Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they are giving, as part of the 10 Year Health Plan for England, to whether wider use of longer-duration, non-invasive ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring could (1) help reduce waits for arrhythmia diagnosis, and (2) support earlier detection of atrial fibrillation.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan recognises that there is more that can be done to improve timely diagnosis closer to the patient’s home. The plan’s commitment to the three big shifts, and the further development of facilities such as community diagnostic centres, are central to delivering the Government’s commitment to achieve a 25% reduction in premature mortality due to cardiovascular disease and stroke across England, including people with arrythmias. For further information, a copy of our plan Reforming elective care for patients is attached.
The use of novel digital health and technology, such as non-invasive ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring in the community, will facilitate the earlier diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as cardiac arrythmias and atrial fibrillation.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to update reimbursement and tariff arrangements for ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring, including introducing distinct tariffs for short-term Holter tests and extended-duration non-invasive monitoring, to support appropriate uptake of newer technologies in line with the 10 Year Health Plan for England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Electrocardiogram monitoring or stress testing, including 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiography and extended electrocardiographic recording, are priced as part of Healthcare Resource Group (HRG) EY51Z (Electrocardiogram Monitoring or Stress Testing).
The 2026/27 Payment Scheme, which sets national prices for most HRGs, is currently under consultation. The consultation closes on 16 December, and feedback will be considered on the proposed prices before the final payment scheme is issued.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency in England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Orphanet estimates of the prevalence if alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency within Western Europe and the United States of America is between one in 1,600 and one in 5,000. No England specific estimates are available.
There have been no discussions specific to alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The administrations of all four nations continue to work collaboratively to improve the lives of people living with genetic and rare conditions under the UK Rare Diseases Framework. The framework has recently been extended until January 2027.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the devolved nations regarding treatments and care for children diagnosed with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Orphanet estimates of the prevalence if alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency within Western Europe and the United States of America is between one in 1,600 and one in 5,000. No England specific estimates are available.
There have been no discussions specific to alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The administrations of all four nations continue to work collaboratively to improve the lives of people living with genetic and rare conditions under the UK Rare Diseases Framework. The framework has recently been extended until January 2027.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill has not yet been published; and when they plan to publish it.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Due to the current volume of legislation before Parliament, the draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill will not be published for pre-legislative scrutiny in this session. Both houses of Parliament were informed of this in July 2025. The Government’s plans for legislation in subsequent sessions will be set out in the usual way through the King’s Speech.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 15 September (HL10370), what assessment they made following engagement with logistics businesses of the current system that is used to notify drivers of physical checks of their vehicle under the Border Target Operating Model without specifying which consignment is affected.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra continues to have regular engagement with border stakeholders including the logistics sector, to discuss operational aspects of the Border Target Operating Model implementation. Defra continues to use this engagement with stakeholders for review and improvement purposes
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the press release by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 4 February, Record investment to protect thousands of UK homes and businesses, how the pledge that homes will be better protected from flooding is being measured.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is investing at least £10.5 billion until 2036 – the largest flood programme in history – a record investment that is projected to benefit nearly 900,000 properties.
We are on track to protect more than 66,000 properties by March 2026 as announced on 4 February (see attached): 52,000 properties better protected through building new defences and an additional 14,500 properties better protected by reprioritising £108 million into maintenance. The metric used is properties better protected, which identifies the total number of properties with a reduced probability of flooding or coastal erosion.
We have developed new outcome and output metrics to drive the best FCERM outcomes and explain the benefits of the FCERM investment to different audiences. These metrics will be used for the new programme starting in April 2026. The outcome metrics are economic benefits and risk to properties. The output metrics are properties benefitting from different levels of risk reduction, and the condition of FCERM assets.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the the3Million report The Digital Status Crisis, published on 10 November; and whether they plan to increase resources to fix the failures of the current eVisa system.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We consistently monitor the transition to eVisas, and encourage people to report any issues so they can be addressed. We listen to feedback from visa holders, stakeholders and MPs and address concerns, such as introducing greater flexibility for carriers to accept BRPs that expired on 31 December 2024 until 1 June 2025, to smooth the transition for those travelling internationally without compromising on border security.
We have considered the3Million report ‘The Digital Status Crisis’. We welcome feedback, but do not recognise the picture that the3Million report presents regarding the eVisa transition or the figures they present. In total, we have issued over 10 million digital IDs in the form of eVisas. Over 4.5m online (UKVI) accounts were created between March 2024 and July 2025, enabling people to access their eVisa.
We recognise that some people will be anxious about switching to and navigating a digital system, or may encounter an issue. We are committed to ensuring that accessing and using eVisas is as straightforward as possible for all status holders. We are providing clear guidance and direct support for vulnerable, and less digitally confident people to help them.
