Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to ensure that fiduciary duty explicitly places a duty on pension fund trustees to consider system risks.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Trustees have a range of duties set out in governing provisions of the scheme, common law and relevant statutory provisions. These include duties to make investment decisions in the best interests of members of the pension scheme. The Law Commission concluded in 2014, that there was no impediment to trustees taking account of Environmental, Social and Governance factors, where they are or may be financially material, and that trustees should take into account financially material factors. The Financial Markets Law Committee’s (FMLC) report in 2024 revisited the Law Commission’s findings and argued that there is a strong case for trustees to consider climate change and other environmental factors as ‘financial factors’ in investment decision-making. The government welcomes the opinion the FMLC reached.
The Law Commission’s 2014 report also stated that trustees may take such factors, which are not strictly and directly financial, into account. This should be to the extent that they would not involve a risk of significant financial detriment to the trust’s funds and where they have good reason to think scheme members would support the decision. The FMLC’s report concludes that financial factors are broad and many factors that may appear at first to be ‘non-financial’ are in fact ‘financial’. Findings from both reports reflect the permissive nature of trustee fiduciary duty, and why the government is not currently considering any change to the law.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using proposed biennial governance reviews of administering authorities to ensure that trustees regularly review science-based forecasts of climate risks.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Administering authorities are already required to consider factors that are financially material to the performance of their investments, including environmental considerations such as climate risks.
The government has consulted on proposals to ensure that those involved in decision making in administering authorities have the appropriate level of knowledge and understanding for their roles.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential implications for her policies of (a) the report by the Law Commission entitled Fiduciary Duties of Investment Intermediaries, published on 30 June 2014, and (b) its evaluation that there is no impediment to pension trustees taking account of environmental factors where (i) they are and (ii) may be financially material.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Trustees have a range of duties set out in governing provisions of the scheme, common law and relevant statutory provisions. These include duties to make investment decisions in the best interests of members of the pension scheme. The Law Commission concluded in 2014, that there was no impediment to trustees taking account of Environmental, Social and Governance factors, where they are or may be financially material, and that trustees should take into account financially material factors. The Financial Markets Law Committee’s (FMLC) report in 2024 revisited the Law Commission’s findings and argued that there is a strong case for trustees to consider climate change and other environmental factors as ‘financial factors’ in investment decision-making. The government welcomes the opinion the FMLC reached.
The Law Commission’s 2014 report also stated that trustees may take such factors, which are not strictly and directly financial, into account. This should be to the extent that they would not involve a risk of significant financial detriment to the trust’s funds and where they have good reason to think scheme members would support the decision. The FMLC’s report concludes that financial factors are broad and many factors that may appear at first to be ‘non-financial’ are in fact ‘financial’. Findings from both reports reflect the permissive nature of trustee fiduciary duty, and why the government is not currently considering any change to the law.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the National Institute for Health and Social Care on providing guidance on the adoption of selective internal radiation therapy for patients with neuroendocrine tumours .
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has had no such discussions. In May 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published interventional procedures guidance that recommends that selective internal radiation therapy can be used as an option for neuroendocrine tumours that have metastasised to the liver, with standard arrangements in place for clinical governance, consent, and audit. The NICE’s interventional procedures make recommendations based on an assessment of safety and efficacy, but do not consider whether the procedure represents a clinically and cost-effective use of National Health Service resources. NHS commissioners are responsible for decisions on whether procedures recommended in the NICE’s interventional procedures guidance should be routinely offered to NHS patients.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to (a) Personal Independence Payment, (b) Universal Credit and (c) Carers’ Allowance on (i) adult social service capacity and (ii) housing demand.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is working across Government, including with DHSC and MHCLG, to consider the impact of the reforms to the welfare system.
We will also consider the impacts on benefits for unpaid carers as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation as we develop our detailed proposals for change.
Through the Green Paper we are consulting on the support needed for those who may lose any entitlements as a result of receiving PIP daily living and what this support could look like.
We will also work closely with the DHSC and others on how the health and eligible care needs of those who would lose entitlement to PIP could be met outside the benefits system.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanese Hizballah.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has made clear the importance that all sides maintain a cessation of hostilities and work towards securing a lasting peace. This is the only way to restore security and stability for the people living on either side of the border. The UK continues to engage Israel and Lebanon to urge them to build on the progress made and implement fully the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of selective internal radiation therapy on the (a) survival outcomes and (b) quality of life for neuroendocrine tumour patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made on the potential impact of selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) on survival outcomes and quality of life for neuroendocrine tumour patients. However, the Department recognises the need to offer suitable treatment, including SIRT, to the patients who need it the most.
Radiotherapy treatment for cancer is highly individualised and decisions about cancer treatment are typically made by clinicians and multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals. They consider all aspects of a patient's health and circumstances when recommending treatment options. While certain treatments may not be advised for some patients, these decisions are based on medical assessments and what is best for the individual's overall health and well-being.