Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 23 March (HL15674), on the basis of what data they conclude "the vast majority of births in England are safe" when the Care Quality Commission have previously identified two-thirds of England’s maternity units as substandard.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data from the Office of National Statistics, Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK, and Imperial College London show that death and serious harm in maternity care are relatively rare.

Data from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit’s national survey of maternal health and wellbeing shows that 84% of women reported satisfaction with their care during pregnancy, labour, and childbirth.

However, we are not complacent and know we must continue to drive improvement. Baroness Amos’ independent investigation into maternity and neonatal care will help us understand the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies, and families experience unacceptable care. Her final report, including one coherent single set of national recommendations, will be published in June. We have also launched the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, which will address the investigation’s final recommendations, tackling the recurrent systemic issues identified in the interim report, and hold the system to account for improving outcomes and experiences for women, babies and families, and staff experiences.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what new actions, not already in place prior to the establishment of the Maternity and Neonatal Investigation led by Baroness Amos, are being taken to reduce maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal mortality.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has implemented several initiatives since June 2025 aimed at reducing maternal deaths, stillbirths, and neonatal mortality. In December 2025, we introduced a new early warning system to monitor the rates of term stillbirth, neonatal death, and brain injury. It will immediately flag unusually high rates to prompt a rapid review of any safety concerns.

In January 2026, we rolled out the Maternal Care Bundle which provides guidance to tackle the leading causes of maternal death including thrombosis, mental health, epilepsy, and haemorrhage. We have also introduced the Maternity and Neonatal Improvement Support Team as a new national improvement offer providing intensive dedicated support to struggling trusts, to replace the Maternity Safety Support Programme which ended on 31 December 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in each of the last five years, how many patients waited in A&E for more than (1) 24 hours, (2) 48 hours, (3) 72 hours and (4) 96 hours from decision to admit to admission; and which month had the largest number of patients waiting in A&E more than 12 hours from decision to admit to admission.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The information requested regarding how many patients waited in accident and emergency for more than 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and 96 hours from decision to admit to admission is not available.

The number of patients waiting over 12 hours from the decision to admit is published as part of the monthly national timeseries. The following table shows the month in each of the last five financial years with the highest number of 12 hour waits from decision to admit to admission:

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many patients waiting more than four hours in A&E from decision to admit to admission subsequently self-discharged before admission, in each of the last five years.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Information on the number of patients who waited more than four hours from a decision to admit to admission and subsequently self-discharged before admission is not held centrally.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the sanctions against the Russian regime to prevent investment in non-sanctioned companies indebted to sanctioned Russian banks.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

Together with our international partners, we have already imposed on Russia the largest and most severe package of sanctions ever imposed on a major economy, but we continue to keep our sanctions regimes, measures and effectiveness under constant review and adapt them to respond to evolving risks.

UK financial sanctions prohibit making funds or economic resources available, directly or indirectly, to designated persons, including sanctioned Russian banks, and prohibit circumvention of these measures. All UK entities are required to comply, supported by robust enforcement across government, but it is our long-standing policy not to comment on individual companies or investments.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to ensure any UK-based investments to Eurasian Resources Group do not directly or indirectly benefit any sanctioned Russian entities.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

Together with our international partners, we have already imposed on Russia the largest and most severe package of sanctions ever imposed on a major economy, but we continue to keep our sanctions regimes, measures and effectiveness under constant review and adapt them to respond to evolving risks.

UK financial sanctions prohibit making funds or economic resources available, directly or indirectly, to designated persons, including sanctioned Russian banks, and prohibit circumvention of these measures. All UK entities are required to comply, supported by robust enforcement across government, but it is our long-standing policy not to comment on individual companies or investments.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of health inequalities on the survival time of patients with glioblastoma.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

National survival data for malignant brain cancers is collected and monitored. The latest available data for England shows one-year net survival for malignant brain cancer was 44%, and five-year net survival was 16.4%.

The Department recognises that outcomes for people with brain tumours, including glioblastoma, remain poor, and that people living in more deprived areas are more likely to be diagnosed later and experience poorer cancer outcomes. Tackling health inequalities across the cancer pathway, including inequalities linked to deprivation, ethnicity, and geography, is a core priority of the National Cancer Plan for England.

Through the National Cancer Plan, the Government is committed to improving earlier diagnosis, reducing variation in access and outcomes, and strengthening care for people with rare and less survivable cancers, including glioblastoma. Glioblastoma is recognised as a rare and aggressive cancer with limited treatment options, and we continue to support research and innovation, including in genomics, clinical trials, and precision medicine.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure the wider rollout of immunotherapies to treat cancer in the NHS, other than checkpoint inhibitor drugs and mRNA vaccines.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Cancer Plan, published on 4 February 2026, sets out several actions and commitments on immunotherapies, to be delivered within the next ten years. Working alongside the 10-Year Health Plan, the National Cancer Plan aims to ensure wider access to advanced treatments, to personalise cancer treatment for all who need it.

