theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including specific daily recommendations on yogurt intake in dietary guidelines. \p Ashley Dalton: Government dietary advice is depicted in the United Kingdom’s national food model, the Eatwell Guide, and information is available through NHS.UK website.

Government advice encourages the consumption of milk and dairy foods, such as cheese and yoghurt, or dairy alternatives, as part of a healthy, balanced diet. Government advice highlights that milk and dairy foods, including yoghurt, are good sources of protein, calcium, and some vitamins, but are also a source of saturated fat. It also notes that for older children and adults, eating too much fat can contribute to excess energy intakes, leading to becoming overweight. It also notes that there is evidence that high intakes of saturated fat are associated with raised blood cholesterol and cardiovascular disease risk. Advice is therefore to choose lower-fat varieties of milk and dairy products, including yoghurt, where possible, or to eat smaller amounts of fuller-fat varieties in order to reduce the amount of saturated fat in the diet. It is also recommended to choose yoghurts or fromage frais that have no added sugars or are low in added sugar. Government recommendations do not provide a frequency of consumption for milk and dairy products.

United Kingdom dietary recommendations are based on independent advice from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). In its 2023 report, Feeding young children aged one to five years, the SACN recommended that current UK dietary recommendations, including those for dairy products, such as yoghurt, as depicted in the Eatwell Guide, should apply from around the age of two years old, with some exceptions, including that dairy products, such as yoghurts and fromage frais, given to children aged one to five years old should ideally be unsweetened.

Up to the age of two years old, the current UK recommendation is that children can be given pasteurised full-fat cheeses and dairy products, including yoghurt, from the age of six months. After the age of two years old, it is recommended to introduce lower-fat dairy products.

No assessment has been made of the impact of including specific daily recommendations on yogurt intake in dietary guidelines.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps with the Food Standards Agency to (a) review the standards for baby food products and (b) ensure that those standards are updated to include (i) new baby foods made available in the last 20 years, (ii) a limit on the total sugar content of baby foods and (iii) standards for health claims made by manufacturers on baby food packaging. \p Ashley Dalton: Children’s early years provide an important foundation for their future health and strongly influences many aspects of wellbeing in later life.

It is vital that we maintain the highest standards for foods consumed by babies and infants, which is why we have regulations in place that set nutritional, compositional, and labelling standards for commercial baby food. These ensure that the ingredients used in commercial baby food are suitable for the nutritional needs of infants and require businesses to ensure that labelling in clear and not misleading. The regulations also set labelling standards to ensure consumers have clear and accurate information about the products they buy. We continue to keep these regulations under review to ensure they reflect the latest scientific and dietary guidelines.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the reorganisation of NHS England into his Department on the provision of cancer screening programmes in England. \p Ashley Dalton: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 May 2025 to Question 53355.
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Ben Coleman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 22 May 2025 on Childhood Obesity, HCWS652, what steps he is taking to ensure that the final non-statutory guidance issued by the Advertising Standards Authority protects children from unhealthy food and drink advertising. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government has committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever. These restrictions are expected to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from United Kingdom children’s diets per year and deliver £2 billion in health benefits.

Ofcom was appointed as the statutory regulator for the advertising restrictions and this was set out in primary legislation via the Health and Care Act 2022. Following consultation, Ofcom appointed the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as the frontline regulator.

The ASA is developing non-statutory implementation guidance to set out how it will enforce the restrictions in practice. The ASA is required by law to consult my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on its implementation guidance ahead of publication.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research funding has been allocated to cholangiocarcinoma through (a) UK Research and Innovation and (b) the National Institute for Health and Care Research in the last five years. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. These investments are pivotal to informing efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes, including research into cholangiocarcinoma and cancers of the bile duct.

In the period 2020/21 to 2024/25, the NIHR invested approximately £2 million across five chloangiocarcinoma research projects. NIHR’s wider investments in research infrastructure and workforce enabled another 90 non-NIHR funded cholangiocarcinoma research studies to take place in the same period. In addition, between 2020 and 2024, UK Research and Innovation committed a further £1.4 million to cholangiocarinoma research.

NIHR investments have included studies looking at the clinical and cost effectiveness of drugs for treating cholangiocarcinoma, including futibatinib, and druvalumab in conjunction with gemcitabine and cisplatin.

