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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
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 assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a statutory duty for fire and rescue services in England to respond to flooding incidents.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. Fire and Rescue Authorities already have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to prepare for emergencies, including major flooding. However, we recognise the interest in creating a statutory duty for flood rescue and officials are working with DEFRA, as lead government department for flooding, to consider the wider implications of this.
MHCLG supports Fire and Rescue Authorities in responding to flood incidents by providing national resilience High Volume Pump (HVP) capabilities. These are available to be used by Fire & Rescue Services across the country during major flood incidents. Additionally, DEFRA hold the Flood Rescue National Asset Register, a list of teams or assets that voluntarily join the register and maintain availability for national deployment in England.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of people aged between 16 and 24 years old that are not in education, employment or training in (a) Norwich North constituency and (b) Norfolk.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department publishes statistics on 16-24-year-olds that are not in education, employment or training (NEET) for England in the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The most recent dataset is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief/2024.
The number of 16–24-year-olds estimated as NEET in England at the end of 2024 is estimated to be 837,000, approximately 13.6% of the population in that demographic group. These estimates are not available at lower-level geographies due to limitations with sample sizes.
However, local authorities are required to encourage, enable or assist young people’s participation in education or training and return management information for young people aged 16 and 17. This data is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-in-education-training-and-neet-age-16-to-17-by-local-authority/2024-25.
It shows that of the 19,635 young people aged 16 and 17 who were known to Norfolk local authority at the end of 2024 (average of December 2024, January 2025 and February 2025), 1,141 were NEET or their activity was not known. These statistics are published as transparency data so some caution should be taken if using these figures.
In addition, 16-18 destination measures are published by parliamentary constituency. These official statistics show the percentage of pupils who did not sustain education, apprenticeships or employment for a 6-month period during the year following compulsory activity. This can be used as a proxy for NEET at age 18, for those who were participating in compulsory education at 17. The latest publication includes destinations in 2022/23 by Parliamentary constituency boundaries at that time. Data can be found here for Norwich North Parliamentary constituency: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/a5a0cfd5-4d3d-47da-1dee-08ddc13e16b8.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the pressures on water resources in Norfolk; and what steps he is taking with local partners to reduce those pressures.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The entire eastern England region is classified as seriously water stressed. Norfolk is one of the driest parts of the country with only 600mm rainfall per year which is two thirds of the national average. Norfolk supports some of England’s most precious and sensitive river and wetland habitats. Climate change is bringing more frequent extreme events such as droughts, floods and increasing pressure on the environment and water supplies. Rainfall this spring has been 40% of average, putting pressure on the environment and water supplies.
Natural England (NE) has an ongoing monitoring programme for protected sites identifying their condition and the pressures acting on them. NE is working in partnership with Defra bodies and stakeholders to protect and restore our water-dependent environment and develop sustainable resilient water supplies for the future.
The Environment Agency (EA) is working with Water Resources East, public water companies, agriculture, and other sectors to ensure water abstractions are environmentally sustainable. In Norfolk, abstraction licences were last reviewed and re-issued in 2017/18 and are due for review in 2029/30. The EA closely monitors water resources and advises abstractors on water availability via the Water Abstraction Alerts service. Due to continuing hot and dry conditions Norfolk will move into Prolonged Dry Weather on 21 July.
The EA has, in partnership with NE, Cambridge Water, Essex & Suffolk Water, Affinity Water, and Anglian Water, published a guide on Shared Standards in Water Efficiency for Local Plans. It supports Local Planning Authorities in delivering sustainable growth across East Anglia, highlighting the region’s serious water stress. The guide promotes clean, sustainable water supply as essential for growth and nature recovery.
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 steps his Department is taking to improve adult mental health services in Norfolk.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Long waits for mental health services are being driven by increasing demand in a system in desperate need of change, including in Norfolk
The Government is piloting innovative models of care in the community, including six neighbourhood adult mental health centres that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and which bring together community, crisis, and inpatient care.
We are also improving data quality so we can support providers in understanding demand across their areas.
Our 10-Year Health Plan will inform the future vision and delivery plan for mental health services in England. Earlier intervention remains a key focus of the plan with the aim of reducing pressure on mental health services.
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 estimate his Department has made of the number of deaths linked to synthetic opioids in the last three years, by region.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department published the below regional breakdown of deaths linked to nitazenes recorded within national surveillance processes in the first twelve months of monitoring by the Department and the National Crime Agency (NCA) in October 2024. There were no deaths recorded as linked to potent synthetic opioids that did not involve nitazenes in that period. Further information is available at the following link:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/deaths-linked-to-potent-synthetic-opioids
The Department and the NCA began tracking these deaths in June 2023 in response to an increased threat of potent synthetic opioids, and equivalent surveillance data is not available from before that point. More recent data will be published by the Department in due course.
The following table shows the number of deaths confirmed as involving nitazenes by English region, from June 2023 to May 2024:
Region | Deaths |
East Midlands | 29 |
East of England | 33 |
London | 18 |
North East | 3 |
North West | 12 |
South East | 16 |
South West | 22 |
West Midlands | 21 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 25 |
Total | 179 |
Data is also collected and published annually by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on drug-related deaths registered in England and Wales, and the ONS’s latest published analysis of deaths related to drug poisoning by selected substances includes historic trends in the numbers of deaths related to drug poisoning involving nitazenes and fentanyl analogues by country. Further information is available at the following link:
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 steps his Department is taking to improve women's health.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are taking tangible action to transform women's health, including tackling gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan and providing free emergency hormonal contraception at pharmacies from October. There are a record 25,000 full time equivalent midwives in post – 1,400 more than July 2024
These examples demonstrate we are acting on the commitments in the women’s health strategy and listening to women’s experiences.
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 steps her Department has taken to ensure the provision of sufficient infrastructure for new housing developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 26106 on 5 February 2025.
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, how many people have accessed NHS funded IVF treatment in each year since 2021; and how many people have accessed privately funded IVF treatment in each year since 2021.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of National Health Service funded and privately funded in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients each year since 2021 for which information is published:
Year of treatment | NHS-funded IVF patients | Private funded IVF patients |
2022 | 15,212 | 38,555 |
2021 | 15,543 | 38,706 |
Source: provided by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) Register.
Notes:
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, how many cycles of NHS funded IVF treatment as recommended by NICE guidelines are provided in each integrated care board.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information about integrated care board commissioning policy for National Health Service funded fertility services is available at the following link: