theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Fabian Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending transitional protection under Universal Credit to include couples who form a household which becomes eligible for Universal Credit and consequently (a) reduce the overall level of welfare expenditure and (b) free up social housing. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No assessment has been made.

Transitional Protection was introduced as part of the Move to UC journey to ensure legacy benefit customers maintain the same level of entitlement on moving to UC at the point of transition.

Transitional protection is considered for both single and couple households that manage migrate to UC. It is not extended to customers in receipt of the transitional element that have a significant change of circumstances or where a couple forms and makes a new claim to UC.

The Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 made provision for transitional protection. DWP has no plans to amend the regulations to extend transitional protection to include couples who form a household after they have moved to Universal Credit.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance she has issued to (a) work coaches and (b) case managers on processing claims for new claimants from (i) Israel and (ii) the Palestinian Occupied Territories. \p Andrew Western: Guidance for DWP staff making benefit decisions is available on gov.uk. Specific guidance on new customers arriving in the UK from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories will be published in the usual way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of its use of algorithmic decision-making tools on levels of risk of (a) bias and (b) discrimination. \p Andrew Western: DWP is committed to regularly assessing AI use in the Department to ensure it meets business needs, is quality assured, and does not lead to a risk of discrimination or harm. In some areas, the Department uses automated decision-making to make benefit awards, but AI is not used as part of that process. DWP has a legal requirement to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place when carrying out automated decision-making or the use of AI, using tools such as Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) and fairness assessments to highlight any potential bias or discrimination risks associated with AI and automation. The Department carries out regular checks to ensure our systems are working as intended.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any of the algorithmic systems used by her Department are subject to independent oversight. \p Andrew Western: The Department is committed to publishing details of its use of complex algorithms in line with the cross-Government Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standard (ATRS). We also engage with external bodies, such as the Information Commissioner's Office, the National Audit Office, and Parliament as required.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether benefit claimants are informed when their claims are assessed using algorithmic tools. \p Andrew Western: DWP’s Personal Information Charter (PIC) (Personal information charter - Department for Work and Pensions - GOV.UK) outlines how DWP processes personal data related to and its use of both Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automated Decision Making (ADM).

DWP does not use AI to replace human judgement to determine or deny a payment to a claimant.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) transparency and (b) accountability in its use of AI systems in public services. \p Andrew Western: We have AI governance in place to ensure we use AI in a safe, ethical, and transparent way. DWP is committed to publishing details of its use of algorithms against the cross-Government Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standard (ATRS). We ensure our generative AI tools can trace outputs back to the source data so that humans can understand how the output has been created. Outputs from our use of AI technology are traceable for governance purposes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit decisions made using (a) automated and (b) AI-assisted systems have been overturned on appeal since 2020. \p Andrew Western: No Artificial Intelligence is currently deployed to make decisions regarding benefit entitlement or value in isolation. There is automation in some benefit processes but decisions regarding entitlement and value will have a human decision maker involved.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department collects data on (a) errors and (b) false positives arising from algorithmic fraud detection tools. \p Andrew Western: DWP is committed to processing data lawfully, proportionately, and ethically, with meaningful human input and safeguards in place to protect individuals. “Algorithmic fraud detection tool” is not a term we use in DWP however, the department develops, tests, and invests in advanced analytics to support the detection of fraud and error. Currently, the UC Advances model is the only machine learning model deployed at scale in live service. On the 17th July, the Department published a fairness assessment of the UC Advances model, which includes consideration of the model’s performance. The model remains an effective fraud prevention control, performing approximately three times better than a control group in identifying high-risk advances.

Fairness assessment including statistical analysis of the Universal Credit advances machine learning model: 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 - GOV.UK
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason new claimants from (a) Israel and (b) the Occupied Palestinian Territories will be exempt from the Habitual Residence Test for Universal Credit. \p Andrew Western: Given the circumstances in which British nationals and their eligible families have urgently travelled to the UK following the Government’s evacuations, DWP want to ensure that those arriving can access benefits as soon as possible (where they meet all other eligibility requirements).

This does not enable DWP to pay benefits to anyone who does not already have an underlying entitlement to benefits. For those who are not British or Irish citizens, they must have a valid immigration status that provides recourse to public funds to access benefits, on top of meeting other benefit-specific eligibility criteria.

More detail can be found in the explanatory memorandum for this amendment: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/884/memorandum/contents.
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Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding her Department has allocated to preventing Islamophobia. \p Alex Norris: In 2025/26, up to £650,000 of funding is available to the British Muslim Trust to monitor hate targeting Muslims and facilitate support for victims. The government will provide the police with funding of £80,000 for True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the budget is of the Community Cohesion and Resilience Programme in the 2025-26 financial year; what its terms of reference are; and whether local authorities will be required to bid for funding. \p Alex Norris: The Community Cohesion and Resilience Programme made awards to Local Authorities in the 2024-25 financial year. There are no plans to run the Programme again in the 2025-26 financial year.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to publish reports by the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred and Islamophobia. \p Alex Norris: As noted in the Terms of Reference, the advice provided to government by the independent Working Group will be private. Once the Government has had time to review the advice, it will consider its next steps.
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Neil Coyle:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has put guarantees are in place for using British-made glass in the windows and doors in her Department’s housebuilding programme. \p Matthew Pennycook: My Department has not stipulated the use of British-made glass in developments funded through housebuilding programmes.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Fair Funding Review 2.0 proposals on levels of (a) council tax and (b) funding of local authorities in (i) London and (ii) other areas. \p Jim McMahon: Local authorities are responsible for setting council tax levels. The Spending Review set out government’s intention to maintain the 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% principle for the adult social care precept to protect taxpayers from excessive increases. These principles are in line with the previous government’s policy and OBR forecasts. Final referendum principles will be confirmed at the local government finance settlement each year, subject to approval by the House of Commons, in the usual way.

Our proposals are subject to consultation and decisions have yet to be taken that will determine final allocations and the design of transitional arrangements. Subject to consultation, the proposals set out mean that the most relatively deprived places will on balance see larger increases in income than the least deprived places. We will publish further information in the consultation response by early October, followed by the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement later this year.
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Uma Kumaran:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025, whether the Disabled Facilities Grant will be available to disabled residents required to pay for changes to living circumstances arising from recommendations of person-centred fire risk assessments. \p Alex Norris: Under the Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 regulations, residents with disabilities or impairments in high-rise and certain medium rise buildings will be entitled to a person-centred fire risk assessment to identify equipment and adjustments to aid their fire safety and evacuation. Where costs arise, these may fall to the building owner, all residents or the individual resident. Where the cost of an identified mitigation would fall to the resident, the resident can decline to pay for it, in which case that mitigation may not be put in place. The Government has committed funding this year (2025/26) supporting social housing providers to deliver RPEEPs for their renters. Future years funding will be considered through the Spending Review process.

Residents can apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant from their local council which can help cover the capital costs of adaptations so they can live safely and independently at home.

Local housing authorities have a statutory duty to provide adaptations for disabled people following a needs assessment, means test, eligibility criteria and subject to any permissions required from a landlord. They also have powers to provide financial assistance for adaptations for those that do not qualify for funding under the duty, and in some cases to waive the means test.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of requiring consideration of embodied carbon in new buildings on the viability of new build development. \p Alex Norris: We have recently published research to improve understanding of embodied carbon in new buildings and the data currently available. The aim of publishing is for this research is to help inform discussions about potential impacts, including on the viability of new developments. We continue to assess the evidence and engage with industry as we consider the best way forward for measuring and reducing embodied carbon emissions. The government remains committed to supporting progress in this area in a way that is both practical and sustainable.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2025 to Question 64086, on Local Government: Cost Effectiveness, what formal and informal representations have been received on escalating the intervention. \p Jim McMahon: On 17 July, I announced my final decision, following consideration of representations received and all relevant information, to exercise powers of direction under section 15(5) and 15(6) of the Local Government Act 1999 and appointed Commissioners to ensure London Borough of Croydon’s compliance with the Best Value Duty. Details of the representations can be found in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Directions, copies of which were deposited in the House library and are also available on gov.uk.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Carla Lockhart:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage local authorities to (a) join AccessAble and (b) provide publicly available information on disability access to (i) public buildings and (ii) services. \p Jim McMahon: Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management and organisation of their own workforces. It is the duty of local authorities to comply with all relevant employment and equalities legislation and there is no role for central government intervening in this, except where specific provision has been made in legislation.

