theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total amount of deportations to Pakistan is under the UK-Pakistan Prisoner Transfer Agreement. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The removal of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) is an important priority of this Government and we refer all FNOs in receipt of custodial sentences to the Home Office to be considered for deportation.

Ten Pakistani nationals have been repatriated to Pakistan under the bi-lateral Prison Transfer Agreement between August 2010 and October 2024.

We repatriate longer sentenced prisoners via prisoner transfer agreements that the Government already has with over 110 foreign countries. The Government continues to negotiate new, mutually beneficial agreements with a range of others as part of efforts to return offenders to their home countries, to be rehabilitated and serve their sentences there.

Prisoner Transfers are only one of the ways we remove FNOs from the country. Between 5 July 2024 and 4 January 2025 2,580 FNOs were removed (this includes removals from custody and the community post release), this is an increase of 23% compared to the same period last year.
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Mary Kelly Foy:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will take steps to ensure the proposed offence of (a) encouraging or (b) assisting self-harm will not criminalise (i) people or (ii) charities providing support to affected people; whether she plans to issue guidance and training on the proposed offence to (A) police and (B) prosecutors; and if she will consult people with lived experience before drafting legislation. \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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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 5 February 2025, Official Report, column 742, on which topics the Government has offered Privy Council briefings to opposition Privy Councellors in the last 36 months. \p Lucy Powell: This information is not held centrally. It is for Government Ministers to determine when information is shared on Privy Council Terms, on a case by case basis, and in a manner appropriate and proportionate to the circumstances.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the availability of Great British Insulation scheme grants for loft insulation to properties in Council Tax Band E. \p Alex Norris: The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) is not a government-funded grant scheme but an obligation on larger energy suppliers to support eligible households in the least energy-efficient homes by installing insulation measures. Support is offered to households in Council Tax bands A-D in England and A-E in Scotland and Wales, based on property values from 1991 in England and Scotland, and 2003 in Wales. These Council Tax bands capture a similar proportion of homes in each nation and serve as a proxy for income, ensuring the scheme proportionately captures low- to mid-income households. GBIS will be reviewed as part of the Warm Homes Plan and lessons from GBIS will inform future schemes, with decisions communicated to industry and the public.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the turnover of private parking companies who have a profit model based on parking charge notices given. \p Alex Norris: The government recognises the need for high standards in the private parking industry and is working with both consumer groups and the two parking trade associations to raise standards and deliver better protection and support for motorists.

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. We will announce our plans regarding the government code in due course.

I can confirm that we will consult and assess the impacts of any new measures before those are implemented.
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Rachel Blake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of when the Building Safety Regulator will be determining 50% of its judgments within its statutory 12-week target. \p Alex Norris: We are aware of the delays for applicants in Gateway two. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is an independent regulator in its infancy and operational functions are still bedding in. BSR report to MHCLG that Gateway processing times continue to improve and the BSR has recruited additional personnel who are starting to process applications.

We also understand that it currently takes longer than expected to stand up specialist multidisciplinary teams to assess Gateway applications and this is a major contributing factor to delays. To support the BSR with this process the government has provided funding to support additional Fire and Rescue (FRS) staff and funding for new local authority building control inspectors. The recruitment and training of these additional staff is well underway. MHCLG continue to review how multidisciplinary teams are resourced through our internal channels.

However, it is also clear that the sector must take responsibility for the projects they deliver. We understand the BSR have rejected a significant number of Gateway Two applications for failing to meet the building safety regulatory standards. Sub-standard rejected applications contribute to the time taken to process compliant applications and the BSR continue to support industry to ensure they are meeting the functional requirements of the building regulations. Guidance is available to support applicants in understanding their duties.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of regulating private parking charge notices to help ensure they are not confused with fines issued by official bodies. \p Alex Norris: Private parking companies regulate themselves through the two main trade associations which are independent of government. These are the British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC).

The government, however, is aware of the concerns about the poor practice and behaviour of some parking operators and is determined to drive up standards. We are exploring ways to give motorists the best protection and support and continue to engage with both consumer groups and the two parking trade associations. This includes ensuring there are straightforward standards that private parking operators across England, Scotland and Wales must follow on issues such as ensuring parking charge notices are not confused with fines issued by official bodies.

