Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 the wellbeing of staff working in A&E.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health and wellbeing of National Health Service staff, including those working in accident and emergency departments is a top priority. NHS organisations have a responsibility to create supportive working environments for staff, ensuring they have the conditions they need to thrive.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out staff treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health. To further support this ambition, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled Pride in place strategy, published on 25 September 2025, what steps he is taking with local authorities to help tackle (a) faith-based prejudice and (b) racism.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has launched its Pride in Place Programme, providing up to £5bn funding and support over the next decade for 244 places across the country. This flagship offer will help build strong, resilient communities in areas that experience the most entrenched social and economic challenges.
All forms of racial and religious hatred are completely unacceptable and have no place in our communities. The Government has established an independent working group to advise on a definition of anti-Muslim hatred or Islamophobia. Furthermore, the Government has established an Antisemitism Working Group to provide advice on antisemitism.
The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders to fulfil their statutory obligations to asylum seekers. They are also working to deliver the commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels, by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 improve (a) patient and (b) staff safety within NHS services in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone working or being treated in the National Health Service has a fundamental right to be safe.
The Government is focusing on enhancing patient safety and fostering a learning culture within the NHS. Key reforms under the 10-Year Health Plan and Dr Penny Dash’s report on the patient safety landscape aim to clarify accountability across the system.
Additionally, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment for NHS staff which will cover issues relating to staff safety including tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace.
The Care Quality Commission is the regulator responsible for ensuring that service providers meet standards for patient and staff safety. It will do this, in future, by operating two broad models of inspections, namely rapid response inspections where serious concerns are identified and routine planned inspections.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) level and (b) nature of the challenges faced by A&E staff; and what additional support he is providing to boost A&E staff morale.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals, including those working in accident and emergency departments. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out how we will ensure that staff are better treated, have better training, and have more fulfilling roles.
We will also work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment. The new standards will reaffirm our commitment to supporting staff by tackling the issues that matter to them. They will cover access to nutritious food and drink at work, reducing violence against staff, tackling racism and sexual harassment, standards of ‘healthy work’ and occupational health support, and support for flexible working. These standards will provide a framework for leaders across the NHS to build a supportive culture to help boost morale across the workforce.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what further steps he plans take to help tackle (a) Islamophobic and (b) antisemitic hate crime in London.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In response to the concerning rise in both antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred, the Government is absolutely committed to rooting out these forms of hatred. We continue to work across government on security, education and working alongside local government, including via the following.
An Antisemitism Working Group has been established to advise the Government on effective strategies to tackle hate against Jewish communities and will explore how the Government should engage with Jewish communities in relation to international, national, and local events that impact British Jews. In addition, the Government continues to work with the independent advisor Lord Mann in combating antisemitism through meaningful engagement with diverse communities.
The Government established an independent working group to advise on a non-statutory definition of anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia. The working group have engaged widely to ensure their proposed definition accounts for the variety of backgrounds and experiences of communities across the United Kingdom.
The government also funds the British Muslim Trust to deliver a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hatred and provide support to victims, and True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report to the police.
In response to the Manchester terror attack, Home Office, DfE and DHSC have increased funding to support policing, security and education to tackle antisemitism. Jewish communities will receive up to £10 million in an emergency cash injection to scale up security at synagogues and schools, taking funding to protect faith communities to record levels. As part of the DfE’s committed £7 million to tackling antisemitism in schools, universities and colleges, a £4 million innovation fund will be launched in late November to provide an opportunity for organisations to come up with innovative means to tackle antisemitism in education. NHS England will also roll out updated mandatory antisemitism and anti-racism training for all 1.5 million NHS staff.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Metropolitan Police leaders on safeguards to protect whistleblowers who report (a) misogyny and (b) racism.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary and I have regular meetings with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and other police leaders on a range of issues including police conduct.
Police officers have a statutory duty to report wrongdoing by their colleagues when they see it, and the College of Policing’s Code of Practice for Ethical Policing puts a duty on Chief Officers to facilitate and protect whistleblowers. The Metropolitan Police Service has a specialist unit to handle any concerns raised by “whistleblowers” with provision to come forward anonymously and to provide additional support to those who are accorded “whistleblower status” over and above their protections in wider employment and whistleblowing law. In addition, the Independent Office for Police Conduct runs a dedicated telephone line for police officers and staff.
