Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits for business and academic research of requiring the Office for National Statistics to publish statistical releases using 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification codes rather than the current 2-digit aggregation; and what assessment she has made of the impact of this on enabling enhanced sectoral analysis for monitoring the growth of the creative industries.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Office for National Statistics is independent of ministers, who are therefore unable to require publication of any particular breakdowns, including statistics at 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification codes. DCMS has a strong working relationship with the Office for National Statistics, with significant collaboration between our officials. Through this relationship, we would request rather than require analysis.

We acknowledge the importance of sectoral analysis for monitoring the growth of the creative industries. The Office for National Statistics publishes some data at the 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification code level, such as in their Annual Business Survey, and offers a bespoke data service for requesting additional breakdowns where sample sizes allow. The ONS is bound by the Code of Practice for Statistics to ensure the quality of all estimates is appropriate and that any business data is protected and not identifiable in published statistics. DCMS publishes a portfolio of official statistics about the creative industries, predominantly based on data held by the Office for National Statistics.

Both DCMS and ONS are committed to developing official statistics and ensuring these reflect the needs of users.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report, England, 2023-24, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential implications for its policies of the decrease of 6.1% between 2022-23 and 2023-24 in local authority expenditure on support for unpaid carers.

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

The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support they need. Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers.

To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.

The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

We have already taken steps to support unpaid carers. From April 2025 we are increasing the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196. This means carers can earn up to £10,000 a year whilst still retaining Carer's Allowance, which is approximately an additional £2,000 a year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the level of support that unpaid carers can access once they have undertaken a Carer’s Assessment in England.

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

All unpaid carers are entitled to a carer’s assessment. Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake carer’s assessments to support people caring for their family and friends who appear to have a need for support, and to meet their eligible needs upon request from them.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to unpaid carers. This means that the CQC is looking at how local authorities are supporting carers in their area, including the provision of services following a carers assessment.

The Government also recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

We have already taken steps to support unpaid carers to balance work and care, including by increasing the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, from April 2025. This means carers can earn up to £10,000 a year whilst still retaining their Carer's Allowance, which is approximately an additional £2,000 a year.

The Government is also committed to reviewing the implementation of Carer’s Leave and examining the benefits of introducing paid Carer’s Leave.

Further, the Accelerating Reform Fund's second tranche of funding worth £22.6 million for 2024/25 has now been released. More than half of the projects are focused on identifying, recognizing, and supporting unpaid carers.

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 with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of funding for local authorities to support unpaid carers who have requested a Carer's Assessment in the last 12 months.

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

Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake carer’s assessments to support people caring for their family and friends who appear to have a need for support, and to meet their eligible needs upon request from them.

To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. Local authorities are responsible for how they use the available funding to fulfil their duties under the Care Act 2014.

The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Government's decision not to implement the recommendations of the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024, on the role of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The basis for the Government’s decision has been set out by the Secretary of State, deposited in the House of Commons library and is available here: Government response to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's investigation into Women's State Pension age and associated issues

The Ombudsman does important work, which we respect. We have taken this report seriously, considering the findings in detail. We consider the findings and recommendations of the Ombudsman on a case-by-case basis. Moving forward we will work with the Ombudsman to learn the lessons this investigation can teach us and DWP will develop an action plan that we will publish in due course.

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 the recommendations of his Department's publication entitled JCVI statement on COVID-19 vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026, updated on 14 November 2024, on the clinically vulnerable population (a) nationally and (b) in Gosport.

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

The independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises the Department on the approach to vaccination and immunisation programmes. The aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme is to prevent serious disease, leading to hospitalisation and/or mortality, arising from COVID-19.

For spring 2025, as in spring 2024, the JCVI advises that a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered to: adults aged 75 years old and over; residents in a care home for older adults; and the immunosuppressed aged six months old and over.

As in previous COVID-19 spring campaigns, the only clinical risk group included in the campaign are those aged six months or over with immunosuppression. The JCVI has advised that the available national data continues to demonstrate that older people and those who are immunosuppressed are at greatest risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19. The data available to the JCVI is national data, and they therefore made no assessment specific to Gosport.

The Government accepted the independent JCVI advice for spring 2025 on 12 December 2024. The Government is considering the advice on autumn 2025 and spring 2026 carefully, and will respond in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's publication entitled JCVI statement on COVID-19 vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026, updated on 14 November 2024, what the evidential basis was for accepting the JCVI’s advice on spring 2025.

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

The independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises the Department on the approach to vaccination and immunisation programmes. The aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme is to prevent serious disease, leading to hospitalisation and/or mortality, arising from COVID-19.

For spring 2025, as in spring 2024, the JCVI advises that a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered to: adults aged 75 years old and over; residents in a care home for older adults; and the immunosuppressed aged six months old and over.

As in previous COVID-19 spring campaigns, the only clinical risk group included in the campaign are those aged six months or over with immunosuppression. The JCVI has advised that the available national data continues to demonstrate that older people and those who are immunosuppressed are at greatest risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19. The data available to the JCVI is national data, and they therefore made no assessment specific to Gosport.