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. We will announce our plans regarding the Government code in due course. In the meantime, however, I can confirm that we will consult and assess the impacts of any new measures before those are implemented.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy that local authority areas which have had elections postponed in May 2025 will have elections in May 2026. \p Jim McMahon: We have postponed local authority elections from May 2025 to May 2026 only, where it is crucial to do so in order to ensure that we can reorganise local government and deliver devolution as quickly as possible.

For those areas which are part of the Devolution Priority Programme, it is the government's intention to deliver a new wave of mayoral elections in May 2026.

For any area in which elections are postponed, we will work with areas to move to elections to new ‘shadow’ unitary councils as soon as possible as is the usual arrangement in the process of local government reorganisation.
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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the classification of (a) non-statutory and (b) statutory services provided by councils, in the context of the closure of (i) public toilets and (ii) other non-statutory services following council bankruptcies. \p Jim McMahon: Good provision of non-statutory services, such as public toilets, is an important issue which local leaders are best placed to make decisions on based on the needs of their communities. The English Devolution White Paper, as well as the recently published Local Government finance settlement, set our plans to give councils more autonomy and financial stability to plan and make these decisions.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to her oral statement of 5 February 2025, Official Report, Column 767, if she will place a copy of the (a) legal invitation to all 21 two-tier areas and (b) associated letters (i) in the House of Commons Library and (ii) on gov.uk. \p Jim McMahon: The letters sent on 5 February to all councils in two-tier areas and neighbouring unitaries inviting proposals for local government reorganisation have been published on gov.uk here: Local government reorganisation: invitation to local authorities in two-tier areas - GOV.UK. The letter set out timelines for areas to submit proposals to the department and in an annex the criteria against which proposals will be assessed.

The Deputy Prime Minister referred in her oral statement on 5 February 2025 to both the letter and the Written Ministerial Statement made on 5 February 2025 (HCWS418) setting out the requirements for these proposals.
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Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to enhance the (a) remit and (b) powers of Town and Parish Councils following the replacement of District and County Councils by unitary authorities; and what the proposed relationship between those two levels of local authorities will be after reorganisation. \p Jim McMahon: The English Devolution White Paper was clear that we know people value the role of governance at the community scale. All levels of local government have a part to play in bringing improved structures to their area through reorganisation. We will therefore want to see stronger community arrangements when reorganisation happens in the way councils engage at a neighbourhood or area level.

Local authorities act independently of central government. Town and parish councils can work with other tiers of local government to determine how they can best serve their communities in their area.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the written statement on English Devolution and Local Government of 5 February 2025, HCWS418, whether there will be (a) mayoral combined authority elections and (b) unitary elections in areas with elections being cancelled in May 2025 in (i) May 2026 and (ii) May 2027. \p Jim McMahon: Legislation to postpone an election to a principal local election will be in place before the deadline for the posting of notice of that election, which is 25 working days before the scheduled date of election.

There are no plans to postpone district council elections in 2026. The government’s starting point is for all elections to go ahead unless there is strong justification.

Where the scheduled May 2025 elections have been postponed, all by-elections will take place as normal. Where a vacancy would have been filled at an election which is postponed, they will, instead, be filled by by-election.

Decisions on delivery of any new unitary structure, and the timetabling for this, is subject to the content of the proposals received from the area concerned. For any area in which elections are postponed, we will work with areas to move to elections to new ‘shadow’ unitary councils as soon as possible. We intend new unitary local government will be established or go-live in 2027 and 2028. Preceding authorities close on the same day as the establishment of new unitary local government for the area.

