Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2025 to Question 45761 on Women, when the updated Statutory Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations will be published.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Timeframes for publication of the updated Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations is a matter for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Ministers will consider the EHRC’s updated draft once it has been submitted. Further information is available in the EHRC’s update, published on 14 May online at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/media-centre/news/update-arrangements-code-practice-consultation.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of hectares of (a) agricultural land, (b) Grade 1 agricultural land, (c) Grade 2 agricultural land, (d) Grade 3a agricultural land, (e) Grade 3b agricultural land, (f) Grade 4 agricultural land, (g) Grade 5 agricultural land, (h) brownfield land in (i) the UK, (ii) Great Britain, (iii) England and (iv) England broken down by (A) region and (B) county.

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

An estimate will be made when an updated Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) map is published later this year.

Land classification is a devolved matter, and each nation within the UK takes a different approach. In England and Wales, the ALC system is used to assess agricultural land quality.

The Government remains committed to maintaining accurate land classification data to support planning and policy decisions. The new strategic-scale ALC map will replace the 1960s provisional map in England, ensuring alignment with current ALC guidelines and including the subdivision of Grade 3 land into subgrades 3a and 3b.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have a gender recognition certificate.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The number of prisoners known to have a Gender Recognition Certificate is published in the annual HM Prison & Probation Service Offender Equalities Report.

In 2023/24, there were 10 prisoners known to have a Gender Recognition Certificate. The full report can be viewed here: HMPPS Offender Equalities Report 2023/24 - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2025 to Question 45763 on Women, when he expects his review of delivering same-sex accommodation guidance to be completed.

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

The National Health Service is reviewing its Delivering same-sex accommodation guidance, and will ensure that it reflects the Supreme Court’s ruling and is aligned with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s statutory guidance, when this becomes available.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2025 to Question 45772 on Passports: Sex, whether the sex marker confirms the (a) biological and (b) legal sex of the passport holder.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer I gave her on 31 March to question 41234.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) internal policy reviews, (b) independent reviews, (c) external reviews, (d) taskforces, (e) public consultations, (f) investigations and (g) other reviews his Department launched between 5 July 2024 and 14 May 2025; what the titles were of those reviews; and how many of those reviews have been (i) completed and (ii) published.

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

Following the election, the Government outlined its ambitions through the Plan for Change, which sets out an ambitious set of milestones, across the missions, for this Parliament.

As the House of Commons would expect, the Government continually reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer.

Public reviews will be available on the GOV.UK website as they are published.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients received support from the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders service in each month since May 2023.

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

NHS England does not hold this information. Over its lifetime, the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme has supported over 219,000 people.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people are employed by (a) NHS England, (b) Health Education England, (c) NHS Digital, (d) NHS Improvement, (e) Health Research Authority, (f) Human Tissue Authority, (g) Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, (h) NHS Business Services Authority, (i) NHS Counter Fraud Authority, (j) NHS Blood and Transplant, (k) NHS Resolution, (l) Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, (m) UK Health Security Agency, (n) Care Quality Commission and (o) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the period for which the latest data is available.

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

Several of the bodies mentioned in the question no longer exist. Health Education England, NHS Digital, and NHS Improvement have all been merged into NHS England in recent years. With regards the remaining bodies, the latest published figures on headcount and full time equivalent employees can be found on GOV.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dhsc-workforce-management-information#2025

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the impact assessment for the Medical Devices and Blood Safety and Quality (Fees Amendment) Regulations 2025, published on 25 February 2025, whether the calculations used to estimate MHRA future costs included an estimated amount to take into account the (a) rise in employer national insurance contributions and (b) lowering of the lower earnings limit for employers national contributions, as announced in the Autumn Budget 2024.

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

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is subject to the increase in employer National Insurance contributions announced in the 2024 Autumn Budget. For their current fees uplift, the MHRA modelled their future costs, using historic volumes, to ensure that the uplift will deliver cost recovery until April 2027. If there are any shortfalls, the MHRA will find efficiency savings to appropriately manage them.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients received support from the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders service in each quarter since January 2023.

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

NHS England does not hold this information. Over its lifetime, the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme has supported over 219,000 people.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) tasks and (b) shifts were provided by the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders service in each quarter since May 2023.

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

The Royal Voluntary Service provides reports on activity to NHS England. These reports do not separate out tasks and shifts. The following table provides a breakdown of activities, which could be tasks or shifts, in each month from May 2023 to February 2025, and in total for 2023/24 and 2024/25:

In addition, the following table provides a breakdown of the total activities, which could be tasks or shifts, in each quarter since May 2023, based on data provided by Royal Voluntary Service in reports to NHS England:

NHS England does not hold information on the number of tasks and shifts booked from 1 June 2025 onwards, as the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme will have been cancelled.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) tasks and (b) shifts were provided by the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders service in each month since May 2023.

