Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when the UK-Morocco agriculture tariff review is expected to be completed.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
It is still ongoing and will conclude when an agreement can be reached that benefits both the UK and Morocco.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he takes steps to ascertain whether Ministers occupy official Ministerial residences as primary residences.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Hon Member to PQ 95895, PQ 81873, and HL 9337.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
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 merits of expanding domestic training places compared instead of continuing current levels of international recruitment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 8 December 2025, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which would put in place emergency legislation in the new year which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would apply to current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that.
Other measures in the offer include creating 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year, cost related measures, such as reimbursement for exam fees, to address the unique costs that resident doctors face, and increasing the less than full time allowance by 50% to £1,500.
This is in addition to steps already taken by NHS England in September to tackle competition for speciality training places this year by changing General Medical Council registration requirements and limiting the number of applications that can be submitted by individuals.
We have also made significant progress over the past year to improve the working lives of resident doctors. This includes agreeing an improved exception reporting system which will ensure doctors are compensated fairly for additional work, reviewing how resident doctors rotate through their training, and reforming and rationalising statutory and mandatory training to reduce unnecessary burden and repetition.
In August 2025, NHS England published The NHS’s 10 Point Plan which set out actions for NHS England and trusts to improve resident doctors working conditions by fixing unacceptable working practices and getting the basics right for resident doctors. It aims to tackle basic issues like payroll errors, poor rota management, lack of access to rest facilities and hot food, and unnecessarily repeating training.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the loss of UK-trained medical graduates to (a) alternative careers and (b) emigration.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 8 December 2025, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which would put in place emergency legislation in the new year which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would apply to current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that.
Other measures in the offer include creating 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year, cost related measures, such as reimbursement for exam fees, to address the unique costs that resident doctors face, and increasing the less than full time allowance by 50% to £1,500.
This is in addition to steps already taken by NHS England in September to tackle competition for speciality training places this year by changing General Medical Council registration requirements and limiting the number of applications that can be submitted by individuals.
We have also made significant progress over the past year to improve the working lives of resident doctors. This includes agreeing an improved exception reporting system which will ensure doctors are compensated fairly for additional work, reviewing how resident doctors rotate through their training, and reforming and rationalising statutory and mandatory training to reduce unnecessary burden and repetition.
In August 2025, NHS England published The NHS’s 10 Point Plan which set out actions for NHS England and trusts to improve resident doctors working conditions by fixing unacceptable working practices and getting the basics right for resident doctors. It aims to tackle basic issues like payroll errors, poor rota management, lack of access to rest facilities and hot food, and unnecessarily repeating training.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will issue guidance to the NHS on recruitment the recruitment of domestic graduates and non-UK applicants.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 8 December 2025, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which would put in place emergency legislation in the new year which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would apply to current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that.
Other measures in the offer include creating 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year, cost related measures, such as reimbursement for exam fees, to address the unique costs that resident doctors face, and increasing the less than full time allowance by 50% to £1,500.
This is in addition to steps already taken by NHS England in September to tackle competition for speciality training places this year by changing General Medical Council registration requirements and limiting the number of applications that can be submitted by individuals.
We have also made significant progress over the past year to improve the working lives of resident doctors. This includes agreeing an improved exception reporting system which will ensure doctors are compensated fairly for additional work, reviewing how resident doctors rotate through their training, and reforming and rationalising statutory and mandatory training to reduce unnecessary burden and repetition.
In August 2025, NHS England published The NHS’s 10 Point Plan which set out actions for NHS England and trusts to improve resident doctors working conditions by fixing unacceptable working practices and getting the basics right for resident doctors. It aims to tackle basic issues like payroll errors, poor rota management, lack of access to rest facilities and hot food, and unnecessarily repeating training.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many additional surgical hubs are due to (a) open and (b) be built in the next 12 months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dedicated and protected surgical hubs transform the way the National Health Service provides elective care by focusing on providing high volume, low complexity surgery, as recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
There are currently 123 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England.
We are working on delivering six additional hubs, five of which are currently expected to open in the next 12 months.
The Department is committed to ramping up the number of hubs over the next three years, so more operations can be carried out.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to prioritise UK-trained medical graduates over overseas-trained applicants when allocating (a) Foundation Years and (b) speciality training posts; and if he will make it his policy to reintroduce a residency-based labour-market test for NHS training posts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 8 December 2025, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which would put in place emergency legislation in the new year which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would apply to current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that.
Other measures in the offer include creating 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year, cost related measures, such as reimbursement for exam fees, to address the unique costs that resident doctors face, and increasing the less than full time allowance by 50% to £1,500.
This is in addition to steps already taken by NHS England in September to tackle competition for speciality training places this year by changing General Medical Council registration requirements and limiting the number of applications that can be submitted by individuals.
We have also made significant progress over the past year to improve the working lives of resident doctors. This includes agreeing an improved exception reporting system which will ensure doctors are compensated fairly for additional work, reviewing how resident doctors rotate through their training, and reforming and rationalising statutory and mandatory training to reduce unnecessary burden and repetition.
In August 2025, NHS England published The NHS’s 10 Point Plan which set out actions for NHS England and trusts to improve resident doctors working conditions by fixing unacceptable working practices and getting the basics right for resident doctors. It aims to tackle basic issues like payroll errors, poor rota management, lack of access to rest facilities and hot food, and unnecessarily repeating training.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 December 2025 to Question 99799, whether NHS England has adopted a net zero target date for the National Health Service that differs from the United Kingdom’s statutory target of net zero by 2050.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to him on 27 November 2025 to Question 92091 which set out the National Health Service’s Net Zero ambitions. Additionally, the answer provided to Queston 99799 on 22 December 2025 is clear that NHS England’s intent was to set ambitious but achievable aims that align with different sectoral pathways and expectations. This aims to support the United Kingdom’s overall approach to the statutory Net Zero target of 2050, which applies to the whole UK economy.
As per the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is committed to supporting these ambitions, and we will do so in a way that delivers better value for money for the taxpayer and better care for patients, and which remains aligned to the Government's approach to carbon budgets and the overall Net Zero statutory target.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2025 to Question 96736, how many HMRC National Minimum Wage inspections were conducted in Scotland in 2024/25; and how many of these were carried out in social care settings.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Our data represents all closed inspections (‘investigations’). There were 220 closed inspections in Scotland in 2024/25. This data was published in the Supplementary data for the 2024/2025 National Minimum Wage Enforcement and Compliance Report (Table 6).
Of the 220 closed inspections, 6 were social care cases.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was spent on her visit to Wales and Scotland in early December 2025, including staffing, accommodation, expenses and security.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not publish granular detail on Ministers’ domestic travel. As a police protected minister, we do not comment on the specific arrangements in place for the Chancellor for security reasons.