Alex Ballinger

This government has not set out plans to phase out applied general qualifications.

In July, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced the review of qualifications reform. The rapid review is focused on Level 3 qualifications currently scheduled to have funding removed on 31 July 2025.

The department has an extensive programme of engagement underway, to ensure that the views of colleges, schools and teachers are fed into the review of qualifications reform. The department has already held a Ministerial chaired round table with key leaders in the college sector and is undertaking a series of focus groups and interviews with colleges, schools and other organisations to ensure that the views of stakeholders are fully considered. These events include key leaders from across the further education sector, as well as subject teachers and leaders of curriculum in institutions. In addition, departmental officials are using the latest student data and information available to inform the review.

Since the general election, the Department has begun work on a new Road Safety Strategy, the first in over a decade. The Department will share more details in due course.

Since the general election, the Department has begun work on a new Road Safety Strategy, the first in over a decade. The Department will share more details in due course.

We have inherited ongoing global supply problems that continue to impact medicine availability. We know how frustrating and distressing this can be for patients, and we are working closely with industry, the National Health Service, manufacturers, and other partners in the supply chain to resolve issues as quickly as possible, to make sure patients can access the medicines they need.

Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated, and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues, and regulatory issues. There are approximately 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply.

While we can’t always prevent supply issues from occurring, we have a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise and mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing NHS communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, so they can advise and support their patients.

Medicine wastage can be reduced by ensuring that medicines are not overprescribed and those that are prescribed are taken as intended, resulting in the best outcomes for patients.

Overprescribing can be addressed by taking a shared decision-making approach and optimising a person's medicines, ensuring that patients are prescribed the right medicines, at the right time, in the right doses. The National Health Service is driving changes in this area by:

• improving the repeat prescription processes, as this will reduce the oversupply of medicines which contributes to waste;
• implementing the National Medicines Optimisation Opportunities for integrated care boards, with further information available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-medicines-optimisation-opportunities-2023-24/;
• addressing problematic polypharmacy; and
• delivering Structured Medication Reviews, with further information available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/primary-care/pharmacy/smr/.

In addition, the New Medicines Service in Community Pharmacy supports patients with newly prescribed medication for long term conditions in understanding how to take the medication effectively, and improves adherence and health gains.

Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including breast cancer, is a priority for NHS England. We will improve cancer survival rates and hit all National Health Service cancer waiting time targets, so that no patient waits longer than they should.

Screening is also crucial to improving early diagnosis, and current United Kingdom guidelines recommend that women with a moderate or high risk of breast cancer because of their family history should start having screening mammograms every year in their forties. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance on the management of people with a family history of breast cancer was introduced in 2004, and has changed over time. The current version of this guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg164

We currently do not screen those younger than 50 years old for breast cancer due to the lower risk of women under this age developing breast cancer, and the fact that women below 50 years old tend to have denser breast tissue, which reduces the ability of getting an accurate mammogram. It may also increase the risk of overtreatment and distress for women who do not have breast cancer, but would be subject to invasive and painful medical treatments and diagnostic tests.