Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to prioritise (a) lung and (b) respiratory health in the NHS Long Term Plan.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts the National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving respiratory health in all parts of the county.

More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their long-term conditions, including respiratory conditions, closer to home. Earlier diagnosis of conditions will help people manage their conditions, prevent deterioration and improve survival rates.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve bus transport for people with hidden disabilities.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is committed to improving bus services right across the country, so they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity, including people with hidden disabilities. On 1st October 2024, the first phase of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 came into force, meaning that newer vehicles providing local services must provide accessible audible and visible information on stops, destinations and diversions. The majority of services will need to comply by October 2026.

On 17th December, the government introduced a new Bus Services Bill that will give local leaders the freedom to take decisions to deliver their local transport priorities and ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them, including for disabled people. The Bill includes measures to make the design of bus and coach stations and stops safer and more accessible, and sets requirements for training for staff on disability-assistance and disability awareness to ensure bus drivers and staff dealing directly with the travelling public are better informed of the rights and needs of disabled passengers.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools are able to offer children high quality music education through (a) the national curriculum and (b) in music education hubs.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Music is an essential part of supporting children and young people to develop creativity and find their voice. Music is in the national curriculum and is compulsory in all maintained schools in England from the age of 5 to 14 years. The national curriculum sets out the content of what the department expects schools to cover in each subject. The aims of the national curriculum for music include ensuring that all pupils perform music, learn to sing and to use their voices, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument and understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, which is looking at all subjects, including music. Any subject-specific findings and recommendations will be included in the Review’s final report in autumn. The government will consider any changes it wishes to make to the curriculum whilst the Review is conducted and respond to its recommendations when they are published. Following the review, all schools, including academies, will be required to teach the revised national curriculum.

On 18 March 2025, the department announced its intention to launch a National Centre for Arts and Music Education to promote opportunities for children and young people to pursue their artistic and creative interests in school, including through the government’s network of Music Hubs. Our intention is to launch in September 2026, with a delivery lead appointed through an open procurement.

To support the delivery of music education, the government has committed £79 million per year for the Music Hubs programme, including the 2024/25 academic year. The 43 Music Hubs partnerships across England offer a range of services, including musical instrument tuition, instrument loaning and whole-class ensemble teaching. To widen access to musical instruments, the government is investing £25 million in capital funding for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year.

The government is also investing £2 million to support the Music Opportunities Pilot over a 4-year period across the 2024/25 to 2027/28 academic years, backed by a further £3.85 million funding from Arts Council England and Youth Music. This pilot aims to help disadvantaged children and young people, as well as those with special educational needs and disabilities, to learn how to play an instrument of their choice or learn to sing to a high standard.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will include the potential impact of new developments on air pollution in planning decisions in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The National Planning Policy Framework already makes clear that planning policies and decisions should prevent new and existing development from contributing to, being put at unacceptable risk from, or being adversely affected by, unacceptable levels of air pollution.

Planning policies and decisions should also sustain and contribute towards compliance with relevant limit values or national objectives for pollutants, taking into account the presence of Air Quality Management Areas and Clean Air Zones, and the cumulative impacts from individual sites in local areas.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Ministerial roundtable on water security, 13 March 2025: outcome statement, published on 14 March 2025, what steps his Department is taking to fulfil those outcomes in the next 12 months.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

On 13 March 2025, the Minister for Development chaired a high-level roundtable, bringing together international Ministers and senior representatives from countries and multilateral institutions to discuss how to drive progress tackling the global water security crisis.

The UK is active in this sector, driving systems transformation to protect freshwater ecosystems and global water supplies, and build resilience for the most vulnerable. Through our Just Transitions for Water Security programme, we are bringing governments, private sector, and civil society together to shape policy, strengthen governance and accountability mechanisms, and shift markets to leverage critically needed investments in water. The UK is also working with international partners to ensure climate-resilient and sustainable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in up to 10 countries.

Alongside this we are working to strengthen the integration of water across the three Rio Conventions on climate, biodiversity, and desertification, as well as within G7, G20 and the UN system.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the Consortium for Labelling for the Environment, Animal Welfare and Regenerative Farming on tackling carbon emissions.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra officials working on carbon emissions data policy regularly meet with CLEAR and we welcome their contributions, including the recent methodological review of UK eco-labels.

Scientific hearing on animal experiments

LED headlights

British companies and the transportation of Russian liquefied natural gas

Shortages of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy

Public libraries

Road safety in rural areas

Rail fare increase

Securing habitat for endangered swifts and other cavity nesting birds

Chalk stream river protection

Retirement of GPs and national GP strategy

Rural bus services

Protecting children from data exploitation

Small and medium-sized enterprises in defence procurement

Pesticides in public spaces

International Day for Mine Awareness

Abduction of Ukrainian children

Israeli Defence Force attacks on humanitarian workers

Disability hate crime

Humanitarian response to the Myanmar earthquake

Snares

Scams and fraud

Found: and Walton) Noah Law (Labour; St Austell and Newquay) Alice Macdonald (Labour; Norwich North) Brian Mathew

Found: and Walton) Noah Law (Labour; St Austell and Newquay) Alice Macdonald (Labour; Norwich North) Brian Mathew

Found: Members present: Sarah Champion (Chair); Tracy Gilbert; Monica Harding; Noah Law; Alice Macdonald; Brian Mathew

Found: Members present: Sarah Champion (Chair); Tracy Gilbert; Monica Harding; Noah Law; Alice Macdonald; Brian Mathew

Found: _NC7 Steff Aquarone Claire Young Martin Wrigley Jamie Stone Brian Mathew Alison Bennett Steve Darling

Found: _NC7 Steff Aquarone Claire Young Martin Wrigley Jamie Stone Brian Mathew Alison Bennett Steve Darling

Found: _NC7 Steff Aquarone Claire Young Martin Wrigley Jamie Stone Brian Mathew Alison Bennett Steve Darling

Submit Evidence (by 16 May 2025)

Energy lies at the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Yet, the international community remains largely off track in meeting these commitments. According to the International Energy Agency, around 750 million people lack access to electricity, and more than 2 billion people lack access to clean cooking fuels, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa.