Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will publish a strategy for new rolling stock to be procured by passenger train operators contracted by her Department.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has begun work to develop a long-term rolling stock and infrastructure strategy, the first for more than three decades and we expect to publish it next year. The strategy will place the needs of passengers at its heart and will pursue modern standards of carbon-friendly traction, passenger comfort and accessibility.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress is being made to ensure women in North East Somerset & Hanham have access to menopause treatments on the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that women suffering from symptoms of menopause have been failed for far too long, and we acknowledge the impact it has on women’s lives, relationships, and participation in the workplace.
The number of women in Bath and North East Somerset receiving hormone replacement therapy, commonly used to relieve menopause symptoms, has increased by approximately 85%, from 15,770 women in 2021/22, to 29,140 in 2024/25. The Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire integrated care board (ICB) has also commissioned its general practices (GPs) to provide testosterone replacement to menopausal women, who are affected by low libido as a result of ongoing hormone replacement therapy treatments.
Hanham falls within the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care System area, within which seven primary care networks are trialling the use of group education and group consultations for menopause. Over 1,000 people have attended a group education session. The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust Menopause Service is running a training clinic for six GPs with additional qualifications in menopause, to upskill further in menopause care and help reduce waiting lists.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made in developing an evidence base to consider whether decapods should have greater protection.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has commissioned research to address a knowledge gap about how live decapods move from sea to plate. This is due to finish in 2026. In addition, a project on the welfare of decapod crustaceans across the supply chain is included in the Animal Welfare Committee’s current work plan.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress his department is making on delivering new jobs for North East Somerset & Hanham in clean energy industries.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our Clean Energy Jobs Plan sets out how the number of jobs supported by clean energy industries is estimated to grow from around 440,000 jobs in 2023 to support 860,000 jobs across the UK by 2030.
In South-West England, the demand is estimated to reach up to 35,000 direct jobs by the end of the decade, which is an increase of up to 15,000 jobs.
This is driven by projects in the wider area, such as Hinkley Point C, which will have at least 25,000 jobs during construction, 900 jobs during operation, 1,000 apprenticeships, and adult training placements.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps she is taking to help increase incomes of working families in North East Somerset & Hanham.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
On 1 April 2025, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased to £12.21 per hour for eligible workers aged 21 and over. This represents a pay rise of £1,400 per year for a full-time worker and has benefitted around 3 million low-paid workers. Living standards, as measured by Real Household Disposable Income (RHDI) per capita, are 2.1% higher than before the election. This means that the average person’s disposable income is £800 higher now than just before the election in real terms.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress is being made to improve North East Somerset & Hanham patient access to GPs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are expanding capacity in general practice and delivering more appointments to patients. North East Somerset and Hanham sit within the NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board area, which has seen a 9.4% rise in the number of general practice appointments delivered over the past year, with 304,000 appointments delivered in September 2025 compared to 278,000 appointments delivered in September 2024. This is above the national average increase of 6.6%.
In October 2024, we have invested £160 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme and given additional flexibilities to recruit 2,500 new general practitioners into primary care networks across England. We have invested an additional £1.1 billion in general practice to reinforce the front door of the NHS. This is the biggest increase in over a decade. Additionally, the new £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund will create additional clinical space within over 1,000 general practices across England to deliver 8.3 million more appointments each year.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 strengthen maternity and neonatal care for people in North East Somerset & Hanham.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston Trust (UHBW), the North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT), and the Royal United Hospitals NHS Trust (RUH) provide maternity services for North East Somerset and Hanham.
Steps taken at UHBW and NBT include: a well-established Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) that replicates national guidance; achieving full compliance against all 10 maternity safety actions for the second year running; good progress against ‘Saving Babies Lives’ Version 3; and working to reduce inequalities in maternity and neonatal care through collaboration with the Race and Health Observatory and Black Maternity Matters anti-racism training for perinatal staff.
Steps taken at RUH include robust oversight of perinatal quality improvement projects as part of NHS England’s ‘Savings Babies Lives’ care bundle, including the smoke-free pregnancy incentive voucher scheme, and working with families through initiatives such as the MNVP.
At a national level, Baroness Amos is leading a rapid, national, independent investigation into National Health Service maternity and neonatal services to help us to understand the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies, and families experience unacceptable care. The Government is also setting up a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. The taskforce will take forward the recommendations of the investigation to develop a new national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his department is making on its target to reduce the time taken for cancer diagnoses.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is supporting the National Health Service to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS), for 75% of patients to be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days of being referred urgently by their general practitioner for suspected cancer. NHS England collects and publishes monthly FDS performance data nationally and for individual cancer groups.
To achieve the FDS, NHS England rolled out public awareness campaigns of cancer signs and symptoms, streamlined referral routes for different cancer types, and is increasing the availability of diagnostic capacity through the roll-out of more community diagnostic centres.
NHS England has also achieved full roll out of non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms which do not clearly align to a tumour type.
Between October 2024 and September 2025, approximately 193,000 more patients got a cancer diagnosis or the all-clear on time than in the year from July 2023 to June 2024.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he is making in supporting local authorities to build social housing in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 58440 on 17 June, the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771), and the Social and Affordable Homes Programme policy statement published on 7 November which can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures her Department is implementing to improve support for children in mainstream schools who have special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government has been clear that a more inclusive education system is needed to give children and young people opportunities they need to achieve and thrive. All schools have a duty to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Our new RISE teams will work with mainstream schools to help them become more inclusive places as one of four priority areas for improvement. Settings will be held to account for their support for pupils with SEND through Ofsted, who are focusing on inclusion in their new approach to inspection. Their renewed education inspection framework sets out how leaders should be aware of and responsive to some pupils’ increased likelihood of needing help, including those with SEND, and should ensure appropriate reasonable adjustments for pupils with disabilities.