and will ensure that there is sufficient capacity in the National Health Service to deliver this.
To reform the NHS and make it fit for the future, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan as part of Government’s five long-term missions. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the UK's departure from Creative Europe on its creative industries.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The UK is not part of Creative Europe, and has not been since the UK left the European Union.
This government has not proposed any plans to rejoin Creative Europe, though we are committed to finding constructive ways to work with the EU and deliver for the British people on shared priorities and global challenges.
We recognise the UK’s creative and cultural sectors provide a unique and valuable contribution to Europe’s diverse cultural landscape. We are working with our world-leading sectors to ensure that they can continue to promote growth and enrich lives, at home and abroad, including through initiatives such as the £7 million UK Global Screen Fund, and the £1.6 million Music Export Growth Scheme.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of joining Creative Europe.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The UK is not part of Creative Europe, and has not been since the UK left the European Union.
This government has not proposed any plans to rejoin Creative Europe, though we are committed to finding constructive ways to work with the EU and deliver for the British people on shared priorities and global challenges.
We recognise the UK’s creative and cultural sectors provide a unique and valuable contribution to Europe’s diverse cultural landscape. We are working with our world-leading sectors to ensure that they can continue to promote growth and enrich lives, at home and abroad, including through initiatives such as the £7 million UK Global Screen Fund, and the £1.6 million Music Export Growth Scheme.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with the creative industries on joining Creative Europe.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The UK is not part of Creative Europe, and has not been since the UK left the European Union.
This government has not proposed any plans to rejoin Creative Europe, though we are committed to finding constructive ways to work with the EU and deliver for the British people on shared priorities and global challenges.
We recognise the UK’s creative and cultural sectors provide a unique and valuable contribution to Europe’s diverse cultural landscape. We are working with our world-leading sectors to ensure that they can continue to promote growth and enrich lives, at home and abroad, including through initiatives such as the £7 million UK Global Screen Fund, and the £1.6 million Music Export Growth Scheme.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making legal aid available to people working in creative industries to enable them to pursue technology firms suspected of breaching copyright laws through artificial intelligence.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has no plans to make such an assessment. We are working to ensure that copyright and intellectual property frameworks remain robust and fit for purpose in the age of AI.
We have received over 11,500 responses to our consultation, principally from creators, and are analysing those responses to shape our approach. We have been clear that AI developers must be more transparent about the content they use to train their models and that rights holders should have effective control of their works.
We encourage rights holders who believe their work has been used unlawfully to seek independent legal advice and we continue to assess how best we might support the creative sector to harness the opportunities this technology provides.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has received representations from (a) President Trump and (b) the US government on the potential hosting of The Open at Turnberry.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sporting bodies operate independently of the Government, and decisions on tournament hosting venues are rightly a matter for the relevant sporting bodies.
This would be a matter entirely for The R&A and its operational team.