Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of air pollution on different groups by ethnicity.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
While air pollution impacts many people’s health, the department recognises that these impacts are not felt equally. This is an issue that Defra takes seriously, which is why the Government commissioned the independent Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) to examine the evidence on air pollution disparities across different communities and regions in the UK.
Their report demonstrates spatial differences in pollution emissions and concentrations. There is evidence of higher air pollution concentrations being experienced by certain minority ethnicity groups.
The report provides a number of recommendations to address this complex challenge, which the department is now considering and have fed through to commitments in the NHS 10 Year Plan and the Environmental Improvement Plan.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
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 providing vaccinations against Covid-19 for children and adults who have Long Covid.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious disease, resulting in hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19. Population immunity to COVID-19 has increased due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity, following recovery from infection, and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death having reduced significantly since COVID-19 first emerged.
The focus of the programme is on vaccination of the oldest adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed. These are the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality. In line with JCVI’s advice, in autumn 2025 a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to:
- adults aged 75 years old and over;
- residents in care homes for older adults; and
- individuals aged six months old and over who are immunosuppressed.
On 15 December 2025, the Government accepted the JCVI’s advice for spring 2026 and in line with the advice, a COVID-19 vaccination will be offered to the same groups as in autumn 2025 and previous spring campaigns.
Long term health consequences following COVID-19, including post-COVID syndromes, such as long COVID, have been discussed at meetings of the JCVI COVID-19 sub-committee. The JCVI’s view is that it remains uncertain whether additional COVID-19 vaccine doses, for example the fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, have a significant effect on the chances of developing long COVID, how it progresses, or how it affects people. The JCVI keeps all vaccination programmes under review.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the incidence of costs on a) land-owners in reduced land value uplift as against b) new build sales prices, resultant from environmental standards for new build homes.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Future Homes Standard, which will ensure all new homes are net zero ready, will be published early this year and a full impact assessment will accompany that publication. The impact assessment presents the costs and benefits of the Standard.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what percentage of undergraduate students who are parents with caring responsibilities receive the Childcare Grant.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of full-time undergraduates domiciled in England who received the Childcare Grant in 2024/25 was 42,900, rounded to the nearest hundred. This is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-support-for-higher-education-in-england-2025/student-support-for-higher-education-in-england-2025#childcare-grant
It is not possible to report this as a percentage of parents with caring responsibilities as the department does not hold the total number of undergraduates who are parents with caring responsibilities. This is because declaration of caring responsibilities is optional and only required for applicants who wish to apply for Special Support Loans or Childcare Grants.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in regard to the upcoming closure of the the UK Rare Diseases Framework, what alternative evaluation methods will be used to assess and ensure the continued improvement of access to specialist care, treatment and drugs for patients with rare diseases.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Rare Diseases Framework was published following the National Conversation on Rare Diseases, which received nearly 6,300 responses. This helped identify the four priorities of the framework in tackling rare diseases: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatment, and drugs.
The Government remains committed to improving the lives of those living with rare conditions, and will be publishing the next England Rare Diseases Action Plan to update on these priorities as in previous years. The evaluation of England’s action plans is expected to complete in May 2026. We recognise that despite the progress that has been made there remains considerable unmet need for people living with rare conditions. Ministers from all four nations have agreed to extend the UK Rare Diseases Framework by one year to January 2027, recognising the continued relevance of its four priorities, including improving access to specialist care, treatment, and drugs. We will engage with the rare diseases community to help shape the next steps.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2026 to Question 103826 on BSL Assurance Suppliers, which Deaf-led agencies and language service providers are available to engage through Crown Commercial Service's digital purchasing frameworks.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Deaf-led BSL suppliers play an important role in supporting Deaf communities right across the country.
Customers can access BSL services through agreements RM1557.14 G-Cloud 14 and RM6302 Language Services.
CCS has approved funding to support an ‘AI for BSL’ project, led by the Royal National Institute of the Deaf (RNID) partnership with ScienceWise. The initiative ensures that Deaf communities can directly influence the development of future tools to guarantee their safe and effective application.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) non-disabled postgraduate medics entered medical training in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Post graduate medical training is initially through the two-year foundation programme, followed by progression to specialist training programmes.
NHS England publishes monthly data on the National Health Service Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) workforce in England. This includes data on the recorded disability status of Foundation year 1 doctors. Further information is avaiable at the following link, in the file ‘NHS HCHS Workforce Statistics, Trusts and core organisations – data tables’:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics
For doctors entering medical specialty training, in the 2024 NHS medical specialty training programme, 285 doctors had a recorded disability, which represents 2.1% of all doctors accepting an offer, while 13,099, or 94.6%, recorded no disability, and for a further 462, or 3.3%, the disability status was not known/not recorded.
Each year NHS England published the disability status of applicants, including a count of those accepting posts, for each individual medical specialty to help future cohorts in their application processes. This information is avaiable at the following link:
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the extent to which the ten recommendations from the IOPC report 'National learning recommendations and responses - EIP searches of children, published on 19 March 2024 have been implemented.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) ‘National Learning Recommendations re: Exposure of Intimate Parts Searches of Children’ report made ten recommendations. Seven recommendations have been fully implemented, and work is ongoing for the other three. Progress on these is set out below:
Recommendation 10, Mandatory Safeguarding Referral following exposure of intimate parts searches: The Home Office has led system-wide consultations to consider amendments to Code A and C of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984), including mandating a safeguarding referral for any child who is subject to an exposure of intimate parts search. The Government is committed to introducing new legal safeguards around the strip search of children as soon as possible.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the ability of airports to complete full customs checks on small packages imported from abroad in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force work closely with law enforcement partners to share intelligence and have a strong track record in targeting illicit commodities via a threat and intelligence led approach; and we continue to examine goods brought into the UK by passengers are appropriately declared and abide by customs and excise rules. Border Force has an excellent relationship with airport security personnel nationally, ensuring they are aware and able to identify potential smuggling risks. If, when carrying out their security function, airline staff identify a person who may be of interest to Border Force, they will share that information, allowing Border Force Officers (BFOs) to take appropriate action. Border Force examines thousands of parcels arriving into the UK every day as part of Border Security checks. Border Force has had a record-breaking year in terms of seizures, highlighting our ability to complete high volumes of checks, with data available via Migration transparency data - GOV.UK
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost is of processing a citizen application fee-waiver for under 18s.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office has previously estimated the cost of processing fee waivers for under 18s applying for British citizenship in the Impact Assessment published alongside the Fee Regulations introducing the waiver in June 2022 – please see at page 8 of the following link: The Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2022.