Dr Zubir Ahmed
MP for Glasgow South West · Labour · United Kingdom
“The hon. Gentleman will know that there is a quasi-judicial process, and it would be remiss of me to make undertakings on an issue for which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero is responsible. I gently remind the hon. Gentleman that those calculations have been baked in for many years.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Members may be aware, in Scotland, that will not be automatic; it is at the discretion of the Scottish Government. I plead with them to ensure that the Barnett consequentials of that decision translate into savings on business rates for ordinary high-street businesses, including pubs. My right hon.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“When I was first elected to this place as the proud Member for Glasgow South West, many of my constituents lived in great financial uncertainty: the more than 6,000 kids in my constituency who live in relative poverty; the many constituents who have not had a decent wage rise for over 10 years; and the proud shipyards of Govan that are un…”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Investing in defence is not taboo, contrary to the view that the Scottish Green party and the Scottish National party have sometimes espoused; we in Scotland should be proud that we are at the forefront of defending our nation, and we will always invest in that.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That took thousands of kids in my constituency out of poverty, and probably benefited the local economy to the tune of £4 million. We also secured the Type 26 frigate contract, which will give certainty to Govan shipyard workers for generations to come. It is not only in the large policy areas that this Labour movement does its work.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I know that some Members think that there is a binary choice to be made between social and personal economic security on the one hand, and our national security on the other, but there is not; one is very much reliant on the other.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
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“It also includes references to mental health, wellbeing and support for those with palliative care and end-of-life care needs. Of course, there are many examples of voluntary initiatives, such as grief or bereavement cafés, or the Good Grief community, which aims to support people at the end of their life and their families through a programme of events and courses, and the provision of resources that often include pre-bereavement advice and support. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Altrincham and Sale West feels passionately about mental health support for those with palliative care and end-of-life care needs, and that he has been supporting Mike’s campaign for improved mental health services and support.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government are determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals into the community to ensure that patients receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting. Palliative care and end-of-life care services, including those provided by hospices, have a big role to play in that shift. Palliative care services are included in the list of services that an integrated care board must commission, promoting a more consistent national approach and supporting commissioners to prioritise palliative care and end-of-life care. To support that process, NHS England has published statutory guidance stating that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local population.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy, and I start by sincerely thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Altrincham and Sale West (Mr Rand) for securing this debate. I also welcome Mike and his family to the Public Gallery, and pay tribute to Mike for all his efforts. My hon. Friend raises an important issue that can affect so many people—all people perhaps, at some point—about ensuring that when someone is diagnosed with a terminal illness, they can receive the mental and emotional support that they need in the place that they need it. We want to be a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate and personalised care from diagnosis through to the end of life.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On staffing, I am pleased to say that almost 7,000 extra mental health workers have been recruited since July 2024, against our target of 8,500 by the end of this Parliament. We are also expanding talking therapies, and we have committed to continuing that expansion over the coming years. More adults already benefit from better access to those therapies, and the aim is for over 900,000 people to complete a course of treatment with improved effectiveness and quality of services by March 2029. Anyone who develops a common mental health condition, such as anxiety or depression, in any context, including terminal illness, can self-refer to talking therapies. [ Interruption. ]”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As part of that process, we wish to open around 85 mental health emergency departments, reducing pressure on busy A&E services, which are the last places that people with mental health needs should be, and ensuring that people have the right support they need in a calm, compassionate environment. We will also use new integrated health organisations to break down barriers between services, which I also think is really important in the context of this debate, and to ensure integrated and holistic care, addressing both physical and mental healthcare needs, with more freedom to determine how best to meet the needs of those local populations. That will build on the work that has already begun to bring down waiting lists. As I said, we are investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The mental health investment standard is something that we expect ICBs to meet. I will gently push back on what the hon. Gentleman is saying because, as we have been so succinctly reminded in this debate, investing in mental wellbeing is about more than just headline figures. For instance, we need psychology in oncology, in children’s health, and in other forms of cancer care. The provision of such services is not always recorded in the way that the hon. Gentleman would wish it to be recorded, but there are still formats and sub-types of mental health support. The Government are also keen to press ahead with our 10-year plan, and we are setting out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country while delivering the shift from hospital to community.