We intend the Devolution Priority Programme inaugural mayoral elections to be in May 2026. We will work with areas to move to elections to new ‘shadow’ unitary councils as soon as possible as is the usual arrangement in the process of local government reorganisation.
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Mike Amesbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve survival rates for acute myeloid leukaemia. \p Ashley Dalton: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Wokingham on 20 January 2025 to Question 23624.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what purposes the Health Services Safety Investigations Body has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Ashley Dalton: Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

The Health Services Safety Investigations Body has not used AI in the last 12 months. They have set up an internal group to look at both the use of AI internally and to consider how they investigate emerging patient safety risks associated with AI. This work is at an early stage.
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Mark Pritchard:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the time taken for medical examiners to issue death certificates. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is monitoring the impact of the death certification reforms, including the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death Regulations 2024, which came into legal effect on 9 September 2024. Early data indicates the median time taken to register a death appears to have risen by one day, from seven days to eight days. This figure is for all deaths, as it includes those certified by a doctor and those investigated by a coroner. The average time taken to register has increased further over the recent Christmas weeks, but this was expected given increases are observed during this period every year; the average is expected to decrease again as more data becomes available for January and February 2025. The median time taken to register a death varies depending on the type of certification. Deaths certified by a doctor, that comprise approximately 80% of deaths registered each week, have typically had a median time to registration of seven days. We note that the medical examiner system was active on a non-statutory basis before the introduction of the statutory system on 9 September 2024, and this makes direct ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparisons challenging to draw conclusions from.

The core purposes of the death certification reforms are to introduce scrutiny of the cause of death to detect and deter malpractice, to improve reporting, and crucially to put the bereaved at the centre of the process by offering a conversation with the medical examiner about the cause of death. The expectation on doctors and medical examiners is clear, that they should complete certification as quickly and efficiently as possible, and the Government is working with all stakeholders to make sure this is the case.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with (a) people that use catheters, (b) clinicians and (c) manufacturers on the potential impact of the proposals set out in the document entitled, Proposals for updating Part IX of the Drug Tariff: Medical Devices available for prescribing in Primary Care, published in October 2023, on (i) the ability of clinicians to prescribe the most appropriate product for patients, (ii) patient (A) experience and (B) outcomes and (iii) costs to the NHS. \p Ashley Dalton: Officials in the Department have been engaging with people that use catheters, clinicians, and manufacturers on the proposals to update Part IX of the Drug Tariff. We will continue to do so as the work progresses. Following the consultation on proposed updates to Part IX of the Drug Tariff, the Department commissioned a patient survey and focus groups with people that use products available for prescribing, including catheters. This has been hugely important in gathering input from patients about what features they value in medical devices used outside of hospital. A report is currently being compiled on the findings and will be shared with interested parties.

Eight Expert Reference Groups covering the range of medical devices available on Part IX of the Drug Tariff, including urological care, were established to gather input from experts, including clinicians. In addition to the consultation, since August, manufacturers have been invited to comment on the draft iterations of the recategorization work and assessment framework. Now that the recategorization work is nearly finalised, with a view to resharing with stakeholders, the analysis is being updated to assess any impact on costs to the National Health Service. This work does not change the fact that Part IX of the Drug Tariff is a list of available products for prescribing and clinicians can still select the most appropriate product for patients. The aim is to increase comparability of the many thousands of products available for prescribing.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on funding bowel cancer research. \p Ashley Dalton: Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24. Cancer is a major area of NIHR spend, reflecting its high priority.

Over the past five years, the NIHR has committed approximately £52 million across 57 bowel cancer research programmes. These include the FOCUS4 Trials Programme, which recruited over 1,500 patients at centres across the United Kingdom to evaluate how well tumour samples from patients with advanced stage bowel cancer may help select the best treatment for an individual patient, and the Translational Proteomic study, which uses primary tumour samples derived from patients, combined with the application of emerging technology, to understand the mechanisms of drug resistance in cancer cells to help better target anticancer drugs. Additionally, over this period the NIHR supported over 245 commercial and non-commercial clinical research studies into bowel cancer through the NIHR Research Delivery Network, allowing another 30,729 people to participate in potentially life-changing research in the National Health Service.

