Every parliamentary written question tabled by James Naish this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 261–280 of 839 · this parliament
Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has considered banning prong collars in addition to shock collars as part of the Government's Animal Welfare Strategy published 22nd December 2025.
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy, we will consult on whether to ban the use of electric shock collars later in this Parliament. We will carefully consider the scope of the consultation ahead of its publication.
Food and Rural Affairs, in reference to question UIN 43714 tabled on 2 April 2025, what recent progress her Department has made in public guidance for a process of withdrawing certificates of exemption for dogs wrongly registered as XL Bullies.
We are continuing to develop a withdrawal scheme so that owners who no longer believe that their dog is an XL Bully can apply to have their certificate of exemption for their dog withdrawn. This work is still in progress, and further details will be shared once finalised.
Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has any plans to legislate to ban the sale, and not just ownership, of shock collars as part of the Government's Animal Welfare Strategy published 22nd December 2025.
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy, we will consult on whether to ban the use of electric shock collars later in this Parliament. We will carefully consider the scope of the consultation ahead of its publication.
What steps his Department is taking to establish Staff Treatment Hubs.
Following the publication of the 10-Year Health Plan on 3 July 2025, work is underway to develop implementation and operational plans for the Staff Treatments Hubs. This will determine factors such as location, budgets, timeframes and capacity
What consideration his Department has given to repealing S2(4) of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948.
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, 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. The review is ongoing, following initial advice to ministers and the recent National Audit Office report.We welcome the report by the National Audit Office. The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.
What steps his Department is taking to improve workplace catering and break facilities for healthcare workers.
Good physical working environments are important for staff wellbeing and retention. Staff need to be given the time and space to rest and recover from their work, particularly when working on-call or overnight. This is recognised as a priority in the NHS People Promise which sets out the importance of employers prioritising spaces for staff to rest and recuperate, and ensuring access to hot food and drinks.In May 2024, NHS England and NHS Charities Together launched a £10 million Workforce Wellbeing Programme to support National Health Service staff in England. It will provide tailored health and wellbeing support to NHS staff, including grants to improve facilities. A three-year programme of work named Great Food, Good Health, led by NHS England, aims to improve the experience and quality of nutritious food that patients, staff, and visitors receive in hospital. As part of this, the NHS made clear that NHS organisations must be able to demonstrate they have suitable 24/7 food service provision.
What steps his Department is taking to address the rising legal costs of clinical negligence.
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, 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. The review is ongoing, following initial advice to ministers and the recent National Audit Office report.We welcome the report by the National Audit Office. The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.
What steps his Department is taking to update healthcare professional regulation.
The Government is committed to modernising the regulatory frameworks for all healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom.As a first step, we aim to consult on secondary legislation to modernise the General Medical Council’s regulatory framework early this year and to lay this legislation before Parliament in the same year. We also plan to update the governing legislation of the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Health and Care Professions Council within the current parliamentary period.
What assessment her Department has made of the potential socio-economic merits of a VAT relief scheme for Further Education colleges.
The Government recognises that Further Education (FE) funding is vital to ensure people are being trained in the skills they need to thrive in the modern labour market. The 2025 Spending Review provided an additional £1.2 billion per year by 2028-29 for skills and £1.7 billion of capital funding to help colleges maintain the condition of their estate. In addition, the Government is providing £375 million of capital investment to support the FE system to accommodate increasing student numbers. For their non-business activity, FE colleges are unable to reclaim VAT incurred. We operate several VAT refund schemes for schools and academies. FE colleges do not meet the criteria for either scheme. In relation to business activity, FE colleges enjoy an exemption from VAT which means that they do not have to charge VAT to students, but cannot recover it either. The Government is not currently planning to introduce a VAT refund scheme for FE institutions.
What recent progress his department has made on the parental leave and pay review.
The Parental Leave and Pay Review’s Call for Evidence closed on 25 August 2025 after receiving almost 1500 responses, which are currently being analysed and will go on to inform the review. We are engaging with a range of stakeholders, including advocacy groups, trade unions and business representatives, including through a series of thematic roundtables to inform our ongoing work. We intend to continue this engagement in 2026. The Review will be concluded in early 2027 and the Government will outline next steps for taking any reforms forward to implementation.
What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of closing the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) on those employed by it.
ECO4 has played a part in delivering clean heat technologies; however, issues identified by the NAO and PAC support a shift to a more direct, publicly-funded approach focused on technologies that cut bills and accelerate the transition to clean heat such as heat pumps, solar PV and batteries.The government is providing an additional £1.5 billion—taking planned capital investment to almost £15 billion—to upgrade low‑income homes and scale clean home‑energy technologies. Deployment will be further supported through wider policies and details of this will be set out soon in the Warm Homes Plan.
