Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing an NHS body to roll over to the next financial year any unspent budget to avoid incentivising unnecessary expenditure within that financial year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes guidance setting out the revenue finance and contracting framework for National Health Service organisations. The guidance for 2026/27 onwards has recently been published to support the Medium Term Planning Framework, and is available at the following link:
Where an integrated care board (ICB) delivers a surplus, this will be applied to the ICB cumulative position as set out in the updated NHS finance business rules, and available for drawdown in future years subject to agreement with NHS England as part of the financial planning process.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact on UK publishers' exports of free access in overseas markets to UK government funded educational resources from Oak National Academy.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is keeping the geo-restriction of Oak National Academy’s (Oak) resources under review. Oak does not promote or market its resources overseas.
The department recently completed a new market impact assessment of Oak, which was published in September 2025, and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oak-national-academy-independent-review-and-market-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact on UK publishers exports of free access in overseas markets to UK government funded educational resources from Oak National Academy.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is keeping the geo-restriction of Oak National Academy’s (Oak) resources under review. Oak does not promote or market its resources overseas.
The department recently completed a new market impact assessment of Oak, which was published in September 2025, and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oak-national-academy-independent-review-and-market-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to limit access to Oak National Academy's government funded resources to the UK with the use of geo-blocking.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is keeping the geo-restriction of Oak National Academy’s (Oak) resources under review. Oak does not promote or market its resources overseas.
The department recently completed a new market impact assessment of Oak, which was published in September 2025, and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oak-national-academy-independent-review-and-market-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to Question 76247, due for answer on 15 September 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The response to Written Parliamentary Question 76247 was published on 16 October 2025.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on free schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
High and rising standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure every child has access to the best life chances whichever type of school they are in, including free schools.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to update the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 to (a) remove chemical flame retardants, (b) provide additional support to furniture manufacturers, (c) improve fire safety, (d) increase recycling and (e) align with international best practice; and if she will publish a timetable for updating those regulations.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The policy paper ‘The fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’, published on 22 January, set out that the Government is committed to delivering reforms to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 that maintain a high level of fire safety while facilitating a reduction in the use of chemical flame retardants.
The Department for Business and Trade has been carrying out extensive, targeted stakeholder engagement this year to inform decision making, and the Government will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether physician (a) associates and (b) assistants are permitted to (i) discuss (A) Do Not Resuscitate and (B) Respect forms with patients at (1) NHS trusts and (2) GP surgeries and (ii) initiate conversations on end of life.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. With regard to palliative care and end of life care, this must include the opportunity for individuals to discuss their wishes and preferences so that these can be taken fully into account in the provision of their future care. This is also known as advance care planning (ACP). ACP is a voluntary process of person-centred discussion between an individual and their care providers about their preferences and priorities for their future care. ReSPECT is one tool that can be used to support wider ACP conversations. NHS England has published Universal Principles for ACP, which facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. Further information on the Universal Principles for ACP is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) decision policies are determined locally by organisations providing National Health Service care. The Resuscitation Council UK, British Medical Association, and the Royal College of Nursing have jointly produced guidance on decisions about CPR. It states that the overall clinical responsibility for decisions about CPR, including Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation decisions, rests with the most senior clinician responsible for the person’s care, as defined explicitly by local policy.
The Government commissioned Professor Gillian Leng CBE to lead an independent review of the physician and anaesthesia associate professions. The review considered the safety of the roles and their contribution to multidisciplinary healthcare teams.
The review has now concluded and will be published shortly. The conclusions of the review will inform the workforce plan to deliver the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as future Government policy.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason the Creative Industries Sector Plan does not include the publishing sector; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of updating that plan to include that sector.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Creative Industries Sector Plan is a growth plan for all creative sectors, including publishing.
It recognises the vital role of publishing in the creative ecosystem, and provides substantial support for all creative businesses, including publishers, with cross-cutting measures for access to finance, innovation, IP protection, skills development, and export support.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it his policy that people with tattoos are able to join the Army.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Individuals with tattoos are able to join the Army, subject to some restrictions. There have been some recent changes made to the Army’s visible tattoo policy following a review this year. I can confirm that, moving forwards, only tattoos on the face and front of the ear will be a bar to entry, in addition to tattoos that are deemed as offensive, obscene or racist.
Further information and guidance for prospective candidates can be found online: https://jobs.army.mod.uk/how-to-join/can-i-apply/tattoos-and-piercings/