Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Israeli counterpart on the (a) timing and (b) other aspects of the (i) release and (ii) return of the vessel Madleen.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of the interception of the Madleen and the arrest of its passengers by Israeli Naval Forces. We pressed the Israeli authorities in advance of the ship's arrival to ensure that any action they took would resolve the situation safely, with restraint, and in line with International Law. We continue to be in touch with Israeli counterparts regarding the vessel. We continue to be clear that the Israeli government must immediately lift all restrictions on the flow of aid into Gaza to address the dire humanitarian situation.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing care support packages for households, rather than people requiring care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have not made a direct assessment of the potential merits of implementing care support packages for households rather than for individuals requiring care. However, we recognise the importance of people’s wider support networks for those drawing on care and support.
Section 2 of the Care and Support Statutory Guidance requires local authorities in England to take a holistic view of a person’s needs and circumstances when undertaking a needs assessment. This includes considering how family or friends may support the individual to meet their goals and live as independently as possible for as long as possible, without placing or creating additional caring responsibilities.
Local authorities in England further have specific duties to support people who care for family members and friends. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities in England must provide a broad range of high-quality, sustainable care and support services for carers, and are required to carry out Carer’s Assessments where a carer appears to have need for support and may be eligible for help.
We also welcome the use of models such as Family Group Conferencing in places like Camden, which puts both individuals and their families and friends at the heart of decision making.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the article by the University of Manchester entitled Tackling unmet needs for social care among older people, published on 21 May 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the long-term trend of a reduction in the number of local authority funded long-term packages of adult social care, despite an ageing population. This can result in people’s care needs going unmet, placing pressure on unpaid carers, including spouses and family members, who provide essential care and support.
The article by the University of Manchester raises important implications for how adult social care is delivered by local authorities. We remain committed to ensuring that local authorities meet their duties under the Care Act 2014, including the duty to provide provision of a wide range of high-quality support services for carers, and the requirement to undertake Carer’s Assessments for those who appear to have needs and who may be eligible for support.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are performing against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to unpaid carers. Formal assessments commenced in December 2023 and as of June 2025, the CQC has published over 40 local authority assessments. So far, the CQC has identified several emerging themes in local authorities’ delivery of adult social care, including a lack of support for unpaid carers. The CQC’s assessments of individual local authorities are available via published reports on the CQC website, at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
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 help (a) increase the supply and (b) ensure (i) consistent and (ii) equitable supply of hormone replacement therapy products in each region.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department monitors and manages medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand.
There are over 70 hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products, and the vast majority are in good supply. Previously there have been issues with the supply of a limited number of these products, primarily driven by very sharp increases in demand.
Following the Department’s intensive engagement with industry, the supply position has improved considerably. As part of this we have previously met with suppliers on a very regular basis and have held nine HRT supply roundtables since April 2022, with the most recent in September 2024, with suppliers, wholesalers, and community pharmacists, to provide updates on the supply position and actions being taken to address them, to share data, and to discuss relevant policy developments and potential impacts.
We work closely with suppliers and other stakeholders such as the National Health Service and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, to maintain overall HRT supply to patients across the United Kingdom during the shortages, including working to expedite resupply dates of the disrupted HRT products, to resolve issues as soon as possible and to help fill supply gaps and prevent future shortages.
We also added some HRT medicines to the list of products that cannot be exported from, or hoarded in, the UK, to protect supply for UK patients. We share regular communications about shortages and discontinuations with the NHS and have issued a number of communications about HRT supply issues to date.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the resilience of international supply chains for pharmaceuticals procured by the NHS; and what steps he is taking to reduce reliance on imports for essential medicines.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medical supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated, making them vulnerable to a variety of shocks. The Government actively monitors emerging global and domestic threats to supply resilience and has established processes in place to manage disruption across the health and social care sector.