The Home Office has a robust support model in place that strives to ensure that all people, including the most vulnerable, are properly supported to access their eVisa and use the View and Prove service. People who need support can contact the UKVI Resolution Centre, which provides support via email and webchat to those creating their UKVI account, and telephone support to those using the online immigration status services. This includes supporting users through the online journey by:
o helping them to access or recover their account
o helping them to update their personal details
o sharing status on behalf of users if they are unable to do so themselves
Employers and landlords in England can use the Employer Checking Service (ECS) and Landlord Checking Service (LCS) to check the status of people who cannot currently provide digital status evidence.
Status holders can also get help to access their eVisa from Grant Funded Organisations or Local Authorities, or through the Assisted Digital Service if they are digitally excluded.
We have increased the number of support services available to vulnerable people and have delivered £4m of grant funding to 72 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK.
An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was completed on the first phase of the roll out of eVisas to EEA nationals on 9 November 2020, which built on the Policy Equality Statement (PES) for the EUSS which was produced in 2017 and published on the gov.uk website on 18 November 2020:
A separate EIA considering equalities issues in relation to the use of digital only right to work and rent checks was published on gov.uk in June 2022:
We are also in the process of reviewing our eVisas EIA, setting out further analysis of the equalities issues to reflect the current stage in the roll out of eVisas, and we will continue to keep the issue under review.
The Department publishes a range of data on its digital status programme and will be, in due course, publishing management information on the volumes of eVisa error corrections webforms received.
All our digital status online services are designed to be compliant with relevant accessibility legislation. The design and development of the View and Prove service was completed and tested in line with accessibility standards within WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), and the accessibility statement is linked on the service. It is currently compliant in 53 of 57 categories, and work is ongoing to meet the remaining criteria early in 2026, whereupon the Accessibility Statement will also be refreshed. View and Prove itself is not assessed against the UK Digital Identity & Attributes Trust Framework, but the underlying services follow the principles of the framework.
The accessibility statements for the employer and landlord checking services are available here:
Accessibility statement for Employer’s Checking Service – Employer checking service – GOV.UK
The View and Prove service is part of the wider delivery of the Government’s eVisa strategy within the Future Borders and Immigration System Programme. It is one of many Digital Status Services, and the Programme is still delivering significant new functionality in support of all these services, which is why it is currently in a Beta phase. We aim to move the View and Prove service from Beta into Live status once these enhancements have been delivered in mid/late 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans to conduct an independent review of the eVisa system; and whether they will increase transparency on the volume and range of errors of the eVisa system reported to the Home Office.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We consistently monitor the transition to eVisas, and encourage people to report any issues so they can be addressed. We listen to feedback from visa holders, stakeholders and MPs and address concerns, such as introducing greater flexibility for carriers to accept BRPs that expired on 31 December 2024 until 1 June 2025, to smooth the transition for those travelling internationally without compromising on border security.
We have considered the3Million report ‘The Digital Status Crisis’. We welcome feedback, but do not recognise the picture that the3Million report presents regarding the eVisa transition or the figures they present. In total, we have issued over 10 million digital IDs in the form of eVisas. Over 4.5m online (UKVI) accounts were created between March 2024 and July 2025, enabling people to access their eVisa.
We recognise that some people will be anxious about switching to and navigating a digital system, or may encounter an issue. We are committed to ensuring that accessing and using eVisas is as straightforward as possible for all status holders. We are providing clear guidance and direct support for vulnerable, and less digitally confident people to help them.
The Home Office has a robust support model in place that strives to ensure that all people, including the most vulnerable, are properly supported to access their eVisa and use the View and Prove service. People who need support can contact the UKVI Resolution Centre, which provides support via email and webchat to those creating their UKVI account, and telephone support to those using the online immigration status services. This includes supporting users through the online journey by:
o helping them to access or recover their account
o helping them to update their personal details
o sharing status on behalf of users if they are unable to do so themselves
Employers and landlords in England can use the Employer Checking Service (ECS) and Landlord Checking Service (LCS) to check the status of people who cannot currently provide digital status evidence.
Status holders can also get help to access their eVisa from Grant Funded Organisations or Local Authorities, or through the Assisted Digital Service if they are digitally excluded.
We have increased the number of support services available to vulnerable people and have delivered £4m of grant funding to 72 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK.
An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was completed on the first phase of the roll out of eVisas to EEA nationals on 9 November 2020, which built on the Policy Equality Statement (PES) for the EUSS which was produced in 2017 and published on the gov.uk website on 18 November 2020:
A separate EIA considering equalities issues in relation to the use of digital only right to work and rent checks was published on gov.uk in June 2022:
We are also in the process of reviewing our eVisas EIA, setting out further analysis of the equalities issues to reflect the current stage in the roll out of eVisas, and we will continue to keep the issue under review.