Like all service providers and those exercising public functions, local authorities are under a duty to make reasonable adjustments for their customers, under the Equality Act 2010. This includes providing information about disabled access and facilities as well as the actual facilities. Local authorities are also within the scope of the Public Sector Equality Duty, which requires public bodies to consider how their policies and actions might affect people with particular protected characteristics, such as disability.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what restrictions exist on installing air conditioning under the (a) planning regime and (b) building regulations regime in new build dwellings. \p Alex Norris: The Building Regulations are set in performance terms, to provide developers with the flexibility to select the most appropriate solutions for their developments. Part O of the regulations ensures that new residential buildings are built to mitigate the risk of overheating. Mechanical cooling can be used to meet regulations, however, given the Government’s net zero commitment, our preferred means of mitigating overheating is through passive means. Developers must demonstrate that all possible passive means of cooling a dwelling have been implemented before adopting mechanical cooling,

As part of the Future Homes and Buildings Standard consultation, which closed in March 2024, we sought evidence on whether current overheating standards are appropriate or require amendment. The Government will set out the evidence it received on Part O during this consultation and its response to this in Autumn 2025, when the Future Homes and Buildings Standard consultation response will be published.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 56832 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Expenditure, if she will make it her policy to reinstate the (a) SME data and (b) voluntary and community sector spending data. \p Alex Norris: MHCLG publishes its monthly spend data in line with Cabinet Office guidance including all mandatory fields specified in that guidance.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of the contract with the Belong Network; if she will publish the (a) contract and (b) terms of reference; and whether the contract was subject to a public tender process. \p Alex Norris: MHCLG does not have any contracts with the Belong Network.
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Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help support economic growth in Sutton Coldfield town centre. \p Alex Norris: Sutton Coldfield is receiving up to £20 million of funding and support over the next decade through the Plan for Neighbourhoods. This initiative aims to transform the area by unleashing its full potential, investing in improved community services such as education, health, and employment, and tackling local issues like crime. The transformation will be holistic, long-term, and sustainable, delivering meaningful change in the day-to-day lives of local people, led by a Neighbourhood Board made up of local people and independently chaired.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 56739 on Strategic Defence Review, whether the embargoed defence review document was classified as (a) market-sensitive and (b) in scope of the UK Market Abuse Regulation. \p Luke Pollard: The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) contains only strategic recommendations to Government. It does not contain any specific new contract details for any company. As the Government has now confirmed a number of times, at no point did stakeholders receive any commercially sensitive information ahead of publication. The SDR was not classified as market sensitive or in scope of the UK Market Abuse Regulation.
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Luke Akehurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the Ajax programme supply chain is based in the North East. \p Maria Eagle: 4% of the Ajax programme’s key suppliers are based in the North and North East of England.
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Luke Akehurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the supply chain for the Boxer programme is based in the (a) UK and (b) North East. \p Maria Eagle: The Boxer programme is planned to deliver 60% by value of the original production contract from the UK.

The long-term support solution for the programme is still under development but will look to build on the hundreds of UK jobs that have already been protected during the manufacture of the platform. It is not yet known what proportion of that supply chain will be based in the UK and North East.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support people who served in Operation Banner. \p Al Carns: We owe the people who served on Operation Banner a huge debt of gratitude. Their professionalism and in many cases personal sacrifices saved many lives and helped to bring about peace in Northern Ireland. I will continue to champion their cause as we deal with Northern Ireland’s legacy. We are working hard to ensure that veterans’ interests are fully considered in any future legislation on this matter.

I am acutely aware of the impact that military service can have on veterans and their families. Where a veteran (or serving member of the Armed Forces) faces allegations arising from activities related to their duties, they are offered appropriate legal support at public expense.