The NIHR continues to encourage and welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including bowel cancer.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the consultation on the review of Part IX of the Drug Tariff was restricted; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the review does not lead to the removal of access to the most clinically-appropriate products for patients who intermittently self-catheterise. \p Ashley Dalton: The Part IX Drug Tariff Consultation was open between October 2023 and January 2024, and was targeted rather than public, owing to its complex subject matter. The consultation was sent to trade associations and companies with listings on Part IX of the Drug Tariff, National Health Service commissioners, clinical groups, and patient representative groups. There are 825 intermittent catheters listed on Part IX with approximately £176 million spent on them annually. The amendments that were consulted on intend to increase meaningful choice, not to decrease choice for clinicians and patients, intend to increase comparison between products, which can increase awareness of different brands amongst prescribers, and support the adoption of innovation that can improve patient outcomes and quality of life.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish all responses to the consultation entitled Proposals for updating Part IX of the Drug Tariff: Medical Devices available for prescribing in Primary Care, published in October 2023. \p Ashley Dalton: The response to the Part IX Drug Tariff Consultation was issued in August 2024 to the target audience. The response to the consultation summarises the responses and sets out the Government’s response and the next steps. Given the potentially commercially sensitive information in the responses to the consultation, the Department will not publish the individual responses.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the range of NHS-funded vaccinations available in community pharmacies. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government recognises that, alongside a core offer of vaccination in general practices, a wider delivery of vaccination services, including through sexual health services, maternity services, schools-based vaccination teams, health visitors, and community pharmacies, is helpful in driving increased uptake of vaccination, especially in areas of increased deprivation.

Currently, NHS England commissions the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Advanced Service and the COVID-19 Vaccination National Enhanced Service on a national level. Both services are delivered extensively in community pharmacies.

The Government is looking to expand the number of vaccines offered in community pharmacies across the country through local, targeted vaccination programmes. This has already started, with NHS England commissioning community pharmacies in the East of England to help deliver year-round respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programmes for pregnant women, to protect newborns, and adults aged 75 to 79 years old. Eligible patients can book an appointment via the National Booking System or walk into a participating pharmacy to receive the vaccine.

The Department will keep the scope of vaccinations available in community pharmacies under review and consider whether any expansion to the current offer provides both increased health protection benefits and value for money to the taxpayer.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £70 million investment for replacing older radiotherapy machines will be allocated to United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust. \p Ashley Dalton: The funding for new radiotherapy machines will support the recovery of cancer waiting times and help ensure that patients have access to the most up-to-date treatments. Those trusts which have been allocated funding for a new machine from this £70 million central fund will be informed soon.

The £70 million of central funding is not intended to replace every machine aged 10 years and older, and replacement of radiotherapy machines remains the responsibility of local systems.
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Anneliese Midgley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department had allocated to the National Cancer Plan. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department has not made a specific funding allocation for preparing the National Cancer Plan. Further funding for cancer services will be considered as part of the upcoming spending review.

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 aftercare. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including anyone with secondary and metastatic cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years. On 4 February 2025, we launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people 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. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan
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Bob Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle health inequalities in prostate cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: Making improvements across different cancer types, including prostate cancer, is critical to reducing disparities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the National Health Service’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.

To address disparities and find ways to better detect prostate cancer earlier, we have invested £16 million in the United Kingdom-wide TRANSFORM trial, aimed at helping find the best ways of detecting prostate cancer in men, even if they are not displaying any symptoms. This research will aim to address some of the inequalities that exist in prostate cancer diagnosis by targeting black men in trial recruitment, ensuring that one in ten participants are black men.

We have also asked the National Screening Committee to review the evidence for prostate cancer screening, including for high-risk groups like black men.

As part of our wider strategy on early diagnosis, we are directly targeting our activity at areas we know will make a difference. This includes awareness raising campaigns such as the NHS Help Us, Help You campaign, to increase awareness of cancer symptoms and encourage people to get checked.

The NHS England Cancer Programme also commissions clinical cancer audits, which provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients, including those with prostate cancer.

Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new National Cancer Plan, which will include further details on how we will improve access to treatments and outcomes for all tumour types, including prostate cancer. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be. We will provide updates on this in due course.

We need to tackle the inequalities that people from different groups face, which will be part of the National Cancer Plan as we look at addressing all barriers to providing cancer care across prevention, diagnosis, screening and treatment.
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Alex Ballinger:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure equal access to diagnosis of prostate cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: NHS England is taking steps to raise awareness of the symptoms of prostate cancer, where there are opportunities to do so. To address disparities and find ways to better detect prostate cancer, we have invested £16 million in the TRANSFORM trial, aimed at helping to find a way of catching prostate cancer in men, even if they are not displaying any symptoms. This research will ensure that one in ten participants are black men to address identified inequalities.
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Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the Children and Young People’s Cancer Taskforce to report. \p Ashley Dalton: The Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce will be engaging with experts from across the sector, from clinicians, researchers, advocates, and those with lived experience, and its membership will also be reflective of diverse patient needs. The taskforce is committed to considering patient experience alongside clinical care to improve the outcomes and experiences of children and young people with cancer and their families.

