theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Shockat Adam:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to maximise take up of the Healthy Start scheme. \p Ashley Dalton: The Healthy Start scheme was introduced in 2006 to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk, and infant formula. Those on the scheme have access to free Healthy Start Vitamins for pregnant women and children aged under four years old.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. The NHSBSA is committed to increasing uptake of the scheme to ensure as many children as possible have a healthy start in life.

The NHSBSA promotes the Healthy Start scheme through its digital channels and has created free tools to help stakeholders promote the scheme locally. The NHSBSA has also reached out to stakeholders to see how it can support them to promote the scheme. In January 2025, Healthy Start supported over 353,000 people.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-28)

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Lee Pitcher:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to extend eligibility for NHS lung screening programmes to include people with a history of occupational exposure to (a) asbestos, (b) coal dust and (c) other hazardous substances. \p Ashley Dalton: The NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme is offered to people between the ages of 55 and 74 years old who are current smokers or have previously been smokers. This is in line with the recommendation made by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) in 2022.

The UK NSC recognised that there are other causes of lung cancer such as air pollution and occupational exposure to inhaled carcinogens but as 72% of lung cancer is largely attributable to age and smoking status, the benefits of screening would have the most impact in this cohort of people.

When appraising the viability of a targeted screening the UK NSC takes into consideration the feasibility of identifying the cohort of people eligible for targeted screening. This would be necessary if the NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme were to be extended to these groups.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), welcomes any new published peer reviewed evidence which suggests the case for a new or modified screening programme via its annual call, of which details are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-annual-call-submitting-a-screening-proposal/uk-nsc-annual-call-how-to-submit-a-proposal
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Jess Brown-Fuller:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with stakeholders on the potential merits of auto-enrolling all eligible families to the Healthy Start programme. \p Ashley Dalton: The Healthy Start scheme was introduced in 2006 to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk, and infant formula. Those on the scheme have access to free Healthy Start Vitamins for pregnant women and children aged under four years old.

The Department has been approached by, and engaged with, stakeholders regarding autoenrollment. The scheme is kept under review, and we remain open to all viable routes to improve uptake to ensure that as many eligible people as possible are accessing the scheme, to support their children with a healthy start in life. In January 2025, Healthy Start supported over 353,000 people.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-28)

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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to prioritise buying medical devices from UK companies. \p Ashley Dalton: The United Kingdom’s medical technology (MedTech) sector is valuable for patients, the National Health Service, and the economy, creating high valued jobs across the country. This is why the Department published the MedTech Strategy and subsequent One Year On documents, setting out the advancements we are putting in place to drive improvements to the ecosystem.

On 13 February 2025, the Government published its National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS), which sets out the priorities for public procurement, and maximises the impact of every pound spent. The NPPS is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-procurement-policy-statement

This will come into effect alongside the commencement of the Procurement Act 2023, on 24 February 2025. The Government is determined to ensure public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth, supports small businesses, champions innovation, and creates good jobs and opportunities across the country.

The act will create a simpler and more flexible, commercial system, and will more effectively open public procurement to new entrants such as UK small businesses and social enterprises, so that they can compete for and win more public contracts. The act also allows contracting authorities to reserve below threshold contracts for UK suppliers, as set out in Section 15 of a published guidance note for the act. The full guidance on below-threshold contracts is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-act-2023-guidance-documents-define-phase/guidance-below-threshold-contracts-html
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Charlie Maynard:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Cancer Plan will include policies on (a) identifying and (b) treating brain tumours. \p Ashley Dalton: My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has announced that a National Cancer Plan for England will be published this year. The Prime Minister’s Health Mission sets the objective of building a National Health Service fit for the future, and an essential part of this is achieving our goal to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer.

The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, and will apply to all cancer types, including brain tumours. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next 10 years.

We are committed to working closely with partners and patient groups to shape the long-term vision for cancer. The Department is planning to engage with cancer partners, charities, and those within the cancer community, seeking the views of individuals, professionals, and organisations to understand how we can do more to achieve this ambition.

