Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what vetting procedures are in place to ensure care agencies providing non UK workers in the care industry ensure the safety of patients before allowing workers to commence a caring role.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Care agencies who carry out a regulated activity must be registered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and are expected to comply with relevant regulations. Where a care agency does not carry out a regulated activity but supplies workers to a regulated care provider, the legal duty to comply with CQC regulations sits with the registered provider using the agency and the registered manager.
Regulation 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 sets out that it is the responsibility of the regulated provider to ensure robust and safe recruitment practices are in place, and to make sure that all staff, including agency staff, are suitably experienced, competent, and able to carry out their role. Further information on Regulation 19 is avaiable at the following link:
Registered providers are also expected to comply with Regulation 18: Staffing, which sets out a provider’s responsibility to deploy enough suitably qualified, competent, and experienced staff. Further information on Regulation 18 is avaiable at the following link:
The CQC can assess compliance with these regulations through assessment and monitoring activity. Where a breach of regulation or non-compliance is identified, the CQC can take regulatory action.
An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check must be undertaken prior to the recruitment of all care workers. In line with the CQC guidance for DBS checks, staff working with vulnerable adults can only start work before a DBS certificate is received if they have had a DBS Adult First Check, are appropriately supervised, and do not escort people away from the premises unless accompanied by someone with a DBS check.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the government has made of the potential impact of hospice cuts on quality of palliative care across the country.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst the majority of palliative care and end-of-life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative care and end-of-life care services that meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services available within the ICB catchment.
NHS England has reinforced the requirement that, from April 2026, ICBs and relevant providers must have a full understanding of current and projected service utilisation and costs, including for those needing end-of-life care, to support sustainable planning. This will help systems to better assess local need and maintain quality of care.
The Government is also providing £125 million of capital funding for eligible adult, and children and young people’s hospices and we recently also confirmed approximately £80 million of revenue funding for the next three years for children and young people’s hospices in England.
Additionally, the Government is developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. It will drive improvements in access, quality, and sustainability, and support ICB to commission high-quality, personalised care. Through our MSF, we will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end-of-life care services, and we will also consider contracting and commissioning arrangements.
Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the use of industry specialists within further education colleges to provide masterclasses, staff training and professional development; and whether funding is available to expand such industry-FE partnerships.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of the Construction Skills package the department announced that areas with Local Skills Improvement Plans would benefit from £20 million to form partnerships between further education (FE) providers and construction employers, helping boost the number of teachers with construction experience in colleges through a teacher industry exchange scheme. The scheme will launch later this year and will facilitate opportunities for construction professionals to share their expertise in FE settings. This work will inform expansion into other priority sectors.
In addition, through our Taking Teaching Further programme, the department is supporting industry specialists across a range of technical sectors who are interested in teaching in FE. This programme provides funding to FE colleges and independent training providers for initial teacher education courses and early career support for technical experts moving into teaching. We are also working with the Gatsby Charitable Foundation as they pilot a new training offer for industry professionals coming into teaching in the FE sector. This will help industry professionals to receive a solid grounding in the skills and knowledge they need to be effective as teachers of technical and vocational students.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking through the tax system to support pensioners with the cost of living in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are committed to helping pensioners with the cost of living and ensuring financial security in retirement. The State Pension will remain the foundation of retirement income and, in line with the government’s commitment to the Triple Lock for the duration of this parliament, over 12 million pensioners benefit from a 4.8% increase to their basic or new State Pension in April 2026, worth up to £575 a year. This follows a substantial increase in 2025/26, when those on the full new State Pension received a £360 boost.
The Pension Credit Standard Minimum Guarantee will also increase by 4.8% in April 2026, from £227.10 to £238 a week for single pensioners and from £346.60 to £363.25 for couples, protecting the poorest pensioners.
Pensioners also benefit from free eye tests, NHS prescriptions and bus passes, and some may qualify for means‑tested benefits such as Housing Benefit and Cold Weather Payments.
To help with ongoing cost of living pressures, the government will remove around £150 on average of household energy bills across Great Britain from April 2026 and the government is expanding the Warm Home Discount to an additional 2.7 million households, meaning around 6 million low-income households will receive £150 support with their energy bills.
Through our Warm Homes Plan we are supporting insulation and low carbon heating, upgrading millions of homes this Parliament. At the recent Budget we announced £1.5 billion in new funding to support households facing fuel poverty, on top of the £13.2 billion announced at Spending Review 2025.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the funding allocated for compensating Equitable Life With-Profits Annuitants has been spent up to and including 2024-25; and how much was forecast to be spent on both a cash and discounted basis.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The previous Conservative Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme had issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).
The total value of payments made by the Scheme stood at £1.35 bn as of 30 May 2025, and the Scheme is on track to pay out the remainder.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Freedom of Information Act disclosure, reference FOI2025/09531, of 16 September 2025.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I’ve given him on 29 January 2026 for question UIN 107051. Given that the information the hon. Member seeks has been published in that answer, I have no plans to place a copy of the Freedom of Information disclosure he mentions in the Library.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department have made on the potential impact of social media usage on the levels of sporting activities undertaken by children since 2020.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Research by the online safety regulator Ofcom found that children aged 8-14 average 3 hours a day online. Sport England report that more than 4 in 5 children participated in sporting activities each week.
On 20 January, the government announced a short, swift consultation on further measures to keep children safe online, accompanied by a national conversation. It will seek views on a range of measures, including whether there should be curfews overnight or breaks to stops excessive use or doom scrolling.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what data her Department holds on the average number of hours per day children spend on smart phones.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Research by the online safety regulator Ofcom found that children aged 8-14 average 3 hours a day online. Sport England report that more than 4 in 5 children participated in sporting activities each week.
On 20 January, the government announced a short, swift consultation on further measures to keep children safe online, accompanied by a national conversation. It will seek views on a range of measures, including whether there should be curfews overnight or breaks to stops excessive use or doom scrolling.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will consider reducing the multiplier for pubs to 20p below the standard multiplier.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
From April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget and then bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years.Three-quarters of pubs will see bills flat or falling in April. The new relief is worth £1,650 for the average pub next year. As a sector pubs will pay 8% less in business rates in 2029 than they do right now.
The Government will also launch a review on how pubs are valued for business rates.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his Department's press release entitled Councils granted flexibility to finish reorganisation published on 22 January 2026, whether the Statutory Instrument to delay local elections will include in the Explanatory Note the reason why those councils have been selected for postponement.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State’s decisions were explained in his Statements to the House on 22 January and the letter he sent to council leaders, which was also copied to the Honourable Member, and is publicly available.
The Department will now prepare the necessary Order, which will be laid in both Houses when Parliamentary time allows. The Explanatory Memorandum accompanying the statutory instrument is required to set out the policy context including what is being done by the instrument and why.
It is not within the Secretary of State’s gift to change the process for Parliamentary scrutiny of a statutory instrument as this is prescribed in primary legislation, in this case by section 105(5) of the Local Government Act 2000.