Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of renegotiating current private finance debt to reduce future payouts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts are not held by the Department. Contracts are held between the local National Health Service trust and their respective private finance company. The contracts were let for a prescribed period of time, with the terms set at the outset and limited areas for renegotiation.
The Department’s Private Finance Team together with the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority provides expert support and advice to NHS trusts with PFI contracts on a case-by-case basis, considering all options available whilst maintaining contractual compliance. This includes, but is not limited to, improving the performance of existing contracts, assessing the costs of existing contracts and where efficiencies and savings can be realised, and managing hand back of the assets at the end of the contract term. The Department’s Private Finance team also continues to assess opportunities to refinance debt where possible and where it would be value for money.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
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 impact of (a) changes in patient need, (b) drug prices, (c) inflation and (d) changes in the level of private finance debt on the budget for the NHS in each of the next ten years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington on 1 December 2025 to Question 93637.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has issued guidance to (a) schools and (b) educational establishments to make them aware of potential concerns with Colours Play Sand.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK regulators are in touch with counterparts in Australia regarding reports of chemical concerns related to rainbow-coloured sand products. There is no evidence these products are available on the UK market. Our product safety regulations require businesses to only place safe consumer products on the market, including toys or products aimed at children. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), in my Department, and Local Authority Trading Standards enforce the regulations, and have powers to remove products from sale and prevent imports where unsafe items are identified.
The Government does not collect data on sales of individual products.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to communicate concerns of potential harmful substances in Educational Colours Rainbow Sand.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK regulators are in touch with counterparts in Australia regarding reports of chemical concerns related to rainbow-coloured sand products. There is no evidence these products are available on the UK market. Our product safety regulations require businesses to only place safe consumer products on the market, including toys or products aimed at children. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), in my Department, and Local Authority Trading Standards enforce the regulations, and have powers to remove products from sale and prevent imports where unsafe items are identified.
The Government does not collect data on sales of individual products.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data he holds on how many packs of educational colours rainbow sand was sold before it was no longer available.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK regulators are in touch with counterparts in Australia regarding reports of chemical concerns related to rainbow-coloured sand products. There is no evidence these products are available on the UK market. Our product safety regulations require businesses to only place safe consumer products on the market, including toys or products aimed at children. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), in my Department, and Local Authority Trading Standards enforce the regulations, and have powers to remove products from sale and prevent imports where unsafe items are identified.
The Government does not collect data on sales of individual products.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a new national strategy for palliative and end-of-life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England.
The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and will enable integrated care boards to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan.
Further information about the MSF is set out in the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available to schools to tackle the challenges faced by pupils living in poverty, including access to (a) free school meals, (b) mental health services and (c) after-school programmes in the North East.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We are supporting schools to tackle the challenges faced by pupils in poverty. As part of this support, schools will receive pupil premium funding worth over £3 billion in the 2025/26 financial year to support the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils.
The removal of the two-child limit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures announced this year, including the expansion of free school meals, which will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament and put £500 back in families’ pockets. Further, we are delivering on our pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children.
We are also providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding mental health support teams (MHSTs). As of April 2025, 57% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in the North East region were covered by an MHST.
The department will also publish an Enrichment Framework, providing advice for schools on delivering a high-quality enrichment offer, including extra-curricular activities after school.
Since September 2024, the department has invested over £180 million in the National Wraparound Programme, which has created over 50,000 additional childcare places.
Support with costs for wraparound childcare is also available for eligible parents through the Tax-Free Childcare and the childcare element of Universal Credit.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures are in place to ensure that children from low-income families in the North East have access to high-quality early years education; and what additional support is being provided to reduce disparities in readiness for primary school.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government’s Plan for Change commits to giving children the best start in life. From age 2, children in low-income families, those with education, health and care plans, and looked-after children are eligible for 15 hours of funded early education.
Disadvantaged children may also receive the early years pupil premium (EYPP).
From April 2025, this was increased by 45%. From next year, we will provide additional funding to extend EYPP in areas most in need, and test different approaches to using this funding to understand how best to maximise its impact.
As part of the Opportunity Mission, £37 million has been awarded to 300 primary schools to create or expand nurseries.
The department is establishing Best Start Family Hubs to provide greater support for families. Local authorities are also developing ambitious Best Start local plans to meet the milestone to get a record number of children school ready every year by 2028.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether they plan to increase or redistribute funding to schools in the North East.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) is used to allocate core funding for mainstream schools in England. We have now published the NFF for 2026/27, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-for-schools-and-high-needs-from-2025.
Through the NFF, the North East is receiving £2,341 million in provisional funding for mainstream schools in the 2026/27 financial year. This represents an increase of £62 million compared to the 2025/26 financial year.
These figures are based on pupil numbers from the 2025/26 dedicated schools grant (DSG). Final allocations will be based on updated pupil numbers in the 2026/27 DSG.
In the North East, average per pupil funding through the schools NFF will be £6,852 in the 2026/27 financial year. This compares to £6,671 per pupil in the 2025/26 financial year. The 2025/26 comparison figure includes the schools budget support grant and National Insurance contributions grants that were paid outside the NFF in 2025/26, to ensure a fair comparison.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has commissioned research into the potential impact of occupational exposure to hazardous medicinal products among nursing staff on (a) reproductive and (b) other long‑term health; and what assessment he has made of the cost to the NHS of sickness absence related to such exposure.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As per our response to questions PQ87515, PQ84145, and PQ84445 on 11 November 2025, the Government has not commissioned any research on the reproductive health outcomes or long-term health effects of the occupational exposure of nursing staff to hazardous medicinal products. No assessment has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of sickness absence related to this.