To do this, on 4 February 2025, we launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people from across the country will inform our plan to improve cancer care. Those who wish to share their views can do so on the new online platform, Shaping the national cancer plan, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan

Alongside this work, the Department, NHS England, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) are taking several steps to help improve outcomes for brain tumour patients.

NHS England is committed to ensuring that all cancer patients are offered Holistic Needs Assessment and Personalised Care and Support Planning, ensuring care is focused on what matters most to each person. As well as this, all patients, including those with secondary cancers, will have access to the right expertise and support, including a Clinical Nurse Specialist or other support worker.

Further to this, in September 2024, the NIHR announced new research funding opportunities for brain cancer research, spanning both adult and paediatric populations. This includes a national NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium, to ensure that the most promising research opportunities are made available to adult and child patients, and a new funding call to generate high quality evidence in brain tumour care, support, and rehabilitation.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support research into the causes of epilepsy. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department funds research into epilepsy via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR committed £31.5 million of funding to 28 epilepsy research projects in the five years from April 2019 to March 2024. Additionally, over this period, more than 5,000 people were enabled to participate in epilepsy research by the NIHR Clinical Research Network, now the NIHR Research Delivery Network.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including epilepsy. 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 epilepsy 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 NIHR also works closely with other Government funders, including UK Research and Innovation, which is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and includes the Medical Research Council, to fund research into epilepsy to improve treatments and prevent poor health outcomes for patients.

The Medical Research Council spends approximately £3 million each year on epilepsy research, spanning discovery science and fundamental understanding of the disease through to new approaches for diagnosis and intervention
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase (a) the number of people seeing an NHS dentist and (b) access to NHS dentistry beyond the 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments. \p Stephen Kinnock: 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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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 23859 on General Practitioners: Recruitment, what his planned timetable is for collecting that data. \p Stephen Kinnock: 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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Shockat Adam:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of eye problems as part of its 10-Year Plan. \p Stephen Kinnock: 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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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the NHS-commissioned independent economic analysis of pharmacy funding before the conclusion of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework contract negotiations. \p Stephen Kinnock: 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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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-28)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the NHS is of sourcing a haematopoietic stem cell donation from the UK Aligned Stem Cell Registry compared to stem cell donation imports from United States, Germany and Poland; and what the oversight mechanism is for agreeing these costs. \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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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the number of haemopoietic stem cell transplants sourced from the UK. \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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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making people with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome automatically eligible for IVF treatment. \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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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-28)

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Tony Vaughan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reform the NHS Dental Contract. \p Stephen Kinnock: 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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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-28)

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Tony Vaughan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the emergency dental appointments to be purchased by Kent & Medway ICB will be provided to dental clinics in Folkestone and Hythe constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: 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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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS appointments were lost due to strike action between July to November (a) 2023 and (b) 2024. \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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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-28)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what percentage of haemopoietic stem cell transplant performed by the NHS were from UK registered donors between 1 October 2024 to 31 December 24 or the last three months for which data is available. \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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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department provides to ensure that GPs approach (a) shared care and (b) collaboration with gender identity specialists in the same way as other specialists. \p Stephen Kinnock: 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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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) people and (b) charities providing support to people that (i) have self-harmed and (ii) are considering self-harming are not criminalised; and what guidance she provides to police forces. \p Alex Davies-Jones: Section 184 of the Online Safety Act 2023 gave partial effect to a Law Commission recommendation to create an offence of encouraging or assisting self-harm. The proposed new offence of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm intends to replace (in so far as it extends to England and Wales and Northern Ireland) that offence with a broader offence that can be committed by any means of communication, and in any other way (including, for example, direct assistance through the provision of bladed articles with which to self-harm). The person must have intent to encourage or assist the other person to seriously self-harm.

As with the current offence in the Online Safety Act, sharing experiences of self-harm or simply discussing the issue (including glorifying or glamourising self-harm), without an intention that another should seriously self-harm, will not be a criminal offence. We recognise the concerns of those offering support services that capturing such behaviour would potentially risk criminalising vulnerable people who merely seek to share their experiences of self-harm with no intention of encouraging others to self-harm.

The offence in the Online Safety Act comes from a Law Commission recommendation following a wide-ranging consultation and we will work with criminal justice agencies and others with an interest to update existing guidance and training to reflect the proposed expansion of the offence to include direct assistance to self-harm.
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Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce backlogs in family courts in (a) Greater Manchester Combined Authority and (b) Rochdale Borough Council. \p Sarah Sackman: Delays in the court process can have a significant impact on children and families. We are committed to improving timeliness and reducing the outstanding caseload.

The Family Justice Board agreed system-wide national targets for reducing delay in 2024/25. These are focused on closing the longest running cases in private and public law, and increasing the proportion of public law cases concluded within the statutory 26-week timeframe.

As part of system-wide efforts, the Department for Education is investing £10 million to develop and implement local area initiatives to address the longest delays in public law cases. This includes a pre-case management hearing pilot which involves an information sharing meeting between the Local Authority Social Worker and the Cafcass Guardian. The pilot aims to reduce family court delay by ensuring that the case management hearing is as effective as possible at reducing the need for additional hearings. Rochdale and other local authorities within Greater Manchester have been actively participating in the pilot which is due to conclude at the end of March 2025. The pilot is being independently evaluated which will help inform future plans to reduce family court delay.

The Government has committed further funding for Pathfinder for private law in the next financial year, which is live in four areas. It will start in Mid and West Wales on 3 March and West Yorkshire on 3 June. Further expansion of the scheme will be confirmed in due course.

The Lord Chancellor agrees the programme of recruitment every year with the Lady Chief Justice, prioritising building judicial capacity where it will have the greatest impact on securing government objectives. This includes recruiting additional judges to hear Family cases.
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Chris Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to tackle the building maintenance backlog for courts and tribunals. \p Sarah Sackman: It is important that the infrastructure of our courts does not prevent hearings from taking place. It is a priority for this Government to ensure that cases can be heard, and victims can be given the justice that they deserve.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service has a plan for future works to improve the resilience and quality of the court estate, and this is kept under regular review to make sure it meets operational priorities. Available maintenance funding is prioritised to sites that need it most, to ensure that buildings are safe, secure, meet statutory requirements and protect continuity of service.

£120 million was allocated for court maintenance and capital project funding for 2024/25. Funding for 2025/26 will be agreed through the concordat process and will be announced in due course. Funding for 2026/27 and beyond will be agreed through the Spending Review process, which is currently ongoing. The Chancellor has confirmed that the Spending Review will conclude on 11 June 2025.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the average waiting time for Child Maintenance Service appeal decisions. \p Sarah Sackman: The mean case age at clearance for Child Maintenance Service appeals for the latest periods for which data are available was 58* weeks for the quarter April to June 2024; and 57 weeks for the quarter July to September 2024.

Waiting times are calculated from receipt of the appeal to the final disposal decision. The final outcome of any appeal is not necessarily achieved at its first hearing.

*Please note that from April 2023 the SSCS Tribunal started to list cases using a new Scheduling and Listing solution. This, alongside HMCTS migrating to a new Strategic Data Platform, has resulted in some cases heard and decided using this new listing solution that may not be included in the data above.
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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department. \p Jo Stevens: There are no requirements for civil servants in the Wales Office to book a desk in advance when attending the office workplaces. The Office does not have any arm’s length bodies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of histotripsy treatment on the NHS. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Histotripsy is a non-invasive ultrasound treatment that destroys tumours without the need for surgery or radiation. It was one of eight transformative technologies supported through the Government’s Innovative Devices Access Pathway (IDAP) pilot. This programme aimed to streamline patient access to medical devices that address an unmet clinical need in the National Health Service.

