Jeff Smith

The department values the contribution schools with a religious character make to a diverse school system, and it is important faith schools can set admissions criteria that work for their local circumstances.

The government set out in the ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper its intention to consult later this year on changes to the statutory School Admissions Code to reduce barriers and promote fairness for families.

Any changes to the School Admissions Code will be subject to a full public consultation and Parliamentary scrutiny.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England collects, curates, quality assures, and analyses data about people with cancer across the whole of England.

The NDRS data improvement team is working with National Health Service trusts to provide support and guidance to improve their reporting of non-primary cancers, focused on the specific recurrence and progression data fields included in the Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset. This includes updates on trust submitted recurrence data in our routine ‘diagnoses by provider’ dashboard, available on our NHS facing, secure CancerStats2 site.

The Government has set out in the National Cancer Plan for England an ambition to define and count recurrent cancers, starting with metastatic breast cancer from 2026. Existing data improvement activity within NDRS provides a foundation to support progress towards this ambition.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield on 13 January 2026 to Question 103810.

A meeting of the cross-government working group on reducing barriers to research with Schedule 1 drugs took place on 23 January. The working group is comprised of officials from the relevant government departments and regulatory bodies. The group’s role is the formulation of policy. As such its considerations are not agreed government policy and we have no plans to publish them. The Government remains committed to implementing the recommendations of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on reducing barriers to research with Schedule 1 drugs and we will publish our plans in this area in due course.

On 16 July, the Government responded to recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (‘ACMD’) on how best to reduce barriers to clinical research with Schedule 1 drugs. The Government committed to set up a cross-government working group of officials to assist with delivery of those recommendations.

The group had its first meeting in September, followed by a series of bilateral discussions between Home Office officials and the organisations represented on the working group. The next meeting is planned for January. Alongside the working group, officials have ongoing engagement with relevant officials in wider departments and agencies, and with businesses, representative organisations and researchers who are likely to benefit from the proposals. Officials have also explored with international counterparts the provisions for research with controlled drugs in their jurisdictions.

On 16 July, the Government responded to recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (‘ACMD’) on how best to reduce barriers to clinical research with Schedule 1 drugs. The Government committed to set up a cross-government working group of officials to assist with delivery of those recommendations.

The group had its first meeting in September, followed by a series of bilateral discussions between Home Office officials and the organisations represented on the working group. The next meeting is planned for January. Alongside the working group, officials have ongoing engagement with relevant officials in wider departments and agencies, and with businesses, representative organisations and researchers who are likely to benefit from the proposals. Officials have also explored with international counterparts the provisions for research with controlled drugs in their jurisdictions.