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

The Royal Voluntary Service provides reports on activity to NHS England. These reports do not separate out tasks and shifts. The following table provides a breakdown of activities, which could be tasks or shifts, in each month from May 2023 to February 2025, and in total for 2023/24 and 2024/25:

In addition, the following table provides a breakdown of the total activities, which could be tasks or shifts, in each quarter since May 2023, based on data provided by Royal Voluntary Service in reports to NHS England:

NHS England does not hold information on the number of tasks and shifts booked from 1 June 2025 onwards, as the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme will have been cancelled.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) tasks and (b) shifts booked from 1 June 2025 onwards with the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders service have been cancelled.

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

The Royal Voluntary Service provides reports on activity to NHS England. These reports do not separate out tasks and shifts. The following table provides a breakdown of activities, which could be tasks or shifts, in each month from May 2023 to February 2025, and in total for 2023/24 and 2024/25:

In addition, the following table provides a breakdown of the total activities, which could be tasks or shifts, in each quarter since May 2023, based on data provided by Royal Voluntary Service in reports to NHS England:

NHS England does not hold information on the number of tasks and shifts booked from 1 June 2025 onwards, as the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme will have been cancelled.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Urgent Question on the NHS Volunteer and Care service on 19 May 2025, when he plans to launch the new volunteer portal.

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

Since relaunching the programme in September 2022, the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders (NHSVCR) programme has 48,078 registered volunteers who have completed their identification check, in order to be able to carry out tasks.

The NHS Volunteer recruitment portal is already available, with 70 health and care organisations advertising opportunities. As the service grows, every National Health Service or voluntary organisation in health will be able to post opportunities and recruit volunteers to support their local communities, with a full launch of the service planned later this year.

The NHSVCR programme is just one part of an ecosystem of volunteering that supports people’s health and care needs, and there are many local voluntary sector organisations that provide other forms of support. Most patients were referred into the programme by a health professional for short-term support through the NHSVCR programme. Referrers have been informed of the change in service provided so that they can source alternative support for their patients if needed. In addition, there are over 72,000 volunteers who continue to support NHS trusts directly in over 300 different volunteer roles.

The Government will continue to work with colleagues in NHS England during the closure of the programme to mitigate risks to national health volunteer resilience. The NHSVCR programme was first established as part of the COVID-19 response, and was then adapted to respond to other organisational pressures. However, a model that worked well in a national crisis is no longer the most cost-effective way of facilitating the important contribution of our much-valued volunteers. Whilst the NHSVCR programme is ending, volunteers are being redirected to other NHS and voluntary sector organisations to continue their volunteering and to support their local communities in similar ways.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to ensure that patients receive adequate support following the closure of the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders service.

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

Since relaunching the programme in September 2022, the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders (NHSVCR) programme has 48,078 registered volunteers who have completed their identification check, in order to be able to carry out tasks.

The NHS Volunteer recruitment portal is already available, with 70 health and care organisations advertising opportunities. As the service grows, every National Health Service or voluntary organisation in health will be able to post opportunities and recruit volunteers to support their local communities, with a full launch of the service planned later this year.

The NHSVCR programme is just one part of an ecosystem of volunteering that supports people’s health and care needs, and there are many local voluntary sector organisations that provide other forms of support. Most patients were referred into the programme by a health professional for short-term support through the NHSVCR programme. Referrers have been informed of the change in service provided so that they can source alternative support for their patients if needed. In addition, there are over 72,000 volunteers who continue to support NHS trusts directly in over 300 different volunteer roles.

The Government will continue to work with colleagues in NHS England during the closure of the programme to mitigate risks to national health volunteer resilience. The NHSVCR programme was first established as part of the COVID-19 response, and was then adapted to respond to other organisational pressures. However, a model that worked well in a national crisis is no longer the most cost-effective way of facilitating the important contribution of our much-valued volunteers. Whilst the NHSVCR programme is ending, volunteers are being redirected to other NHS and voluntary sector organisations to continue their volunteering and to support their local communities in similar ways.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has produced an impact assessment on the closure of the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders service.

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

Since relaunching the programme in September 2022, the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders (NHSVCR) programme has 48,078 registered volunteers who have completed their identification check, in order to be able to carry out tasks.

The NHS Volunteer recruitment portal is already available, with 70 health and care organisations advertising opportunities. As the service grows, every National Health Service or voluntary organisation in health will be able to post opportunities and recruit volunteers to support their local communities, with a full launch of the service planned later this year.

