Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
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 recent trends in the length of NHS waiting lists.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Waiting lists have fallen by over 206,000 since we came to office, and we’ve delivered 5.2 million extra appointments in our first year – more than double what we promised.
Our Elective Reform Plan sets out how we will return to the 18-week standard for elective care by the end of this Parliament, through a combination of investment and reform.Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with her counterpart in Burkina Faso on violence towards Christian communities in that country; and what steps she is taking to promote religious freedom in Burkina Faso.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to supporting efforts to address the root causes of violence and discrimination in Burkina Faso.
I also refer the Right Hon. Member to the answer Minister Falconer gave on 9 July to Question 63385, concerning UK calls for action on human rights abuses, the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who has been selected to represent (a) midwifery, (b) obstetrics and (c) neonatal care for his Independent Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.
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.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) the long list of NHS trusts considered by the Chair for inclusion in the Independent Maternity and Neonatal Investigation and (b) the selection criteria used by the Investigation team to assess those trusts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 14 National Health Service trusts to be looked at in the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation were announced on 15 September 2025. There are no plans to publish the long list of NHS trusts considered by the Chair for inclusion in the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.
The 14 NHS trusts were selected by the independent investigation based on a variety of factors, including results from the Care Quality Commission’s Maternity Patient Survey and Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK’s Perinatal Mortality Rates, in addition to variation in case mix, trust type, geographic coverage, provision of care to individuals from diverse backgrounds, and family feedback.
Three of the trusts have been included due to their inclusion in previous investigations or reviews, these three trusts being the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what metrics are used to assess the efficiency of the Army recruitment system; and what estimate he has made of the most recent assessment of the efficiency of the Army recruitment system.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The efficiency of the British Army Recruitment pipeline is constantly measured on a daily, weekly and monthly basis through various key performance indicators (KPI) throughout the recruitment process to the end of basic training.
These KPIs vary depending on stage of the process but make assessments based on numbers of registrations, Army briefings and their effectiveness, questionnaires, assessment centre attendance, individual career discussions and the success, fail, defer and conversion rates of basic training.
The assessment process has recently helped enhance areas of the recruitment system including an improved and updated website and candidate portal, digitised collection of the primary health care records (PHCR) and the implementation of AI to scrutinise each PHCR.
The British Army has a continuous early initiative to seek improvements of the process and system.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to engage faith leaders and organisations who are unaware of the Civil Society Covenant framework launch.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Civil Society Covenant Framework was launched in October 2024 and used as the basis for extensive engagement with over 1,200 organisations across government and civil society’s full diversity, including many faith and interfaith groups. These insights and experiences have helped ensure that the Covenant is inclusive of organisations of all purposes, sizes, geographical locations, and those that are led by underrepresented groups.
The Civil Society Covenant was launched by the Prime Minister in July 2025 at a major civil society summit. As we move forward, we will continue to work with our government and civil society partners, including faith organisations, to raise awareness across their members and networks and drive engagement with the Covenant at national, local and grassroots levels. MPs are encouraged to make organisations in their constituencies aware of the Covenant.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the government in Myanmar on the destruction of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Kachin State in March 2025; and what diplomatic steps she is taking to help ensure that (a) places of worship are protected and (b) religious freedom is promoted in that country.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is deeply concerned by reports of attacks on places of worship, including the destruction of St Patrick's Cathedral in Kachin State. We remain committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all communities in Myanmar, and consistently raise concerns about the treatment of religious minorities and their places of worship in international fora. In April this year, the UK co-sponsored a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Myanmar, calling for the military to fully respect and protect the human rights of all persons in Myanmar, including religious minorities.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) staffing, (b) system, (c) compliance and (d) other costs of (i) implementing and (ii) administering the proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief; and if she will take steps to publish an estimate prior to the reforms taking effect in April 2026.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer to the answer given on 5 September 2025 at UIN 70546 :
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-08-29/70546
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to the Government of Israel regarding persistent attacks by Israeli settlers on Taybeh in the West Bank.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government condemns settler violence. We regularly raise settler violence with Israeli ministers and officials, and we are clear that the Israeli government must clamp down on settler violence and settlement expansion. The UK has taken action to hold perpetrators and supporters of settler violence to account. On 10 June, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions against Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in their personal capacity for inciting violence towards Palestinians. This was alongside action from our partners Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway. On 20 May, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions targeting individuals, illegal settler outposts and organisations supporting violence against Palestinian Communities in the West Bank.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has raised the religious persecution of Leah Sharibu in bilateral discussions with President Tinubu of Nigeria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK strongly condemns Leah Sharibu's abduction and has repeatedly called for her release and the release of all those abducted by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa (ISWA). We have raised Leah's case with the Government of Nigeria, and the Minister for Africa will continue to do so in future engagements. More broadly, we continue to engage with the Government of Nigeria to support efforts to tackle insecurity and prevent further kidnappings, which includes support to Nigeria's anti-kidnap cell, through the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership.