Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of requiring lower earning parents to take the other parent to court for child maintenance payments rated on income worth more than £3000 a week.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) calculates maintenance using the paying parent’s gross weekly income up to £3,000, ensuring contributions are fair and lower earners are protected through flat or nil rates. Where income exceeds £3,000, the receiving parent can apply to the courts for additional “top-up” maintenance beyond the statutory cap.
The CMS formula was introduced in 2012. At that time, Parliament chose to leave securing additional maintenance assessed on income over the level of a cap set at annual earnings limit of around £156,000 to the family courts, via top-up orders, as income of this magnitude tends to be generated and invested via more complex financial mechanisms than the administrative service is designed to handle. The cap therefore ensures that the statutory scheme remains a simple, administratively efficient formula, and the courts handle bespoke, higher value disputes.
All cases can secure substantial maintenance payments via the existing administrative system, and for the vast majority of cases this will be their only source of maintenance. For the small minority where their former partner has exceptionally high income, the system is designed to ensure that court involvement is available, by limiting that involvement to cases where judicial discretion is genuinely required.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the size of the shortfall in NHS Consultant Dermatologists as a proportion of the total number of working Consultant Dermatologists needed by the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the current shortfall, or vacancies in the National Health Service, for consultant dermatologists.
The 10-Year Health Plan for England set out that 1,000 more medical specialty training places will be created over the next three years, with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what implication the shortage of Consultant Dermatologists has for NHS waiting lists (i) nationally and (ii) in South Yorkshire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government, including for dermatology. The Department is committed to ensuring that the proportion of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, including for dermatology services, returns to 92% by March 2029, and to 65% by March 2026.
NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is working to improve waiting times through its established Further Faster programme to transform patient pathways and improve access and waiting times for patients. Dermatology is one of 24 specialties in focus for GIRFT’s Further Faster work.
A Further Faster handbook for dermatology has been produced to share best practices, and the GIRFT team is carrying out regular visits to, and meetings with, challenged departments in order to provide support in improving performance across dermatology.
NHS England more widely is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence (AI), including autonomous AI, to manage skin cancer referrals, which now represent approximately 50% of dermatology referrals. This can free up clinicians to see more patients and help to reduce waiting lists. AI is already in use across more than 20 trusts, with seven trusts deploying autonomous AI, and further plans in place to expand adoption safely and effectively.
The Department does not hold data on the current shortfall, or vacancies in the National Health Service, for consultant dermatologists, including in South Yorkshire.
Local providers are best placed to make decisions on workforce capacity to reflect local service demand and circumstances, including management of their waiting list.
The 10-Year Health Plan for England set out that 1,000 more medical specialty training places will be created over the next three years, with a focus on specialties where there is the greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce Dermatology waiting lists (i) nationally and (ii) in South Yorkshire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government, including for dermatology. The Department is committed to ensuring that the proportion of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, including for dermatology services, returns to 92% by March 2029, and to 65% by March 2026.
NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is working to improve waiting times through its established Further Faster programme to transform patient pathways and improve access and waiting times for patients. Dermatology is one of 24 specialties in focus for GIRFT’s Further Faster work.
A Further Faster handbook for dermatology has been produced to share best practices, and the GIRFT team is carrying out regular visits to, and meetings with, challenged departments in order to provide support in improving performance across dermatology.
NHS England more widely is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence (AI), including autonomous AI, to manage skin cancer referrals, which now represent approximately 50% of dermatology referrals. This can free up clinicians to see more patients and help to reduce waiting lists. AI is already in use across more than 20 trusts, with seven trusts deploying autonomous AI, and further plans in place to expand adoption safely and effectively.
The Department does not hold data on the current shortfall, or vacancies in the National Health Service, for consultant dermatologists, including in South Yorkshire.
Local providers are best placed to make decisions on workforce capacity to reflect local service demand and circumstances, including management of their waiting list.
