Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 help improve triaging by Accident and Emergency departments at Basildon Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.
NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the NHS in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency on patient safety for people experiencing long waits in Accident and Emergency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.
NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 help reduce the number of patients waiting over 12 hours to be admitted to, or discharged from, Basildon Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.
NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to Answer of 27 January 2026 to Question 106906, how much funding has been allocated through the Worst Served Customers Allowance in each year of the RIIO-ED2 period.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Worst Served Customer Allowance supports targeted reliability improvements for customers who experience persistently poor service. Over the RIIO‑ED2 period it totals £94 million and the annual allocations rises over time: £7.78 million in 2023/24, £11.17 million in 2024/25, £13.40 million in 2025/26, £28.88 million in 2026/27, and £32.87 million in 2027/28.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled UK and Europe sign historic pact to drive clean energy future, published on 26 January 2026, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) resilience and (b) security risks associated with increased shared offshore energy infrastructure in the North Sea.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero works closely across Whitehall and with domestic and international partners to assess and manage the resilience and security risks associated with increased shared offshore energy infrastructure in the North Sea.
Through this cooperation, and in line with the commitments made under the Hamburg Declaration, the Department is ensuring that future offshore hybrid assets and interconnectors are designed, operated, and maintained with proportionate protections against natural hazards and reckless or malign threats.
The United Kingdom benefits from a resilient and diverse energy system, supported by rigorous security and resilience standards and close coordination across government, industry, and international counterparts.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled UK and Europe sign historic pact to drive clean energy future, published on 26 January 2026, how much of the 100 GW of jointly delivered offshore wind capacity agreed under the Hamburg Declaration is expected to be located in UK waters.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Hamburg Declaration sets a collective ambition of 100 GW of offshore wind cooperation projects by 2050. National contributions were not specified. Future GB co-ordinated projects will be guided by domestic strategic energy planning conducted by our National Energy System Operator (NESO), which is due to be consulted on in Q1 2027.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support British manufacturing businesses in the production of new energy projects.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower and deliver clean power by 2030 will accelerate deployment of wind, hydrogen, nuclear, CCUS, heat pumps, and related technologies across the UK.
The government’s Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan targets at least double current investment levels across our Clean Energy Industries to over £30 billion per year by 2035. These are the industries of the future that can create hundreds of thousands of jobs for engineers, technicians, mechanics, electricians, and welders in every corner of the country.
Additionally, the government will provided targeted support to businesses through The National Wealth Fund (NWF) and Great British Energy (GBE). The NWF will deploy £27.8 billion by 2030/31, including £5.8 billion for key clean industry sectors. Energy, Engineered in the UK (EEUK) is GBE’s flagship supply chain investment programme. It will deliver £1 billion of funding to increase UK manufacturing capacity, drive down technology costs, and create and support jobs across the UK.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled UK and Europe sign historic pact to drive clean energy future, published on 26 January 2026, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Hamburg Declaration on the number of people employed in offshore wind-related jobs in the UK.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department has not made specific projections of the number of offshore wind jobs attributable to the Hamburg Declaration.
However, the UK is already leading the way in delivering the commitments set out in the Declaration. Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 7 secured 8.4GW of offshore wind – the biggest ever auction in European history – unlocking 7,000 jobs and driving £22 billion of private sector investment into UK factories and ports.
The Government estimates that the offshore wind sector could support up to 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in Great Britain by 2030.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled UK and Europe sign historic pact to drive clean energy future, published on 26 January 2026, what legal status the Hamburg Declaration has; and whether it creates binding obligations on the UK.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Declaration and its annexes do not create any rights or obligations under national or international law.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what criteria is used to assess the suitability of publicly-funded manufacturing contracts allocated to companies.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Procurement Act sets out the process that contracting authorities follow when assessing the suitability of suppliers for public contracts, including their capacity and capability to deliver. This approach is supported by guidance in the Sourcing Playbook.