NIHR continues to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including cholangiocarcinoma and cancers of the bile duct.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of cholangiocarcinoma (a) symptoms and (b) risk factors. \p Ashley Dalton: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 23 January 2025 to Question 24851.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to fund a single digital tracking system for cancer tissue samples provided for genomic testing, so that that they may be tracked at every point of their journey. \p Ashley Dalton: Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service (NHS GMS). A central feature of the NHS GMS is the National Genomic Test Directory. The Test Directory outlines the full range of genomic tests that are commissioned and sets out the technology by which tests are available.

NHS GMS provides a national Genomics Unit which is responsible for strategic oversight, direction, commissioning and funding and performance monitoring of genomics service.

As the Department focuses on shifting from analogue to digital, we will continue to review opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence and digital innovations to speed up diagnostic performance, including for genomic testing, and bring down waiting times that will ultimately improve patient care and outcomes.  Furthermore, to support more extensive cancer genomic testing, NHS England is working to ensure collaboration between pathology and genomics networks to address issues including capacity, networking and optimisation of cancer tissue pathways.

Additionally, the National Cancer Plan, due for publishing later in 2025, will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care- as well as prevention, research and innovation, including for genomic testing pathways.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to require Genomic Laboratory Hubs to adopt standardised reporting templates for genomics reports. \p Ashley Dalton: Professional groups, including the Association for Clinical Genomic Science, produce best practice guidance and standard templates for members on reporting genomic results to clinicians. Further information on the Association for Clinical Genomic Science is available at the following link:

https://www.acgs.uk.com/

In line with the data and digital elements in the NHS Genomics Strategy, moving forward, National Health Service Genomic Laboratory Hubs will be mandated to provide standardised reporting and structured data. Further information on the NHS Genomics Strategy is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/genomics/genomics-strategy/

This would support a consistent approach to reporting genomic data and enable the development of a Unified Genomic Record. This would enable patients to access insights from their genomic data where and when they are needed, as well as facilitating access to clinical trials, supporting other research and informing population health initiatives.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many men between the ages of 50 and 60 have been diagnosed with prostate cancer in the last six months. \p Ashley Dalton: The following table shows the number of diagnoses of prostate cancer, from September 2024 to February 2025, the latest available data:

Date

Number of diagnoses

September 2024

516

October 2024

579

November 2024

518

December 2024

628

January 2025

696

February 2025

629

Source: the Rapid Cancer Registration Data set for prostate cancer in males aged 50 to 59 years old, with further information available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-outputs/cancer-data-hub/rapid-cancer-registration-data-dashboards

Therefore, the total estimated number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 50 to 59 years old, over the most recent six months available, is 3,566.
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Amanda Hack:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS trusts are prepared to deliver new therapies once they enter routine commissioning. \p Karin Smyth: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether all new medicines, and significant licence extensions for existing medicines, should be routinely funded by the NHS in England based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NHS in England is required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance.

NHS England takes the necessary action to ensure that the treatments recommended by NICE are available for the services for which it has commissioning responsibility. It has a dedicated team to support the adoption of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) that are recommended by NICE. NHS England works with a variety of internal and external stakeholders to ensure timely patient access to ATMPs that are on NICE’s technology appraisal and highly specialised technology workplan.

The collaboration platform for the health and care sector in England, Futures NHS, includes information to support NHS organisations in England to plan, implement, and budget for new medicines, once they are recommended by NICE.
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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that next of kin can swiftly access medical records of deceased relatives from (a) Yorkshire Ambulance Services NHS Trust and (b) other NHS trusts. \p Karin Smyth: The Access to Health Records Act 1990 sets out the rights that individuals may have to access the health records of someone who is deceased, and applies to records made on or after 1 November 1991.

While the UK General Data Protection Regulation does not apply, the common law duty of confidentiality still applies to the health and care records of the deceased. A relative can contact the health organisation and request access, and that organisation will carefully consider the request before reaching a decision.

National Health Service organisations will not always grant access, and will need to take into account, for example, any wishes expressed by the individual before their death. Relatives should still receive a response within 40 days of making the request, and there is a set time limit.

