Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to widen eligibility for hybrid closed loop (HCL) pump devices for people with diabetes; what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the progress of the rollout of HCL pumps to eligible groups; and what estimate he has made of the cost of expansion.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The eligibility criteria for hybrid closed loop (HCL) devices for people with diabetes are set in guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta943
NICE is an independent body with their own processes for reviewing and updating their guidance, taking account of the best available evidence of both clinical and cost effectiveness.
As part of NHS England’s HCL implementation, HCL has been provided to over 600 pregnant women with type 1 diabetes. Further details on NHS England’s five-year national implementation strategy are published online, at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/hybrid-closed-loop-technologies-5-year-implementation-strategy/
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to hold discussions with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on his comments of December 2025 on the treatment of hunger-striking prisoners.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
No discussions are planned. We are confident that the measures in place to ensure proper care for prisoners who refuse food are in accordance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the reasons for which stop and search for items related to protest is used much more frequently by some police forces than others.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Public Order Act 2023 includes stop and search powers for police to search for and seize articles related to protest-related offences.
The Home Office publishes statistics on use of stop and search powers, the latest are at: Stop and search, arrests, and mental health detentions, March 2025 - GOV.UK
While overall numbers are small, the figures show that protest related searches are more concentrated in the Metropolitan Police Service, Surrey and Sussex.
The management of protests is an operational matter for the police. It is for chief constables and their officers to make decisions about the use of stop and search powers in response to local needs.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2025 to Question 92325 on Access to Work Programme, how many Access to Work awards have been (a) decided, (b) reduced at renewal, (c) increased at renewal and (d) removed at renewal.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A total of 20,852 Access to Work renewal awards have been decided since July 2024.
The Department does not hold information on the number of awards that have been (a) reduced, (b) increased, or (c) removed at the point of renewal. Determining these figures would require a manual review of individual cases, which would result in a disproportionate cost to the Department.
Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Written Statement HCWS1044 on 11 November 2025, which findings contained in the 2007 DWP evaluation of the effectiveness of automatic pension forecast letters were not provided to his predecessor.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Secretary of State announced in his oral statement of 11 November 2025 that we will retake the decision made in December 2024 as it relates to the communications on State Pension age.
This was because findings from a 2007 report had not been drawn to the attention of the previous Secretary of State as its potential relevance to the making of her decision was not evident at the time.
The process to retake the decision is underway and it is important that we give this full and proper consideration. We will update Parliament on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practice (a) closures and (b) mergers there have been in (i) Brighton Pavilion constituency and (ii) the Brighton and Hove local authority area since 2016.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the number of general practice closures and mergers that there have been in the Brighton Pavilion constituency and the Brighton and Hove local authority area since 2016. This data is held by the NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of State Pension age changes on 1950s-born women living in Brighton Pavilion constituency.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
All women born since 6 April 1950 have been affected by changes to State Pension age.
Estimates can be made with ONS 2022 Census Data of how many women born in the 1950s were resident in each constituency in that year.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of remediation needed on large panel system (LPS) housing blocks on the finances of local authorities; and whether building safety financial support will cover more LPS buildings with delays in remediation.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The issues with Large Panel System (LPS) buildings are longstanding and well known. Building owners are responsible for managing safety and performance risks in their buildings, in a proportionate, risk- based and evidence-based way. We have made it clear they are therefore responsible for any maintenance or remedial works required on their LPS buildings, including any strengthening works or removal of mains gas supply. Guidance has long been made available to support building owners in taking the right steps and measures to mitigate risks in their LPS buildings. This includes the British Research Establishment Report: Handbook for the structural assessment of large panel system (LPS) dwelling blocks for accidental loading (BR 511)
Local authorities are responsible for managing their budgets to fulfil their duties. This includes keeping the housing conditions in their area under review with a view to identifying any actions that may need to be taken by them. Where remediation or maintenance works are required in LPS buildings, or any other issues, local authorities should do so within their budgets.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help prevent regional inconsistencies in pavement parking enforcement policy; and when statutory guidance for local authorities to enforce against unnecessary obstruction of the pavement will be published.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 8 January 2026, the Secretary of State announced the publication of the government’s formal response to the 2020 public consultation 'Pavement parking: options for change' which sets out the legislative measures to tackle pavement parking. The government will publish statutory guidance by end of 2026 to assist local authorities in carrying out enforcement in a fair and proportionate manner.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with Southern Water on (a) the significant pollution incident on the south coast of England in October 2025 and (b) the steps it is taking to ensure that its infrastructure is functioning correctly.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State and I are in close contact with the Environment Agency, which is now conducting an active investigation into the incident. Southern Water will be subject to a PACE interview; a formal, legally regulated interview under the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) Act 1984. The Environment Agency has also conducted detailed inspections of the Eastbourne wastewater treatment works and is overseeing the improvement works being carried out by Southern Water.
I have written to Water Companies to further emphasise the need for the sector to ensure that these sorts of incidents do not occur, to reiterate how unacceptable the pollution incident at Camber Sands is, and to stress the positive action Water Companies must take to ensure their infrastructure is functioning correctly.
Water companies should take all necessary precautions to ensure all equipment is properly constructed and maintained to prevent the unauthorised or accidental escape of bio-beads from wastewater treatment works into the environment. The Government is looking into developing new standards for infrastructure resilience which, coupled with robust water company planning through Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans and the new statutory Pollution Incident Reduction Plans, will drive investment to improve wastewater assets and reduce pollution into our environment.