theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: NHS England is delivering a range of interventions to improve awareness of pancreatic cancer symptoms. NHS England runs ‘Help Us Help You’ campaigns to increase knowledge of symptoms of a wide range of cancers, including pancreatic cancer, and encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner.

NHS England is also working with Pancreatic Cancer UK to develop a Family History Checker, which enables people affected by pancreatic cancer and their families to self-assess if they have inherited risk. People identified of being at risk are referred directly to the European Registry of Hereditary Pancreatic Diseases research trail, which aims to understand inherited conditions of the pancreas. Referrals to the trail can be made by any healthcare professional across all health sectors, or by individuals via self-referral.

NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including pancreatic cancer. The Department is working with NHS England to deliver interventions to improve treatment for those with pancreatic cancer across England.

NHS England has funded an audit into pancreatic cancer to improve consistency in access to treatments and enhance patient outcomes. On 12 September 2024, the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre published its State of the Nation Report on Pancreatic Cancer and the initial recommendations are informing improvements in treatment and care.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) also supports delivery in the health and care system of research into pancreatic cancer, funded by industry and by partners in the charity and public sectors. The NIHR supported 73 clinical research studies into pancreatic cancer research between 2018/19 and 2022/2023 through the Clinical Research Network.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the amount of money clawed back by NHS England from primary care NHS dental practices in England that had not met their contractual targets in each year since the 2020-21 financial year. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to (a) elective and (b) activity-based payments on (i) access to (A) (1) ADHD and (2) other medication and (B) other treatments and (ii) the timeframe in which NHS England patients who opt to use Right to Choose will receive their treatment. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Sojan Joseph:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of adults with severe mental illness who are currently waiting for treatment from community mental health services; and what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of elective services changes in the NHS payment scheme on (a) patients and (b) people with (i) ADHD and (ii) other disabilities. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that elective service changes to the NHS Payment Scheme comply with legislation on the NHS Right to Choose. \p Karin Smyth: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) increase the capacity of and (b) reduce delays in medical examiner services. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is monitoring the impact of the death certification reforms which came into legal effect on 9 September 2024. Medical examiner offices are staffed at a trust level and arrangements at each office should reflect local health priorities and the needs of communities. NHS England has published guidance which outlines principles for medical examiner offices and advice on how to provide flexible and sustainable cover during busy periods

Early data since the introduction of the reforms indicated the median time taken to register a death appeared to have risen by one day, from seven days to eight days prior to Christmas. This figure is for all deaths, as it includes those certified by a doctor and those investigated by a coroner. The average time taken to register increased further over the Christmas weeks, but this was expected given increases are observed during this period every year; the average has subsequently decreased.

The median time taken to register a death varies depending on the type of certification. Deaths certified by a doctor, that comprise approximately 80% of deaths registered each week, have typically had a median time to registration of seven days, though there can be variation at a local level. It is important to note that the medical examiner system was active on a non-statutory basis before the introduction of the statutory system on 9 September 2024, and this makes direct ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparisons challenging to draw conclusions from.

Ensuring the system is appropriately resourced and works for all those who interact with it is crucial, and something the Department will continue to monitor with NHS England.
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Cat Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support women with epilepsy. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, placing women’s equality at the heart of our agenda and ensuring women’s health is never again neglected.

At a national level, there are several initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with epilepsy, including women, such as the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit, and the Getting It Right First Time Programme (GIRFT) for Neurology and the Neurology Transformation Programme (NTP).

The GIRFT National Specialty Report made recommendations designed to improve services nationally and to support the National Health Service to deliver care more equitably across the country. The National Specialty Report highlighted differences in how services are delivered and offered an unprecedented opportunity to share successful initiatives between trusts to improve patient services nationally.

Building on the GIRFT National Specialty Report, the NTP has developed a model of integrated care for neurology services to support integrated care boards (ICBs) to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including providing care closer to home. A toolkit is being developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model.

The RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit includes specific recommendations regarding supporting women with epilepsy. For example, it states that support should be provided to women with epilepsy who are pregnant and those who are of childbearing age which makes clear the risks of certain anti-epileptic drugs that are known to cause birth defects, such as sodium valproate.

The Toolkit also makes clear that it is equally important to provide clear information and guidance on the risks of stopping an anti-epileptic drug treatment, which include Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, that is not related to causing birth defects, and the risks that poses to the mother and unborn baby to support balanced informed decisions on care.
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Sadik Al-Hassan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS 10 Year Plan will include steps to ensure healthcare professionals are adequately trained and supported in diagnosing and treating rare diseases like Myasthenia Gravis. \p Ashley Dalton: We have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future. The plan, and the refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan that follows it, will ensure that we have the right number of staff, with the right skill mix so that patients, including those with rare diseases like myasthenia gravis, can be promptly diagnosed and treated.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle the sale of illegal vapes in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Ashley Dalton: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will strengthen the enforcement of vape sales regulations by giving Ministers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland the ability to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes and nicotine products. The licensing scheme will support Trading Standards to crack down on rogue vape retailers. The Bill also enables the introduction of a new registration scheme for tobacco, vape and nicotine products sold on the United Kingdom market. This will help ensure products are compliant with product safety and standards requirements and will enable Trading Standards to remove non-compliant products from the market quickly and efficiently.

In 2025/26, we will invest £10 million of new funding in Trading Standards to enhance their work to tackle the illicit and underage sale of tobacco and vapes, and support the implementation of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

The introduction of a new Vaping Products Duty in October 2026 will provide civil and criminal powers for HM Revenue and Customs to assess for duty and seize products and equipment used to produce or transport illicit vape products.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve NHS dental services. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards across England. The provision of NHS dental care is a devolved matter.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial penalties have been imposed on G4S for failing to meet key performance indicators on officer deployment or site availability in the last twelve months. \p Andrew Western: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of people with Multiple Sclerosis who are on income-related Employment and Support Allowance. \p Sir Stephen Timms: In August 2024 there were around 6,500 people on income-related ESA with multiple sclerosis as their main condition.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of raising the standard rate of Universal Credit on the number of people claiming incapacity benefits. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Universal Credit awards include a standard allowance, which is the core component of any award and is paid according to age and household unit. The purpose of the standard allowance is to provide towards basic living costs. Additional amounts are added to provide for individual needs such as housing, children, disability, and childcare costs.

On 18 March 2025 we announced the first permanent above-inflation rise in the Standard Allowance, benefitting millions of people. That is an increase of up to £775 annually in cash terms by 2029/30 for single households on UC aged over 25. This avoids people having to choose between employment or adequate financial support, and addresses the current issue where people on the health element receive over double the rate of the standard allowance, creating an incentive for people to prove they are unfit to work to claim the health element and access greater financial support.

The government will publish the OBR-certified costings of individual measures on the day of the Spring Statement on 26 March and we will be publishing estimated impacts on claimants, including for changes to the Standard Rate of Universal Credit, on the same day.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for support to be granted to a claimant applying to the Access to Work scheme. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The average waiting time for a decision to be made on support for a claimant applying for Access to Work was 56.9 days from April 2024 to February 2025. We are consulting on this in the Green Paper and aim to reduce times.

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
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Leigh Ingham:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of job centres on economic growth in Stafford. \p Alison McGovern: Supporting everyone to find good, meaningful work and helping them to progress is vital for economic growth. Stafford Jobcentre works in partnership with local employers, the NHS, colleges and the voluntary sector on initiatives that support people to get into and on at work.

Through our plans to create a new jobs and careers service we will transform our ability to support people into work, help those on low pay to increase their earnings, and create a more flexible workforce for a fast changing, higher skilled jobs market. This transformation is expected to contribute significantly to economic growth by addressing local skills gaps and providing tailored support to meet the needs of local labour markets.

