Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letter of 5 February 2025 from the Hon. Member for Henley and Thame on building a new Royal Berkshire Hospital.

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

I replied to the hon. Member’s letter on 21 March 2025.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take through the National Planning Policy Framework to ensure the adequate provision of M4(2) and M4(3) compliant housing in Henley and Thame constituency.

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

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 requires local planning authorities to assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those of older and disabled people, and to reflect this in planning policies.

Where an identified need exists, plans are expected to help bring forward an adequate supply of accessible housing, which can include setting out the proportion of new housing that will be delivered to M4(2) and M4(3) standards.

The government will shortly set out its policies on accessible new build housing, reinforcing our commitment to ensuring everyone has access to a safe, suitable home.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the efficacy of the dry weather flow data for determining impact on waste water treatment works of increased housing.

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

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that strategic policies should set out an overall strategy for the pattern, scale and design quality of places and make sufficient provision for infrastructure for transport, telecommunications, security, waste management, water supply, wastewater, flood risk and coastal change management, and the provision of minerals and energy (including heat).

Dry weather flow (DWF) at wastewater treatment works is the amount of wastewater (sewage) entering the works without any contribution from rainfall or snowmelt.

It is used to calculate the polluting load entering the works and to set environmental permits to protect the environment. DWF is measured using calibrated and independently certified and inspected flow meters 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Water companies must track flows entering the works in line with permit requirements and use this information to plan for growth.

Water companies must prepare, publish and maintain a Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan (DWMP, also called a Drainage and Sewerage Management Plan) setting out the actions they intend to take to secure wastewater service provision, now and into the future. These plans identify the current and future investment need to ensure sufficient capacity enables their assets continue to meet DWF permit compliance, and to address the pressures of growth and climate change. The next statutory DWMPs are expected to be published in 2027/8.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to respond to the letter of 17 February 2025 from the hon. Member for Henley and Thame on the ongoing closure of the Thames Path National Trail at Marsh Lock near Henley on Thames.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

This is not the responsibility of this Department and I gather the Member has already received a response from DEFRA.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the NHS National Program for IT.

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

The final cost and benefits statement for the programmes delivered under the National Programme for Information Technology was published on 6 June 2013, and can be found online on the GOV.UK website.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support the recruitment of qualified learning support assistants.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The government values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce. School support staff, including learning support assistants, play a vital role in children’s education. They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.

The School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) will mean that employers and employee representatives come together to negotiate terms and conditions and pay for school support staff, to ensure that support staff are properly recognised and rewarded for the work they do. The body will also be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook and advising on suitable training and career progression routes that recognise the varied and vital roles support staff undertake.

The SSSNB will help address recruitment and retention challenges state-funded schools are facing for support staff. This, in turn, will support work to drive high and rising standards in schools and ensure we give children the best possible life chances.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter of 12th February 2025 from the Hon. Member for Henley and Thame on a meeting to discuss the ongoing closure of the Thames Path National Trail at the Marsh Lock Horsebridge in Henley-on-Thames.

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

The Department has not received the hon. Member’s aforementioned letter of 12 February 2025; however, it did respond on 3 March 2025 to the hon. Member’s letter of 6 February 2025 regarding the Thames Path National Trail at the Marsh Lock Horsebridge. The Department was also transferred the hon Member’s letter of 17 February to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care regarding the same topic, which was closed in light of the 3 March response. A further letter from the hon Member dated 10 March has been received and will receive a response as soon as possible.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter of 17 February 2025 from the hon. Member for Henley and Thame on the closure of the Thames Path National Trail at the Marsh Lock Horsebridge in Henley on Thames.

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

The Department has not received the hon. Member’s aforementioned letter of 12 February 2025; however, it did respond on 3 March 2025 to the hon. Member’s letter of 6 February 2025 regarding the Thames Path National Trail at the Marsh Lock Horsebridge. The Department was also transferred the hon Member’s letter of 17 February to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care regarding the same topic, which was closed in light of the 3 March response. A further letter from the hon Member dated 10 March has been received and will receive a response as soon as possible.

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 trends in the level of NHS trusts having electronic records.

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

No assessment of these trends has been made. Currently, we have achieved a 91% rollout of Electronic Patient Records (EPR), with work underway to provide tailored support to the remaining 19 trusts that do not yet have an EPR.

The programme is forecasting to achieve 96% EPR coverage by the programme’s end in March 2026, with the remaining 4% of trusts having advanced in their plans for an EPR.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of levels of young people dying from sudden cardiac death in (a) England and (b) other European countries; and what steps he plans to take to reduce levels of sudden cardiac death in young people.

