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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking with the Department of Health and Social Care to reduce the number of people discharged from NHS care into homelessness.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

In January 2024, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health and Social Care published Discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, guidance to help staff plan safe discharges and prevent homelessness after NHS care.

We will look closely at the issue of people being discharged from NHS care into homelessness in our cross-government Homelessness Strategy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the full modelling and cost-effectiveness analyses underpinning the JCVI’s advice on COVID-19 vaccination eligibility for winter 2025–26, including the assumptions used on transmission, hospitalisation, mortality, and productivity losses.

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

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI) advice on COVID-19 vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026 was published on 13 November 2024. The JCVI met in September and October 2024 to formulate this advice, carefully considering the evidence on risk of illness, hospitalisation, or death as a consequence of infection, vaccine effectiveness and safety, and modelling and cost-effectiveness analysis. The minutes of these meetings, including a summary of the evidence considered, were made publicly available on the GOV.UK website in November 2024, and are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation

The cost-effectiveness analysis of COVID-19 vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026 was carried out by the University of Warwick. This was published in the peer-reviewed academic journal ‘Vaccine’ in April 2025 by Keeling et al, including with a detailed description of the methodology and assumptions used, and is available at the following link:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X25002452

As per the JCVI Code of Practice, productivity losses were not included in this cost-effectiveness analysis.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of hospitals delivering specialist multi-disciplinary teams for patients experiencing homelessness.

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

The Department published guidance in 2024 called Discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness to support the care transfer hub, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness

This guidance recognises the necessity for multi-disciplinary teams. It recommends that dedicated housing options officers are embedded within the care transfer hub and advises hospitals treating over 200 homeless patients a year to offer access to a specialist multi-disciplinary homeless discharge team.

Some areas of the country have introduced High Intensity Use Services to proactively meet the needs of the most frequent attenders of the local accident and emergency, a significant portion of whom are experiencing homelessness. These services include multi-disciplinary teams that are helping to address health inequalities faced by this cohort while alleviating pressure on urgent and emergency care pathway,

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s recommendation to narrow eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccination programme in 2025–26 on public health and the economy.

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

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, resulting in hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19.

The JCVI has advised that population immunity to COVID-19 has been increasing due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity following recovery from infection and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 having reduced significantly since COVID-19 first emerged.

The focus of the JCVI advised programme has therefore moved towards targeted vaccination of the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality. These are the oldest adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed. The Government has accepted the JCVI’s advice for autumn 2025 and in line with this, a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to the following groups:

- adults aged 75 years old and over;

- residents in care homes for older adults; and

- individuals aged six months and over who are immunosuppressed.

Under their standard cost-effectiveness approach, the JCVI considers a vaccination programme cost effective if the health benefits are greater than the opportunity costs. The Department does not ask the JCVI to complete an assessment of the wider economic benefits of a vaccination programme.

As for all vaccines, the JCVI keeps the evidence under regular review.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data he holds on NHS spending on external consultants for (a) compliance and (b) the recovery of Value Added Tax.

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

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care does not hold detailed data which can identify consultancy spending for compliance and the recovery of Value Added Tax.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS providers are making use of the NHS barcode.

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

NHS England figures show that 81 trusts in England use National Health Service number barcodes on patient identification wrist bands. This total includes a mix of trusts compliant with the former ISB 1077 and the current DCB1077 standard, a standard which supports the accurate, timely, and safer identification of NHS patients in England, by using barcodes for positive patient identification. 37 trusts, of the 81 trusts, are compliant with the current DCB1077 standard.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of legislation regarding VAT and the NHS following the First-tier Tribunal's ruling in the case of Isle of Wight NHS Trust v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 1114 (TC).

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government is carefully considering the impact of the Isle of Wight decision on the VAT treatment of the supply of temporary medical staff.

HMRC will publish updated guidance in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to ensure income generated from speed enforcement is spent on roads maintenance and roads policing.

