theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 36 of the policy paper entitled 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, published on 3 July 2025, what his definition is of community, in this context. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to delivering a Neighbourhood Health Service that brings care closer to communities, ensuring that care happens as locally as it can, digitally by default, in a person’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, and only in hospital if necessary.

The 10-Year Health Plan set out our aim to establish a neighbourhood health centre in every community that will be a ‘one stop shop’ for patient care and the place from which multi-disciplinary teams operate.

In this context, ‘community’ refers to the local place where people live and receive care and support, encompassing the networks of health, care, and voluntary services that exist around individuals, families, and neighbourhoods.

Care in the community will be supported through multidisciplinary neighbourhood teams and neighbourhood health centres.

Neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of health and care services on people’s doorsteps, joining up the National Health Service and local authority and voluntary services.
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Sir Oliver Dowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) quality and (b) provision of NHS wheelchairs. \p Stephen Kinnock: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services. It is therefore the responsibility of ICBs to review and assess the quality of the provision of their commissioned National Health Service wheelchair services.

NHS England supports ICBs to commission effective, efficient and personalised wheelchair services. Since July 2015, NHS England has collected quarterly data from clinical commissioning groups, now ICBs, on wheelchair provision, including waiting times, to enable targeted action if improvement is required.

NHS England is taking steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of NHS wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. This includes publishing a Wheelchair Quality Framework on 9 April 2025 which sets out quality standards and statutory requirements for ICBs, such as offering personal wheelchair budgets. The framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/wheelchair-quality-framework/
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of deploying specialist endometriosis nurses in GP surgeries. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions including endometriosis.

As self-employed contractors to the National Health Service, it is for general practices to determine how they run their operations, including decisions regarding nursing staff.

The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, has also commissioned a number of studies focused on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, and patient experience.
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Maya Ellis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that home birth is presented as an (a) guaranteed and (b) consistently-available option to pregnant women. \p Karin Smyth: The NHS Long Term Plan and the accompanying guidance, Universal Personalised Care, made commitments to deliver choice and personalised care in maternity services. The NHS Long Term Plan and the Universal Personalised Care guidance are available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-term-plan/

https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/comprehensive-model/

The Maternity Programme supports local maternity systems to improve choice and deliver personalised care for women and their families.

NHS England has published guidance which sets out the four birthing choices: home birth; birth in a unit run by midwives; hospital birth; and unassisted birth. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/labour-and-birth/preparing-for-the-birth/where-to-give-birth-the-options/

The provision of arrangements for home birth and information on how this is provided is the responsibility of local National Health Service trusts, who are directed as appropriate by their integrated care board.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of hospital parking costs on (a) recruitment and (b) retention of NHS staff who commute long distances in (a) North Cornwall constituency and (b) other rural areas. \p Karin Smyth: Decisions on the provision of car parking are made locally by National Health Service organisations, including considering how they affect local recruitment and the retention of their staff. These decisions will need to reflect the local geography and environment, including travel distances.

All NHS staff, regardless of their type of employment, are expected to be similarly treated by their employing NHS organisation. This includes where free parking is provided to staff working nights shifts.

All NHS trusts are expected to follow the published NHS Car Parking Guidance. This states that car parking charges, where they exist, should be reasonable for the local area. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles
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James MacCleary:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria his Department uses to determine which conditions should receive a modern service framework; and whether respiratory health meets these criteria. \p Karin Smyth: Everyone in the National Health Service is responsible for delivering high-quality care. As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board will oversee the development of a new series of service frameworks to accelerate progress in conditions where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in the quality of care and productivity.

Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions with significant health and economic impacts for future waves of modern service frameworks.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department guarantee safe services for patients when a Hospital Trust is regularly at OPEL 4. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service’s operational pressures escalation levels (OPEL) framework provides a standardised approach to support an effective, integrated, and coordinated response to acute trust operational pressures. This includes the actions locally, regionally, and nationally that support the depressurising of services and ensure patient safety. Further information about the OPEL framework is published by NHS England at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/integrated-opel-framework-2024-to-2026/

NHS England’s national operations team actively monitors escalations and maintains oversight of organisations at OPEL Escalation Level 4. Where specific support is required, NHS England can enact collaboration with national subject matter experts, regional teams, and external agencies to adapt national policy or provide targeted intervention.
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Tony Vaughan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase support for the delivery of emergency care at the William Harvey Hospital. \p Karin Smyth: The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years and is committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard across England to support the delivery of emergency care, including at the William Harvey Hospital.

East Kent Trust, which the William Harvey hospital is part of, is receiving focused support as part of the National urgent and emergency care tiering programme, designed to support the most challenged trusts with urgent and emergency care.
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Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria his Department uses to determine which conditions should receive a modern service framework. \p Karin Smyth: Everyone in the National Health Service is responsible for delivering high-quality care. As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board will oversee the development of a new series of service frameworks.

Between 1997 and 2010, national service frameworks were a clinically led approach to developing guidance that supported sustained improvement in major condition outcomes, including by narrowing inequality and reducing unwarranted variation. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will reintroduce and modernise this approach. These modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and then identify the best evidenced interventions and support for delivery.

Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in the quality of care and productivity.
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Marie Goldman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will take steps to help ensure that health (a) boards and (b) trusts (i) collect and (ii) publish data on the provision of respiratory diagnostics. \p Karin Smyth: Activity and waiting times for the main respiratory tests, for instance spirometry and lung function tests, are not included in the National Diagnostic Activity and Waiting Times Collection.

However, NHS England undertakes a number of internal assurance data collection exercises on activity and waiting times. The National Diagnostic Programme undertakes an annual snap-shot data collection on respiratory diagnostics to understand the levels of activity and waiting times for a range of respiratory tests within trusts across England.

NHS England’s Respiratory Programme, in collaboration with national stakeholders, has also developed a standardised spirometry data capture template. This tool is designed to support integrated care boards in consistently recording and reporting spirometry activity, enabling improved oversight, service planning, and equitable access to respiratory diagnostics.

There are no current plans to publish these collections.
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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of data provided by (a) NHS England Estate Return Information Collection and (b) Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment. \p Karin Smyth: The Estate Return Information Collection (ERIC) and Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) collections are undertaken by NHS England.

ERIC collects data on the size, cost, and quality of the National Health Service estate. The 2024/25 ERIC data collection underwent a detailed validation process before its publication on the 16 October 2025.

The 2025 PLACE collection is currently underway. It provides an assessment of the quality of the NHS patient environment from the patient’s perspective. It is undertaken by independent assessors who should, as far as possible, reflect the patient population. Teams should be a mix of people who use the building/site and should broadly reflect the local population using the service.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the steps taken by NHS England to ensure (a) transparency when maternal and neonatal care goes wrong and (b) that bereaved parents receive full answers on (i) their and (ii) their babies’ care. \p Karin Smyth: In June 2025, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced measures to hold National Health Service maternity and neonatal services to greater account and improve transparency. This included the introduction of a new early warning system, powered by a real-time data tool, to detect safety issues earlier and allow action to be taken more swiftly to improve outcomes. Since the announcement, the NHSE Chief Executive has met with leaders of the four trusts of greatest concern in maternity and neonatal care. He set out the priority they need to give to turning around their services in Leeds, Gloucester, Mid and South Essex, and Sussex, with ongoing oversight and support being led by Regional Directors.

As set out in the terms of reference for the independent national Investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services announced by the Secretary of State, the Investigation will assess the quality of the response of NHS trusts and integrated care boards (ICBs) when things go wrong or harm occurs, including investigating and learning from incidents and promoting honesty, transparency and candour. The Investigation, chaired by Baroness Amos, will develop and publish one set of national recommendations. These recommendations will be taken forward by the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by Secretary of State for Health, and formed into a national action plan to help bereaved and harmed families to receive justice and accountability.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help prevent patients from being treated in (a) corridors, (b) converted office spaces, (c) gyms and (d) other places not designed for treatment ahead of winter 2025-26. \p Karin Smyth: We are doing everything we can as fast as we can to consign corridor care to the history books. The Government is determined to get the National Health Service back on its feet, so patients can be treated with dignity.

Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, published in June 2025, set out the steps we are taking to ensure that patients will receive better, faster, and more appropriate emergency care this winter, backed by a total of nearly £450 million of funding. This includes a commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care.

We have been taking key steps to ensure the health service is prepared for the colder months. This includes taking actions to try and reduce demand pressure on accident and emergency departments, increasing vaccination rates, and offering health checks to the most vulnerable, as well as stress-testing integrated care board and trust winter plans to confirm they are able to meet demand and support patient flow.
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Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of doctors accused of sexual misconduct were placed under interim suspension by the GMC between 2018 and 2025. \p Karin Smyth: The Department does not hold this information centrally.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is the regulator of all medical doctors, physician assistants, and physician assistants in anaesthesia, still legally known as anaesthesia associates and physician associates, practising in the United Kingdom. The GMC is independent of the Government, being directly accountable to Parliament, and is responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties. The United Kingdom’s model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to introduce (a) league tables and (b) audits to show which NHS Trusts have the lowest collection rates for charges for overseas visitors. \p Karin Smyth: The Department sets policy, guidance, and legislation through the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 and works with NHS England to support the consistent application of these rules through oversight, guidance, and engagement with providers. The Department and NHS England actively engage with the National Health Service to support the improvement of cost recovery through routine engagement with trusts around cost recovery, monitoring of data and activity, sharing of best practice and guidance, targeted follow-ups with trusts where issues are identified, and close working with the Home Office to improve data quality and reporting consistency.

The Department has no plans at present to introduce league tables and audits to show the NHS trusts that have the lowest collection rates for charges to overseas visitors.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of the use of temporary escalation spaces in the NHS. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is determined to get the National Health Service back on its feet, so patients can be treated with dignity.  We are therefore doing everything we can as fast as we can to consign the delivery of care in temporary escalation spaces to the history books.

Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, published in June 2025, set out the steps we are taking to ensure that patients will receive better, faster, and more appropriate emergency care this winter, backed by a total of nearly £450 million of funding. This includes a commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care.

NHS England publishes monthly data on accident and emergency performance. This includes information on those accident and emergency attendances that are 12 hours or longer for type 1 and 2 accident and emergency providers. A copy of the latest data publication is attached.

Additional Document (xlsx, 51.0KB)
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Jessica Toale:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure is referenced in NHS training curricula for (a) obstetrics, (b) gynaecology and (c) general practice. \p Karin Smyth: The standard of training for doctors is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), who set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses and medical schools to write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the GMC’s outcome standards.

The curricula for postgraduate training are set by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges for foundation training, and by the relevant individual royal colleges and faculties for specialty training. The GMC approves curricula and assessment systems for each training programme.

Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasise the skills and approaches a doctor must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients, including for diethylstilbestrol exposure.
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Calum Miller:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made specific provision for UK citizens who completed their medical training outside the UK within the policy of prioritising UK Medical Graduates for (a) foundation and (b) specialist training. \p Karin Smyth: As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan published on 3 July, we will work across the Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training. We will set out further details in due course.

British doctors who obtained their medical degree abroad need to meet the requirements of the General Medical Council, the independent regulator of the medical profession, to practise medicine in the UK. These doctors are then able to apply for jobs in the NHS on the same basis as UK medical graduates.
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Calum Miller:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help promote public education on the misuse of emergency service protocols, including advice shared on social media on how to manipulate emergency triage systems. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service regularly shares information online through the NHS.UK website and on social media about how to access emergency services properly, including accident emergency, 999, 111, general practices (GPs), and pharmacies. The NHS also shares this information through out of home advertising via leaflets and posters in hospitals, GPs, and pharmacies.

