Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme to include (a) farmers and (b) food production.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Eligibility for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme is informed by the Government’s Industrial Strategy and by the recent consultation on scheme eligibility.
Decisions on eligibility have been taken to drive economic growth in line with the Industrial Strategy, by targeting manufacturing frontier industries within its growth sectors, as well as manufacturing foundational industries that provide important inputs to them, where electricity costs most directly affect international competitiveness.
Farming and food production are therefore not within the scope of the Scheme.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, following the announcement in the Budget on 30th October 2025 and its requirement for both the National Minimum Wage and employer National Insurance contributions to be increased, whether assurances will be given to General Practices nationally that they will be reimbursed for these increased costs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Funding for general practice (GP) is agreed annually through consultation on the GP Contract, which considers wider cost pressures facing practices as part of the overall settlement. These funding decisions are informed by a range of factors, including independent recommendations from the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration, where relevant, as well as affordability considerations. However, the GP Contract does not provide for automatic reimbursement of individual cost increases, including changes to National Insurance contributions or the National Minimum Wage.
In this context, we have uplifted the GP Contract by £601 million for 2026/27. This builds on last year’s £1.1 billion of investment, taking the two-year increase to £1.7 billion, or 13.8% in cash terms and 8.1% in real terms. Through consultation with stakeholders, we set these uplifts and changes to the contract with regard to the pressures faced by businesses. This includes the costs associated with the Government’s agreement to implement review body recommendations, including a 3.5% pay rise for GPs.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are required for vaccines for the prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections to obtain regulatory approval including an indicative timeline for licensing.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
For any new medicine to be introduced to the United Kingdom market an application to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is required. The MHRA is ready to support companies that are looking to introduce new medicines to the United Kingdom market, offering regulatory and scientific advice to help companies at any stage of the product development process. The MHRA has established procedures in place to review any applications we receive to evaluate the benefit risk of a product in relation to its quality, safety, and efficacy. The exact timeframe will depend on the type of submission the company makes.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to update its clinical guidance on long‑term support for cardiac arrest survivors, including access to free medication.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is focused on improving long‑term, holistic follow‑up and rehabilitation after cardiac arrest. In December 2024, to support local systems to commission high quality cardiac rehabilitation, NHS England published Commissioning standards for cardiac rehabilitation, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-standards-for-cardiovascular-rehabilitation/
Access to prescribed medicines is determined through existing medicines and prescribing policy.