First elected: 4th July 2024
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Jonathan Davies, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Jonathan Davies has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Jonathan Davies has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Jonathan Davies has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Jonathan Davies has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Great British Nuclear (GBN) is driving forward its small modular reactor (SMR) competition for UK deployment. Following a period of detailed negotiation, bidders have now submitted final tenders, which GBN is evaluating. Final decisions will be taken this Spring.
GBN is working to a timeline that enables a robust process underpinned by fairness and transparency, and which can deliver value for the British taxpayer.
The Government is now consulting on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation sets out proposals on the maximum spend required from landlords and the exemptions regime to manage the cost burden placed on landlords and the impact on the rental market. We are considering how we can best support landlords to meet the new standards and welcome responses from landlords to the consultation.
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
The impacts, including visual, of energy infrastructure projects on the landscape are important considerations in decision-making, and the National Policy Statements (NPS) for energy set stringent requirements and standards on developers. Proposals for projects that are subject to the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 must be accompanied by an Environmental Statement describing the aspects of the environment, including landscape and visual impacts, likely to be significantly affected. The NPSs also set the criteria for good design for energy infrastructure, including consideration of visual appearance and how it relates to the landscape it sits within.
Officials continue to engage with the British Hydropower Association regarding the future role the UK’s remaining small-scale hydropower resource, including sites of historic watermills, can play in the UK energy system.
The Creative Foundations Fund (CFF) will support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. An important part of this government’s growth mission, this fund aims to strengthen the long-term economic viability of the creative and cultural industries.
This is part of this government’s ongoing commitment to ensure arts and culture are fit for the future and to ensure everyone has access to high quality institutions in the places they call home. The fund will support organisations to continue delivering creative or cultural activity, support growth and increase opportunities to develop creative skills and engage in high-quality creative work.
We have worked with the sector to understand the variety of capital needs it is facing. Through this assessment we know there is a significant urgent need for organisations at risk of closure if urgent capital works are not completed. This fund will offer vital support to prevent the closure of operating cultural spaces and the potential irrevocable loss this would have to local communities and economies. However, property purchases have been excluded from the CFF. Full eligibility details in the guidance can be found on ACE’s website.
Looking ahead, we know that the cultural sector continues to have significant capital needs. This is why the recent Spending Review committed to significant capital spend that will support cultural institutions in towns and cities across the country. Individual programme decisions will be determined in due course and made public in the usual way.
Sector reporting shows 15% of 2025 tickets on sale since April now include the levy, totaling 1.8 million tickets since January. Summer ticket sales and the establishment of the LIVE Trust should mean greater uptake by Autumn. If not, the government will reconvene the live music sector to consider legislative options.
We are urging major promoters - whose participation is crucial to the levy’s success - to act without delay, and I recently met Live Nation to encourage them to back the scheme in earnest. I would also urge every major artist to encourage their team to sign up to the levy as a matter of urgency so that at least a majority of qualifying tickets carry the levity by the end of the year.
We are committed to ensuring video games are enjoyed safely and responsibly by everyone.
Following the publication of industry-led guidance on loot boxes in video games, my Department continues to work with independent academic researchers to assess the extent of implementation by video games companies and its effectiveness in improving player protections. This work is continuing and although we do not have the precise number he requests, we will publish findings in due course.
The Government has set out its ambition for the United Kingdom to welcome 50 million international visitors per year by 2030, as part of its plans for the country to remain one of the most visited worldwide, driving economic growth. The new Visitor Economy Advisory Council has been appointed to identify ways to drive economic growth and remove barriers to opportunities in DCMS sectors.
Many tourists cite our vibrant culture and heritage offer as one of their main motivators for visiting the UK. We are providing additional support to our national museums and galleries with a 5% uplift to their budgets, along with £120m for critical estates maintenance in 2025/26, to help our most visited sites across the country to continue to be open to the world.
Our historical and creative heritage are crucial in driving tourism to all parts of the country; alongside continued Arts Council England and Local Authority investment, we are also supporting our regional museums via the new £20 million Museum Renewal Fund, and a new £25m round of the Museum Estate and Development Fund.
The Secretary of State announced a new £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund on 20 February. This will include support to museums, arts and music venues across the country and is a critical step that this Government is taking to help create jobs, boost local economies, and expand access to arts and culture for communities.
