Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what provisions are being considered to assist people with lupus with the cost of medical appliances, specifically corrective eyewear.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports those who need help with the cost of corrective eyewear through National Health Service optical vouchers. These are available to people who meet the eligibility criteria, including those on low incomes, and can be used towards the cost of glasses or contact lenses.
People with lupus are not automatically eligible, but may qualify if they meet relevant criteria. Further information on eligibility can be found at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/
Patients receiving care through the hospital eye service who require clinically necessary expensive lenses may be entitled to support through the Hospital Eye Service maximum charge scheme. The current maximum charges are £75.85 for a single vision lens, £123.34 for any other lens types, and £61.77 per contact lens. Patients entitled to an NHS optical voucher can use it to offset these costs.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ambulance handover delays exceeding one hour occurred in England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ambulance handover data is collected and published monthly. It is available at the following link:
Publication of handover data began in October 2023.
We have introduced a maximum 45-minute standard for ambulance handovers through the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/26, supported by the Medium Term Planning Framework for 2026/27 to 2028/29. This ensures patients are transferred to hospital care more quickly and frees up ambulance crews for urgent calls.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of current (a) tax, (b) carbon and (c) regulatory requirements on retention of heavy industry in the UK.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
While no specific assessment on the impact of existing tax, regulatory or carbon-related costs on retention of UK heavy industry has been conducted, the Government regularly engages with relevant heavy industry trade associations and businesses to consider potential policy support, sectoral challenges affecting competitiveness, and the impact of existing or planned policy and regulatory implementation on industry. The Government also delivers the British Industry Supercharger and Energy-Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme which aim to mitigate carbon leakage and improve competitiveness of eligible energy-intensive manufacturing industries by relieving them from electricity policy costs, network costs and indirect carbon costs.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of whether current UK energy policy is contributing to the offshoring of energy‑intensive manufacturing capacity.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to her on 22 May to Question UIN 1608.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of UK industrial electricity prices on the international competitiveness of UK‑based energy‑intensive manufacturing sectors.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the pressure high energy costs place on businesses.
Through the British Industry Supercharger, the Government is increasing network charge discounts from 60% to 90% since April 2026 for energy‑intensive industries.
In addition, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will cut electricity costs by up to £40/MWh for over 10,000 firms in key manufacturing sectors, helping align UK prices with European competitors and strengthen competitiveness.
Our Clean Power by 2030 mission will bring down bills, reducing exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets and the risk of carbon leakage.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment has been made of how many UK manufacturing jobs are at risk if industrial energy prices are not brought into line with international competitors.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that high industrial electricity prices are a significant pressure on UK manufacturers. While we do not publish a single estimate of jobs at risk from international energy price differentials, we are taking action to reduce costs for industry.
The British Industry Supercharger is already supporting around 550 of the most electricity-intensive businesses and from 2027, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity costs by up to £40/MWh for more than 10,000 businesses, bringing UK prices more closely in line with European competitors. We are continuing our work to develop policies to bring down electricity costs relative to gas for the non-domestic sector and intend to consult on options.
The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan will reduce the UK’s exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets to deliver long-term affordability. Alongside this, the Clean Energy Jobs Plan sets out that the delivery of our clean energy superpower mission could support up to 860,000 jobs across the UK by 2030.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if subsidising carbon capture of certain industrial assets and not others is anti-competitive and risks creating a low carbon monopoly.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government support for Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) has been designed to be compliant with the UK’s subsidy control regime. Support is awarded through transparent and competitive processes, with clear eligibility and assessment criteria, and designed to ensure that subsidies are proportionate, targeted, and minimise domestic or international market distortions.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how contractor performance under the Synergy programme will be monitored and enforced.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Synergy programme is working with its partners actively to monitor effectiveness, and has a strong governance framework in place to monitor delivery, risk and overall performance. In addition, like all Government contracts, the BPS contract has backstop provision for formal protections to manage performance and address issues contractually if they arise.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the cumulative impact of network charges, policy levies and regulatory costs on industrial electricity bills.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The British Industry Supercharger provides relief on renewable energy levies and network charging costs for eligible energy intensive industrial businesses. On 1 April 2026, the Network Charging Compensation Scheme discount, a component of the British Industry Supercharger, was increased from 60% to 90%, reducing network charges for eligible businesses and bringing total electricity bill relief to approximately £65 – £87/MWh. From April 2027 the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will exempt eligible manufacturing businesses from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed in Tariff and Capacity Market, reducing electricity costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Synergy shared services programme on data security.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Synergy places the utmost importance on data security and has contractual conditions with suppliers to specify its data remains in the control of the UK Government. The Synergy team works closely with the data protection and security experts in the Synergy departments (DWP, DEFRA, MOJ and Home Office). This is an ongoing process and assessment of data security readiness is an essential part of testing before going live.