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am grateful for your direction, Sir Jeremy. I need one minute to conclude my remarks, and I will then pass on to my hon. Friend the Member for Altrincham and Sale West.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Thank you, Sir Jeremy. Can I reassure all Members participating in this debate of the Government’s commitment to deliver on the issues that have been raised? We will work constructively with everyone, including patients and their families, as we develop the framework that Members have already outlined. We will also work with other mental health partners, local authorities and charities so that everyone can be assured that the Government are playing their part in delivering a better standard of access to care for not only palliative care but mental health care in that context.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That includes the introduction of a reasonable adjustment digital flag, which enables the recording of key information about a citizen or a patient, including that a person is autistic, and the reasonable adjustment needs to ensure support can be tailored appropriately.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Within health and social care, all NHS organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the accessible information standard, which details the approach to supporting the information and communication needs of people with disability, impairment or sensory loss. NHS England published a revised standard in June this year to ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss are met within health and care provision. We are also taking steps in the health and care system to improve the accessibility of services for autistic people more broadly. For example, there is work underway in NHS England to make sure that staff in health settings know that they need to make reasonable adjustments for people.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The UKHSA collaborates closely with the voluntary and community sector, including organisations working with and representing autistic people. That close collaboration has allowed it to gain rapid feedback from those organisations regarding the efficacy of communication and guidance materials so that they can be adapted as required, in real time, to communicate with all members of our society and not just some. More broadly, the Government recognise the importance of accessible communications and have published guidance on that for all Government Departments.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend also alluded to, we have recently concluded participation in Exercise Pegasus, the largest ever simulation of a pandemic in UK history. Exercise Pegasus gives us an opportunity to examine our preparedness, capabilities and response arrangements, and we will continue to learn as we plan for phase 4 of the exercise in 2026. The Government have committed to communicating the findings and lessons, and a post-exercise report will be delivered in due course. I recognise the concerns raised about accessible communications during the pandemic, and hear loudly my hon. Friend’s reflections. The UK Health Security Agency was established in 2021 and is responsible for preventing, preparing and responding to infectious diseases and other environmental hazards.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Module 10 of the inquiry is focusing on the impact of the pandemic on society in more detail and will carefully consider the findings in due course. It is clearly critical that the UK is prepared for a future pandemic, and that is rightly a top priority for the Government. The Department’s new strategic approach to pandemic preparedness continues to recognise the disproportionate and unintended impacts that pandemics can have on vulnerable people and groups. The Department is therefore committed to publishing a new pandemic preparedness strategy, which will be published next year and will show how the unequal impacts of pandemics on social health and healthcare are considered in all areas of preparedness and response. As my hon.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend also highlighted, we recognise that there is a lot of further work to do to ensure that the impact of inequalities and vulnerabilities in pandemic decision making is fully anticipated and planned for. The inquiry recently published module 2 of its report, focusing on UK decision making and political governance. The report highlights that considerable numbers of people suffered from the social, economic and cultural consequences of steps taken to combat the pandemic, such as lockdown, including the impacts of social isolation, loneliness and declining mental health, and of course the chopping and changing of advice—which was sometimes necessary, but perhaps, on reflection, sometimes unnecessary.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I want to provide reassurance that the Government remain committed to learning the lessons from the pandemic, to help us to prepare better in future. As my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich alluded to, the Government have acknowledged the disproportionate impact that the pandemic had on vulnerable groups in the United Kingdom. Module 1 of the UK covid-19 inquiry was published in July last year and focused on the UK’s resilience and preparedness for the pandemic. The Government’s response, published in January this year, sets out the changes we have made to ensure that we reduce the potential unequal impacts of events on particular groups or individuals in any future pandemics. However, as my hon.