The plan sets out how access to advanced treatments and personalised medicine, supported by genomic testing, will be sped up and widened. This includes a commitment to expand access to targeted and personalised therapies, such as Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR-T) cell therapy, alongside ongoing work on mRNA vaccines.

The creation and roll out of the next generation of personalised treatments is a significant commitment set out in the Plan. New technologies, including artificial intelligence, molecular radiotherapy, genomics, alongside mRNA vaccines, offer the possibility of greater advances. Ongoing work on genomics will support the development of new treatments that have the best opportunity of curing an individual’s specific cancer and preventing its recurrence. Progress in cancer vaccines through the Vaccine Innovation Pathway and Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) and will deliver up to 10,000 cancer vaccines by 2030.

The CVLP is a platform that is increasing access and speeding up recruitment to clinical trials for personalised cancer vaccines and other immunotherapies for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. In 2025, the scope of the CVLP was expanded beyond personalised cancer vaccines to also include other immunotherapies. NHS England is responsible for the overall delivery of the CVLP and has contracted Southampton Clinical Trials Unit to manage the day-to-day delivery of the platform. The platform is designed to be company and clinical trial agnostic so any company can contact the CVLP to explore how the platform can support their research.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to amending the rate of VAT on accommodation in the context of the proposed overnight visitor levy.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, with a 20 per cent standard rate applying to most goods and services on the price paid. As such, if accommodation providers increase their prices in response to the levy, VAT will apply to the entirety of the higher price.

Local authorities wishing to introduce a visitor levy scheme have several flexibilities they can use, including the rate the levy is set at and discretion over which businesses are in scope.

VAT reliefs come at a cost to the Exchequer and have to represent value for money for taxpayers as a whole. The Government keeps all taxes under review and any decisions on tax policy are taken at the Autumn Budget.

The Government recognises the significant contribution made by hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK and has introduced new permanently lower business rates multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefit over 750,000 properties.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish an independent economic impact assessment before bringing forward legislation on an overnight visitor levy.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The precise design and scope of the overnight visitor levy power are still under development, and its impacts will largely be determined by local decisions. The government will respond to the consultation shortly. Evidence from international and domestic schemes suggests that modest rates have minimal impact on visitor numbers.

Mayors and local leaders will decide whether to introduce a levy. As part of that process, they will be required to consult and consider the impacts on businesses and others.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the proposed overnight visitor levy on rural and coastal communities.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The precise design and scope of the overnight visitor levy power are still under development, and its impacts will largely be determined by local decisions. The government will respond to the consultation shortly. Evidence from international and domestic schemes suggests that modest rates have minimal impact on visitor numbers.

Mayors and local leaders will decide whether to introduce a levy. As part of that process, they will be required to consult and consider the impacts on businesses and others.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the proposed overnight visitor levy on the self-catering sector.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The precise design and scope of the overnight visitor levy power are still under development, and its impacts will largely be determined by local decisions. The government will respond to the consultation shortly. Evidence from international and domestic schemes suggests that modest rates have minimal impact on visitor numbers.

Mayors and local leaders will decide whether to introduce a levy. As part of that process, they will be required to consult and consider the impacts on businesses and others.

Found: Chittlehampton Lord Bradley (Chair) Baroness Coffy Baroness Hollins Lord Mohammed of Tinsley Lord Mott

Found: Child Health Lord Mohammed of Tinsley Son is a Paramedic with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service Lord Mott

Found: Chair) Baroness Coffey Lord Faulkner of Worcester Baroness Hollins Lord Mohammed of Tinsley Lord Mott

Found: Bradley Baroness Coffey Lord Faulkner of Worcester Baroness Hollins Lord Mohammed of Tinsley Lord Mott

Found: Ambulance services and A&E capacity Wednesday 29 April 2026 11 am Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Mott

Found: Lord Mott No relevant interests to declare.

Found: Chair); Baroness Coffey; Lord Faulkner of Worcester; Baroness Hollins; Lord Mohammed of Tinsley; Lord Mott

Falling pupil numbers drive budget pressures for schools, most of whose funding is provided on a per-pupil basis, as facilities and senior staffing costs are relatively static. In 2023/24, 14.7% of local authority-run schools were in debt, up from 7.9% six years earlier. The IfG estimates that empty school places account for almost two-fifths of that rise.