Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
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 impact of (a) new product labelling standards, including the proportion by weight of dominant food compounds such as salt and sugar and (b) developing new guidance to ensure that product descriptions, advertising and presentation on packaging give an accurate impression of ingredient balance on consumers.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Food labelling legislation requires that pre-packaged food and drinks include a nutrition declaration, which provides information on key nutrients, including salt and sugar. In addition, voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labelling, most commonly the multiple traffic light scheme, is widely used in the United Kingdom and provides clear, at-a-glance information on levels of energy, fat, saturates, sugar, and salt to support consumer understanding.
Ingredients must also be listed on the label in descending order by weight, giving consumers an indication of the relative proportion of ingredients in a product. There are currently no plans to introduce new labelling standards related to the proportion by weight of specific ingredients such as salt or sugar beyond existing requirements, but the Government keeps the evidence on how food labelling impacts the choices and consumption habits of consumers under review.
Legislation already requires that food labelling must not be misleading, particularly as to the nature, composition or characteristics of the food. This applies to product descriptions, advertising and presentation on packaging, and is intended to ensure consumers are not given an inaccurate impression of a product’s composition or ingredient balance. Separate legislation covers the use of nutrition and health claims, requiring that any such claims are substantiated, clear, and not misleading.
The Government has guidance in place to support compliance with food labelling requirements, including on nutrition and health claims, and keeps this under review.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to (a) support and (b) promote UNESCO Cities of Literature in the UK.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS supports the UK’s UNESCO designations through its relationship with the UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC), which collaborates closely with the UK UNESCO Creative Cities across the UK, including Cities of Literature.
UKNC promotes the UK’s UNESCO Creative Cities through its public network platform, through accrediting new Cities of Literature, through its convening role and through wider programmes, including activity developed through the National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported Local to Global programme.
DCMS is also supporting a project between the National Library of Wales (in Aberystwyth - a UNESCO city of literature), the National Library of Scotland (in Edinburgh - also a UNESCO city of literature), the British Library, and the National Library of Ireland through the Cultural Cooperation Programme in partnership with the Irish Government.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support creative industries in Norwich.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Creative industries clusters across the UK, including in Norwich, are crucial to the delivery of our Growth Mission.
Our Creative Industries Sector Plan published last year includes a strong universal offer to drive growth in the creative industries in every place in the UK, including Norwich and the wider East of England region. It outlines new measures to break down barriers such as access to finance, supply of skills, and new support to kickstart innovation.
In addition, Arts Council England (ACE) focuses funding on the areas of the cultural sector most at risk, using both dedicated funds and wider investment. Its £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere Fund is focused on supporting organisations, particularly in underserved areas, to protect vulnerable cultural infrastructure and local venues, ensuring access nationwide. This includes a flagship Norwich investment in ‘Creative Arts East'.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made on the potential impact of increasing the frequency of Antilock Breaking Systems (ABS) for large vehicles, including large estate cars and SUVs, on road safety; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of doubling the frequency at which ABS begins to operate in these vehicles from every 1/4 of a wheel turn to every 1/8.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The department has not made any assessment of the impact of increasing the frequency at which Anti-Lock Braking Systems (ABS) operate or start to operate as this does not reflect how these systems are regulated in practice.
The requirements for ABS have been developed by experts at an international level under the UN’s World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29). These requirements are performance‑based; manufacturers must demonstrate compliance (i.e. wheels do not lock) across a range of relevant conditions and are therefore responsible for determining the appropriate control strategies to meet them.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many private parking companies a) subscribe to either the British Parking Association or International Parking Community and b) do not do not subscribe to either the British Parking Association or International Parking Community.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh
Parking operators are incentivised to become members of one of the two accredited trade associations, the BPA and IPC, as without such membership operators cannot access DVLA data, meaning they cannot pursue charges by post or provide access to an independent second stage appeals service.
The government recognises the need to ensure motorists have access to a transparent appeals process and is committed to raising standards through the introduction of its own Private Parking Code of Practice.
MHCLG does not hold a verified central list of accredited trade association members. Further details of each Trade Association’s accredited member scheme can be found on their respective websites (BPA & IPC).
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what action has been taken to ensure the appeal process is effective for private parking companies that do not subscribe to the British Parking Association or International Parking Community.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh
Parking operators are incentivised to become members of one of the two accredited trade associations, the BPA and IPC, as without such membership operators cannot access DVLA data, meaning they cannot pursue charges by post or provide access to an independent second stage appeals service.
The government recognises the need to ensure motorists have access to a transparent appeals process and is committed to raising standards through the introduction of its own Private Parking Code of Practice.
MHCLG does not hold a verified central list of accredited trade association members. Further details of each Trade Association’s accredited member scheme can be found on their respective websites (BPA & IPC).
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of technology-facilitated abuse incidents reported to the police in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold data on technology-facilitated abuse incidents recorded by police forces in England and Wales.
The rapid development of technology has provided additional spaces for technology facilitated abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG) to be perpetrated and has equipped perpetrators with new ways to harass, intimidate, stalk and coerce women and girls.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Violence Against Women and Girls strategy and delivery plan will include (a) funding and (b) measures to help tackle technology-facilitated domestic abuse.
Answered by Jess Phillips
Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in all of its forms, including abuse facilitated by technology, is a top priority for this government, with an unprecedented mission to halve it within a decade. The rapid development of technology has provided additional spaces for VAWG and equipped perpetrators with new ways to harass, intimidate, stalk and coerce women and girls. We will set out plans to address technology-facilitated VAWG in our forthcoming Strategy.
Following the Chancellor’s announcement on 11th June, we are working through the details of funding for tackling VAWG over the Spending Review period of 2026-2029. We will provide further details on funding when departmental budget allocations have been finalised
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will consider adding Sudan as a focus country within the Women Peace and Security National Action Plan.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is appalled at the severe impact of the conflict in Sudan on women and girls, including widespread sexual violence.
Through our leadership roles at the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council, we have championed evidence collection and accountability. On 6 October, the UK led efforts to renew the mandate of the UN Fact-Finding Mission (FFM), the only independent mechanism preserving evidence of atrocities, including conflict-related sexual violence. We also fund a specialist Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) investigator within the FFM and are deploying a UK secondee to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Darfur investigation.
On 1 November, the Foreign Secretary announced an additional £5 million to support critical humanitarian services in Sudan, £2 million of which will be specifically allocated to bolster responses which focus on supporting the survivors of rape and sexual violence. This is in addition to the £120 million in UK funding already allocated for Sudan this year, including support for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.
We directly support women and girls through our programming, including the Women's Integrated Sexual Health programme which provides sexual and reproductive services to women, girls, persons living with disability and men, with UK aid delivered in camps for IDPs and elsewhere. Through our Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) programme, the UK is providing an additional £4.95 million until March 2026 to support 100,000 women and girls with a range of services to prevent and respond to FGM, child marriage and gender-based violence. This brings the total UK support delivered through this programme to £19.95 million.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
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 adequacy of the (a) supply and (b) availability of mefenamic acid for people in (i) the East of England and (ii) England.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
The Department has a responsibility to work with United Kingdom medicine license holders to help ensure continuity of supply. We monitor and manage medicine supply issues at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand and therefore measures are not specific to the east of England.
We are aware of a supply issue with mefenamic acid 50 milligram/5 millilitre oral suspension which is expected to resolve in December 2025. Alternative formulations of mefenamic acid remain available, including capsules and tablets.
The Department will continue to work closely with the manufacturer to resolve the issue as soon as possible and to ensure patients have continuous access to medicines. Any patient who is worried about their condition should speak to their clinician in the first instance.