There is clear guidance for NHS staff, information governance specialists, and the public available to ensure a common understanding of how to request information and how the NHS should respond, which available at the following link:

https://transform.england.nhs.uk/information-governance/guidance/access-to-the-health-and-care-records-of-deceased-people/#ig_professional
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Esther McVey:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the (a) minutes and (b) outcome of the Commission on Human Medicines Antidepressant Risk Minimisation Expert Working Group meeting which took place on 1 May. \p Karin Smyth: A public assessment report will be published following the advice of the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after the next meeting of the Antidepressant Risk Minimisation Expert Working Group (EWG) in July 2025. The public assessment report will contain the minutes of all EWG meetings and the outcome of the CHM’s advice. It is anticipated that the public assessment report will be published by the MHRA in Autumn 2025.
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Andrew Gwynne:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of prescribing practices of medicines with known teratogenic properties. \p Karin Smyth: Prescribers are expected to work with patients to make decisions about their care and treatment as part of shared decision-making, and this should include discussing risks, benefits, and possible consequences of different options. Where applicable, the risk of teratogenic effects should be made clear as part of these discussions.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), acting on behalf of my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is responsible for the regulation of all medicines and medical devices in the United Kingdom, by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe.

Pharmaceutical companies are required to test the medicines used in their products for teratogenicity, and the MHRA requires that information on the teratogenic properties of medicines, and the actions required to minimise risk, are included in the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) for healthcare professionals, as well as the Patient Information Leaflets (PIL) of licenced products.

Where necessary, the MHRA will undertake additional work to raise awareness, for example in the case of valproate, a medicine with teratogenic properties. The risks with valproate when taken during pregnancy have been communicated by using SmPC and PIL updates. In addition, the magnitude and type of risks associated with valproate use in pregnancy have also been communicated in articles in the MHRA’s bulletin, Drug Safety Update, and letters through the NHS Central Alerting System, supported by messages from professional bodies reinforced through changes to clinical guidelines and improved alerts in general practitioner prescribing systems.
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Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) update and (b) improve NHS IT systems. \p Karin Smyth: We are investing more than £2 billion in National Health Service technology and digital to run essential services and drive NHS productivity improvements.

In June 2023, NHS England agreed a Health Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which is a strategic agreement between the NHS and Microsoft and underpins the national Microsoft licensing framework for NHS organisations. It delivers significant discounts and standardised licensing across the NHS and enables access to services.

Security and compliance are significantly strengthened through national access to Microsoft Defender, Office 365 security tools, and integration with the NHS Cyber Security Operations Centre. These tools standardise threat detection, data protection, and governance across the system, ensuring a consistent and elevated security posture. The MOU also supports a national IT operating model with service desks operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, centralised incident management, and streamlined onboarding.

Operationally, the MOU delivers cost savings by eliminating redundant local contracts and enabling licence reconfiguration. It also positions the NHS for future innovation, with early access to artificial intelligence tools like Microsoft Copilot already embedded in the agreement. This ensures NHS organisations can scale digital transformation efforts while maintaining alignment with national strategy and funding models.
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Alicia Kearns:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing restrictions on recruitment to enable NHS Trusts to recruit more British doctors trained abroad. \p Karin Smyth: No assessment has been made. British doctors who obtained their medical degree abroad need to meet the requirements of the General Medical Council, the independent professional regulator of the medical profession, to practise medicine in the United Kingdom.

British doctors who have obtained a medical degree abroad are then able to apply for jobs in the National Health Service on the same basis as UK medical graduates.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the cost-benefit modelling for the prescription of (a) donanemab and (b) lecanemab for patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. \p Karin Smyth: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published the company’s evidence submission, which includes the company’s evidence on costs and benefits, and the external assessment group report, which assesses the company’s evidence submission as part of the papers that were considered by the independent Appraisal Committee. Information that is commercially confidential has been redacted.

The economic models themselves cannot be published because they contain commercially confidential information. The papers for lecanemab are available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ta11220/documents

In addition, the papers for donanemab are available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ta11221/documents.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for the new hospital in Sutton, in the context of rising construction and building costs. \p Karin Smyth: We have now put the New Hospital Programme on a sustainable footing, with a timeline that can be met, and a budget that is consistent with the fiscal rules under which the Government is operating. We are backing this plan with investment, which will increase to up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging approximately £3 billion a year from 2030. The exact profile of funding will be confirmed in rolling five-year waves at regular Spending Reviews, as with all Government capital budgets in future. The cost estimates for schemes include the significant cost of inflation in recent years and use a construction specific index to inflate future costs.

