Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to strengthen statutory guidance related to the legal duty to commission palliative care services included in the Health and Care Act 2022.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services, available within the ICB catchment. There are no current plans to update the statutory guidance.

The ICBs are expected to follow the statutory guidance in exercising their functions and must pay due regard to it in the planning, commissioning, and delivery of palliative care and end of life care services.

Additionally, NHS England has a legal duty to annually assess the performance of each ICB in respect of each financial year and to publish a summary of its findings. This assessment must assess how well the ICB has discharged its functions.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the (a) evidence base and (b) consultation submissions used to inform the findings and recommendations of the final report of the Independent Water Commission, published on 21 July 2025.

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

The Independent Water Commission was established to operate independently of Government. It is therefore for the Commission, not the Government, to decide whether to publish the evidence base and consultation submissions that informed its final report.

The Independent Water Commission sought to collect a broad range of views on the challenges that the water system faces in England and Wales. As such the Commission ran a Call for Evidence that received over 50,000 responses, from a wide range of individuals, groups and organisations. Further detail on how the Call for Evidence was run and the stakeholders that engaged with it can be found in the Final Summary of Responses in Annex A which is accessible on Gov.uk.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to help people with CIFAS markers to access banking facilities to enable them to receive (a) wages and (b) welfare payments.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service, plays a vital role in protecting individuals and the financial system from fraud and financial crime. Its work supports the Government’s broader efforts to tackle fraud and maintain trust in the financial system.

The Government also recognises the importance of ensuring that individuals can access banking services to receive wages and welfare payments. Where individuals face barriers when accessing banking services, alternative options may be available. The nine largest personal current account providers in the UK are legally required to offer basic bank accounts to customers who do not have a bank account or are not eligible for a standard current account. These accounts are fee-free and provide essential banking services, though they do not include overdrafts or cheque books. Beyond the high street banks, other options for people to make and receive payments may include payment and electronic money institutions.

If someone with a CIFAS marker wishes to further understand the information that CIFAS holds against them, they may wish to make a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) to CIFAS

Furthermore, if an individual believes that a CIFAS marker has been incorrectly assigned, they should first raise it with the organisation that recorded it to the CIFAS database for them to review. If the organisation does not remove the marker then the individual can reach out directly to CIFAS following the process outlined in its complaints procedure.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the current average time taken was for a DWP-initiated PIP review to be completed in West Yorkshire in each of the last 12 months.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The table below provides information on the median number of weeks taken to complete a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Award Review (AR) for claimants living in West Yorkshire local authority districts. The time taken is measured from the date of AR registration to the date of completion. Figures are presented for each month in which ARs were completed, covering the 12-month period up to and including July 2025.

Table 1: Median time in weeks from PIP Award Review registration to completion, by month of completion, for the West Yorkshire local authority area.

Our aim as always is to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account all available evidence, including that from the claimant. We are taking steps to improve the service by prioritising new claims, to ensure new claimants are paid as soon as possible whilst safeguarding claimants awaiting award reviews, who have returned their information as required, to ensure their payments continue until their review can be completed.

Notes:

- Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number of weeks.

- Figures are for the following West Yorkshire local authorities: Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she next plans to review the Children (Performance and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government recognises the need to review the Children (Performance and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014, and we are committed to doing so. This will require careful consideration of how such a review might best be conducted to ensure that children are able to continue to access positive performance opportunities in the future, while also making sure that their safety, wellbeing and best interests are protected.

Found: Labour; Sheffield South East) Nesil Caliskan (Labour; Barking) Mr Luke Charters (Labour; York Outer) Anna Dixon

Found: Labour; Sheffield South East) Nesil Caliskan (Labour; Barking) Mr Luke Charters (Labour; York Outer) Anna Dixon

Found: Public Accounts Committee member present: Anna Dixon.

Found: Public Accounts Committee member present: Anna Dixon.

Found: Labour; Sheffield South East) Nesil Caliskan (Labour; Barking) Mr Luke Charters (Labour; York Outer) Anna Dixon

Found: We will start with Anna Dixon, please. Q1 Anna Dixon: Thank you, Chair, and welcome witnesses.