The Government is enhancing domestic manufacturing capability alongside strengthening international partnerships and collaboration on medical supply chains, such as through membership of the European Union’s Critical Medicines Alliance. This aims to identify vulnerabilities in critical medicine supply chains and leverage members’ expertise and resources to identify solutions to build long-term resilience and to help ensure that patients have access to the medical goods they need. The United Kingdom’s life sciences sector is key to driving long-term, sustainable, and resilient growth nationwide and will be a priority of the upcoming Industrial Strategy, alongside an up to £520 million commitment to the Life Sciences Innovation Manufacturing Fund to support UK-wide investment in human medicines, medical diagnostics, and medical technology products.
This includes the National Supply Disruption Response that acts as a single point of contact when the health and care system, including the medical supply industry, requires support to maintain the supply of medical products, including for products imported to the UK.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed closure of Smithfield Market on (a) Scottish farmers and (b) UK meat producers.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is aware of the proposed changes to Smithfield Market and is engaging with the City of London Corporation.
The City of London Corporation’s Court of Common Council on 26 November 2024 ratified a decision to end its interest in co-locating the wholesale food markets of Smithfield and Billingsgate to a new site at Dagenham Dock.
A private bill was deposited in Parliament on 27 November 2024, which would end the City of London Corporation’s responsibilities to operate a market at these sites.
While the Market will cease to trade at the Smithfield site, it is not closing. The City of London Corporation is working with tenants to help them re-locate, together, to purpose-built facilities within the M25 and ensure continuity of trade.
Defra has not undertaken an assessment of the impact of the closure on Scottish farmers and UK meat producers but notes the valuable research on this matter undertaken by the City of London Corporation. This independent food security study found that the relocation is unlikely to pose significant risks to food supply. The Department recognises the importance of Smithfield as a distribution hub for meat products across the UK and will continue to monitor the transition closely.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with international counterparts on the case of Iranian singer Amir Tataloo.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to engage in dialogue with international partners regarding the human rights situation in Iran. We have repeatedly called on Iran to establish a moratorium on the death penalty in multilateral fora, including at the UN Third Committee and Human Rights Council. The UK is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We were integral to the delivery of a new Iran human rights resolution, adopted by the Human Rights Council on 3 April, which renewed the mandates of the Special Rapporteur and Fact-Finding Mission. These mandates are essential for shedding light on Iran's abhorrent use of the death penalty and wider human rights violations.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what fiscal steps he is taking to incentivise the uptake of heat pumps.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) provides grants to property owners to enable them to transition away from fossil fuel to low carbon heating. The grant available under the scheme for air source heat pumps and ground source heat pumps is £7,500, and £5,000 is available for biomass boilers. Funding for the BUS has increased to £295 million for this financial year.
The Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG) and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) provides funding to support low carbon heating, including heat pumps, and the installation of energy efficiency measures.
The grants are in addition to the 0% rate of VAT on the installation of heat pumps and biomass boilers, which will last until March 2027.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps through the spending review to reduce electricity costs.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently. This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past.
We recognise that we need to support households struggling with bills whilst we transition to clean power by 2030. This is why we delivered the Warm Home Discount to around 3 million eligible low-income households last winter. On 25 February, we published a consultation on the expansion of the Warm Home Discount, giving more eligible households £150 off their energy bills. These proposals would bring around 2.7 million households into the scheme – pushing the total number of households that would receive the discount next winter up to around 6 million. The consultation has now closed, and the Department is evaluating the responses.
The Government is continuing to work with Ofgem and energy suppliers to ensure energy bills remain fair and affordable while we transition to clean power by 2030.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the individual opt-out agreement under the Working Time Regulations 1998 on levels of exploitation in low-paid employment.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
A review of the impact of the Working Time Regulations on the UK labour market was undertaken by the Coalition Government in 2014. It found a decline since 1998 in the incidence of long-hours working despite the existence of the opt-out, and a general trend towards shorter working hours.
It also found that the vast majority of long-hours workers would not have wanted to work fewer than 48 hours per week if it meant less pay, and that long-hours working was generally more prevalent in high income and highly skilled occupations compared to lower income and medium and low-skilled occupations.