Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent diplomatic discussions she has had with European counterparts about the potential merits of agreeing a combined minerals strategy.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent diplomatic discussions she has had with allies about decreasing dependence on China for minerals.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support access to education for children from vulnerable and marginalised families.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity so that all children can achieve and thrive.
The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper sets out steps to improve school readiness through family support, strengthen teacher recruitment and retention, and broaden curriculum and enrichment opportunities, ensuring funding is targeted where it’s needed most.
The guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ recognises that vulnerable pupils, including those with special educational needs or mental health challenges, may face greater barriers. The guidance is clear that schools should take a support-first approach. Wider attendance barriers are also being addressed through breakfast clubs, improved mental health support, and strengthened guidance on identifying and supporting Children Missing Education.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will also support access to education by improving the identification of children not in school and introducing new duties on local authorities to support home education, including providing information on access to GCSE examinations when requested by families.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of hospital admissions related to dental infections or complications preventable through earlier oral health education and intervention.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No estimate is available for the number of hospital admissions related to dental infections or complications preventable through earlier oral health education and intervention. However, official statistics on hospital tooth extractions for children and young adults being admitted to hospital for tooth extractions in the financial year ending 2025 are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hospital-tooth-extractions-in-0-to-19-year-olds-2025
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of preventable conditions resulting from lack of access to oral health education and care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No estimate is available of the costs to the National Health Service of preventable conditions resulting from lack of access to oral health education and care. The costs to the NHS of hospital admissions for decay-related tooth extractions, which are largely preventable, are estimated at £51.2 million in the financial year ending 2025. Further information is published at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hospital-tooth-extractions-in-0-to-19-year-olds-2025
This is why the Government is shifting to prevention through a national, targeted supervised toothbrushing programme where every £1 spent is expected to save £3 in avoided treatment costs.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
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 ensure patients with systemic conditions linked to poor oral health, like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, receive appropriate oral health education.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A range of actions support the provision of appropriate oral health education to patients with systemic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. For example, the Delivering Better Oral Health guidance, which is available at the following link:
This guidance is a key resource for the oral health profession to address risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and healthier eating. Oral health education should also be embedded in diabetes care pathways, to include educational programmes and oral health team members delivering patient education and motivation, alongside clinical management. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-standard-dental-care-for-people-with-diabetes/
Within hospitals, the Mouth Care Matters programme supports the oral health of patients, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/oral-health
In addition to this existing support, the Government is committed to reforming the dental contract by the end of this Parliament, with a focus on promoting prevention, matching resources to need, improving access, and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to secure the UK's supply of critical minerals.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the vital role of critical minerals in economic security, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. Through the Critical Minerals Strategy, we are strengthening domestic resilience by supporting UK capabilities in processing, recycling, and responsible extraction, alongside better understanding future demand through a new growth minerals list. We are working with international partners to diversify supply chains and reduce exposure to concentrated markets, while leveraging the UK’s strengths in finance and innovation.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support British legacy industries.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Industrial Strategy is backing eight growth-driving sectors, and the foundational industries that underpin them, to drive growth and create high quality jobs. This includes action to reduce electricity bills through the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme that will benefit 10,000 manufacturing businesses.
We are investing in skills including through a £182m engineering skills package, have recently launched the first Apprenticeship Units funded through the Growth and Skills Levy, and announced 19 new Technical Excellence Colleges in advanced manufacturing, clean energy and defence, as well as digital and technologies. And we are taking action in our critical foundational industries: the government is providing up to £2.5 billion to the steel sector and the steel strategy aims to return domestic production to around 40-50% of domestic steel demand (up from 30% in 2024).
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of stalking in the UK.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Stalking is an insidious crime that can leave victims living in fear just going about their daily lives. The Crime Survey for England and Wales for the year ending March 2025 estimated that 3.5% of people aged 16 to 59 years had experienced stalking in the last year. The trend has been relatively flat over the last 10 years. This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking and doing all that it can to protect victims.
The Home Office part-funds the National Stalking Helpline, run by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. This helpline ensures that victims have 24/7 access to support, advice and practical information. In FY2025-2026, the Home Office has provided £193,430.
More broadly, the VAWG Strategy published on 18 December set out clear action to tackle stalking, including the appointment of Richard Wright KC to lead the Stalking Legislation Review, ensuring the criminal law on stalking is fit for purpose. A commitment was also made to strengthen the use of Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs). This includes setting up SPO intensification sites in select forces which aim to drive up use of SPOs and provide opportunities to test innovative approaches to enforce conditions and monitor breaches, which could be adopted nationwide.
In addition, we are improving police understanding, identification and response to stalking, by ensuring all police forces implement changes following the stalking super-complaint. To provide a framework to support police and other agencies to coordinate their response to stalking cases, we are also introducing a power for the Secretary of State to issue multi-agency statutory guidance on stalking through the Crime and Policing Bill.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle stalking.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Stalking is an insidious crime that can leave victims living in fear just going about their daily lives. The Crime Survey for England and Wales for the year ending March 2025 estimated that 3.5% of people aged 16 to 59 years had experienced stalking in the last year. The trend has been relatively flat over the last 10 years. This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking and doing all that it can to protect victims.
The Home Office part-funds the National Stalking Helpline, run by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. This helpline ensures that victims have 24/7 access to support, advice and practical information. In FY2025-2026, the Home Office has provided £193,430.
More broadly, the VAWG Strategy published on 18 December set out clear action to tackle stalking, including the appointment of Richard Wright KC to lead the Stalking Legislation Review, ensuring the criminal law on stalking is fit for purpose. A commitment was also made to strengthen the use of Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs). This includes setting up SPO intensification sites in select forces which aim to drive up use of SPOs and provide opportunities to test innovative approaches to enforce conditions and monitor breaches, which could be adopted nationwide.
In addition, we are improving police understanding, identification and response to stalking, by ensuring all police forces implement changes following the stalking super-complaint. To provide a framework to support police and other agencies to coordinate their response to stalking cases, we are also introducing a power for the Secretary of State to issue multi-agency statutory guidance on stalking through the Crime and Policing Bill.