Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the Green Book rules on North West Leicestershire constituency.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury concluded a review of the Green Book in June 2025. It marks a new approach to appraisal in the public sector, one which will enable the more effective assessment of place-based interventions in every area of the country. That includes North West Leicestershire.
Following the review, HM Treasury will now undertake six actions to improve appraisal across the public sector. These are set out in the conclusions of the Green Book Review 2025, published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Natural History GCSE will be made available to students.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for North West Leicestershire to the answer of 21 March 2025 to Question 36968.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued to Local Planning Authorities on allocating reserve sites in their local housing site plans that would only become operational when first-choice sites are unavailable when the building needs occur.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s Planning Practice Guidance on housing and economic land availability assessment sets out how local planning authorities should identify and assess sites for their suitability for allocation in their Local Plans.
Local planning authorities, through their local development plans, should establish a housing requirement figure for their whole area, which shows the extent to which their identified housing need can be met over the plan period.
It is for individual local planning authorities to determine the most appropriate strategy to meet the housing needs of their area, and which sites are most suitable to meet their housing needs.
They are expected to justify their approach through public consultation and independent examination of the Local Plan.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
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 trusts are prepared to deliver new therapies once they enter routine commissioning.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether all new medicines, and significant licence extensions for existing medicines, should be routinely funded by the NHS in England based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NHS in England is required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance.
NHS England takes the necessary action to ensure that the treatments recommended by NICE are available for the services for which it has commissioning responsibility. It has a dedicated team to support the adoption of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) that are recommended by NICE. NHS England works with a variety of internal and external stakeholders to ensure timely patient access to ATMPs that are on NICE’s technology appraisal and highly specialised technology workplan.
The collaboration platform for the health and care sector in England, Futures NHS, includes information to support NHS organisations in England to plan, implement, and budget for new medicines, once they are recommended by NICE.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to implement the recommendations of Reports to Prevent Future Deaths on (a) allergy (i) management and (ii) emergency response in schools and (b) other allergy policies.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Governing bodies must ensure that the arrangements they put in place are sufficient to meet their statutory responsibilities and that policies, plans, procedures and systems are properly and effectively implemented. This includes the duty under Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions and the duties under the Equality Act 2010.
The department has included reminders to schools of these duties in its regular schools’ email bulletin. The department has also recently alerted schools to external resources from trusted allergy organisations. This includes the Schools Allergy Code, developed by The Allergy Team, Independent Schools’ Bursars Association and the Benedict Blythe Foundation, and Allergy School created by the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NICE on considering the potential impact of improved carer wellbeing on the economy in its assessments of the effectiveness of treatments for rare diseases.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In making its recommendations on new medicines, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) takes into account all health-related costs and benefits, including health benefits to carers. It does not, however, take into account wider societal or economic considerations. Taking a wider perspective could have unintended consequences such as reducing access to treatments for patients who are disproportionately older, economically inactive, or have greater care needs. NICE’s methods are set out in its published health technology evaluations manual, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/process/pmg36
When presenting health effects for carers, evidence should show when the condition is associated with a substantial effect on a carer’s health-related quality of life, and how the technology affects carers. This applies for all therapies, including therapies for rare diseases. NICE appraisals specifically consider health-related quality of life, for both patients and carers, rather than quality of life as a whole.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NICE on feedback from stakeholders on how the impacts on carers are considered in appraisals for rare and ultra-rare conditions.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In making its recommendations on new medicines, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) takes into account all health-related costs and benefits, including health benefits to carers. It does not, however, take into account wider societal or economic considerations. Taking a wider perspective could have unintended consequences such as reducing access to treatments for patients who are disproportionately older, economically inactive, or have greater care needs. NICE’s methods are set out in its published health technology evaluations manual, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/process/pmg36
When presenting health effects for carers, evidence should show when the condition is associated with a substantial effect on a carer’s health-related quality of life, and how the technology affects carers. This applies for all therapies, including therapies for rare diseases. NICE appraisals specifically consider health-related quality of life, for both patients and carers, rather than quality of life as a whole.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to use community pharmacies to support people with (a) asthma and (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to better manage their condition.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The New Medicine Service is an advanced service offered by community pharmacies, providing patients with advice to address any possible side effects, issues, or questions that patients who are prescribed a new medicine may have. The service focuses on treatments for long-term conditions, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Community pharmacies are further funded to support patients with asthma through the Pharmacy Quality Scheme, providing additional support to patients aged between five and 15 years old using a spacer, and patients using short-acting bronchodilators.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure the Warm Homes Plan (a) reduces bills, (b) improves health outcomes and (c) reduces levels of fuel poverty.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Warm Homes Plan will help cut household bills for families and slash fuel poverty. The Government has committed £13.2 billion to upgrade millions of homes across the country.
The Government is working to ensure that homes are fit for the future and the Department has been carrying out research to respond to the relevant climate change adaptation risks identified by the third Climate Change Risk Assessment, including to health and wellbeing. This work is informing the development of the Warm Homes Plan.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the Warm Homes Plan will offer households (a) financial support to upgrade homes according to income, (b) improved consumer protections and (c) free independent advice.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As part of the Warm Homes Plan, the government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency. Officials are exploring the role of incentives and private finance for households to support homeowners with the upfront costs.
The government is committed to protecting homeowners across the UK, further details for improved consumer protection will be set out in the Warm Homes Plan.
The government also recognises the importance of access to trusted and impartial information, the retrofitting tool ‘find ways to save energy in your home’ (https://www.gov.uk/improve-energy-efficiency), provides tailored guidance to help consumers and is supported by a call centre.