Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure public (a) safety and (b) clarity in the healthcare roles of (i) physician associates and doctors and (ii) other NHS staff.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

The introduction of regulation by the General Medical Council (GMC) will provide a standardised framework of governance and assurance for the clinical practice and professional conduct of Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) and Physician Associates (PAs), and make it easier for employers, patients, and the public to understand the relationship between these roles and that of doctors.

Whilst statutory regulation is an important part of ensuring patient safety, it is also achieved through robust clinical governance processes within healthcare organisations, which are required to have systems of oversight and supervision for their staff.

NHS England is working with the relevant professional colleges and regulators to ensure the use of associate roles is expanded safely and effectively, and that they are appropriately supported, supervised, and integrated into multidisciplinary teams. NHS England has written to trusts to remind them of their responsibilities in this area, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/ensuring-safe-and-effective-integration-of-physician-associates-into-departmental-multidisciplinary-teams-through-good-practice/

We are clear that AAs and PAs are not, and should never be, referred to as medical practitioners, doctors, or consultants. It is the responsibility of professionals and their employers to ensure professional titles are used appropriately. As set out in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines, all healthcare professionals directly involved in a patient's care should introduce themselves and explain their role to the patient. The GMC has published interim standards for AAs and PAs in advance of regulation, which make it clear that professionals should always introduce their role to patients and set out their responsibilities in the team.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what support his Department provides to Central Asian partners to (a) contain and( b) counter Islamic State Khorasan Province in that region.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani

During the Foreign Secretary's visit to Central Asian countries in April 2024, he discussed the threat from terrorist groups in Afghanistan with interlocutors. We regularly engage with our partners in Central Asia to build a shared understanding of the threat emanating from Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and cohere our approaches to tackling the threat.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of malign actors imitating the interfaces of reputable sources on public trust in digital content.

Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)

It is a key priority of this government to preserve the integrity of our democratic processes and safeguard the public from interference by malign state and non-state actors, including through AI-enabled threats and manipulated media.

The Online Safety Act will tackle illegal disinformation and misinformation including state-sponsored disinformation via the Foreign Interference Offence, including deepfakes and other forms of manipulated media. This means that companies will have a legal duty to take preventative action to identify and minimise their users’ exposure to state-linked interference with UK society. Such content will need to be swiftly removed, requiring tangible action against state-backed attempts to undermine our democratic, political and legal processes.

In addition to our regulatory approach, the DSIT National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) analyses attempts by foreign states to artificially manipulate the online information environment. The NSOIT works with social media platforms to support and encourage them to put in place policies that are fit for purpose, consistently enforced, and which respect freedom of expression.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with her Australian counterpart on the proposed Misinformation and Disinformation Bill in that country.

Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)

Ministers and officials from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology meet regularly with counterparts from other countries to share our experience and expertise and to develop common approaches to online safety. We work closely with the Government of Australia and recently signed a memorandum of understanding setting out our intention to promote regulatory coordination and jointly deliver online safety and security policy to support our citizens.

The UK government has already delivered world-leading legislation via the Online Safety Act, which captures misinformation and disinformation where it constitutes illegal content or content which is harmful to children, and which forces the largest platforms to remove misinformation and disinformation prohibited under their Terms of Service.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to encourage investment in the UK artificial intelligence sector.

Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)

The UK’s AI market is valued at over $21 billion and is estimated to grow to over 1 trillion by 2035. Recently we have seen the largest investment ($1 billion) into a UK AI start-up (Wayve), with several AI companies opening their European headquarters here. Google and Microsoft have recently announced plans to invest $4.2 billion in the UK, demonstrating confidence in the UK’s approach to AI. To encourage further investment, we host the annual Global Investment Summit, we have tax incentives available for AI companies, and we are delivering £1.5bn of investment into compute, all of which will strengthen our position as an attractive place to invest.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department is taking steps to provide incentives to potential investors in the critical mineral extraction industry.

Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on what date does his Department provide councils with their Social Care Grant allocations each year.

Answered by Felicity Buchan

The Social Care Grant is distributed as part of the Local Government Finance Statement. Towards the end of each calendar year, the Government publishes a consultation setting out its proposals for council tax referendum principles, business rates retention and allocation of numerous grants, including the Social Care Grant, for the following financial year. After the consultation closes and any alterations are made, the final Settlement and local authority allocations are published early in the following calendar year and are subject to a debate in the House of Commons. The department also sends local authorities a copy of their allocations along with the Grant Determination for the Social Care Grant at the start of the financial year.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he is taking steps to help his Pakistani counterparts tackle economic pressures in Kashmir.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan

The UK is closely monitoring the situation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. We are working with the US, EU and other key partners, to encourage Pakistan to conduct the economic reforms necessary to ensure long-term, sustainable, growth ahead of any future IMF programme. This includes providing direct technical expertise through our £39 million Revenue Mobilisation Investment and Trade programme, £37.5 million Sustainable Energy and Economic Development programme, and £37.5 million Sub-National Governance programme in Pakistan. The Deputy Foreign Secretary met with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, on 22 March to underline the importance of economic stability and offer the UK's full support on economic reform.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps the Counter disinformation unit has taken to help X tackle QAon disinformation on its platform.

Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)

In October 2023 the Counter Disinformation Unit became the National Security and Online Information Team (the NSOIT). The name more accurately reflects the team’s revised remit and function, which is to tackle the greatest national security risks facing the UK from mis and disinformation, specifically looking at threats posed by foreign states, risks to elections and from the use of AI and deepfakes. This revised remit is kept under regular review.

NSOIT’s remit does not include working with individual platforms to tackle mis or disinformation from certain individuals or groups. In specific circumstances, the NSOIT may share online material with platforms where it is in line with ministerial steers, is on an issue within the team’s remit, and where the content appears to be in breach of the platform’s terms of service. Social media platforms decide whether or not content is a breach of their terms of service and, if so, what action to take.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of working-aged adults that have not received adult social care following an approach to their local authority in the last 12 months.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

A total of 611,590 adults aged between 18 and 64 years old made requests for social care support in 2022/23. Of these, 216,135, or 35.3%, did not receive support from their local authority. Local authorities are responsible for assessing individuals’ care and support needs and, where eligible, for meeting those needs. Where a person is assessed as having eligible care and support needs, the local authority should then carry out a financial assessment to determine what they can afford to contribute towards the cost of meeting their care need. Where individuals do not meet the eligibility threshold, they can get support from their local authorities in making their own arrangements for care services, as set out in the Care Act 2014.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of working-aged adults that receive adult social care that are (a) self-funded and (b) funded by their (i) local authority and (ii) Integrated Care Board.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Data from the adult social care short and long-term collection shows that, as of 31 March 2023, 258,940 people aged 18 to 64 years old were receiving long-term support commissioned via, although not necessarily funded by, their local authority. The Department does not hold data centrally on working age adults who are self-funded, or on integrated care board funded care for working age adults.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department plans to take to improve defence cooperation with Japan in the Indo-Pacific.

Answered by Leo Docherty

The Ministry of Defence will continue to strengthen our defence relationship with Japan via the commitments made under the Hiroshima Accord, the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) and the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). The Carrier Strike Group's deployment to the Indo-Pacific in 2025 will further strengthen UK and Japan defence cooperation.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing broadcasters to use verified fact checkers during the media blackout period on election days.

Answered by Julia Lopez

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

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