The 10-Year Health Plan for England set out that 1,000 more medical specialty training places will be created over the next three years, with a focus on specialties where there is the greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is he taking to help tackle the theft and trade of wild falcons captured in the UK.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Bird of prey persecution is a national wildlife crime priority and there are strong penalties in place for offences committed against them. Restrictions on the commercial use or trade of birds of prey are in place under the UK Wildlife Trade Regulations. Where any wild falcon is taken and traded illegally the full force of the law should apply to proven perpetrators of the crime.
Defra is a principal funder of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), which helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats and directly assisting law enforcers in their investigations. It has played a key role in securing the convictions of criminals found to have been illegally taking peregrine falcon eggs and chicks from the wild. Defra is providing 494,000 for the NWCU in 2025-2026.
Defra also provides funding to Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture to develop DNA forensic analysis for the police and other organisations investigating crimes against peregrine falcons. DNA profiling of peregrines is a critical element in deterring wild take and illegal export, and convicting criminals.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to take steps towards introducing a mandatory food labelling scheme for animal welfare.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy, we are committed to ensuring that consumers have access to clear information on how their food was produced. To support this, the Government will continue working with relevant stakeholders, including the farming and food industry, scientists and NGOs to explore how improved animal welfare food labelling could provide greater consumer transparency, support farmers and promote better animal welfare. The Government will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending a Northern Ireland style Substitute Teachers Register to England in respect to ensuring supply teachers are not underpaid or maltreated by their employer.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools, academies and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers, which includes deciding whether to use private supply agencies to fill temporary posts or cover teacher absence.
A supply teacher’s pay and working conditions will depend on who employs the supply teacher.
Supply teachers employed directly by a state maintained school or local authority must be paid in accordance with the statutory arrangements for teachers laid down in the school teachers’ pay and conditions document.
If a supply teacher is employed by a private agency or non-maintained school, the employer can set the rate of pay and conditions of employment.
Tackling unacceptable practices and excessive supplier margins within the teacher supply market is a core part of our ‘Maximising value for pupils’ programme. As part of this, we have introduced an expectation for schools to use the new iteration of the supply teachers and temporary staffing framework when sourcing agencies, which offers a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which must be transparent with schools about the rates they charge.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
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 local authorities with the cost of non-residential adult social care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is making approximately £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector in making improvements.
This includes additional grant funding, growth in other sources of income available to support adult social care, and a £331 million increase to the National Health Service contribution to adult social care via the Better Care Fund, in line with the Department’s Spending Review settlement.
Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to increase public awareness of the changes to the Highway Code introduced in 2022.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Improving road safety is one of my Department’s highest priorities. Injuries and fatalities from road collisions caused by driving are unacceptable, and this Government will work hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users.
That is why on 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all.
Following updates to the Highway Code in 2022, the Department ran large-scale THINK! advertising campaigns to raise awareness of the changes.
Via the THINK! campaign, we are also running year-round radio filler adverts encouraging compliance with the guidance to improve safety for those walking, cycling and horse riding. We will also continue to promote the changes via THINK! and Department for Transport social media channels, as well as through partner organisations.
However, as set out in the strategy, more work is needed to continue embedding these changes and overall awareness of the Highway Code. We are considering options in this area, and further details will be shared in due course.
As our road environment and technologies evolve, providing education for all road users throughout their lifetime is vital to improving road safety. As announced in the strategy to support a Lifelong Learning approach in the UK, the Government will publish for the first time national guidance on the development and delivery of road safety education, training and publicity. Alongside this, the Government will publish a manual to support the implementation of a Lifelong Learning approach for road safety.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to provide support for young people with EHCPs who stay in academic education after the age of 18.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Our forthcoming special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms will improve both access to and the quality of the support provided to enable children and young people with SEND to achieve and thrive at all stages of statutory education. It is already the case that those young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) who need more time to complete their learning can retain their EHCP and, where necessary, remain in statutory education until age 25. The EHCP will continue to be reviewed regularly and will set out the support and provision the young person needs to achieve and thrive.
Disabled learners who go on to study in higher education will receive individual reasonable adjustments made by their university or other higher education provider under the Equality Act 2010 and can access Disabled Students’ Allowance for more specialist support.