This is in addition to steps already being taken to support arts and culture via the Arts Council England (ACE). In the East Midlands, ACE is providing regular National Portfolio funding to 72 organisations from 2023-2027. This includes more than £8.7 million to nine museum services including Derby Museums and Creswell Crags. £4.8 million has been awarded to eight music organisations including Derby based Baby People and Sinfonia Viva (the orchestra of the East Midlands).
Across the East Midlands, since 2021, ACE has also awarded £37.5 million to music organisations and projects via the Grassroots Music Fund, and £7.5 million to regional museum projects via the Museum Estate and Development Fund.
In the Mid Derbyshire constituency, ACE has supported eight individual artists since 2021 through its Developing your Creative Practice grants, providing a total of £73,111 of funding across visual arts and music. ACE has also made six awards across combined arts, literature, theatre and museums in the constituency through National Lottery Grants, totalling more than £272,000.
The national curriculum provides a broad framework within which schools have the flexibility to develop the content of their own curricula. Topics related to climate change and the environment are included within the existing programmes of study for geography, science and citizenship, and Oak National Academy provides free, adaptable resources to support teachers in teaching this content well.
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is considering all subjects, including whether any changes are needed to geography, science and citizenship. Its findings and recommendations will be included in the final report that will be published in autumn.
In addition, we are developing a new GCSE in natural history. The GCSE will equip young people to understand and respect the natural world and contribute to the protection and conservation of the environment locally, nationally and internationally. An environmental science A level is also available.
The Music and Dance Scheme operates on an academic year basis.
Information is available for the final number of students with a Music and Dance Scheme bursary after the end of the academic year, in order to account for in-year starters.
The information for the 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years is in the table below. Please note the information for the 2024/25 academic year 2024/25 is provisional.
Academic year | Number of students with a Music and Dance Scheme bursary |
2020/21 | 2,139 |
2021/22 | 1,153 |
2022/23 | 2,056 |
2023/24 | 2,044 |
2024/25 | 2,074 |
On 18 March, the department announced our intention to launch a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education. A key part of the National Centre’s role will be helping schools maximise the opportunities available with and through the cultural sector, through partnerships and relationships, which both schools and cultural providers tell us is needed.
The department’s intention is to launch the National Centre in September 2026, with a delivery lead appointed through an open procurement. Further details will be released in due course.
The creative industries grew by 35.4% between 2020 and 2023, which is approximately 1.5 times the 22.3% growth rate that the UK economy experienced during the equivalent period. In 2023, the creative industries contributed over £124 billion to the economy, accounting for approximately 5.2% of the UK’s total gross value added. By widening access to a high quality arts education, the National Centre will not only enrich our children’s lives, but also support a globally respected creative economy by opening up and encouraging career paths to a new generation of musicians, artists, film-makers and creatives.
In addition to the National Centre, the department announced the intention to develop an Enrichment Framework to support schools to offer pupils high quality creative and other extracurricular activities. We will work closely on this with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, in collaboration with a panel of experts. We have committed to publishing the new Enrichment Framework by the end of 2025. Further details will be released in due course.
The government has committed £79 million per year funding for the Music Hubs programme over the last three academic years, from 2022/23 to 2024/25, and a total of £25 million capital funding for musical instruments from academic year 2024/25. Future funding for the Music Hubs programme and National Centre is subject to the ongoing spending review.
On 18 March, the department announced our intention to launch a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education. A key part of the National Centre’s role will be helping schools maximise the opportunities available with and through the cultural sector, through partnerships and relationships, which both schools and cultural providers tell us is needed.
The department’s intention is to launch the National Centre in September 2026, with a delivery lead appointed through an open procurement. Further details will be released in due course.
The creative industries grew by 35.4% between 2020 and 2023, which is approximately 1.5 times the 22.3% growth rate that the UK economy experienced during the equivalent period. In 2023, the creative industries contributed over £124 billion to the economy, accounting for approximately 5.2% of the UK’s total gross value added. By widening access to a high quality arts education, the National Centre will not only enrich our children’s lives, but also support a globally respected creative economy by opening up and encouraging career paths to a new generation of musicians, artists, film-makers and creatives.
In addition to the National Centre, the department announced the intention to develop an Enrichment Framework to support schools to offer pupils high quality creative and other extracurricular activities. We will work closely on this with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, in collaboration with a panel of experts. We have committed to publishing the new Enrichment Framework by the end of 2025. Further details will be released in due course.
