Bob Blackman MP: written questions
381 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Young Carers: Sodium ValproateDepartment for EducationTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107364More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether disabled young carers in families affected by sodium valproate-related harm are being (a) identified and (b) supported within the education system.
Answer: We know that families with children with disabilities, including those affected by sodium valproate harm and where the children may be caring for other family members, are crying out for change.The department’s upcoming full Schools White Paper will build...
Answered 30 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence Payment: Sodium ValproateDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107363More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Personal Independence Payment assessors receive specialist training on disabilities caused by sodium valproate.
Answer: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities caused by sodium valproate receive high-quality, objective, and accurate assessments. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments are functional ass...
Answered 28 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence Payment: Sodium ValproateDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107362More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to reduce the level of incorrect Personal Independence Payment decisions for people with disabilities resulting from sodium valproate.
Answer: It is our aim to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey. To support this, we have made improvements to our decision-making processes to help ensure people get the support they are entitled to without needing to appeal. This incl...
Answered 28 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordCarers: Sodium ValproateDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107361More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of payments received by unpaid carers for people harmed by sodium valproate.
Answer: People in Great Britain who provide unpaid care of 35 hours a week or more can receive financial support from the benefit system through Universal Credit (UC) or Pension Credit (PC). Carer’s Allowance (CA) is also available to those in England and Wales. ...
Answered 28 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: CompensationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107360More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that people who have brought forward cases relating to the unsafe prescription of sodium valproate are not denied access to justice due to their (a) cases being co
Answer: NHS Resolution (NHSR) is the body that manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England, and a full list of their clinical schemes can be found at the following link:https://resolution.nhs.uk/services/claims-mana...
Answered 27 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: CompensationMinistry of JusticeTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107359More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of legal aid in cases involving sodium valproate on the long-term care needs on people who have brought such cases forward.
Answer: Legal aid was granted in respect of a multi-party action product liability dispute under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 against Sanofi, the manufacturers of Epilim, a sodium valproate containing medication. The availability of legal aid in connection wi...
Answered 30 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: CompensationMinistry of JusticeTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107358More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making Exceptional Case Funding available to women and families on their legal cases relating to harm caused by sodium valproate.
Answer: Legal aid was granted in respect of a multi-party action product liability dispute under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 against Sanofi, the manufacturers of Epilim, a sodium valproate containing medication. The availability of legal aid in connection wi...
Answered 30 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: CompensationMinistry of JusticeTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107357More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the withdrawal of legal aid certificates in litigation cases relating to harm caused by sodium valproate; and whether people involved in such cases were aware of the avail
Answer: Legal aid was granted in respect of a multi-party action product liability dispute under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 against Sanofi, the manufacturers of Epilim, a sodium valproate containing medication. The availability of legal aid in connection wi...
Answered 30 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: CompensationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107356More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing financial compensation to people harmed by sodium valproate by using the same compensation process as for thalidomide survivors.
Answer: The Department’s consideration of the Hughes Report’s recommendations for redress for those harmed by sodium valproate will include comparison with the compensation process for thalidomide survivors. However, this is a complex, cross-Government policy are...
Answered 27 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: Foreign NationalsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 907466More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the number of foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit.
Answer: Universal Credit is primarily reserved for people settled in the UK, and the Government has announced plans to increase the standard time most migrants have to wait before they can achieve settlement, from five to 10 years. This change will support the do...
Answered 26 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: CompensationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106969More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of piloting a no-fault compensation model for individuals harmed by sodium valproate.
Answer: The Department has not yet undertaken an assessment of the potential merits of piloting a no-fault compensation model for individuals harmed by sodium valproate.This is a complex, cross-Government policy area involving multiple organisations. As set out i...
Answered 27 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: CompensationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106968More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of international no-fault compensation schemes for medicine-induced harm, including those in New Zealand, Sweden and Denmark, in rel
Answer: The Department’s consideration of the Hughes Report’s recommendations for redress for those harmed by sodium valproate will take account of how other countries have chosen to approach this issue.This is a complex, cross-Government policy area involving mu...
Answered 27 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium ValproateDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106967More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether medicine-induced harm from sodium valproate is systematically captured within NHS patient safety, incident and mortality data.