The final funding amount for the Specialist and Emergency Care Hospital in Sutton will be subject to the review and approval of a Full Business Case nearer to construction starting between 2032 and 2034, as is standard for large infrastructure projects.
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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of integrated care boards in delivering new (a) GP and (b) medical centres in Leicestershire. \p Stephen Kinnock: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are best placed to understand the needs of their local population and to make decisions on new general practice (GP) surgeries based on those needs. ICBs’ annual commissioning plans must consider requirements for new practices, including those driven by population growth, contract expiries, or unplanned closures.

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future. That is why we have set out our commitment to fix the front door to the National Health Service, for example through the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund for upgrades to more than a thousand GP surgeries across England over this financial year.

The NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB has been allocated the following amounts from national capital programmes and operational capital for 2025/26:

- £14.8 million from the Constitutional Standards Recovery Fund;

- £9.3 million from the Estates Safety Fund;

- £1.8 million from the Primary Care Utilisation Fund; and

- £70.8 million in operational capital funding.

We will trial Neighbourhood Health Centres to bring together a range of services, ensuring healthcare is closer to home and patients receive the care they deserve.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many foundation pharmacist training places have a named designated prescribing practitioner confirmed in the ORIEL recruitment system in 2025. \p Karin Smyth: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Dame Harriett Baldwin:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the UK-US trade deal on the health and social care sectors. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with mobile phone providers on inflation-linked price increases in fixed-term mobile phone contracts. \p Chris Bryant: I have not had any such recent discussions but the Government works closely with Ofcom, the independent regulator of telecommunications, to ensure telecom contracts remain fair and transparent, ensuring significant clauses, such as in-contract price increases, are clear at the time of purchase.

Following a review Ofcom banned inflation-linked price rises, since January 2025 providers have been required to inform customers upfront of any in-contract price rises in pounds and pence included in their contract.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of residents paying above 5% of household income on (a) broadband and (b) mobile services in Wiltshire; and what steps he is taking to monitor the affordability of connectivity in rural areas. \p Chris Bryant: The Government has not estimated the number of residents spending over 5% of household income on broadband and mobile services in Wiltshire.

We regularly engage with Ofcom, the independent regulator of telecommunications, who publish research on affordability of telecoms services, including the number of households who struggle to pay for their bills, but they do not report on the number of households paying above 5% of their income.

To support low-income households, over 25 providers offer low-cost mobile and broadband packages for those on Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of duplicate fibre broadband cabling on the (a) distribution of fibre coverage nationally, (b) environment and (c) infrastructure for residents on roads with duplicate cabling. \p Chris Bryant: Competition in the broadband market leads to positive outcomes for consumers, including widespread coverage and competitive pricing. We do not intervene in commercial deployment decisions.

We are aware that having multiple operators can mean deployment of overlapping networks. The sharing of ducts and poles between operators can minimise the disruption this can cause. To support, this Ofcom has put regulations in place to require Openreach to give access to its physical infrastructure to other networks. The Access to Infrastructure (ATI) Regulations 2016 also gives operators the right to request access to another operator’s physical infrastructure to facilitate sharing across utility, transport and communications sectors.
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Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a cyber-security hub in Gloucestershire. \p Feryal Clark: The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology recognises Gloucestershire as a national leader in cyber security. Home to GCHQ and a thriving cyber ecosystem, the region will benefit from the new National Cyber Innovation Centre in Cheltenham, which will drive collaboration and investment. The recently published Digital and Technologies Sector Plan acknowledges the potential of the Golden Valley development. Government continues to work with local partners, including CyNam and the University of Gloucestershire, to advance cyber skills and innovation, supported by the Cyber Growth Action Plan to unlock further regional and national growth.
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Uma Kumaran:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of adopting new digital tools on public sector efficiency. \p Feryal Clark: The Government has assessed the potential impact of adopting digital tools on public sector efficiency through detailed analysis.

This work identified up to £45 billion in potential annual benefits from digital transformation, including through automation of routine tasks, migrating services to lower-cost online channels, and reducing fraud via digital compliance tools.

Government continues to evaluate the effectiveness of these tools, recently publishing a study on Microsoft CoPilot across 20,000 Civil Servants. The Incubator for AI also deploys bespoke tools to unlock mission delivery. For example, the PM recently announced the rollout of Extract, an AI planning tool, to all local authorities in England by Spring next year.