The Government accepted the independent JCVI advice for spring 2025 on 12 December 2024. The Government is considering the advice on autumn 2025 and spring 2026 carefully, and will respond in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31001 on Veterans: War Pensions, how many and what proportion of British nuclear test veterans have a radiation dose record; how many and what proportion of veterans have a radiation dose record for every tour they undertook; and whether his Department plans to provide compensation to British Nuclear Test Veterans whose records are (a) missing and (b) otherwise unavailable.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

This Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We recognise their Service and the huge contribution they have made to the UK’s security.

I am committed to looking into questions around medical records. That is why I have commissioned officials to look into what information the Department holds in relation to the medical testing of Service personnel who took part in the UK nuclear weapons tests. This is a priority and is now underway.

Altogether there were around 22,000 participants in the nuclear weapons tests, of which up to just over 6,000 veterans were involved in two or more operations. Dose monitoring records are available for 4,807 (23%) of the around 22,000 veterans considered in the most recent analysis of the data in the Nuclear Weapons Test Participants Study – a long-term epidemiological study of the health of veterans who were present at UK nuclear testing between 1952 and 1967. It has been undertaken by the National Radiological Protection Board and Cancer Research UK (formerly the Imperial Cancer Research Fund) following a commission from the Ministry of Defence in 1983. There have been four studies completed to date, which so far have concluded that Nuclear Test Veterans have a similar incidence of cancer and, in general, a longer healthy life expectancy that the control group of individuals.

Nuclear Test Veterans are already entitled to apply for compensation under the War Pension Scheme. There is no time limit for claiming, however if a claim is made more than seven years after termination of service, as would be the case for Nuclear Test Veterans, the claimant is granted the benefit of doubt when there is uncertainty about whether the disablement is linked to or worsened by their service. Factors such as being on operations or in a hazardous environment can support a service-related claim. Claims handlers will review historical records, including medical records, to establish a causal link to service for Nuclear Test Veterans seeking compensation.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31001 on Veterans: War Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the level of the burden on British nuclear test veterans applying to the War Pension Scheme to prove they had experienced a radiation dose.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

This Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We recognise their Service and the huge contribution they have made to the UK’s security.

I am committed to looking into questions around medical records. That is why I have commissioned officials to look into what information the Department holds in relation to the medical testing of Service personnel who took part in the UK nuclear weapons tests. This is a priority and is now underway.

Altogether there were around 22,000 participants in the nuclear weapons tests, of which up to just over 6,000 veterans were involved in two or more operations. Dose monitoring records are available for 4,807 (23%) of the around 22,000 veterans considered in the most recent analysis of the data in the Nuclear Weapons Test Participants Study – a long-term epidemiological study of the health of veterans who were present at UK nuclear testing between 1952 and 1967. It has been undertaken by the National Radiological Protection Board and Cancer Research UK (formerly the Imperial Cancer Research Fund) following a commission from the Ministry of Defence in 1983. There have been four studies completed to date, which so far have concluded that Nuclear Test Veterans have a similar incidence of cancer and, in general, a longer healthy life expectancy that the control group of individuals.

Nuclear Test Veterans are already entitled to apply for compensation under the War Pension Scheme. There is no time limit for claiming, however if a claim is made more than seven years after termination of service, as would be the case for Nuclear Test Veterans, the claimant is granted the benefit of doubt when there is uncertainty about whether the disablement is linked to or worsened by their service. Factors such as being on operations or in a hazardous environment can support a service-related claim. Claims handlers will review historical records, including medical records, to establish a causal link to service for Nuclear Test Veterans seeking compensation.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31001 on Veterans: War Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of dose records kept by the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

This Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We recognise their Service and the huge contribution they have made to the UK’s security.

I am committed to looking into questions around medical records. That is why I have commissioned officials to look into what information the Department holds in relation to the medical testing of Service personnel who took part in the UK nuclear weapons tests. This is a priority and is now underway.

Altogether there were around 22,000 participants in the nuclear weapons tests, of which up to just over 6,000 veterans were involved in two or more operations. Dose monitoring records are available for 4,807 (23%) of the around 22,000 veterans considered in the most recent analysis of the data in the Nuclear Weapons Test Participants Study – a long-term epidemiological study of the health of veterans who were present at UK nuclear testing between 1952 and 1967. It has been undertaken by the National Radiological Protection Board and Cancer Research UK (formerly the Imperial Cancer Research Fund) following a commission from the Ministry of Defence in 1983. There have been four studies completed to date, which so far have concluded that Nuclear Test Veterans have a similar incidence of cancer and, in general, a longer healthy life expectancy that the control group of individuals.