Department officials are working with chairs of the taskforce to develop the Terms of Reference ahead of the first meeting, currently planned for March 2025. The taskforce will consider the most appropriate dissemination routes or publication channels for taskforce materials in due course.

We expect the taskforce to run for six months with the possibility of extension. The taskforce will feed into, and report in line with the publication of the National Cancer Plan.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to allocate additional funding towards the Government's myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue delivery plan. \p Ashley Dalton: There are currently no plans to allocate additional funding towards the myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue (ME/CFS) final delivery plan. The ME/CFS final delivery plan continues to be developed.

The plan will focus on improving research, attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this disease. The consultation responses, alongside continued stakeholder engagement via the ME/CFS Task and Finish Group, will inform the development of the final delivery plan for ME/CFS, which we aim to publish by the end of March 2025.
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Matt Bishop:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing a national strategy to place defibrillators in high need areas. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to improving access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED fund, launched in in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the fund.

The Department selected a joint bid from Smarter Society as its independent partners to manage grant applications. Smarter Society has reviewed funding applications against requirements specified by the Department. Although no decision has been made to develop a national strategy to place defibrillators in high need areas, these requirements are to ensure that resources are allocated to where there is the greatest need, for instance remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.
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Dr Scott Arthur:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits developing a national strategy to place defibrillators in socio-economically deprived communities. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to improving access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the fund.

The Department selected a joint bid from Smarter Society as its independent partners to manage grant applications. Smarter Society has reviewed funding applications, against requirements specified by the Department. These requirements were to ensure that resources are allocated where there is the greatest need, for instance remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest, including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.

As part of the Department’s requirements, the defibrillators are suitable for use by untrained persons. The Mindray C1A Defibrillator, a fully automated device suitable for use by untrained persons, are the AEDs provided by Smarter Society in partnership with London Hearts charity.

The Department has continued its partnership with Smarter Society, who managed the grant applications on our behalf, with London Hearts supplying the AEDs. London Hearts is the leading heart defibrillator charity in the United Kingdom, supporting communities with the provision of life saving heart defibrillators and teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillator skills.

NHS England has partnered with St John Ambulance to co-ordinate skills development to significantly increase the use of AEDs by individuals in community settings. This includes a national network of Community Advocates to champion the importance of first aid, training 60,000 people that will help save up to 4,000 lives each year by 2028.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-17)

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Anna Sabine:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the age range will be of people considered by the Children and Young People with Cancer Taskforce. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is committed to improving outcomes and patient experience for children, teenagers, and young adults with cancer, from birth to 24 years of age. That is why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, which will identify tangible ways to drive improvements for cancer patients across this age range. The taskforce’s membership, which is currently being finalised, will reflect the diversity of needs across these patient groups.

We recognise that cancer in teenagers and young people is different to cancer in adults and children, and so age-appropriate care is necessary, particularly regarding treatment, diagnosis, and wider support, as per the NHS England service specifications. Department officials are working with chairs of the taskforce to develop the Terms of Reference ahead of the first meeting, currently planned for March. The taskforce will consider the most appropriate dissemination routes or publication channels for taskforce materials in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-17)

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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of hospital beds for teenagers and young adults undergoing cancer treatment. \p Ashley Dalton: Cancer treatment for teenagers and young adults is complex and intensive, with many patients requiring a high level of support. As a result, and as set out in NHS England's service specifications, hospitals providing specialist cancer services for teenagers and young adults must ensure that there are sufficient dedicated facilities for teenagers and young adults with cancer, including for inpatient and day care.

The Department and NHS England are taking action to increase capacity for all elective and cancer services, including those for teenagers and young adults.

