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 help community pharmacies with (a) funding, (b) workforce and (c) supply of medicines.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to expanding the pharmacy workforce and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists, as we shift care from the hospital to the community.

We have inherited ongoing global supply problems that continue to impact medicine availability. We know how frustrating this can be for patients and community pharmacists. We are working closely with industry, the National Health Service, manufacturers, and other partners in the supply chain to resolve issues as quickly as possible to make sure patients can access the medicines they need.

Now that the budget for the Government has been set, we will shortly be resuming our consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding the funding arrangements for 2024/25. We are unable to say more until these have been concluded.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ban the use of direct emission heating systems in new build homes.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Future standards will set our new homes and building on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels and towards more clean, secure energy. The future is likely to see a mix of low carbon technologies used for heating, including heat pumps and heat networks.

The Future Homes Standard consultation was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024. It set out detailed technical proposals for what future standards could entail. All the options that were proposed would preclude the use of fossil-fuel boilers in new homes. We are reviewing proposals and feedback from the consultation and will publish the Government response in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on the future of the Tempest programme.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Tempest is the name used in the UK for the next generation combat aircraft being jointly developed with Japan and Italy under the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). GCAP is an important programme, as the Prime Minister has stated, which is why the Defence Secretary hosted his Japanese and Italian counterparts within weeks of taking office. Positive progress on GCAP continues, with over 3,500 people employed on future combat air. In October, the UK completed its ratification processes for the GCAP Convention, the International Treaty that sets up the GCAP International Government Organisation, earlier this month.

Housing

Found: Chair: If I may interrupt, we were asked that question by one of our members, Neil Shastri-Hurst,

Found: Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst: I am a registered barrister with an associate tenancy at No5 Chambers and

Submit Evidence (by 10 Jan 2025)

The Justice Committee has launched its inquiry into Resettlement and Rehabilitation, which is centred around investigating the cycle of reoffending. 

Submit Evidence (by 31 Jan 2025)

The Justice Committee has launched an inquiry that will examine the scale and impact of drugs in prisons in England and Wales, including the primary factors driving demand. The inquiry will consider the implications of drug misuse in prisons including safety, security, staffing and prisoner well-being.