Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to mandate the installation of automated external defibrillators in retirement (a) villages and (b) homes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the Fund.
The Department selected a joint bid from Smarter Society as its independent partner to manage grant applications. Smarter Society reviewed funding applications, against requirements specified by the Department. These requirements were to ensure that the resource was allocated where there was the greatest need, e.g. remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.
At present, there are no plans to introduce legislation requiring the installation of AEDs in retirement villages and homes. Additionally, the Department has not conducted a formal assessment of the number of AEDs currently in place within these facilities. As noted above, this is because AEDs are allocated based on greatest need, and collecting this data would not likely be decision relevant.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
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 proportion of retirement (a) villages and (b) homes without automated external defibrillators.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the Fund.
The Department selected a joint bid from Smarter Society as its independent partner to manage grant applications. Smarter Society reviewed funding applications, against requirements specified by the Department. These requirements were to ensure that the resource was allocated where there was the greatest need, e.g. remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.
At present, there are no plans to introduce legislation requiring the installation of AEDs in retirement villages and homes. Additionally, the Department has not conducted a formal assessment of the number of AEDs currently in place within these facilities. As noted above, this is because AEDs are allocated based on greatest need, and collecting this data would not likely be decision relevant.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2025 to Question 65243 on Prisoners' Release, what data her Department holds on trends over time in the average length of time spent on recall for (a) determinate sentenced prisoners and (b) all prisoners.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The requested information for the average length of time spent on recall for indeterminate prisoners can be found in Table 5_Q_11 of the Department’s Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/680923bf148a9969d2394f58/licence-recalls-Oct-to-Dec-2024.ods.
The corresponding information for determinate sentenced prisoners is only obtainable at disproportionate cost as it requires data matching between different data systems (namely prison recall information from the Public Protection Unit Database, and prisoner release information from prison-NOMIS).
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2025 to Question 65241 on Prisoners on Remand, what data her Department holds on trends in the average length of time spent on remand in that period.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Information relating to the time spent on custodial remand is not centrally held by the Ministry of Justice. To obtain the data to answer this question would involve a manual interrogation of court records which would result in a disproportionate cost to the Department.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with (a) OfQual (b) examination boards on the potential impact of moving most GCSEs for most pupils to a digital format.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18. The Review is evaluating the existing national curriculum and assessment system in England, to ensure they are fit for purpose. The Review panel published an interim report in March 2025 which highlighted that further work is ongoing to consider the issue of onscreen assessment. The interim report is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821d69eced319d02c9060e3/Curriculum_and_Assessment_Review_interim_report.pdf.
The department and Ofqual are considering the potential risks and benefits of onscreen assessment, including the implications for schools and colleges, students and other stakeholders.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of potential advantages and disadvantages of moving most GCSEs for most pupils to a digital format.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18. The Review is evaluating the existing national curriculum and assessment system in England, to ensure they are fit for purpose. The Review panel published an interim report in March 2025 which highlighted that further work is ongoing to consider the issue of onscreen assessment. The interim report is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821d69eced319d02c9060e3/Curriculum_and_Assessment_Review_interim_report.pdf.
The department and Ofqual are considering the potential risks and benefits of onscreen assessment, including the implications for schools and colleges, students and other stakeholders.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press release entitled UK and Albania agree groundbreaking new arrangement on prisoner transfers, published on 24 May 2023, how many prisoners have been transferred under the agreement with Albania in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Between 17 July and 31 December 2024 (the latest period for which validated figures are available), four Albanian national offenders were transferred to Albania under the bi-lateral Prison Transfer Agreement. Prisoner transfer is just one scheme where foreign national offenders can be removed early from prison and it is more suited to those serving longer sentences. The Government pursues removal through all available mechanisms and during 2024, 1,610 Albanian foreign national offenders were removed from England and Wales, up 7% from the previous year.