Through the IDAP, an Unmet Clinical Need Authorisation was granted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, exempting the manufacturer from certain regulatory requirements under specific conditions given the critical unmet need of liver cancer, allowing early market access. Histotripsy is now available for conditional use in the NHS for patients with liver tumours. NHS treatments will begin in October 2025 as a first in Europe, strengthening the United Kingdom’s position as a global leader in medical innovation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

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Danny Beales:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there is a facility for the NHS to approve treatments without external payment for assessment by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) charges companies for the development of its technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies recommendations on medicines and other health technologies. Where a company does not participate in the NICE appraisal process, the default National Health Service position will be to not routinely commission the intervention for the stated indication. This is to avoid a potential pathway for circumventing the NICE process. In some cases, such as where there is no single company that markets the medicine or technology under evaluation, NICE evaluations can be funded from other sources, such as from NICE’s core Government funding or NHS England.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with female reproductive systems are informed about symptoms of (a) ovarian and (b) other gynaecological cancers through NHS cervical screening programmes. \p Ashley Dalton: NHS England works to ensure that core public information on screening is easily accessible and understandable to the public, and it regularly and systematically reviews this information.

Earlier this year, NHS England updated its cervical screening guidance to include that cervical screening is not a check for other cancers of the reproductive system, such as ovary, womb, vulval, or vaginal cancer. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cervical-screening-description-in-brief/cervical-screening-helping-you-decide--2

The guidance advises that you should not wait to contact a general practitioner if you have any concerns.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost savings to the NHS from the expansion of Fracture Liaison Services in England. \p Ashley Dalton: Potential cost savings to the National Health Service from the expansion of Fracture Liaison Services will be taken into consideration in future policy development.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in which NHS trusts Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy is available in England . \p Ashley Dalton: The National Health Service delivers a range of treatments for cancer, with expert clinicians working with patients to determine the most appropriate option. The Government is working with NHS England to ensure that the most effective treatments are available to patients across the country when they need them.

Stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) is routinely available to treat several types of cancer, including some types of lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and liver cancer. Every NHS trust that is commissioned to provide radiotherapy services in England can offer SABR. However, not all cancer types can be treated with SABR in every radiotherapy service, because some trusts may not host the relevant specialist multi-disciplinary team.

No assessment has been made of the potential for systemic anti-cancer therapies to be delivered via primary care in the community or at home. However, in line with the Government’s Health Mission shift from hospital to community, the 10-Year Health Plan committed to deliver more urgent care in the community, in people’s homes, or through neighbourhood health centres by 2035.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) reduce wait times and (b) increase capacity for paediatric blood tests. \p Karin Smyth: We inherited a broken National Health Service, and reducing elective waiting lists is a key part of getting it back on its feet and building an NHS that is fit for the future. To that end we have committed to achieving the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029. Cutting waiting times for diagnostic tests such as blood tests is a crucial step in reducing the elective waiting list.

Blood tests are among the most commonly requested diagnostic investigations across primary and secondary care, and they are readily available across all 27 NHS pathology networks. Phlebotomy, the procedure to collect blood samples, is widely available across general practice, community health services, and secondary care phlebotomy clinics, supporting equitable access to blood testing.

The NHS is taking steps to reduce wait times for blood tests. These include establishing more straight to test pathways, whereby a patient is referred straight to a diagnostic test without the need for an additional outpatient appointment first, as well as investing in digital pathology and automation of histopathology services to reduce the time patients wait for blood test results to be processed.

Alongside this, we are continuing to invest in expanding diagnostic capacity in the NHS. As set out in the Elective reform Plan, we plan to build up to five more community diagnostic centres (CDCs) in 2025/26, alongside increasing the operating hours of existing sites so that more offer services 12 hours a day, seven days a week. This is backed by part of the £600 million of capital for diagnostic services announced at the October Spending Review.

CDCs offer local populations, including children, a wide range of diagnostic tests closer to home and greater choice on where and how they are undertaken. This reduces the need for hospital visits, reduces pressure on hospitals, and speeds up diagnosis. CDCs are expected to offer their services to children and young people where it is safe and appropriate to do so. Phlebotomy is a core service provided by all standard and large model CDCs.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on zero-rating defibrillators for VAT. \p Karin Smyth: My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not discussed zero-rating defibrillators for VAT with my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The Government provides VAT reliefs to aid with the purchase of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) through VAT refunds on purchases made by local authorities, including parish councils, and VAT reliefs for purchases made through voluntary contributions where the AED is donated to eligible charities or the National Health Service.
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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for heart health pathways. \p Karin Smyth: The latest data, from July 2025, shows that 61.6% of waits for cardiology services are within 18 weeks, which is a 1.7% improvement on the same month from the previous year. While this shows progress, we know there is more to do to reduce waiting times for heart health pathways. That is why, along with our commitment to returning to the 92% referral-to-treatment standard for elective care by March 2029, the Elective Reform Plan commits to significant elective reform in cardiology.

