Introducing the statutory limit on the length of non-compete clauses of 3 months will require primary legislation. The Government will introduce this legislation when parliamentary time allows.

NHS England is aware that not all parents who have lost their child to sudden unexplained death in childhood, are currently being assigned key workers. Departmental officials are working alongside NHS England and the National Child Mortality Database to acquire data on sudden unexplained death in infants. This is intended to increase our evidence base, understanding, and inform actions and policy on sudden unexplained death in childhood, including regarding assigning key workers as a single point of contact.

NHS England, along with the devolved administrations and the Crown Dependencies, funds Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries to collate ethnicity data, in relation to all perinatal and maternal deaths across the United Kingdom. They publish annual surveillance reports which provide comparators of rates of mortality for women and babies from different ethnic groups. They also publish confidential enquiries, assessing care provision along the whole care pathway, to identify areas requiring improvement.

The Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations programme provides independent, standardised, and family focused investigations to provide learning to the health system. This includes analysis of data to identify key trends, and collaboration with system partners to escalate safety concerns.

Anyone has the right to make a complaint about any aspect of National Health Service care, treatment, or service. The NHS Complaint Standards set out how organisations providing NHS services should approach complaint handling. They apply to NHS organisations in England, and independent healthcare providers that deliver NHS-funded care.

If complainants need assistance in making a complaint, officers from the Patient Advice and Liaison Service are available in most hospitals. Additionally, assistance can also be provided by the Independent NHS Complaints Advocacy Service.

The Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships (MNVPs) provide a forum in all areas of England for engagement between maternity services and their users. In November 2023, NHS England published MNVP guidance, which made it clear that effective MNVPs will reach out to seldomly heard groups, including bereaved families. This engagement should be accessible and appropriate.

The Government has a wide range of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. These include:

• The Work and Health Programme providing tailored and personalised support for disabled people;
• Access to Work grants helping towards extra costs of working beyond standard reasonable adjustments;
• Disability Confident encouraging employers to think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face in the workplace;
• A digital information service for employers providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace;
• Increasing access to Occupational Health, including the testing of financial incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed;
• Increased Work Coach support in Jobcentres for disabled people and people with health conditions to help them move towards and in to work;
• Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres offering advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work;
• Work in partnership between the DWP and health systems, including Employment Advice in NHS Talking Therapies, and the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care programme, a Supported Employment model (place, train and maintain) delivered in health settings, aimed at people with physical or common mental health disabilities to support them to access paid jobs in the open labour market.

Building on existing provision and the £2 billion investment announced at the Spring Budget 2023, we announced a new package of support in Autumn Statement 2023. This includes:

• Doubling the number of places on the Universal Support employment programme, to provide support for 100,000 people per year when fully rolled out;
• Formally launching WorkWell, which will bring together the NHS, local authorities, and other partners, in collaboration with jobcentres, to provide light touch work and health support in approximately 15 pilot areas;
• Building on the extension of the certification of the fit notes to a wider range of healthcare professions, exploring new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with timely access to work and health support; and
• Establishing an expert group to support the development of the voluntary national baseline for Occupational Health provision.

From 2025, we are reforming the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Alongside these changes, a new Chance to Work Guarantee will effectively remove the WCA for most existing claimants who have already been assessed without work-related requirements removing the fear of reassessment and giving this group the confidence to try work.

People on low, or no income or earnings, who have a health condition or disability which restricts the amount of work they can do or prevents them from working altogether, and where they meet the entitlement criteria, can claim Universal Credit and/or New Style Employment and Support Allowance with medical evidence, usually a valid Statement of Fitness for work, commonly known as a ‘fit note’, from a clinician.

On 28 July 2023, the National Health Service United Kingdom website team updated its content on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) to distinguish between SIDS and Sudden Unexplained Death Childhood (SUDC), including a reference and link to the charity SUDC UK for further information.

However, a decision was made not to incorporate information about SUDC to the website content on febrile seizures. This was based on the lack of high-quality evidence connecting the two and is in line with the British Medical Association guidance and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Clinical Knowledge Summary. It was also noted that the primary advice and directives on seeking help for febrile seizures would remain unchanged.

