Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to the Government of Israel regarding the detention and release of medical personnel in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 15 July in response to Question 16811.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the cost to the NHS of treating conditions (a) caused and (b) exacerbated by (i) tobacco, (ii) alcohol and (iii) drug use.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The available estimates of the cost to the National Health Service of treating conditions caused and exacerbated by tobacco and alcohol are shown in the following table:
Substance | Estimated NHS cost | Source of Estimate |
Tobacco | £1.8 billion annually | Action on Smoking and Health, 2025 |
Alcohol | £4.9 billion annually | Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2021/22 |
Smoking is estimated to cost society £21.9 billion per year in England.
Estimates for drug use are more limited but based on data from the Office for National Statistics and the independent review of drugs by Professor Dame Carol Black, the harms associated with wholly drug-related hospital admissions are estimated at £37 million. This cost includes admissions for mental and behavioural disorders, overdoses and poisonings, and drug-related neonatal disorders.
Comparisons of costs should not be made between estimates above because of the different methodologies used in their construction.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will consider taking steps to increase protections for private renters during the process of moving between tenancies, including in relation to tenancy references and the requirement to serve notice on an existing tenancy before a new tenancy is secured.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 78379 on 16 October 2025.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on private renters of letting agents and landlords declining to provide tenancy references until a tenant has served notice on their existing tenancy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 78379 on 16 October 2025.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of alcohol delivery services on (a) consumption and (b) public health.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Department has not made an assessment of the impact of alcohol delivery services on consumption of alcohol or public health.
The delivery of alcohol is regulated under the Licensing Act 2003, responsibility for which rests with the Home Office. The Government recognises that consumer purchasing habits have evolved in recent years, particularly with a notable growth in alcohol sales made via online platforms and rapid delivery services. I recently convened a roundtable with Minister Jones, the Minister for Policing and Crime, to explore this issue further and discuss potential solutions.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of higher education providers in i) England ii) Sussex are expected to record an operating a deficit over the next financial year.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Office for Students (OfS), as the independent regulator of higher education (HE) in England, is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial sustainability. Its most recent report on the sector’s financial health, published in May 2026, is available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/financial-sustainability-of-higher-education-providers-in-england-2026/.
The OfS report found that 42.7% of HE providers are forecast to be in deficit in 2025/26. However, these deficits alone do not provide a complete picture of an institution’s financial health.
The department does not hold information on universities categorised by county, but key information on the financial position of individual providers is publicly available through their published financial statements.
Universities are autonomous and are responsible for their own business and staffing decisions. While the government does not intervene in these matters, we expect universities to engage constructively with their workforce when making decisions that may affect them.
The government remains committed to creating a secure future for our universities so they can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy. That is why, after being frozen for eight years, we increased tuition fee caps in line with inflation in 2025/26. We are also increasing tuition fee caps in line with forecast inflation in 2026/27 and 2027/28. We will then legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to increase tuition fee caps automatically for future academic years.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help prevent job reductions in higher education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Office for Students (OfS), as the independent regulator of higher education (HE) in England, is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial sustainability. Its most recent report on the sector’s financial health, published in May 2026, is available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/financial-sustainability-of-higher-education-providers-in-england-2026/.
The OfS report found that 42.7% of HE providers are forecast to be in deficit in 2025/26. However, these deficits alone do not provide a complete picture of an institution’s financial health.
The department does not hold information on universities categorised by county, but key information on the financial position of individual providers is publicly available through their published financial statements.
Universities are autonomous and are responsible for their own business and staffing decisions. While the government does not intervene in these matters, we expect universities to engage constructively with their workforce when making decisions that may affect them.
The government remains committed to creating a secure future for our universities so they can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy. That is why, after being frozen for eight years, we increased tuition fee caps in line with inflation in 2025/26. We are also increasing tuition fee caps in line with forecast inflation in 2026/27 and 2027/28. We will then legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to increase tuition fee caps automatically for future academic years.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is giving to research-intensive universities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises the vital role that universities play in supporting the UK’s world‑leading research base and delivering the Industrial Strategy, and is therefore investing a record £86 billion in research and development between 2026/27 and 2029/30, the largest ever investment made by any UK Government, to help fund the vital research our universities lead the world in.
Additionally, the government provides funding through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) annually to support teaching and students in higher education (HE). The total recurrent (programme) SPG funding allocation for the current 2025/26 academic year is £1.3 billion. Research-intensive universities that are on the approved Office of Students (fee cap) register will benefit from all SPG funding streams for which they are eligible.
The government also provides over £11.1 billion in subsidised fee loans to support all universities, including research-intensives.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
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 regional variation in access to drug, alcohol and smoking cessation services.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Government is committed to ensuring that all areas offer high-quality drug, alcohol and smoking cessation services, with action to support consistent provision nationwide.
For smoking, we have invested an additional £70 million in both 2024/25 and 2025/26 to support local authority-led Stop Smoking Services in England to help people quit. From April 2026, we have provided an additional £260 million over three years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29, and ring-fenced all funding for smoking cessation services within the Public Health Grant, meaning at least £153 million per annum is protected for these services. This will ensure there is a comprehensive offer across local authorities in England and that there is more equitable funding across all regions. The additional funding is weighted toward local authorities with the highest smoking rates to ensure we target areas with the greatest need. We have also has launched a Self-Assessment and Service Improvement Tool to support local authorities to strengthen Stop Smoking Services delivery and improvement, and ensure a minimum standard of service.
For drugs and alcohol, the Department continues to work with all local areas to address unmet need to drive improvements in continuity of care. This includes the Unmet Need Toolkit which can be used by local areas to assess local need and plan to meet it. From 2026, all drug and alcohol treatment and recovery funding is through the Public Health Grant, with £3.4 billion ringfenced for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery over three years. One of the conditions of the Public Health Grant is that all local authorities that receive the grant work with partners to develop a plan to address drug and alcohol need in their community, and that this plan is agreed with the Department.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
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 reduce health inequalities arising from substance misuse.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need. Funding for drug and alcohol treatment can reduce societal inequalities and contribute to the Government’s mission to increase opportunity for all.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning community alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services as part of their public health responsibilities. Over the next three years, through the Public Health Grant, we are providing local authorities with £3.4 billion of ringfenced funding for drug and alcohol prevention, treatment, and recovery. Conditions of the Public Health Grant include that local authorities use the funding solely for the purposes of commissioning and providing drug and alcohol services, and they have a comprehensive plan based on the assessment of local need and which has been developed with local health, housing, employment, children and families, and criminal justice partners.
The Department delivers a robust monitoring and assurance programme, and quality improvement interventions, for local authorities commissioning drug and alcohol treatment services. The number of adults in treatment is now the highest since reporting began, with latest annual statistics showing that between April 2024 and March 2025 there were 329,646 adults aged 18 years old and over in contact with community drug and alcohol treatment services.