These initiatives will enhance efficiency and reduce duplication, ensuring we can deliver public services which are fit for the future, while also making it easier for people to interact with their government’s digital services.
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Gurinder Singh Josan:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to support the semiconductor industry. \p Feryal Clark: Semiconductors are one of six frontier technologies set out in our Digital and Technologies sector plan, launched this week as part of our industrial strategy.

We will capitalise on our outstanding research base and strengths in chip design, compound semiconductors and next generation technologies including photonics.

Support includes a new UK Semiconductor Centre; Innovation and Knowledge Centres to help bring new chip technologies to market; a Chip Design Enablement Programme to boost our design capability, and improving the semiconductor talent pipeline to ensure industry can make the most of growth opportunities in this critical sector.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help protect intellectual property rights in the training of AI models. \p Feryal Clark: The Government recently consulted on the use of copyright material in AI model development.

The Government is currently analysing responses to that consultation, to help inform policy development. The Government will continue to engage extensively on this issue and proposals will be set out in due course.

We have committed to report on progress to Parliament by December.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the effective roll out of broadband infrastructure in rural areas. \p Chris Bryant: Project Gigabit is designed to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to premises that will not be built to by the market without subsidy. The significant majority of these premises will be in rural areas.

More than £2.3 billion of Project Gigabit contracts have already been signed to connect over 1 million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband. This includes two contracts being delivered by Wessex Internet benefiting the Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support innovation in the gaming industry. \p Chris Bryant: The Government has recently published the Creative Industries Sector Plan which will make the UK the number one place for creativity and innovation by 2035.

The plan includes a commitment that UKRI will lead efforts to increase public funding for the creative industries.

The plan identifies video games as a priority growth sector, with a new Games Growth Package worth £30 million over three years.
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Steve Race:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders in the (a) life sciences and (b) technology sectors on the potential contribution of artificial intelligence to supporting the uptake of (i) non-animal new approach methodologies and (ii) alternatives to animal testing. \p Feryal Clark: The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year.

Minister Vallance hosted a roundtable on 05.09.24 with industry representatives, including discussing the application of AI and officials have kept in regular contact with industry since then. The Government is also co-funding seven Centres of Excellence for Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI), two of which focus on AI which will support developing alternative methods.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

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Steve Race:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to consult (a) industry stakeholders and (b) relevant experts on the proposals set out in the Government’s forthcoming strategy on phasing out the use of animal testing. \p Feryal Clark: The Government is committed to supporting non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year.

This transition must be science-led and in lock step with partners. The Government has been consulting industry, academia and civil society as this process unfolds. Minister Vallance hosted a roundtable on 05.09.24 with industry representatives and officials have kept in regular contact with industry since then. Ministers and officials also engage with relevant experts including academics, with Lord Vallance meeting the Harries lab at the University of Exeter, and officials opening the Queen Mary University organ-on-a-chip facility.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_261

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will take legislative steps to introduce a regulatory framework to set standards for (a) testing and (b) verification of non-deterministic AI systems. \p Feryal Clark: It is right that most AI systems are regulated at point of use by our existing expert regulators, who are best placed to do this. In response to the AI Action Plan, Government committed to building regulators’ capabilities to do this.

Additionally, the Government is developing legislative proposals which will allow us to securely realise the enormous benefits of the most powerful AI systems. We will launch a public consultation, and engage with a full range of stakeholders, on our legislative proposals in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_262

Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2025 to Question 53867 on Innovation: Aldridge-Brownhills, what the names are of the (a) members and (b) local (i) leaders, (ii) research organisations and (iii) industry that comprise the local partnership. \p Feryal Clark: The West Midlands Innovation Board is responsible for developing, coordinating and supporting the delivery of plans for the West Midlands Innovation Accelerator pilot. A full list of the board’s members and observers can be found on the West Midlands Combined Authority website: https://www.wmca.org.uk/what-we-do/economy-and-innovation/west-midlands-innovation/west-midlands-innovation-board/. I encourage you to reach out to the West Midlands Combined Authority directly with any further questions about its governance arrangements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_263

