Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance NHS England has issued to hospital trusts to ensure appropriate monitoring of individuals entering and leaving hospital wards; and how many reported security incidents relating to unauthorised access to wards there have been in the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England provides no guidance to National Health Service trusts to ensure the appropriate monitoring of individuals entering and leaving hospital wards, and data is not collected on how many reported security incidents relating to unauthorised access to wards there have been in the last five years. NHS trusts formulate policy at a local level to determine the best security for their estate.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, by what date he expects Great British Nuclear to make a decision on awarding contracts for Small Modular Reactor deployment.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great British Nuclear (GBN) is driving forward its small modular reactor (SMR) competition for UK deployment. Following a period of detailed negotiation, bidders have now submitted final tenders, which GBN is evaluating. Final decisions will be taken this Spring.
GBN is working to a timeline that enables a robust process underpinned by fairness and transparency, and which can deliver value for the British taxpayer.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many motorhome thefts have been recorded in each of the last five years; and what assessment her Department has made of trends in motorhome theft in England and Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Vehicle theft, including that of motorhomes, is a truly distressing crime for owners, businesses and industry.
This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are closely working with the automotive industry and police to ensure our response is as strong as it can be.
We are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, through a National Vehicle Crime Working Group, to take forward a programme of work to drive down vehicle crime, focusing on prevention and deterrence. This includes training police on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles.
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced measures to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying them. The Bill also introduces a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically geolocation tracked, and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant from a court.
The Home Office holds data on the number of offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, including thefts of motor vehicles. However, statistics do not provide the level of detail necessary to separately identify thefts of motorhomes.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support local police forces in preventing motorhome theft.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Vehicle theft, including that of motorhomes, is a truly distressing crime for owners, businesses and industry.
This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are closely working with the automotive industry and police to ensure our response is as strong as it can be.
We are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, through a National Vehicle Crime Working Group, to take forward a programme of work to drive down vehicle crime, focusing on prevention and deterrence. This includes training police on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles.
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced measures to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying them. The Bill also introduces a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically geolocation tracked, and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant from a court.
The Home Office holds data on the number of offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, including thefts of motor vehicles. However, statistics do not provide the level of detail necessary to separately identify thefts of motorhomes.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to provide specific (a) support and (b) funding to co-operative enterprises as part of its international aid strategy.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government recognises the important contribution cooperatives have made in serving local communities around the world.
Cooperatives are a tried-and-tested model in international development, that can enable citizens and producers to access services or markets and strengthen their voice in local processes. Cooperatives can enable sustainable and inclusive development centred on self-help, democratic ownership, and concern for the community. The UK has supported cooperatives and producer organisations in developing countries, including, for example in agriculture through funding to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), which supports producer organisations, and the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness Programme (CASA), which partners with cooperatives and small agribusinesses in low-income countries to improve smallholder farmers' access to markets.
Decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her Department's planned timetable is for introducing a new statutory Code of Practice for private parking operators; and whether this code of practice will include measures to prevent repeated instances of unjustified fines by private parking companies.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to PQ 42709 on 7 April 2025.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment her Department has made of the Financial Conduct Authority’s handling of misconduct by Safe Hands Plans; and what steps she is taking to strengthen consumer protections in the prepaid funeral plan market.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the honorable member to my response to UIN 41597.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 improve (a) trust and (b) accountability on staff complaints in NHS organisations; and what steps he is taking to prevent (i) discrimination and (ii) bullying in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service staff should have the confidence to speak out and come forward if they have concerns. There is support in place for staff who wish to raise concerns, including a network of more than 1,200 local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across healthcare in England, whose role it is to help and support NHS workers. In November 2024, the Department launched a consultation on options for regulating NHS managers, with the aim of improving leadership quality and accountability. This will help ensure that the NHS has strong and effective leadership in place, and that leaders and managers are held accountable for their practise.
Discrimination and bullying are unacceptable in any workplace and have no place in the NHS. All employers across the NHS should have robust policies in place on how these behaviours should be handled, and what support should be made available to staff.
In June 2023, NHS England published their Equality Diversity and Inclusion Improvement Plan, which set out a series of High Impact Actions, including the requirement for NHS organisations to review data by protected characteristics on bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence, and to develop plans to improve staff experience. NHS England has also developed an NHS Civility and Respect programme to tackle bullying and harassment in the NHS, and to create a culture of civility and respect.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle (a) inter-pupil and (b) pupil on teacher violence.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All pupils and staff should feel safe and protected at school, and nobody should face violence or abuse. The department will always support our hard-working teachers to ensure they can work in safe and calm classrooms. All school employers, including trusts, have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees.
To prevent the most serious cases, we have invested in specialist support in both mainstream and alternative provision (AP) schools in the areas in England where serious violence most impacts the community. The taskforces work with schools and APs to improve attendance, behaviour and wellbeing, and to reduce serious violence.
In order to give teachers confidence in responding to the rare cases of violence, the department is now consulting on the revised update to the 2013 ‘Use of reasonable force’ guidance, which aims to help schools proactively minimise the need to use reasonable force and other restrictive interventions through early support, prevention and de-escalation strategies.
While the department expects schools to take immediate and robust action if incidents of violence occur, any decision on how to sanction the pupil involved is a matter for the school.
In the most serious cases, suspensions and permanent exclusion may be necessary to ensure that teachers and pupils are protected from disruption and to maintain safe, calm environments. Should the incident constitute a criminal offence, the school should report it to the police.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 (a) engage healthcare professionals in the early diagnosis and treatment of facial palsy and (b) support patients in the days following a facial palsy diagnosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of care and management for people with facial palsy, also known as Bell’s palsy, is the responsibility of general practices, under local integrated care boards.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a clinical knowledge summary on Bell’s palsy, last revised in February 2023, which provides primary care practitioners with a readily accessible summary of the current evidence base and practical advice on best practice for Bell’s palsy. This clinical knowledge summary is available on the NICE’s website, at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/bells-palsy/
Our 10-Year Health Plan will consider what actions are needed to improve patient access and reduce waiting times for patients, including those with facial or Bell’s palsy, by setting out a bold agenda to deliver on the big shifts needed, including the shift from the hospital to the community.