Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of NHS medicines and medical devices depend on overseas supply chains, and what action is being taken to strengthen domestic manufacturing capacity.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Given the complexity and global nature of medical supply chains, the Department does not collect definitive data on the proportions of products dependent on overseas supply chains.
Many products rely on components sourced from overseas. For example many active pharmaceutical ingredients, the biologically active components that produce the intended therapeutic effect in medicines, have a license for manufacturing in India, Germany, China, Italy and the United States of America, and many of our finished medicine products have a license for manufacturing in India, and Germany, as per Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency licensing data in 2022.
The Government is taking forward a package of measures to strengthen domestic life sciences manufacturing capacity and reduce reliance on overseas supply chains. This includes committing up to £520 million through the Life Sciences Innovation Manufacturing Fund to support capital investment in United Kingdom based manufacturing of human medicines, medical diagnostics, and medical technologies. Alongside this, the Life Sciences Transformational Research and Development Investment Fund supports large‑scale, innovative research and development projects that create new or expanded research and development capabilities and strengthen the UK’s research base.
This sits alongside the Life Sciences Sector Plan, a ten‑year mission led jointly by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which includes action to improve National Health Service innovation and adoption, clearer procurement routes into the NHS, reformed incentives to support innovation, and faster regulatory approval for new medicines and technologies. These measures are reinforced through the Government’s Industrial Strategy, which identifies life sciences as a priority growth sector and focuses on creating a pro‑business environment that supports investment and strengthens UK manufacturing capability.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many conditions have been imposed on pro-Palestine protests by police forces in the last 12 months under section 12 or section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986; and in how many cases cumulative disruption was cited as the justification.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on police use of conditions under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, including how many public processions and public assemblies have conditions placed on them, the triggers for the conditions, and the type of condition. The latest published data is to March 2024 Home Office – Police protest powers, June 2022 to March 2024, England and Wales – December 2024, and the next release of data is provisionally scheduled for 5 February 2026.
Forces routinely publish where they apply conditions on demonstrations under Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 via their websites and social media.
Decisions on how to police demonstrations are an operational matter for the police, working within the legal framework of the Public Order Act 1986. Under sections 12 and 14 the police can place conditions on demonstrations to manage risks of serious public disorder, serious disruption to the life of the community or serious damage to property. Police can currently take cumulative disruption into account when considering placing conditions on a protest under the 1986 Act.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill we are amending sections 12 and 14 of the 1986 Act to introduce a duty for senior police officers to take cumulative disruption into account when assessing whether the serious disruption to the life of the community threshold is met. This provision will help protect communities from repeated disruption caused by protests and is an important step in ensuring everyone feels safe in this country, while protecting the right to peaceful protest.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the role of the hospitality industry in the upcoming industrial strategy.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
The Industrial Strategy Green Paper identified eight growth-driving sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy Industries, Creative Industries, Defence, Digital and Technologies, Financial Services, Life Sciences and Professional and Business Services. All sectors will benefit from wider policy reform through the Industrial Strategy’s cross-cutting policies alongside the broader Growth Mission. This will help create the pro-business environment for all businesses to invest and employ, and consumers to spend with confidence.
Government launched a licensing taskforce to reduce red tape and barriers that too often hold businesses back and we intend to introduce permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a rateable value less than £500,000.
Additionally, we’ve announced a £1.5 million Hospitality Support Scheme to co-fund projects that align with Department for Business and Trade and Hospitality Sector Council Priorities, this will include helping those furthest from the jobs market into work and improving business productivity.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her oral contribution in response to the question from the hon. Member for Bath of 9 December 2024, Official Report, column 651, what recent discussions her Department has had with the School Teachers Review Body on maternity pay.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is responsible for the overall policy on maternity pay and leave, but how it applies in schools specifically is covered by the Burgundy Book, a national agreement negotiated with employers by the six teachers’ organisations.
Further information can be found on the Local Government Association website. The Department for Education currently has no authority or responsibility for the Burgundy Book.
However, the department has engaged with the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) on other challenges that could support teachers who find it difficult to combine work with family life, as in the oral contribution referenced. In the recently concluded 2024/25 pay round, we asked the STRB to make an assessment of any changes to flexibilities around Teaching and Learning Responsibility payments, concerning the existing pro-rata rule. We subsequently accepted in full the STRB’s recommendations. The government’s full response can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-05-22/hcws664.
