theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that the UK is competitive with overseas jurisdictions in relation to (a) crypto and (b) digital asset regulation. \p Emma Reynolds: HM Treasury is proceeding with plans to deliver a new financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets as soon as practicable this year. This will support UK growth by giving cryptoasset firms the regulatory certainty needed to invest here, and drive innovation in our financial services sector.

In developing the regime, the Government has sought to strike the right balance between attracting business to the UK while facilitating the UK’s access to global markets.

HM Treasury will publish full impact assessments alongside its final legislation.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much coking coal the Government has imported in 2025. \p James Murray: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an accredited official statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com). From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria. Data is available from 2000 to February 2025, in line with the publication timetable.

Goods moving to and from the UK are identified by commodity codes. To build a table you will need to know the commodity code of the goods imported. These codes are available in the UK Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. The commodity code for coking coal will be found in Chapter 27.

If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact xxx@xxx.xx.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help prevent the debanking of people and organisations by financial institutions due to (a) their lawful political views and (b) domestic Politically Exposed Persons status or affiliation. \p Emma Reynolds: Banking services fulfil a vital role in the lives of millions of people and businesses across the UK, and the government is committed to ensuring high standards of consumer protection and financial inclusion across the financial services sector.

Banks are already prohibited from discriminating against UK consumers based on their lawful political opinions when accessing a payment account. The government has on 28 April published new legislation that strengthens customer protection standards in cases where their account is terminated by their provider. These new rules will require banks to give customers 90 days’ notice before closing accounts and provide a clear explanation. These changes will prevent banks closing accounts without a clear reason, while giving people and businesses the time and information needed to challenge decisions. Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-of-people-and-businesses-protected-against-debanking

FCA guidance is clear that financial institutions should not be applying a blanket approach to the treatment of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs). The government has been working closely with the FCA to follow up on the findings of its review into the treatment of PEPs by financial institutions, and to ensure firms improve their practices where necessary, including to treat domestic PEPs and their relatives and close associates proportionately in line with the level of risk.
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Ian Roome:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure consumers are aware of rights regarding personal financial products. \p Emma Reynolds: The Department of Business and Trade provides funding to Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland to deliver advice to consumers, including on debt and money matters. In addition, the Consumer Protection Partnership delivers an annual scams awareness campaign. Last year’s campaign focused on financial scams: fake debt advice; friend in need scams; pension scams; investment scams; and parking QR Codes.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sets standards for consumer protection for regulated financial services products, and holds to account any firms that don’t meet those standards. The FCA’s Consumer Duty sets high standards of consumer protection across financial services, and includes a principle requiring firms to act to deliver good outcomes for customers. Good outcomes include consumers being given the information they need, at the right time, and presented in a way they can understand.

Additionally, the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) is supported by the Government to provide comprehensive guidance for each stage of consumers’ financial lives. Its MoneyHelper website offers a range of tools to support consumers with money matters, including information on everyday financial products and letter templates to help consumers raise complaints with their providers.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what procurement process was used to appoint D F Press Ltd as the media adviser to the Committee on Standards in Public Life; whether the appointment was subject to open competition; and what the (a) value and (b) duration of the contract is. \p Georgia Gould: The current contract’s duration is from 1st August 2023 to 31st July 2025 with a value of £110,000 excluding VAT. The contract was procured via Single Tender Action.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff in his Department have job titles which include the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race. \p Georgia Gould: There are 6 full time equivalents working in standalone EDI roles. Otherwise, this information is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure Infected Blood Compensation Authority caseworkers and assessors are suitably trained to interpret complex medical records when determining compensation awards. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: Dedicated claim managers are supporting individuals through the claim process and, depending on the data available to the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA), there may be some instances in which more information is asked for to complete a claim. In those instances, IBCA may be able to help source that information to relieve the burden on the person making the claim. I visited the IBCA team led by Sir Robert Francis earlier this year. I saw how determined they are for compensation to be paid out to victims as soon as possible. Additionally, all claims managers employed since October 2024 have received three weeks of trauma-informed training for the role.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been spent on close protection for the Prime Minister at (a) Arsenal, (b) England (i) men and (ii) women and (c) all other professional football matches since 5 July 2024. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: It has been the practice of successive Administrations not to comment on the security arrangements of protected individuals.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) phones, (b) laptops and (c) other electronic devices have been lost by their Department since 5 July 2024. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Device