In 2025/26, the Department will invest an extra £22.6 billion in day-to-day spending compared to 2023/24. The investment will support the National Health Service to deliver the elective target and to deliver capacity for 30,000 more procedures and over £1.25 million diagnostics tests as they come online, alongside additional beds to help bring waiting lists down, reduce waiting times, and shift more care into the community.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-17)

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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £70 million investment for replacing older radiotherapy machines will go to (a) the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB and (b) the Berkshire West sub-ICB. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department does not hold detailed information about the age of radiotherapy machines, as local systems are responsible for radiotherapy treatment services.

The new radiotherapy machines will support the recovery of cancer waiting times and help ensure that patients have access to the most up-to-date treatments. The £70 million of central funding is not intended to replace every machine aged 10 years and older, and the spending on machines remains the responsibility of local systems. Those trusts which have been allocated funding for a new machine from this £70 million central fund will be informed soon.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-17)

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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department provides to the Cleft Registry and Audit Network. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to giving every child the best start in life and raising the healthiest generation of children ever.  NHS England commissions services for children, young people and adults with a cleft lip and/or palate.

The patient pathway can start from pre-birth and continues into adulthood. Cleft services provide care through multi-disciplinary teams including orthodontists, speech and language therapists and clinical psychologists. These services are available to children and young people with a cleft lip and/or palate until they are at least 20 years old and to adults at any age. The service specifications outline the stages at which psychological support is provided and includes the requirement that all patients with a cleft lip and/or palate are regularly assessed and offered psychological support if needed. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d07-cleft-lip.pdf

All cleft lip and/or palate services are required to submit data to the Cleft Registry and Audit Network, which is hosted and run by the Royal College of Surgeons and funded by NHS England.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-17)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to issue guidance to industry on steps to reduce (a) sugar and (b) salt in baby and toddler foods. \p Ashley Dalton: A 2019 evidence review showed that babies and young children are exceeding their energy intake requirement and are eating too much sugar and salt. Some commercial baby foods, particularly finger foods, had added sugar or salt, or contained ingredients that are high in sugar or salt.

More recently, the independent Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) highlighted in their report, Feeding Young Children aged one to five years, published in 2023, that free sugar intakes are above recommendations for children at all ages where recommendations have been set, and that commercial baby food and drinks contributed to approximately 20% of free sugar intake in children aged between 12 and 18 months old. The SACN also recommended that in diets of children aged between one and five years old, foods, including snacks that are high in salt, free sugars, saturated fat, or are energy dense, should be limited and that commercially manufactured foods and drinks marketed specifically for infants and young children are not needed to meet nutrition requirements.

We face a childhood obesity crisis, and the Government is committed to raising the healthiest next generation. We will provide an update on publication of voluntary industry guidelines to limit the levels of salt and sugar in commercially available baby food and drink in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-17)

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Anna Sabine:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the proportion of mothers who (a) breastfeed, (b) use formula and (c) use both for infants in the first six weeks of life. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department collects, holds, and publishes numbers and rates of babies fully breastfed, partially breastfed, and not at all breastfed, at six to eight weeks of age. It can be assumed that babies partially breastfed and not at all breastfed are receiving formula milk for at least part of their diet. The data is provided to the Department by local authorities.

The Department publishes the data quarterly and annually, for England, by region, and by upper tier local authority. The latest annual data is for the financial year 2023/24, and the latest quarterly data is for the second quarter of the 2024/25 financial year.

In the financial year 2023/24, 52.7% of babies were breastfed or partially breastfed in England. This proportion has been improving since the financial year 2020/21 when it was 47.6%.

In addition, the Department publishes data on the numbers and rates of babies receiving breastmilk as their first feed. This is published annually for England, by region, and by upper tier local authority. This data is collected by NHS England in the Maternity Services Data Set.

The latest data is for the financial year 2023/24 when 71.9% of babies received breastmilk as their first feed. The proportion of babies whose first feed was breast milk has remained at approximately 72% each year between 2019 and 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-17)

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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has received representations from health professionals have they received on shrinking the default size of the pint glass in licensed premises. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government has no plans to restrict the size of a pint of beer served in pubs. Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms, including reviewing the latest evidence.

In October 2024, the Department received correspondence from a Cambridge University research team sharing the findings of a research study looking at the impact of pint sizes on alcohol consumption. As part of our commitment to evidenced based policy making, we will consider the findings in the round, alongside other similar studies.