From September 2026, these additional payments will be paid based on the proportion of responsibility a teacher carries out rather than their contracted hours. Early adoption is also encouraged from September 2025. This will improve equality of opportunity for part-time workers, better enabling them to move into leadership roles.
Alongside this, the department will be promoting flexible working in schools by adding reference into the school teachers’ pay and conditions document for the first time. This will make clearer to schools the expectation that they should be aiming to support flexible working requests where operationally feasible. This will better support teachers to stay in the profession, where they otherwise may have left.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make it his policy to include the beer and pub sector in his Department's forthcoming industrial strategy.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Industrial Strategy Green Paper identified eight growth-driving sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy Industries, Creative Industries, Defence, Digital and Technologies, Financial Services, Life Sciences and Professional and Business Services.
Sector Plans for the eight growth-driving sectors will be published alongside the Industrial Strategy in Spring 2025, aligned with the multi-year Spending Review. The Sector Plans will set out the specific sub-sectors of focus, identify key barriers to growth, and describe how government and industry intend to achieve long-term growth for the sector.
All sectors will benefit from wider policy reform through the Industrial Strategy’s cross-cutting policies alongside the broader Growth Mission. This will create the pro-business environment for all businesses to invest and employ, and consumers to spend with confidence.
Asked by: Satvir Kaur (Labour - Southampton Test)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether (a) marine and maritime and (b) tourism and creative industries will be included in the Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Industrial Strategy Green Paper identified eight growth-driving sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy Industries, Creative Industries, Defence, Digital and Technologies, Financial Services, Life Sciences and Professional and Business Services.
Sector Plans for the eight growth-driving sectors will be published alongside the Industrial Strategy in Spring 2025, aligned with the multi-year Spending Review. The Sector Plans will set out the specific sub-sectors of focus, identify key barriers to growth, and describe how government and industry intend to achieve long-term growth for the sector.
All sectors will benefit from wider policy reform through the Industrial Strategy’s cross-cutting policies alongside the broader Growth Mission. This will create the pro-business environment for all businesses to invest and employ, and consumers to spend with confidence.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of allowing the use of Look and Tell AI glasses for people with visual impairment.
Answered by Feryal Clark
AI has the potential to transform everyday life, making services quicker, smarter and more efficient. Embracing AI will directly improve the lives of everyone by personalising services and supporting better outcomes, including those with visual impairments.
The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out our plans to exploit the potential of AI to positively impact the lives of the British public. For example, the government is adopting a flexible “Scan, Pilot, Scale” approach and delivering mission-focussed national AI tenders to ensure effective and lasting adoption in the public sector.
While we deliver the Plan, we also encourage regulators to take a pro-innovation approach within their sectors, with the new Regulatory Innovation Office having an important role to play across all sectors.
We will continue to work closely with the AI sector and experts to ensure we are aligning innovative outcomes with our world-leading standards and expectations.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the use of hydrometallurgical separation in the recycling of electric vehicle batteries to help facilitate the recovery of lithium.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government seeks to encourage sustainable critical mineral production and pro-cessing. As electric vehicle batteries reach the end of their economic life, there will be an opportunity and necessity to repair, repurpose, reuse, and recycle them. The chemicals sector will play an important role in recovering valuable materials like lithium, enhancing environmental sustainability, and alleviating pressure on primary supply
To this end, the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) aims to support the creation of an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain in the UK. It provides support to late-stage R&D and capital investments in strategically important technologies. This in-cludes unlocking strategic investments in battery recycling.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she is taking steps with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to tackle regulatory systems that slow down research.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
Government is committed to delivering a regulatory system that is pro-innovation, easy to navigate and facilitates commercialisation of science and technology applications, as set out in the Science and Technology Framework.
Regulatory systems for life sciences are led by DHSC, and its arms-length-body the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency recently launched a new, streamlined process for clinical trial applicants. The Department works with DHSC wherever appropriate on regulatory matters; for example, delivering the Government Chief Scientific Adviser's life sciences review and supporting on the wider implementation of the O'Shaughnessy Review into commercial clinical trials.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that non-statutory guidance on abortion clinic safe access zones around abortion clinics issued by his Department supports the human rights of people with pro-life views.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government respects people’s fundamental rights provided under Article 9 (freedom of thought, religion and belief), Article 10 (freedom of expression) and Article 11 (freedom of association and assembly) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The enforcement of abortion safe access zones must be compliant with the ECHR.
The Government has recently consulted publicly on the guidance. We are currently analysing all responses to the consultation, which closed on 22 January, and we will publish the final guidance in due course.