Laptop

Mobile

Other

Number Lost

39

91

2

These are the devices reported by staff of the Cabinet Office as lost since July 5th 2024. Some of these devices may have been found since their initial reporting.
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Lizzi Collinge:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Infected Blood Compensation Authority plans to begin making compensation payments to affected individuals under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: In December 2024, the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) began making payments to people who are infected and as of 24 April, over £78 million has been paid in compensation. In March Parliament approved Regulations to give the IBCA the power to make payments to people who are affected as a result of the Infected Blood Scandal. The Government expects IBCA to begin making payments to people who are affected before the end of this year.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will establish a supplementary route to claim for autonomy, social impact, and injury awards outside the core route of the infected blood compensation scheme. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The scope of the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme’s supplementary route is in line with the recommendations Sir Robert Francis KC made to the Government in August 2024.

In his report, Sir Robert discussed the merits of expanding the supplementary route to heads of loss beyond care and financial loss. Sir Robert concluded it would likely be disproportionate for applicants and the scheme to do so and the supplementary route should instead focus on recognising the substantive additional care needs and financial loss of applicants.

The Government accepted Sir Robert’s recommendation that, with the exception of autonomy awards to victims of unethical research, supplementary route awards should only be available for care and financial loss.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) religious and (b) cultural holidays are observed by their Department. \p Georgia Gould: As a UK Civil Service department, the Cabinet Office only formally observes the government-set bank holidays.
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Sarah Champion:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 42455, what steps his Department is taking to ensure adherence to (a) decent work and (b) human rights throughout the UK and global supply chains used to deliver public services and goods contracts. \p Georgia Gould: The Cabinet Office has published extensive risk-based policy and guidance for commercial teams to tackle labour rights abuses in UK and global supply chains. A Procurement Policy Note (PPN), which was recently updated in line with the Procurement Act, sets out instructions to departments on how to tackle modern slavery in supply chains at each stage of the commercial life-cycle. The government has also developed risk assessment tools and promotes e-learning for procurement officials.

The Act provides contracting authorities with stronger powers to exclude suppliers from public procurements where there is compelling evidence of modern slavery within their supply chains.

The Social Value Model has recently been updated to align to the missions, and where relevant and proportionate to do so, authorities can reward suppliers who provide good working conditions for staff working on public contracts
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to include lung health in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan. \p Ashley Dalton: The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving respiratory health in all parts of the county.

More tests and scans delivered in the community will allow earlier diagnosis, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their long-term conditions, including respiratory conditions, closer to home. Earlier diagnosis of conditions will help prevent deterioration and improve survival rates. Taking action to reduce the causes of the biggest killers, such as enabling a smoke free generation, can further help prevent lung conditions.
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Sarah Green:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of incorrectly completed HC3 forms have resulted in penalty to the claimant. \p Karin Smyth: The Department has no plans to make an assessment on the adequacy of the application form for the NHS Low Income Scheme (LIS), however the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), the administrator of the NHS LIS, is trialling a new online service available to those who meet certain criteria.

Incorrectly completing the NHS LIS application form does not result in a penalty for the applicant, but may lead to the result of their claim being delayed. Anyone who is entitled to help will be sent a HC2 certificate for full help with health costs or a HC3 certificate for limited help.

In 2024/25, the NHSBSA received a total of 375,625 applications for the LIS, and 121,428 of those applications are either pending for more information/further contact, or have been abandoned by the claimant.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve cross communication between NHS organisations. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to harnessing technology and modernising the health system by shifting from analogue to digital, including through streamlined data sharing to improve communication across National Health Service organisations.

Regulations have been introduced in Parliament to establish the process for preparing and publishing information standards which will be mandatory for public and private health and adult social care providers. Information standards allow for interoperability between systems, and for information to be shared easily between the systems in different organisations, to improve outcomes for patients.