The Government is also overhauling the NHS App to make it easier than ever before for patients to take control of their personal healthcare, including the use of NHS 111 online to answer questions and get instant advice or medical help near you.
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Abtisam Mohamed:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking with (a) UK Research and Innovation and (b) the National Institute for Health and Care Research to prioritise further research into early diagnosis of (i) pancreatic cancer and (ii) other less survivable cancers. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Department of Health and Social Care invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Government responsibility for funding cancer research is shared between UK Research and Innovation, funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and including the Medical Research Council, and the NIHR. Research funders work closely to drive the maximum collective research impact on policy, practice, and individual lives.

NIHR investments are pivotal to informing efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes. An example of this is the NIHR investing £2.4 million into the miONCO-Dx trial, which seeks to develop a blood test designed to detect 12 different cancers, that could transform how cancer is diagnosed in the National Health Service.

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including all cancers. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on all cancers to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the NHS will improve diagnosis and outcomes for cancer patients in England.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the forthcoming national cancer plan will include specific (a) targets and (b) actions for (i) brain, (ii) liver, (iii) lung, (iv) oesophageal, (v) pancreatic and (vi) stomach cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: Reducing the number of lives lost to cancer is a key aim of the National Cancer Plan. Having consulted with key stakeholders and patient groups, I confirm that the plan will be published early in the new year. The plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for patients with cancer, including less survivable cancers, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately driving up this country’s cancer survival rates.

The Department has been working with members of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce as part of the development of the plan to identify how to improve diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for less survivable cancers, which includes lung, pancreatic, liver, brain, oesophageal, and stomach cancer.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how often the UK National Screening Committee met in 2024; and in what format it met. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) usually meets three times a year. In 2024 the UK NSC met twice, firstly in March, in an online format, and again in November, in person with online facilities available. The June meeting did not take place as it fell in between the pre-election period of 25 May to 4 July ahead of the United Kingdom general election. Information about the UK NSC’s meetings and minutes can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-nsc-meetings-and-minutes
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase evacuations of (a) medically vulnerable children and (b) their dependents from Gaza. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Statement HCWS899 made to the House on 1 September 2025 by my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Child patients are accompanied by their immediate families. Three groups of patients have now arrived, and we expect further evacuations to happen later in the autumn.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of systems for the handling of human remains. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: In July 2025 the Fuller Inquiry’s phase 2 final report was published, which looked at the wider national lessons for hospital and non-hospital settings where the deceased are cared for. It examined whether procedures and practices safeguard the security and dignity of the deceased across the range of settings and made 75 recommendations in total.

This final report recommended the introduction of a statutory regulatory regime for those caring for the deceased. The Department will publish an interim update in winter 2025 and a final response by summer 2026. This will include updates on recommendations for the funeral sector and standards to protect the security and dignity of the deceased in all settings.
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Greg Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the medicines budget supports (a) access to innovative treatments and (b) attracts global pharmaceutical investment. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE is able to recommend most new medicines for use by the NHS, with a 91% approval rate for completed appraisals in the last 12 months.

As committed to in our Life Sciences Sector Plan, we will work with industry to accelerate growth in the net spend on innovative medicines over the course of this plan compared with the previous ten years, particularly for those medicines that help keep people out of hospital. Together, this will help ensure that by 2030, the United Kingdom will be one of the top three fastest places in Europe for patient access to medicines.

The Life Sciences Sector Plan also committed to faster patient access to medicines and reduced industry costs, while ensuring good value for the NHS. A Growth Mandate on NHS commercial activity will drive focus on activity which is growth-maximising and will ensure that promoting innovation is seen as an institutional objective alongside achieving value for money. A new, proportionate approach to NICE appraisals and indication-specific pricing will streamline access for multi-indication medicines with strong outcomes and low affordability risk. These commitments will create a more agile, predictable commercial environment that supports investment into the UK.
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Dr Allison Gardner:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what factors are considered when allocating investment for research in the less survivable cancers; and what steps he is taking to combat underfunding for less survivable cancers. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Cancer is one of the largest areas of spend at over £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.