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is important that we learn from those experiences and ensure we do better in future. In 2020, the Department of Health and Social Care commissioned research into the impact of the pandemic on autistic people and their families. The report, published in May ’21, made several key recommendations that chime with the issues my hon. Friend so eloquently raised today. It included findings about access to education for autistic children during lockdown; lack of respite and support for family members and carers; the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of autistic people and the challenges they face accessing healthcare in the round; and, as highlighted in this debate, the need for clear communication and transparency of decision making to help autistic people to follow advice and guidance appropriately.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Jack Abbott) for raising this important topic. Having known him for the last 14 months, I know how passionately he feels about the national health service in his area, particularly the mental health service provision in his area. His constituents can be rightly proud of his doughty advocacy on their behalf. My hon. Friend spoke about his constituent’s campaign to improve support for autistic people following his very difficult experiences during the covid-19 pandemic. I also place on the record my commendation of Ivan for his tireless work to ensure that autistic people will receive the right form of support. We have heard today of the challenges that autistic people faced during the pandemic.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Whether through Exercise Pegasus, looking at how we can better co-create guidance with vulnerable groups, using better guidance tailored for specific communities, using digital flags on health records, or indeed better mandatory training, I give my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich this assurance: no longer will disabled people or people with specific or additional needs be treated as an afterthought. They will be at the forefront of our minds when planning future pandemic training and preparedness—and when executing that preparedness, should we be so unfortunate as to suffer another pandemic. He has my assurance, and I am once again grateful to him for securing this debate. Question put and agreed to.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I understand that his constituent Ivan contributed to the inquiry, and I personally thank him and others for sharing their valuable insights and experiences, despite all the trauma that they have been through. The Government are carefully considering the Committee’s recommendations on the next autism strategy and support for autistic people, and we will respond formally in due course. I end by reiterating my thanks to my hon. Friend and his constituent Ivan. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Chris Vince) and the hon. Members for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), for Strangford (Jim Shannon), for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) and for Birmingham Perry Barr (Ayoub Khan) for their contributions.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We have been rolling out the Oliver McGowan mandatory training on learning disability and autism to support Care Quality Commission-registered providers to meet their statutory requirements and ensure that their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism. NHS England has been rolling out additional training services across its mental health services, and has published guidance for mental health services on meeting the needs of autistic adults and guidance on adaptations of NHS talking therapies specifically designed for autistic people. I am sure that my hon. Friend is aware that the House of Lords special inquiry Committee on the Autism Act 2009 published its report and recommendations for Government on 23 November.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That includes strengthening joined-up care between health and social care, so that people experience more integrated, person-centred care, including through the development of neighbourhood health services. I have also heard about the impact of the pandemic on autistic people’s mental health and wellbeing. We know that autistic people are, sadly, disproportionately impacted by mental ill health and face challenges in accessing services in relation to their mental health. We are taking steps to address that, including raising awareness and understanding of autism within health and social care systems.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Our 10-year health plan sets out an ambitious reform agenda to transform the NHS and rightly make it fit for the future. That future must at its core include early intervention and support for autistic people and those with specific needs. We are working with the Department for Education on reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities system, ensuring that joined-up support is available across education and health, including for autistic children and young people. We are also taking steps to improve access to adult social care services for those who need them. To build consensus on plans for a national care service, Baroness Casey is chairing an independent commission to shape the medium and long-term landscape reforms needed, and we have been putting the core foundations in place to facilitate that.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I will have to go back and check that particular sub-group of flagging and get back to my hon. Friend, but I think the point he makes is that, wherever possible, we should be identifying those groups that have specific communication needs, by virtue of either their own personal health or social needs, or the needs of those they are looking after. He makes a very valid point and I will be delighted to write to him with a more detailed response than I can give at the moment. More broadly, I have heard concerns about support for autistic people. I reassure my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich that we are committed to supporting autistic people, who should have the right support in place, tailored to their individual needs.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In doing so, he has ensured that more Members and citizens of our nation will now look, acknowledge and see below the line, so that together we can ensure that more children do not continue to suffer in silence. Question put and agreed to .”