Cardiology is one of five priority specialties identified for significant elective reform in the Elective Reform Plan. Reforms will include increasing specialist cardiology input earlier in patient care pathways and developing standard and efficient care pathways for common cardiology symptoms. It also includes improving access to cardiac diagnostic tests through implementing more ‘straight-to-test’ pathways, where a general practitioner can refer a patient directly to secondary care for a test. This can reduce unnecessary outpatient appointments and improve waiting times even further for patients across England.

These improvements to common cardiology pathways help standardise patient care, reduce inequalities, and improve access to care, especially in the early stages of heart health pathways for patients across England.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_9
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_9

Tom Gordon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including (a) prehabilitation and (b) rehabilitation as essential elements of cancer treatment. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department and NHS England are taking a number of steps to support the National Health Service to deliver cost-effective prehabilitation and rehabilitation services.

NHS England has highlighted the positive impact of efficient prehabilitation and rehabilitation on cancer outcomes and the potential to lead to cost savings. The ‘PRosPer’ cancer prehabilitation and rehabilitation learning programme, launched as a partnership between NHS England and Macmillan Cancer Support, aims to support allied health professionals and the wider healthcare workforce in developing their skills in providing prehabilitation and rehabilitation as essential elements of cancer treatment.

The National Cancer Plan, to be published later this year, will look at how to improve patient outcomes across the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, including prehabilitation and rehabilitation services where appropriate.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_10
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_10

Tom Gordon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consideration he has given to supporting the National Screening Committee to (a) more swiftly implement innovation within screening programmes and (b) adopt innovative new programmes once proven effective. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) and its secretariat have adopted several robust strategies that support responsiveness to innovation in screening.

The committee uses the expertise of its research and methodology group to help researchers focus the design of screening research to ensure it addresses questions in a way that is useful for screening policy. Where screening research trials are ongoing, the secretariat maintains close contact with researchers to ensure that we are proactive in response to the results coming out of the trial.

Where there are evidence gaps in screening research, in-service evaluations provide an innovative solution to generating high quality evidence for the UK NSC in live National Health Services. The UK NSC secretariat works closely with NHS England on upcoming work so that the NHS can optimise their preparations in their readiness for the implementation of recommendations agreed by ministers.

Networking across the healthcare landscape both nationally and internationally helps to ensure that the UK NSC keeps abreast of developments in screening and identifies viable innovations in tests and treatments that are suitable in the context of the United Kingdom. Collaboration between organisations such as the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, and professional bodies such as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists supports joined up working with partners and avoids unnecessary duplication.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_11
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_11

Imran Hussain:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to publish the business cases developed for Neighbourhood Health Centres and the names of organisations or companies involved in their preparation. \p Karin Smyth: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 October 2025 to Question 75637.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_12
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_12

Katie Lam:To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, what guidance the House has issued to encourage the procurement of British-made (a) office products and (b) stationery by (i) Members and (ii) their staff. \p Nick Smith: Under current legislation and guidance, specifying the origin of goods or services is only permitted if it is necessary to do so in order for the requirements to be understood. The legislation expressly provides that any requirement specifying the origin must allow for equivalents where these exist. In respect of Members and their Staff it is a decision for each individual Member and their office to determine how they use their budget to purchase office products and stationery in accordance with IPSA guidelines.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_13
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_13

Katie Lam:To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, from which countries the House of Commons sources the paper for its (a) official headed stationery and (b) other printed parliamentary materials. \p Nick Smith: Official headed stationery is sourced from the following locations:

All overprinting of paper envelopes is carried out in the UK, including embossing and phosphor band print. Overprinting of letterheaded paper is carried out in the UK.

