Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients received NHS electroshock therapy in every year since 2010 in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In line with National Institute for Clinical Excellence’s guidelines, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is used in current United Kingdom clinical practice as a treatment option for individuals with depressive illness, catatonia and mania, and is occasionally used to treat schizophrenia. The following table shows the number of patients who received National Health Service ECT in England every year since 2016:
Financial year | Number of patients receiving ECT in England |
2016/2017 | 346 |
2017/2018 | 441 |
2018/2019 | 326 |
2019/2020 | 572 |
2020/2021 | 464 |
2021/2022 | 571 |
2022/2023 | 609 |
2023/2024 | 717 |
2024/2025 | 955 |
Source: NHS England.
Notes:
Data is not available prior to 2016. This data is not available at a constituency level, and, although the data is collected at local authority level, NHS England has advised that there were no reported electroshock therapy contacts for patients in the Havering Local Authority during this period.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support neurodivergent individuals in the workplace.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have in place a range of measures to support employees with a disability or long-term health condition, including neurodivergent individuals, in the workplace.
Our digital information service for employers, Support with Employee Health and Disability provides tailored guidance to employers to support employees to remain in work, including guidance on health disclosures and having conversations about health, legal obligations, including statutory sick pay, and making reasonable adjustments.
We continue to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme, which encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. This includes resources around employing people with hidden disabilities including autism and other neurodivergent conditions.
DWP also operates Access to Work, which provides grant funding to support Workplace Adjustments that go beyond an employer's duty to provide reasonable adjustments as outlined in the Equality Act 2010. The grant provides personalised support and workplace assessments, travel to work, support workers, and specialist aids and equipment. In March 2025, we published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, to consult on the future of Access to Work. We are considering responses to the consultation and will set out our plans in due course.
Furthermore, in the plan to Make Work Pay (October 2024), government committed to raising awareness of all forms of neurodiversity in the workplace. Early this year DWP launched an Expert Academic Panel on Neurodiversity to advise government on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work. The Panel considered why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate. We have received the Panel’s report and are considering its findings alongside the Keep Britain Working Review, which has now entered its Vanguard Phase testing new employer-led approaches to improving support for individuals to stay in work.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to support the defence industry in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
On 8 September 2025 we published the Defence Industrial Strategy, which includes a range of initiatives that cut red tape, speed up development to delivery, and ensure our defence investment benefits local communities. This includes a Northern Ireland Defence Growth Deal, which will harness Northern Ireland’s defence sub-sector strengths while also ensuring that the foundations are in place to support that defence spending.
We are committed to working with partners across Northern Ireland to ensure that we have a thriving defence sector that supports jobs, skills and growth.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help reduce housefires in social housing in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department continues to run its national Fire Kills campaign to raise awareness of key fire safety messages and behaviours to help keep people safe in their homes. The latest advertising campaign launched on 17 November and reminds people to ensure they have a sufficient number of working smoke alarms in their home. The Department works in close partnership with the National Fire Chiefs Council to support local community fire safety activity undertaken by local fire and rescue services, often targeted at those most vulnerable to fire.
Under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations 2015, all private and social landlords must ensure at least one smoke alarm is equipped on each storey of their homes where there is a room used as living accommodation.
Awaab’s Law was introduced in October 2025 and means that landlords must take action to investigate emergency hazards, including fire hazards, and make them safe within 24 hours (excluding work to fix cladding). The landlord must also take action on significant damp and mould in fixed timelines. In 2026 the requirements will expand to apply to a wider range of hazards, including significant fire hazards.
The Department has also consulted on reviewing the Decent Homes Standard that social landlords must meet, including a proposal to add fire alarm systems to the list of building components that must be kept in good repair. The response to the consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of British Council office closures in Europe and North America on cultural and educational cooperation with the UK.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 28 October to Question 906060.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an estimate of the level of additional funding needed to maintain British Council operations in all current locations.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 28 October to Question 906060.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department plans to restore British Council funding to pre-pandemic levels.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 28 October to Question 906060.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent the closure of British Council offices.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 28 October to Question 906060.