Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce the number of deaths resultant from falls from a ladder and (b) improve the safety of people working from heights.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Falls from height, including from ladders, remain a leading cause of fatal injury. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) treats this as a core enforcement priority.
To reduce deaths from falls from a ladder, HSE enforces the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (WAH), which require employers to ensure work at height is properly planned, supervised and carried out safely. This includes only using ladders where appropriate and safer alternatives are unavailable, ensuring workers are competent, and that equipment is suitable, properly maintained and inspected. HSE also provides targeted guidance on the safe use of ladders, available at Safe use of ladders and stepladders - HSE.
To improve the safety of people working at height, Regulation 6 of WAH places duties on employers and the self-employed to perform risk assessments and follow the hierarchy of controls; avoid work at height where possible, prevent falls through suitable equipment such as working platforms and guard rails, and minimise consequences where risk remains. HSE supports this through inspections, enforcement and guidance, including on planning, supervision, competence and safe systems of work.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS clinical pathways for patients prescribed weight loss medications require access to dietary and nutritional support, including referral to dietetic services.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Weight loss medicines were initially only available through National Health Service specialist weight management services. In specialist services, patients receive wraparound care from a multidisciplinary team providing nutritional, psychological, and medical support, tailored to individual need. Where clinically appropriate, this will include specialist dietetic services.
From June 2025, the obesity medicine tirzepatide, brand name Mounjaro, has been made available in primary care through a phased approach. In primary care, clinical oversight is provided by general practitioners and other prescribing healthcare professionals, with wraparound support delivered through locally commissioned services or via the national Healthier You: NHS Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing service. Dietary support typically forms part of the wider wraparound package of care.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an estimate of the workforce required to support the safe delivery of NHS weight loss medication services, including the management of nutritional complications.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England undertook workforce modelling to support the implementation of tirzepatide, brand name Mounjaro, for obesity management as part of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Funding Variation planning process.
The modelling considered requirements associated with the phased introduction of the treatment, including clinical assessment, prescribing, monitoring, medicines review, behavioural support, and programme management functions. It assumes that nutritional assessment, dietary advice, and ongoing clinical monitoring are delivered through prescribing clinicians and multidisciplinary teams, with input from appropriately trained healthcare professionals operating within established specialist weight management and primary care pathways.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions there were for dental treatment for (a) children (b) adults at York Teaching Hospital in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) where the main operative procedure was a dental procedure, by patient age group in each year from 2021/22 to 2025/26 in the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:
Year | Number of children (zero to 17 years old) admissions | Number of adult (18 years old and over) admissions |
2021/22 | 155 | 385 |
2022/23 | 135 | 405 |
2023/24 | 200 | 510 |
2024/25 | 200 | 445 |
2025/26 | 165 | 500 |
Note: data for 2025/26 is provisional.
An FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are typically counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes, which is the approach we have used here. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consideration has he made of the potential merits of maintaining HSSIB.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Health Bill includes clauses to strengthen patient safety by transferring the Health Services Safety Investigations Body’s investigation functions into the Care Quality Commission.
This follows the review of patient safety across the health and care landscape which identified that there were a large number of organisations carrying out reviews and investigations and that there was a need to streamline, simplify, and consolidate functions. This aligns with the findings in the 10-Year Health Plan.
An Impact Assessment has been published alongside the Health Bill.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 potential merits of maintaining Healthwatch alongside increased levels of lived experience inclusion in commissioning processes.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the valuable role Healthwatch has played in supporting patient and public involvement. However, Dr Penny Dash’s independent review of the patient safety landscape found the current system is too fragmented and does not always turn feedback into action. The Government has accepted Dr Dash's recommendation to bring together the work of Local Healthwatch with those who commission services. Through the Health Bill we are placing responsibility for obtaining and actioning the views of local people on health services with integrated care boards, and on care services with local authorities. Our intention is to bring patient voice closer to decision-makers, rather than maintaining a separate Healthwatch structure alongside new arrangements.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made by the Casey Review into social care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In March 2026, Baroness Casey highlighted several issues she had identified within the adult social care system and called for immediate action in three key areas, safeguarding, dementia, and motor neurone disease. The Government is now working at pace to take her recommendations forward.
Baroness Casey's recommendations followed the Commission’s extensive engagement across the country. The Commission has actively engaged with over 400 people, including people who draw on care and their families. It held the second round of cross-party discussions last month.
The Commission will shortly launch its national conversation with the public. Baroness Casey will publish her phase 1 report, making recommendations on immediate priorities for adult social care, later this year.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration she has made of the use of care cooperatives in the delivery of social care to displace the for profit sector.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Regional Care Cooperatives (RCCs) are part of a package of measures we are introducing to rebalance the children’s social care placements market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, shine a light on the level of profit being made and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying.
The vision is for every local authority to be part of an RCC in the future, operating at scale to deliver homes for children in care and delivering what matters most: children thriving in safe, supporting environments that facilitate enduring relationships.
An expression of Interest for the next wave of RCCs was launched in March, with funding to cover the start-up costs of up to six new RCCs. RCCs will give areas the scale to create the types of homes children in care need and the leverage to drive out profiteering and poor-quality placements.
We are confident that our reforms, including the expansion of RCCs will address excessive profiteering and ensure that the supportive and caring placements children need are delivered at a sustainable cost. However, we will keep the market under close review and will not flinch from taking action to cap providers’ profits if needed.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to implement the recommendation of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 2024 to help tackle attainment gaps and improve education attainment of children belonging to (a) minorities and (b) Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ white paper establishes our plan to improve outcomes for all children and tackle unacceptable disparities in attainment. Our ambition is that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap is halved.
As part of our Best Start in Life strategy, we will invest close to £1.5 billion, subject to the Spending Review, over the next three years on improving family services and early years education with better targeted support to disadvantaged children and families. This includes through Best Start Family Hubs, with up to 1000 hubs and 2000 network sites providing integrated health, early years, and family support services by 2028.
Building on this, we will deliver a refreshed, high-quality curriculum, introduce a new pupil engagement framework and support schools to improve behaviour, attendance and parental engagement.
This is alongside recruiting an additional 6,500 teachers and strengthening our tools for faster and more effective school improvement through regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams.
Alongside this, through our Gypsy, Roma and Traveller stakeholder group, which includes representatives from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and the education sector, the department continues to engage with communities, and discuss issues faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children.
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Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has taken recent steps to help end the use of bear skins in the King’s Guard caps.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence remains committed to using human made materials to replace natural fur where they provide a suitable, affordable and sustainable alternative and continues to welcome submissions of test results, from a testing house accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service, on synthetic alternatives that meet our criteria.
However, the Department has not yet identified a synthetic alternative that meets the standards required to provide an effective replacement for bearskin ceremonial caps.