Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent progress he has made on consulting with (a) campaign groups and (b) industry on reviewing fireworks legislation.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has continued to engage with various stakeholders in regard to fireworks regulation and the impact of fireworks. This includes charities such as Combat Stress and the RSPCA, other MPs and the British Fireworks Association.
I continue to engage with stakeholders in regard to fireworks regulation to listen and understand views.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will make public their decision on licensing the personalised immunotherapy developed to treat the malignant brain tumour glioblastoma, DCVax-L.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Northwest Biotherapeutics has submitted a Marketing Authorization Application to the United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for DCVax-L, an immunotherapy for glioblastoma. The MHRA is working with the applicant to reach a decision on this application, to ensure a thorough review that ensures quality, safety, and efficacy.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase routine heart screening for young people participating in (a) school and (b) university sports.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) last reviewed screening for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in people under the age of 39 in 2019 and concluded that population screening should not be offered. More information on the recommendation is available at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/sudden-cardiac-death/
The UK NSC received a submission via its 2024 annual call process to consider SCD screening in young people aged between 14 and 35 years old engaging in sport. The Committee decided to explore this proposal further and the next step will be an evidence-mapping process. Young people engaging in organised sport was one of the population groups included in the 2019 review, so the evidence map in this area will form part of the work to update the last review.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to work with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to expedite market access to the personalised immunotherapy developed to treat the malignant brain tumour glioblastoma DCVax-L via the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
DCVax-L has not yet been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for use in the United Kingdom. The manufacturer has confirmed that it has submitted an application, and it is fully engaged with the Marketing Authorisation process. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether all new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. NICE aims, wherever possible, to issue recommendations on new medicines close to the time of licensing by the MHRA. The NHS is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance. NICE is in discussions with the manufacturer of DCVax-L about a potential appraisal, subject to licensing.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to lower (a) visa and (b) administrative costs for research organisations.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Government keeps the immigration system and fees for immigration and nationality applications under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and other stakeholders.
The Government will also continue to set fees for immigration and nationality applications at a level to ensure the migration and borders system is sustainably funded. It is right that a greater share of the cost of operating the system is borne by those applicants who directly use it, rather than the taxpayer.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 international scientists to carry out research in British (a) universities and (b) laboratories.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 March to Question 36277.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 improve access to topical medication for prisoners.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People in prison are entitled to the same range and quality of health services as they would receive in the community.
NHS England commissions healthcare services across the prison estate, ensuring that healthcare providers can prescribe all medications available to patients in community settings. As a result, topical medications that are prescribable on an NHS prescription are also available for individuals within the prison estate.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of young people recalled to prison due to landlord refusal to install home monitoring equipment.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Recall is a vital tool to protect the public.
Recalling a child to custody is a last resort. Local Youth Offending Teams will explore other options before deciding to recall a child. This could include a curfew that is not electronically monitored but managed by Youth Offending Teams instead.
Adult offenders released on home detention curfew are still serving the custodial element of their sentence and it is a statutory requirement that the curfew is electronically monitored for at least 9 hours a day. In cases where it is no longer possible to electronically monitor offenders in the community, through no fault of their own, they will be recalled until it is possible for them to monitored in the community.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether applications received before March 2025 for therapeutic services under the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund will be considered for therapies beginning in the (a) current and (b) 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
To reduce gaps in therapy, adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) applications which were received before 31 March 2025 were permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. Where applications were approved, therapy which started up to and including March 2025 could continue into the next financial year, under previously agreed transitional funding arrangements.
Following an announcement on 1 April, the department is delighted to confirm that £50 million has been allocated to the ASGSF for the current financial year. More details on applications for funding for the 2025/26 financial year will be published shortly.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it remains his policy to release land to Homes England through the Defence Infrastructure Organisation to meet the government's housebuilding commitments.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
On average the Ministry of Defence releases enough surplus land for over 3,500 new homes a year.
There is no policy mandating this land is released to Homes England, however, along with other Government Departments the Ministry of Defence works with Homes England where appropriate.