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is why our strategy is based on Best Start family hubs and the Families First Partnership programme, so that we can make sure that parents in alcohol treatment services also receive vital parenting and family support. The Department for Education has released statutory guidance called “Working Together to Safeguard Children”, and I want to pick out one line from it: “Nothing is more important than children’s welfare.” That could not be more true. Everything we are doing across Government is aimed at improving children’s health and protecting child welfare, so that every child can thrive in a loving, safe and stable home. Let me end by speaking directly about the hon. Member for Mid Norfolk. Today he has spoken not only in this place, but to the nation.”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“But treatment alone is not enough to improve outcomes for children. The evidence suggests that alcohol treatment, combined with support to help parents raise their kids, can increase the likelihood of recovery from alcohol dependency, reduce the risk of child neglect or abuse and, crucially, keep families together. I am grateful for the opportunity to respond to this debate. It has given me the chance to outline how the Government are laser-focused on improving outcomes for children from all kinds of backgrounds who find themselves in these situations—children who, through no fault of their own, were born to parents who suffer from alcohol problems. I hope I have demonstrated that our approach is based not on stigmatising, but on keeping families together.”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Fourthly, we plan to publish guidance on how treatment providers can better support and improve service provision for women. We will work with local commissioners to ensure that they consider in their drug and alcohol treatment commissioning plans the specific needs of pregnant women and parents. We are also continuing to invest in improvements to local alcohol treatment services, which faced significant cuts followed by a decade of disinvestment. Just last week, the Government announced an investment of £13.4 billion—a 5.6% cash increase—over the next three years in local authorities’ vital public health work through the consolidated public health grant. That includes the overall £1 billion of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery improvement grants over the next three years.”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is why the Government are committed to reducing stigma, improving the quality of treatment and making support available to every woman who needs it. First, we are piloting local approaches to reduce stigma among doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. Secondly, we will soon publish the UK’s first clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment that include advice for supporting pregnant women and parents to stop or safely slow down their alcohol use. Thirdly, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England are finalising the co-occurring mental health and substance use delivery framework, which will outline the commitments that we are making to improve integration of alcohol and drug treatment with mental health services at a national level.”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is why the UK chief medical officer’s guideline is that if a woman is pregnant or thinks she might become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink at all. It is a genuine tragedy that pregnant women and mothers with alcohol problems are sometimes the most stigmatised and harshly judged people in our society. That means it is incredibly difficult for those women to speak out about their issues and to let services know that they have children, which prevents women, children and families from getting the help they deserve. We cannot forget that many women who drink during pregnancy come from homes where their own parents were dependent on alcohol and are often at the sharpest end of not only inequality, but complex and multiple other needs. Many of them were victims of trauma and abuse in their own childhood.”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“To help identify vulnerable children and families affected by parental alcohol problems who need a helping hand, my Department will support local authorities with an additional range of resources, including local prevalence and treatment data, and child safeguarding guidance for alcohol and drug treatment services. We are doing this for children and their families, but we must also target our support to make a sustainable difference to pregnant women with alcohol problems. Timely and effective treatment is key, because drinking in pregnancy leads to long-term harm for babies—for example, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which has already been highlighted in this debate. Unfortunately, the more that women drink, the greater the risk.”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government have also confirmed that we are giving vulnerable families and children better access to local support services. Our strategy is based, first, on breaking the cycle of late intervention and, secondly, on helping more children and families to stay safely together as a unit. We are doing this through the national roll-out of the family help multi-agency child protection and family group decision-making reforms, which will be delivered through the Families First Partnership programme led by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education. The programme’s funding amounts to £2.4 billion over the next three years.”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The trauma from such experiences can last well into adulthood, which means that the cycle can repeat, with the trauma passed on through multiple generations. We must do everything we can to break that cycle. As we have heard, alcoholism can affect anyone, but at times it hits hardest in some of our deprived communities. That is why from April next year, the Government will be rolling out Best Start family hubs to every local authority. Those hubs will provide a high-quality service for parents, and will focus on early child development and the digital resources to facilitate that. They will be open to all and based in communities where alcoholism is most prevalent, ensuring that services reach the children and families who are likely to benefit most from them.”