Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of hospital Safer Staffing requirements on the newly qualified nurses’ ability to become employed in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made of the potential impact of hospital Safer Staffing requirements on newly qualified nurses’ ability to become employed in the National Health Service.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the (a) number of students who graduated in nursing and (b) number and proportion of those graduates who were employed within six months in the last four years, broken down by higher education institution.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) publishes information on the number of United Kingdom trained nurses joining their register for the first time, who are resident in England. The following table shows the number of UK trained nurses joining the NMC register in England for the first time by financial year:
Financial year | Number of UK qualified registered nurses joining the NMC register for the first time |
2021/22 | 15,132 |
2022/23 | 16,420 |
2023/24 | 18,478 |
2024/25 | 19,670 |
Source: Nursing and Midwifery Council, March 2025 Annual Data Report.
The Department does not hold information on the number of graduates who are employed within six months.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people currently claiming Carer’s Allowance who would be expected to lose their allowance due to the proposed changes to the Personal Independence Payment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As I made clear in my statement to the House, Hansard, 1 July, col 219, any changes to PIP eligibility will come after a comprehensive review of the benefit, which I am leading, and which will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. This review aims to ensure that the PIP assessment is fair and fit for the future. The review is expected to conclude in autumn 2026.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of claimants losing their Carer’s Allowance as a result of her Department's proposed changes to Personal Independence Payments on local authorities.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As I set out in the House of Commons on 1 July 2025, this Government has listened to the concerns raised by Members from across the House regarding the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Clause 5 of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill would have amended the legal framework underpinning PIP assessments, specifically by implementing a new requirement that claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of PIP.
In light of the concerns raised, I confirmed during the debate that we are going to remove clause 5 from the Bill in Committee. (Hansard, 1 July, col 219)
Any changes to PIP eligibility will come after a comprehensive review of the benefit, led by me and co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. This review aims to ensure that the PIP assessment is fair and fit for the future.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's proposed changes to the Personal Independent Payment on (a) carers in receipt of Carer’s Allowance and (b) people receiving care from carers in receipt of Carer’s Allowance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As I made clear in my statement to the House, Hansard, 1 July, col 219, any changes to PIP eligibility will come after a comprehensive review of the benefit, which I am leading, and which will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. This review aims to ensure that the PIP assessment is fair and fit for the future. The review is expected to conclude in autumn 2026.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the reduction in the number of nursing lecturer positions in higher education institutions on the Government's ability to fulfil the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. Universities are autonomous bodies, independent from the Government, and are responsible for their own staffing and recruitment decisions.
We are committed to training the staff we need to get patients seen on time and will continue to work closely with partners in the higher education sector to do so. Later this year, we will publish a new workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual cost is for using Hospedia for patients in each NHS trust in England; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a national policy on the use of television in hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No data is collected centrally on the annual cost for using Hospedia or the provision of bedside television and similar services by the National Health Service.
NHS providers are locally responsible for the provision of bedside television and similar services, including the charges for them. If patients do not wish to, or are unable to afford the cost of the bedside television, they should still be able to watch the free to view television via their own devices and local hospital Wi-Fi, or in the hospital day rooms or communal areas.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost to prisoners is of the provision of television access in prison cells.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The cost per prisoner in establishments in the adult estate is 50 pence per week if the prisoner is sharing a cell, and £1 per week for prisoners in a single cell.
Children and young people in the youth secure estate are not charged for use of televisions.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
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 impact of the closure of hyperbaric chambers on regional health inequalities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to ensuring equitably accessible, high-quality services, for any patient who requires hyperbaric oxygen therapy. NHS England set out their assessment of service requirements in their commissioning intentions during the public consultation which took place in September 2024. Further information on the public consultation is available at the following link:
The reconfiguration of services ensures service provision which meets optimal time to treatment guidelines, in which providers must be located no more than four hours, based on 200 miles radial distance, from the coast and four hours from the next nearest commissioned provider.
We actively encourage individuals and organisations to register as stakeholders to ensure a full range of views are included in any service developments. Stakeholders can register their interest in services commissioned by NHS England on their website, at the following link:
https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/application/crg-stakeholder-reg-april-2019/
The published Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment sets out an evaluation, including access to services, and where appropriate action was taken to ensure fair access to any patient who requires this service. Further information on the Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment is available at the following link:
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have been removed from schools rolls for home elective education for each school in Derbyshire in each of the last six years.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has collected data on compulsory school-aged children in elective home education from local authorities on a termly basis since autumn 2022. Figures are available by local authority in the publication available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education/2024-25-autumn-term.
In most cases, there is no legal obligation on parents to request permission or notify the school or local authority that they are withdrawing their child from school to home educate them.
As parents currently have no legal duty to inform local authorities when they are home educating, local authorities cannot be assured that they are fulfilling this duty towards all children living in their areas.
This is why the Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill, which is currently at Committee Stage in the House of Lords, will introduce compulsory Children Not in School Registers in every local authority in England and Wales. These measures will help local authorities to identify all children not in school in their areas, including those not in receipt of safe or suitable education, and to act where this is the case.