Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether Ministers are considering sanctions against high ranking Georgian officials under the Chemical Weapons (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the response given on 8 December 2025 to question 96635. We do not comment on potential future sanctions designations as to do so could reduce their impact.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions the Government has had with representatives of the United States on the pricing of medicines for the NHS in the last six months.

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

The pharmaceutical sector and the innovative medicines it produces are critical to our national interest, helping people to access life changing treatments, reducing pressure on the health service over the longer-term, and ensuring we have a National Health Service that is fit for the future.

Thanks to the strength of our relationship with the United States, we have secured the first and only deal with them that delivers 0% tariffs on pharmaceutical products, the lowest rate offered to any country. This deal secures the United Kingdom’s access to and supply of medicines for tens of thousands of patients while safeguarding our supply chain and ensuring groundbreaking new treatments will reach the NHS front line quicker. It also delivers mitigations on the US’ ‘Most Favoured Nation’ policy and preferential terms for UK MedTech exports, helping expand access innovative treatments for patients and driving crucial investment in the UK.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many private hire vehicles and drivers licensed by out-of-area authorities have been recorded as operating in (a) Hampshire and (b) Surrey in the most recent period for which data is available.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Department for Transport does not hold this data.

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 27th May to Baroness Hayman’s letter, when her Department expects to introduce legislation to enact a ban on trail hunting, and whether a timeline has been agreed for this work.

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

This Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting in line with our manifesto commitment. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and we will consult on how to deliver a ban in the new year. Legislation will be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the accessibility of Enhertu as a treatment for breast cancer.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are made on the basis of recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) following an evaluation of a treatment’s costs and benefits. These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is important that they are made independently and on the basis of the available evidence.

NICE has recommended Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) in advanced breast cancer for treating HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic breast cancer after one or more anti-HER 2 treatments and for treating HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic breast cancer after two or more anti-HER2 therapies. Enhertu is now funded for eligible patients in England in line with NICE’s recommendations.

NICE published guidance in July 2024 on the use of Enhertu for the treatment of HER-2 low metastatic and unresectable breast cancer and was unfortunately unable to recommend it for routine NHS funding. I understand that NICE and NHS England sought to apply as much flexibility as they can in their considerations of Enhertu for HER2-low breast cancer and have made it clear to the companies that their pricing of the drug remains the only obstacle to access.

Ministers met with the manufacturers of Enhertu, AstraZeneca, and Daiichi Sankyo in November 2024, to encourage them to re-engage in commercial discussions with NHS England. Despite NICE and NHS England offering unprecedented flexibilities, the companies were unable to offer Enhertu at a cost-effective price. NICE’s guidance published in July 2024 will therefore remain unchanged. Although the deadline for a rapid review has now passed, NICE has reassured me that the door remains open for the companies to enter into a new NICE appraisal if they are willing to offer Enhertu at a cost-effective price.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase specialist capacity for complex and rare connective tissue disorders.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the significant challenges faced by those living with complex and rare connective tissue disorders such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). Optimal management of these conditions is across services beginning with primary care, including various services and pathways within primary and intermediate care, which allows for appropriate identification of those patients who have the rarer and more complex manifestations and appropriate resources for them. Integrated care boards have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the needs of their local population, including for those with complex and rare connective tissue disorders.

A primary goal of the Complex EDS Service, which is commissioned by NHS England, is to educate referring doctors about the diagnosis, investigation, and management of patients with complex and atypical forms of EDS. While the service focuses on rare types and accepts referrals from secondary and tertiary care, its development of guidelines and educational initiatives also benefits general practitioners who are on the front line of patient care.

Under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the government is working to improve coordination of care across all rare conditions including rare connective tissue disorders.

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 reduce waiting times for ADHD medication.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

NHS England established an ADHD taskforce which brought together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing timely and equitable access to services and support. We are pleased that the taskforce's final report was published in November 2025, and we are carefully considering its recommendations.

For the first time, NHS England published management information on ADHD waits at a national level on 29 May 2025 as part of its ADHD data improvement plan; it will soon release technical guidance to ICBs to improve recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.

My rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced on 4 December 2025 the launch of an Independent Review into Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism. This independent review will inform our approach to enabling people with ADHD and autistic people to have the right support to enable them to live well in their communities.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how many applications for permission to seek a new inquest under section 13 of the Coroners Act 1988 have been granted in each of the past five years.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Our records indicate that the following number of fiats were granted in each of the last five years:
2021 – 4
2022 – 4
2023 – 11
2024 – 6
2025 – 14 to date.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to review the use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to ensure it can effectively detect vehicles with obscured or altered number plates.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

No assessment of potential financial losses as a result of vehicles using obscured or false number plates has been made.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime.

The DVLA is part of the British Standard Institute (BSI) committee that has recently reviewed the current standard for number plates. The proposed amendments are intended to stop the production of number plates with raised characters and will prevent easy access to plates with ‘ghost’ characteristics. The proposals will also prevent suppliers from adding acrylic letters and numbers to the surface of the number, meaning any finished number plate must be flat. The proposed changes have been subject to a public consultation which closed on 13 December 2025. Officials are also considering options to ensure a more robust, auditable process which would enable tighter checks on number plate suppliers.

Standards on the use of automated number plate reader technology is a matter for the Home Office which issues guidance on its use as part of the National ANPR Standards for Policing and Law Enforcement (NASPLE).

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate the Government has made of the financial losses suffered by businesses as a result of vehicles using obscured or false number plates to commit fuel theft or evade charges.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

No assessment of potential financial losses as a result of vehicles using obscured or false number plates has been made.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime.

The DVLA is part of the British Standard Institute (BSI) committee that has recently reviewed the current standard for number plates. The proposed amendments are intended to stop the production of number plates with raised characters and will prevent easy access to plates with ‘ghost’ characteristics. The proposals will also prevent suppliers from adding acrylic letters and numbers to the surface of the number, meaning any finished number plate must be flat. The proposed changes have been subject to a public consultation which closed on 13 December 2025. Officials are also considering options to ensure a more robust, auditable process which would enable tighter checks on number plate suppliers.

Standards on the use of automated number plate reader technology is a matter for the Home Office which issues guidance on its use as part of the National ANPR Standards for Policing and Law Enforcement (NASPLE).

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure continuity and improvement of national cancer awareness campaigns following the abolition of NHS England, including plans to raise awareness of the symptoms of gynaecological cancers and support earlier diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

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

Early diagnosis of cancer remains a key priority for the Government. The Government will continue to work to ensure that the public is aware of cancer symptoms, especially for cancers such as ovarian cancer, which are harder to detect in the early stages.

We will work to ensure a smooth transition during the merger of NHS England and the Department, so that the public continues to have access to high-quality cancer care.

Found: Gregory Stafford: I do understand that.

Found: funding of youth services • Andrew Lewin: Closer trading relationship with the European Union • Gregory Stafford

Found: Beccy Cooper; Jen Craft; Josh Fenton-Glynn; Andrew George; Paulette Hamilton; Alex McIntyre; Gregory Stafford

Submit Evidence (by 13 Feb 2026)

The Committee is holding an inquiry into what is needed from the NHS estate to deliver the Government’s vision of a ‘Neighbourhood Health Service’ — shifting care from hospitals to integrated, preventative services in local communities.