Answer: The National Health Service in England operates a comprehensive central database, the Learn From Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) service, which is a national NHS system for the recording and analysis of patient safety events that occur in healthcare. It col...
Answered 2 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordJake AldcroftDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106966More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what learning has been implemented following the coroner’s finding that harm from sodium valproate exposure contributed to the death of Jake Aldcroft.
Answer: Everyone who has been harmed from sodium valproate has our deepest sympathies.Action has been taken to minimise the risk of foetal harm associated with valproate, and to ensure that healthcare professionals are also able to support any babies and families...
Answered 29 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: DeathDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106965More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government records deaths where harm caused by sodium valproate exposure is listed as a contributing factor.
Answer: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects and publishes mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. Deaths in which harm caused by sodium valproate exposure is a contributing factor are not captured as a distinct, searchable c...
Answered 27 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106964More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether conditions arising from sodium valproate exposure are consistently recognised and coded within NHS diagnostic systems.
Answer: The National Health Service in England collects data on patients suffering adverse effects of medication and on drug poisoning. While adverse conditions arising from sodium valproate would be captured in this data, the data does not go to the level to ide...
Answered 4 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: Side EffectsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106963More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of the diagnostic time taken and levels of misdiagnosis among individuals harmed by sodium valproate, and its impact on long-term outcomes.
Answer: The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, First Do No Harm, identified significant shortcomings in National Health Service care pathways for people harmed by sodium valproate, including fragmented services, limited diagnostic expertise,...
Answered 29 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: Medical RecordsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106962More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken in response to inaccuracies, omissions and loss of NHS medical records relating to historic sodium valproate prescribing.
Answer: Affected patients who feel there are inaccuracies or omissions in their medical record can ask for their records to be amended. NHS England’s guidance on amending patient and service user records is available at the following link:https://transform.englan...
Answered 9 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106961More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to mandate structured medication reviews for patients receiving long-term sodium valproate, particularly as part of antiepileptic polytherapy.
Answer: There are no current plans to mandate Structured Medication Reviews (SMRs) specifically for patients receiving long-term sodium valproate. NHS England has, however, provided substantial funding to expand the number of clinical pharmacists working in prima...
Answered 29 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106960More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to ensure cumulative drug toxicity and polypharmacy risks are actively monitored in people prescribed sodium valproate.
Answer: There are established systems within the National Health Service to ensure that cumulative drug toxicity and polypharmacy risks are actively monitored in people prescribed sodium valproate. In practice, this involves establishing arrangements for assessin...
Answered 29 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: Side EffectsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106959More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Yellow Card reports relating to harm from sodium valproate, including prenatal exposure, have been received since 2000; and what regulatory action followed.
Answer: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) publishes data received via the Yellow Card scheme in the form of interactive Drug Analysis Profiles (iDAPs). These interactive profiles display a complete listing of all suspected adverse dru...
Answered 27 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: Health EducationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106958More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the MHRA’s effectiveness at communicating known risks of sodium valproate, particularly in pregnancy, prior to 2018.
Answer: As with all medicines, the safety of valproate has been kept under continual review by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), ensuring the product information reflects what is known about valproate.The known risks of valproate are...
Answered 27 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106957More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data NHS England holds on emergency admissions, emergency care and levels of unmet need among individuals harmed by sodium valproate.
Answer: The requested data is not centrally held. NHS England does not hold data on admissions or attendances that specifically identifies individuals harmed by sodium valproate.
Answered 26 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106956More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance exists for Integrated Care Boards on supporting individuals with complex, medicine-induced disabilities arising from sodium valproate.
Answer: The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, First Do No Harm, identified significant shortcomings in National Health Service care pathways for people harmed by sodium valproate, including fragmented services, limited diagnostic expertise,...
Answered 29 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSodium Valproate: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 106955More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to commission specialist multidisciplinary services for people affected by sodium valproate exposure, including care coordination, to help reduce emergency admissions and
Answer: The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, First Do No Harm, identified significant shortcomings in National Health Service care pathways for people harmed by sodium valproate, including fragmented services, limited diagnostic expertise,...
Answered 29 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
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