What steps he is taking to end the blanket use of body mass index thresholds to determine eligibility for joint replacement surgery.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 November 2025 to Question 89688.
What steps his Department is taking to reduce elective care waiting times, including for joint replacement surgery.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 November 2025 to Question 89685.
What recent progress he has made in meeting the 18-week referral-to-treatment standard.
The Government is committed to returning, by March 2029, to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment (RTT). NHS England’s Operational Planning Guidance for 2025/26 set a target that 65% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks by March 2026, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum 5% improvement on current performance over that period. To achieve this interim March 2026 target, we expect the size of the total waiting list to reduce. We have already made significant progress on this. As of October 2025, the waiting list had reduced by over 225,000 since the Government came into office, and performance against the RTT standard has improved by 2.9%, reaching 61.8%. This has been supported by the delivery of 5.2 million additional appointments between July 2024 and June 2025 compared to the previous year, more than double the Government’s pledge of two million. This marks a vital First Step towards delivering the constitutional standard.
What steps her department are taking to help lower charging costs for electric vehicles at public charging points.
The Government is committed to ensuring public charging is affordable and accessible for all. As announced at the Autumn Budget, the Government is reviewing the cost of public EV charging, looking at the impact of energy prices, wider cost contributors, and options for lowering these costs for consumers. Furthermore, at the Autumn Budget, the Government committed an additional £200 million to support the rollout of charging infrastructure. As well as this funding, we are making changes to planning permissions, licensing, and addressing other barriers to make it faster, cheaper and easier to install chargers and ultimately drive down costs for the user.
What steps her Department is taking to help improve adoption services.
The department has funded Adoption England with £8.8 million in the 2025/26 financial year to help develop national approaches for adoption services. This will help ensure the consistency of high quality adoption services across the country. This includes the development of a new framework of support, ‘Becoming a Family’, for the first 12 to 18 months of placement. Adoption England’s work also involves increasing awareness of trauma informed practice across its workforce and with key partners including schools. We also recently consulted on new standards for social workers, which include recognising and responding to trauma. We will respond to the consultation shortly, and the new standards will underpin a strengthened early career support training offer for newly qualified social workers.
What steps her Department is taking to help improve levels of mandatory trauma accreditation within professionals working with adopted children.
The department has funded Adoption England with £8.8 million in the 2025/26 financial year to help develop national approaches for adoption services. This will help ensure the consistency of high quality adoption services across the country. This includes the development of a new framework of support, ‘Becoming a Family’, for the first 12 to 18 months of placement. Adoption England’s work also involves increasing awareness of trauma informed practice across its workforce and with key partners including schools. We also recently consulted on new standards for social workers, which include recognising and responding to trauma. We will respond to the consultation shortly, and the new standards will underpin a strengthened early career support training offer for newly qualified social workers.
When he plans to respond to his Department's consultation on parental leave and pay review which closed on 25 August 2025.
The Parental Leave and Pay Review launched in July 2025 alongside a Call for Evidence which ran until 25 August 2025. We received almost 1500 responses to this Call for Evidence which are currently being analysed with the findings going on to inform the Review. The Government will publish the Review’s findings and a roadmap at its conclusion in early 2027. This will include next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of easing regulatory rules to allow more pets to fly in-cabin on flights.
All pets travelling into Great Britain are checked for compliance with the necessary health and documentary requirements prior to entry to safeguard our biosecurity. When travelling to Great Britain by air, pets currently travel as manifest cargo to facilitate these checks upon arrival. The only animals that are authorised to travel in the cabin of a commercial aircraft into Great Britian are Recognised Assistance Dogs. We have no current plans to change the process by which pet cats, dogs and ferrets may enter Great Britain in aircraft. When travelling with a pet abroad, pet owners and assistance dog users should seek guidance as to whether their pet is permitted to travel in the aircraft from the relevant competent authority and airline.
Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on the 30by30 action plan, published on 29 October 2024.
The UK Government is committed to protecting 30% of land and sea in the UK by 2030 (30by30). Progressing this target on land in England means ensuring that our most important and wildlife-rich habitats are benefiting from effective, long-term conservation and management. In October 2024 we set out our vision for progressing 30by30 on land in England and the criteria for land and inland water areas which can count towards this target. Our 30by30 Action Plan will set out how we will lead, support, and inspire action across England to deliver this vision. We will publish this in due course.