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 impact of administrative issues within the NHS on patients.

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

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS appointments have been missed in the last 12 months due to administrative issues.

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

Data is not held in the format requested.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS patients have waited longer for elective procedures in the last 12 months due to administrative issues.

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

Data is not held in the format requested.

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 set a timeline for the phasing out of the use of CO₂ gas chambers for pigs.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 20 May to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell, PQ UIN 613.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has considered encouraging employers to introduce menopause-related leave as part of Menopause Action Plans.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We have published a list of recommended, evidence-informed actions to support employers in developing their action plans, including steps that employers can take to support employees managing menopause symptoms at work. These actions were developed using insight and research into what works at the time of writing, including a literature review on menopause in the workplace published by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The actions themselves are broad by necessity, and organisations may respond to them in a manner of ways. For example, as part of our recommended action to review policies to ensure they meet the needs of employees experiencing menopause, employers may choose to introduce menopause-related leave.

We will work closely with businesses to monitor and evaluate whether these are the right actions and ensure that they continue to reflect emerging evidence on actions that are effective.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has considered the merits of increasing funding for training of NHS administrative staff.

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

The responsibility for the training of National Health Service administrative staff generally sits with local NHS employers. In most cases, training arrangements for these staff, particularly non-clinical training, are determined locally by NHS employers and may vary between organisations.

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 adequacy of (a) training, (b) hiring, (c) management and (d) performance of NHS administrative staff.

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

The Department does not centrally oversee the training, recruitment, management, and performance of National Health Service administrative staff in individual organisations. These matters are primarily the responsibility of local NHS organisations, which are best placed to determine the administrative roles they require and to ensure staff are recruited, trained, and managed appropriately to support the delivery of services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has considered the potential merits of reviewing the training framework for NHS administrative staff.

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

The Department is not currently planning a review of the training framework for National Health Service administrative staff. In most cases, training arrangements for these staff, particularly non-clinical training, are determined by local NHS employers, which are responsible for ensuring staff are appropriately supported and developed for their roles, and may vary between organisations.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has considered the merits of introducing a stamp duty relief on second home purchases by leaseholders impacted by cladding issues and remediation delays who are unable to sell their property.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

A refund of the higher rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) paid when purchasing additional property can be claimed if an old main residence is sold within three years of the purchase of the new main residence. For most people, three years is enough time to sell a previous main residence.

However, the Government recognises that there will sometimes be exceptional circumstances, for example, where issues with cladding have delayed a sale, which are not within the control of the seller and mean that a previous main residence cannot be sold within three years, and where a refund outside of the three year period may be given. Further guidance from HMRC is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/stamp-duty-land-tax-buying-an-additional-residential-property

The Remediation Bill announced at the King’s Speech will speed up remediation for people living in homes with unsafe cladding.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the enhanced pre-donation testing process pilot on reducing the number of deferrals for low haemoglobin levels.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood donation in England. NHSBT tests donors’ haemoglobin (Hb) to ensure they are at sufficient levels to safely donate.

NHSBT rolled out a second line of Hb testing, venous HemoCue, between April and September 2025. This is undertaken if the first line finger prick and blood drop test using copper sulphate is failed. This is a more accurate test that is not subject to environmental effects, like the weather, or operator error. If passed, a donor can donate. If failed, a donor is deferred to ensure they can replenish low iron stores to allow their Hb to improve back to safe donation thresholds.

Since roll out, low Hb deferrals fell from more than 12% to 4.1% in the six weeks prior to full roll out, up to January 2026, and levels have remained stable since, resulting in improved collections. Low Hb deferrals are higher in Black Heritage donors and have fallen from more than 24% to 15.3% for the same period. The reasons for the difference between donor groups are not fully understood but are likely to be multifactorial; NHSBT continues to assess the factors that may contribute to the differences.

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 effectiveness of the trial of the Post Donation Testing for advance haemoglobin assessments.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood donation in England. NHSBT test donors’ haemoglobin levels to ensure they are at sufficient levels to safely donate.

NHSBT is currently undertaking a feasibility assessment of post-donation testing for haemoglobin. This involves sending a sample taken after donation for laboratory testing, which is the gold standard for measuring haemoglobin levels. Donors are then advised whether they need further testing before their next donation or can donate as normal. It is hoped that this will enable more personalised donor care and improved on session experience.

Data collection began in October 2025 and is due to continue until at least July 2026. As the assessment is ongoing, the data is not yet complete, and no final assessment of its effectiveness has been made.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many blood donors with the Ro subtype completed blood donations in the last 12 months.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for collecting blood donations across England, in order to fulfil hospital requests to meet patient need.

27,984 donors with Ro subtype blood completed at least one blood donation between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026. This data is from NHSBT’s Monthly Collections Dashboard, and was extracted on 20 May 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of blood donors deferred due to (a) low haemoglobin levels and (b) travel to and from other countries in the last 12 months; and if he will provide the ethnic and gender breakdown of donors.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for collecting blood donations across England, in order to fulfil hospital requests to meet patient need. NHSBT collects donors’ sex assigned at birth and gender identity; a donor’s sex is recorded as the ways in which blood products are donated and processed differ between those assigned male and female at birth.