The Department publishes a range of data on its digital status programme and will be, in due course, publishing management information on the volumes of eVisa error corrections webforms received.
All our digital status online services are designed to be compliant with relevant accessibility legislation. The design and development of the View and Prove service was completed and tested in line with accessibility standards within WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), and the accessibility statement is linked on the service. It is currently compliant in 53 of 57 categories, and work is ongoing to meet the remaining criteria early in 2026, whereupon the Accessibility Statement will also be refreshed. View and Prove itself is not assessed against the UK Digital Identity & Attributes Trust Framework, but the underlying services follow the principles of the framework.
The accessibility statements for the employer and landlord checking services are available here:
Accessibility statement for Employer’s Checking Service – Employer checking service – GOV.UK
The View and Prove service is part of the wider delivery of the Government’s eVisa strategy within the Future Borders and Immigration System Programme. It is one of many Digital Status Services, and the Programme is still delivering significant new functionality in support of all these services, which is why it is currently in a Beta phase. We aim to move the View and Prove service from Beta into Live status once these enhancements have been delivered in mid/late 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what accessibility assessments have been conducted of the View and Prove immigration status service; whether they will publish those assessments; and whether those assessments meet the standards of the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We consistently monitor the transition to eVisas, and encourage people to report any issues so they can be addressed. We listen to feedback from visa holders, stakeholders and MPs and address concerns, such as introducing greater flexibility for carriers to accept BRPs that expired on 31 December 2024 until 1 June 2025, to smooth the transition for those travelling internationally without compromising on border security.
We have considered the3Million report ‘The Digital Status Crisis’. We welcome feedback, but do not recognise the picture that the3Million report presents regarding the eVisa transition or the figures they present. In total, we have issued over 10 million digital IDs in the form of eVisas. Over 4.5m online (UKVI) accounts were created between March 2024 and July 2025, enabling people to access their eVisa.
We recognise that some people will be anxious about switching to and navigating a digital system, or may encounter an issue. We are committed to ensuring that accessing and using eVisas is as straightforward as possible for all status holders. We are providing clear guidance and direct support for vulnerable, and less digitally confident people to help them.
The Home Office has a robust support model in place that strives to ensure that all people, including the most vulnerable, are properly supported to access their eVisa and use the View and Prove service. People who need support can contact the UKVI Resolution Centre, which provides support via email and webchat to those creating their UKVI account, and telephone support to those using the online immigration status services. This includes supporting users through the online journey by:
o helping them to access or recover their account
o helping them to update their personal details
o sharing status on behalf of users if they are unable to do so themselves
Employers and landlords in England can use the Employer Checking Service (ECS) and Landlord Checking Service (LCS) to check the status of people who cannot currently provide digital status evidence.
Status holders can also get help to access their eVisa from Grant Funded Organisations or Local Authorities, or through the Assisted Digital Service if they are digitally excluded.
We have increased the number of support services available to vulnerable people and have delivered £4m of grant funding to 72 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK.
An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was completed on the first phase of the roll out of eVisas to EEA nationals on 9 November 2020, which built on the Policy Equality Statement (PES) for the EUSS which was produced in 2017 and published on the gov.uk website on 18 November 2020:
A separate EIA considering equalities issues in relation to the use of digital only right to work and rent checks was published on gov.uk in June 2022:
We are also in the process of reviewing our eVisas EIA, setting out further analysis of the equalities issues to reflect the current stage in the roll out of eVisas, and we will continue to keep the issue under review.
The Department publishes a range of data on its digital status programme and will be, in due course, publishing management information on the volumes of eVisa error corrections webforms received.
All our digital status online services are designed to be compliant with relevant accessibility legislation. The design and development of the View and Prove service was completed and tested in line with accessibility standards within WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), and the accessibility statement is linked on the service. It is currently compliant in 53 of 57 categories, and work is ongoing to meet the remaining criteria early in 2026, whereupon the Accessibility Statement will also be refreshed. View and Prove itself is not assessed against the UK Digital Identity & Attributes Trust Framework, but the underlying services follow the principles of the framework.
The accessibility statements for the employer and landlord checking services are available here:
Accessibility statement for Employer’s Checking Service – Employer checking service – GOV.UK
The View and Prove service is part of the wider delivery of the Government’s eVisa strategy within the Future Borders and Immigration System Programme. It is one of many Digital Status Services, and the Programme is still delivering significant new functionality in support of all these services, which is why it is currently in a Beta phase. We aim to move the View and Prove service from Beta into Live status once these enhancements have been delivered in mid/late 2026.