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

The treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease is a priority for the Government. We want people to have the best chance of survival from cardiac arrest, and rapid intervention is central to improving outcomes. NHS England has published a national service specification for inherited cardiac conditions that covers patients who often present as young adults with a previously undiagnosed cardiac disease or from families requiring a follow up due to a death from this cause.  Further information on the national service specification for inherited cardiac conditions is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cardiology-inherited-cardiac-conditions.pdf

The service specification describes the service model and guidance that should be followed to support the diagnosis and treatment of patients or family members. It also includes the requirement for specialised inherited cardiac conditions services to investigate suspected cases. NHS England is currently reviewing this service specification in line with the national service specification methods review process. NHS England is working with a broad range of stakeholders as part of this review, including National Health Service clinical experts, the Association of Inherited Cardiac Conditions, Cardiomyopathy UK, Heart Valve Voice, and the British Heart Foundation.

The consensus at present is to focus on the rapid identification and care of people who are likely to be at risk of sudden cardiac death and automated external defibrillator use for people who suffer a cardiac arrest.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to make water companies statutory consultees in all planning applications.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to make a decision on the final business case submitted by Chiltern Railways.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department will continue to work closely with Chiltern Railways to support delivery of its train fleet renewal programme and to finalise the commercial arrangements attached to the rolling stock business case in order to deliver an improved experience for passengers from 2026.

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 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the suitability of the EQ-5D questionnaire as tool for measuring caregiver quality of life improvements.

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

I regularly meet with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues. The NICE is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in its health technology evaluations. The NICE’s health technology evaluations manual, which was last updated in 2022 following extensive stakeholder engagement, states that its preferred measure for capturing health-related quality of life data in its health technology evaluations, whether for patients or caregivers, is the EQ-5D. The NICE can accept data using other measures, if evidence is provided that the EQ-5D is inappropriate. The NICE is aware of external work exploring how to better account for caregiver effects in health economic evaluations, for example through the work of the SHEER Task Force, and will continue to monitor and actively encourage further work in this area to potentially inform its methods in the future.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to make provision for grampian conditions to apply to any housing development planning applications where Ofwat has opened enforcement cases on the delayed delivery of environmental improvement schemes.

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

My Department is working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to ensure necessary water infrastructure is in place to support the housing the country needs.

If there are firm infrastructure plans in place, our planning practice guidance is clear that local planning authorities can grant planning permission with Grampian conditions linked to those plans to help developers bring forward the development.

Strategic planning for water infrastructure is being considered as part of the independent commission on the water sector regulatory system, as announced by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 23 October 2024.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contribution on (a) local animal shelters, (b) other small charities and (c) the whole charitable sector; and what steps she is taking to help mitigate the impact on that sector.

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

DCMS Ministers have met with representatives from the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector to discuss this issue and are aware of their concerns about the impacts of the increase to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs). The government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that more than half of businesses (including charities) with NICs liabilities will either gain or see no change next year.

We are also expanding eligibility of the Employment Allowance by removing the £100,000 eligibility threshold, to simplify and reform employer NICs so that all eligible employers now benefit. Businesses and charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.

Within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving. More than £6 billion in charitable reliefs was provided to charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs and their donors in 2023 to 2024. The biggest individual reliefs provided are Gift Aid at £1.6 billion and business rates relief at nearly £2.4 billion.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the (a) adequacy of the entry criteria for the Innovative Medicines Fund and (b) whether these present barriers to patients accessing medicines in areas of high unmet need.

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

The Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) was launched in June 2022, building on the successful Cancer Drugs Fund and supporting patient access to the most promising new medicines while further evidence is collected on their use to address clinical uncertainty.

The IMF’s principles ensure that patients can access promising but still clinically uncertain medicines while supplementary data is collected over a time limited period, to allow for more informed decision making about patient access and long-term National Health Service funding.

Since the IMF was established in June 2022, over 1,050 patients have been registered to receive treatment with 16 products, treating 16 different conditions. NHS England has made interim funding available via the IMF for 14 products, and two products have been recommended for managed access across three indications in the IMF.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to respond to the letter of 4 February 2025 from the hon. Member for Henley and Thames on the Stop Killing Games Campaign.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

My Department has provided a response to the Hon Member. The Government has also responded to a recent petition on this issue.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce the levels of tax evasion by of cash-only high street businesses and (b) support small businesses to adopt card payment systems.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC is committed to ensuring the tax system operates fairly and efficiently, creating a level playing field for compliant businesses. Most businesses pay what they owe, but a minority fail to register or only declare a portion of their earnings for tax. This minority deprives our vital public services of funding, affects fair competition between businesses, and places unfair burdens on everyone else.