We have also announced the development of a single patient record which will give professionals in different services access to patient information they need to make the best-informed decisions when delivering care and treatment.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the NHS England pilot of reducing the faecal immunochemical test threshold for the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme from 120µg/g to 80µg/g on his policies on the wider roll-out of that threshold. \p Ashley Dalton: NHS England is assessing the potential impact of reducing the faecal immunochemical test (FIT) threshold for the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme from 120µg/g to 80µg/g. This is an ongoing assessment which includes evaluating and learning from early adopter sites, undertaking activity modelling, and reviewing the modelling carried out by the School of Health and Related Research which was commissioned by the UK National Screening Committee. Alongside multi-disciplinary regional planning, this will support the planning for the wider roll-out of the threshold reduction.

Activity modelling shows that the wider roll-out is likely to increase demand on specialist screening practitioners and colonoscopy services by approximately 35%. The expectation is that the reduced threshold will increase polyp detection, thereby preventing bowel cancer and also diagnosing more bowel cancers earlier.

To support the early adopters and plans for reducing the threshold across all bowel cancer screening sites, there is ongoing endoscopy transformation, of symptomatic pathways, which aims to release colonoscopy capacity through a number of routes. These include:
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Prostate Cancer on the Government’s approach to tackling the illness. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government has had no recent discussions with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on prostate cancer.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent meetings (a) he has had and (b) other Ministers in his Department have had on leptospirosis. \p Ashley Dalton: My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and ministers have had no recent meetings on leptospirosis. The UK Health Security Agency undertakes routine surveillance for leptospirosis infections in humans and publishes a quarterly report on the common animal-associated infections. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/common-animal-associated-infections-2024/common-animal-associated-infections-england-second-quarter-2024#leptospirosis
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to improving care pathways for all those with cancer, including pancreatic cancer. This threshold is key to improving outcomes and survival rates, including for people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose due to its unspecific symptoms. The National Health Service is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes symptoms of pancreatic cancer.

NHS England is providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk to identify lesions before they develop into cancer. NHS England is additionally creating pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms and is increasing direct access for general practitioners to diagnostic tests. We have submitted an expression of interest to be a part of the upcoming national case finding pilot, which aims to improve earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancers.
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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for radiotherapy. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is committed to improving cancer care and reducing waiting times for treatment. To ensure the most advanced radiotherapy treatment is available to patients, we are investing £70 million in 28 new radiotherapy machines. The Department is committed to improving waiting times for cancer treatment across England and aims to ensure that no one is waiting longer than they should for lifesaving treatment. As a first step to achieving this, we will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, helping to ensure earlier diagnoses and faster treatment for those who need it most.

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as reducing waiting times for diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent meetings (a) he has had and (b) Ministers in his Department have had on the prevention of tuberculosis. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) met with the previous Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention in February 2025 to discuss tuberculosis (TB).

UKHSA and NHS England’s joint plan, Tuberculosis action plan for England, 2021 to 2026, details actions to achieve a 90% reduction in people with TB by 2035. This is aligned with the World Health Organization’s elimination targets. Work to review and update the National Action Plan, including a call for evidence, is underway.

The action plan is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tuberculosis-tb-action-plan-for-england/tuberculosis-tb-action-plan-for-england-2021-to-2026
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what meetings he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) relevant stakeholders on measles. \p Ashley Dalton: Following a resurgence of measles in late 2023 and 2024, there has been a decline in the number of cases from mid-July 2024, but small, localised outbreaks of measles are still affecting some regions of the United Kingdom. These ongoing outbreaks are largely due to a gradual decline in the uptake of childhood vaccines over the last decade, including the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which offers protection against measles.

As part of ongoing efforts to reduce outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, and improve uptake across childhood immunisation programmes, the Department is working with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England. The UKHSA and NHS England are supporting the National Health Service and local authorities to take steps to promote uptake by providing diverse delivery methods, to make getting vaccinated easier. This includes increasing outreach efforts to under-served groups and raising awareness of the dangers of vaccine preventable diseases, such as measles. Paid for marketing campaigns to support uptake of childhood immunisations, including MMR, have been run over the past year, with evaluation showing positive results.