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We want to support children whose parents have alcohol problems, but we also want to support their parents to get better. Although not all children of parents with an alcohol problem will experience harm, they are clearly at far greater risk and, as we have heard, far too many of them will have their childhood scarred by their parents’ drinking. In 2024-25, 14% of child social worker assessments cited parental alcohol use, and in 2023-24 alcohol or drug use was identified in 43% of child safeguarding practice reviews where a child was seriously harmed or, sadly, died. Children growing up in these environments are more likely to face additional challenges, such as parental mental health problems and sometimes, unfortunately, domestic abuse.”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend the Member for West Lancashire (Ashley Dalton), who has responsibility for public health, to see what form of meeting can be arranged. Alcoholism is a tragedy that blights communities across the United Kingdom, including in my constituency of Glasgow South West and the west of Scotland. Having practised as a medical doctor for more than 20 years, I have seen it, including in some of the transplant patients who have arrived across my operating table. As much as I love my job as a surgeon, I would love nothing more than for those transplants to never be needed again. I want to reassure colleagues that this brief sits not just with my hon. Friend the Member for West Lancashire, but with all Ministers across Government, who are rightly focused on raising the healthiest generation of children in history.”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I congratulate the hon. Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman) on securing this important debate, in particular during what must be an unimaginably difficult week for him. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we send him our love and sympathy. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell) for sharing his powerful personal story, and the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) for their thoughtful contributions. I will be very happy, once the APPG has been convened, to liaise with the hon. Member for Mid Norfolk and the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon.”
House of Commons26 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Too many people are waiting too long for mental health support. Since coming into office, the Government have put mental health support services on the road to recovery. We promised 8,500 more mental health staff by the end of the Parliament, and we have already recruited 6,500 of them. We are introducing the first 24/7 mental health crisis support services through NHS 111, and we have rolled out mental health support to schools and colleges across the country, providing help to 5 million children and young people.”
House of Commons25 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank my hon. Friend for all her tireless work to improve the lives of people living with mental illness and to prevent suicide. The 10-year health plan will build on the work that has already been done to reduce waiting lists, including through an extra £688 million of real-terms investment this year, the hiring of more staff and the expansion of talking therapies for an extra 380,000 patients. In addition, as she will know, the Mental Health Bill, which is in its final parliamentary stages, will modernise legislation and make a significant impact on the lives of those who live with mental illness.”
House of Commons25 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am genuinely sorry that the hon. Lady has not received the reply to which she is entitled. I will look into it myself, take it up with my ministerial colleague, and ensure that a reply is expedited in the fashion in which it should have been in the first place.”
House of Commons25 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We are carefully considering the work undertaken by the Patient Safety Commissioner, which sets out various potential options for redress. I am both a clinician and a Minister who has recently taken on this area, and my hon. Friend will know that this is highly complex work, but it is a complexity that I am willing to step into. It requires input and planning across Government, which takes time. I am certainly committed to taking this issue seriously, and I will return to update my hon. Friend and the House in due course.”
House of Commons25 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank my hon. Friend for all her tireless work, campaigning and advocacy on this issue for many years, particularly since the Hughes report was published in February 2024. Like me, she will be sensitive to the fact that we are coming up to the two-year anniversary of that report. It is a call to action for me and the Department to answer the questions that she has been asking for so long. I have a meeting with the Patient Safety Commissioner very shortly, and I am very happy to meet her separately when she wishes.”
House of Commons25 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Gentleman can certainly be given that assurance from me, as the Minister also responsible for four-nation engagement. The Hughes report examined both the sodium valproate and pelvic mesh issues, and I know that these resonate across the four nations, particularly when it comes to licensing and regulation of medical technology. He has that assurance from me.”
House of Commons25 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As announced in the 10-year health plan, David Lock KC is providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims. That review is ongoing, and following initial advice to Ministers and the recent report from the National Audit Office, the results of David Lock’s work will inform future policymaking in this area. I am happy to update my hon. Friend as soon as that happens.”