These investments are pivotal to informing our efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes. An example of this investment is Imperial College London’s research on breath tests to detect less survivable cancers, including pancreatic cancer. Further information on the research is available at the following link:

https://imperialbrc.nihr.ac.uk/2023/06/05/imperial-led-uk-cancer-breath-tests-reach-final-stages/

Another example of Government investment was the launch of the NIHR’s national Brain Tumour Research Consortium in September 2024, which is bringing together researchers from a range of different disciplines and institutions with the aim of making scientific advances in how we prevent, detect, manage, and treat rare and less-survivable brain tumours in adults and children.

The NIHR welcomes further high-quality proposals from researchers to inform approaches to prevention, treatment, and care in relation to less survivable cancers. Furthermore, the Government is committed to ensuring that all patients have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments. The Government supports the Rare Cancers Bill and its ambitions to incentivise clinical trials and access to innovative treatments for rare cancers.

The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the National Health Service will improve diagnosis and outcomes for all cancer patients in England, including for less common cancers.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure patients receive time-critical medication in care settings. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Hospital providers are responsible for ensuring that patients within hospital settings receive the appropriate medication on time, and there is a variety of different mechanisms that can be used to support timely administration.

These include:

Furthermore, NHS England is leading the Medicines Safety Improvement Programme, as part of the wider NHS Patient Safety Strategy. A focus on time critical medicines has been agreed as a priority for this programme and work is underway involving 80 NHS trusts, with 48 of them receiving active support for innovation and improvement.
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Stuart Andrew:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS trusts are providing Tofersen through the Early Access to Medicines Scheme. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) is a programme led by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which aims to give patients with life threatening or seriously debilitating conditions early access to medicines that show early signs of having a major advantage over existing therapeutics.

Tofersen is not available via EAMS. Some National Health Service hospitals may sign an agreement with the manufacturer of tofersen, Biogen, to provide pre-license access. NHS England does not have any involvement in non-EAMS early access programmes.

NHS England does not hold any data on the number of NHS trusts or patients accessing tofersen through company led early access programmes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_77

Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to regulate advertising by direct cremation companies to ensure transparency about the handling and care of the deceased. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 prohibits unfair commercial practices. These include misleading actions and omissions, that are likely to impact the average consumer’s transactional decisions. Traders who engage in commercial practices that are misleading omissions, or misleading actions, may be committing a criminal offence.

In July 2025, the final report of the independent inquiry into the issues raised by the David Fuller case recommended the introduction of a statutory regulatory regime for those caring for the deceased. The Department will publish an interim update on progress in winter 2025 and a final response by summer 2026. This will include updates on the recommendations for the funeral sector which set out that direct cremation businesses should also be considered in this context, and mandatory standards to protect the security and dignity of the deceased should be applied to these businesses and to any emerging new models of delivery of care for the deceased.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_78

Torcuil Crichton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered ensuring that the TRANSFORM trial includes representation from Scotland. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

In November 2023, the Government and Prostate Cancer UK (PCUK) announced the £42 million TRANSFORM screening trial to find the best way to screen men for prostate cancer, in order to find it before it becomes advanced and harder to treat. PCUK is managing the award on behalf of the funders, with the Government contributing £16 million through the NIHR.

Once received, the protocol will be published on the NIHR’s website on the funding and awards page. This is expected to contain details of the site selection criteria. TRANSFORM will aim to recruit men from across the United Kingdom, including Scotland.
wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_80
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_80

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press release entitled Foreign Influence Registration Scheme to come fully into effect, published on 30 September 2025, on what date the FIRS Case Management Team became fully operational. \p Dan Jarvis: The FIRS Case Management Team were fully operational on 1 July, when the scheme went live. Staff were in post ahead of that date, supporting the scheme’s implementation prior to go-live.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_81

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press release entitled Foreign Influence Registration Scheme to come fully into effect, published on 30 September 2025, what criteria is used to assess whether a country poses an elevated national security risk, qualifying it for the enhanced tier. \p Dan Jarvis: As set out in the National Security Act 2023, the Secretary of State may make a specification under the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) where they consider it is reasonably necessary to do so to protect the safety or interests of the United Kingdom.

