Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings of Lord Darzi's Independent investigation of the NHS in England, published on 12 September 2024, what steps his Department is taking to support community pharmacies with (a) funding, (b) workforce and (c) medicine supply challenges.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. From 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers, and we are investing in training legacy staff to develop clinical and technical roles.
The consultation with Community Pharmacy England on the national funding and contractual framework arrangements has not yet been concluded, and we are looking into this as a matter of urgency.
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.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to increase capacity on Chiltern Railways.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We continue to work closely with Chiltern Railways to support delivery of its train fleet renewal programme to improve passenger experience and drive sustainable growth across the region.
Chiltern is exploring options to procure additional trains, while following robust assurance steps to ensure it has a strong business case that delivers value for money for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding his Department plans to provide for training in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) British Army and (c) Royal Air Force in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Department has interpreted funding for training to mean funding for direct training exercises only. This includes Phase 1 (basic training) and Phase 2 (initial training) costs. The final outturn for FY2023-24 is below and the equivalent for the current financial year will be released in due course.
(a) Royal Navy: £89 million
(b) British Army: £105 million
(c) Royal Air Force: £131 million
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the unduly lenient sentence scheme to cases sentenced in the Magistrates’ Court.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme operates in respect of qualifying sentences passed in the Crown Court, where the offender has been convicted of: (a) an indictable only offence (such as murder, manslaughter and rape); and/or (b) certain either-way offences specified by order(s). This is because the intention behind the ULS scheme is that it is reserved for the most serious cases.
Offences within scope of the scheme therefore include all indictable-only offences – such as murder, manslaughter, rape and robbery. Certain triable either way offences, mainly relating to terrorism, physical or sexual assaults, and drug related crime, are also included.
While the scheme is kept under constant review, Parliament intended this to be an exceptional power. The general rule is that a person should expect to serve the sentence a judge has imposed upon them.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help support jobs in the defence industry.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Government recognises the vital role the defence industry plays not only in our national security but also to the economic prosperity and growth of the UK.
The UK's defence industry is a global leader and defence spending provides good, well-paid jobs. Ministry of Defence spending supports around 434,000 jobs across the UK, with around 239,000 of those supported by industry across the UK. The Strategic Defence Review will put personnel across defence at the core of future defence work.
Our industry partners, of all sizes, are very much at the heart of our One Defence approach. That is why this Government is committed to bringing forward a Defence Industrial Strategy aligning our security and economic priorities to boost the prosperity of our people across the country, provide resilience for the UK, and ensure the credibility of our deterrence.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many veterans are receiving specialist mental health support.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Veterans can access specialist mental health support either through Op COURAGE, a bespoke integrated mental health pathway for veterans, or NHS Talking Therapies. As of 30 June 2024, Op COURAGE reported that they were actively supporting 2,702 veterans. Since its inception in April 2017, there have been over 38,500 referrals to Op COURAGE. In addition to the Op COURAGE services, between 1 April 2020 and 30 June 2024, 63,810 veterans have entered NHS Talking Therapy treatment services.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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 the processes for supporting patients presenting to General Practitioners with mental health disorders attributable to gambling.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to supporting improvements to the existing treatment system, ensuring people experiencing gambling-related harm are able to access the right care at the right time.
NHS England now operates 15 specialist gambling treatment clinics, up from two in 2019, with representation across every region in England. Through these clinics, the National Health Service has capacity to treat up to 3,000 people experiencing gambling-related harms each year.
General practitioners are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.
The NICE is currently developing a gambling-related harms guideline, focused on identification, assessment, and management of people who may be harmed by gambling. Publication is expected later this year.