Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the proportion of disability benefit claimants who are on a waiting list for NHS treatment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
o 2.8 million people were economically inactive due to long-term sickness
o the number claiming health related benefits with no requirement to work has increased by 800,000 since 2019/2020.
DWP and DHSC work closely, for example through the Joint Work and Health Directorate, to deliver better work outcomes and work experiences for disabled people and people with health conditions. This includes working across the whole of the customer journey to help disabled people and people with long term health conditions who want to work to be in the best position possible to do so.
The Joint Work and Health Directorate is collaborating with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to improve the evidence on the relationship between health and labour market outcomes. The ONS plans to link NHS waiting times data (that they recently acquired access to) to Census, DWP Benefits and HMRC PAYE records to analyse the relationship between waiting time duration (for various health conditions and procedures) and labour market outcomes (such as employment status, gross pay and benefit receipt) in England. This may shed light on the role of extended waiting times witnessed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic on benefit receipt, including sickness related benefit receipt. Due to many dependencies and unknowns, ONS is not able to confirm when the analysis will be available.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of adjusting the cycle of procurement for SMEs so that Government contracts are issued throughout the year.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) contracts are issued throughout the year and not just at a specific time of the year. The Acquisition pipeline for the MOD was being published twice per year and indicated the anticipated date for publication of the tenders across the next 18+ months.
The Department currently publishes an 18 month forward look of our procurement pipeline but will move to continuous updates for the benefit of suppliers (including SMEs) registered on the Central Digital Platform.
Consideration of SMEs is a key element in the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy and, as part of the Defence Industrial Strategy, we will reform the MOD procurement and acquisition processes to ensure we deliver the capabilities defence requires now and in the future.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help protect (a) disabled and (b) vulnerable people from people who seek to take over their homes for illegal activities.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the appalling harm caused by criminals who take over vulnerable people’s homes for illegal activities. This is why we are introducing a new offence of ‘cuckooing’ in the Crime and Policing Bill to target criminals who exploit vulnerable people to take over their homes for criminal purposes. The new offence will be supported by statutory guidance for police, as well as non-statutory guidance for other agencies, to provide information on how to identify, protect and support vulnerable people at risk of cuckooing.
It is a matter of deep regret that His Majesty’s Official Opposition chose to vote against these measures at the Third Reading of the Crime and Policing Bill on 18 June.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy that patients receive written information before hysteroscopy and biopsy procedures.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to improving women’s experiences of gynaecological procedures, such as hysteroscopies.
Women should be provided with information prior to their procedure so that they can make an informed decisions about the procedure and pain relief options, including the option of local or general anaesthetic.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will include retail delivery drivers within the standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to tackling retail crime. Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
Assaults against delivery drivers are already an offence (common assault) under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, and are covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This includes those delivering goods to customers and other public-facing roles.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure the safety of retail delivery drivers when they are carrying out government-mandated enforcement checks with customers.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to tackling retail crime. Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
Assaults against delivery drivers are already an offence (common assault) under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, and are covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This includes those delivering goods to customers and other public-facing roles.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support UK businesses seeking to (a) enter and (b) expand in the Moroccan market in (i) green energy, (ii) agritech and (iii) other high growth sectors.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Business and Trade is committed to helping UK businesses export to Morocco. Supported by the UK-Morocco Association Agreement bilateral trade has been rising and reached £4.2 billion in 2024.
During the Foreign Secretary’s visit to Rabat on 1st June, he co-chaired the 5th session of the UK-Morocco Strategic Dialogue with the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs. They signed a series of Memoranda of Understanding to deepen collaboration in priority sectors, including healthcare, water, transport, defence and procurement. These will enable commercial engagement, supporting UK firms expanding in Morocco’s high-growth sectors, such as digital health, infrastructure, and ports.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of issuing fines to drivers who do not hold (a) a valid driving license and (b) vehicle insurance on revenues to the Exchequer.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Revenue generated from fines for motoring offences is retained by Departments or directed into the Consolidated Fund. The consolidated fund is administered by HM Treasury and is used to support general expenditure on public services such as policing, healthcare, local government grants and transport. Government departments that receive income for onward surrender to the Consolidated Fund are responsible for the detailed record keeping related to it. They are not required to provide HM Treasury with this detail.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps with NHS England to publish guidance on (a) safe and (b) effective pain relief for outpatient hysteroscopy procedures.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that some procedures, such as a hysteroscopy, can result in pain, and the level of pain experienced will vary between individual women. It is important that healthcare professionals provide women with information prior to their procedure so that women can make an informed decisions about the procedure and pain relief options, including the option of local or general anaesthetic.
Clinical guidelines support healthcare professionals to provide evidence-based care. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published an updated guideline on outpatient hysteroscopy in September 2024. The updated guideline has particular reference to minimising pain and discomfort during hysteroscopy procedures. While the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ guidelines are not mandatory, they are designed to support high-quality care, and the Department and the National Health Service encourage local implementation tailored to patient needs. This guidance is available at the following link:
The NHS website also provides information for patients. The page on hysteroscopy provides information on preparing for and recovering from a hysteroscopy, including pain relief options.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is taking steps to help develop female-specific body armour.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Defence is an active participant in NATO work to explore options to further optimise body armour for our Service personnel, including for females. The current Tactical Ballistic Plate (TBP) project will deliver hard armour plates in a range of different sizes, thus ensuring greater comfort and integration for all users across Defence. Multiple Human Factors Integration (HFI) trials have been completed with female representation.