Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of opening paths on disused railway lines to increase public access to nature.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The management and maintenance of public rights of way (RoW), including keeping them free from obstructions, are the responsibility of local highway authorities. These authorities are best placed to understand local priorities and allocate funding for rights of way activities accordingly.

Local authorities are required to maintain a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP), which sets out how they intend to improve the rights of way network in their area for all users. These plans include assessments of the condition of the network and are typically available on the authority’s website.

Where disused railway lines exist within a local authority’s catchment area, it is for the authority to consider whether these can be integrated into the existing rights of way network. Decisions regarding such integration rest with the local highway authority, not central Government.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to make it easier to create more routes (a) to and (b) through green spaces.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognises the importance of access to nature for health and wellbeing and is committed to making it easier for people to reach and enjoy green spaces.

We are delivering on our manifesto commitments by creating nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England, while also working with partners to develop further policies that improve access.

Key initiatives already underway include the King Charles III England Coast Path, which has over 2,600 miles approved, 1,855 miles already open, and is creating 250,000 hectares of new open access land. Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route has now been designated as a National Trail across northern England. The £33 million Access for All programme is actively improving inclusivity across trails, landscapes, forests, and the wider countryside. Additionally, the repeal of the cut-off date for registering historic rights of way is helping to protect hundreds of miles of paths for future generations.

Together, these actions are helping to create and retain routes to and through green spaces across the country.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of designating group B Streptococcus as a notifiable disease.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) does not recommend adding Group B Streptococcus as a notifiable disease. Existing national surveillance effectively captures Group B Streptococcus infections, monitors trends, and informs antibiotic prescribing policy. The UKHSA has assessed that mandatory notification for Group B Streptococcus would provide no additional public health benefit beyond this.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timeline is for the data collection, evaluation and interim decision for the in-service evaluation of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

The UK NSC recommended an in-service evaluation (ISE) of newborn blood spot screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in National Health Services in 2023. Since then, the SMA Newborn Screening ISE Partnership Board was set up to plan and develop work to shape the ISE, and progress is being made. This includes planning the duration of the ISE and planning for newborn laboratories to screen blood spot samples for SMA. The laboratories in England that will form part of the ISE are under consideration by the SMA partnership board led by NHS England. The researchers and the National Institute for Health and Research (NIHR) will be responsible for determining the number of babies and services that will be required to answer the research questions.

Earlier in the year, the NIHR published their Health Technology Assessment research brief to appoint researchers for this work. Applications closed at the end of September 2025, and final funding decisions are expected in spring 2026. A decision on the shape and roll out of the ISE will be made after the research call process has concluded.

A recommendation by the UK NSC on newborn screening for SMA is expected following the conclusion of an ISE, which is needed to answer several outstanding questions related to the implementation of a screening programme for SMA.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how newborn screening laboratories can join the in-service evaluation of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

The UK NSC recommended an in-service evaluation (ISE) of newborn blood spot screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in National Health Services in 2023. Since then, the SMA Newborn Screening ISE Partnership Board was set up to plan and develop work to shape the ISE, and progress is being made. This includes planning the duration of the ISE and planning for newborn laboratories to screen blood spot samples for SMA. The laboratories in England that will form part of the ISE are under consideration by the SMA partnership board led by NHS England. The researchers and the National Institute for Health and Research (NIHR) will be responsible for determining the number of babies and services that will be required to answer the research questions.

Earlier in the year, the NIHR published their Health Technology Assessment research brief to appoint researchers for this work. Applications closed at the end of September 2025, and final funding decisions are expected in spring 2026. A decision on the shape and roll out of the ISE will be made after the research call process has concluded.

A recommendation by the UK NSC on newborn screening for SMA is expected following the conclusion of an ISE, which is needed to answer several outstanding questions related to the implementation of a screening programme for SMA.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a screening programme for group B Streptococcus in pregnant women.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

The UK NSC last reviewed the evidence to screen for group B streptococcus (GBS) at 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy in 2017 and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits of screening would outweigh the harms.

This was because the test currently available cannot accurately distinguish between those mothers whose babies are at risk and those who are not.

This means that many women would unnecessarily be offered antibiotics during labour, with the balance of harms and benefits from this approach being unknown.

The National Institute for Health Research funded a large-scale clinical trial to compare universal screening for GBS against the usual risk factor-based strategy.

Recruitment to the trial ended in March 2024 and a report is expected in early 2026. The UK NSC Secretariat is in contact with the researchers. The UK NSC will review its recommendation considering the evidence from the trial, after the report is presented.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) repealing or (b) amending Section 2(4) of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.

As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn.

The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the Civil Procedure Rule Committee on the implementation of fixed recoverable costs in clinical negligence claims valued up to £25,000.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.

As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn.

The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.

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 help lower (a) legal and (b) overall costs incurred through clinical negligence.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.

As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn.

The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.

25th Anniversary of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000