John Hayes

Small businesses are the beating heart of our high streets, our communities, and essential to our economic success. This Government will hardwire the voice of small business into everything we do.

The Government is committed to improving access to finance for small businesses by reforming the British Business Bank and freeing up capital for small and medium-sized firms so they can expand. We have also announced our plan to align key institutions under the National Wealth Fund, which will boost growth and unlock investment. They can also access support from UK Export Finance, which helps UK exporters win contracts, fulfil orders, and receive payment by providing guarantees, insurance and loans to support export activities.

Eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties currently benefit from 75 per cent business rates relief, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2024-25. The small business multiplier is frozen at 49.9p for 2024/25.

The government identified that the current business rates system disincentivises investment, creates uncertainty and places an undue burden on our high streets. In England, the government will replace the business rates system, so we can raise the same revenue but in a fairer way.

We will establish Skills England, a new partnership with employers at its heart and reform the apprenticeship levy, a key ask of hospitality businesses.

The English Devolution Bill will establish a new framework for English devolution. It will give local leaders the tools they need to drive growth, including empowering communities with a strong new ‘right to buy’ for valued community assets, such as empty shops and pubs.

Eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties currently benefit from 75 per cent business rates relief, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2024-25. The small business multiplier is frozen at 49.9p for 2024/25, protecting over a million ratepayers from bill increases.

The British Business Bank supports SMEs to grow by improving their access to finance. The Growth Guarantee Scheme offers a 70% government guarantee on loans to SMEs of up to £2 million in Great Britain, and £1 million in Northern Ireland and is available until the end of March 2026.

The planning system provides important checks and balances when new onshore wind farms are built, including environmental surveying and statutory environmental and habitat impact assessments.

The biggest risk to native bird and bat populations is the climate and nature crisis. That is why the government is committed to 2030 clean power, including rapidly expanding onshore wind power generation in the UK.

The Government is committed to introducing the most ambitious boost in animal welfare in a generation. We are considering the most effective ways to deliver this and will be setting out next steps in due course.

Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the Regulations), anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets needs to have a valid licence issued by their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences.

Defra has been working on a post-implementation review of the Regulations. This review considers whether the Regulations have met their objectives, and where there could be scope to further improve the protections they provide.

The Department has been working with suppliers to address current supply issues with pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT), including Creon, used in the treatment of cystic fibrosis and certain cancers, including pancreatic cancer. The supply issues are impacting countries throughout Europe, and have been caused by the limited availability of raw ingredients and manufacturing capacity constraints in producing the volumes needed to meet demand. The Department is continuing to work with all suppliers of PERT to help resolve the supply issues in the short and longer term. This includes asking that they expedite deliveries, source stock from other markets, and increase production.

We have issued comprehensive guidance to healthcare professionals about these supply issues, which provides advice on how to manage patients whilst there is disruption to supply. This guidance is being kept under review, and updates will be made as necessary. Serious Shortage Protocols are in place for Creon 10,000 and 25,000 capsules to limit prescriptions to one months’ supply, to allow demand management.

We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine supply issues can be. While we can’t always prevent supply issues from occurring, the Department has a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise, and to help mitigate risks to patients.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges patients face when trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and to recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and retention of NHS dentists.

We recognise that access to NHS dental care in Lincolnshire has been challenging over recent years. The Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), which includes South Holland and the Deepings constituency, has taken a number of steps to help improve access in this area, but we know more must be done. The steps that the Lincolnshire ICB has recently taken to improve access includes uplifting the minimum Unit of Dental Activity rate to £28 across the region, to help recruit and retain staff, and implementing the New Patient Premium.

Pancreatic cancer is the deadliest common cancer, and earlier diagnosis is imperative in improving treatment options and survivorship. The Government is committed to improving early diagnosis rates for all cancers, and as part of this, supports the NHS Long Term Plan, which includes a principal priority to increase the proportion of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 to 75% by 2028. This threshold is key to improving outcomes and survival rates for all types of cancer, including pancreatic.

We know that pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose due to the non-specific nature of its symptoms. To improve diagnosis and outcomes, NHS England is delivering a range of interventions including implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who have symptoms that do not align to a tumour type, as is often the case with pancreatic cancer. 96 pathways are in place, and more are being introduced. NHS England is also increasing general practice direct access to diagnostic tests, alongside providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk, to identify lesions before they develop into cancer, and diagnose cancers sooner.

Additionally, NHS England’s Getting it Right First Time programme has appointed a team of five specialist clinicians to lead a national review into services for pancreatic cancer patients in England. The new workstream supports the delivery of the Optimal Care Pathway, a Pancreatic Cancer UK-led initiative which has brought together 300 health professionals and people affected to agree on how standards of diagnosis, treatment, and care of those with pancreatic cancer and their families can be improved.

Awareness of liver disease can be raised by providing information to the public and by supporting health and care professionals to discuss liver disease with their patients. The NHS.UK website provides the public with essential information on types of liver disease, their possible causes, symptoms, treatment, and prevention. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/liver-disease/

In May 2022, the Department published guidance for health and care professionals on promoting awareness of liver disease in professional practice. Further information on this guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/liver-disease-applying-all-our-health/liver-disease-applying-all-our-health#promoting-awareness-of-liver-disease-in-your-professional-practice

Furthermore, the United Kingdom’s clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment, published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities for consultation in October 2023, contain clinical guidance and advice for professionals on the early identification of liver disease among people with alcohol use disorders, and on the treatment of alcohol use disorders in people diagnosed with liver disease. Further information on the guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/liver-disease-applying-all-our-health/liver-disease-applying-all-our-health

The Department is currently reviewing these guidelines following a consultation.

NHS England is committed to delivering high quality care and support for every person with dementia at every age, and central to this is the provision of personalised care.

The Well Pathway for Dementia includes diagnosing well, living well, supporting well, and dying well, and highlights that services need to be integrated, commissioned, monitored, and aligned with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s standards for each component of the pathway. It makes it clear that the needs, wishes, and preferences of each individual, including those with young onset dementia, should be taken into account when planning and providing their care.