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will publish guidance on the safe use of non-deterministic AI in public sector decision-making systems. \p Feryal Clark: The AI playbook clearly describes the non-deterministic nature of probabilistic, AI-based predictive analysis and automated decision-making, while prescribing ten key principles for the safe and responsible use of AI. For example, it highlights the non-deterministic and probabilistic nature of AI models—specifically large language models (LLMs)—which can yield inaccurate or hallucinated outputs. Accordingly, it stresses legal and ethical duties, requiring departments to register AI-powered algorithms via the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard. It also recommends and emphasises meaningful human oversight, including monitoring, assurance, and user feedback mechanisms, with a risk-aware approach from inception through the entire life cycle of the services.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_264

Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding (a) in absolute terms and (b) as a proportion of all research funding his Department has provided for research into (i) climate change adaptation and (ii) resilience in the UK in each of the last five years. \p Feryal Clark: Over 2020-2024 UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) invested at least £317 million into research focused on climate change adaption and resilience. This sits within UKRI’s ‘Building a Green Future’ portfolio, which is focused on R&D investment to accelerate the UK’s transition to a secure and prosperous green economy by 2050, totalling £3,948 million over 2020-2024. Total UKRI investment over this period totalled over £30bn. These investments are underpinned by further investments in environmental and social data and modelling, the talent pipeline and support for commercialisation. The most recent review of the Building a Green Future portfolio has been published here: https://www.ukri.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/UKRI-07102024-Building-a-Green-Future-UKRI-portfolio-review-2024.pdf

Defra is the lead department for climate adaptation and also invests in a range of research on climate adaptation and resilience.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_265

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions related to illegal immigration have been initiated in Fylde constituency in the past year. \p Sarah Sackman: The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions for immigration offences at criminal courts in England and Wales by Police Force Area in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

Prosecutions data held by the Ministry of Justice relates to the location of the court which delivered the outcome of that prosecution, not where the case was initiated.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_266

Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the safety of judges. \p Sarah Sackman: The Secretary of State for Justice regards judicial office holders' safety with great importance. This is a matter that the Ministry of Justice takes very seriously.

There are a range of judicial security policies and procedures in place to protect judicial office holders inside of court, outside of court and online. HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) works jointly with both the Judicial Office and the Police to deliver these. Over £20m in additional funding in 2025/26 has been allocated to a programme of works to further strengthen the existing arrangements, and Ministry of Justice and HMCTS are working with the Security Taskforce, commissioned by the Lady Chief Justice and chaired by Deputy Senior Presiding Judge Mrs Justice Yip, to consider opportunities for further improvement.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_267

Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship opportunities within her Department. \p Alex Davies-Jones: We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.

Additionally, a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, The ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’, will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_268

David Chadwick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Family Court Quarterly Statistics, published on 27 March 2025, for what reason 8,150 bereaved families waited over six months for the Probate Registry to issue grants of (a) probate and (b) administration in 2024. \p Alex Davies-Jones: HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) retains complaint data concerning lost documentation for a period of five years. HMCTS conducts regular meetings with our bulk scanning provider to review occurrences of lost documents and is committed to continually enhancing our systems to minimize these incidents.

The open probate caseload includes individual cases that may experience delays due to various factors such as family disputes or insufficient information being provided by the applicants. HMCTS actively contacts users to facilitate the progression of cases requiring additional information. Official statistics on the open caseload are regularly published via the following link: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_269

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to review the threshold at which miscarriage of justice claimants can claim for compensation. \p Alex Davies-Jones: Individuals who have had their convictions quashed following an out of time appeal are eligible to apply for compensation through the statutory Miscarriages of Justice Application Service (MOJAS). The Law Commission is currently undertaking a review of the criminal appeals process, including the MOJAS scheme and the test for compensation. I will be considering their findings once their review is complete.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_270

Rebecca Paul:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason it is her policy to no longer allow the Prison Fellowship Sycamore Tree Programme to operate in prisons. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: All interventions that aim to change attitudes, thinking, emotions or behaviour are governed by the National Framework for Interventions Policy Framework issued by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS): National Framework for Interventions Policy Framework - GOV.UK.

The minimum standards set out in the National Framework are based on evidence of effectiveness gathered from a range of countries. A review of the Sycamore Tree programme found that it did not meet the required standards, and HMPPS therefore decided that it should no longer be delivered in prisons.

HMPPS is grateful to the provider of the programme, the Prison Fellowship, for the work it has undertaken over many years. HMPPS continues to work with the Prison Fellowship on other services it provides in prisons in England and Wales.