Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has assessed schools' adherence to the duty to care for students with medical conditions.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions.
Ofsted consider how schools are discharging their statutory duties as part of inspections.
We intend to consult later this year on revising the ‘Supporting pupils at schools with medical conditions’ statutory guidance. This will seek views from schools, parents, health professionals, and other stakeholders on proposals to strengthen how schools meet their duties. The current guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ce6a72e40f0b620a103bd53/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that evidence drives the rollout of online parenting support contained in the Best Start in Life Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
As set out in the Best Start in Life strategy, the government will fund more evidence-based parenting and home learning offers through Best Start Family Hubs to achieve the 75% good level of development milestone, and bridge the critical gap before children enter school. We will set clearer rules to ensure that funding is used on high-quality parenting programmes.
The publication 'Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies – Preparing for implementation April 2026' sets out a number of relevant programme requirements around evidence, and the department will set out further information in the coming months, including on the online elements of the parenting offer. The publication is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/best-start-family-hubs-and-healthy-babies-guidance-for-local-authorities.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
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 ensure equitable access to Healthy Babies services for babies in constituencies that cross multiple local authority boundaries.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that many local authorities have strong ties with other areas in their region, and some Healthy Babies services may be delivered across local authority boundaries. Current Family Hubs and Start for Life programme guidance encourages local authorities to consider how best they can collaborate with other areas in their region in improving outcomes for babies, children, and their families.
Healthy Babies is one element of our broader commitment to supporting babies, children and families. From April 2026, Best Start Family Hubs will expand to every single local authority, backed by over £500 million to reach up to half a million more children and families. This funding will help all local authorities to integrate a range of statutory and non-statutory health and family services.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 91494, if the UK Health Security Agency will publish its assessment of the need for mandatory notification for Group B Streptococcus.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) plays a key role in addressing group B streptococcus (GBS) infection both through routine service activities and innovative research.
The UKHSA does not believe that there is a rationale at present for GBS being added to the Health Protection Notification Regulations. There are no immediate and specific public health actions required to be taken in response to a case being diagnosed. Whilst periods of enhanced surveillance suggest routine surveillance may be underestimating numbers of infections, this has not been audited to identify the source and reason for discrepancies between different sources of reports during these periods. Given the largely automated nature of laboratory surveillance, making GBS notifiable would not necessarily address any deficits in reporting.
The list of notifiable disease is kept under review by the Department with the UKHSA involvement. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the review of standards for Home Office Type Approval of road enforcement technology will be completed.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
My officials are currently conducting a comprehensive review of the Home Office Type Approval (HOTA) standard in collaboration with stakeholders, including safety camera manufacturers and suppliers and technical experts from the scientific and standards communities.
The review of the standards will conclude as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on the review of standards for the Home Office Type Approval process applied to road enforcement technology.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
My officials are currently conducting a comprehensive review of the Home Office Type Approval (HOTA) standard in collaboration with stakeholders, including safety camera manufacturers and suppliers and technical experts from the scientific and standards communities.
The review of the standards will conclude as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
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 merits of (a) repealing or (b) amending Section 2(4) of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.
As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn.
The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the Civil Procedure Rule Committee on the implementation of fixed recoverable costs in clinical negligence claims valued up to £25,000.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.
As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn.
The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
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 lower (a) legal and (b) overall costs incurred through clinical negligence.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.
As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn.
The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
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 potential merits of designating group B Streptococcus as a notifiable disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) does not recommend adding Group B Streptococcus as a notifiable disease. Existing national surveillance effectively captures Group B Streptococcus infections, monitors trends, and informs antibiotic prescribing policy. The UKHSA has assessed that mandatory notification for Group B Streptococcus would provide no additional public health benefit beyond this.