In addition to this, the Department regularly meets with the UKHSA, national and regional NHS colleagues, and devolved administrations, to discuss efforts to reduce measles case numbers. The Department also stays well informed on measles trends, with the UKHSA continuing to closely monitor cases across the UK.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of tuberculosis cases show evidence of (a) multi drug resistance and (b) rifampicin resistance. \p Ashley Dalton: Detailed analysis on drug resistance is published in the annual Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Microbiology England reports, with the most recent being from 2023. Rifampicin-resistant (RR) and multidrug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) is reported in a single category, in line with World Health Organization’s categorisation. The full report is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tuberculosis-in-england-2024-report/tuberculosis-diagnosis-and-microbiology-england-2023.

Definitive diagnosis of RR or MDR TB requires the TB bacteria to be isolated from culture. 71 people, or 2.4% of the 2,973 individuals with positive cultures, were diagnosed with RR or MDR TB in 2023. An additional 37 individuals were treated for RR or MDR TB in England in 2023 in the absence of a positive culture. Overall, 108 out of 4,855 people, or 2.2%, were treated for RR or MDR TB in 2023.

The UK Health Security Agency routinely undertakes whole genome sequencing of all TB strains through the National Mycobacterial Reference Service, to support treatment decisions based on resistance profiles.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to the meet the World Health Organisation's target to end tuberculosis by 2035. \p Ashley Dalton: In September 2023, the United Kingdom reconfirmed its commitment to the fight against tuberculosis (TB), including to World Health Organization’s (WHO) elimination targets, at the United Nations high-level meeting on TB.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England’s joint Tuberculosis (TB): action plan for England, 2021 to 2026 outlines outcomes and indicators to achieve a 90% reduction in people with TB by 2035, aligned with the WHO’s elimination targets.

The action plan includes measures to address TB prevention, detection, and control, as well as supporting the TB workforce. Measures include actions targeted at improving tracing of contacts of people with TB, treatment completion, and ensuring effective management of drug-resistant TB. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tuberculosis-tb-action-plan-for-england/tuberculosis-tb-action-plan-for-england-2021-to-2026.

A pre-entry screening programme to detect active pulmonary TB has been in place since 2012. All migrants from high TB incidence countries arriving on visas for over six months are required to complete TB testing and, if necessary, treatment, before UK entry.

There is also NHS England’s national Latent Tuberculosis Infection Testing and Treatment programme, for recent migrants from high incidence countries. Detection and treatment of latent infection prevents people from developing active TB.   The UKHSA routinely undertakes whole genome sequencing of all TB strains through the National Mycobacterial Reference Service, to support treatment decisions based on resistance profiles and public health action with high resolution typing.

Work has been initiated, including a call for evidence, to develop a joint UKHSA and NHS England action plan for 2026 to 2031.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential correlation between (a) age, (b) sex, (c) vaccine status, (d) ethnicity and (e) upper tier local authority area and trends in the level of (i) all people, (ii) children and (iii) adults with measles. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors trends in measles epidemiology and publishes a monthly report of laboratory confirmed cases of measles by age, region, and upper-tier local authority, available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-epidemiology-2023

The UKHSA also publishes a quarterly report of laboratory confirmed cases of measles by age, region, vaccination status, and imported vs community acquired cases, available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-mumps-and-rubella-lab-confirmed-cases-in-england-2024

Between 1 January and 10 April 2025, there have been 213 laboratory confirmed measles cases reported in England. The number of laboratory confirmed measles cases by month of symptom onset in 2025 to date are: 89 in January; 67 in February; 54 in March; and three so far in April.

The majority, 128 of 213, or 60%, of these cases were in children aged 10 years old and under, and 34%, or 72 of 213, were in young people and adults aged 15 years old and over. 24%, or 52, of these cases have been in London, 21%, or 44 cases, in the South West, and 17%, or 37 cases, in Yorkshire and Humber. 57 out of the 152 upper-tier local authorities have reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset since January 2025, with the highest numbers reported in Bristol, at 34 of 213, or 16%, Leeds, at 29 of 213, or 14%, and Hertfordshire at 13 of 213, or 6%.