The Secretary of State will consider a broad range of UK interests when deciding if a country should be specified, and the nature and scope of any such specification. This will include how a specification would support the UK’s national security and the Government’s long-term, strategic approach to the country under consideration
wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_82
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_82

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what process her Department follows after an asylum seekers’ claim has been rejected. \p Alex Norris: Asylum claims can be refused with a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) or refused without a right of appeal (certified). Those who do not exercise, or do not have, a right of appeal are expected to leave the United Kingdom voluntarily or can be subject to enforced removal. If a claim is certified without a right of appeal, there is an avenue to apply for a Judicial Review.

A claimant may introduce fresh evidence during the appeal process. Even if they exhaust the appeal process there is still an opportunity to present fresh evidence as “further submissions” to which the Home Office must give due consideration.

Once all legal barriers have been removed the claimant can be subject to enforced removal.
wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_83
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_83

Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has offered additional resource to West Midlands Police for the UEFA Europa League match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv. \p Sarah Jones: West Midlands Police did not notify the department of it’s risk assessment findings. Planning for football matches is considered and decided locally by Safety Advisory Groups which are operationally independent of Government and assess the risks and safety for the public. Home Office Officials were notified on 2 October 2025 by the UK Football Policing Unit of the options under consideration to allow the upcoming UEFA Europa League match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv to proceed safely.

The department was not informed of the final decision until it was in the public domain.

The Government has been working with West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council to support them in considering all the options available for the match, including what resources are needed to manage the risks. Although the ultimate decision regarding the admittance of away fans is for the Local Authority to make, Government was clear that resources should not be the determining factor in whether Maccabi Tel Aviv fans would be admitted.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_84

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average cost to the public purse is for each removal flight under the UK-France treaty. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office has made returns under the new UK-France agreement utilising both charter flights and regular scheduled flights. This approach allows the Home Office to maximise value for money and best satisfy operational requirements.

We do not comment on individual charter flight costs as these are commercially sensitive arrangements that can provide an insight into pricing structure. To do otherwise could deter the private sector from entering into contracts with the Home Office.
wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_85
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_85

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 75431 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, how many migrants were (a) exchanged with France and (b) prevented from illegally entering the UK from France between 11 June 2025 and 11 October 2025. \p Alex Norris: As of 20 October 2025, 42 individuals have been returned to France and 23 have been brought to the UK via the new safe and legal route. Between the two dates specified, a total of 9,686 of these dangerous and unnecessary crossing attempts were prevented as a result of our joint work with France.
wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_86
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_86

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many removal flights to France are planned under the current pilot scheme in the next three months. \p Alex Norris: Returns to France under the UK-FR returns agreement commenced on 18 September 2025.

This is a pilot that we want to expand and therefore the numbers will vary. We will not go into the operational details as this would provide criminal smuggling gangs with information that they may use to continue to their vile trade.
wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_87
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_87

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Ministry of Defence on the use of surplus military infrastructure for temporary detention and processing. \p Alex Norris: As part of our commitment to close all asylum hotels, we are looking at a range of more appropriate sites including disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites so we can reduce the impact on communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_88

Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish data on the (a) number of applications received and (b) outcomes of applications of people who have applied to come to the UK under UK-France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office publishes statistics on entry clearance visa applications and outcomes as part of the Immigration System Statistics quarterly release. Data for all visa types, including for those arriving via the UK-France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys, will be included within the entry clearance visas data tables.

The Home Office is committed to publishing further data at the end of the pilot period in 2026.

As of close of play on 20 October, 23 people have been transferred from France to the UK via the new safe, legal route. However, it is not appropriate to provide a continual update on each phase of the operation, not least as it involves sensitive information that could prove valuable to the organised immigration crime gangs that are behind small boats crossings.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-27 conversation_89

Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) prosecuted, and (b) convicted as a result of Operation Gull in Northern Ireland since 2010. \p Alex Norris: To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication. Information about convictions as a result of Operation Gull is not available in our published data.

Our published national data on enforcement activity is available at the following link and includes data on detected irregular arrivals to the UK Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2025 - GOV.UK