Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Coroner Deborah Archer's report entitled Maeve Boothby O’Neill: Prevention of Future Deaths Report, reference 2024-0530, dated 7 October 2024, what steps he has taken to ensure that the (a) care for patients and (b) training available for (i) GPs, (ii) hospital doctors and (ii) other health workers on treating patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome is adequate.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

We are committed to improving care and support for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). We recognise how devastating the symptoms can be, and the significant impact they can have on patients and their families.

The Department has reconvened the ME/CFS Task and Finish Group, including senior Department and cross-Government officials, ME/CFS specialists and representatives from NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the devolved administrations, and ME/CFS charities and organisations. With stakeholder engagement via the ME/CFS Task and Finish Group, we are developing the final delivery plan for ME/CFS, which we aim to publish by the end of March. The plan will focus on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease.

The Department is also working with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes. Sessions one and two of the e-learning programme are now available. The third session will become available later in 2025.

The Medical Schools Council will promote the NHS England e-learning programme on ME/CFS to all United Kingdom medical schools, and encourage those medical schools to provide undergraduates with direct patient experience of ME/CFS. The General Medical Council (GMC) is the regulator of medical schools, and it is important that education is reenforced at different stages of medical training. Royal colleges play an important role in this. The GMC has included ME/CFS in the content map for the new national exam, so all medical schools will need to teach it as a subject.

NHS England is currently undertaking a stocktake, commissioned in September 2024 and due at the end of January 2025, that will provide a more accurate, in-depth overview of the position of post-COVID-19 services across England. The scope of this commission has been extended to include ME/CFS services.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to review the rates paid by employers of (a) Statutory Maternity Pay, (b) Statutory Paternity Pay and (c) Statutory Shared Parental Pay for parents of (i) twins and (ii) higher order multiple births.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We want new mothers to be able to take time away from work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth, in the interests of their own and their baby’s health and wellbeing. Maternity pay is paid for each pregnancy, not in respect of each child. For paternity pay, it is also paid at the statutory rate, even if you have more than one child, for example twins.

Parental pay is reviewed annually at the discretion of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. From April 2025, the rate will increase by September 2024's CPI figure of 1.7%, subject to parliamentary approval, from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.

Parental pay is only one element of the support available for parents. Depending on individual circumstances, additional financial support, for example, Universal Credit, Child Benefit and the Sure Start Maternity Grant (a lump sum payment of £500) may also be available.

The Sure Start Maternity Grant is a grant of £500 to provide help with the costs associated with the expenses of a baby (or babies in the event of a multiple birth) expected, born, adopted, or the subject of a parental or residence order or other similar arrangements if there are no other children under the age of 16 in the claimant’s family. You might be entitled to more than one payment in the event of a multiple birth.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the universal provision of Fracture Liaison Services by 2030.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

The Government and NHS England support the clinical case for services which help to prevent fragility fractures and support the patients who sustain them. According to the Fracture Liaison Service Database 2022, at least 60 trusts in England had access to a Fracture Liaison Service. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is committed to rolling out fracture liaison services across every part of the country by 2030.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of exempting the transfer of property between co-habiting siblings from inheritance tax.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 3433.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to take steps to support the used electric vehicle market.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government is fully committed to the transition to electric vehicles and a strong second-hand market for EVs plays an important role in this.

The Company Car Tax regime helps support the used electric vehicle markets, where electric company cars are sold after the end of their lease. The majority of cars are bought in the UK’s second hand markets. At Autumn Budget the Government announced new Company Car Tax rates for 2028-29 and 2029-30 which will maintain very generous incentives to support electric vehicle take-up, and therefore the entry of electric vehicles into the second-hand market.

More widely, the UK has a range of measures to support people to transition to zero emission vehicles. At Autumn Budget we announced £2.3bn of funding for the automotive sector up to 2030 to support the transition. We also announced support including investment in the plug-in grant for vans, favourable taxation rates, and funding for charging infrastructure across all of England. The UK’s charging network continues to grow at pace – there are now over 73,000 public chargepoints - a year on year increase of over 37%.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make a comparative assessment of levels of access to Enhertu for cancer patients in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Scotland.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment has been made, as health is a devolved matter and decisions on the availability of medicines in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are a matter for their own administrations.

Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are made on the basis of recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), following an evaluation of a treatment’s costs and benefits. These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is important that they are made independently and on the basis of the available evidence.

NICE published guidance in July 2024 on the use of Enhertu for the treatment of HER-2 low metastatic and unresectable breast cancer and was unfortunately unable to recommend it for routine NHS funding. I understand that NICE and NHS England have sought to apply as much flexibility as they can in their considerations of Enhertu for HER2-low breast cancer, and have made it clear to the companies that their pricing of the drug remains the only obstacle to access.

Ministers met with the manufacturers of Enhertu, AstraZeneca, and Daiichi Sankyo in November 2024, to encourage them to re-engage in commercial discussions with NHS England. Despite NICE and NHS England offering unprecedented flexibilities, the companies were unable to offer Enhertu at a cost-effective price. NICE’s guidance, published in July 2024, will therefore remain unchanged. Although the deadline for a rapid review has now passed, NICE has reassured me that the door remains open for the companies to enter into a new NICE appraisal if they are willing to offer Enhertu at a cost-effective price.

Regional Inequalities in energy pricing

Changes to Overseas Development Assistance

West Bank

Fuel Poverty Awareness Day

Social care day of action

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medication shortages

Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide charity

Supporting British farmers

Citizenship for refugees

Royal Mail's universal service obligation

Heathrow airport third runway expansion

Royal Horticultural Society and A3/M25 roadworks

NHS targets

US proposals for Gaza

Wassailing in Somerset

World Cancer Day and Leukaemia UK’s Take Action, Save Lives report

Marking World Cancer Day 2025

Electric vehicle charging costs

National Apprenticeships Week 2025

Police funding settlement in rural areas

Hospital maintenance

Maternity care in the UK

Found: 4. 5 REPORT STAGE Thursday 13 February 2025 _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett

Found: _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett Jess Brown-Fuller .

Found: _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett Jess Brown-Fuller .

Found: REPORT STAGE Thursday 6 February 2025 4 _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett