Sarah Gibson MP: written questions
390 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Dentistry: Labour TurnoverDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 11 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 59195More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to give dental (a) hygienists and (b) therapists NHS performer numbers in workforce (i) retention and (ii) access strategies.
Answer: To work under a National Health Service primary care dental services contract, a dentist must join the NHS Dental Performers List. This is not a requirement for other members of the dental team, and the Government has no plans to change this.Amendments to...
Answered 19 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordDental Services: ContractsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 11 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 59194More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the implementation plan for the upcoming 10-year health plan will include steps to reform NHS dental contracts.
Answer: The 10-Year Health Plan will set out the next steps the Government will take to rebuild dentistry in the long term.We will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentist...
Answered 19 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordRadiology: RecruitmentDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 11 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 59162More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of levels of (a) recruitment and (b) retention of radiologists within the NHS.
Answer: No recent assessment has been made. We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places, including for radiology, meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any gr...
Answered 18 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordDental Services: ContractsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58538More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the minimum unit of dental activity value to £35; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on in
Answer: From 1 April 2024, the Department raised the minimum Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) rate to £28 to support practices with historically low UDA rates, benefitting 876 contracts. Integrated care boards (ICBs) have the flexibility to influence the UDA rate lo...
Answered 19 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordWater Supply: South WestDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58527More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of long-term water supply resilience in (a) the South West of England and (b) Wiltshire.
Answer: South West Water recently received permission from Defra to publish and implement its Water Resources Management plan. Wessex Water and Bristol Water published their plans in 2024. Key to achieving sustainable water resources, will be the development of ...
Answered 18 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordPigs: Animal HousingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58482More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding his Department provides to support pig farmers in transitioning away from farrowing crates to free-farrowing systems.
Answer: The use of farrowing crates and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which the department is currently considering very carefully. At present there is no Government funding available to support pig farmers in transitioning away f...
Answered 12 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordPigs: Animal HousingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58481More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to launch a public consultation on the future use of farrowing crates in the UK.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 2 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield, PQ 41698.
Answered 16 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordPigs: Animal HousingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58480More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of sows in the UK kept in farrowing crates in each of the last five years.
Answer: Defra does not hold official data, however, for the last five years estimates have consistently maintained that 60% of the UK breeding herd were kept indoors with the vast majority of sows using farrowing crates to give birth. The remaining 40% farrow fre...
Answered 16 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal WelfareDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58479More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average time taken is between suspected incidents of animal cruelty and the receipt of those reports by the Animal and Plant Health Agency in the last 12 months.
Answer: The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is not keeping records of time between suspected incidents of animal cruelty and the receipt of those reports by the Agency; consequently, this information is not held by Defra. However, over the last 12 months th...
Answered 18 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal and Plant Health Agency: Animal WelfareDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58478More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure timely reporting of suspected animal cruelty incidents to the Animal and Plant Health Agency; and whether guidance is issued to (a) indust
Answer: There is newly published guidance on what and how to report animal welfare concerns in England (Report farm animal welfare concerns - GOV.UK); additional contact details are available at the top of the APHA contact list on GOV.UK. For England and Wales, ...
Answered 16 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: WiltshireDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58477More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications have been received under the 2025 round of animal health and welfare grants; and what proportion of these applications have been approved in Wiltshire.
Answer: The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF 25) opened for applications on the 29 May this year and will close at midday on 10 July 2025. The application process is ongoing; therefore, applications have not been approved at this stage.
Answered 16 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordTeachers: TrainingDepartment for EducationTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58475More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the regional distribution of ineligible applicants for teacher training bursaries based on degree classification; and how many ineligible applicants there were i
Answer: Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are designed to incentivise more applications to ITT courses from high-achieving graduates. As such, for postgraduate bursaries, we take account of the grade of the trainee’s highest academic qualification. These b...
Answered 17 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordTeachers: TrainingDepartment for EducationTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58474More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the completion of a Subject Knowledge Enhancement course is considered as part of the eligibility criteria for postgraduate teacher training bursaries.
Answer: Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are designed to incentivise more applications to ITT courses from high-achieving graduates. As such, for postgraduate bursaries, we take account of the grade of the trainee’s highest academic qualification. These b...
Answered 17 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordTeachers: TrainingDepartment for EducationTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58473More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of using degree classification as an eligibility criterion for teacher training bursaries in shortage subjects.
Answer: Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are designed to incentivise more applications to ITT courses from high-achieving graduates. As such, for postgraduate bursaries, we take account of the grade of the trainee’s highest academic qualification. These b...
Answered 17 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordRadiology: StaffDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57888More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase the (a) physical and (b) workforce capacity of radiology departments for (i) CT and (ii) MRI scanners.
Answer: We are committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the National Health Service to increase diagnostic capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services, including investment in new magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography sc...
Answered 12 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordRadiology: StaffDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57887More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to reduce the number of clinical (a) radiologists and (b) oncologists who leave the workforce below the age of 50.
Answer: The Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, to ensure the retention of our hardworking and dedicated staff, including oncologists and radiologists.The Government recognises that a cancer-specific approach is n...
Answered 12 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordRadiology: StaffDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57886More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the workforce census reports by the Royal College of Radiologists, published on 5 June 2025, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of trends
Answer: The Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, to ensure the retention of our hardworking and dedicated staff, including oncologists and radiologists.The Government recognises that a cancer-specific approach is n...
Answered 12 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordIntegrated Care Boards: StaffDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57885More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to help support (a) integrated care boards and (b) cancer alliances to develop (i) local and (ii) regional long-term workforce plans.
Answer: We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to ensure that the National Health Service has the right people in the right places to deliver the care patients need, transforming the health service and making it fit for the future.
Answered 23 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordRadiology: VacanciesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57884More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to increase the number of radiologists.
Answer: We are committed to training the staff we need, including radiologists, to ensure that patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of t...
Answered 12 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordLearning Disability: WiltshireDepartment for EducationTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57883More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) improve the academic outcomes of students with learning difficulties in Wiltshire.
Answer: For too long the education and care system has not met the needs of all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with parents struggling to get their children the support they need and deserve. This government’s...
Answered 13 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordGCSE: DyslexiaDepartment for EducationTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57882More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of allocating marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar in non-English GCSE subjects on students with dyslexia.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member for Chippenham to the answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57812.
Answered 13 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversities: AdmissionsDepartment for EducationTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57881More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the publication entitled Skills England: Sector evidence on the growth and skills offer, published in June 2025, what steps her Department is taking to ensure vocational pathways are presented
Answer: The publication referred to sets out Skills England‘s findings from its analysis and engagement with sectors on the growth and skills offer, supported by its assessments of skills needs. Skills England and the department will work together to ensure the o...
Answered 13 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordSmall Businesses: ApprenticesDepartment for EducationTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57880More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve support for SMEs to take on apprentices.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member for Chippenham to the answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37179.
Answered 13 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordME/CFS: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57879More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department provides to GPs to help improve the (a) early recognition and (b) management of ME in (i) Wiltshire and (ii) areas in Wiltshire with limited specialist services.
Answer: Earlier this year, NHS England completed a long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), stocktake to provide a national overview of service delivery in commissioning and contracting, assessing access, activity...
Answered 1 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordME/CFS: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57878More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of NHS services for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis.
Answer: Earlier this year, NHS England completed a long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), stocktake to provide a national overview of service delivery in commissioning and contracting, assessing access, activity...
Answered 1 Jul 2025
Original Parliament record
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