Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to support the funding of third-party litigation in London.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises the critical role third-party litigation funding plays in access to justice and is committed to ensuring it works fairly for all.
The Government welcomes the Civil Justice Council review of litigation funding, which will help inform the approach to potential reforms. We are considering the report carefully and will outline next steps in due course.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of spirits duty on the viability of pub in coastal communities.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Alcohol duty is paid by producers, and is therefore not typically paid directly by pubs. Further, according to estimates derived from sales data collected on behalf of the Office for National Statistics, only around 15% of spirits are consumed on-trade.
At Autumn Budget 2025 the Chancellor confirmed that alcohol duty will be uprated on 1 February 2026 to main its current real-terms value. The government does not expect this to have any significant impact on competition between the on and off trades.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of RPI-linked duty increases on consumer prices for spirits in pubs versus supermarkets.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Alcohol duty is paid by producers, and is therefore not typically paid directly by pubs. Further, according to estimates derived from sales data collected on behalf of the Office for National Statistics, only around 15% of spirits are consumed on-trade.
At Autumn Budget 2025 the Chancellor confirmed that alcohol duty will be uprated on 1 February 2026 to main its current real-terms value. The government does not expect this to have any significant impact on competition between the on and off trades.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his department will put in place constitutional standards for hospital discharges.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no immediate plans to introduce additional constitutional standards at this time, including for the timeliness of discharge from hospital.
However, the Urgent and Emergency Care plan for 2025/26 set as a priority that hospitals should tackle the delays in patients waiting to be discharged. They should profile discharges by pathway to support local planning, eliminate discharge delays of more than 48 hours caused by in-hospital issues, and work with local authorities to tackle the longest delays, starting with those over 21 days.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the latest report on Corridor Care from the APPG on Emergency Care, what plans his department has to tackle delayed discharges.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that delayed discharges contribute to shortages of hospital beds and is committed to reducing delayed discharges to free up beds for those who need them.
The 2025/26 Urgent and Emergency Care plan prioritises reducing hospital discharge delays. Hospitals must eliminate in-hospital delays of over 48 hours and work with local authorities to address the longest delays, starting with those exceeding 21 days.
For 2025/26, approximately £9 billion is being provided through the Better Care Fund (BCF), which requires the National Health Service and local authorities to set joint goals for improving discharge performance and preventing unnecessary admissions. From 2026/27, the BCF will be reformed to provide consistent joint funding for key services such as discharge, rehabilitation, and reablement.