Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 implications for his policies of The University of Manchester’s research entitled Assessing risk of breast cancer in young women to facilitate early diagnosis and improve outcomes, published on 2 June 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department welcomes the University of Manchester’s research on assessing risk of breast cancer in young women. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including breast cancer, as early and as quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes. As the first step to ensure faster diagnosis, the NHS is delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week. To support early detection and diagnosis, the NHS in England carries out approximately two million breast cancer screens each year in hospitals and mobile screening vans, usually in convenient community locations.
NHS England does not currently screen women younger than 50 years old for breast cancer. This is because the risk of women under this age developing breast cancer is low, and because mammograms are less reliable in this age group. Women below 50 years old tend to have denser breast tissue, which reduces ability to get an accurate mammogram.
This is in line with most European countries, most of whom screen women between the ages of 50 and 69 years old. Women with a very high risk of breast cancer, for example, due to family history, may be offered screening earlier and more frequently.
The National Cancer Plan, planned for publication later in 2025, will have patients at its heart and will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for patients of all ages, including those with breast cancer.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to improve access to mental health services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to improve access to mental health services by hiring more staff, delivering more early interventions and getting waiting lists down.
We will transform mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres. I had the pleasure of visiting the Barnsley Street Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre last week, a pilot site which showcased holistic person-centred care.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has undertaken a risk assessment of the potential impact of (a) Artificial General Intelligence and (b) Artificial Super Intelligence on the (i) safety and (ii) security systems of (A) Sizewell C and (B) other future nuclear energy infrastructure.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) as the UK’s independent regulator is responsible for assessing the safety and security of UK civil nuclear sites and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is considered in their regulatory approach. The ONR are collaborating with industry and various regulators in other countries to support its regulation and share good practice, including on AI. Relevant reports by the ONR can be found here: ONR’s pro-innovation approach to AI regulation and New paper shares international principles for regulating AI in the nuclear sector | Office for Nuclear Regulation
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions his Department has had with experts on (a) transitional science and (b) change management on the roadmap to phase out animal testing.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. This transition must be science-led and the Government has been consulting industry, academia and civil society as this process unfolds.
Although we have not yet engaged specifically on translational science and change management, we will consider this as we move into implementation of the Strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, which we will publish later this year. We will shortly host a workshop with translational experts ahead of publication of the strategy.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of taking steps to help tackle hidden commission fees charged by energy brokers on costs for businesses; and whether he has considered introducing a regulatory framework to help tackle those fees.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has consulted on introducing a regulatory regime for the TPI market. This would raise standards, protect businesses from harmful practices, and improve consumer confidence in responsible TPIs. Earlier this month, the Government published a summary of the responses to the consultation, which set out that most respondents supported introducing regulation for TPIs. We will publish a Government response to the consultation, setting out future plans on TPI regulation, in due course.
Current regulatory oversight of TPIs within the energy market primarily consists of voluntary codes of practice, Ofgem licence conditions on energy suppliers, and consumer protection regulations. These codes of practice outline best practices and standards for TPI conduct in areas such as transparency, customer engagement, and ethical behaviour.
Ofgem imposes licence conditions on energy suppliers that indirectly affect the activities of TPIs. These include requirements related to transparent pricing for non-domestic customers using TPIs and access to redress for microbusiness consumers, and, since December, to small businesses.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps (a) his Department and (b) Ofgem are able to take to help tackle misconduct by Third-Party Intermediaries in the energy market.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has consulted on introducing a regulatory regime for the TPI market. This would raise standards, protect businesses from harmful practices, and improve consumer confidence in responsible TPIs. Earlier this month, the Government published a summary of the responses to the consultation, which set out that most respondents supported introducing regulation for TPIs. We will publish a Government response to the consultation, setting out future plans on TPI regulation, in due course.
Current regulatory oversight of TPIs within the energy market primarily consists of voluntary codes of practice, Ofgem licence conditions on energy suppliers, and consumer protection regulations. These codes of practice outline best practices and standards for TPI conduct in areas such as transparency, customer engagement, and ethical behaviour.
Ofgem imposes licence conditions on energy suppliers that indirectly affect the activities of TPIs. These include requirements related to transparent pricing for non-domestic customers using TPIs and access to redress for microbusiness consumers, and, since December, to small businesses.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she has taken to ensure that the Spending Review 2025 is compatible with the UK’s (a) net zero target and (b) interim carbon budgets.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury has established processes to assess the climate and environmental impacts of major spending bids These impacts informed, alongside other policy considerations, decisions made at Spending Review 2025.
In total, the Government committed £63bn in capital funding at Spending Review 2025 for clean energy, climate, and nature, including nuclear. This will support our Clean Energy Superpower Mission and help us continue to make progress in meeting net zero and our interim Carbon Budgets.
However, public spending is just one lever to support our climate targets. The Government will set out an updated whole economy plan to meet Carbon Budgets 4-6 through the publication of a refreshed Carbon Budget Delivery and Growth Plan later this year.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to increase taxes on oil and gas companies to help fund investment in (a) clean energy, (b) home insulation and (c) other climate measures.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The oil and gas industry is currently subject to a headline tax rate of 78%, which includes the 38% Energy Profits Levy, following reforms announced by the government at Autumn Budget 2024.
At the Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced it would increase the rate of the EPL by 3 percentage points, extend the period the levy applies until 31 March 2030 and abolish an investment allowance which was not available to any other sector, helping to raise funding towards our ambitious clean energy goals. These changes were implemented from 1 November 2024 . The Office for Budget Responsibility expect the oil and gas sector will raise c£16bn in tax receipts between 2025/26 and 2029/30, inclusive of around £11bn from the EPL alone.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his planned timetable is for the work his Department has commissioned on removing barriers to local supply faced by community energy schemes.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that local energy will play an important role in achieving the mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030, and some electricity suppliers are already working with community energy groups to support local supply. We published the summary of responses to the previous Call for Evidence on Barriers to Community Energy in March 2025 and officials in my department are currently undertaking research and engagement, including in the form of workshops with key stakeholders, to work through this complex issue and understand any unintended consequences to the wider system and bill payers from unlocking local supply. Further updates and outcomes from this work will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that YouTube is compliant with the Online Safety Act 2023.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act gives online platforms new duties to put in place systems and processes to remove illegal content on their services, including extreme misogynistic content. Ofcom has a broad range of powers to assess and enforce compliance with the Act, including issuing fines to services that do not comply. Ensuring that women are safe online is a priority for this government, and we have committed to halving violence against women and girls in the next decade.