Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) UKHSA has made of the potential risks of exposure to high ambient temperatures during pregnancy including (i) stillbirth, (ii) preterm birth and (iii) maternal health complications.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) recognise that there are risks to pregnant women caused by exposure to extreme high temperatures, which are set out in the Adverse weather and health plan equity review and impact assessment 2024. This includes an assessment on stillbirth, pre-term birth, and maternal health complications.
The UKHSA provides a weather-health alerting system for England, which alerts the public, including specific vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, and public sector organisations to prepare for impacts of adverse weather, including high temperatures. Risks to health are communicated via heat-health alerts.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will instruct NHS England to notify each children’s hospice of the amount of NHS funding they will receive over the next three years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Children and young people’s hospices and integrated care boards will be informed of their children and young people’s hospice grant allocations for 2026/27 imminently. Communication regarding future allocations, for 2027/28 and 2028/29, will be sent once the 2026/27 process is complete.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Motor Insurance Taskforce’s final report, published on 10 December 2025, what steps she is taking to assess and help tackle barriers facing low‑income and financially excluded consumers in the motor insurance market; and whether she plans to introduce targeted interventions for those groups.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The taskforce considered proposals related to subsidising motor insurance for households on low incomes but the consequences of direct market intervention are often hard to predict and could result in increased costs for others. The government has no plans to take these proposals forward at this time.
Instead, the taskforce has focused on driving down the cost of claims – rooting out inefficiencies, increasing safety, and reducing opportunities for fraud and theft – to stabilise and ultimately reduce the premiums that all motorists pay, including those on lower incomes.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the likelihood of the £100m contingency from within the £1.5bn allocated for compensating Equitable Life policyholders being needed to make payments to eligible With-Profits Annuitants.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016. The only remaining part of the Payment Scheme in operation is the annual payments made to eligible With-Profit-Annuitants and the Scheme is on track to distribute the remainder of the £1.5 billion as planned.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the reduction in local authority spending on youth services since 2010 on those services; and will she consider embedding minimum sufficiency benchmarks within the forthcoming National Youth Strategy.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential. This is why we are launching a new National Youth Strategy, to set out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.
The Local Youth Transformation Pilot is a new programme to support local authorities to meet their statutory duty, through investing £8 million over 2025/26 to support 12 ‘Pathfinder’ local authorities to start to rebuild a high-quality offer for young people and transition back to local youth services leadership. The pilot will test ways to rebuild local authority capability to ensure a local youth offer which addresses the needs of young people and supports government priorities.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with international partners to help tackle increases in settler violence in the West Bank.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Illegal settlement building in the West Bank continues at an unacceptable pace, and settler violence has reached record levels this Autumn.
We regularly discuss these issues with our international partners, we have imposed sanctions on violent settlers and outposts alike, and we continue to urge the Israeli government both to stop settlement expansion and crack down on the shameful acts of violence being committed by settlers against innocent Palestinian communities.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that end of life care is included in community-based models under the 10-Year Health Plan.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework will put in place clear mechanisms to enable change and support the shift of care from hospital to community, as set out in our 10 Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to work with (a) local organisations and (b) diaspora communities in the UK to support long-term recovery projects for areas most affected by Hurricane Melissa.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain steadfast in our commitment to support regional efforts to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, and we continue to engage with Caribbean Missions in the UK on our response. For details on the UK's response, I refer the Hon. Member to my statement to the House on 4 November 2025, Official Report, vol. 774, cols. 33WS-35WS.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
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 effectiveness of UK humanitarian aid at reaching (a) remote and (b) isolated communities in Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain steadfast in our commitment to support regional efforts to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, and we continue to engage with Caribbean Missions in the UK on our response. For details on the UK's response, I refer the Hon. Member to my statement to the House on 4 November 2025, Official Report, vol. 774, cols. 33WS-35WS.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with her Cabinet colleagues to promote equality as part of the Government mission entitled Break Down Barriers to Opportunity.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter where they are from. However, we know educational inequalities exists across the country. This is not acceptable in Huddersfield or nationally.
The department is tackling inequalities in the system head-on through our Plan for Change. In September, we rolled out 30 hours of funded childcare for working parents, saving eligible parents using their full entitlement an average of £75,000 a year.
We are also rolling out free breakfast clubs in every state-funded primary school, expanding free school meals to all children on Universal Credit, and have delivered the largest ever uplift to early years pupil premium.
We are recruiting an additional 6,500 expert teachers in our schools and colleges and are making good progress, with over 2,000 more teachers in our secondary and special schools.
The department will spend close to £1.5 billion over the next three years on improving family services and early years education to begin the hard work needed.
We will fund Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority to ensure that children and families who need support the most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities, can access it. These hubs will be open to all families but will be located in disadvantaged communities where support is most needed, ensuring services are both inclusive and targeted.