Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will review the Guide to Judicial Conduct.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Lord Chancellor and Lady Chief Justice have a joint responsibility for judicial discipline. However, to preserve judicial independence, the statutory responsibility for the guidance of the judiciary, including for setting the conduct standards for the judiciary, is held by the Lady Chief Justice, Senior President of Tribunals and Chief Coroner, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively.
The Lord Chancellor has no role in this respect, and it is not constitutionally appropriate for the Government to review the judiciary’s guidance.
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 estimate his Department has made of the number of NHS Trusts with recruitment freezes for (a) physiotherapists and (b) physiotherapy support workers on 17 June 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no estimate of the number of National Health Service trusts with recruitment freezes for physiotherapists or physiotherapy support workers. How NHS systems and trusts plan resources within their budgets is a matter for local discretion.
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 steps he is taking to integrate the health and social care (a) workforce and (b) terms and conditions.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Much of the responsibility of the adult social care (ASC) workforce, including their terms and conditions, rests with ASC employers, who are largely private providers. The terms and conditions for National Health Service staff, including those on the Agenda for Change contract, are agreed in partnership by the relevant joint negotiating committees.
The Government is introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the ASC sector so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do. The scope of fair pay agreements is yet to be determined. Following engagement and consultation with the sector, further detail will be set out in secondary legislation with regards to the negotiating body’s remit.
The Department has launched an independent commission into ASC as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission forms a key part of the Government’s Plan for Change, recognising the importance of ASC in its own right, as well as its role in supporting the NHS.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps is her Department taking to fund voluntary community sector organisations to support people leaving prison as part of her Sentencing Review.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
I recognise the valuable role of the thousands of voluntary organisations that work in partnership with probation to provide vital support to people serving their sentence in prison, in the community and people returning to the community after prison.
The Government has welcomed the findings and recommendations of the Rt Hon David Gauke’s Independent Sentencing Review. This includes specific recommendations on increasing the role of the third sector in supporting offenders in the community. My Department is exploring the best approach to implementing these recommendations as part of the wider programme of reform that we are taking forward to implement the Sentencing Review. We will look to work with the Third Sector on these recommendations.
These reforms are backed by significant investment of up to £700 million in the Probation Service by the final year of the Spending Review. We are currently finalising the allocations process to set internal budgets for the spending period, including how this probation settlement will be spent.
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 withheld any Royal Air Force surveillance information from the Israeli government in the last two years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Since early December 2023, the Ministry of Defence have conducted unarmed surveillance flights over Gaza for the sole purpose of locating hostages. Only information related to hostage rescue can be passed to the relevant authority, and is only passed if we are satisfied it will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 56822 on Israel: Military Aid, what assessment he has made of the potential risk of members of the UK armed forces training the IDF personnel.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Fewer than five IDF personnel are currently enrolled in non-combat military academic courses in the UK.
The UK has a long history of providing assistance to other nations in the security and justice fields and continues to do so around the world. The Ministry of Defence’s provision of such assistance is assessed carefully on a case-by-case basis.
UK training courses promote British values, including human rights, democracy and compliance with international humanitarian law.
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 recent assessment NHS Property Services has made of the state of repair of Bootham Park Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since the site was fully vacated in 2018, the NHS Property Services (NHSPS) has spent £5 million on holding costs, including site security, and building and grounds maintenance, for the Bootham Park Hospital site.
The NHSPS has assessed that the investment required to bring Bootham Park Hospital back into operational use would be very significant, given the current estimate for backlog maintenance and operating costs. When the decision was taken in 2018 to permanently decommission Bootham Park Hospital, the estimate at that point was that over £30 million was needed to make the site safe, in order to provide operational National Health Services, and this will have significantly increased since then. The NHSPS continues to undertake essential maintenance to the building in the period the asset has been held for sale.
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 much the NHS has spent on Bootham Park Hospital since it closed in September 2015.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since the site was fully vacated in 2018, the NHS Property Services (NHSPS) has spent £5 million on holding costs, including site security, and building and grounds maintenance, for the Bootham Park Hospital site.
