Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his oral statement of 21 July 2025 on Middle East, Official Report, column 595, whether UK made arms components were used in the incident at the Project HOPE health clinic in Deir al Balah.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary has said, we utterly condemn the killing of civilians seeking to meet their basic needs. Our assessment of this strike, drawing on the available evidence, including eyewitness reports in the media, is that it was a drone strike. The Government suspended all export licences for IDF drones on 2 September 2024, and we categorically do not export any bombs or ammunition for use in military operations in Gaza.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of levels of funding for policing Leicester on trends in levels of bicycle theft in that area.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
As set out at the final police funding settlement, overall funding for policing will total up to £19.6 billion in 2025-26, an increase of up to £1.2 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement.
Of this, Leicestershire Police will receive up to £272.9 million in funding in 2025-26, an increase of up to £16.9 million when compared to the 2024-25 police settlement, equating to a 6.6% cash increase.
Bike theft has a significant impact on individuals and for too long many of the victims have felt that not enough was being done to prevent their bikes being stolen or track down the thieves responsible.
As policing has operational independence, it is for local decision-makers to determine operational priorities, including how to allocate resources based on their knowledge and experience.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential cost to the public purse of introducing a national free travel pass for NHS workers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no current plans to introduce national rail discounts to NHS worker. Once established, Great British Railways will have the opportunity to take a fresh look at the eligibility and restrictions of concession schemes. Any long-term changes or concessions made to rail fares policy requires balancing against the potential impacts on passengers and taxpayers.
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. The ENCTS costs around £700 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations, such as expanding the eligibility criteria to include NHS workers, would therefore need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability.
However, as part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the government allocated £955 million to support and improve bus services in 25/26. This includes £712 million for local authorities, this can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, which could include introducing new fares initiatives to reduce the cost of bus travel for passengers, including NHS workers.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a national free travel pass for NHS workers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no current plans to introduce national rail discounts to NHS worker. Once established, Great British Railways will have the opportunity to take a fresh look at the eligibility and restrictions of concession schemes. Any long-term changes or concessions made to rail fares policy requires balancing against the potential impacts on passengers and taxpayers.
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. The ENCTS costs around £700 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations, such as expanding the eligibility criteria to include NHS workers, would therefore need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability.
However, as part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the government allocated £955 million to support and improve bus services in 25/26. This includes £712 million for local authorities, this can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, which could include introducing new fares initiatives to reduce the cost of bus travel for passengers, including NHS workers.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
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 support households (a) with children and (b) on a low income to (i) reduce their consumption of ultra-processed foods and (ii) use more minimally processed and nutritious foods.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s Eatwell Guide already advises that people should eat more fruit, vegetables, and wholegrain or higher-fibre foods, as well as less processed meat, and less food and drink that is high in sugar, calories, saturated fat, and salt.
The Eatwell Guide principles are communicated through a variety of channels, including the NHS.UK website and Government social marketing campaigns. For example, the Better Health Healthier Families website and the Healthy Steps email programme, which aims to help families with primary aged children in England to eat well and move more.
The range of actions that have already been taken to create a healthier environment to help children reduce their consumption of processed foods that are high in energy, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, and to improve access to affordable, minimally processed foods, include:
- the Healthy Start scheme, which supported over 361,000 people in April 2025;
- the Nursery Milk Scheme, which provides a reimbursement to childcare providers in England and Wales for a daily 1/3 pint portion of milk to children and babies; and
- the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, which provides approximately 2.2 million children in Key Stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables per day at school.
In relation to foods and drinks high in calories, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, work on our commitments is progressing through:
- implementing the television and online advertising restrictions for less healthy food or drink;
- consulting on plans to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old; and
- giving local authorities stronger, clearer powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools and where young people congregate.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether each Integrated Care System is required to reduce the number of (a) people with a learning disability and (b) autistic people from their area in mental health hospitals by 10 per cent within 2025-26.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service planning guidance for 2025/26 includes a focus on improving care for people with a learning disability and autistic people and contains the objective to deliver a minimum 10% reduction in the use of mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people in 2025/26. As part of operational planning, each integrated care board (ICB) is expected to: reduce the number of adults with a learning disability, including those who may also be autistic, in mental health inpatient care by 20% from a 31 March 2024 baseline by 31 March 2026; and reduce the number of autistic adults, with no learning disability, in mental health inpatient care by 20% from a 31 March 2024 baseline by 31 March 2026.
The baseline is from Assuring Transformation data and was extracted from 31 March 2024. The expectation is that ICBs will have been working towards achieving a 10% reduction from the 31 March 2024 baseline by 31 March 2025 and will build on this during 2025/26. They are therefore expected to achieve a 20% reduction from the 31 March 2024 baseline by 31 March 2026.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to introduce mandatory neurodiversity training for all (a) teachers and (b) education staff.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people. Statutory Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Teacher induction training must cover adaptive teaching and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and this includes training which would support effective teaching of neurodiverse pupils.
The department has reviewed the content for the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework, adding significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting and improving inclusivity for pupils with SEND.
From September 2025, the department has also enhanced the requirement on providers of Early Career Teacher training to develop, in conjunction with educational experts, SEND specific training materials.
The government is expanding the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme, providing neurodiversity training to teachers and staff in a further 1200 mainstream primary schools.
The department recognises that continuous improvement is essential and have committed to a full review of the Early Career Teacher Entitlement in 2027.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what baseline figure his Department will use to measure progress on reducing the number of (a) people with a learning disability and (b) autistic people in mental health hospitals by 10 per cent within 2025-26.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service planning guidance for 2025/26 includes a focus on improving care for people with a learning disability and autistic people and contains the objective to deliver a minimum 10% reduction in the use of mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people in 2025/26. The baselines being used to measure progress against operational planning guidance are: adults with a learning disability, including those who may also be autistic, in mental health inpatient care as of 31 March 2024, based on Assuring Transformation data extracted from 31 March 2024; and adults who are autistic, with no learning disability, in mental health inpatient care as of 31 March 2024, based on Assuring Transformation data extracted from 31 March 2024.
The expectation is that integrated care boards will have been working towards achieving a 10% reduction from the 31 March 2024 baseline by 31 March 2025, and will build on this during 2025/26. They are therefore expected to achieve a 20% reduction from the 31 March 2024 baseline by 31 March 2026.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
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 the use of innovative technologies to treat glaucoma through the 10-Year Health Plan.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to preventing and managing conditions such as glaucoma in all parts of the country. More tests and scans delivered in the community and better joint working between services will support the management of conditions, including glaucoma, closer to home.
The plan will draw directly from the extensive engagement we have undertaken with the public, patients, and staff, including in the eye care sector. We are in the final stages of working on the plan and will publish it shortly.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will continue to play a crucial role in evaluating new medicines, medical devices, and other technologies, to determine their clinical and cost-effectiveness, before recommending them for NHS use.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
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 through the NHS 10-Year Health Plan to improve glaucoma care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to preventing and managing conditions such as glaucoma in all parts of the country. More tests and scans delivered in the community and better joint working between services will support the management of conditions, including glaucoma, closer to home.
The plan will draw directly from the extensive engagement we have undertaken with the public, patients, and staff, including in the eye care sector. We are in the final stages of working on the plan and will publish it shortly.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will continue to play a crucial role in evaluating new medicines, medical devices, and other technologies, to determine their clinical and cost-effectiveness, before recommending them for NHS use.