The Veterans Welfare Service (VWS), run by the Ministry of Defence, provides free one-to-one support for veterans or anyone supporting a veteran, and their families, with a national network of welfare managers across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

More broadly, in England, Op COURAGE provides support with mental health and wellbeing for veterans, and Op RESTORE is the veterans’ physical health and wellbeing service, with similar services available in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Housing support is available across the United Kingdom via Op FORTITUDE, a single referral pathway connecting veterans with support
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his oral contribution during the debate on Defence on 2 July, Official Report, Column 327, whether the additional £5 billion spent on defence includes funding for Ukraine. \p Luke Pollard: The Government is committed to providing Ukraine with £3 billion a year of military support for as long as needed. This year, the UK will provide more financial aid in military support to Ukraine than at any time since the full-scale invasion began: £4.5 billion to deliver military support, enhance training and strengthen industrial collaboration.

This is separate from the £5 billion we are investing in the Ministry of Defence budget this financial year. This additional investment will enable us to fix the foundations of defence and support key activities including the UK’s programme of joint exercises with NATO allies, invest in advanced technology such as Directed Energy Weapons and develop and refurbish the defence estate to provide our military families with the homes they deserve.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 53071 on Youth Mobility Scheme: EU Countries, whether he plans to make further bilateral agreements. \p Stephen Doughty: We have existing bilateral agreements with Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Luxembourg, which were negotiated by the previous government. The UK is open to further, fully reciprocal bilateral voting agreements but these would be subject to the detail of future negotiations.
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Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to encourage China to (a) ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and (b) uphold commitments under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. \p Catherine West: As UN member states, both the UK and China have a responsibility to uphold core pillars of the UN, including universal human rights. We continue to encourage China to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to uphold the various international obligations they have freely signed up to.

We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor, Energy Secretary and I all raised human rights recently with our Chinese counterparts. We also continue to work closely with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations. For example, joining a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang and Tibet at the UN General Assembly in October.
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Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department officially recognises the Tibetan people as having a distinct (a) religious, (b) cultural, (c) linguistic and (d) historical identity. \p Catherine West: This Government stands firm on human rights, including China's repression of the people of Tibet, and the erosion of Tibetan language, history and culture.

We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor, Energy Secretary and I all raised human rights recently with our Chinese counterparts. We also continue to work closely with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations. On July 2 the UK convened an event in the Human Rights Council to reaffirm the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief for all, including Tibetan Buddhists.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of PM2.5 exposure on children’s health outcomes. \p Ashley Dalton: Air pollution exposure can be harmful to everyone. Children are more vulnerable to the effects than adults due to their incomplete lung development, high physical activity and breathing rates, and lower height, which increases exposure to traffic pollution.

The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) assessment of children’s exposure to air pollution in outdoor school environments identified that, in 2017, one third of schools in England were in areas with PM2.5, exceeding the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) previous annual guideline of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3).

In 2021, WHO updated its guidelines for PM2.5 from 10 µg/m3 to an annual mean of five µg/m3.

The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants published advice on the susceptibility to air pollution in March 2025. They concluded that, based on the latest evidence, advice for children with asthma should continue to be included in the Daily Air Quality Index.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) provides The Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI) which is available at the following link:

https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/daqi?view=more-info

This informs on the levels of air pollution and provides recommended actions and health advice. The index is numbered 1-10 and divided into four bands, low (1) to very high (10), to provide detail about air pollution levels in a simple way, similar to the sun index or pollen index.

UKHSA contributed to the Royal College of Physician’s report on air pollution which explores the impacts of air pollution over the life course, including through childhood and adolescence. UKHSA has a Cleaner Air Programme which aims to reduce people’s exposure to air pollution, particularly the most vulnerable groups, including children.

The Programme is described in UKHSA’s ‘Chemical Hazards and Poisons Report’ of June 2022, available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chemical-hazards-and-poisons-report-issue-28
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John Glen:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make a decision on the future of (a) UKHSA Porton Down and (b) the single science hub at Harrow. \p Ashley Dalton: On 17 July 2025, my rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced that the Government will proceed with plans to develop new state-of-the-art scientific facilities at Harlow, Essex. The move to Harlow will only affect UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) staff and therefore anyone on the site employed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory will be unaffected.

The Harlow site, with its proximity to the Oxford-Cambridge Investment Corridor, also represents a significant growth opportunity. Moving UKHSA facilities to the area will unlock opportunities for partnerships with industry and academia.