We are currently considering our evaluation strategy to assess the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of the new jobs and careers service. This includes funding in 2025/26 to take forward the first steps of building the new service through a pathfinder, as set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper.
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Margaret Mullane:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reduce levels of poverty among migrant children. \p Alison McGovern: Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government and the Ministerial Taskforce is considering all children across the United Kingdom in developing a Child Poverty Strategy. The causes of child poverty are deep-rooted and complex and the Taskforce is exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.

The Taskforce recognises the distinct challenges of poverty faced by migrant children and the Child Poverty Unit is working closely with the Home Office on this important aspect of the work. Alongside this, officials planned specific discussions with experts from outside Government, as part of the wider evidence gathering the Taskforce is undertaking.
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Imran Hussain:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing financial support to enable people on low incomes to buy healthy food. \p Alison McGovern: We are committed to supporting vulnerable households access healthy food. We support over 365,000 pregnant women and young children to buy healthy foods like milk or fruit through Healthy Start, provide Free School Meals to over 3 million children, are tripling investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, and last year invested over £200 million into the Holiday Activities and Food Programmes. We also continue to provide substantial funding to Local Authorities to support those most in need, and are extending the Household Support Fund (HSF) by a further year until March 2026, providing funding of £742 million in England. This will ensure low-income households can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as food.
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Kanishka Narayan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the financial security of older women in (a) Vale of Glamorgan constituency and (b) the UK; and what steps she is taking to end discrimination due to (i) age and (ii) gender. \p Alison McGovern: As announced in the recent Get Britain Working White Paper, we are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new Jobs and Careers service that will enable everyone, regardless of age or gender, to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them progress in work or increase their earnings.

For those above state pension age, the new State Pension addresses historically poorer outcomes for women, low earners and self-employed people. This means, on average, women on the new State pension are receiving around 98% of the amount received by men.

The government have made a commitment to the Triple Lock for the entirety of this Parliament which will mean spending on State Pensions is forecast to rise by over £31 billion and will see pensioners’ yearly incomes being up to £1,900 higher.

Pension Credit provides a safety net for low-income pensioners and those with additional needs, such as those with a severe disability, caring responsibility, responsibility for a child or certain housing costs. Around 1.4 million pensioners are in receipt of the invaluable help that Pension Credit provides.

For those below State Pension age, support is also available through the working age welfare system. In addition, further help is available to eligible over 50s on Universal Credit, through Midlife-life MOTs delivered in Jobcentres and online, which provide an opportunity to review health, finances and skills and signpost to suitable support. There are also over 70 dedicated 50PLUS champions, working across all 37 Jobcentre Districts.

In Vale of Glamorgan, Employer and Partnership Teams in Jobcentres work with a range of employers and partners to enhance the skills and employment support available locally for customers, including women of all ages. The Department for Work and Pensions is also working across government, and through regular engagement with employers, to encourage positive attitudes towards older workers and to advocate for a more diverse, inclusive, and multigenerational workforce.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help reduce youth unemployment rates in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Alison McGovern: As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we will also be launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work.

DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.

One such provision is our DWP Youth Hubs. The Surrey Heath Youth Hub provides employability support, mental health support and confidence building sessions, and also works alongside partners such as Surrey Young People’s Fund and Surrey Choices. Surrey Young People’s Fund provides funding for disadvantaged young people aged 16-25, who are resident in Surrey, to assist them in moving towards an identified goal in education, training, apprenticeship, or employment. Surrey Choices offer specialised programmes for young people aged 16-24 with a range of support needs – the aim of these programmes is to prepare disabled, neurodivergent and autistic people for work.
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Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Health and Safety Executive have taken to prevent health and safety hazards on farms employing workers on the Seasonal Worker visa in each of the last five years in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety, this includes workplace health and safety risks created in agriculture.

