Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the availability of domestic abuse services in semi-rural areas.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Every victim of violence against women and girls (VAWG), whether in a city or a rural village, should be able to access the help they need. In the 'Freedom from Violence and Abuse’ Strategy, we committed to developing a new cross-government statement on the commissioning of VAWG services. This statement aims to strengthen the quality of commissioning from local commissioners, and it will support local areas to tailor their provision to their local communities, including rural victims.
Last year (2025/26), the Home Office invested over £6m into specialist helplines to support victims of VAWG and we are expanding our investment into the VAWG helplines this financial year. The helplines are accessible across England and Wales and provide advice and support to victims and assist in signposting and referrals to appropriate local services.
Last year, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) commenced a call for evidence across a network of rural stakeholders to inform our understanding of the availability of support services and effective practice to provide support in rural areas. This research will help to confront the disparities in the provision and inform our future work to address the disparities of provision.
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the General Dental Council on reducing the waiting time for fitness to practice cases to be heard.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has regular discussions with the General Dental Council (GDC) on regulatory matters. While the GDC is an independent regulator responsible for managing its fitness to practise processes, the Government expects the GDC to take steps to improve the efficiency and timeliness of case handling.
The GDC recently published its strategy, Trusted and effective: A strategy for dental regulation 2026-2028, which sets out its vision and objectives, and the work it will do to achieve them. One of those objectives is to improve fitness to practise, maximising patient safety and reducing unintended impacts. The published strategy is available at the following link:
In parallel, the Department is progressing wider, longer-term reforms to the regulatory frameworks of the healthcare professional regulators. These will enable them to be more responsive to changes in the health and care workforce and give them the flexibility to modernise their fitness to practise processes whilst maintaining public protection.
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Home Office's White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of proposed changes to the immigration system on the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has published impact assessments alongside the Spring 2025 Immigration Rules, which implement proposals set out in the White Paper, Restoring control over the immigration system. These impact assessments set out the expected effects of the reforms on the Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker routes, including modelling of changes in overall visa volumes. The impact assessments are published on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-assessments-covering-migration-policy
The forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it.
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the sufficiency of the level of accessible homes for people with disabilities in the North West.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Data relating to the number of wheelchair accessible homes is not collected centrally, although the English Housing Survey collects occasional series on accessibility and adaptations within the home.
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals to set clearer expectations for accessible housing to meet the needs of older and disabled people. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide adaptations for people who satisfy a needs assessment, eligibility criteria, and a means test. The Disabled Facilities Grant is provided by government and distributed to local authorities to fund home adaptations for disabled people of all ages and tenures subject to the statutory conditions.
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure the accessibility of new housing for people with disabilities.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Data relating to the number of wheelchair accessible homes is not collected centrally, although the English Housing Survey collects occasional series on accessibility and adaptations within the home.
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals to set clearer expectations for accessible housing to meet the needs of older and disabled people. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide adaptations for people who satisfy a needs assessment, eligibility criteria, and a means test. The Disabled Facilities Grant is provided by government and distributed to local authorities to fund home adaptations for disabled people of all ages and tenures subject to the statutory conditions.
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of reductions in the social care workforce on the level of delayed discharges from hospitals.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of reductions in the social care workforce on the level of delayed discharges from hospitals.
Achieving timely and effective discharge for hospital patients relies on effective joint working between the National Health Service, local authorities, and social care providers. Through the Better Care Fund, NHS integrated care boards and local authorities are required to pool over £9 billion of funding and agree how to use that funding to join up health and social care services. This includes agreeing local goals for both preventing avoidable hospital admissions and reducing delayed hospital discharges.
English local authorities are responsible under the Care Act 2014 for meeting social care needs and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.
The Government is committed to transforming adult social care and supporting adult social care workers, turning the page on decades of low pay and insecurity. That is why we plan to introduce the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in 2028 to improve pay and conditions for the adult social care workforce, backed by £500 million of new investment.
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the long-term sustainability of the palliative care workforce.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Last year, we published our 10-year plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future and a central part of the plan is our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
The Government is committed to publishing a 10‑Year Workforce Plan, to ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver for patients, including those at the end of their lives. The 10‑Year Workforce Plan will be published in spring of this year.
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made on the number of people with a Plan 3 student loan in England and Wales; and what is the total value of those loans.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of England‑domiciled borrowers with a Plan 3 student loan was 603,000, rounded to the nearest thousand, and the total value of those loans was £6.521 billion, rounded to the nearest million, as of 31 March 2025.
Education is a devolved matter, and the Welsh Government is responsible for providing equivalent figures for borrowers in Wales.
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what measures her Department is taking to support women working in UK science technology, engineering and mathematic sectors.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology recognises the importance of supporting women working in the UK science, technology, engineering and mathematic sectors.
In December 2025, DSIT launched the Women in Tech Taskforce to address the systemic barriers that prevent women from entering, progressing, and leading in the tech sector. In March 2026 DSIT launched a package to get more women into tech, including 300 paid tech placements and support for those returning after a career break. DSIT also announced a TechFirst Girls Competitition and the Women in Tech Taskforce launched a call for evidence on building a more diverse tech sector.
This is on top of major programmes that DSIT supports such as the £187 million TechFirst initiative to support entry into the sector, the CyberFirst Girls annual tech competition, and Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation programme.
Alongside this, DSIT and UKRI are working to improve retention and career outcomes for women in research. On 11th March, DSIT Secretary of State called on research institutions and funders to do more to support women in research and back a voluntary charter to raise standards and drive culture change. The charter, which will be shaped with employers and funders of researchers, will set a firm expectation that all PhD funders commit to meeting or exceeding UK Research and Innovation’s parental leave offer for doctoral students. It will also agree clear, tangible commitments on other issues like support for those returning to work with caring responsibilities, greater job flexibility and addressing sexual discrimination and harassment.
DSIT have also doubled the government’s support for the Daphne Jackson Trust, who support researchers who have taken a career break, to £4m per year.
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for publication of the final findings of the independent maternity services investigation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Baroness Amos has advised that the independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation will publish its final report and recommendations in June.