Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 improve diabetes (a) prevention, (b) care and (c) treatment.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Preventing diabetes is a complex task, and requires multi-faceted action. Prevention involves collaboration in order to tackle the underlying issues such obesity, poor diets, and lifestyle issues. We have several programmes in place to help reduce the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, such as the NHS Health Check, England’s flagship cardiovascular disease programme for those aged 40 to 74 years old, which aims to identify people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes as well as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and some cases of dementia, in order to signpost them to behavioural support such as weight management and clinical treatment if needed.
Furthermore, those identified of being at risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be referred to the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, a nine-month programme that supports people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes to reduce their risk through changing their behavior. The programme is highly effective, cutting the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 37% for people completing the programme, compared to those who do not attend.
For those young adults, those aged 18 years old and over, who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and who are overweight or obese, the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme is also available. The programme supports individuals to lose weight, improve their blood sugar levels, reduce diabetes-related medication, and put their diabetes into remission. 32% of patients who completed this programme had put their type 2 diabetes into remission following participation. Further information on the programme is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/diabetes/treatment-care/diabetes-remission/
For patients with established diabetes, NHS England achieved their long-term plan objective that 20% of all type 1 diabetes patients are in receipt of flash glucose monitoring as of April 2021. Progress continues to be made for patients with type 1 diabetes, with over 65% of people currently using flash glucose monitoring to help manage their condition. NHS England can confirm that over 200,000 eligible people living with diabetes benefit from real-time continuous glucose monitoring.
Furthermore, following the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) recommendations on access to hybrid closed loop (HCL) technology last year, NICE and NHS England agreed on a phased implementation period for HCL over five-years, with roll-out commencing in April 2024.
All adults with diabetes are recommended, as prescribed by NICE, to enroll in the eight annual health checks, which include: blood sugars (HbA1c); blood pressure; cholesterol; foot examination; kidney function; urinary albumin; body mass index; and smoking. Adherence to these checks have been associated with reduced emergency admissions, amputations, retinopathy, and mortality. The proportion of people with type 1 diabetes who are receiving all eight care processes had recovered back to 43.3% in 2023/24 and 62.3% for type 2 diabetes, compared to 27% and 37%, respectively, in 2020/21.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a regulator for artificial intelligence.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The vast majority of AI systems should be regulated at point of use and our expert regulators are best placed to do this. In response to the AI Action Plan, the Government committed to identifying capability needs for regulators to mitigate AI risks and drive growth.
The most advanced AI systems pose distinct opportunities and risks, and the Government is therefore developing legislative proposals to allow us to safely and securely realise the benefits of these systems. We are refining our proposals and will launch a public consultation in due course.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 the amount of money that has been paid to private clinics for delivering NHS cataract surgery in each of the last six years; and how much of the amount identified represented profit for the companies involved.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Independent providers play an important role supporting the National Health Service to deliver eyecare services, ensuring patients receive the treatment and care they need.
The data is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of bringing water companies into public ownership on (a) bills and (b) infrastructure investment.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Independent research commissioned by the Consumer Council for Water found substantial change to the industry and company ownership would not address the main problems experienced. Nationalising a water company would cost billions of pounds, and it would take years to unpick the current ownership model. It would frankly slow down our reforms, leave the sewage pollution only to get worse and stall much needed investment.
The Independent Water Commission is looking at the ownership, governance, and management of private water companies and whether more needs to be done to support transparency and accountability, which could include stronger duties for management. Further recommendations will follow in the final report.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support local pubs.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Hospitality businesses, including pubs, are at the heart of our communities and play a vital role in supporting economic growth. We've launched a licensing taskforce aimed at cutting red tape and removing barriers that hinder progress. The Government also plans to permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with a rateable value under £500,000.
Additionally, we've introduced a £1.5 million Hospitality Support Scheme to co-fund projects aligned with Department for Business & Trade and Hospitality Sector Council priorities. This includes helping those furthest from the job market into employment and boosting productivity across the sector.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the decision to freeze Local Housing Allowance on rates of poverty.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made using current economic assumptions and methodological practices.
However, the department has previously produced a poverty impact assessment using OBR economic assumptions from 30 October 2024 on an outdated version of the model. Using this methodology, the department has estimated the poverty impact of uprating the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to the 30th percentile of rents in a broad rental market area compared to freezing it. Uprating the LHA to the 30th percentile in each year has been estimated to decrease the number of individuals in relative poverty after housing costs by 50,000 (0.1%) individuals in 25/26 and 100,000 (0.1%) individuals in 28/29 compared to freezing it at April 2024 levels.
Estimates have been rounded to the nearest 50,000 and are on a UK basis. The poverty impacts are independent of the underlying trends in poverty, so they are not an estimate of the total change in poverty over time.
Since this version of the model, the welfare policies announced at Autumn Budget and Spring Statement have been incorporated into the model and the economic assumptions have been updated to OBR's March 2025 assumptions.
At last year’s Autumn Budget, the Secretary of State’s decision to maintain LHA at current levels for 2025/26 was taken after a range of factors were considered, including rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, rate increases in April 2024, and the wider fiscal context. The April 2024 one-year LHA increase cost an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25, and approximately £7bn over 5 years.
Any future decisions on LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing, and the fiscal context.
For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. DHPs can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of social housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549).
The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes.
We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent.
We also confirmed a range of new flexibilities for councils and housing associations, both within the Affordable Homes Programme and in relation to how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts. Having reduced Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels, we have allowed councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales.
The government recognise that Registered Providers need support to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. Between 30 October 2024 and 23 December 2024, the government consulted on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement, to give Registered Providers the certainty they need to invest in new social and affordable housing.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure state schools have adequate levels of funding.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning that it will total £65.3 billion, compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25. This is a 6% overall increase, which against the backdrop of a challenging fiscal picture, demonstrates the government’s commitment to enabling every child to achieve and thrive through delivery of the Opportunity Mission.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to include older women in her Department's (a) policies and (b) decision-making processes.
Answered by Nia Griffith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
The Government is clear that equality and opportunity for all are at the heart of our programme of national renewal. This includes actively considering the needs of older women and ensuring that they are not discriminated against. The Government recognises the challenges some older women can face and is committed to ensuring that support systems are in place. These include improving older people’s participation online through the new Digital Inclusion Action plan, employment support through Jobcentres, and addressing healthcare inequality in the 10 Year Health Plan, to ensure the NHS is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to protect workers' rights for app-based taxi drivers.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Our Plan to Make Work Pay will modernise the UK labour market and address challenges thrown up by new trends and technologies. The Employment Rights Bill is the first phase of delivery, and will provide a new baseline of security for workers. Once implemented, it will raise the minimum floor of employment rights, raise living standards across the country and level the playing field for businesses engaged in good practices.
We have also committed to consult on a simpler employment status framework, distinguishing between workers and the genuinely self-employed, ensuring that all workers have the comfort of protection at work.