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

The Department for Transport currently has no plans to bring forward proposals that would allow income generated from speed enforcement to fund specific road maintenance or road policing measures. Money from fines and penalty receipts, including those for speeding, is paid to the Treasury and goes into the Consolidated Fund.

The Consolidated Fund supports general expenditure on public services, which includes services that benefit motorists, such as policing, local government grants, and transport.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 90914 on NHS: Software.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 December 2025 to Question 90914.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will update guidance to allow 30mph speed limit repeater signs on roads with street lighting.

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

The Department has no plans to update legislation to allow 30mph speed limit repeater signs on roads with street lighting. Repeater signing is not used on street lit roads subject to a 30mph speed limit because the lamp columns act as the repeaters. Guidance is provided in rule 124 of the Highway Code. This has been law for over 70 years and all drivers are required to learn this in order to pass their driving test.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Single Living Accommodation units in each UK local authority area have recorded Legionella, in each year since 2018.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Information on the number of cases of Legionella recorded in Single Living Accommodation (SLA) in each year since 2018 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Further to my response to the hon Member's Question 91487 answered on 25 November 2025, following further review of the information, the answer provided gave the quantity of Legionella tests undertaken and not confirmed cases of Legionella.

The Ministry of Defence’s contractor VIVO took over responsibility for maintaining SLA within the Future Defence Infrastructure Services, Southwest contract in February 2022, data prior to this date is not held.

The below table shows that there have been no Legionella positive samples within SLA in Shropshire and North Shropshire between February 2022 to date:

The remaining data provided for Question 91487 remains unchanged.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessments his department has made of the predicted total cost of UK-US pharmaceutical deal on the NHS budget.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to expand BRCA testing to men, including those with male relatives of confirmed BRCA carriers.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to fund the UK-US pharmaceutical deal.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (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.

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 improve (a) monitoring of the medicine supply chain and (b) verification of medicines.

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

The resilience of the United Kingdom’s supply chains is a key priority, and the Department and NHS England are committed to helping to build long term supply chain resilience for medicines. We are continually learning and seeking to improve the way we work to both manage and help prevent supply issues and avoid shortages. The Department, working closely with NHS England, is taking forward a range of actions to improve our ability to mitigate and manage shortages and strengthen our resilience. As part of that work, we continue to engage with industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and other colleagues across the supply chain as we progress work to co-design and deliver solutions. However, medicine shortages are a complex and global issue and everyone in the supply chain has a role to play in addressing them, as any action will require a collaborative approach.

We proactively monitor of supply and demand where there are particular concerns or threats to supply and as part of the management of live issues.

Potential disruption can also be identified early through targeted monitoring around specific events or risks. For example, growing demand and challenges in forecasting disease rates during winter, combined with broader strains on healthcare, can put extra pressure on already stressed supply chains. For the past two winters, the Department and NHS England set up a winter monitoring group to proactively monitor, analyse, and assess demand trends for a specified subset of medicines most likely to be needed. These medicines were identified by analysing historical demand data, together with known supply constraints and clinical criticality.

While manufacturers are not mandated to put verification barcodes on products, they are able to do so. This can help identify medicines accurately, automate storage and retrieval, verify expiry dates and batch numbers, and ensure the right product reaches the right patient, including automated dispensing or specific checks of the products due to be administered on hospital wards.

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 leverage emerging technologies to combat falsified medicines and improve patient safety.

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

No assessment of the impact of the disapplication of the EU Falsified Medicines Directive (EU FMD) on the United Kingdom’s medicine supply chain has been made by the Department. However, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is not aware of any falsified medicines reaching patients through the legal supply chain in at least the last five years.