Over the last 5 years, HSE has taken the following steps to address on-farm health and safety hazards and improve the health and safety performance of the industry for the benefit of all farm workers in Scotland, England and Wales, including seasonal workers, by:

HSE remains committed to working with the farming industry to help improve health and safety performance for the benefit of all its workers.
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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve waiting times for the Personal Independence Payment helpline. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Telephony is our customers’ primary channel to contact us. We continually assess the number of calls we are receiving and the associated waiting times, deploying resources accordingly to support service levels wherever this is possible. However, due to recent media articles regarding PIP, we have been receiving high volumes of calls. As a result, we have been deploying, where practical (whilst also balancing the need to complete necessary processing work) 100% dedicated telephony specific resource to the Personal Independent Payment telephony lines which will give extra support with the increase in both volume of traffic and waiting times.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with (a) neurological conditions and (b) multiple sclerosis are using the Access to Work scheme. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department does collect information on the primary medical condition of Access to Work recipients, however we do not hold information to the level required to identify people with neurological conditions. Therefore, we are not able to make an estimate of the number of people living with neurological conditions that are receiving support through the Access to Work scheme.

Information on the number of Access to Work recipients with multiple sclerosis is not readily available. Details of an individual’s specific disability/medical condition is stored as descriptive, free-text information and would require manual examination of individual applications to analyse and therefore falls outside of the costs limit.

Information on Access to Work volumes and expenditure by primary medical condition are published annually in the Access to Work official statistics: Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2024 - GOV.UK
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of work intensification on the ability of incapacity benefit claimants to (a) find and (b) maintain paid employment. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No assessment has been made. This government is commitment to supporting disabled people in finding and maintaining employment. We plan to establish a Disability Advisory Panel to ensure that the voices of disabled people are at the heart of the reforms set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper. The government aims to support more disabled people to find and thrive in employment, thereby reducing the disability employment gap. Additionally, we will set out reforms to health and disability benefits to ensure the system supports people who can work to remain in or start employment in a way that is fair and fiscally sustainable.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to reduce barriers to making civil servants redundant who do not deliver efficiency savings. \p Georgia Gould: The Government remains committed to the 2016 Protocol and the need to avoid compulsory redundancies as far as possible.

Separately to redundancies, the Government has set out plans to introduce mutually agreed exits to allow Civil Service employers to come to a sensible and pragmatic agreement with an employee regarding their future when it is clear that things aren’t working.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 7442 on Prime Minister: Communication, how many staff work on digital communications in Downing Street; and at what cost. \p Georgia Gould: As of 17 March 2025, there are 43 FTE Civil Servants in the overall communications team, covering a range of disciplines including digital, planning, press and private office. 15 FTE Civil Servants work on digital communications covering a number of responsibilities, as part of the wider communications team.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies, updated on 15 March 2018, whether his Department's public bodies team assessed the National Energy Systems Operator against the guidance that the creation of a new ALB should only be considered as a last resort; whether the Department provided evidence of whether alternative delivery models were considered; and which of the three tests outlined in chapter 2 of that guidance it met. \p Georgia Gould: The National Energy Systems Operator (NESO) is a public corporation and is therefore not administratively classified as an arm’s-length body. The guidance entitled ‘The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies’ did not apply to NESO for this reason.

The NESO will support the UK’s energy security, help to keep bills down in the long term, and accelerate the government’s clean power mission.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) terms of reference are and (b) timetable is of his Department’s resilience review. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: As the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster set out in his statement to the House on Friday 19 July, this government is committed to undertaking a comprehensive review of long-term resilience.

The resilience review is considering established practices and policies to improve UK resilience against the full spectrum of risks we face. It is evidence based and is identifying what should be kept, changed or improved to ensure we are best prepared now and into the future. It is considering recommendations from recent inquiries including the Covid-19 Module 1 report and the Grenfell Tower tragedy to ensure the needs of communities and individuals – in particular vulnerable people – are better addressed.

The review will conclude later this year.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2024 to Question 18214 on 10 Downing Street: Social Media, which Civil Service organisations have a Blue Sky social media channel; and what guidance has GCS given on joining Blue Sky. \p Georgia Gould: The Government uses a range of channels to reach and engage the public. Any use of these platforms is assessed against the high standards for digital safety set out in the Government Communication Service (GCS) SAFE framework.

