Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department recognises problem debt as a public health issue; and what support the NHS and social care services provide to people with problem debt.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research shows that there is a link between health and financial health with a large amount of people who experience mental health problems also struggling with their finances.
NHS Talking Therapies has recently collaborated with the Money and Pensions Service to promote the Money Guiders programme that helps equip mental health practitioners to have money conversations with their patients. In addition, each NHS Talking Therapies service has embedded employment advisors who provide a non-clinical support service to help patients using Talking Therapies to address work-related issues, offering practical support and solutions for any work barriers which can include unemployment and returning to work.
The Individual Placement and Support is a well‑evidenced, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence‑approved employment programme, funded by NHS England, that offers intensive, individually tailored support to get people into work, with ongoing support for the employer and employee to help ensure the person keeps their job.
Individuals may also be able to access the Breathing Space Scheme, which was set up to encourage more people in problem debt to access professional debt advice. A standard breathing space provides a 60-day period of protection by pausing creditor enforcement action and most interest, fees, and charges. Given the link between problem debt and mental health difficulties, the Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space was also established for individuals who are receiving mental health crisis treatment.
Where debt is the result of gambling addiction, individuals can access their local National Health Service gambling service via self- or professional referral.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help improve the financial situation of mixed-age couples where one partner has reached State Pension age but the other has not; what information his Department holds on the number of households are affected by the Pension Credit rules for mixed-age couples; what steps he is taking to help ensure that households reliant on a single State Pension can access adequate support; and what guidance he has issued to help ensure that claimants are not inaccurately told they are not entitled to state support.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit is a working age benefit that helps with living costs. Ensuring that individuals, including those below State Pension age, can get into, progress and stay in work is important for individuals in helping them to continue saving for their own retirement and contribute to the wider economy.
Since 15 May 2019, couples requiring additional support from the benefit system have needed to claim Universal Credit until both members reach State Pension age. Once in receipt of Universal Credit, this ensures that the younger partner can access the same employment support that is available for customers below State Pension Age.
Published data shows that in December 2025 there were around 69,000 Universal Credit claimants aged over 65. This will include mixed aged couples and also some single claimants who are just about to move off UC as they reached State Pension Age during that assessment period.
Information on eligibility requirements for each benefit is published on GOV.UK guidance pages.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how government departments, regulators and local authorities are coordinating to help tackle the mental health impacts of debt, including monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of initiatives such as Breathing Space.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to supporting people experiencing financial difficulties and help them get their finances back on track. Through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), which is based in Bedford, we fund a range of national and community-based debt advice services in England, so that people can get the support they need.
In recognition of the link between mental health and financial difficulty, the Government’s recently published Financial Inclusion Strategy considered mental health as a core theme across its interventions. The Strategy sets out a package of measures to improve access to financial services, including a dedicated focus on tackling problem debt which can be a particular challenge for those experiencing mental health difficulties. As part of the Strategy, over £100 million has been allocated to MaPS for 2025-26 to expand access to high-quality debt advice, an increase of over 10%.
Through the Strategy, the Government also announced that HM Treasury will work with the Department for Communities to explore options for extending the Breathing Space Scheme to Northern Ireland. The Scheme provides a 60-day respite from creditor enforcement action to allow people to engage with debt advice. Eligible debtors who are receiving mental health crisis treatment can also access a Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space (MHCBS) which lasts for the duration of their crisis treatment. The Scheme provides valuable support to individuals in problem debt, and the Government continues to monitor its operation to ensure it remains a useful and effective tool.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to improve public awareness of and regulate high-cost credit.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Lenders offering high-cost credit are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This oversight ensures that lending practices are fair and that consumers are protected.
In 2013 the Government placed a duty on the FCA to implement a price cap for high-cost short-term credit products. The price cap came into force in 2015 and ensures that consumers using these products will never repay more than 100% of the principal in interest, fees, and other charges.
Lenders are also required to follow the FCA’s rules on promotions and adverts, where non-compliance could lead to fines. The FCA requires that all adverts and other promotions must be clear, fair, and not misleading.
The Government is also taking steps to improve financial literacy and awareness across the population... As part of the Financial Inclusion Strategy, the Government announced plans to make financial education compulsory in primary schools in England through a new statutory requirement to teach citizenship, alongside a renewed emphasis on the subject in secondary schools in the subjects of mathematics and citizenship. These measures aim to equip young people with the knowledge and skills they need to navigate an increasingly complex financial landscape and make informed decisions throughout their lives.
