Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to introduce financial support for family’s impacted by brain tumours following the concerning findings in the Brain Tumour Charity’s recent report; and what plans his Department has to increase support for the charities who help families impacted by brain tumours.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To ensure people living with brain tumours have care which addresses their financial concerns, NHS England has committed to ensuring that every person diagnosed with cancer has access to personalised care. This includes needs assessments, a care plan, and health and wellbeing information and support. Through the provision of information, personalised care empowers people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer, including the financial impact on their families.
The Department for Work and Pensions provides a range of benefits and support for families with people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, including for those impacted by high grade or life limiting brain tumours. These include Universal Credit, Employment Support Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Carer's Allowance, and Access to Work. The Pathways to Work Green Paper was built on the principle that the Government should support those who can work to do so, while protecting those who can’t, and we have already made significant progress bringing forward proposals from the Green Paper to transform the support we offer.
To support charities, including those who help families impacted by brain tumours, the Department of Health and Social Care has a Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Health and Wellbeing Programme. This is a mechanism through which the Department, NHS England, and the UK Health Security Agency work together with VCSE organisations to:
In addition, the National Cancer Plan, which is due to be published shortly, has featured significant ongoing engagement with charities, covering topics such as how to improve the experience of people living with cancer. The plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, including support for people living with brain tumours and their families.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the accuracy of Ofcom data on phone signal in Worcestershire; and what plans her Department has to improve connectivity in Worcestershire.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ofcom is responsible for the reporting of mobile coverage across the UK but does not publish mobile coverage data at a county level.
The Government recognises that there are discrepancies in some cases between peoples’ lived experience and the level of coverage that Ofcom reports should be available. The launch of Ofcom’s updated mobile coverage checker ‘Map Your Mobile’ in June 2025 was a positive step forward in helping address this.
Government, however, recognises that there is further work to be done and we continue to encourage Ofcom to improve the accuracy of mobile coverage reporting across the UK, allowing consumers to make more informed choices about which operator provides the best level of service in their area.
Our ambition is for all populated areas, including communities in Worcestershire, to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030.
The Government continues to work closely with the mobile network operators to ensure their continued investment into the expansion and improvement of mobile networks, and that investment translates into benefits for communities right across the UK, including those in Worcestershire.
We are also working to identify and address barriers to deployment of mobile infrastructure. This includes recently launching a call for evidence to help determine where planning rules could be relaxed to support the deployment of digital infrastructure.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Valuation Office Agency being able to increase property valuations without visiting the premises on business rates.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency collects a large amount of rental and trade evidence from occupiers and landlords for revaluations, and then applies one of three RICS-approved valuation methods. We inspect properties when we need to gather additional information or confirm facts. This has been the established practice for all revaluations since 1990.
Rateable values reflect the open market rental value of a property at a specific date.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing a defined timeframe for GPs to complete the necessary licensing forms for shotguns.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Medical checks are an important part of the firearms licensing process to ensure that the police have all relevant medical information before them as part of their assessment of the suitability of an applicant for a firearm or shotgun certificate.
There is no defined timeframe for GPs to complete the medical proforma, which is a matter between the applicant and their GP.
Since the Statutory Guidance for Chief Officers of Police on firearms licensing was introduced on 1 November 2021 it has been a requirement that medical information be provided as part of all firearms licensing applications submitted to the police.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate he has made of the time it will take to create 1,000 new jobs in the energy sector in Aberdeen.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
Great British Energy published their strategic plan at the end of last year and have committed to directly supporting more than 10,000 jobs by 2030 through GBE-backed and funded projects, including in areas historically dependent on oil and gas.
But of course, this job creation must happen in partnership with industry, and we are seeing major investments from Scottish Power, SSEN and others create hundreds of good quality clean energy jobs in Aberdeen and across Scotland.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment has been made of the potential impact on victim support arising from the announced reduction, by nearly half, in funding for the West Mercia Police Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre; and in light of these funding cuts, how will the Department ensure that all survivors of sexual violence referred to this centre continue to receive the timely and high‑quality support they deserve.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
My Department is committed to the Government’s pledge to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a decade. We have committed £550 million to victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date.
On 1 December 2025, all Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and recipients of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF) received confirmation that their Ministry of Justice grants will be extended for two years until March 2028, with a 2% year-on-year uplift. This includes the grants the Ministry of Justice holds with West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (WMRSASC) and with West Mercia PCC, who will make decisions on which organisations to fund locally, based on their assessment of need.
The grant the Department holds with WMRSASC has been unchanged since August 2023 when the RASASF was recompeted via an open competition.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the annual heat pump installation targets are for each year between 2026 and 2035.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government does not set annual targets for heat pump installations, however we are working to facilitate the growth of the market, consumer offers available, and the market for green finance. We will continue to support households with the cost of heat pump installations through our support schemes. We will set out more details in the Warm Homes Plan.
We support supply chain growth through the reformed Clean Heat Market Mechanism, invest in manufacturing capacity through the Heat Pump Investment Accelerator, and help installers train through the Heat Training Grant.
Our expectation is that the vast majority of end-of-life heating system replacements will be with heat pumps and other low-carbon technologies, as these become the natural, affordable choice.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who die each year from wildfire smoke.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Whilst Defra considers smoke from wildfires to be important the department has not, to date, made an estimate of the number of people who die each year from wildfire smoke.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department taking to expand funding for adult hospices, in the context of the NHS Ten-Year Plan’s commitment to shift more care provision away from hospitals into community healthcare.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and enable integrated care boards (ICBs) to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
We will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements as part of our MSF. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting ICBs to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.
The MSF will address the drivers and incentives that are required in palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams. Further information about the MSF is set out in the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of HGV Skills Bootcamps in increasing (a) completion rates and (b) job placements compared with the apprenticeship route.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government offers a range of skills training which can support the HGV sector, including apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps.
Apprenticeships combine practical training in a job with study and have a minimum duration of eight months. Skills Bootcamps are available to both employed and unemployed learners and training takes up to 16 weeks to complete. It is therefore not possible to directly compare the two programmes.
The government publishes starts, completion and outcome figures for HGV Skills Bootcamps. The latest data is published here; Skills bootcamps starts, completions and outcomes, Financial year 2023-24 - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK.
The latest published apprenticeship data can be found here; Apprenticeships, Academic year 2024/25 - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK.