Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will consider recognising Long Covid as an occupational disease.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is advised by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), an independent scientific body, on the changes to the list of occupational diseases for which Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit can be paid.
IIAC has published Command Papers on COVID-19 and its occupational impacts. The Department is considering the recommendations in these documents which can be accessed here: COVID-19 and Occupational Impacts - GOV.UK and Occupational Impact of COVID-19 in the Transport and Education Sectors - GOV.UK
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of consolidating the specific grant for the Police Uplift Programme into the core policing grant.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The 2026-27 provisional police funding settlement (18 December) published that total funding to Territorial Police Forces will be up to £18.3 billion, an increase of up to £746 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. This equates to a 4.2% cash increase and a 2.0% real terms increase for the policing system. On 16th January, forces received a letter inviting views on the delivery of Neighbourhood Policing model.
The Government has listened to policing’s concerns about the Officer Maintenance Grant and its requirement to achieve a specified officer headcount target. This funding mechanism has in some instances led to forces placing more officers in back-office roles which is not helpful in supporting visible policing and prevents forces from building a workforce with the mix of skills necessary to tackle crime.
The Government’s position is that people want to see neighbourhood police on the streets. We recognise the need to improve trust and confidence in policing – strengthening neighbourhood policing is a way of achieving that goal.
Final force level funding allocations for 2026-27 will be published at a Final Police Funding Settlement by the end of January.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to review the police funding formula before the next comprehensive spending review.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary considers the distribution of funding each year to ensure decisions promote police efficiency, effectiveness and support the Government’s wider programme of reform.
Further details regarding police funding for 2026-27 will be set out in the upcoming Final Police Funding Settlement.