To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Sexually Transmitted Infections: Notifiable Diseases
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's consultation entitled Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010: proposed amendments which closed on 15 November 2023, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the inclusion of (a) gonorrhoea and (b) syphilis in the list of notifiable diseases on the (i) principle of confidentiality for sexual health service users and (ii) willingness of individuals to access sexual health services.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Patient confidentiality is of vital importance to retain patients’ trust in sexual health services, and to encourage access to advice, testing, diagnosis, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

A public consultation seeking views on proposals to amend the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010 was held between 12 July and 15 November 2023. This included the proposal to add specific STIs to schedule 2 of the regulations to strengthen surveillance. The consultation asked for views on the consequences of this change, including whether it could negatively impact public trust in the confidentiality of sexual health services and data and risk creating a barrier to accessing sexual services.

The Department and the UK Health Security Agency are considering the responses to the consultation and are grateful for stakeholders’ continued engagement on this topic.


Written Question
Sexually Transmitted Infections: Notifiable Diseases
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to consult key sector stakeholders before final decisions are taken on proposed sexual health reporting amendments included in her Department's consultation entitled Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010: proposed amendments which closed on 15 November 2023.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Patient confidentiality is of vital importance in sexual health to retain patients’ trust in services, and to encourage access to advice, testing, diagnosis, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. A public consultation seeking views on proposals to amend the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations (HPNR) 2010 was held between 12 July and 15 November 2023. This included a commitment that any decision on adding specific sexually transmitted infections to schedule 2 of the regulations would be shaped by consultation responses and engagement with stakeholders.

The Department and the UK Health Security Agency are considering the responses to the consultation and are grateful for stakeholders’ continued engagement on this topic.


Written Question
National Physical Activity Taskforce
Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many times the National Physical Activity Task Force has met; when those meetings took place; and how many (a) people and (b) women attended each of those meetings.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The National Physical Activity Taskforce (NPAT) was launched in September 2023 as part of the government sport strategy Get Active, to bring together government departments, the sport sector and independent experts to deliver coordinated and innovative policy that will help encourage people to get active.

The NPAT meets quarterly and has held two productive meetings since its launch. The inaugural meeting took place on 27 September 2023, the second on 12 December 2023 with the third scheduled for March 2024.

Each meeting includes standing representatives ex officio, as well as rotating members to ensure diverse representation from across the sport and physical activity landscape. Independent experts are invited on an ad-hoc basis to present key data sets relating to specific meeting topics.

The number of attendees and gender ratio varies at each meeting. The NPAT terms of reference, minutes, and names of attendees are published on gov.uk.


Written Question
Breast Cancer: Health Education
Monday 19th February 2024

Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to deliver a national awareness campaign on breast cancer screening to help improve uptake.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is currently exploring opportunities for national campaigns to support positive outcomes on women’s health.

Work is underway to scope the feasibility of running a national campaign to support breast screening uptake, and this will be informed by pilot activity due to run in London in 2024/25.


Written Question
Breast Cancer: Screening
Monday 19th February 2024

Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons the NHS missed its target of 70% of invited women to be screened for breast cancer in 2022-23.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is committed to improving uptake in the NHS Breast Screening Programme. NHS England has commissioned evaluative projects to understand why women are not coming forward for screenings, and ways to improve uptake, these include:

- actively following up with women who have missed an appointment or not engaged with the service;

- looking at the reasons why women do not attend screenings, to address any barriers; and

- assessing the impact on screening uptake using different invitation methodologies with reference to factors such as age, previous screening history including attendance at first invitation and subsequent invites, and deprivation.

These projects are expected to report by April 2024.


Written Question
Breast Cancer: Screening
Monday 19th February 2024

Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase breast cancer screening uptake (a) in general and (b) in (i) areas and (ii) communities where uptake is lowest.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has developed a national plan to improve uptake within the breast screening programme, part of which involves interventions to address inequalities and screening barriers. This includes working to ensure that breast screening appointments are as convenient to people as possible and focusing its efforts on low uptake areas and groups. NHS England is also working to ensure they have data, including on protected characteristics, to support services to deliver more targeted initiatives.


Written Question
Afghanistan: Girls
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much has been spent on helping Afghan girls to study maths and science since 2021; and how much money has been allocated for that purpose for the next five years.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Providing girls with 12 years of quality and equitable education is a global FCDO priority. FCDO does not disaggregate our education spend by subject. The UK Government strongly condemns the restrictions the Taliban have imposed on Afghan women and girls, and we are working with the international community to press the Taliban to reverse their restrictive decisions on girls' education. We continue to support the delivery of education in Afghanistan, including through NGOs, UN partners, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Education Cannot Wait, and the Global Partnership for Education. Our bilateral support has enabled 125,000 children, of which 83,700 are girls, to access education between September 2022 and June 2023.


Written Question
Afghanistan: Girls
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with NGOs in Afghanistan on STEM teaching for girls in that country.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Girl's education globally is a priority for the FCDO. The UK has not specifically engaged with NGOs in Afghanistan on STEM teaching for girls. Our support focuses on foundational learning, which includes numeracy, literacy and socio-emotional skills. We are working with the international community to press the Taliban to reverse their restrictive decisions on girls' education, while we continue to support the delivery of education, including through NGOs, UN partners, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Education Cannot Wait, and the Global Partnership for Education. Our bilateral support has enabled 125,000 children, of which 83,700 are girls, to access education between September 2022 and June 2023.


Written Question
Regional Planning and Development
Wednesday 7th February 2024

Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential impact of its proposals to change the (a) income and (b) net asset financial promotion exemption thresholds for defining high-net-worth (i) individuals and (ii) sophisticated investors on trends in the level of regional economic development.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The changes to the financial promotion exemptions that came into force on 31 January 2024 were subject to a public consultation which closed in March 2022. Respondents to the consultation were broadly supportive of the changes being made. Impacts of the proposals were considered, and a de minimis impact assessment was published alongside the final reforms.

However, the Government recognises the significant concerns that have been raised recently about these changes. I met last week with the angel investing sector and listened carefully to the representations made, and the Government is working closely with the sector to address the concerns raised.


Written Question
Wealth: Women
Wednesday 7th February 2024

Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the number of women that will meet the new (a) income and (b) net asset financial promotion exemption thresholds for defining high-net-worth (i) individuals and (ii) sophisticated investors.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The changes to the financial promotion exemptions that came into force on 31 January 2024 were subject to a public consultation which closed in March 2022. Respondents to the consultation were broadly supportive of the changes being made. Impacts of the proposals were considered, and a de minimis impact assessment was published alongside the final reforms.

However, the Government recognises the significant concerns that have been raised recently about these changes. I met last week with the angel investing sector and listened carefully to the representations made, and the Government is working closely with the sector to address the concerns raised.