This process will not be immediate. We expect the new site at Harlow to open in stages, beginning in the mid-2030s and concluding by 2038, and therefore given the criticality of the work carried out at both Colindale and Porton Down, these two sites will remain open until that time. UKHSA staff will receive extensive support throughout the next decade on this transition.
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Danny Beales:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a national radiotherapy advisory group. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government recognises radiotherapy as a crucial part of cancer treatment, which is why we have invested £70 million in 28 new radiotherapy machines to ensure the most advanced radiotherapy treatment is available to patients when they need it.

There are no current plans to establish a national radiotherapy advisory group, however, the Government regularly engages with key stakeholders, including the All Party Parliamentary Group on Radiotherapy.
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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 impact of hormone treatments on the mental health of patients with prostate cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: The forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England will seek to improve both the physical and mental health aspects of cancer care. The plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and earlier diagnosis to accessing treatment and ongoing care, and will apply to all cancer types, including prostate cancer.

For this reason, the Department has not made a formal assessment specifically on the potential impact of hormone treatments on the mental health of patients with prostate cancer.
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Sarah Hall:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce regional disparities in the early diagnosis of liver (a) disease and (b) cancer; and if he will provide additional support to (a) the North West and (b) other high-incidence areas. \p Ashley Dalton: Early detection of liver disease and cancer is vital to enable interventions and encourage behavioural change that can potentially lead to recovery. Except for liver transplant services, which are commissioned by NHS England, the commissioning of services for diagnosing, monitoring and treating liver disease is generally the responsibility of integrated care systems (ICS). ICSs are responsible for decisions on commissioning health services and reviewing those services to ensure they best meet the needs of their local population.

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside was one of the first integrated care boards in the country to mandate and support the formation of a Clinical Liver Network to improve liver health outcomes across the system. To improve the diagnosis of previously undiagnosed liver disease in non-traditional healthcare settings there is also a Community Liver Health Checks programme. This programme targets people from the most disadvantaged communities and since its inception in April 2023, this programme has delivered 8,564 scans across more than 50 individual sites across Cheshire and Merseyside.

Reducing inequalities is a priority for the forthcoming National Cancer Plan, which will look at the targeted improvements needed across different cancer types to reduce disparities in cancer survival and develop interventions to tackle these. The National Cancer Plan will include further details on improving outcomes for cancer patients, including those with liver cancer, and will highlight how the Department will support the National Health Service to improve diagnosis rates for people in all parts of England. This includes looking at inequalities related to geographic location.

For the first time ever, cancer survival rates in Cheshire and Merseyside have risen above the all-England average. This is largely due to a combination of targeted work, and a step-change in access to early diagnosis supported by a growing network of community diagnostic centres.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support men with prostate cancer in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to improving outcomes for men with prostate cancer across England, including in the Surrey Heath constituency. The Government understands that more needs to be done to improve outcomes for all people with prostate cancer, including in the Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department will publish a National Cancer Plan which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients across England, including Surrey Heath, speed up diagnosis and treatment, and ensure that patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve the capacity of sexual health services in Sutton Coldfield constituency. \p Ashley Dalton: Local authorities in England, including Birmingham, which is the upper tier local authority for Sutton Coldfield, are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access to most sexual health services (SHSs) funded through the Public Health Grant. In 2025/26, we are increasing funding through the Public Health Grant to £3.858 billion, providing local authorities with an average 5.4% cash increase and a 3% real terms increase, the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending. Individual local authorities are well placed to make funding and commissioning decisions about the SHSs that best meet the needs of their local populations.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) supports local areas to improve SHS delivery through data monitoring and reporting.

The Government is committed to ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030 and is developing a new HIV Action Plan in collaboration with the UKHSA, NHS England, and a broad range of system partners, which we aim to publish this year. The plan will have the key objective of stabilising and supporting system enablers to further support joined up working across the system.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Mohammad Yasin:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered providing self-sampling cervical screening kits to all women. \p Ashley Dalton: Following the announcement to introduce human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling in the National Health Service cervical screening programme for the under-screened population, the NHS has begun planning an in-service evaluation (ISE) of HPV self-sampling in the wider population.

