Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on plans for the redevelopment of the former Camp Hill prison site on the Isle of Wight, including its sports facilities.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice is currently evaluating all potential options for the site and is maintaining engagement with the local authority to explore appropriate future uses for both the site and the sports pitch once it is designated as surplus to operational requirements.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of obtaining oversight of Isle of Wight ferry services.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises that communities rely on Cross-Solent ferry services for accessing jobs, education and healthcare. However, these operate in a commercial environment without intervention from the Government.
The Department has regular discussions on the Isle of Wight ferry services.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of support available for survivors of sexual assault on the Isle of Wight.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government is investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years through:
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding has been allocated to radiotherapy productivity through AI; and what steps he is taking to help ensure AI-based radiotherapy technologies are deployed across all radiotherapy centres in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in our National Cancer Plan, we want oncologists to use artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with radiotherapy treatment, for example through contouring during treatment planning, which will lead to better outcomes for patients. Local systems are able to spend money on introducing AI products to improve radiotherapy productivity.
NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme is leading a study on how to maximise the productivity of radiotherapy services. It is expected that this study will report later this year. We will consider and implement its recommendations as soon as it is published.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to seek a reviewable exemption for lifeline Solent ferry services under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government does not plan to exempt Solent ferry services from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme at this time. Any potential impacts of the scheme on these services will be considered in a review of the UK ETS Maritime regime in 2028.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision not to temporarily exempt the Isle of Wight from the maritime expansion of the Emissions Trading Scheme on the cost of Isle of Wight ferries.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government assessed the expansion of the United Kingdom Emissions Trading Scheme to domestic maritime on a scheme wide basis rather than for individual routes.
The Impact Assessment concluded that the policy is not expected to materially affect the competitiveness of ports or operators, and that applying the scheme consistently to domestic voyages and at berth emissions does not create a credible incentive for traffic diversion.
The Government recognises the importance of ferry services to the Isle of Wight. Any potential impacts of the scheme on these services will be considered in a review of the UK ETS Maritime regime in 2028.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how often HM Treasury reviews (a) the level of the Sovereign Grant, and (b) what criteria are used in that review.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The requirements for reviewing the Sovereign Grant have been set by Parliament in the Sovereign Grant Act 2011, sections 6 and 7.
The Government has also committed to bring forward legislation to reset the Grant to a lower level from 2027-28 once Buckingham Palace Reservicing works are completed.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to reopen specialist dementia units.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving dementia care and is empowering local leaders with the autonomy they need to provide the best services to their local community, including those with dementia.
The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include specialist dementia units. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
We will deliver the first ever Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Department is taking to ensure consistent and effective communication between hospital doctors, consultants, and the families of patients during inpatient care.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to putting patients first, including ensuring that people have the best possible experience of care. We recognise that poor communication can be a source of frustration and worry for patients and their families, particularly for inpatient care. It is therefore crucial that patients and families receive regular, consistent, and effective updates.
Martha’s Rule is a patient safety initiative to support the early detection of deterioration by ensuring the concerns of patients, families, carers, and staff are listened to and acted upon. It gives patients, their family members, and carers a right to request a rapid review if they’re worried that a patient’s condition is getting worse and their concerns are not being responded to.
Under the NHS Constitution, patients have the right to be involved in decisions about their health and care and must be given the information and support to enable this. Where appropriate this right includes family and carers. Hospitals also have a range of legal and regulatory duties, assured by the Care Quality Commission, to ensure consistent and effective communication, including the Duty of Candour, and the Accessible Information Standard, which requires bodies to identify, share, and meet people’s communication needs, and must adhere to national standards to improve communication within clinical teams.
Additionally, improving perioperative care is a key priority for the Government. Better communication between patients and healthcare teams is a key part of improved perioperative care. To improve and standardise the quality of perioperative services in England, Getting It Right First Time is collaborating with NHS England’s Digital Outpatient, Elective Recovery, and Elective Workforce Recovery teams to form the National Perioperative Care Programme.
The programme recognises that shared decision making, where a clinician collaborates and supports a patient and, if a patient wishes, a carer or someone close to them, to decide their treatment, should be embedded in all perioperative pathways, and should begin at the earliest opportunity when surgery is considered.
It is also recognised that local providers are best placed to decide how to embed and maintain perioperative care approaches into their organisations, to reflect local needs and circumstances.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking (a) to ensure consistent improvement in weekend care at St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight and (b) to help tackle weekend staffing shortages.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of individual National Health Service trusts to ensure safe staffing levels in all settings and at all times, including over the weekend.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements in emergency department care this winter and to make services better every day. We are aiming for 78% of patients to be seen in four hours this year, meaning over 800,000 people will receive more timely care. The Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/
We are also investing nearly £450 million into same day and urgent care services, helping avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
Through our upcoming workforce plan, we will make sure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.