Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the use of non-medical clinical practitioners in primary care on patients’ ability to see a fully qualified doctor; and what steps he is taking to ensure newly qualified doctors are able to obtain appropriate posts within the NHS.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We hugely value the unique work carried out by general practitioners (GPs). The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure that the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the best care for patients, when they need it.
GPs remain at the heart of general practice and primary care. However, there is a wide range of clinicians who are well suited to providing care in general practice as part of a multi-disciplinary team. For example, a patient with osteoarthritis might benefit from seeing a physiotherapist. In relation to physician assistants (still legally known as physician associates), Professor Leng’s recent review was clear that, with changes in line with its recommendations, there remains a place for these roles as supporting, complementary members of medical teams, including in general practice.
The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) provides funding for a number of additional roles, to help create bespoke, multi-disciplinary teams. All these roles are in place to assist general practice doctors in reducing their workload and assisting patients directly with their needs, allowing doctors to focus on more complex patients and other priorities, including continuity of care.
The Government has highlighted its commitment to GPs, and since October 2024, we have funded primary care networks with an additional £160 million to recruit recently qualified GPs through the ARRS. Over 2,600 individual GPs have now been recruited, preventing them graduating into unemployment. This was a measure to respond to feedback from the profession and to help solve an immediate issue of GP unemployment.
Over ten million more general practice appointments have been delivered in the 12 months to September 2025 compared to the same period last year, building capacity for continuity of care and improving access so that patients can be seen when they need to be in primary care.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people participating in hunger strikes in prisons became hospitalised for reasons associated with the strike in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
None of the requested data are centrally collated. They could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hunger strike incidents in prisons involved (a) three and (b) more persons collectively engaging in the strike in (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
None of the requested data are centrally collated. They could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hunger strikes in prisons lasted for over 40 days in (a) 2021, (b) 2022, (c) 2023, (d) 2024 and 2025.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
None of the requested data are centrally collated. They could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how long has each hunger strike lasted in prisons in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
None of the requested data are centrally collated. They could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Question 92229, which courses British armed forces personnel have attended in Israel since October 2023.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Fewer than five British Armed Forces personnel have studied on non-combat military academic courses in Israel since October 2023. Which courses they attended is being withheld in order to protect personal information.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Question 92229, whether his Department paid for British armed forces personnel to attend courses in Israel since October 2023.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The British Armed Forces pay for overseas courses that they attend.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
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 ensure that companies operating and earning revenue in the UK do not offshore jobs to reduce tax liabilities; and whether his Department plans to introduce legislative measures to safeguard UK workers from redundancies linked to such offshoring decisions.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Our Industrial Strategy places jobs at its heart, introducing measures to support growth sectors to create high-quality, well-paid jobs across the country, backed by employment rights fit for a modern economy.
The Global Minimum Tax, a 15% effective corporate tax rate on large multinationals in each area they operate in, protects against harmful tax planning and profit shifting.
We are updating the law so that employees must be consulted when redundancies are proposed across an organisation. The specifics of this new requirement will be set in regulations following consultation.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
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 potential impact of the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board’s decision to end the Minor Eye Care Service and Community Urgent Eyecare Service on (a) hospital ophthalmology waiting times, (b) the ability of GPs and pharmacists to manage urgent eye conditions and (c) patient outcomes, including the risk of avoidable sight loss.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning decisions and for ensuring that those decisions are supported by a clear evidence base, appropriate engagement, and the necessary impact assessments.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will require the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board to publish the evidence base, consultation documents and impact assessments for the decision to end the Minor Eye Care Service and Community Urgent Eyecare Service across Coventry and South Warwickshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning decisions and for ensuring that those decisions are supported by a clear evidence base, appropriate engagement, and the necessary impact assessments.