Part 2 of the Angiolini Inquiry is also considering a range of cultural issues in policing, including whistleblowing processes, and the Government will consider any recommendations it makes carefully.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to strengthen the national framework for the Metropolitan Police’s vetting processes to (a) identify and (b) exclude applicants with discriminatory attitudes on the basis of characteristics protected under the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police forces are expected to carry out vetting in alignment with the national framework set out in the College of Policing’s statutory Vetting Code of Practice and accompanying Vetting Authorised Professional Practice (APP).
Vetting decision-making is made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account any risks posed by the individual to the public and the police service. The APP is clear that any adverse information uncovered during the vetting and recruitment processes - including evidence of discriminatory behaviour such as racism or homophobia - must be flagged and subject to additional scrutiny.
It also highlights that clearance should be declined where an applicant has a caution or conviction that demonstrated targeting of persons due to their vulnerabilities or protected characteristics.
To help ensure the system is as robust as possible, earlier this year the Government made changes to introduce a statutory duty for officers to hold and maintain vetting clearance, and provided a route to dismiss them should they fail to do so. We are building on this by introducing statutory vetting standards later this year, which forces must adhere to.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 improve (a) morale and (b) support for NHS staff in winter months in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health and wellbeing of National Health Service staff is a top priority, and not just over the winter months. All NHS organisations have a responsibility to create supportive working environments for staff, ensuring they have the conditions they need to thrive.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out Staff Treatment hubs to ensure staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health. To further support this ambition, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of regional retention offers on reducing (a) workforce turnover and (b) waiting list lengths.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of staffing shortages in non-clinical roles, workforce burnout, reductions in the number of interim board positions, or regional retention offers on waiting lists, or of creating temporary cross-trust staffing pools for specialties with high waiting times. No assessment has been made of the potential impact of regional retention offers on reducing workforce turnover.
The Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals. The Government plans to introduce a new set of standards for modern employment in April 2026. The new standards will reaffirm our commitment to improving retention by tackling the issues that matter to staff, including promoting flexible working, improving staff health and wellbeing, and dealing with violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the NHS workplace.
The health and wellbeing of all NHS staff is a top priority. NHS organisations have a responsibility to create supportive working environments for staff, ensuring they have the conditions they need to thrive, including access to high quality health and wellbeing support. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out Staff Treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health.
NHS England published its planning guidance for 2025/26 in January 2025. This guidance sets out clear priorities for the NHS, including the delivery of the interim electives ambition that nationally, 65% of patients are seen within 18 weeks, along with an expected minimum 5% improvement on current performance for each trust, as set out in the Elective Reform Plan. Trusts and integrated care boards are expected to manage the staffing of all professions to deliver on these priorities within their agreed financial allocations.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating temporary cross-trust staffing pools for specialties with high waiting times.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of staffing shortages in non-clinical roles, workforce burnout, reductions in the number of interim board positions, or regional retention offers on waiting lists, or of creating temporary cross-trust staffing pools for specialties with high waiting times. No assessment has been made of the potential impact of regional retention offers on reducing workforce turnover.
The Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals. The Government plans to introduce a new set of standards for modern employment in April 2026. The new standards will reaffirm our commitment to improving retention by tackling the issues that matter to staff, including promoting flexible working, improving staff health and wellbeing, and dealing with violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the NHS workplace.
The health and wellbeing of all NHS staff is a top priority. NHS organisations have a responsibility to create supportive working environments for staff, ensuring they have the conditions they need to thrive, including access to high quality health and wellbeing support. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out Staff Treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health.
NHS England published its planning guidance for 2025/26 in January 2025. This guidance sets out clear priorities for the NHS, including the delivery of the interim electives ambition that nationally, 65% of patients are seen within 18 weeks, along with an expected minimum 5% improvement on current performance for each trust, as set out in the Elective Reform Plan. Trusts and integrated care boards are expected to manage the staffing of all professions to deliver on these priorities within their agreed financial allocations.