Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 October 2025 to Question 75586, whether safeguards, oversight mechanisms and conditions apply to UK assistance to Bangladesh to help ensure that such funding does not contribute to discrimination or persecution of Hindu minority communities.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All UK official development assistance (ODA) funded programmes operate under the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office's Programme Operating Framework, which requires robust controls, mandatory oversight, and compliance with cross‑government project delivery standards, alongside strengthened safeguarding due‑diligence measures and transparency obligations to ensure accountable, safe, and effective use of public funds.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve coordination between health, education, and social care services for families affected by sodium valproate.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone who has been harmed from sodium valproate has our deepest sympathies.
The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, First Do No Harm, identified significant shortcomings in National Health Service care pathways for people harmed by sodium valproate. NHS England has acknowledged variation in the availability and adequacy of care pathways, the impact of delayed diagnosis and misdiagnosis on long-term outcomes, and the need for improved care coordination for those requiring lifelong support, including co-ordination with non-health care services.
In response, NHS England has commissioned a Fetal Exposure to Medicines Services Pilot, being delivered by the NHS in Newcastle and Manchester. The pilot provides multidisciplinary diagnostic assessment and is informing the development of improved care pathways, better coordination of care, and reduced reliance on emergency care. Findings from the pilot will inform future decisions on the commissioning of services, subject to funding.
In addition, we work closely with the Department for Education and across the Government to ensure co-ordination between health, education, and social care services for children and their families. The Health and Opportunity Missions of the Government highlight the importance of joined up working and integrated delivery.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Ministers in the devolved nations regarding establishing a UK wide sodium valproate redress scheme.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Though the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report covered England-only, we recognise that any response by the Government to the recommendations of the Hughes Report in England will likely have implications for the devolved administrations and their constituents.
Government officials are therefore working closely with officials across the United Kingdom in considering the recommendations in the Hughes Report. I recently met with my counterparts across the four nations and will continue productive engagement as we progress work in this area.
The Department continues to take forward work to explore redress for those affected by pelvic mesh and sodium valproate, which includes recommendations made by the Patient Safety Commissioner in the Hughes Report.
We recognise the importance of these issues for all those affected. This remains a cross-Government policy area involving multiple organisations, and given the complexity of the issues involved, it is important we get this right.
I also met with the Patient Safety Commissioner in December 2025, to discuss progress following the Hughes Report and have made clear the Department’s expectation of continued, proactive engagement with the Patient Safety Commissioner and key stakeholders.