Data on measles cases by ethnicity is monitored but is not routinely published.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the uptake of measles vaccination. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is working alongside its partners to increase vaccine uptake and coverage across all childhood vaccination programmes, including the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) programme.

The National Health Service and general practices (GPs) have been sending reminders to the families of children who are not fully vaccinated, with GPs providing catch-up doses for any missed vaccinations.

NHS England works with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and local health partners and communities to understand the needs of their populations, and to tailor immunisation programmes to meet the needs of under-vaccinated communities.

Regional outbreaks of measles and overall increases in cases since autumn 2023 led to a renewed focus on MMR coverage and targeted catch-up activity, including an NHS campaign which ran from November 2023 until April 2024 and resulted in over 180,000 additional doses given. The UKHSA and NHS England ran a second wave of England-wide childhood immunisation campaigns targeted towards parents and carers of children in autumn 2024. The campaign reminded parents of the risks to their children due to missing out on protection against the serious diseases that are re-emerging in the country, with an urgent call to action to catch up on missed vaccinations.

It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations they are entitled to, for themselves, their families, and wider society. The MMR vaccine is highly effective, safe, and is the best way to prevent measles.
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Layla Moran:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to (a) diabetes technologies, (b) insulin pumps and (c) glucose sensors for (i) all diabetes patients and (ii) diabetes patients from deprived backgrounds. \p Ashley Dalton: In December 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published the technology appraisal guidance, Hybrid closed loop systems for managing blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetes, which recommended hybrid closed loop as an option for managing blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetes in children and young people, and specific groups of adults. Hybrid closed loop combines a continuous glucose monitor, an insulin pump, and a computer program to automatically adjust the insulin delivery for people with type 1 diabetes. NHS England also published a five-year Hybrid Closed Loop Implementation Strategy. The rollout of the strategy commenced in April 2024. Further information on the NICE’s technology appraisal guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/TA943

Reducing inequity in access to continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps across the most deprived quintiles and across different ethnic groups is a key objective in NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 health inequalities strategy. DigiBete, a nationally commissioned digital self-management resource for children and young people aged zero to 25 years old, includes information and videos on the latest technology available, with information provided in ten of the most commonly spoken languages. Further information on DigiBete is available at the following link:

https://www.digibete.org/type-1-technology-resources/

Data from the National Diabetes Audit suggests that the number of people with type 2 diabetes using continuous glucose monitoring is increasing. In 2022/23, 37,000 people were using a continuous glucose monitor, rising to 95,000 people in 2023/24, and 155,000 people in 2024/25. Metrics that are useful for health systems to monitor access to glucose monitoring will be published later this year.
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Layla Moran:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce the risk of young adults developing Type 2 diabetes. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department continues to take steps to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in young adults through the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP). The programme supports individuals aged between 18 and 80 years old to reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes through lifestyle changes, and has proven highly effective. More than 840,000 people have been supported through the NHS DPP, reducing their risk by 37% compared to those who did not attend.

The NHS DPP continues to work in close partnership with Diabetes UK, who raises awareness amongst the public of the symptoms of type 2 diabetes in children, young people, and adults through their website, social media channels, and local campaigns.

We are committed to tackling the obstacles driving obesity. We have already laid secondary legislation to restrict advertisements of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online, announced changes to the planning framework for fast food near schools, and we are taking steps to ensure the Soft Drinks Industry Levy remains effective and fit-for-purpose. We are also committed to banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under 16-year-olds.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

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Daisy Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on implementing the NHS England Neuroscience Transformation Programme. \p Ashley Dalton: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning most services for people with long term conditions, including neurological services. NHS England’s Neuroscience Transformation Programme is continuing to support ICBs to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including providing care closer to home.

A toolkit is being developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model. In addition to setting out an integrated model of care, the toolkit will include components on the following areas: delivering acute neurology services; improving health equity in neurology; improving community neurology services; improving access to specialist therapies for multiple sclerosis; streamlining headache services; and living well with a neurological condition.