Blood donor selection guidelines are in place to ensure donors can donate blood safely and includes minimum haemoglobin (Hb) levels and travel-related restrictions. Where a potential donor does not meet these guidelines, they may be turned away or ‘deferred’.

The attached tables show information on deferrals by ethnicity and sex assigned at birth.

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 effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission's regulatory oversight of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust's adult community mental health services in Lambeth.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an independent regulator, responsible for assessing and monitoring providers in line with its statutory remit. The Department holds the CQC to account for its overall performance and delivery of its regulatory functions.

The CQC is undertaking a programme of improvement, and the Department continues to engage closely with CQC leadership to monitor progress through regular sponsorship and accountability meetings.

The CQC has maintained ongoing regulatory engagement with the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust following its 2025 inspections, using a combination of continuous monitoring, engagement with the trust and system partners, and targeted follow-up activity to ensure risks are managed and improvements are supported and sustained.

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 adequacy of Care Quality Commission processes to record, retrieve and act upon safety intelligence submitted by members of the public about NHS trust services previously rated as requires improvement.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has established systems and processes to receive, record, assess, and act on safety intelligence about providers submitted by members of the public, employees of registered providers, people using services and their family members and carers, and partner organisations.

All information of concern is reviewed and triangulated with inspection findings, provider-submitted data, and partner information. Where necessary, concerns are followed up directly with National Health Service trusts and incorporated into the CQC’s assessment of risk, informing decisions about further regulatory action.

The Department holds regular accountability meetings with the CQC to assess the CQC’s performance, including clearing a backlog of information of concern cases following technical issues.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Care Quality Commission on its decision not to exercise urgent powers under section 31 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust following the inspections of 2025.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an independent regulator, and decisions about enforcement action are a matter for the CQC, exercised in line with its statutory remit and published enforcement policy. The Department has been informed of the CQC’s approach in this case.

Following inspections of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in 2025, including community mental health services and the health-based place of safety, the CQC identified regulatory breaches relating to patient safety, governance and the application of the Mental Health Act.

Regarding the community-based mental health services for adults of working age at the Lambeth Single Point of Access team, the CQC considered its enforcement options in line with its policy and determined that urgent action under section 31 was not required because immediate assurances were provided by the trust.

For the regulatory breaches, the CQC required the trust to set out an action plan for how improvements would be made, with progress monitored through ongoing regulatory oversight and engagement.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of school exclusions on (i) children’s (a) long-term educational outcomes, (b) mental health and (c) contact with the criminal justice system and (ii) Black and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities; and if she will bring forward proposals to end the use of exclusions in state-funded schools.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department regularly monitors trends in suspension and permanent exclusion rates for various pupil groups and undertakes regular reviews of the evidence concerning the long-term outcomes of pupils who have experienced a suspension or permanent exclusion. We are aware that there is an association with adverse life outcomes for pupils who have been excluded and are clear that any decision taken to exclude must be lawful, reasonable and fair.

In all cases, school leaders should consider early intervention strategies and multi-agency assessments to address the underlying causes or contributing factors towards a pupil’s disruptive behaviour before issuing an exclusion.

The department does not plan to end or ban the use of school exclusions, as it remains necessary in the most serious cases to maintain calm and safe school environments.

The Race Equality Unit will work with key stakeholder groups to interrogate the evidence on what drives disparities in school exclusions between different ethnic groups.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many completed blood donation appointments took place in past 12 months; and if he will provide the ethnic and gender breakdown of donors.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for collecting blood donations across England to fulfil hospital requests to meet patient need.

NHSBT collects donor’s sex assigned at birth and gender identity; a donors’ sex is recorded as the ways in which blood products are donated and processed differ between those assigned male and female at birth. The following table shows the total number of completed blood donations broken down by sex assigned at birth between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026:

Source: NHSBT Monthly Collections Dashboard

The following table shows the total number of completed blood donations between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026 by ethnicity:

Source: NHSBT Monthly Collections Dashboard

England men's football team

Retirement of Tracy Thirlwall

The arrest and detention of Ehsan Ali by Pakistan authorities

Communications blackout and human rights in Azad Jammu and Kashmir

Ban on industrial action by prison officers

Government response to Israel’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza

Liushenyu mining disaster and workers’ safety

Prison education insourcing

Further education

Higher Education pensions

Draft Code of Practice on Services, public functions and associations

Bermuda and oil industry tax

Trophy hunting imports

Trans+ History Week

Interception of Global Sumud Flotilla vessels in international waters

Arsenal Football Club, Premier League champions

Job cuts planned at the BBC

Five-year indefinite leave to remain pathway for Skilled Worker visa holders

Inquiry into Labour Together

Found: WRP0020 - Written Parliamentary Questions Bell Ribeiro-Addy Written Evidence