Steve Darling MP: written questions 2025
347 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Dementia: Community CareDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 72006More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of community care for dementia patients.
Answer: Provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guide...
Answered 10 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEquitable Life Assurance Society: CompensationTreasuryTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 71760More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will consider the potential merits of reopening the Equitable Life Compensation Scheme.
Answer: The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016 under the approach taken by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government. There are no plans to reopen any decisions relating to the Payment Scheme. Further gu...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordWater: StandardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 28 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 905438More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help improve water quality.
Answer: The Government has secured a record £104 billion of private sector investment that will fund the rebuilding and repair of broken sewage pipes so we can cut sewage pollution into our waterways. We are also reforming agriculture to drastically reduce run-of...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAccess to Work ProgrammeDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70073More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether guidance has been issued to officials in her Department to reduce support levels under the Access to Work scheme.
Answer: No.In the past, some restrictions in the guidance have not always been implemented. The guidance is now being more consistently applied. For the last year, work has been underway to improve Scheme decision-making by applying the guidance with greater cons...
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Work and Pensions: BuildingsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69648More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of plans to consolidate smaller DWP offices into larger sites on staff; and what steps she is taking to help ensure that staff are adequately protect
Answer: Where customers do not need to be seen face-to-face for the delivery of services, the Department’s location strategy is to move away from a higher number of smaller sites to fewer, larger sites that can accommodate over 300 colleagues. By investing in the...
Answered 8 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordDomestic Abuse: TrainingDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68076More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of mandating standardised domestic abuse training for all frontline NHS staff.
Answer: It is the responsibility of National Health Service organisations to ensure that all staff undertake mandatory training on domestic abuse. Mandatory training at Level 1 is captured in the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR), as part of the integrated safegu...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDomestic Abuse: HomicideHome OfficeTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68075More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve coordination across departments to ensure that key Domestic Homicide Review recommendations are acted upon in a timely manner.
Answer: Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) provide vital opportunities for national and local agencies, local communities and society as a whole to learn lessons from domestic abuse related deaths.We know that recommendations are often made to the Home Office by de...
Answered 23 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDomestic Abuse: HomicideHome OfficeTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68074More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to (a) improve awareness of and (b) ensure the implementation of Domestic Homicide Reviews recommendations.
Answer: Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) provide vital opportunities for national and local agencies, local communities and society as a whole to learn lessons from domestic abuse related deaths.We know that recommendations are often made to the Home Office by de...
Answered 23 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDomestic Abuse: Victim Support SchemesHome OfficeTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68073More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of decreased funding on the provision of specialist domestic violence services; what steps she is taking to prevent further harm to victims.
Answer: Specialist and ‘by and for’ services are essential for providing the tailored support that victims and survivors of domestic abuse need. Access to support services can prevent re-victimisation, and help victims to access support, escape abuse, and move fo...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDementia: Community CareDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67560More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of his Department's provision of care for dementia patients within the local community.
Answer: Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Health Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.We will deliver the first ever Moder...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDementia: CarersDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67559More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support dementia carers.
Answer: The 10-Year Health Plan reaffirms our commitment to improve the lives of people drawing on care, unpaid carers, and the social care workforce through the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for the sector, as well as our commitment to the creation of a National...
Answered 23 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordBreast Cancer: Medical TreatmentsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67558More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of existing treatment options for people with Secondary Breast Cancer.
Answer: To assess the adequacy of existing treatment options for people with secondary breast cancer, NHS England funded an audit into primary and metastatic breast cancer. Using routine data collected from patients diagnosed in a National Health Service setting,...
Answered 25 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordCPR: TrainingDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67557More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has set ICBs targets to promote CPR training in schools.
Answer: No formal requirement for integrated care boards (ICBs) to promote or recommend cardiopulmonary resuscitation training or any associated targets has been set. The Department and NHS England welcome ICBs setting locally led targets as best practice for loc...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordMusic: Artificial IntelligenceDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67556More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has considered the potential merits of introducing transparency obligations on generative AI companies to facilitate the appropriate (a) licensing and (b) enforcement of music rights;
Answer: The Government held a consultation earlier this year to consider how the copyright framework should apply in the context of generative AI, including the merits of transparency obligations and labelling AI generated content. That consultation received a wi...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSt Michael's Church of England Academy PaigntonDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67555More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many full-time equivalent civil servants are working on appointing the new contractor for St Michaels School in Paignton.
Answer: St Michael’s School is part of the school rebuilding programme. The project team is made up of a project director, who is a civil servant, and a project manager. A number of technical specialists also support the project at different stages.
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPostural Tachycardia SyndromeDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67554More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people with postural tachycardia syndrome.
Answer: Improving health outcomes for everyone living with a long-term condition, including postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), is a key part of the Government's mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future.People with PoTS can access a variety...
Answered 28 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordMultiple SclerosisDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67553More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people with multiple sclerosis.
Answer: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services for their local population, including for multiple sclerosis (MS). The Government expects ICBs to assess the demand for service provision when designing their local services.There ar...
Answered 25 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordVisual Impairment: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67552More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to make the NHS more accessible for people with visual impairment.
Answer: Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.The Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag was developed to enable health and care workers to record, sha...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordHearing Impairment: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67551More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to make the NHS more accessible for people with hearing impairment.
Answer: Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.The Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag was developed to enable health and care workers to record, sha...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordRespiratory DiseasesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67550More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people with pulmonary fibrosis.
Answer: NHS England is responsible for the commissioning of services for interstitial lung disease and funds the cost of anti-fibrotic treatments to treat this disease. Access to these treatments has recently been expanded to patients with non-idiopathic pulmonar...
Answered 25 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSchool MealsDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67549More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of school food guidelines.
Answer: This government is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever. It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating. The school food standards define t...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDangerous Dogs: InjuriesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 11 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67178More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) transparent and (b) clearly reported data on hospital admissions and presentations to minor injury clinics due to dog bites, by healthcare trust in Great Britain.
Answer: NHS England currently publishes data on hospital admissions, including those due to dog bites. This data can be found at the following link:digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activity/2023-24In 2023...
Answered 17 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordTeachers: Mental Health ServicesDepartment for EducationTabled 9 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 66319More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support teachers' mental health.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member for Torbay to the answer of 9 May 2025 to Question 44781.
Answered 17 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployers' ContributionsTreasuryTabled 8 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65953More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the merits of introducing National Insurance Contributions exemptions for employers who hire individuals transitioning off working benefits.
Answer: The Government is committed to providing people who are out of work with the personalised support they need to find work, aiding the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. At the Spending Review, the Government increased funding for employment supp...
Answered 16 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordCare Leavers: Hospitality IndustryDepartment for EducationTabled 8 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65952More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of care experienced young people securing employment in the hospitality sector following the cessation of local authority support.
Answer: The department is committed to ensuring that young people leaving care have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships and are engaged in education, employment and training.The department fully recognises the p...
Answered 16 Jul 2025
Original Parliament record
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