The programme has developed an online, interactive adult neurology dashboard to support integrated care systems to understand their local neurology landscape and benchmark against other ICBs in England. It sets out key metrics and visualisations for neurology services locally.

The programme is working with several pathfinder systems across the country to implement this guidance on the ground, which will provide examples of good practice and a model for how to develop neurology transformation projects that can be shared nationally.

The programme has supported the development of a national community of practice for neurology transformation, which includes a monthly webinar programme and resources on the Future NHS platform. The Programme also supported a national Neurology Transformation Meeting, co-produced by NHS England, the Neurology Academy and the Neurological Alliance, which took place in January 2025.

The National Programme of Care for Trauma has revised the Neurosciences Specialised Neurology (Adults) Service Specification, which will set out clear deliverables for specialised centres; provide a clearer model of care incorporating up-to-date guidance and best practice; and set out new quality outcomes focusing on improving patient outcomes and experience.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to increase awareness of bowel cancer symptoms in (a) Slough and (b) the South East. \p Ashley Dalton: NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns run across England and is accessible publicly, including for those living in Slough and the South East. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging ‘body awareness’ to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point. Previous phases of the campaign have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of bowel cancer. It is the responsibility of local National Health Service organisations to consider whether they wish to run additional campaigns tailored to the needs of their local population and aligned to their service provisions.

NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including bowel cancer. This information is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bowel-cancer/symptoms/

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. The government’s goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years, including bowel cancer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

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Mrs Sharon Hodgson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the Family Nurse Partnership to include more than the existing 44 local authorities. \p Ashley Dalton: The Family Nurse Partnership Programme (FNP) is the Department’s current service for the most vulnerable first-time parents, for example, teenagers, care leavers, those known to the care system, or those who would otherwise have extremely poor clinical outcomes, affecting both themselves and their children. The FNP has been shown to improve vulnerable children’s development, school readiness and early educational attainment.

Provision of the FNP is currently a choice for local authorities. The programme is currently available in 45 local authorities. Local authorities have a statutory duty for commissioning public health services for children and young people aged between zero and 19 years old. The Public Health Grant, from which various programmes for children and young people are funded, including FNP, has been uplifted for 2025/26 by 5.4%, a percentage equalling almost £200 million.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing (a) sexual health services and (b) public health back into the NHS. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to preventing ill health, promoting healthier lives and addressing health disparities, including sexual health.

We have therefore committed to developing a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, which will explore commissioning models to meet the changing needs of our changing population. The plan will be focused on delivering the three shifts: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention, and will be published in June 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with his counterparts in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland on equitable access to abiraterone acetate for high-risk, non-metastatic prostate cancer patients. \p Karin Smyth: Decisions on the availability of medicines in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued guidance to Integrated Care Boards on the (a) retention of and (b) commissioning of new (i) community urgent eyecare services, (ii) glaucoma monitoring and (iii) other community-based eyecare services. \p Stephen Kinnock: Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning both primary and secondary eye care services in their areas to meet local needs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of changes in the number of people with palliative care needs over the next 10 years. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are aware that the Office for National Statistics has projected that, by 2040, approximately 800,000 people a year will die in the United Kingdom. Additionally, current trends point to a growing proportion of people dying from chronic disease, particularly cancer and dementia. Taking these considerations together, it has been estimated that the number of people needing palliative and end of life care could increase by 42% by 2040.

We have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered, from hospital to community, from treatment to prevention and from analogue to digital. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-29)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to amend the Care Act 2014 to exempt infected blood compensation scheme payments from (a) residential and (b) domiciliary care charges. \p Ashley Dalton: My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, does not consider that the Care Act 2014 needs to be amended to exempt Infected Blood Compensation Scheme payments because, under the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, local authorities must disregard any payments from an approved blood scheme when carrying out a financial assessment relating to charges for residential or non-residential care. An approved blood scheme is a scheme approved by the Secretary of State, or trust established with funds provided by the Secretary of State, to provide compensation in respect of a person having been infected from contaminated blood or blood products. The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme as set out in the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2024 is an approved blood scheme.