Nuclear Test Veterans are already entitled to apply for compensation under the War Pension Scheme. There is no time limit for claiming, however if a claim is made more than seven years after termination of service, as would be the case for Nuclear Test Veterans, the claimant is granted the benefit of doubt when there is uncertainty about whether the disablement is linked to or worsened by their service. Factors such as being on operations or in a hazardous environment can support a service-related claim. Claims handlers will review historical records, including medical records, to establish a causal link to service for Nuclear Test Veterans seeking compensation.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the criteria were for appointing members of the Digital Centre Design Panel; and whether those members will provide declarations of interests for publication.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Digital Centre Design Advisory Panel was established to advise, test ideas and constructively challenge our thinking as we develop the new digital centre of government.

DSIT selected individuals who bring a diverse set of views and experience from across the UK tech sector, academics, digital government, regional growth and international voices, including co-chairs Martha Lane Fox and Paul Willmott.

DSIT holds the appointee’s declarations of interest and will publish them in line with Cabinet Office guidance.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31001 on Veterans: War Pensions, what the minimum recordable level of radiation dose is for establishing radiation exposure.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

Exposure to a measurable level of ionising radiation is determined by a radiological dosimetry specialist report. Specialist reports are obtained from Defence Radiation and Protection Services and Atomic Weapons Establishment as they hold the relevant records and dosimetry.

Personal dosimeters used by nuclear test veterans were of the passive film badge type which embody a piece of film material sensitive to radiation. When processed, the degree of darkening of the film, if any, indicates the level of radiation exposure. The film badges are sensitive down to 0·2 millisievert (20 millirem).

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31001 on Veterans: War Pensions, what the average acceptance rate is for applications made by (a) British nuclear test and (b) other veterans to the War Pension Scheme.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The War Pensions Computer System has no facility to uniquely identify those who participated in the nuclear tests. The paper claim file may include a copy of the Nuclear Test Veterans (NTV) Priority Claim Request or additional information on whether the claimant was involved in nuclear testing, however this information is not always present.

To accurately identify the number of NTVs who applied for, and received compensation would involve a manual interrogation of all War Pension files and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The average outcome rates for cleared first claims under the War Pension Scheme for the past ten years can be found in the table below:

Outcome rates of cleared First Claims¹ under the War Pension Scheme by financial year, percentages².

1 April 2014 – 31 March 2024

Sources: War Pensions Computer System (WPCS)

1. Please note, veterans who were rejected may have subsequently appealed the decision or made a further second claim which may have resulted in an awarded a War Pension.
2. The sum of the % subtotals may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
3. Includes those awarded a gratuity payment (at 1 to 19%) and a war pension (at 20 to 100%) and those with an unknown disablement percentage.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies on VAT of the British Hair Consortium’s report entitled Securing the future of UK hairdressing and beauty: The economic, fiscal & societal case for VAT reform, published in February 2025.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is also the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £171 billion in 2024/25. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.

Changes to the VAT threshold have to be carefully balanced considering the potential benefits to small businesses, the economy as a whole and tax revenues.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding he will provide towards NHS continuing healthcare checklists over the next five years.

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

No funding has ever been specifically allocated for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) checklists, and as such, we do not hold this information. NHS England provides funding to integrated care boards (ICBs) to fulfil their core duty to commission high-quality care in a cost-effective way. CHC funding is calculated using the ICB allocation formula, which takes into consideration attributes of the local population to assess the level of need. It is for individual ICBs to decide how best to use their allocation to deliver their functions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance he is providing to ICBs to ensure consistent interpretation of NHS continuing healthcare checklist guidance.

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

The Department published national guidance, the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, intended to ensure the consistent delivery of National Health Service continuing healthcare (CHC) by integrated care boards (ICBs). Further information on this guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-framework-for-nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care

We have published additional guidance on the completion of the CHC checklist screening tool, called the NHS continuing healthcare checklist, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-continuing-healthcare-checklist

NHS England also has an assurance regime that promotes the standardisation and consistency of CHC assessments. NHS England CHC regional teams provide ICBs oversight and assurance to support robust, effective, and timely service delivery. ICBs should have processes in place to ensure checklists are completed by staff who are trained in checklist completion. An NHS England online learning resource to support all staff working in health and social care is in place. This includes an e-learning module on completing CHC checklists.

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Found: for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to Dame Caroline Dinenage

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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 the care available to young people diagnosed with cancer in Slough.

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

The Department recognises that cancer in children and young people is different to cancer in adults, and should be treated as such, particularly in regard to treatment, diagnosis, and wider support.

The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, so that more patients survive, including children, teenagers, and young adults (CTYA).

NHS England has published service specifications that set out the service standards required of all providers of CTYA cancer services. The requirements include ensuring that every patient has access to specialist care and reducing physical, emotional, and psychological morbidity arising from treatment for childhood cancer. The specifications are available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-b/b05/

The Department has also relaunched the Children and Young People’s Cancer Taskforce. Dame Caroline Dinenage and Professor Darren Hargrave have been appointed as its co-chairs, alongside Dr Sharna Shanmugavadivel as vice-chair. The taskforce will examine clinical and non-clinical ways to improve outcomes and patient experience for children and young people with cancer. This will feed into the Department’s wider work on the national cancer plan in England.

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