Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has consulted with independent retailers on the development of the New Business Growth Service.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The new Business Growth Service will regularly review user feedback to ensure it delivers what businesses need to support their growth and productivity. My department is therefore engaging widely with stakeholders, especially entrepreneurs and small business owners, on the design and implementation of the service. This has included a series of roundtables and consultation events across the country and delivered via partners. This process will continue, even after the service launches to continue to refine and improve it.
The Department for Business and Trade engages regularly with retailers of all types, including independent retailers, through key trade associations in the Business Growth Service.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when the New Business Growth Service is going to be launched.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The new Business Growth service will simplify the government’s business support ecosystem to ensure businesses get the support they need with local delivery at its heart and all underpinned by an improved online service. This will help deliver the government’s forthcoming Small Business Strategy, complementing the Industrial Strategy, Trade Strategy and Make Work Pay plans as part of a comprehensive approach to our Growth Mission.
We expect to launch this service in the summer.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 34747, when responsibility for oversight and funding of the National Lung Screening Programme will transfer from NHS England to his Department.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to jointly lead this transformation. This reform is about devolving resources and responsibility to the frontline, thereby empowering staff to focus on delivering better care for patients.
As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds, and will put plans in place to ensure continuity of care. We recognise the importance of lung cancer screening and are committed to ensuring its continuity during the transformation.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that the planned reductions in headcount in NHS England and his Department do not result in disruption to the implementation of lung cancer screening.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to jointly lead this transformation. This reform is about devolving resources and responsibility to the frontline, thereby empowering staff to focus on delivering better care for patients.
As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds, and will put plans in place to ensure continuity of care. We recognise the importance of lung cancer screening and are committed to ensuring its continuity during the transformation.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle HIV-related deaths and infection, in the context of the proposed reduction in Official Development Allowance funding.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The reduced ODA settlement is for 2026/27 onwards and we will be taking a rigorous approach to ensuring all ODA delivers value for money. The impact on specific programmes will be informed by the ongoing Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes. We will set out plans in the usual way in due course.
We remain committed to our long-standing support to global health organisations at the core of the response to HIV and AIDS, and we continue to support efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. We are excited to be co-hosting the 8th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria together with South Africa. In countries where the Global Fund invests, AIDS-related deaths have declined by 73 per cent since 2002.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has considered alternative (a) funding strategies and (b) partnerships to help tackle HIV/AIDS, in the context of the proposed reduction in Official Development Allowance funding.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to the global HIV response and regularly engages in dialogue, and works in partnership, with other likeminded countries towards achieving a collective goal of ending HIV and AIDS as a public health threat globally, including in developing countries. The UK looks forward to co-hosting the Global Fund's 8th replenishment (2026-28) alongside South Africa. It will be the first time that the Global Fund replenishment has been co-hosted in partnership with the Global South, reflecting the UK Government's commitment to working in genuine partnership with the Global South as part of its modernised development agenda, and our new approach to Africa. The reduced ODA settlement is for 2026/27 onwards and we will be taking a rigorous approach to ensuring all ODA delivers value for money. The impact on specific programmes will be informed by the ongoing Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes. We will set out plans in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help mitigate the impact of reductions in funding for global HIV/AIDS programmes.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The reduced ODA settlement is for 2026/27 onwards and we will be taking a rigorous approach to ensuring all ODA delivers value for money. The impact on specific programmes will be informed by the ongoing Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes. We will set out plans in the usual way in due course.
We remain committed to our long-standing support to global health organisations at the core of the response to HIV and AIDS, and we continue to support efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. We are excited to be co-hosting the 8th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria together with South Africa. In countries where the Global Fund invests, AIDS-related deaths have declined by 73 per cent since 2002.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 34747, whether it remains his Department's policy to reach full rollout of lung cancer screening to the eligible population by 2029.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service is taking crucial steps to improve cancer outcomes across England, including for lung cancer. The NHS Lung Screening Cancer Programme is designed to catch more cancers earlier when they are more treatable, with the hope of saving more lives. The target is to be available to 100% of the population by the end of 2029/30.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with international counterparts to help tackle HIV/AIDS.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are proud of our long-standing support to global health organisations at the core of the response to HIV and AIDS, including the Global Fund, Unitaid and UNAIDS which have helped reduce AIDS-related deaths by 69 per cent since the peak in 2004. The UK has played, and continues to play, a significant role in this success. We are pleased to be co-hosting the 8th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria together with South Africa. In 2023, 25 million people were on lifesaving antiretroviral therapy in countries where the Global Fund invests.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2025 to Question 32628 on Parkinson's Disease: Medical Treatments, what steps he is taking to improve access to treatment for people with (a) advanced and (b) complex Parkinson's.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have delivered an additional two million appointments in England, seven months ahead of schedule. This includes operations, consultations, diagnostic tests, and treatments. These additional appointments have taken place across a number of specialities, including neurology.
Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy in place, the majority of people with Parkinson’s disease can be cared for through routine access to primary and secondary care. NHS England commissions the specialised elements of Parkinson’s care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England. One of these neurological centres is based at the Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust in Greater Manchester.
Within specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure patients can access a range of health professionals, including Parkinson’s disease nurses, psychologists, and allied health professionals such as dieticians and speech and language therapists, and that they can receive specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.
The service specification for neurology, which is in the process of being updated and published later this year, sets out the requirements for specialised neurology services, as well as the expectations of non-specialised neurology services, to support a system-wide approach.
Service specifications must be included in all future provider contracts for specialised services. This is agreed in jointly signed delegation agreements between integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS England regional teams. ICBs are responsible for monitoring provider compliance with service specifications and may periodically carry out more detailed compliance exercises with providers, as a means of ensuring and improving the quality of care.