The government has committed £79 million per year funding for the Music Hubs programme over the last three academic years, from 2022/23 to 2024/25, and a total of £25 million capital funding for musical instruments from academic year 2024/25. Future funding for the Music Hubs programme and National Centre is subject to the ongoing spending review.
On 18 March, the department announced our intention to launch a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education. A key part of the National Centre’s role will be helping schools maximise the opportunities available with and through the cultural sector, through partnerships and relationships, which both schools and cultural providers tell us is needed.
The department’s intention is to launch the National Centre in September 2026, with a delivery lead appointed through an open procurement. Further details will be released in due course.
The creative industries grew by 35.4% between 2020 and 2023, which is approximately 1.5 times the 22.3% growth rate that the UK economy experienced during the equivalent period. In 2023, the creative industries contributed over £124 billion to the economy, accounting for approximately 5.2% of the UK’s total gross value added. By widening access to a high quality arts education, the National Centre will not only enrich our children’s lives, but also support a globally respected creative economy by opening up and encouraging career paths to a new generation of musicians, artists, film-makers and creatives.
In addition to the National Centre, the department announced the intention to develop an Enrichment Framework to support schools to offer pupils high quality creative and other extracurricular activities. We will work closely on this with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, in collaboration with a panel of experts. We have committed to publishing the new Enrichment Framework by the end of 2025. Further details will be released in due course.
The government has committed £79 million per year funding for the Music Hubs programme over the last three academic years, from 2022/23 to 2024/25, and a total of £25 million capital funding for musical instruments from academic year 2024/25. Future funding for the Music Hubs programme and National Centre is subject to the ongoing spending review.
On 18 March, the department announced our intention to launch a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education. A key part of the National Centre’s role will be helping schools maximise the opportunities available with and through the cultural sector, through partnerships and relationships, which both schools and cultural providers tell us is needed.
The department’s intention is to launch the National Centre in September 2026, with a delivery lead appointed through an open procurement. Further details will be released in due course.
The creative industries grew by 35.4% between 2020 and 2023, which is approximately 1.5 times the 22.3% growth rate that the UK economy experienced during the equivalent period. In 2023, the creative industries contributed over £124 billion to the economy, accounting for approximately 5.2% of the UK’s total gross value added. By widening access to a high quality arts education, the National Centre will not only enrich our children’s lives, but also support a globally respected creative economy by opening up and encouraging career paths to a new generation of musicians, artists, film-makers and creatives.
In addition to the National Centre, the department announced the intention to develop an Enrichment Framework to support schools to offer pupils high quality creative and other extracurricular activities. We will work closely on this with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, in collaboration with a panel of experts. We have committed to publishing the new Enrichment Framework by the end of 2025. Further details will be released in due course.
The government has committed £79 million per year funding for the Music Hubs programme over the last three academic years, from 2022/23 to 2024/25, and a total of £25 million capital funding for musical instruments from academic year 2024/25. Future funding for the Music Hubs programme and National Centre is subject to the ongoing spending review.
Reformed mathematics and English Functional Skills qualifications (FSQs) were introduced for first teaching from September 2019. As is standard practice, the department worked alongside Ofqual to evaluate the reforms in 2023. The department’s evaluation of FSQs found that the content of the qualifications is continuing to meet the needs of employers and learners. Ofqual’s concurrent evaluation found that the assessments are appropriate against this content but that awarding organisations need to make improvements in some areas, which the regulator is acting on.
Ofqual’s evaluation did hear reports of a lack of understanding around the availability and application of reasonable adjustments, and in some cases providers reported that students were not able to access appropriate reasonable adjustments. The regulator has considered this stakeholder feedback as part of a wider review of awarding organisations’ application of reasonable adjustments in vocational and technical qualifications, with a view to improving their practice.
The National Behaviour Survey (NBS), delivered through the department’s omnibus panel surveys, is the department’s vehicle to gather evidence on pupil behaviour and to understand how it potentially impacts on learning.
The behaviour survey questions allow the department to build up a national picture over time and act as a signpost to what schools need. In May 2024, teachers reported that for every 30 minutes of lesson time, 7 minutes were lost due to misbehaviour.
The department will continue to use data from the NBS to inform future strategy and policy improvements on behaviour.
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of breaking down barriers to opportunity and improving the life chances for every child. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and to prosper.
