Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical students graduated from UK universities in each of the last five years; and how many doctors completed foundation training in each of the last five years.

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

Data published by the General Medical Council (GMC) provides information on the number of doctors with a United Kingdom Primary Medical Qualification (PMQ) by year. The following table shows the number of doctors graduating from UK medical schools in each of the last five years who then registered with the GMC:

Source: General Medical Council, UK graduates summary data, with further information available at the following link:
https://gde.gmc-uk.org/medical-schools/uk-graduates/uk-graduates-summary-data
Note: total represents the total number of doctors with a UK Primary Medical Qualification in that year who went onto register with the GMC.

Medical graduates complete a two-year Foundation Programme following graduation from medical school. Successful completion of the programme occurs at the end of Foundation Year Two (F2). Data on the number of doctors completing foundation training is published by the GMC through its Education Data Tool. Successful completion of foundation training is interpreted as completion of F2.

The following table shows data published by the GMC on the number of doctors completing F2 in each of the last five years:

Source: General Medical Council, Education Data Tool Progression Reports, with further information available at the following link:
https://edt.gmc-uk.org/progression-reports/recruitment-from-f2

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a 36-hour week for full time NHS staff at no loss of pay.

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

This specific assessment has not been made.

National Health Service staff covered by the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay system in England work 37.5 hours per week in line with the terms set out in Section 10 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook (TCS), also referred to as the AfC terms and conditions. The NHS Staff Council is responsible for maintaining the handbook. There are no current discussions between Government and the NHS Staff Council about reducing the number of hours full time AfC staff work in England.

The number of full-time hours for medical staff in England as stipulated in their respective TCS is 40 hours. Less than full time options are available to all staff. A flat allowance of £1,000 is received by any less than full time resident doctor, which recognises the relative increased costs of training that doctors training less than full time face as a result of being less than full time.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many recorded sewage spills and leaks into (a) rivers, (b) coastal waters and (c) other inland waterways there have been in England in the last 12 months; and what assessment his Department has made of trends in the number of such incidents.

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

Sewage spills can enter water bodies from a number of sources and pathways. One mechanism is via storm overflows, designed to spill into water bodies when the sewer system is under strain from rainfall or snowmelt. Storm overflows are tracked through Event Duration Monitors in near real time.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to help ensure the new owners of Royal Mail honour agreements made with the Communication Workers Union and his Department.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Secretary of State met Dave Ward, General Secretary of the CWU, and Daniel Křetínský, the owner of EP Group, on 16 February and again on 19 March 2026, to understand the progress on continued discussions on the CWU Agreement.

The undertakings agreed between the Secretary of State and EP Group include provisions that require an independently assessed review of EP Group’s compliance with the Deed of Undertaking.

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 help address harmful cat breeding practices, including the breeding of wildcat hybrids.

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

As part of the Animal Welfare Strategy, which was published on 22 December 2025, the Government will take steps to improve our understanding of the size, scale and current management practices related to cat breeding, drawing on expertise from the sector, and consider any further steps which may improve welfare practices in the cat breeding sector.

The keeping of dangerous wild animals is regulated by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976. Keepers of dangerous wild animals listed in the Schedule to the 1976 Act must get a Dangerous Wild Animals licence from their local authority. All cats are listed in the Schedule to the Act, although several species, such as the domestic cat, are exempted. Cat hybrids having a domestic cat, or other exempted species, as one parent and a non-exempted cat, such as a wildcat, as the other parent would require a Dangerous Wild Animals licence.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what action the Government is taking to address harmful cat breeding practices, including the breeding of wildcat hybrids.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Stourbridge on 24 March 2026 PQ UIN 121217.

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 ensure that referral services for women and girls impacted by violence and abuse will be evidence-based.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As part of the cross-Government Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, the Department has committed to roll-out a domestic abuse and sexual violence referral service, “Steps to Safety” across all integrated care boards by 2029.

This will ensure that all clinical and non-clinical staff in general practices in every area of England can connect victims and survivors with specialist services. The programme builds on innovative, evidence-based approaches already operating in England, and will include evaluation of the services in order to continue building a strong evidence base for what works to support victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps is the government taking to include charitable housing providers within the definition of affordable housing in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 123092 on 31 March 2026.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that reforms to energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector drives heat demand reduction via insulation.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Reformed Energy Performance Certificates will assess properties’ energy performance against several metrics, one of which is fabric performance. The new minimum energy efficiency standards will require private rented homes to first meet a ‘C’ rating for fabric performance unless a relevant exemption is in place. The prioritisation of fabric measures will help ensure a reduction in heat demand, delivering bill savings for tenants and lifting households out of fuel poverty.

International Workers’ Memorial Day 2026

Palestinian Nakba commemoration march

Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners

Ban on prison officer industrial action

Health and Social Care

Bermuda and oil industry tax

Together Alliance

Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules (No. 2)

Theatre badge hats in high-risk clinical settings

Support for the ceramics industry

Closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan

World Social Work Day 2026

Redundancies of skilled rail workers at Balfour Beatty

Transition of rail workers into Great British Railways

Future of Hamworthy Fire Station

30th anniversary of the Dunblane Primary School tragedy

Payment of employment tribunal awards

NHS access to medical cannabis for children with drug-resistant epilepsy

Student finance

Fipronil and Imidacloprid Pesticides

National No Smoking Day