Business papers (the Order Paper, bills etc) are printed on paper which has been manufactured in Germany and France. These are bought through a UK-based paper merchant.

Under current legislation and guidance, specifying the origin of goods or services is only permitted if it is necessary to do so in order for our requirements to be understood. The legislation expressly provides that any requirement specifying the origin must allow for equivalents where these exist. Parliament endeavours to purchase British goods and support domestic supply chains where it is possible and appropriate to do so.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_14
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_14

Anna Dixon:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of working with regulators to introduce labels for nitrous oxide canisters that can be traced to the point of sale. \p Kate Dearden: The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has responsibility for the Aerosols Dispensers Regulations 2009 which sets out the requirements for the safety of aerosol cannisters. The Regulations specify the manufacturing, labelling and transport requirements ensuring the safety of aerosol cannisters. DBT has made no assessment regarding point-of-sale labelling for aerosol cannisters containing nitrous oxide as this is not pertinent to the safety of the cannister.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_15
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_15

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 24 June, 1 August and 15 September 2025 from the hon. Member for Tooting relating to case reference RA69084. \p Kate Dearden: The Department of Business and Trade aims to respond to correspondence in 15 working days. This case has been transferred to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) to answer.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_16
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_16

Victoria Atkins:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many pubs have closed since 5 July 2024; and what steps his Department is taking to support (a) pubs and (b) other hospitality businesses. \p Kate Dearden: There are no official statistics on the number of pub closures, however there were 37,875 UK public houses and bars in March 2024 and this fell to 37,805 in March 2025

The Government recognises the vital role of pubs and hospitality in our communities and economy, that’s why we are providing targeted support for the sector.

In April, we launched a Taskforce to consider ways to create a more balanced premises licensing system that not only safeguards communities but also supports responsible businesses. On 7 October the Government issued a Call for Evidence on Reforming the licensing system - GOV.UK (deadline: midday, 6 November 2025). These reforms are part of the Small Business Strategy, which also tackles late payments, improves access to finance, and cuts red tape. We want planning and licensing systems to work fairly for businesses and residents.

We’re also creating a fairer business rates system, including permanently lower rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties under £500,000 rateable value and continue to work closely with the sector to address challenges, including through the Hospitality Sector Council.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_17
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_17

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the press release entitled Record-breaking £150bn investment unveiled during US State Visit, published on 17 September 2025, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that business investment on economic growth. \p Chris Bryant: No such formal separate assessment will be made, but we expect these investments to have significant economic benefits across the whole of the UK.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_18
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_18

Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of capital inflows from the United States over the next five years under agreements announced during President Trump's state visit in September 2025. \p Chris Bryant: We have not made any such specific estimate, but the commitments made as part of the state visit will be over the lifetime of this Parliament and beyond.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_19
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_19

Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help incentivise investment by venture capital into the photonics industry. \p Chris Bryant: DBT's Strategic Technologies Team and OfI's Venture Capital Unit introduce UK photonics firms to major international venture capital investors at leading global photonics events every year. These demonstrations of the scale, breadth and quality of the UK photonics industry often incentivise leading photonics venture investors to expand their UK activities.

OfI's Venture Capital Unit also works closely with a small number of UK Venture Capital firms who seek to raise capital to invest into photonics. The unit offers a bespoke and vital service of introducing these UK firms to carefully selected international Limited Partners for capital raising.
wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_20
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-15)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-15 conversation_20

Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans his Department has to monitor UK export growth arising from agreements made during President Trump's state visit in September 2025. \p Chris Bryant: The US is the UK’s largest single country export market and President Trump’s State Visit was a valuable opportunity to further strengthen our economic relationship with the US. We launched a new technology partnership that will build on the foundations of the economic deal we agreed in May and announced a record breaking £150 billion of new US investment into the UK.

It is too early to detect specific increments, but the Department for Business and Trade continues to monitor the level of exports with all countries, and through our Trade Strategy, Industrial Strategy, and Small Business Plan, we are putting in place the policies, support, and services needed to drive export-led business growth.