Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues to first aid training providers on anatomical differences between men and women relevant to the delivery of CPR.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is aware of research that shows differences in bystander response in providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to men versus women. Research also shows that training is key to improving bystander confidence in providing CPR to women and use of female manikins may assist in this.
NHS England has published a list of tools and resources on its website to improve cardiac arrest outcomes, with further information available at the following link:
This includes guidance from St John’s Ambulance on How to do CPR and use a defibrillator on a person with breasts, which is available at the following link:
https://www.sja.org.uk/first-aid-advice/cpr-on-women-and-other-people-with-breasts/
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the predominant use of male CPR manikins in first aid training on survival outcomes for women experiencing cardiac arrest.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is aware of research that shows differences in bystander response in providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to men versus women. Research also shows that training is key to improving bystander confidence in providing CPR to women and use of female manikins may assist in this.
NHS England has published a list of tools and resources on its website to improve cardiac arrest outcomes, with further information available at the following link:
This includes guidance from St John’s Ambulance on How to do CPR and use a defibrillator on a person with breasts, which is available at the following link:
https://www.sja.org.uk/first-aid-advice/cpr-on-women-and-other-people-with-breasts/
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse has been of the Voluntary Return scheme, including (a) financial assistance payments, (b) flights and travel costs, (c) casework and staffing costs and (d) reintegration costs; and what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the Voluntary Return scheme on wider costs to the public purse.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested regarding the number of individuals who departed under a voluntary return scheme and subsequently re-entered the UK is not available from published statistics.
The Home Office publishes all available information on returns expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who departed the UK under a voluntary return scheme subsequently (a) re-entered the UK unlawfully and (b) made a further asylum claim within five years of departure.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested regarding the number of individuals who departed under a voluntary return scheme and subsequently re-entered the UK is not available from published statistics.
The Home Office publishes all available information on returns expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to provide incentives to Local Highway Authorities to achieve green ratings under traffic light rankings for pothole repairs; and whether she plans to impose consequences on authorities not achieving green ratings.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has provided a record investment of £7.3 billion for local highways maintenance over the next four years. A portion of this funding is incentive funding, which is subject to local highway authorities publishing their maintenance plans and meeting performance-based criteria. By meeting these criteria, local highway authorities will also be able to achieve better ratings. Any authorities that received a red rating under the Department’s rating system also receive access to a dedicated support programme to help them improve their rating and local road conditions.
At present, the Department has no plans to penalise or withhold resources from local highway authorities that do not achieve a green rating. We instead aim to support local highway authorities – through our record funding and wider support and guidance – so that they can achieve a better rating and to ensure road conditions improve nationwide.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of Vehicle Excise Duty receipts was (a) allocated to and (b) spent on road repair and maintenance in the 2024-25 tax year.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Consolidated Fund receives the proceeds of Vehicle Excise Duty along with most other tax revenues to support public services and investment in infrastructure, including vehicle infrastructure and road maintenance.
The Government is going well beyond its promise to fix an additional one million potholes per year, by providing funding to fix the equivalent of more than seven million extra potholes in 2025/26 in England.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role his Department played in the development, approval, or distribution of guidance to NHS midwives which stated that consanguineous marriage had “benefits” and that the prevalence of genetic defects among children born to consanguineous couples was “exaggerated”.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
These phrases were not included in any guidance issued by the National Health Service. They were included in training materials which also made clear the genetic risk associated with close relative marriage.
The Department had no role in the development, approval, or distribution of the training materials which included these phrases. The training materials were retired in 2025.
We fully recognise the genetic risks of consanguineous relationships, and we offer referral to genetics services so individuals understand the risks and can make informed decisions.
We are working with the NHS to look into how this training was developed, and to make sure it never happens again.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to a) improve the nutritional quality of school meals and b) increase the use of British produced food and ingredients in schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department aims to revise the School Food Standards and is engaging with stakeholders, including academics and nutrition professionals, to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.
Schools are responsible for their school meals service and how and where they choose to buy their produce. We encourage schools to voluntarily follow the Government Buying Standards for food and catering, which includes lots of advice around sustainable sourcing. Additionally, we are working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to support schools to buy more of the fresh, high-quality ingredients produced in the UK when sourcing their meals as part of the government’s Food Strategy.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the number of UK businesses that have relocated overseas since July 2024; and what information his Department holds on the reasons for those relocations.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade does not hold this information. We continue to support UK businesses and have many avenues through which businesses of all sizes can explore opportunities to grow internationally. We will continue to review how we can support businesses moving forward.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the funding allocated to Local Highway Authorities for pothole repairs.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has announced a record £7.3 billion investment into highways maintenance over the next four years which will enable local authorities to invest in significantly improving the long-term condition of England’s road network, delivering faster, safer and more reliable journeys.
By confirming funding over a four-year period, local authorities will have greater certainty to plan ahead and move away from short-term fixes, enabling more proactive and preventative work to stop potholes from forming in the first place.
The Department will monitor how effectively local authorities use this record level of funding through annual transparency reports, incentive funding requirements which encourage authorities to follow best practice in highways maintenance, and the new traffic-light ratings system which was announced in January. Together, these measures will provide clearer oversight of local performance and help ensure that funding is used to deliver lasting improvements for road users.