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 take up of flu vaccinations so far this year.

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

For England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes provisional vaccine uptake data throughout the flu season. Weekly national level data for general practice (GP) patients is available from October to January, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2025-to-2026-season

Monthly national and regional level data for GP patients, school-aged children, and frontline healthcare workers is available from October to January. The first monthly data for the 2025 to 2026 season includes all vaccinations given between 1 September to 31 October 2025, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figures

Compared with the equivalent time period last season, from 2024 to 2025, influenza vaccine uptake is higher in two and three year olds, school-aged children, pregnant women, and frontline healthcare workers, and for those who are aged 65 years old and over and those in clinical at-risk groups, uptake is comparable, with a less than a 1% difference.

Final end of season data is published in the annual reports in late spring, with data available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figures

Annual reports contain final end of season data from multiple previous seasons.

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 trends in the levels of life expectancy in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham; and what progress is being made to improve outcomes.

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

Life expectancy estimates for England and sub-national areas are produced by the Office for National Statistics and are available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/bulletins/lifeexpectancyforlocalareasoftheuk/between2001to2003and2022to2024

Following falls in 2020, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, life expectancy has since increased for both sexes in England, Greater Manchester, and Oldham. For both sexes, life expectancy in each of these areas in 2024 was similar to pre-pandemic estimates for 2019. Life expectancy in Greater Manchester and Oldham remains significantly lower than in England.

The Government is committed to addressing health inequalities through a comprehensive, long-term, and collaborative approach, rooted in the priorities outlined in the Government's 10-Year Health Plan. This includes an ambition to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions, while raising healthy life expectancy for everyone. Central to this is a shift from treating illness to prioritising prevention, thereby ensuring that every individual, regardless of background or financial circumstance, has the opportunity for better health outcomes.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the cost of building materials on house building costs.

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

Construction costs have increased 52% over the past ten years. Prices are now stable, rising only 1% between January 2024 and January 2025.

We are taking urgent action to support housebuilding and meet our mission to build 1.5m homes through bold planning reforms and a record £39bn investment to kickstart social and affordable housebuilding at scale across the country.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department have had with police forces about effective detection and enforcement of crimes where electric bikes are used as a means of offence and escape.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is determined to crack down on snatch theft and other crimes, including those facilitated by mopeds and e-bikes, that make people feel unsafe in our communities.

The police have a suite of powers available to them to tackle the illegal use of vehicles including e-bikes and the Government expects police to deploy them appropriately.

The Crime and Policing Bill will give police greater powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour involving vehicles including e-bikes, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizure. This will allow police to put an immediate stop to offending.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of (a) police officers (b) PCSOs and (c) support staff remaining on restrictive duties pending an investigation for misconduct in England.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office does not hold information on the number of police officers and staff currently on restricted duties pending an investigation for misconduct.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of children who have an unmet SEND need in England.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The requested information is not held by the department.

The department publishes information on the number and proportion of pupils with special educational needs as at January each year. The latest information available indicates that 19.5% of pupils have special educational needs (SEN) support or an education, health and care (EHC) plan. This publication, from January 2025, is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2024-25.

It may also be useful to note that the Education Policy Institute has conducted research on a longitudinal dataset that gathers information on SEN support and EHC plan status for pupils who started school in 2008 and reached Year 11 in 2019. This research indicates that 37% of these pupils were recorded as having SEN support or an EHC plan at some point during this period. Their report is available at: https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/SEND-Final-Report-version-FINAL-04.02.2024-2.pdf.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the government has made an assessment of the trends in the range and take up of lifelong learning and evening class courses since 2015.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government recognises the importance of lifelong learning, funding a range of courses across further education (FE) and higher education (HE) for adult learners.

We do not collect data on delivery mechanisms in FE. Part-time and full-time data for HE is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/higher-level-learners-in-england/2023-24.

We allow providers the flexibility to decide how to offer provision, including when and how courses should be offered. Provision can be offered in a range of different ways to meet the needs of learners, for example Tailored Learning, primarily non-qualification-based provision tailored to the needs of learners, and which may be delivered in evenings.