The MHRA leads work to combat falsified medicines and protect patient safety, including through the application of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to online and retail sales. The MHRA uses several different approaches to support its work to combat falsified medicines entering the UK supply chain, including by leveraging emerging technology, for instance:

• Its FakeMeds campaign guides the public on how to buy medicines online from safe and legitimate sources;
• suspected side effects or falsified medicines can be reported through the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme;
• it is exploring the use of artificial intelligence to proactively identify illicit internet domains for enforcement action;
• it is working with Ofcom to use the new preventative powers provided by the Online Safety Act for regulating online platforms;
• it is developing an online service enabling users to check whether a website has been classified as ‘Not Recommended’; and
• it is developing a new web-based reporting tool to allow users to report suspicious online sellers directly to its Criminal Enforcement Unit.

Any additional initiatives to use emerging technologies, such as smartphone verification scanning, would require careful consideration of the evidence of the reduction of the risk to patients, as well as investment needed for infrastructure, and further regulatory changes for manufacturers and wholesalers. There are provisions in the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 providing powers to enable the introduction of a similar system to the EU FMD with ‘safety features’ and verification in the UK. However, the powers allow us to go beyond the EU FMD and use derived data from any system for other health related purposes. For example, to support the recall of medicines, to support patient care, research, policy development, medicine supply, preventing diversion, supporting patient access to medicines, and countering fraud in primary care. However, regulations would be needed to set out the detail of any scheme, which would require consultation. Consideration is being given as to whether to consult on options for a potential UK system.

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 the impact of the disapplication of the EU Falsified Medicines Directive on the UK’s medicine supply chain.

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

No assessment of the impact of the disapplication of the EU Falsified Medicines Directive (EU FMD) on the United Kingdom’s medicine supply chain has been made by the Department. However, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is not aware of any falsified medicines reaching patients through the legal supply chain in at least the last five years.

The MHRA leads work to combat falsified medicines and protect patient safety, including through the application of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to online and retail sales. The MHRA uses several different approaches to support its work to combat falsified medicines entering the UK supply chain, including by leveraging emerging technology, for instance:

• Its FakeMeds campaign guides the public on how to buy medicines online from safe and legitimate sources;
• suspected side effects or falsified medicines can be reported through the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme;
• it is exploring the use of artificial intelligence to proactively identify illicit internet domains for enforcement action;
• it is working with Ofcom to use the new preventative powers provided by the Online Safety Act for regulating online platforms;
• it is developing an online service enabling users to check whether a website has been classified as ‘Not Recommended’; and
• it is developing a new web-based reporting tool to allow users to report suspicious online sellers directly to its Criminal Enforcement Unit.

Any additional initiatives to use emerging technologies, such as smartphone verification scanning, would require careful consideration of the evidence of the reduction of the risk to patients, as well as investment needed for infrastructure, and further regulatory changes for manufacturers and wholesalers. There are provisions in the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 providing powers to enable the introduction of a similar system to the EU FMD with ‘safety features’ and verification in the UK. However, the powers allow us to go beyond the EU FMD and use derived data from any system for other health related purposes. For example, to support the recall of medicines, to support patient care, research, policy development, medicine supply, preventing diversion, supporting patient access to medicines, and countering fraud in primary care. However, regulations would be needed to set out the detail of any scheme, which would require consultation. Consideration is being given as to whether to consult on options for a potential UK system.

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 the efficacy of smartphone-enabled barcode scanning in the verification of medicines.

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

No assessment of the impact of the disapplication of the EU Falsified Medicines Directive (EU FMD) on the United Kingdom’s medicine supply chain has been made by the Department. However, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is not aware of any falsified medicines reaching patients through the legal supply chain in at least the last five years.

The MHRA leads work to combat falsified medicines and protect patient safety, including through the application of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to online and retail sales. The MHRA uses several different approaches to support its work to combat falsified medicines entering the UK supply chain, including by leveraging emerging technology, for instance:

• Its FakeMeds campaign guides the public on how to buy medicines online from safe and legitimate sources;
• suspected side effects or falsified medicines can be reported through the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme;
• it is exploring the use of artificial intelligence to proactively identify illicit internet domains for enforcement action;
• it is working with Ofcom to use the new preventative powers provided by the Online Safety Act for regulating online platforms;
• it is developing an online service enabling users to check whether a website has been classified as ‘Not Recommended’; and
• it is developing a new web-based reporting tool to allow users to report suspicious online sellers directly to its Criminal Enforcement Unit.