House of Commons25 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“While the NHS in Scotland has no app and no plans for a national roll-out, the NHS in England has had an app since 2019, with 71 million logins in October 2025. Three in four people now have the app in their pockets and it has more subscribers in England than Netflix. You may ask, Mr Speaker, why NHS Scotland does not have an app? The answer comes in a freedom of information request by the champion journalist Simon Johnson: when asked about some of the drawbacks of applying the NHS England app in Scotland, they said: “political optics of adopting an English solution”. It is time for Analogue John to move over and let Anas Sarwar and Jackie Baillie finally drag the Scottish NHS into the 21st—”
House of Commons25 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government are already committed to clinical trials being under 150 days by next March. I commend my hon. Friend on all the work he does with his local pharmaceutical companies in advancing medical science locally and nationally.”
House of Commons25 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Although the Government have no plans to change the departmental responsibilities applicable to unlicensed cannabis-based products, we are cognisant of the need for research in this area. We have agreed to more than £8.5 million in funding for two world-first clinical trials to investigate the safety and efficacy of cannabinoid treatments for drug-resistant epilepsy in both adults and children, and I am happy to speak to the right hon. Gentleman about this matter further.”
House of Commons25 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“ICB leads are responsible for the implementation of the guidance under the Down Syndrome Act. It is therefore critical that they are referenced in the legislation itself. The regulations will come into force on the day after the date on which they are made. The rationale is to ensure that the duty under the Down Syndrome Act to give guidance to relevant authorities applies to the correct authorities. The regulations will have no material effect until the final guidance is published. We therefore do not believe it necessary to engage with or notify the public further on these changes. By making important updates to the Down Syndrome Act, these regulations will provide vital assurance that the guidance will be implemented effectively, ensuring that it can achieve the aim of improving the life outcomes of those with Down’s syndrome.”
House of Commons19 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We understand that the ongoing reforms across Government affect the timing and content of the final guidance, and its content after publication. We will keep the final guidance under review, and it will be updated to reflect the latest policy and legislative frameworks as and when necessary. The Down’s syndrome guidance will not be statutory for those not specified in the schedule to the Down Syndrome Act, which means that persons who are not relevant authorities are under no obligation to have due regard to the guidance. It is therefore important that we change the wording in the Down Syndrome Act now to ensure that the guidance will apply to current relevant authorities. The change will also ensure that the legislation is in alignment with NHS England’s statutory guidance on the ICB leads on Down’s syndrome.”
House of Commons19 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“These draft regulations seek to bring the legislation up to date by replacing references to CCGs with ICBs, and references to the National Health Service Commissioning Board with NHS England. The changes are required because the Health and Social Care Act 2022 made provision for the abolition of CCGs and replaced them with ICBs, and renamed the National Health Service Commissioning Board as NHS England. The purpose of that change is to bring ICBs and NHS England within scope of the Down Syndrome Act duty to have due regard to the guidance. Final guidance issued under the Down Syndrome Act will not be published until these changes come into force. We intend to publish the guidance before the planned abolition of NHS England comes into effect.”
House of Commons19 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We will use the feedback received to ensure the guidance is fit for purpose. I now turn to what the draft regulations will do. Under the Down Syndrome Act, relevant authorities must have due regard to the final statutory guidance when exercising their relevant functions. The Act does not create any functions beyond that duty. The schedule to the Act specifies the relevant authorities that must have due regard to the guidance and the specific functions of those bodies to which the guidance applies. As drafted, the schedule does not include NHS England or ICBs. Rather, it refers to the National Health Service Commissioning Board, which was the former name of NHS England, and to clinical commissioning groups, which were the commissioning bodies in place at the time the Down Syndrome Act was passed.”
House of Commons19 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On 9 May 2023, NHS England published statutory guidance stating that every integrated care board should identify a member of its board to lead on supporting that ICB to perform its functions effectively in the interests of people with Down’s syndrome. The NHS England guidance also states that ICBs should have a lead for learning disability and autism, and a lead for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. It will be important for ICB leads to work collaboratively across the integrated care system, with local authority, public health, education and wider partners. The consultation on the draft guidance will help us to understand whether the guidance is clear, informative and useful to relevant authorities in carrying out their legislative requirements in support of people with Down’s syndrome.”
House of Commons19 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