The Adult Skills Fund fully funds or co-funds courses for eligible adults aged 19 and over from pre-entry to level 3 and supports four statutory entitlements to full funding.

We are also introducing the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, which will provide greater flexibility for individuals of all ages to study on terms that suit their needs.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of local and regional press and media monopolies on the adequacy of levels of varied and balanced reporting.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government remains committed to a pluralistic media landscape. A free, strong and plural media plays an essential role in democracy. It is a key source of trustworthy information and plays a vital role in holding power and public institutions to account.

Under the Enterprise Act 2002’s newspaper merger regime, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has a quasi-judicial role and can intervene on public interest grounds to refer a merger to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), subject to a jurisdictional test. These public interest grounds for intervention include plurality of views and plurality of persons with control, within the United Kingdom, or a part of the United Kingdom.

More broadly, the Government is concerned about the sustainability of local journalism and DCMS is developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. We recognise that the industry has faced significant financial challenges for some time, and consolidation and mergers have been a part of the response in order to keep many struggling titles open. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, reporting on the issues that matter to communities in a varied and balanced way, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story. More will be announced on the Strategy in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will regulate the commercial use of copyright protected material by generative AI.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

This is a complex and evolving area. The government’s priority is to get this right - not legislate prematurely. We have said that we won’t act unless that action works for creators. We continue to engage with a range of stakeholders across sectors, and with parliament as we consider all options. This includes engagement through our technical working groups and the parliamentary working group chaired by the DCMS and DSIT Secretaries of State. We will also publish an economic impact assessment and a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems, by 18 March 2026.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) plumbers, (b) electricians, (c) joiners, (d) bricklayers and (e) plasterers are forecast to leave and join the labour market in each year to 2030.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department does not hold up to date data on the numbers of (a) plumbers, (b) electricians, (c) joiners, (d) bricklayers and (e) plasterers leaving and joining the labour market. The CITB (Construction Industry Training Board) does produce the Construction Workforce Outlook for England which projects the growth in these occupations from 2024 to 2029 and is available here: https://www.citb.co.uk/cwo/reports/cwo_report_england.pdf.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many additional urgent dentist appointments will be provided in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) Oldham this year.

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

We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from April 2025.

Appointments are available across the country, with specific expectations for each region. These appointments are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. Data on delivery of urgent dental care, including additional delivery, will be published annually as part of the NHS Dental Statistics England Official Statistics series. These statistics are released each August and are the primary source of data on the delivery of NHS dental care.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of education in schools relating to toxic masculinity and misogyny; and what steps her Department is taking to improve culture and behaviours and to promote positive male role models.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Every parent should be able to trust that their child is safe at school, online and in their relationships. But too often toxic ideas are taking hold early and going unchallenged. In December 2025, this government published a new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. We want to protect young people and drive forward education on healthy relationships, and we will be investing £11 million to pilot the best interventions in schools over the next three years.

The updated relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education, significantly strengthens content including an emphasis on building healthy relationships skills from the start of primary school, focusing on kindness and respect. Pupils are expected to develop an understanding of the concepts and laws around misogyny, sexual harassment and sexual violence, including recognising sexism and misogyny and how to report abuse.

It emphasises opening conversations with young people about positive conceptions of masculinity and femininity, including how to identify and learn from positive male role models.

Through a whole school approach, positive action should be taken to build a culture where misogynistic attitudes and behaviour are not tolerated, and any occurrences are identified and tackled.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the financial viability of community pharmacies in England.

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

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. This work was published on the Frontier Economics website on 28 March 2025.

The findings of this analysis were considered as part of the consultation with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) on the changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors in 2025/26. Following this most recent consultation, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework was increased to £3.1 billion for 2025/26. This represented the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS at the time, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

As is custom and practice, the Department will consult CPE on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors in due course. Indicators of financial viability are regularly reviewed by the Department ahead of any such consultation, in addition to the representations of CPE.