Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support (a) Danes Dyke surgery in Scarborough and (b) other GP practices with (a) population growth and (b) capacity constraints.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has a statutory duty to ensure there is sufficient general practice (GP) provision in each local area, taking into account of population growth and demographic changes.
At a national level, the Department of Health and Social Care continues to work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that all new and existing developments have an adequate level of healthcare infrastructure for the community.
The Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) advise that in North Scarborough, a total of £339,766 of Section 106 funding has been secured from housing developments to support Scarborough Medical Group and Hackness Road Surgery. Of this funding, £138,298 is currently available, and formal plans for its use are still in development. The remaining funding will become available within the next two to four years.
A Project Initiation Document, to better understand a new build proposal and the associated financial implications, has been shared by the proposed landlord with Danes Dyke Surgery. The ICB expects to receive a copy in due course. In the meantime, the GP partners, as the legal owners of Dane’s Dyke Surgery’s current premises, have undertaken some remedial works to help extend the building’s usability in the short term. Responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the existing premises lies with the GP partners, in accordance with their legal obligations.
Danes Dyke Surgery is responsible for maintaining an up-to-date business continuity plan and for minimising any disruption to patient care. The ICB will support the practice with their communication of this plan. The Humber and North Yorkshire ICB is continuing to work closely with all stakeholders and is doing everything within its remit to support progress and explore viable options for the future.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
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 ensure that NHS hospitals can access electronic versions of medical reference books.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to enabling National Health Service hospitals to access high-quality electronic knowledge resources, including medical reference books, so that the right knowledge and evidence can be used to deliver the best care for patients, when they need it.
The Knowledge for Healthcare 2021-26 strategic framework for NHS funded knowledge and library services in England was launched in January 2021 by Health Education England, now part of NHS England.
Individual NHS trusts should ensure that their staff have access to the resources they need to undertake their jobs, including where necessary electronic reference books.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to help support libraries to purchase e-books.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires all local authorities to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.
It is for each local authority to determine its stock management policy, including which books, audiobooks, e-books, e-audiobooks and other materials, are made available for the benefit of its residents. We expect library collections to be provided in a variety of formats.
The Government welcomes continued developments from the public library sector on e-licensing and e-book lending. Arts Council England funded Libraries Connected to deliver a pilot project to explore mutual benefits of increasing the affordability and availability of ebooks in public libraries. A project summary report was published in February 2025.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how he plans to update hon. Members on the progress of the expert working groups on (a) transparency, (b) licensing and (c) other technical standards mandated by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has committed to establishing expert stakeholder working groups to inform the development of policy on copyright and AI.
The Secretaries of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are convening the first meeting of these stakeholder working groups on 16th July. Information relating to this group will be published on GOV.UK, which will include further details and a list of working group members.
The Government has also committed to set up a Parliamentary working group for members to engage with and feed views into this process.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress his Department has made on the expert working groups on (a) transparency, (b) licensing and (c) other technical standards mandated by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has committed to establishing expert stakeholder working groups to inform the development of policy on copyright and AI.
In line with debates in Parliament on the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, the Secretaries of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are convening the first meeting of these stakeholder working groups on 16th July. The Government will publish details and a list of working group members in due course.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
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 the National Institute for Health and Care Research Delivery Network’s new national funding model on reducing the variation in regional funding.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2026/27, the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Research Delivery Network will adopt a new national funding model. Historically, each Regional Research Delivery Network has a different model for how delivery organisations receive their funding, agreed through regional governance arrangements. This has led to geographic variation and inconsistency. The ambition for April 2026 is to remove variation in how regional funding is awarded. This will be achieved via a nationally agreed, consistent funding distribution model across England, where funding is allocated in a more transparent, fair, and predictable system that supports the Government’s aims and the needs of the whole health and care system, including underserved areas and settings.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will have discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of creating a Minister for Coastal Communities to oversee a coastal strategy.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There are no current plans to create a Minister for Coastal Communities.
As Minister for Local Growth, I am responsible for regional growth nationwide and recognise that coastal communities can make a contribution to growth.
The Plan for Neighbourhoods will support regeneration across the country including in many of our cherished coastal communities.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how he plans to update industry stakeholders on the progress of the expert working groups on (a) transparency, (b) licensing and (c) other technical standards mandated by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has committed to establishing expert stakeholder working groups to inform the development of policy on copyright and AI.
The Government is currently finalising plans for the stakeholder working groups and will publish information relating to this group on GOV.UK, which will include further details and a list of working group members.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the National Institute for Health and Care Research is taking to reduce regional variations of their health research funding; and what steps they are taking to increase the trend in the level of funding in Yorkshire.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to funding health and care research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) across England, to ensure that the research we support is inclusive and representative of the populations we serve.
NIHR infrastructure has national coverage across the whole of England. Our infrastructure schemes aim to build research capacity and capability across the country, including in Yorkshire.
The NIHR Research Delivery Network is the main vehicle by which the Department enables clinical research delivery. The Research Delivery Network will adopt a new national funding model for National Health Service support costs and research delivery from 2026/27. This will be a consistent, nationally agreed funding distribution model across all regions of England. The new model will reduce regional variations of health research delivery funding and enable a more transparent, fair, and predictable system of funding that supports the Government’s priorities and the needs of the whole health and care system, including underserved areas and settings.
11 NIHR-funded research infrastructure sites are based within Yorkshire, which is approximately 10%. These span the health and care research pathway, from invention to evaluation and implementation, and include: the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Regional Research Delivery Network; the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres and NIHR Clinical Research Facilities in Leeds and Sheffield; the NIHR Applied Research Collaborative Bradford; the NIHR Sheffield Children’s Commercial Research Delivery Centre (CRDC) and the NIHR Bradford and West Yorkshire CRDC; and the NIHR Patient Safety Research Centre in Yorkshire and Bradford.
NIHR research funding opportunities are advertised through either commissioned calls to answer specific research questions, researcher-led workstreams, or themed calls and highlight notices, which provide funding opportunities in Government high-priority areas. Funding committees assess applications that apply to the funding calls and are briefed to consider the equitable distribution of funding.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will publish an updated version of the Critical Minerals Strategy that includes policies on promoting the use of polyhalite.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Building on the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre’s (CMIC) updated criticality assessment, government has worked hand in hand with industry to develop a new Critical Minerals Strategy this year. This new, targeted Critical Minerals Strategy will help secure our supply chains for the long term and drive forward the green industries of the future and will be published in the coming weeks.
CMIC assessed 82 candidate materials as part of its 2024 criticality assessment. Polyhalite, a combination of various minerals including potassium, was not one of these candidate materials. However, government is fully aware and acknowledges the importance of polyhalite to the UK.
As we plan for future criticality and growth assessments, we will look to evaluate which additional minerals and materials, such as polyhalite, will need to be in scope to reflect the UK economy’s growing demands amidst evolving global supply chain dynamics.