A new Ministerial Taskforce, led by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has begun work on a child poverty strategy.
This taskforce will harness all available levers to drive forward short-term and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty, with a child poverty strategy published later this spring. Additional information regarding this strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-poverty-developing-our-strategy/tackling-child-poverty-developing-our-strategy-html.
It is important that all children can attend school in a clean, affordable uniform. School leaders are well placed to manage uniform standards, including hygiene.
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will support the innovation and professionalism of teachers, enabling them to adapt how they teach the curriculum to their students’ lives.
The Review Group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work, and publish its final report with recommendations this autumn.
The department respects the autonomy of teachers in terms of what resources they choose to use or recommend to their individual pupils, based on individual need in their own educational context and circumstances.
High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.
In recognition of this, the department has implemented a range of measures to support reading for pleasure. The English Hubs programme supports the teaching of phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure, with a further £23 million committed for the 2024/25 academic year to support this work. Furthermore, the government’s reading framework provides guidance on improving the teaching of reading, to ensure that every child is not only able to read proficiently but also develops a genuine love of reading.
On 5 February, the government announced a £2 million investment to drive high and rising standards in reading and writing. Building on the success of phonics, teachers will receive additional training to help children progress from the early stages of phonics in reception and year 1 through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school. This will be delivered through the English Hubs programme. In secondary school, teachers will be offered new training and resources this year to help them support readers at all levels, and next year the department will commission further training that will be focused specifically on struggling readers in secondary school who are at risk of falling behind. The department will also publish a writing framework in the summer, which will be a first step to support schools in delivering high quality writing provision across England.
The government has also established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will look closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people, in line with the government’s ambition for a curriculum that delivers excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics.
Headteachers have autonomy to decide how best to spend the core schools funding that the department allocates. This school funding can be used to fund books, librarians, school libraries and book corners. In Autumn Budget 2024 an additional £2.3 billion was announced for schools for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 2024/25, bringing the total core schools budget to almost £63.9 billion in 2025/26. Public libraries complement school libraries in giving pupils access to a range of books and other kinds of texts, both in and out of school.
Determining abstraction and impoundment licences for hydropower projects is a complex activity due to the wide-ranging risks to the environment and water users.
The Environment Agency has implemented several steps to streamline and improve its permitting process through a wide-ranging transformation programme across all its work areas from application acceptance through to assessment. These benefit hydropower projects and create efficiencies for the benefit of all applicants.
Specifically for water resources and hydropower, a new validation process has been introduced to quickly assess if an application is technically valid once received. The aim is for the initial assessments to be completed within 4 weeks and applicants are told if more information is required. New efficient assessment processes for staff, significantly reducing the time taken to assess applications, are being continually introduced.
Delays to the process are often caused by incorrect payments and applications with missing information. Applicants are urged to make use of the enhanced pre-application service which reduces the risk of delays and support applicants to apply for the right type of licences with the correct supporting information.
Flood risk activity permit applications are currently being allocated for assessment a maximum of 14 weeks from receipt.
For time critical applications that pose a significant risk to people or the environment, or where required for national infrastructure projects, we prioritise the assessment of the application. Currently about 40% of applications are prioritised.
A number of initiatives are underway to reduce application processing timelines, such as additional resourcing and streamlining our regulatory approach.
Determining abstraction licences for hydropower projects is a complex activity due to the risks to the environment and water users.
Hydropower application charges are based on a scheme’s output power and its risk rating. Annual subsistence charges cover costs to protect the environment and the rights of licence holders. There is no annual fee for hydropower licences for electricity production of up to 5 megawatts.
The Environment Agency (EA) does not receive any government funding to subsidise application or annual charges. The EA charging scheme sets out the charges for hydropower schemes.
This is a devolved matter with regard to Scotland and Northern Ireland; hunting with dogs is a reserved matter with respect to Wales and therefore, the information provided relates to England and Wales only.
The Government made a manifesto commitment to ban Trail Hunting as part of a set of measures to improve animal welfare. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing. Details on the implementation and enforcement of the policy are part of this policy development. Announcements will be made in due course.
Trail Hunting is a devolved matter with regard to Scotland and Northern Ireland; hunting with dogs is a reserved matter with respect to Wales and therefore, the information provided relates to England and Wales only.
