Lord Kamall

The Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is not currently funding any research into vaccines for gingivitis or periodontitis. MRC invests more broadly in dental and oral health research, including some periodontitis research, to aid its detection and treatment.

Ofcom will set out what technology is required for a service to comply with a Technology Notice under section 121 of the Online Safety Act. That technology must be accredited as meeting minimum standards of accuracy. Ofcom’s consultation on the minimum standards of accuracy closed in March 2025 and the finalised version will be published in due course.

Where a tech solution does not exist in relation to a particular service design, Ofcom will be able to direct companies to use best endeavours to develop or source technology that deals with child sexual exploitation and abuse content.

Digital inclusion is a priority for this Government. It means ensuring that everyone has the access, skills, support and confidence to participate in our modern digital society, whatever their circumstances. Work is ongoing to develop our approach to tackling digital exclusion and coordinating across government departments continues to be a core part of this work. We hope to say more on this soon.

The Reducing Drug Deaths Innovation Challenge funded eleven technologies in its first phase, all of which were completed successfully. Seven projects secured phase 2 funding to advance development of their technologies through testing with relevant populations. The UK Government’s Office for Life Sciences, in collaboration with the Chief Scientist Office in Scotland, is monitoring the progress of these projects and will provide guidance to support commercialisation, spread and UK-wide adoption of the technologies to prevent drug overdose deaths. Future funding and initiatives through the Addiction Healthcare Goals programme are being explored to further encourage innovative research and the development of novel technologies to treat drug and alcohol addictions.

While no such assessment has been made, this Government recognises the importance of exploring innovative approaches to tackle loneliness, whilst protecting people's safety and wellbeing.

Collaboration and partnership are at the heart of the Civil Society Covenant which was launched by the Prime Minister in July at a major civil society summit. To inform the development of the Civil Society Covenant, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport engaged with over 1,200 organisations and worked closely with the Civil Society Advisory Group, including representatives from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) alongside a wide range of other civil society organisations.

At the launch we announced the Joint Civil Society Covenant Council which will be central to the delivery of the Covenant, setting direction and providing strategic oversight for its implementation. It will have cross-sector membership comprising senior leaders from civil society and senior representatives from government departments. We also announced a Local Covenant Partnerships Programme to support collaborative working between civil society organisations, local authorities and public service providers to deliver services that better meet the needs of their communities.

We will continue working in the spirit of partnership as we establish and develop both the Joint Civil Society Covenant Council and the Local Covenant Partnerships Programme.

Collaboration and partnership are at the heart of the Civil Society Covenant which was launched by the Prime Minister in July at a major civil society summit. To inform the development of the Civil Society Covenant, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport engaged with over 1,200 organisations and worked closely with the Civil Society Advisory Group, including representatives from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) alongside a wide range of other civil society organisations.

At the launch we announced the Joint Civil Society Covenant Council which will be central to the delivery of the Covenant, setting direction and providing strategic oversight for its implementation. It will have cross-sector membership comprising senior leaders from civil society and senior representatives from government departments. We also announced a Local Covenant Partnerships Programme to support collaborative working between civil society organisations, local authorities and public service providers to deliver services that better meet the needs of their communities.

We will continue working in the spirit of partnership as we establish and develop both the Joint Civil Society Covenant Council and the Local Covenant Partnerships Programme.

Swimming and water safety are vital life skills that are compulsory elements of the PE National Curriculum at key stages 1 and 2. In addition, the changes made to the department’s statutory relationships, sex and health education guidance will ensure all pupils are taught about the water safety code, supporting them to be safe in different types of water. To support schools, Oak National Academy offers swimming and water safety units as part of its PE curriculum, developed in partnership with Swim England.

In June, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced a new national approach to PE and school sport as part of which we will establish a PE and School Sport Partnership Network, designed to build stronger links between schools, local clubs, and National Governing Bodies. It will identify and remove barriers to participation in PE and school sport, including swimming.