Individual departments make their own decisions on the best platforms to communicate with the public within the GCS SAFE framework.
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David Chadwick:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many active businesses were registered in Wales on the Companies House register in each of the last five financial years. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 11th March is attached.

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 115.0KB)
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much and what proportion of the Innovation Fund he plans to allocate to (a) staffing, (b) logistics, (c) management of the test-and-learn teams and (d) other administrative costs. \p Georgia Gould: The Government is committed to reforming the state to deliver better public services. The work underway includes the £100 million Public Service Reform and Innovation Fund, which will be deploying Test and Learns teams around the country over the next three years to design and test innovative solutions to our biggest public service challenges in partnership with local places – and ensuring that local learning informs national policy decisions.

The Cabinet Office will be working across government and with local partners to codesign the detailed approach to the allocation of the Innovation Fund.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department provides guidance to departmental social media accounts on liking party political posts by (a) Ministers and (b) hon. Members. \p Georgia Gould: The Government Communication Service has published guidance on propriety in digital and social media. It states that official social media accounts managed by departments must not be used for the further dissemination of messages from party political or otherwise partisan accounts.

The guidance can be found at https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/professional-standards/propriety/propriety-in-digital-and-social-media/.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 14712 on Honours: Public Appointments, who has been (a) appointed and (b) appointed by open and fair competition to the Parliamentary and Political Service honours Committee since 5 July 2024; and what recruitment is ongoing. \p Georgia Gould: All appointments are announced on the Honours Committee page of GOV.UK, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/honours-committees.

All appointments to the honours committees are made following a fair and open competition. This includes utilising reserve lists where appropriate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_140

Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 25452 on Cabinet Office: Staff, what the longest period of time is that a member of the Skills Match Hub has been signed up excluding maternity leave. \p Georgia Gould: I refer the hon. member to the answer of PQ 25452, given on 29 January 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_141

Jon Trickett:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff his Department has seconded from Hakluyt since July 2024. \p Georgia Gould: Secondments are part of a range of ways of bringing talent and experience into the civil service for short periods of time and have been used by successive governments. Secondments are arranged at a business unit level and must follow the processes as set out in the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. However based on the information held centrally, there is no record of any secondees from Hakluyt.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_142

Jon Trickett:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many of his Department's officials have been seconded from (a) the Institute for Economic Affairs, (b) the Policy Exchange, (c) the Adam Smith Institute and (d) Labour Together since July 2024. \p Georgia Gould: Secondments are part of a range of ways of bringing talent and experience into the civil service for short periods of time and have been used by successive governments. Secondments are arranged at a business unit level and must follow the processes as set out in the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. However, based on the information held centrally, there is no record of any secondees from the above mentioned organisations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_143

Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the value was of (a) exports and (b) imports between the UK and Ireland in (i) 2019 and (ii) 2024. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman or lady Parliamentary Question of 12th March is attached.

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 131.9KB)

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 131.9KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_144

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to para 144 of the UK Government Response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report, CP1248, published in February 2025, what his planned timetable is for the publicly accessible record, and whether it will be hosted on gov.uk. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: As confirmed in the government’s response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s recommendation 25, the government will establish a record on GOV.UK of all recommendations made by public inquiries since 2024, and will consider making this an enduring legal requirement. We will update parliament about this in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_145

Chris Law:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister’s speech entitled, Prime Minister’s remarks from the plenary session at the first UK-Ireland Summit: 6 March 2025, what steps the Government is taking to work more closely with the EU to (a) boost trade, (b) create jobs and (c) increase economic growth. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The Government is committed to improving the UK’s trade and investment relationship with the EU, by tearing down unnecessary barriers to trade. The Prime Minister and President von der Leyen agreed to identify areas where we can strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit, such as the economy, energy, security and resilience. Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and I are taking this forward ahead of the first UK-EU summit in London on 19 May. The first UK-Ireland Summit saw the announcement of £185.5 million in new Irish investments, and creating 2540 jobs across the country.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_146

Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the dates that each Mission board meets. \p Ellie Reeves: It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees - including mission boards - including how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_147

Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will list the full membership of each Mission Board. \p Ellie Reeves: The membership of the Mission Boards - as outlined on gov.uk - is the lead Secretary of State as the chair of their respective Mission Board and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster as Deputy Chair; other Ministers will be invited according to the agenda.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_148

Jon Trickett:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff their Department has seconded from Hakluyt since July 2024. \p Alex Davies-Jones: Information about secondments in the Ministry of Justice is not held in a central location, and therefore we are not able to report on the number of employees seconded from Hakluyt since July 2024.

All Civil Servants are subject to a Loans and Secondments policy and the provisions of the Official Secrets Act. HR policies outline the Department’s stance on political activity, with declaration requirements varying by grade. All Civil Servants are expected to abide by rules governing political activities and to avoid situations that lead to conflicts of interest, such as the non-disclosure of sensitive information.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_149

Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral answer of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice on 11 March 2025 to Question 903119 on Female Offenders, whether specialised training includes suicide prevention training. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Foundation training programme for all new prison officers includes learning in relation to suicide and self-harm. For officers working in the female estate, there is an additional week of Foundation training which gives officers an understanding of the potential for increased risk factors for women in custody in relation to self-harm and suicide.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_150

Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the cost of providing suicide prevention training to (a) prison and (b) probation staff. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Suicide prevention training for prison staff has been developed by the HMPPS learning design team in conjunction with policy leads and subject matter experts. It is delivered locally, using a training for trainers approach where possible, to minimise the cost and resource impact on prisons, and delivered centrally only where this is not deemed appropriate.

Suicide prevention training for probation staff was developed externally by the Zero Suicide Alliance (a suicide awareness and prevention initiative, funded via Mersey Cares NHS Charity) in conjunction with HMPPS subject matter experts, at no additional cost to HMPPS. It is delivered online, and as part of broader training for new entrants. It is not possible to disaggregate the costs of this training as they appear in a number of budgets including those for Learning and Development and for individual probation delivery units.

We are unable to disaggregate suicide prevention costs from other learning activity. As the delivery model in prisons is local, the costs for trainers and staff attending are in prison budgets. In probation the training is completed online, the costs of staff time to complete the training are in PDU budgets.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_151

David Chadwick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners (a) have served their original sentence and (b) maintain their innocence. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Data regarding how many and what proportions of prisoners have served their original sentence and maintain their innocence is not collated by the Ministry of Justice.

Innocence is a matter for the courts, so HM Prison and Probation Service and the Parole Board must treat the individual as being guilty of the crimes they have been convicted of but maintaining innocence does not prevent prisoners being released from custody. Most prisoners are released automatically and so their attitude to the index offence has no bearing on their release date. Where release is subject to review by the independent Parole Board, the Board take a range of factors into account, and they must direct an offender’s release where they are satisfied that the statutory release test has been met regardless of whether the prisoner maintains their innocence.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-19)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-19 conversation_152

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on reviewing sentencing for instances of coercive control that leads to the suicide of the victim. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Tackling this issue is a core part of this Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade, and our VAWG strategy, which will be published in the summer, will look at how we can better understand, learn from and prevent future deaths linked to domestic abuse.

The Lord Chancellor has recently asked the Law Commission to undertake a review of homicide law and sentencing, and the use of, and obstacles to, manslaughter charges where a person may be driven to suicide by abuse, and sentencing in these cases, is in scope of this review. The Government has engaged with the families and stakeholders campaigning on this issue.

The Law Commission review will be open, inclusive and evidence-based and will include consultation with judges, legal and criminal justice practitioners, victims’ groups and representatives, parliamentarians, academics, and third-sector organisations.

The Government is also working to develop the evidence base on suicides that follow domestic abuse, including through funding research by the National Police Chiefs' Council's Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim Suicides Project, which captures information on suicides with a known history of domestic abuse from all 43 police forces.