Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 122234, what steps were taken in response to those three whistleblowing reports; and whether any procedural, governance and training changes have been implemented as a result.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The following table shows the action taken after each concern was raised, and the outcome:
Concern number | Nature of conflict of interest (COI) | Action | Outcome |
Concern 1 | Alleged non-declaration of a COI | Investigated (human resource procedures) | Upheld |
Concern 2 | Alleged non-declaration of a COI | Taken forward by management and human resources | No investigation required |
Concern 3 | Concern that an investigator lacked impartiality | Considered and responded to | No investigation required |
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s Nominated Officers/Fraud Officers have developed a set of slides that they will present to teams later in the year to remind staff and managers of the COI procedures and why they are important, and to disseminate learning from the first two concerns.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of reports of networks linked to the Iranian regime using AI-generated images and videos to disseminate fabricated scenes of conflict on social media platforms; and what steps she is taking with international partners to disrupt such activity and strengthen global resilience to state-sponsored disinformation.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are concerned about reports of alleged Iranian information manipulation and interference both in the Middle East and beyond. The government has invested in our capacity to disrupt information networks targeting the UK and our international partners and will continue to do so. It is clear that artificial intelligence poses challenges, for example, by making it potentially quicker, easier, and cheaper for malign actors to conduct information operations. We will continue to work with our allies, and through the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, in partnership with technology companies, to understand the growing impact of artificial intelligence on states' ability to conduct information operations.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the (i) risks to women involved in commercial surrogacy arrangements in Nigeria, including (a) maternal mortality, (b) contractual conditions and (c) time for women to review and consent to contracts and (ii) potential impact of those risks on her Department’s policy on safeguarding in international surrogacy cases.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK believes that all people have the right to make their own informed decisions about if, whether, when and how to have children. As part of a range of assisted conception options, surrogacy may be an option, but it requires laws and regulations to protect the health, wellbeing and rights of the individuals involved. International commercial surrogacy arrangements can involve risks in some circumstances, especially where there are high rates of maternal mortality, such as in Nigeria, or weak regulatory frameworks. It should be noted that, through the UK's health programming, including the Lafiya programme, we are working with the Government of Nigeria to improve maternal and reproductive health care.