The NHSVCR programme is just one part of an ecosystem of volunteering that supports people’s health and care needs, and there are many local voluntary sector organisations that provide other forms of support. Most patients were referred into the programme by a health professional for short-term support through the NHSVCR programme. Referrers have been informed of the change in service provided so that they can source alternative support for their patients if needed. In addition, there are over 72,000 volunteers who continue to support NHS trusts directly in over 300 different volunteer roles.

The Government will continue to work with colleagues in NHS England during the closure of the programme to mitigate risks to national health volunteer resilience. The NHSVCR programme was first established as part of the COVID-19 response, and was then adapted to respond to other organisational pressures. However, a model that worked well in a national crisis is no longer the most cost-effective way of facilitating the important contribution of our much-valued volunteers. Whilst the NHSVCR programme is ending, volunteers are being redirected to other NHS and voluntary sector organisations to continue their volunteering and to support their local communities in similar ways.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many volunteers are registered with NHS and Care Volunteer Responders service.

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

Since relaunching the programme in September 2022, the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders (NHSVCR) programme has 48,078 registered volunteers who have completed their identification check, in order to be able to carry out tasks.

The NHS Volunteer recruitment portal is already available, with 70 health and care organisations advertising opportunities. As the service grows, every National Health Service or voluntary organisation in health will be able to post opportunities and recruit volunteers to support their local communities, with a full launch of the service planned later this year.

The NHSVCR programme is just one part of an ecosystem of volunteering that supports people’s health and care needs, and there are many local voluntary sector organisations that provide other forms of support. Most patients were referred into the programme by a health professional for short-term support through the NHSVCR programme. Referrers have been informed of the change in service provided so that they can source alternative support for their patients if needed. In addition, there are over 72,000 volunteers who continue to support NHS trusts directly in over 300 different volunteer roles.

The Government will continue to work with colleagues in NHS England during the closure of the programme to mitigate risks to national health volunteer resilience. The NHSVCR programme was first established as part of the COVID-19 response, and was then adapted to respond to other organisational pressures. However, a model that worked well in a national crisis is no longer the most cost-effective way of facilitating the important contribution of our much-valued volunteers. Whilst the NHSVCR programme is ending, volunteers are being redirected to other NHS and voluntary sector organisations to continue their volunteering and to support their local communities in similar ways.

Found: Jess Asato (Labour; Lowestoft) Mrs Sureena Brackenridge (Labour; Wolverhampton North East) Dr Caroline Johnson

Found: Jess Asato (Labour; Lowestoft) Mrs Sureena Brackenridge (Labour; Wolverhampton North East) Dr Caroline Johnson

Found: Education Committee members present: Helen Hayes (Chair); Jess Asato; Mrs Sureena Brackenridge; Dr Caroline Johnson

Found: Education Committee members present: Helen Hayes (Chair); Jess Asato; Mrs Sureena Brackenridge; Dr Caroline Johnson

Found: the meeting Members present: Helen Hayes (Chair); Jess Asato; Mrs Sureena Brackenridge; Dr Caroline Johnson

Found: Thursday 22 May 2025 Negatived on division_NC47 David Simmonds Paul Holmes Lewis Cocking Dr Caroline Johnson

Found: Negatived on division_NC47 David Simmonds Paul Holmes Lewis Cocking Dr Caroline Johnson .

Found: _NC47 David Simmonds Paul Holmes Lewis Cocking Dr Caroline Johnson .

Found: COMMITTEE STAGE Wednesday 21 May 2025 18 _NC47 David Simmonds Paul Holmes Lewis Cocking Dr Caroline Johnson

Found: _96 Dr Caroline Johnson Rachael Maskell Andrew Rosindell .

Found: COMMITTEE STAGE Tuesday 20 May 2025 44 _NC47 David Simmonds Paul Holmes Lewis Cocking Dr Caroline Johnson

Found: _NC47 David Simmonds Paul Holmes Lewis Cocking Dr Caroline Johnson .

Found: _96 Dr Caroline Johnson Rachael Maskell Andrew Rosindell .

Found: _NC47 David Simmonds Paul Holmes Lewis Cocking Dr Caroline Johnson .

Found: _96 Dr Caroline Johnson Rachael Maskell Andrew Rosindell .

Found: _96 Dr Caroline Johnson Rachael Maskell Andrew Rosindell .

Found: COMMITTEE STAGE Thursday 15 May 2025 56 _NC47 David Simmonds Paul Holmes Lewis Cocking Dr Caroline Johnson

Found: REPORT STAGE Thursday 15 May 2025 36 _96 Dr Caroline Johnson Rachael Maskell Andrew Rosindell .

Submit Evidence (by 31 Jul 2025)

The UK’s higher education sector is in trouble. Dozens of universities are making redundancies and cuts to courses, trying to stay afloat amid uncertainty over where their money is coming from.