The department is also providing a grant of up to £300,000 to deliver Inclusion 2028, a programme which upskills teachers to deliver high quality, inclusive PE, including swimming and water safety, to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

Skills England, and its predecessor the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), has worked with employers to develop apprenticeships covering a range of occupations in the care services sector. These are designed to enable an individual to acquire full competence in an occupation whilst undertaking paid work and provide a progression route in the sector. These products are available for both public and private sector employers to use, with funding to support the training from the Growth and Skills Levy.

In addition, a Health and Social Care foundation apprenticeship has been developed and will be available for delivery from autumn this year. This is specifically aimed at young people who are not yet ready for work, and will provide the individual with a mix of employability and sectoral skills designed to provide a good grounding for a career in the health or adult social care sector.

To support the awareness of careers in adult social care, the National Careers Service, a free, government funded careers information, advice and guidance service, uses a range of labour market information to support and guide individuals. The Service website gives customers access to a range of digital tools and resources, including ‘Explore Careers’ which includes more than 130 industry areas and more than 800 job profiles including a range of construction and health and social care roles, describing what the roles entail, qualifications needed and entry routes.

The Government is currently negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement to make agrifood trade with our biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and red tape for British producers and retailers, and helping to reduce the pressure on prices and increase choice in the shops.

We are working closely with businesses to assess the implementation impacts of the Agreement.

We have begun negotiations with the EU on an SPS agreement to make agrifood trade with our biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and removing barriers to trade for British producers and retailers. While negotiations with the EU on the SPS agreement are underway, we will not be providing a running commentary of discussions.

The size of the probiotics market in the United Kingdom was £1.07 billion in 2024 (table 1, Euromonitor International*). The UK market value for probiotic products grew by 19% between 2019 and 2024 (in 2024 prices) and 41% by sales volumes. Recent growth in the probiotic market has been attributed to the increasing popularity of probiotic dairy products like Kefir.

Table 1 – UK probiotic product retail sales (GBP million, Euromonitor)

Euromonitor have considered growth in the wider UK diary and dairy alternatives market and forecast that the value of probiotic dairy market will grow by 14% up to 2029, to £1.2 billn. There is no forecast for the overall probiotics market, but as probiotic dairy products make up 99% of the market by volume, this forecast is sufficient for the market overall.

*Although Euromonitor aims to correct inaccuracies of which it is aware, it does not warrant that the Intelligence will be accurate, up-to-date or complete as the accuracy and completeness of the data and other content available in respect of different parts of the Content will vary depending on the availability and quality of sources on which each part is based. Euromonitor accepts no liability in regard to the derived data which has been presented here and furthermore, Euromonitor does not warrant that the Intelligence will be/is fit for any particular purpose(s) for which they are used as Euromonitor does not have any knowledge of, nor control over, those purposes.

Responsibilities for water safety sit with various Government departments, agencies, local authorities, and other public bodies. These include regular safety messaging and guidance to ensure people have the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe, as well as provision of safety/lifesaving equipment at water bodies. Water sports national governing bodies are responsible for providing advice and guidance for how to participate in their sports safely. Inland waterway navigation authorities conduct risk assessments to inform the provision of appropriate lifesaving equipment on their networks. In conjunction with other services, HM Coastguard provides safety advice and guidance about the coastal environment.

The National Water Safety Forum brings together a wide range of national groups, including some 80 local authorities, to create a ‘one-stop shop’ for the prevention of drowning and water safety harm in the UK. The Forum launched the UK Drowning Prevention Strategy 2016-2026 (copy attached), which aims to reduce the number of accidental drownings in the UK by 50% by 2026. The Local Government Association has developed a water safety toolkit (copy attached) for local authorities for use inland and on the coast.

Responsibilities for water safety sit with various Government departments, agencies, local authorities, and other public bodies. These include regular safety messaging and guidance to ensure people have the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe, as well as provision of safety/lifesaving equipment at water bodies. Water sports national governing bodies are responsible for providing advice and guidance for how to participate in their sports safely. Inland waterway navigation authorities conduct risk assessments to inform the provision of appropriate lifesaving equipment on their networks. In conjunction with other services, HM Coastguard provides safety advice and guidance about the coastal environment.

