Sorcha Eastwood MP: written questions
148 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Maternity Pay and Paternity PayDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6902More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) maternity and (b) paternity pay for (i) one child and (ii) multiple child births.
Answer: Maternity pay is primarily a health and safety provisions for pregnant working women. It is not intended to replace a woman's earnings completely, rather it provides a measure of financial security to help pregnant working women take time off work in the ...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPensions: Self-employedDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6901More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of defaulting self-employed people into pension savings.
Answer: Finding effective and enduring solutions to enable self-employed people to achieve greater financial security in later life is a challenge, which the UK like other countries is confronting. Research has highlighted that while self-employments are diverse,...
Answered 15 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordTrastuzumab Deruxtecan: Northern IrelandDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6900More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with the Northern Ireland Health Minister on access to Enhertu in Northern Ireland.
Answer: My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has no plans to speak to the Minister of Health for Northern Ireland about the specific issue of access to the medicine Enhertu in Northern Ireland. Decisions on the availability of ind...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordAsylum: Temporary AccommodationHome OfficeTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6899More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time asylum seeker families are spending in contingency accommodation is in (a) the UK and (b) Northern Ireland.
Answer: The Home Office does not publish information regarding the length of time spent in contingency accommodation by asylum seekers. This period of time is determined by a number of factors including overall demand and availability of dispersal accommodation a...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood CancerDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5813More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to help ensure blood cancer is routinely included as a distinct category when reporting on (a) prevalence, (b) healthcare utilisation and (c) other appropriate benchmarks.
Answer: The National Disease Registration Service, through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services (NCRAS), collects information on how many people in England have cancer. Blood cancer is included as a distinct category, labelled haematological neo...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood CancerDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5812More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to hold discussions with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on co-ordinating national cancer registries in their (a) collection, (b) analysis and (c) reporting o
Answer: There are no current plans to hold discussions with the devolved administrations on co-ordinating national cancer registries. The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), which includes the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service, is a memb...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood Cancer: Clinical TrialsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5811More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of participation in clinical trials for blood cancer; and whether he plans to take steps to increase the level of participation among underreprese
Answer: No such assessment has been made. The Department-funded National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research. The NIHR supported the...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood Cancer: Clinical TrialsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5810More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to support (a) investigator-led and (b) commercially-sponsored clinical trials in blood cancer research.
Answer: The Department-funded National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research, including clinical research on blood cancer.NIHR infrast...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood CancerDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5809More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) help improve patient understanding of self-monitoring of blood cancer and (b) increase funding for (i) sign-posting and referrals into charity support services and (i
Answer: NHS England is committed to ensuring that all cancer patients are offered Holistic Needs Assessment and Personalised Care and Support Planning, ensuring care is focused on what matters most to each person. This is being delivered in line with the NHS Comp...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood Cancer: DiagnosisDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5808More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking improve the disparities experienced by those from (a) ethnic minorities, (b) deprived backgrounds and (c) geographically remote locations in accessing a timely diagnosis of
Answer: Making improvements across different cancer types is critical to reducing disparities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the National Health Service’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalitie...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood Cancer: NursesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5807More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) blood cancer clinical nurses employed and (b) vacant blood cancer clinical nurse specialist posts there are in the NHS; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of devel
Answer: Information on the number of blood cancer clinical nurse specialists employed in the National Health Service, and the number of vacant posts, is not held centrally.The NHS has been facing chronic workforce shortages for years, and we have to be honest tha...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBlood CancerDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5806More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps with NHS England to develop (a) modelling of the blood cancer care workforce and (b) national standards for staffing and facilities.
Answer: Information on the number of blood cancer clinical nurse specialists employed in the National Health Service, and the number of vacant posts, is not held centrally.The NHS has been facing chronic workforce shortages for years, and we have to be honest tha...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordMedical Equipment: StandardsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5794More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by Lord Darzi entitled Independent investigation of the NHS in England, published on 12 September 2024, what steps he plans to take to improve the quality of the NHS eq
Answer: Professor Lord Darzi highlights that the National Health Service has been starved of capital, with outdated scanners, too little automation, and that the NHS is failing to enter the digital era. The findings provide a diagnosis of the challenges facing th...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPublic Expenditure: Northern IrelandTreasuryTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5793More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will fund an updated version of the report entitled Cost of Division: A benchmark of performance and expenditure, published by the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre in January 2016.
Answer: As part of the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive (NIE) the UK Government and NIE agreed to add a 24% needs-based factor into the Barnett formula as it applies to the NIE from 2024-25. This is part of the financial package worth over £3.3 billi...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPublic Expenditure: Northern IrelandTreasuryTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5792More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will conduct a comprehensive review of (a) relative need and (b) associated implications for the level of the fiscal floor for Northern Ireland required to ensure equivalent levels of service provision across
Answer: As part of the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive (NIE) the UK Government and NIE agreed to add a 24% needs-based factor into the Barnett formula as it applies to the NIE from 2024-25. This is part of the financial package worth over £3.3 billi...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPublic Expenditure: Northern IrelandTreasuryTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5791More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the fiscal floor for Northern Ireland.
Answer: As part of the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive (NIE) the UK Government and NIE agreed to add a 24% needs-based factor into the Barnett formula as it applies to the NIE from 2024-25. This is part of the financial package worth over £3.3 billi...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInfected Blood InquiryCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5782More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the representation of people with hepatitis B in the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Answer: The Inquiry is independent of Government and the conduct of the Inquiry is a matter for the Chair. Since it began, the Inquiry sat to hear evidence for 290 days from 374 witnesses, including people with hepatitis B. In total, the Inquiry has received 5,57...
Answered 10 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInfected Blood Compensation SchemeCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5781More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether people with hepatitis B are eligible to claim through the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme for financial loss due to (a) the inability to work full time and (b) not receiving regular support scheme pay
Answer: Anyone with an eligible Hepatitis B infection will be able to claim compensation calculated under five categories of award including a financial loss award. The financial loss award recognises the past and future financial losses suffered as a result of i...
Answered 10 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInfected Blood Compensation SchemeCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5780More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether people with hepatitis B who have not received (a) a lump sum and (b) regular payments from a support scheme will be entitled to an award under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.
Answer: People who received contaminated blood or blood products which resulted in a chronic Hepatitis B infection will be eligible to claim compensation under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. The estates of those who died from an acute Hepatitis B infecti...
Answered 10 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPalforziaDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5502More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the NHS geographic availability is of Palforzia as of September 2024; and if he will publish a regional breakdown the number of people that received Palforzia on the NHS since 2022.
Answer: Palforzia is a peanut immunotherapy drug that helps reduce the severity of children's allergic reactions that may occur with exposure to peanuts. Data on the number and geographical location of children that have had access to Palforzia in England is not ...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordMotor InsuranceTreasuryTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5501More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will hold discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on the comparative costs of car insurance in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Great Britain.
Answer: Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors on an ongoing basis. The Government is determined that insurers should treat all customers fairly and insurance companies are req...
Answered 7 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordInsurance: Payment MethodsTreasuryTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5500More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will hold discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on the (a) comparative costs of paying (i) vehicle and (ii) household insurance (A) annually and (B) in monthly instalments and (b) impact of such co
Answer: Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors on an ongoing basis. The Government recognises that the ability to pay insurance premiums in instalments is an important tool for...
Answered 7 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordTerrorism: Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland OfficeTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3406More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1169 on Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, how many times he has requested a review of (a) a Troubles-related death und
Answer: To date, I have not requested a review of (a) a Troubles-related death under section 9(3) of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, or of (b) harmful conduct under section 10(2) of that Act. This was also the case for my prede...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordVisas: Families and GraduatesHome OfficeTabled 30 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2612More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department issues on whether people living in the UK on a Graduate visa can start a Master’s degree while waiting for a decision in relation to their application for a Family visa.
Answer: The UK government website has guidance on all our immigration rules and criteria, including the requirements of the Student route and the study conditions of the Graduate route: Visas and immigration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Answered 2 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordCredit: RegulationTreasuryTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1882More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to regulate buy-now-pay-later financial products.
Answer: Regulating Buy Now Pay Later products is crucial to protect people and deliver certainty for the sector. The government will be looking to work closely with all interested stakeholders and will set out its plans shortly.
Answered 31 Jul 2024
Original Parliament record
Published records only — not a full account of an MP’s work. How we work →