Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
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 ensure continuity of mental health care for people leaving prison.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Chief Medical Officer’s report on the health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure National Health Service estate in England was published on 6 November 2025 and we are carefully considering its findings and recommendations.
The Department is committed to working with health and justice partners to support the continuity of mental health care for people leaving prison. This includes supporting prison leavers who have engaged in treatment while in custody to continue to access services in the community.
One service available is RECONNECT, which provides a care after custody service designed to improve the continuity of care for people leaving prison or an immigration removal centre who have an identified health need. The service works with individuals before release to support their transition to community-based services, helping to safeguard health gains made while in custody.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
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 adequacy of mental health provision for people in prisons.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Chief Medical Officer’s report on the health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure National Health Service estate in England was published on 6 November 2025 and we are carefully considering its findings and recommendations.
Healthcare services in the prison estate are commissioned by NHS England. All prison healthcare providers are commissioned and contracted to use National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
Every prison in England has onsite healthcare teams providing primary care, mental health, dentistry, and substance misuse services. As part of the formal prisoner induction process, all prisoners undergo health screening that incorporates a mental health assessment. The secondary care mental health assessment is carried out by a mental health professional. Routine assessments are carried out within five working days. Where an individual is in a state of mental health crisis, presents with rapidly escalating needs, or is at risk of immediate harm to themselves or others, an urgent assessment should be undertaken within 48 hours.
NHS England commissions health needs assessments across the prison estate to determine the needs of the prison population and is updating all 19 health and justice service specifications by March 2026 to ensure it continues to meet those needs while assessing opportunities to improve healthcare in prisons.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help county councils in using closure notices and closure orders under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The closure power, under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, enables police or local councils to quickly close premises which are causing or likely to cause nuisance or disorder.
County councils may issue a closure notice and apply directly for closure orders in England and Wales providing that there is no district council in the area.
The closure power, along with all the powers in the 2014 Act, is deliberately local in nature, and it is for the relevant local agencies to determine whether its use is appropriate in the specific circumstances.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to improve cross-Government coordination on the delivery of Government priorities in rural areas.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Since coming into office, this Government has taken action to ensure rural communities begin to feel the benefits of change they voted for at the last election.
We have allocated £1.9 billion into broadband and 4G connectivity, and £2.3 billion of transport funding for local places, across rural communities.
The Cabinet Office plays an important role in convening Ministers across Government and deploying the record £10.5 billion we have invested in flood defences; and to support rural communities through our Flood Resilience Partnership.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many retailers have been prosecuted for the sale of non-compliant or illegal vaping products in each of the last five years in (a) Suffolk Coastal, (b) Suffolk and (c) East Anglia.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold information on prosecutions for the sale of illegal vaping products as the prosecuting authority for such offences is primarily local authority Trading Standards departments.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
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 improve the identification of mental health needs among people entering the criminal justice system.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to diverting offenders with mental health, substance misuse, and other vulnerabilities away from prison or out of the criminal justice system altogether, where appropriate.
NHS Liaison and Diversion services identify people who have mental health, learning disability, substance misuse or other vulnerabilities when they first come into contact with the criminal justice system as suspects, defendants or offenders.
Mental health screening also takes place when someone is detained in prison, as set out in the National Health Service service specification for health care in prisons. As part of the formal prisoner induction process, all prisoners must undergo health screening that incorporates a mental health assessment. This is an essential standard under the specification.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing councils to take more rapid action to shut down shops repeatedly found to be trading illegally.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to taking further action against illicit activity on high streets. There has already been a significant crackdown on illegal working, raising enforcement activity to the highest levels in recorded history. The 2025 Budget provided £15 million per year for a range of additional interventions, including an uplift in funding for Trading Standards and a cross-government taskforce to better understand and disrupt criminality on our high streets.
Alongside this, our Pride in Place Programme will give local communities greater control to influence the make-up of their high streets, and support communities to take ownership of shops and key assets. These measures build on existing powers to ensure that high streets remain safe, vibrant, and welcoming for consumers and legitimate businesses.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
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 ensure that local authorities are able to act swiftly where there is evidence of illegal tobacco or vaping products being sold on high streets.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will strengthen enforcement and crack down on rogue retailers selling illegal tobacco and vaping products. The bill enables ministers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products, and enables the introduction of a new registration system for tobacco, vape, and nicotine products that are sold on the United Kingdom’s market. This will help ensure products are compliant with product safety and standards requirements and enable Trading Standards to remove non-compliant products from the market quickly and efficiently.
Alongside the bill, the Government has announced £10 million of new funding in 2025/26 to Trading Standards, to support the enforcement of illicit and underage tobacco and vape sales in England, and the implementation of the measures in the bill. This funding is being used to boost the Trading Standards workforce by recruiting 94 new apprentices. This will provide greater workforce capacity, enabling swifter enforcement action against illicit activity.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
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 strengthen trading standards enforcement against rogue high street traders.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Trading Standards are provided by local authorities who operate independently from central government and make enforcement decisions according to local need. The department continues to engage with Trading Standards and supports their efforts and work in tackling rogue high street traders.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of underage access to vape products on young people’s health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health advice is clear, that whilst vapes can be an effective quit aid for adult smokers, children and young people should never vape.
The leading health risk to children and young people from vaping is nicotine addiction, and evidence suggests that young people may be more susceptible to the effects of nicotine. There are also potential health risks associated with the other ingredients in vapes which when overheated may produce toxic compounds. Vaping is associated with health problems such as asthma, coughing, and poor mental health, and is linked to other risky behaviours, such as drug use. Evidence on the longer-term health effects of vaping are still emerging.
To address this, the Government is progressing the Tobacco and Vapes Bill through Parliament, which includes a package of measures that will protect young people from the known and emerging harms of nicotine and vaping products. To better understand the longer-term effects of vaping on young people, the Government has commissioned a significant package of research including a £62 million research project funded by UK Research and Innovation.