Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to collect and publish data on the impact of poor oral health and delayed or unmet dental treatment on NHS hospital activity and costs.
Answered by Polly Billington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
An annual report analyses tooth extraction hospital episodes due to tooth decay and other reasons in National Health Service hospitals in England for zero to 19 year olds, with an estimate of the annual cost of these tooth extractions. This is published at the following link:
The National Dental Epidemiology Programme’s (NDEP) oral health surveys and decennial adult and child oral health surveys measure the prevalence and severity of tooth decay, oral health inequalities, and unmet need. The findings include a measure of clinical signs because of advanced, untreated tooth decay, and include signs of sepsis. The NDEP and decennial surveys can be accessed at the following two links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/oral-health
These surveys are epidemiological surveys and do not attempt to estimate associated costs to the NHS.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect bee health and populations.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra protects honeybee health through work by APHA’s National Bee Unit on statutory pest and disease control, surveillance, education and working with beekeepers to keep bees healthy.
Under the Defra Environmental Improvement Plan, a new Pollinator Action Plan will be published, setting out key actions to support pollinators in England.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support farmers in adopting practices that protect bee health and provide suitable habitats and forage for pollinators.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Support for farmers includes the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Landscape Recovery, which fund creation and restoration of habitats in appropriate areas. Our Environmental Improvement Plan target will double farms providing sufficient year-round resources for farm wildlife, including pollinators, by 2030 compared with 2025.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Department is taking to ensure fisheries management within Marine Protected Areas supports the achievement of Good Environmental Status for biodiversity, sea-floor integrity and marine food webs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are protected at designation by the marine planning and licensing regimes. In England 60% of our MPAs already have fisheries byelaws in place. Last year, the Marine Management Organisation consulted last year on byelaws to restrict damaging fishing in a further 42 MPAs. These proposals cover 30,000 km2 of English waters and will contribute to achieving Good Environmental Status. Ministers will make decisions in due course.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that marine light pollution is considered alongside underwater noise and other forms of energy introduction in assessments of Good Environmental Status under the UK Marine Strategy.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government and Devolved Governments are working through the Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR) to improve the evidence base on marine light pollution. Any decision on the incorporation of marine light pollution into future UK Marine Strategy assessments would be considered collectively by all four UK administrations.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to incorporate marine light pollution into future reviews of the UK Marine Strategy and assessments of Good Environmental Status.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government and Devolved Governments are working through the Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR) to improve the evidence base on marine light pollution. Any decision on the incorporation of marine light pollution into future UK Marine Strategy assessments would be considered collectively by all four UK administrations.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has assessed the extent to which schools are using core budgets to meet the costs of statutory and essential services.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has published the ‘Schools’ costs: technical note’ (SCTN) which provides national-level assessments of school cost pressures, including those relating to teaching staff, support staff, special educational needs and disabilities provision, and energy. This year’s SCTN publication and previous editions are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-costs-technical-note.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department collects data on cases of sepsis associated with dental infections; and whether it collects information on the associated costs to the NHS.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
An annual report analyses tooth extraction hospital episodes due to tooth decay and other reasons in National Health Service hospitals in England for zero to 19 year olds, with an estimate of the annual cost of these tooth extractions. This is published at the following link:
The National Dental Epidemiology Programme’s (NDEP) oral health surveys and decennial adult and child oral health surveys measure the prevalence and severity of tooth decay, oral health inequalities, and unmet need. The findings include a measure of clinical signs because of advanced, untreated tooth decay, and include signs of sepsis. The NDEP and decennial surveys can be accessed at the following two links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/oral-health
These surveys are epidemiological surveys and do not attempt to estimate associated costs to the NHS.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the average length of time taken by the Charity Commission to conclude Regulatory Compliance Cases was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Vicky Foxcroft - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Charity Commission opens a regulatory compliance case when it assesses that concerns raised about a charity or disclosed by a charity itself require further investigation. The average time taken to close such cases, which are distinct from statutory inquiries, is shown below:
Year | Average working days |
2021/22 | 148 |
2022/23 | 148 |
2023/24 | 146 |
2024/25 | 116 |
2025/26 | 68 |
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance her Department provides to the Charity Commission on keeping whistleblowers and complainants informed of progress during Regulatory Compliance Cases.
Answered by Vicky Foxcroft - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Charity Commission for England and Wales does not usually provide an update on cases while they are ongoing. This approach allows the Commission to focus resources on its regulatory work. The Commission aims to provide an outcome statement to all complainants on conclusion of a case.
Regarding whistleblowers, the Commission is considering wider lessons to be learnt from the recent Committee of Privileges report, and it has also commissioned a judge-led independent review into its handling of the two cases.