Cash is a legitimate means of paying for goods and services and continues to be used by many people across the UK. The Government’s position is that individuals and businesses can choose whether to accept or decline any form of payment, and this choice can be based on factors such as customer preference and cost. If a person or business receives cash payments, it is their responsibility to ensure they meet their tax obligations, including registering for and paying the right taxes.

At the autumn budget in October 2024 the government introduced the most ambitious package ever to close the tax gap, raising £6.5 billion in additional tax revenue per year by 2029-30. The government built on this at Spring Statement in March 2025, announcing a package of measures to further close the tax gap and raise over £1 billion in additional gross tax revenue per year by 2029-30.

HMRC’s approach to tax compliance includes a range of activities that aim to both detect and tackle current non-compliance and change future behaviours. We aim to help and support customers to understand their tax obligations and promoting compliance by simplifying policies and procedures, providing clear guidance to make it easy for them to get things right, providing accessible digital services to make it easier to register to pay the appropriate taxes, providing targeted support and guidance, and intervening early to reduce mistakes.

HMRC are making it increasingly difficult for people and businesses to hide their income, using improved targeting with new data sources, third-party data and focused compliance activity. We will not hesitate to use stronger sanctions against those who deliberately choose not to comply. This includes potential criminal prosecutions for the most serious cases involving tax evasion.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting (a) GP surgeries, (b) social care providers, (c) hospices, (d) NHS dentists, (e) charitable providers, and (f) pharmacies from the increase in employer's National Insurance contributions.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government has taken a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability after the situation we inherited from the previous administration.

The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance costs only. This does not include support for the private sector, including private sector firms contracted by central or local government.

This is the usual approach Government takes to supporting the public sector with additional employer NICs costs, as was the case with the previous government’s Health and Social Care Levy.

As a result of this measure, along with others announced at Budget, the NHS will receive an extra £22.6 billion increase in resource spending which will benefit employers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2025 to Question 35545 on Environment Protection: Henley-on-Thames, if he will hold discussions with Ofwat on the adequacy of the progress on the improvement scheme at Horton-cum-Studley sewage treatment by Thames Water.

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

My officials and I have regular conversations with Ofwat and other regulators, to discuss a range of activities, including delivery by water companies.

Ahead of Price Review 24 (PR24), funding investment works through 2025 – 2030, the Horton-cum-Studley site has had further works identified to meet the government’s targets by reducing spills to no more than 10 per year and causing no adverse ecological impact. The exact delivery date of these works is officially to be confirmed.

In February 2025 Ofwat opened an enforcement case into Thames Water to investigate whether its delayed delivery of environmental improvements schemes has meant the company has breached its obligations. The focus of that investigation is schemes that were intended to be delivered in the 2020-25 period. Ofwat's investigation will keep under review if there is any further action to take in relation to the delivery of schemes planned for the PR24 period (2025-30).

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the ringfenced £340 million budget for the Innovative Medicines Fund has been spent in each year since its launch in June 2022.

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

The Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) was established to provide a funding mechanism for promising non-cancer medicines recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for a period of managed access to address uncertainties in the evidence base. Up to £340 million has been available each financial year to support funding of medicines through the IMF. Expenditure in 2023/24 was £2 million.

The relatively low level of expenditure within the IMF for 2023/24 reflects the high proportion of topics assessed by NICE as having potential for managed access which have gone on to secure a positive recommendation for routine commissioning, therefore bypassing the need for further data collection and reappraisal through the IMF.

The remainder of the IMF budget is used to support pressures in the overall specialised commissioning budget and is reported as part of the overall financial position.

Found: Q9 Chair: We have an application from Sarah Edwards, Lizzi Collinge and Freddie van Mierlo for a debate

Found: _NC2 Dame Caroline Dinenage Vikki Slade Tim Farron Mike Martin Ellie Chowns Freddie van Mierlo

Found: _NC2 Dame Caroline Dinenage Vikki Slade Tim Farron Mike Martin Ellie Chowns Freddie van Mierlo

Found: _NC2 Dame Caroline Dinenage Vikki Slade Tim Farron Mike Martin Ellie Chowns Freddie van Mierlo

Found: Christine Jardine Abtisam Mohamed Alex Brewer Richard Burgon Dr Simon Opher Zarah Sultana Freddie van Mierlo