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 access to NHS prescriptions for people unable to operate online health services.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

People who are unable to use online health services are still able to access the NHS via traditional routes. To get a prescription without online services, patients can visit their GP surgery and request a paper repeat prescription slip or fill out a form, or call their GP to request a telephone appointment to discuss their needs.

NHS England has successfully run several programmes to support patients, carers, and health service staff with their digital skills. These include:

- The Digital Health Champions programme, a proof of concept to support citizens who have no or low digital skills with understanding how to access health services online.

- The Widening Digital Participation programme, aimed to ensure more people have the digital skills, motivation and means to access health information and services online.

- The NHS App ‘Spoken Word’ Pilot project, designed to test the efficacy of promoting NHS digital health products and services in languages other than English.

We have also recruited over 2,000 NHS App ambassadors and 1,400 libraries to help people to learn how to use it.

NHS England has published a framework for NHS action on digital inclusion and is developing further resources to support practical actions. All programmes are actively considering how they can contribute to improvements in healthcare inequalities and digital inclusion.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Skilled Worker visa salary threshold on the ability of veterinary practices to recruit staff; and what appeals process is available where salary thresholds do not reflect local pay levels.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Practices sponsoring veterinarians for Skilled Worker applications post 22^nd July 2025 will need to offer a salary of at least £49,500 to meet the requirements.

There are salary discounts available for “New entrants” at the start of their careers. If they meet any of these requirements then instead of the £49,500 salary requirement vets could qualify with a minimum pay of £34,600.

A technical annex (www.gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-white-paper/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-technical-annex) was published alongside the Immigration White Paper setting out the impact of some of the key policy changes.

The national salary thresholds are set at the median levels according to the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, and are in place to ensure that resident workers’ wages should not be undercut and also to protect overseas workers from being exploited as low-cost labour.

On 2 July we asked the independent Migration Advisory Committee to advise on future salary requirements for Skilled Worker visas.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the minimum salary requirement is for overseas-qualified veterinary surgeons to be eligible for Skilled Worker visas.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Practices sponsoring veterinarians for Skilled Worker applications post 22^nd July 2025 will need to offer a salary of at least £49,500 to meet the requirements.

There are salary discounts available for “New entrants” at the start of their careers. If they meet any of these requirements then instead of the £49,500 salary requirement vets could qualify with a minimum pay of £34,600.

A technical annex (www.gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-white-paper/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-technical-annex) was published alongside the Immigration White Paper setting out the impact of some of the key policy changes.

The national salary thresholds are set at the median levels according to the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, and are in place to ensure that resident workers’ wages should not be undercut and also to protect overseas workers from being exploited as low-cost labour.

On 2 July we asked the independent Migration Advisory Committee to advise on future salary requirements for Skilled Worker visas.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments rate; and whether she plans to update that rate.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) are used by employers to reimburse an employee’s expenses for business mileage in their private vehicle. These rates are also used by self-employed drivers to claim tax relief on business mileage (simplified motoring expenses). In considering potential changes to the AMAP/simplified motoring expenses rates, the Government would need to balance support for individuals with the responsible management of public finances which fund our essential public services.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support UK exporters of Category 3 fishmeal and fish oil facing delays at EU Border Control Posts.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra actively supports GB exporters of Category 3 fishmeal and fish oil to navigate EU Border Control Post processes. To assist exporters, Defra has issued detailed Notes for Guidance outlining the certification process, including specific requirements that must be met to ensure compliance with EU legislation.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to meet representatives of the UK fishmeal and fish oil export sector to discuss (a) the impact of delays at EU ports and (b) potential solutions.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Ministers continue to work closely with industry to address immediate challenges to the cross-border trade between the UK and EU.

As announced at the UK-EU Leaders’ Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area, aimed at reducing trade barriers to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of Agri-food Negotiations are expected to begin in the autumn.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how often physical sampling checks are applied by the Service d’Inspection Vétérinaire Et Phytosanitaire to UK consignments of Category 3 fishmeal and fish oil exported through Calais; how long those checks take; and what representations she has made to her French counterpart on those checks.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The baseline frequency rate for physical checks on consignments of fishery products, is set out in EU legislation, though this may be increased where serious deficiencies are identified on specific goods. The EU regulations also require that for Processed Animal Protein (PAP), which includes fishmeal, the first six consignments of bulk imports are tested and their compliance verified by EU border controls before releasing the consignment.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department is taking fiscal steps to help support employment agencies in the context of trends in the level of costs in that sector.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The department recognises the vital role employment agencies play in our labour market. While there are no specific fiscal measures targeted exclusively at employment agencies, the government is conscious about the cost of conducting business. That is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, more than half of employers see no change or gain overall from this package and employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.

Employment agencies will also benefit from the new tools to unlock access to finance, action to address late payments and regulatory costs, improve digital adoption and create easier pathways to business support through the Business Growth Service.

Found: Labour, Gateshead Central and Whickham) (added 28 Oct 2024; removed 3 Mar 2025) 1 of 1 (100.0%) Melanie Onn

Found: Labour, Gateshead Central and Whickham) (added 28 Oct 2024; removed 3 Mar 2025) 6 of 6 (100.0%) Melanie Onn

Found: Melanie Onn: We are talking about a positive there, aren’t we, Chair?

Found: Melanie Onn: We are talking about a positive there, aren’t we, Chair?

Submit Evidence (by 7 Jan 2026)

Following an initial evidence session in Parliament on the role of the UK’s refinery industry in the energy transition, the Committee is launching a new inquiry and call for evidence on the future of UK oil and gas.