The National Water Safety Forum brings together a wide range of national groups, including some 80 local authorities, to create a ‘one-stop shop’ for the prevention of drowning and water safety harm in the UK. The Local Government Association has developed a water safety toolkit (copy attached) for local authorities for use inland and on the coast.

Through the next phase of Keep Britain Working we will work with businesses of all sizes to design solutions which support the health and wellbeing of employees across the UK. Through employer-led sprints, we are developing a Healthy Working Lifecycle Standard, tailored workplace health support, and stronger evidence on the business benefits of investing in employee wellbeing.

Our Vanguard group includes over 120 employers of varying sizes to ensure the approaches developed reflect the needs and realities of both large employers and SMEs. We are also working closely with regional authorities and leadership to connect the programme to smaller employers across the country.

During the Keep Britain Working review, we heard that employers are already bearing the cost of sickness absence and employees leaving the workforce and are therefore highly incentivised to support the health and wellbeing of their employees. Through the next phase of Keep Britain Working we will grow the evidence for what works and where additional incentives could have the greatest impact, ensuring that support is targeted in ways that encourage employers to take-up effective workplace health measures.

The Government is committed to ensuring joined up health and care services. While the Independent Commission will inform the long-term direction of a national care service, the Government is already progressing reforms to strengthen the join up between services, so people experience more integrated and person-centred care.

We are developing Neighbourhood Health Services, which will allow more integrated working within the National Health Service, as well as between the NHS, local government, and a wide range of public services, including the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector. The National Care Service and the Neighbourhood Health Service will play a critical role in helping people stay independent for longer, minimising the time that they need to spend in hospital or in long-term residential care.

Alongside this, we are improving national data and digital infrastructure, including driving the adoption of digital and social care records so people get the right care quicker, without needing to repeat their care needs or medical history.

The Department has made no assessment of the impact of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on generalised anxiety and panic disorder or on access to treatment for marginalised groups.

NICE keeps its published guidelines under active surveillance and decisions on whether they should be updated in light of new evidence are taken by the NICE prioritisation board in line with its published prioritisation framework. NICE’s prioritisation board will be considering whether the guideline on generalised anxiety and panic disorder should be updated following a letter from the UK Council for Psychotherapy.

Government responsibility for delivering cancer research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.

The Government will implement the Rare Cancers Act to make it easier for clinical trials on rare cancers to take place in England.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including rare cancers. Our approach to funding research is through open and fair competition and peer review to ensure that the highest-quality proposals, most likely to deliver real impact for patients, are funded without imposing financial targets or limits.

Welcoming applications on rare cancers to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with a rare cancer, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.

As set out in our National Cancer Plan, the Government will implement the Rare Cancers Act, including Section 3 of the Act which will involve developing a service to ensure rare cancer patients can be automatically contacted about clinical trials.

The Government is currently scoping the technical requirements for this service and identifying a suitable route for delivery, before a development project is commenced. This will allow data sharing from the National Disease Registration Service to the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Be Part of Research registry tool. A detailed workplan and continued engagement with the Hon. Member Dr Scott Arthur, the bill sponsor in the House of Commons, will safeguard against delays which could impact the project.

Implementing the provisions of the Rare Cancers Act will make it easier for clinical trials on rare cancers to take place in England.

Improving outcomes for rare cancer patients is a priority for the National Cancer Plan. The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England, as the national cancer registry, collects diagnosis, treatment, and outcome data on cancer patients in England. All these cancer sites, such as brain, liver, lung, stomach, pancreatic, and oesophageal, are already included in NDRS’ Get Data Out (GDO) programme. Performance data is not included in GDO but incidence, treatment, survival, and routes to diagnosis statistics are available for the clinically meaningful groups of cancers included.