Any additional initiatives to use emerging technologies, such as smartphone verification scanning, would require careful consideration of the evidence of the reduction of the risk to patients, as well as investment needed for infrastructure, and further regulatory changes for manufacturers and wholesalers. There are provisions in the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 providing powers to enable the introduction of a similar system to the EU FMD with ‘safety features’ and verification in the UK. However, the powers allow us to go beyond the EU FMD and use derived data from any system for other health related purposes. For example, to support the recall of medicines, to support patient care, research, policy development, medicine supply, preventing diversion, supporting patient access to medicines, and countering fraud in primary care. However, regulations would be needed to set out the detail of any scheme, which would require consultation. Consideration is being given as to whether to consult on options for a potential UK system.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2025 to Question 86345 on Whitchurch Station: Access, if she will announce the timeline for completion of Access for All construction at Whitchurch Railway Station.

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

We are committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognise the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.

Since 2006 the Access for All programme has installed accessible, step free routes at over 270 stations plus a range of smaller scale access improvements at around 1500 stations.

In May 2024, the previous government published a list of 50 additional stations selected for initial feasibility work, which included Whitchurch railway station.

Network Rail have now completed all 50 feasibility studies and we will shortly be announcing which of those stations will progress.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2025 to Question 86345 on Whitchurch Station: Access, when she plans to announce her Department’s decision regarding the stations selected for Access for All funding.

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

We are committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognise the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.

Since 2006 the Access for All programme has installed accessible, step free routes at over 270 stations plus a range of smaller scale access improvements at around 1500 stations.

In May 2024, the previous government published a list of 50 additional stations selected for initial feasibility work.

Network Rail have now completed all 50 feasibility studies and we will shortly be announcing which of those stations will progress.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set a target date for the implementation of a nationwide prostate cancer screening programme for men with a BRCA variant.

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

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will consider the final recommendation of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) on screening for prostate cancer when it is received. He will make a decision on implementation, including any timeline, at that point.

It is anticipated that the final recommendation will be provided in early 2026 after the conclusion of a 12 week consultation which opened on 28 November 2025. This seeks views on an evidence review and a draft recommendation to:

• offer a targeted national prostate cancer screening programme to men with confirmed BRCA1/2 gene variants every two years, from 45 years old to 61 years old;
• not recommend population screening;
• not recommend targeted screening of black men;
• not recommend targeted screening of men with family history; and
• collaborate with the Transform trial team to answer outstanding questions on screening effectiveness for black men and men with a family history as soon as the trial data becomes available, and to await the results of the study to develop and trial a more accurate test than the prostate specific antigen test alone, to improve the balance of benefit and harm of screening.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will provide guidance, resources, and risk assessment tools to general practitioners to support discussions with patients eligible for targeted prostate cancer screening.

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

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will consider the final recommendation of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) on screening for prostate cancer when it is received. At that point, he will make a decision on implementation, including any resources that may be required for general practitioners and other healthcare professionals to support his decision.

It is anticipated that the final recommendation will be provided in early 2026 after the conclusion of a 12 week consultation which opened on 28 November 2025. This seeks views on an evidence review and a draft recommendation to:

• offer a targeted national prostate cancer screening programme to men with confirmed BRCA1/2 gene variants every two years, from 45 years old to 61 years old;
• not recommend population screening;
• not recommend targeted screening of black men;
• not recommend targeted screening of men with family history; and
• collaborate with the Transform trial team to answer outstanding questions on screening effectiveness for black men and men with a family history as soon as the trial data becomes available, and to await the results of the study to develop and trial a more accurate test than the prostate specific antigen test alone, to improve the balance of benefit and harm of screening.

Winter NHS corridor care

Sewage discharge in the Severn and Avon

Tenth anniversary of Storm Desmond