The NHSPS has assessed that the investment required to bring Bootham Park Hospital back into operational use would be very significant, given the current estimate for backlog maintenance and operating costs. When the decision was taken in 2018 to permanently decommission Bootham Park Hospital, the estimate at that point was that over £30 million was needed to make the site safe, in order to provide operational National Health Services, and this will have significantly increased since then. The NHSPS continues to undertake essential maintenance to the building in the period the asset has been held for sale.
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 steps he is taking to help support local authorities to acquire property from NHS Property Services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Bootham Park Hospital was declared surplus to National Health Service operational requirements in 2017 and was fully vacated in 2018. The NHS Property Services (NHSPS), which owns and manages the site, is required to dispose of surplus assets in accordance with HM Treasury's Managing Public Money, Cabinet Office heritage guidance, and its mandate to achieve best value to enable reinvestment into the NHS. Bootham Park Hospital is no longer suitable for healthcare use and has been classified as surplus to requirement for the provision of healthcare.
If public sector bodies such as a local authority wish to purchase a property from the NHSPS to facilitate the delivery of alternative public services from the building, they would be able to register their interest and make an offer. When disposing of surplus healthcare assets, all such sites are expected to be advertised to public sector bodies before wider marketing activity commences. If there is no economically viable expression of interest from another public sector body, then it is up to the NHSPS to determine the most appropriate marketing strategy to deliver the best value from the sale, in accordance with requirements set out HM Treasury’s guidance on Managing Public Money.
The NHSPS engaged with City of York Council and other public sector bodies through the One Public Estate programme, during which no viable public sector use was identified. In October 2023, the NHSPS formally invited bids via a tender process following the withdrawal of a prospective purchaser from the sale process. No bids were received from City of York Council or any other public sector bodies in that or any earlier sale process.
The NHSPS has subsequently entered negotiations with private sector parties and agreed the terms for sale to a purchaser with planning consent in place, which will see the site converted for retirement living. The sale has been structured to deliver best value while securing a range of public benefits.
The agreed disposal arrangements include substantial community and public benefits as part of the redevelopment proposals. Financially, the transaction sale proceeds will be reinvested directly into the NHS estate. Disposal of the property in its current form for public sector or community ownership would not deliver these benefits, neither would releasing this site as a community asset to the City of York.
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, if he will release Bootham Park Hospital as a community asset to the city of York.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Bootham Park Hospital was declared surplus to National Health Service operational requirements in 2017 and was fully vacated in 2018. The NHS Property Services (NHSPS), which owns and manages the site, is required to dispose of surplus assets in accordance with HM Treasury's Managing Public Money, Cabinet Office heritage guidance, and its mandate to achieve best value to enable reinvestment into the NHS. Bootham Park Hospital is no longer suitable for healthcare use and has been classified as surplus to requirement for the provision of healthcare.
If public sector bodies such as a local authority wish to purchase a property from the NHSPS to facilitate the delivery of alternative public services from the building, they would be able to register their interest and make an offer. When disposing of surplus healthcare assets, all such sites are expected to be advertised to public sector bodies before wider marketing activity commences. If there is no economically viable expression of interest from another public sector body, then it is up to the NHSPS to determine the most appropriate marketing strategy to deliver the best value from the sale, in accordance with requirements set out HM Treasury’s guidance on Managing Public Money.
The NHSPS engaged with City of York Council and other public sector bodies through the One Public Estate programme, during which no viable public sector use was identified. In October 2023, the NHSPS formally invited bids via a tender process following the withdrawal of a prospective purchaser from the sale process. No bids were received from City of York Council or any other public sector bodies in that or any earlier sale process.
The NHSPS has subsequently entered negotiations with private sector parties and agreed the terms for sale to a purchaser with planning consent in place, which will see the site converted for retirement living. The sale has been structured to deliver best value while securing a range of public benefits.
The agreed disposal arrangements include substantial community and public benefits as part of the redevelopment proposals. Financially, the transaction sale proceeds will be reinvested directly into the NHS estate. Disposal of the property in its current form for public sector or community ownership would not deliver these benefits, neither would releasing this site as a community asset to the City of York.