Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that medical aid reaches civilians (a) at the Nasser Hospital and (b) elsewhere in Khan Younis.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain deeply concerned about the impact of Israel's aid block and military operations activity on healthcare in Gaza. Medical staff and facilities must be protected, and civilians should be able to safely access medical treatment. On 21 March, the Foreign Secretary issued a joint statement with the Foreign Ministers of France and Germany, in which they called on Israel to ensure access to medical care and temporary medical evacuations in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. The Foreign Secretary called Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar and Minister for Strategic Affairs Dermer on 20 and 21 March to press Israel to restore humanitarian access and raise serious concerns about civilian deaths in Gaza. Since 7 October 2023, the UK has provided £5.5 million in funding to UK-Med, enabling them to provide vital care to over 373,000 Gazans, including critical limb and life-saving surgeries, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on waiting lists for treatment for eating disorders.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between October 2024 to December 2024, 80.8%, or 350 out of 433, of urgent referrals to Children and Young People’s Eating Disorders services were seen within one week, and 81.9%, or 2,064 out of 2,521, of routine referrals were seen within four weeks. Data on access and waiting times is not published for adult eating disorders due to concerns about data quality.
NHS England is continuing to expand the capacity of community-based eating disorder services, including crisis care and intensive home treatment, to improve outcomes and recovery, reduce rates of relapse, and to prevent eating disorders continuing into adulthood.
NHS England has asked local health systems, through this year’s National Health Service operational planning guidance, to focus on improving performance against the waiting time standards for children’s eating disorder services, so that 95% of urgent cases are seen within one week and 95% of routine cases are seen within four weeks.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that reductions in Official Development Assistance spending do not disproportionately impact children.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing VAT exemptions on zero-emission boilers.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to improving the quality and sustainability of our housing stock, through improvements such as low carbon heating, insulation, solar panels, and batteries. Zero-emission boilers are a type of heat battery.
Installations of qualifying energy-saving materials (ESMs) in residential accommodation and buildings used solely for a charitable purpose benefit from a temporary VAT zero rate until March 2027, after which they will revert to the reduced rate of VAT at five per cent.
Decisions on tax policy are taken by the Chancellor and are considered as part of the Budget process.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of (a) psychiatrists, (b) psychologists and (c) dietitians on the quality of eating disorder support provided by the NHS.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on implementing the recommendations of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review 2020.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Seven of the nine recommendations have been previously accepted by the Government, in full, in part, or in principle, and four of these have been successfully implemented, including:
- issuing an unreserved apology on behalf of the healthcare system;
- appointing Dr Henrietta Hughes as the first ever Patient Safety Commissioner in England in respect of medicines and medical devices; and
- establishing nine specialist mesh centres, which are in operation across England.
Work is ongoing in respect of the remaining recommendations, including working across the Government to consider the recommendations in the Hughes Report, which looked into and provided advice on redress for those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to prevent the child maintenance system being used as a tool of financial abuse.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government have recently consulted on proposed reforms to manage all CMS cases in one service allowing the CMS to automatically identify missed, late and partial payments. This will provide greater protection from financial abuse. Responses to consultation are currently under consideration.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to business property relief on family-owned property development companies.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government published information about the reforms to business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.
It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR in 2026-27, with around half of those being claims that involve AIM shares.
BPR is not available to businesses consisting wholly or mainly of dealing in land or buildings. Whether or not a particular property development company will qualify for relief depends on the nature of the business.
In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the requirement to apply for a licence to install electric car charging units in leasehold properties on the number of applications for such installations.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government remains committed to making it easier, cheaper, and quicker to install chargepoints. To support the transition for those living and working in leasehold properties, grants are available towards the purchase and installation of chargepoint grants. We continue to monitor and assess how leaseholders can be best supported to install home chargers.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote awareness of early symptoms of Parkinson's disease amongst GPs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
General practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge, including of Parkinson’s disease, remains up-to-date, and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients. All doctors registered in the United Kingdom are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) Good Medical Practice. In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice, giving patients confidence that doctors are up to date with their practice, and promoting improved quality of care by driving improvements in clinical governance.
The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors, set by the Royal College of General Practitioners, has to meet the standards set by the GMC. Whilst curricula do not necessarily highlight specific conditions for doctors to be aware of, they do emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.