More widely, the Financial Inclusion Strategy recognises the useful role of responsible credit in helping households manage their cashflow and meet unexpected costs. The Strategy includes measures to support people’s access to responsible credit, including support for community finance providers, like credit unions.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what pilots or trials are being planned to reduce drug-related deaths in areas with the highest rates of overdose.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need for drug prevention, treatment, and recovery in their areas and for commissioning services to best meet local need. This includes work to reduce drug-related deaths.
The Department has recently launched the Drug and alcohol-related deaths dashboard, which provides information on the levels of drug and alcohol related mortality and harms, and the evidence-based interventions that local authorities and treatment providers can provide to have a positive impact on reducing deaths. Local authorities have access to this dashboard and can use it to assess need and plan interventions including in areas with higher rates of deaths. We are also improving surveillance of emerging harms and drug use patterns, with quarterly surveillance data now published to support local police and health responses to synthetic opioids.
In response to increasing drug related deaths, in 2024 the Department amended the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to expand access to naloxone. The legislation enabled more services and professionals to supply this medication. The Department has recently launched a 10-week United Kingdom-wide public consultation on further legislative options to expand access to take-home and emergency use naloxone.
In response to the sharp rise in deaths involving cocaine, 800 deaths in 2022 to 1,195 deaths in 2024, the Department is investing an additional £200,000 in 2025/26 to develop and trial new brief interventions to target the rise in cocaine and alcohol-related cardiovascular deaths, particularly among men. The pilots will be run in acute hospital alcohol care teams with a view to making them available for use nationally across all healthcare settings in the next financial year.
Through the Government's Addiction Healthcare Goals Reducing Drug Deaths Innovation Challenge, twelve projects have received UK and Scottish government funding to develop and test innovative drug overdose detection, response, and rescue technologies and medicines with relevant populations. Future funding and support through the Addiction Healthcare Goals programme are being explored to further enable the advanced development and UK roll-out of novel drug and alcohol addiction technologies to improve healthcare and prevent harms and deaths.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted last year for simple possession of controlled drugs; and how many of those had a recorded drug dependency.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions for a wide range of offences including drug possession offences in England and Wales within the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
Data held centrally by the Ministry of Justice does not contain details of a recorded drug dependency for offenders who received a conviction.
Police have the powers needed to divert individuals who commit low-level drug possession offences away from a criminal charge towards consequences that may include a requirement to attend drug educational courses and support, or treatment where needed, to help people make better, safer choices in the future.
Diverting those who use illegal drugs into interventions such as drug treatment services is key to reducing drug misuse, drug related crimes and reoffending. We support the use of Out of Court Resolution (OOCR) powers to ensure that individuals who commit low-level drug possession offences are given the opportunity to change their behaviour by diverting them to meaningful and appropriate interventions.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to expand access to drug checking services, naloxone, and other overdose prevention measures.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Every drug-related death is a tragedy, and the Government is taking a public health approach to prevent these deaths and reduce harms from drugs.
Expanding access to naloxone, a life-saving overdose medication, has never been more important. In addition to the changes made in 2024 to expand access, we recently launched a ten-week United Kingdom-wide public consultation on further legislative options to expand access to take-home and emergency use naloxone.
The Government facilitates Drug Checking Facilities provided that the possession and supply of controlled drugs are licensed by the Home Office, or exceptionally, relevant exemptions under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 may apply. Drug Checking Facilities must not condone drug use and should only be delivered where licensed and operated responsibly in line with Government policy to ensure that they discourage drug use and signpost potential users to treatment and support.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of police time is spent on possession offences compared with tackling organised drug crime.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police Activity Survey (PAS) provides an estimate of how much police time is spent on various policing activities. The PAS was conducted over a 7-day period in February 2023, with 35 out of the 43 police forces in England and Wales participating.
The results show that over this period, responding to specific crime incident activity accounts for 34.9% of all recorded police time. Of the time spent on specific crime incident activity, 3.1% was spent on possession of drug crime incidents, 2.7% on possession of weapons incidents and 5.6% on trafficking of drug incidents.
The PAS does not capture whether or not the offences were organised crime related. Therefore, no specific data is available on the proportion of time spent on tackling organised drug crime.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with the Home Office on enforcement of offences relating to pavement cycling and powered scooter use.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Secretary of State has had no recent discussions with the Home Office on these matters.
Officials are however in regular contact with the Home Office concerning e-scooters.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance the Department has issued to local authorities and police forces on the enforcement of offences relating to cycling on pavements and riding powered scooters in pedestrianised areas.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
No such guidance has been issued by the Department. The enforcement of criminal offences is entirely a matter for the police.