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 improve breastfeeding support in the West Midlands.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to giving every child the best start in life and support for breastfeeding plays an important role in achieving this.

Most families will receive breastfeeding information and support from midwives and health visitors. We are currently refreshing the guidance for The Healthy Child Programme to strengthen the quality of services, including health visiting. We have increased the number of midwives, with 1,056 more full time equivalent midwives working in the National Health Service in September 2025 compared to September 2024.

Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, we are investing £18.5 million in 2025/26 to improve infant feeding support in 75 local authorities. This includes Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Telford and Wrekin, and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands. Our investment has also increased the capacity of the National Breastfeeding Helpline so that families across the United Kingdom can access breastfeeding support 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 70321 on Stop and Search: West Midlands, when she will publish the evaluation of the Serious Violence Reduction Orders pilot.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) were piloted for two years throughout Merseyside, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands police force areas. The pilot took place between 19 April 2023 and 18 April 2025.

The pilot has been independently evaluated and looks at the effectiveness of SVROs, including the use of the SVRO stop and search power and the effectiveness of SVROs in reducing reoffending and knife carrying.

The evaluation is currently being considered, and further information on the evaluation findings will be made available in due course.

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 help tackle inequalities in (a) waiting times and (b) access to treatment for diabetes in the West Midlands.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Action is being taken across the West Midland integrated care boards (ICBs) to address inequalities in waiting times and access to treatment for diabetes

This action includes strengthening monitoring of data and to identify delays and variation, improving general practice (GP) engagement through Protected Learning Time sessions, streamlining referral pathways and supporting GPs to proactively identify and engage patients using improved data and low-literacy-friendly approaches

ICBs are also take actions to identify groups at greatest risk of poor outcomes who face barriers in accessing services. The aim of these actions is to deliver fairer waiting times, more consistent access to treatment, and equitable, high‑quality diabetes care for all communities.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 98739 on Biodiversity and Pollution: Sutton Park, what steps her Department has taken since the decline in the condition of the park was first detected.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Natural England (NE) and the Forestry Commission are working with Birmingham City Council (BCC) to review on-site management to address the decline in habitat condition. This includes: improved grazing; addressing scrub and bracken encroachment; management of invasive species; increased woodland thinning; and visitor management. NE also provided a detailed response to BCC’s 2025 consultation on its Sutton Park National Nature Reserve management plan, which identifies the key objectives and actions for managing the Park. NE is also discussing with BCC future funding support through agri-environment schemes and other sources.

NE is working with BCC and other neighbouring Local Planning Authorities to influence strategic development and transport plans to ensure housing needs are met while protecting the habitats of the Site of Special Scientific Interest from recreational pressure and air pollution.

NE and the Environment Agency continue to work with Severn Trent Water to address pollution risks from sewage infrastructure as part of the Water Industry Natural Environment Programme.

The recently published West Midlands Combined Authority Local Nature Recovery Strategy recognises the importance of Sutton Park, both for nature and for people. Actions identified in the Strategy, both within the Park and the wider area, will also support habitat recovery in the Park.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 98739 on Biodiversity and Pollution: Sutton Park, on what date a decline in the condition of the park’s woodland and heathland habitats was first detected as part of Natural England's Site of Special Scientific Interest monitoring programme.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The woodland feature has been recorded as unfavourable since 2012, and was first identified as declining in the condition assessment published in March 2025. The heathland feature has been unfavourable since 2000, and was first identified as declining in September 2012. For both habitats, prior to their being recorded as unfavourable declining, they had previously been considered as unfavourable recovering. Unfavourable condition means that the habitat is not meeting its definition of favourable condition, and ‘recovering/declining’ indicates whether the management of on and off-site pressures will enable the habitat to become favourable.

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