The purpose of the ISE is to ensure that the self-sampling test is as accurate at detecting HPV as a clinician collected specimen, and to evaluate its impact on cervical screening uptake. The findings of the ISE will inform any future UK National Screening Committee recommendation to ministers to offer self-sampling across the whole population.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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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 impact of poverty on access to (a) minimally processed and (b) healthy food (i) for children and young people and (ii) in general. \p Ashley Dalton: Delivering on our commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for the Government, and the Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce is working to publish the Child Poverty Strategy.

Evidence suggests that in the long-term, food insecurity may be associated with poorer diets and poorer health, including higher risk of overweight and obesity. Further information on the evidence is available at the following link:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6426124/

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ UK Food Security Report 2024, which pulls together data from a range of sources including the Department of Work and Pensions’ Family Resources Survey, found that 90% of United Kingdom households were food secure in 2022/23. Further information on the UK Food Security Report 2024 is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/united-kingdom-food-security-report-2024/united-kingdom-food-security-report-2024-theme-4-food-security-at-household-level#healthy-diet

Data from the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey report shows that participants in higher income households, and households in less deprived areas, were closer to meeting some dietary recommendations. However, where diets failed to meet recommendations, this was consistent across the range of income and deprivation. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey-2019-to-2023/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey-2019-to-2023-report

Healthy Start was introduced in 2006. It helps to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households, supporting the Government’s aim to create the healthiest generation of children in our history.

Healthy Start is a demand-led, statutory scheme and aims to support those in greatest need. We recently announced in Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan that we will uplift the value of weekly payments by 10%, boosting the ability to buy healthy food for those families who need it most. From April 2026, pregnant women and children aged over one years old and under four years old will each receive £4.65 per week, up from £4.25, and children under one years old will receive £9.30 per week, up from £8.50.

Through the Food Strategy, the Government is also transforming the food system in the UK to make good, healthy food more accessible and affordable, as part of the Government's Plan for Change.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Danny Beales:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to include policies on replacing older radiotherapy machines in the national cancer plan. \p Ashley Dalton: The National Cancer Plan will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care. Radiotherapy plays a crucial role in the care of many cancer patients, and we remain committed to continuing support for radiotherapy in the future.

In October 2024, as part of a broader investment across the health sector, the Government announced that £70 million would be spent on new radiotherapy machines to improve cancer treatment. We expect that trusts will be fully using new machines by the end of June 2026.

The plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Jas Athwal:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of new research by Trussell which found that the impact of (a) hunger and (b) hardship drives an additional £6.3 billion in public service expenditure on healthcare each year. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government welcomes the Trussell report on the cost of hunger and hardship and recognises that poverty is a wider determinant of health. Under the Health Mission, the Government is committed to supporting people to stay healthier for longer, reducing health inequalities, easing the strain on the National Health Service and driving economic growth.

The Department is also working closely with the Child Poverty Taskforce to develop and deliver an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life. The Government is supporting those in need through the Healthy Start scheme and through the roll out of breakfast clubs. The Government is also expanding Free School Meals which will benefit over half a million more children and lift 100,000 children out of poverty.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-28)

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Wera Hobhouse:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of The University of Manchester’s research entitled Assessing risk of breast cancer in young women to facilitate early diagnosis and improve outcomes, published on 2 June 2025. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department welcomes the University of Manchester’s research on assessing risk of breast cancer in young women. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including breast cancer, as early and as quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes. As the first step to ensure faster diagnosis, the NHS is delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week. To support early detection and diagnosis, the NHS in England carries out approximately two million breast cancer screens each year in hospitals and mobile screening vans, usually in convenient community locations.

NHS England does not currently screen women younger than 50 years old for breast cancer. This is because the risk of women under this age developing breast cancer is low, and because mammograms are less reliable in this age group. Women below 50 years old tend to have denser breast tissue, which reduces ability to get an accurate mammogram.

This is in line with most European countries, most of whom screen women between the ages of 50 and 69 years old. Women with a very high risk of breast cancer, for example, due to family history, may be offered screening earlier and more frequently.

The National Cancer Plan, planned for publication later in 2025, will have patients at its heart and will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for patients of all ages, including those with breast cancer.