Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available for people discontinuing anti-depressants.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In 2022, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published the guideline Medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: safe prescribing and withdrawal management for adults, which makes recommendations on discontinuing antidepressant medication. This is also addressed in Depression in adults: treatment and management. Further information on the guidelines on medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms and depression in adults is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng215

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng222/chapter/Recommendations

In 2023, NHS England published Optimising personalised care for adults prescribed medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: Framework for action for integrated care boards (ICBs) and primary care. The framework includes five actions, resources, and case studies to help develop plans that can support people who are taking medicines associated with dependence and withdrawal symptoms. The framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/optimising-personalised-care-for-adults-prescribed-medicines-associated-with-dependence-or-withdrawal-symptoms/

NHS England is also encouraging ICBs to address inappropriate antidepressant prescribing and to consider commissioning services for patients wishing to reduce or stop prescribed medicines that can cause dependence and withdrawal. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-medicines-optimisation-opportunities-2023-24/

The Government recognises that too many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long. This is why we are committed to ensuring we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will recognise Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction as a condition.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The current Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved product information for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has a warning for the risk of sexual dysfunction where symptoms continue despite stopping treatment.

The term Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction was added to the regulatory dictionary in 2021, which will help with the recording and retrieval of Yellow Card data and literature cases, and in the future, will contribute to the much needed research into this important health issue.

Persistent sexual dysfunction following withdrawal of an SSRI, as a disorder, was added to the electronic health records system SNOMED in October 2024, as a code that will help with the clinical identification of patients with persistent sexual dysfunction, including after taking SSRIs.

An Expert Working Group of the Commission on Human Medicines has been established by the MHRA to consider how the risk of sexual dysfunction which continues after stopping antidepressants use is communicated in patient information leaflets, however this work will not address the clinical recognition of post-SSRI sexual dysfunction, as that is outside the remit of the MHRA.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance (a) his Department and (b) NHS England provide to people who are prescribed SSRIs on the risks of developing Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved product information provided to healthcare professionals and patients for all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) was updated in 2019 to inform them that reports had been received of long-lasting sexual dysfunction where symptoms continue despite discontinuation of the SSRI. The MHRA was an integral part of the European Union-wide review of the available evidence, which underpinned the current warnings.

An Expert Working Group of the Commission on Human Medicines has been established to review evidence from patients and the scientific literature available since 2019, to address concerns about the ongoing lack of awareness of the existing warnings in the product information. A range of regulatory options are under consideration to help improve the communication of the risk of sexual dysfunction where symptoms continue after taking SSRIs.

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 implications for his policies of the recommendations of the report entitled Recipe for health: A plan to fix our broken food system by the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee, published on 24 October 2024.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

After the House of Lords’ Food, Diet and Obesity Committee report published in October 2024, the Government published its response to the report on 30 January 2025. It is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-house-of-lords-food-and-health-report

The Government welcomed the report and gave thanks to everyone involved in giving evidence and producing the recommendations. The response agreed with the committee’s assessment of the challenges in the food environment driving obesity rates. To best direct further policy action here, we are developing the National Health Service’s 10-Year Health Plan as well as a cross-Government Food Strategy, and will make more information available in due course.

As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, we are committed to achieving our Health Mission to build an NHS fit for the future, and under the 10-Year Health Plan to shift from sickness to prevention.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of making (a) fipronil and (b) imidacloprid prescription-only.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Parasiticides containing imidacloprid and fipronil play a crucial role in protecting animal and human health against fleas, ticks, and the diseases they spread. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) also acknowledges concerns raised about their presence in the environment.

The VMD is gathering evidence on the environmental impact of flea and tick treatments and has led in establishing the cross-government Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PiE) Group, which has developed a roadmap to help reduce levels of fipronil and imidacloprid in UK surface waters. The immediate priority is to work with stakeholders to promote appropriate use of topical parasiticides for pets, aiming to reduce environmental impacts. Beyond this, actions focus on building our evidence base to inform future policy activities.

While we continue to assess emerging evidence, we consider it essential that these treatments remain appropriately accessible to all pet owners that may need them, in order to effectively manage parasitic disease, which has implications for animal welfare and human health. Therefore, at this stage, there are no plans to restrict flea and tick treatments to prescription. Any future regulatory decisions will be based on robust scientific evidence to ensure both environmental protection and continued access to essential veterinary medicines for pet owners.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a tax on ultra-processed food.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The ‘Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy’ consultation, published last month, seeks ways to encourage producers to remove added sugar from soft drinks. Specifically, it sets out proposals to reduce the minimum sugar threshold at which the levy applies from 5g to 4g sugar per 100ml, and to remove the current exemptions for milk-based and milk substitute drinks with added sugar. These changes would be estimated to reduce calorie consumption by 15 million kcal per day in children and 46 million kcal per day in adults, achieving health and economic benefits of around £4.2 billion over 25 years.

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 ensure that fire and rescue services have the (a) personnel and (b) life saving equipment they need to safely respond to incidents of (i) flooding, (ii) wildfires and (iii) other extreme weather events.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement, published on 3 February by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG), sets out funding allocations for all local authorities, including Fire and Rescue Authorities. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £65.5m in 2025/26. Including the National Insurance Contribution Grant, this is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25. Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each Fire and Rescue Authority.

MHCLG also supports fire and rescue authorities in responding to flood incidents by providing national resilience High Volume Pump (HVP) capability comprising 45 HVPs.

Additionally, since 2024 the government has funded a national resilience wildfire advisor to consider whether additional national wildfire capabilities might be needed within the Fire and Rescue Services and to increase the coordination approaches across the sector.

The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure Fire and Rescue Services have the resources they need to protect communities.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to align the UK with EU regulatory protections for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in his revised Environmental Improvement Plan.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The revised EIP, which will be published later this year, will set out action the government is taking to address environment risks from chemicals, including PFAS.

We have reset our relations with our European partners, and we now need to use our strengthened relations to deliver a long-term UK-EU strategic partnership. However, it is too early to comment on the outcome of discussions linked to the UK/EU Summit that takes place on 19 May.

Found: Q197 Jayne Kirkham: I was going to start with the SFI scheme.

Found: Helena Dollimore (Labour; Hastings and Rye) Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat; Glastonbury and Somerton) Jayne Kirkham

Found: Q561 Jayne Kirkham: Yes, I am going to ask about ownership.

Submit Evidence (by 18 Jun 2025)

Much of the UK economy is still linear, based on the principles of using and disposing of products and the resources used to make them. This wastage leads to widespread environmental pollution and the continual and unsustainable need to extract finite resources.