Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 (a) research and (b) development into medical treatments for people affected by COVID-19 vaccine injury.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including treatments for vaccine side effects. Since the start of the pandemic, the NIHR has allocated more than £110 million of funding for COVID-19 vaccine research, including consideration of issues around vaccine safety. As part of this, the Department commissioned a £1.6 million programme of work through the NIHR, to understand the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of COVID-19 vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia syndrome, a rare condition of blood clotting with low platelets following vaccination for COVID-19. This research was published in July 2025.
In the very rare event where an individual may have suffered a severe adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine, care and treatment will be best met and managed by National Health Service local specialist services, augmented as appropriate by national specialist advice.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 effectiveness of Crawford & Company in administering the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme; and for what reason that company was selected to manage the process.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority is the administrator of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). Crawford and Company provides a medical assessment service for the VDPS. Crawford and Company were awarded this contract following a formal procurement process under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended). The procurement process was open, fair, and transparent. Crawford and Company emerged as the successful bidder following an evaluation of their bid, and the contract started in March 2022, following their successful bid.
Key performance indicators are in place to ensure the effectiveness of the medical assessment service, and are closely monitored via the contract. This includes a target that 95% of medical assessments are returned to the NHS Business Services Authority within 15 working days. The supplier has achieved this target since August 2023.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the (a) scope, (b) eligibility, (c) criteria and (d) compensation level of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to express my deepest sympathies to those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.
Ministers continue to consider options for reforming the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
In parallel, the Department has been working with the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the scheme, to take steps to improve the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, including through processing claims at a faster rate.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the implementation of Grey Belt policy aligns with the settlement hierarchy set out in adopted local plans.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department published updated guidance on Green Belt policy on 27 February 2025 to assist local authorities and other decision-makers, including planning inspectors, in determining whether land is grey belt. It can be found on gov.uk here.
It is for decision-makers to consider how best to apply the policy to particular local circumstances.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the interpretation of the definition of Grey Belt by planning inspectors in (a) rural and (b) semi-rural areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department published updated guidance on Green Belt policy on 27 February 2025 to assist local authorities and other decision-makers, including planning inspectors, in determining whether land is grey belt. It can be found on gov.uk here.
It is for decision-makers to consider how best to apply the policy to particular local circumstances.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to issue planning practice guidance on the (a) use and (b) interpretation of Grey Belt policy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department published updated guidance on Green Belt policy on 27 February 2025 to assist local authorities and other decision-makers, including planning inspectors, in determining whether land is grey belt. It can be found on gov.uk here.
It is for decision-makers to consider how best to apply the policy to particular local circumstances.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether investment in family hubs will be included in the upcoming Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted to the answer of 03 July 2025 to Question 63139.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) a hub and spoke model and (b) the utilisation of detached youth work within Young Futures Hubs on (i) outreach and (ii) access for young people.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has committed to the creation of a new Young Futures Programme, which will establish a network of Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships. Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive.
Officials from across several departments are already working jointly, using evidence of what works to start to shape the Young Futures Hubs model. We are engaging with local areas, communities, statutory partners, charities, and other stakeholders, including assessing evidence they have supplied, to support the design of the Young Futures Hubs and explore options for their delivery. This includes considering how best to engage with those young people who would benefit most from support.
Across Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships, the government is adopting a phased approach to learn from what works. To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, we will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. These early adopters and work in local areas and will inform the longer-term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs.
Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape and they will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing. The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how local areas will be supported to implement Young Futures Hubs.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has committed to the creation of a new Young Futures Programme, which will establish a network of Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships. Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive.
Officials from across several departments are already working jointly, using evidence of what works to start to shape the Young Futures Hubs model. We are engaging with local areas, communities, statutory partners, charities, and other stakeholders, including assessing evidence they have supplied, to support the design of the Young Futures Hubs and explore options for their delivery. This includes considering how best to engage with those young people who would benefit most from support.
Across Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships, the government is adopting a phased approach to learn from what works. To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, we will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. These early adopters and work in local areas and will inform the longer-term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs.
Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape and they will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing. The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that its fraud strategy provides consumers with protection from all types of fraudulent advertising.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
As part of the requirements of the Online Safety Act (2023), large social media and search services will be required to use proactive systems and processes to prevent the public from encountering fraudulent adverts, and minimise the length of time any such content is present on their platforms.
Ofcom is scheduled to consult on the Fraudulent Advertising Duty by early 2026. This consultation is part of the broader framework for ‘Additional Duties’ on the largest in-scope companies.
This Government committed in our manifesto to introduce an expanded Fraud Strategy, and details of that strategy, including the approach to tackling fraudulent advertising, will be set out in due course.