Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his comments in an interview on the BBC Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme on 16 March 2025, on what evidential basis he said that there is an overdiagnosis of mental health conditions; and if he will publish the evidence used to make those comments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no doubt that many people are genuinely struggling with poor mental health and wellbeing. The Government is committed to reducing mental ill-health through earlier intervention and prevention.
Some clinicians argue that there has been an increase in the diagnosis of mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions linked to changes in interpretation of, or ambiguity in, diagnostic criteria. We are committed to take an evidence-based approach to policymaking, and to hear input to reflect the range of views on this issue.
Through our work to reform the National Health Service, we are determined to ensure that people with mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions get the right support, at the right time.
The Government is committed to shifting care from hospital to community and from sickness to prevention and, by doing so, creating supportive structures which build mental resilience and wellbeing for those who are struggling with their mental health. Similarly, for those with suspected or diagnosed neurodevelopmental conditions, the optimal approach is often to identify and meet needs early in life, and support and empower individuals. Of course, some people benefit from a diagnosis and some from clinical treatment. However, for these people and many others, early effective support may be more important than a clinical diagnosis.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has he made of potential opportunities for the BBC World Service to further support UK soft power.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government highly values the World Service, which makes a significant contribution to UK soft power. Soft power indices and perception studies regularly highlight the BBC's soft power attraction. Tapestry Research carried out an international study in 2022, finding that international BBC consumers, particularly 'influential' audiences: have a more positive attitude towards the UK; are more likely to use UK goods and suppliers; and more likely to invest in the UK, and visit the UK for leisure, study, or business.
The World Service Licence requires that the World Service provides value for money. The BBC tracks World Service performance against impact and quality metrics compared with global comparators across multiple markets. The World Service continues to outrank other international news providers on trust, reliability and independence. It also rates highest for helping audiences to understand and engage with news topics.
The HMG uplift for the World Service in 2025/26 takes our total contribution to £137m. The uplift ensures that the World Service will continue operating all 42 language services. This is a significant increase in an exceptionally tight fiscal situation, clearly demonstrating the value that the Government places on the World Service.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to answer Question 41236 on BBC Radio: Ireland.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
An answer was provided to the Hon Member on 22nd April. I apologise for the delay.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the number of TV license payers in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The BBC is responsible for collection of the TV licence via TV Licensing. TV Licensing publishes the number of licences in force in its Annual Review, which can be found here: https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/our-performance-AB6
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of moving the BBC to a commercial subscription-based model on costs to the public purse.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The BBC is a vital British asset and makes a huge contribution to lives up and down the country. This government firmly believes that the unique obligations placed on the BBC demand continued, sustainable public funding to support its vital work.
The Government is keeping an open mind about the future of the licence fee, and the forthcoming Charter Review will provide an essential opportunity to consider the best possible funding model to set the BBC up for success long into the future. We will provide more details in due course.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, which public bodies have a live television feed to Parliament other than BBC Parliament; and what the annual cost is of such a subscription.
Answered by Nick Smith
Other than BBC Parliament, there are no other live television feeds from public bodies to Parliament. Before migration to the internet over five years ago, the following channels from public bodies were available (in addition to BBC Parliament):
UK Parliament’s sound and vision contractor provisioned the broadcast signals from these public bodies onto the Parliamentary Estate as part of their overall contract. It is not possible to separate out this cost from the overall contract.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the cessation of BBC Sounds coverage outside of the UK on listeners living in border counties on the Island of Ireland.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the Government, and decisions on how it discharges its obligations, such as its changes to its BBC Sounds service, are a matter for the BBC. The Government has therefore not assessed the potential impact of the BBC’s changes to its BBC Sounds service. The BBC has announced its own decision to delay the blocking of BBC Sounds outside of the UK while working on plans to continue to make other BBC stations available to listeners outside the UK.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) meets regularly with representatives of the BBC on a range of matters, including how it engages listeners both in the UK and internationally.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Turkey about the detention and deportation of BBC journalist Mark Lowen.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government provided consular assistance to Mark Lowen, a British journalist detained and subsequently deported from Turkey. The Foreign Secretary spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan on Saturday 29 March. The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international commitments and the rule of law, including the protection of the fundamental rights to free speech, peaceful assembly and media freedom.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting times were for patients requiring an organ transplant in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) religion and (b) ethnic group.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on waiting times is not held by year for religious or ethnic groups. Waiting times also vary between organ types.
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for organ donation and managing the organ transplant waiting list across the United Kingdom. Information available on annual activity and the current waiting list is captured in the NHSBT Annual Activity Report, which is available at the following link:
https://www.odt.nhs.uk/statistics-and-reports/annual-activity-report/
Improving National Health Service Organ Donor Register registration rates overall and particularly for ethnic minority groups is a priority for the Government and NHSBT, to save and improve more lives.
NHSBT conducts marketing and communication activity throughout the year to increase organ donation particularly for underrepresented groups which includes but is not limited to: publication of the Annual Report of Ethnic Differences in Transplantation with supporting media coverage including on the BBC Asian Network; raising awareness during South Asian Heritage Month with charities and organisations; continued activity during Organ Donation Week 2024 with partners including Dalgety Tea and an exclusive screening of the living donation film ‘The Final Gift’ at Brixton’s Ritzy cinema.
NHSBT is committed to reducing health inequalities in treatment and health outcomes that see some people wait longer for life saving treatments, or in some cases miss out on them all together. Some of the priority areas to tackle health inequalities include reducing the waiting time for minority groups waiting for organs and increasing access to automated exchange transfusion by people with sickle cell disorder.
NHSBT’s Community Grants Programme is part of NHSBT’s work to build support for organ donation amongst Black, Asian, mixed heritage and minority ethnic communities, working through faith groups to increase understanding and drive behavioural change on organ donation. In the latest funding round, we awarded 51 organisations funding to begin their work in September 2024. This included £150,000 to support deceased organ donation and £150,000 to support living kidney donation.
Projects range from local community charities, experienced blood/organ charities to universities and places of worship. For example, the South Asian Heritage Trust aims to raise awareness about organ donation and tackling health inequalities by empowering South Asian communities to make informed choices and increase the number of registered organ donors. NHSBT also works closely with patient groups and charities including the Sickle Cell Society, the National Black, Asian, Mixed Race, and Minority Ethnic Transplant Alliance (NBTA), the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust, the NHS Race Health Observatory and many more.
NHSBT works closely with the NBTA to deliver culturally and religiously sensitive messaging about low donation rates amongst their communities.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has issued a response to BBC Panorama’s reports that the Drax powerplant has burned wood from primary forest sites.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Following the Panorama reports, Ofgem, as the independent regulator, conducted a comprehensive investigation into Drax’s sustainability arrangements and concluded that, whilst no subsidies were issued for unsustainable biomass, there was an absence of adequate data governance and controls. We are confident in Ofgem’s conclusion, and Drax accepted the findings of the investigation and made a voluntary redress payment of £25m.
Further to this, we have tightened the sustainability criteria under the new Contract for Difference, including strict provisions to exclude material sourced from primary and old growth forests under the contract.