Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to Question 107772 from the Rt hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 April 2026 to Question 107772.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many births recorded in the Maternity Services Dataset have been associated with the SNOMED CT codes i) 125678001, ii) 699110007, iii) 1269487002, iv) 1269486006 and v) 842009 in each year since the introduction of that coding within that dataset.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Validated data for the codes requested is not available. Guidance published in September 2024 set out how consanguinity and related information should be recorded however this guidance is not mandatory. Recording of these codes has been undertaken by a small number of NHS trusts to date.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, further to the HMT policy paper, "New approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth, published on 17 March 2025, whether the Food Standard Agency’s commitment to meet EU regulatory requirements for food grade recycled plastic a deregulatory policy; and in what respect do such EU requirements apply to (a) Great Britain and (b) the United Kingdom.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) commitment to support United Kingdom businesses in meeting European Union regulatory requirements for food-grade recycled plastics is not a deregulatory policy. It reflects a facilitative and proportionate approach that supports economic growth and international trade while maintaining high standards of food safety.
Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, EU requirements for food grade recycled plastics do not apply directly in Great Britain as domestic law. However, they apply in practice where UK operators choose to place recycled plastic food contact materials, or food packaged in such materials, on the EU market. In Northern Ireland, relevant EU food contact materials legislation continues to apply under the Windsor Framework, including the EU rules on recycled plastic food contact materials.
The EU regulation on recycled plastic food contact materials requires specified “national authority” functions to be carried out. These functions are obligatory to support Northern Ireland-based operators in achieving full compliance with EU law. The FSA, together with Food Standards Scotland, has committed to act as the competent authority for food grade recycled plastic in respect of UK operators, enabling Northern Ireland obligations to be met and supporting Great Britain-based operators where they choose to access the EU market.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to Question 117002 from the Rt Hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 March 2026 to Question 117002.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Freedom of Information response reference FOI-251202287377 of 9 January 2026, if he will place a copy of the training modules on close relative marriage and genetic risk for (a) midwives and (b) health visitors in the Library; and if he will place a copy of the associated guidance on submitting data on consanguinity and pregnancy to the Maternity Services Dataset in the Library.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Learning Hub originally had five training modules on close relative marriage and genetic risk. Three of these modules were retired in October 2025. The remaining two modules were subsequently updated and can be found online on the NHS Learning Hub, which is available at the following link:
https://learninghub.nhs.uk/Catalogue/close-relative-marriage
The guidance on submitting data on consanguinity and pregnancy to the Maternity Services Dataset can be found on the NHS England Digital website, which is at the following link:
There are currently no plans to place a copy of the training modules on close relative marriage and genetic risk or a copy of the guidance on submitting data on consanguinity and pregnancy to the Commons Library as these are publicly available.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 23 February 2026 to Question 112364, whether the annual spend on maternity care reported in the NHS National Cost Collection includes or excludes payments made by NHS Resolution for maternity clinical negligence claims; and under which budget heading such payments are accounted for.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The annual spend on maternity in the NHS National Cost Collection does not include payments made by NHS Resolution.
Payments for maternity clinical negligence claims are made from the clinical negligence scheme for trusts, which is managed by NHS Resolution.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 2 March 2026 to Question 114110, what information his Department holds on tyre procurement by its arm’s-length bodies, including NHS trusts and other agencies; and whether he plans to collect centrally data on the proportion of retread and single-use imported tyres procured for heavy vehicle fleets operated by those bodies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold any information on tyre procurement by its arm’s length bodies and does not intend to collect data on the proportion of retread and single-use imported tyres by those bodies.
NHS England reports that that emergency ambulances and rapid response vehicles used by National Health Service trusts, which are based on light commercial vehicle and car platforms, do not routinely utilise retread tyres. This reflects the demanding operational duty cycles associated with frontline emergency response, where vehicle reliability, performance, and safety are critical. As a result, these vehicles typically operate with new tyres in line with manufacturer guidance and operational requirements.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when NHS England’s investigation into guidance and training materials relating to marriage between close relatives began; which guidance, training modules and programmes are within scope of that investigation; and when he expects its findings to be concluded and published.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The internal review in response to recent concerns that National Health Service guidance stated the benefits of close relative marriage began on 19 January 2026. All public documents which constitute training modules, or guidance regarding marriage between close relatives is in scope. The findings will be concluded shortly.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information their Department holds on (a) the proportion of tyres procured that were re-tread tyres for (i) Department-operated and (ii) commercially contracted heavy vehicle fleets, including lorries, buses and refuse vehicles and (b) the volume of tyres procured for those fleets that were single-use imported tyres in the last 12 months; and whether such information is held centrally or by individual contractors.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not operate vehicles and does not procure tyres.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 3 February 2026 to Question 107160, which countries are defined by the Nursing and Midwifery Council as majority English-speaking for the purposes of meeting English language proficiency requirements.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has published an accepted list of countries where English is a majority spoken language on its website. This is available at the following link:
This list is primarily based on the UK Visas and Immigration skilled worker visa list, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/knowledge-of-english
Any variation from this list is based on independent evidence as to whether a country is majority English-speaking.
No assessment has been made by the Department of the adequacy of English language proficiency requirements for registered nurses and care staff in National Health Service settings.
As the independent regulator of registered nurses, the NMC is responsible for establishing the requirements that applicants must meet to demonstrate English language proficiency for registration.
It is the responsibility of NHS employers to assess the English language proficiency of nurses and the care staff they employ as part of their recruitment process to ensure workers have a sufficient level of English to carry out their role safely.