At the Autumn statement, Government committed to review our approach to community benefits to ensure that we are being strategic in identifying key sectors where community benefits can support delivery of infrastructure. The result of this review will inform our assessment of the case for extending community benefits to include technologies such as electricity generation.

At the Autumn statement, Government committed to review our approach to community benefits to ensure that we are being strategic in identifying key sectors where community benefits can support delivery of infrastructure. The result of this review will inform our assessment of the case for extending community benefits to include technologies such as electricity generation.

Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 is designed to ensure leaseholders are better informed about proposals and costs of upkeep and maintenance of the building, and that they have more time to ensure they can make suitable finance arrangements. We will continue to keep the threshold for consultation under review.

At the Autumn statement, Government committed to review our approach to community benefits to ensure that we are being strategic in identifying key sectors where community benefits can support delivery of infrastructure. The result of this review will inform our assessment of the case for extending community benefits to include technologies such as electricity generation and its impact on net zero targets.

The Department is working closely with Rail Delivery Group, Transport for London and train operators to ensure the launch of contactless PAYG to all stations in Spelthorne in Spring 2024.

Vaping is substantially less harmful than cigarettes and one of the most effective cessation aids, however due to the addictive nicotine content and the unknown long-term harms it is not recommended for children and non-smokers.

As part of the requirements under Tobacco and Related Product Regulations 2016, every nicotine vape packet must contain a health warning, “warning: this product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance”. Requirements also limit nicotine strength to 20mg/ml and limit refill bottle and tank sizes.

The NHS Better Health website provides information and advice on using vapes to quit smoking and includes advice on how to quit vaping.

The Government launched a consultation in October 2023 seeking views on our plans to crack down on youth vaping by reducing the appeal, availability and affordability of vapes to our children. This is live until 6 December 2023 and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/creating-a-smokefree-generation-and-tackling-youth-vaping

The Government is consulting on a range of proposals to tackle the rise in children vaping. The includes measures to restrict the supply of single use vapes, such as a potential future ban.

Details of the full range of proposals under consideration are set out in the Government consultation “Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping” which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/creating-a-smokefree-generation-and-tackling-youth-vaping

The consultation is live until 6 December, and we will publish our response shortly after.

There are no current plans to revise existing training and education, as there are already several mechanisms in place to increase understanding of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) amongst healthcare and social care staff.

For example, in 2022 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published a FASD Quality Standard, at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. The Quality Standard outlines several actions to be taken by service providers and healthcare professionals to improve assessment, diagnosis, and management of FASD.

In social sectors, to support continuous improvement of practice for child and family social workers, the Department for Education has developed the Post Qualifying Standards for child and family social work, which set out the skills and knowledge they need to protect vulnerable children and families. This includes children with complex needs, such as those with FASD.

There are no plans to commission a specific public health awareness campaign for FASD. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, NHS England and local commissioners continue to raise awareness and education on the dangers of drinking alcohol while pregnant and through midwives and health visitors. The Department of Health and Social Care already publishes guidance for communicating the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines, which includes the risks associated with alcohol consumption in pregnancy.

Additionally, the Maternity Disparities Taskforce is producing guidance to support women to make healthy decisions when planning for pregnancy, which will include information on the risks of drinking while pregnant.

The Government recognises that fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) can have a significant impact on the early years development of children and their life chances, and is taking action to improve support for those living with its consequences. The Department of Health and Social Care published the FASD Health Needs Assessment in 2021, which set out further steps to be taken to address the needs of individuals with FASD.

The Department of Health and Social Care also commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a Quality Standard to improve the diagnosis and care for children and young people with FASD and highlight the importance of advising women to abstain from alcohol in pregnancy, in line with the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines. This was published in 2022.

The Department for Education is supporting kinship families through a £2 million contract with the charity Kinship to deliver high-quality peer support groups for kinship carers across the country. This provides a range of support for kinship carers, including support for carers of people with FASD.

As part of the Plan for Rail we will invest to radically reform and improve passengers’ experience of fares, ticketing and retailing on the railways. We have committed to extending contactless pay as you go to 53 more stations, including those in Spelthorne, by the end of this year. To support this, we are simplifying fares to ensure that pay as you go offers best value and has greater flexibility for passengers.