Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he intends to consult NHS staff, professional bodies and trade unions on proposed guidance relating to political symbols and expression in NHS workplaces; and whether he will publish an impact assessment before such guidance comes into force.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has welcomed the Mann Review, published alongside a written ministerial statement by the former Secretary of State on 4 June (HCWS91). Having already accepted its recommendations in full, it has no plans to consult, or publish an impact assessment, on their incorporation into its guidance to National Health Service trusts.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has produced a Data Protection Impact Assessment for the Children Not in School register provisions in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is conducting a Data Protection Impact Assessment for the Children Not in School registers provisions in the Act. However, the assessment cannot be completed until the statutory guidance, which we intend to publicly consult on, and secondary legislation is settled.
The department is continuing to engage with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the assessment to ensure that all data protection risks have been identified and mitigated before any processing of data begins.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the computational and energy requirements of (a) the machine learning and optimisation techniques used for electricity network management and (b) large language models.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Machine learning is not currently used for electricity grid management. Any future energy required will depend on how machine learning will be used.
The UK Government contracted Europe Economics to research whether future electricity demand from AI data centres will add to overall UK energy demand, or whether it will replace electricity currently used elsewhere in the economy (Europe Economics study). We have also recently procured a follow-up study in order to extend the methodology from the Europe Economics work to further 10 use cases.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the data-centre capacity required to deliver the grid applications identified in the Interim AI Adoption Plan: Clean Energy.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department has not produced an estimate of the data-centre capacity required specifically for the grid applications identified in the Interim AI Adoption Plan: Clean Energy.
The Government is, however, undertaking broader analysis of the potential growth in demand from AI and data centres as part of ongoing work on energy demand projections, electricity network planning and AI infrastructure policy.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of potential impact of (a) developments in technology, (b) information sharing and (c) risk assessment on the effectiveness of the the Disclosure and Barring Service framework; and whether she plans to undertake a review of opportunities to strengthen and modernise safeguarding arrangements.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) regularly reviews its operations and procedures to ensure they remain effective.
Current priorities are outlined in the DBS’s Business Plan 2026-27 and the DBS’s 2025-28 Strategy, including specific references to the use of innovative technology, improving information sharing and risk management.
With many individual workstreams underway, there are currently no plans to undertake a separate review of opportunities to strengthen and modernise safeguarding arrangements.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential implications of the procurement of 12 F‑35A aircraft on (a) public spending priorities, (b) nuclear proliferation risks, and (c) the UK's obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As part of our NATO First approach to deterrence and defence, we are committed to strengthening NATO’s nuclear mission and ensuring the Alliance’s posture remains fit for purpose across the entire spectrum of conflict.
The nuclear weapons allocated to the NATO dual capable aircraft nuclear mission are US nuclear weapons. The US retains control and custody over them, in full compliance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Cost differences associated with the swap from F-35B to F-35A in logistics, infrastructure and training are understood and have been considered in cost estimates.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of student loan liabilities on (a) disabled students and (b) students who withdraw from university due to ill health.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Borrowers who are permanently unfit for work because of their disability can apply to the Student Loans Company to have any outstanding loan cancelled.
More broadly, no student loan borrower earning under the repayment threshold is required to make any repayments towards their student loan. Student loan repayments are based on a borrower’s income, not the rate of interest or the amount borrowed. Any outstanding loan, including interest accrued, will be cancelled after the loan term ends. Debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
An equality impact assessment, including analysis of the impacts of Plan 5 student loans on particular protected groups, was produced and published in February 2022 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the financial impact on community pharmacies of the current reimbursement and price cap arrangements for prescription medicines; and if he will review cases where pharmacies are required to dispense medicines at a loss because the reimbursement price paid by the NHS is lower than the acquisition cost charged by pharmaceutical suppliers.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
With regards to the Drug Tariff reimbursement prices, the community pharmacy reimbursement arrangements do not guarantee that every contractor will be paid the cost of every item, however, concessionary prices mitigate losses for individual products, while medicine margin arrangements ensure contractors are paid more than their overall purchasing costs.
Where the market price of a medicine suddenly increases, concessionary prices can be granted in that month, increasing the reimbursement price above the published Drug Tariff reimbursement price. This arrangement helps to ensure that pharmacy contractors can continue to obtain sufficient stock for their patients. In addition, we introduced a ‘retrospective top-up payment for concessionary prices’, which provides an additional payment to contractors when the margin survey indicates that despite a concessionary price, there was an under payment for a specific product.
Medicine margin is the difference between the reimbursement price and the price the pharmacy was charged by the supplier. As part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2026/27, pharmacies can retain £1.1 billion as medicine margin to contribute to their payment for pharmaceutical service provision. The Department assesses the medicine margin retained by pharmacies across purchases through a quarterly survey. These arrangements ensure that pharmacies are paid above what it cost them to purchase medicines and the allowed amount of medicine margin to contribute to their payment for pharmaceutical service provision.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing VAT from sunscreen products on public health outcomes; and whether she plans to reclassify sunscreen products with SPF protection as essential health products.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
VAT rules do allow drugs and medications that are dispensed by a registered pharmacist against a prescription issued by a qualifying health professional to be zero rated for VAT. High-factor sunscreen is already on the NHS prescription list for certain conditions and is provided VAT-free when dispensed by a pharmacist to these patients. However, items which are not prescribed by a health professional and dispensed by a pharmacist do not qualify for the relief, even though they may have health benefits.
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s third largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26.
Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to introduce a statutory definition of (a) autonomous delivery robots and (b) Personal Delivery Devices; what assessment she has made of the impact of such devices on pavement accessibility and safety for (i) blind and partially sighted people, (ii) wheelchair users, (iii) older people and (iv) other disabled pedestrians; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to prohibit the operation of autonomous delivery robots on public pavements.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Advances in technology have the potential to boost our economy and undertake dangerous jobs such as highways maintenance, but it's important the safety of pedestrians and vulnerable road users is put first.
We have announced that we intend to trial pavement robots using powers the Government is seeking through the Regulating for Growth Bill and these trials will have a clear definition of pavement robots.
A key part of the trial will be understanding the impact on pedestrians, particularly the most vulnerable groups.
This will be done with a view to creating a clear, lawful route to market for pavement delivery robots that protects the safety of pedestrians and vulnerable road users. No permanent regulations will come into force without detailed public consultation and a full assessment of the impacts.