The Government made a manifesto commitment to ban Trail Hunting as part of a set of measures to improve animal welfare. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing. Announcements will be made in due course.
The Government also committed to a hunting trophy import ban in its manifesto and we intend to deliver on this. We are currently engaging with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can deliver on this commitment in the most effective way.
As part of the Government’s New Deal for Farmers, it was announced that, where possible, we will back British produce, including that grown in Derbyshire. Over the next year, for the first time ever, the Government will review food currently bought in the public sector and where it is bought from. This work will start right away and be a significant first step in understanding how to capitalise on the Government’s purchasing power: informing any changes to public sector food procurement policies in due course.
In the 12 months between June 2024 and May 2025, automatic number plate recognition systems operated by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and its contractors, generated 142,031 enforcement cases for vehicles identified as being unlicensed.
The DVLA operates a comprehensive package of measures to tackle vehicle tax evasion. These range from reminder letters, penalties and court prosecutions through to the use of automatic number plate recognition systems cameras, wheel clamping and the removal of unlicensed vehicles.
The DVLA aims to make vehicle tax easy to pay but hard to avoid, ensuring processes are regularly reviewed and refined to encourage compliance and to deliver a robust enforcement regime. These measures led to an overall compliance rate of 98.7% in the last roadside survey undertaken by the Department for Transport in 2023.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency sends renewal reminders around three weeks in advance of expiry to remind and encourage vehicle keepers to renew their Vehicle Excise Duty on time.
Vehicle keepers who have a Driver and Vehicles Account can also choose to receive email or text reminders. These are issued up to 21 days in advance of the Vehicle Excise Duty expiring. If the vehicle is not relicensed further emails or texts are sent seven days before expiry, on the day of expiry, and one day after expiry.
It is important that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time.
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure that customers’ road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation, and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.
Ensuring learner drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the learning to drive process as casualties on our roads are disproportionately new drivers. Learners therefore need to pass another theory test if their two-year theory test certificate expires.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to make a licensing decision within 90 working days in 90% of cases where a medical condition(s) must be investigated before a licence can be issued. During this financial year the average time to make a licensing decision in such cases is 44 working days.
The DVLA’s online services are the quickest way to apply for a driving licence and drivers with diabetes, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, visual impairments, sleep conditions, or heart conditions can apply online. However, the DVLA is very often reliant on receiving information from third parties, including doctors, other healthcare professionals or the applicant themselves, before a decision can be made on whether to issue a driving licence. To help with this, the DVLA has introduced a simplified licence renewal process for drivers with glaucoma and some mental health conditions. This has significantly reduced the need for the DVLA to seek further information from medical professionals and enabled more licensing decisions to be made based on the information provided by the driver. The DVLA will consider including more medical conditions in this simplified process, as well as adding more medical conditions to its online channels.
The Age Addition is designed to be simple to administer. Payments are made automatically as part of the person's ongoing State Pension entitlement. The administration costs are therefore negligible.
In 2024, 474,239 letters were issued to inform people that they were now entitled to the Age Addition, costing £278,030 in printing and postage. In 24/25, the annual cost of the 25p Age Addition to the State Pension for those eligible 80+ is estimated to be £50.8m. Administrative costs therefore do not exceed the total amount paid.
Our ambitions are to reverse the trend of inactivity, and to raise both productivity and living standards whilst improving the quality of work. To help achieve this, we have set a long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate, demonstrating our commitment to bringing those furthest away from the labour market into it, increasing local labour supply. Backed by £240million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the 80% employment rate.
Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.
The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with long covid, and have range of support available so individuals can stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Measures include joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell, as well as support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants.
The Government also announced in the recent Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1billion of new funding.
Employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. The Disability Confident Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. To build on this, the Joint DWP and DHSC Work & Health Directorate is facilitating “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025.
There is no target timeframe for completing investigations into estates of deceased individuals, some cases are more complex than others and take time to conclude. The Recovery from Estates (RFE) team within Debt Management contacts executors to provide historic financial information in order to carry out posthumous reviews of benefit entitlement. This often takes time to progress, which can extend the customer journey.
There has been an increase in the number of DWP RFE cases which has impacted on the length of time to respond to customers. More staff have been trained to deal with the increase in cases and delays to customer responses are being reduced. We are also reviewing our current processes to identify any further improvements to continue to reduce the time to process RFE cases.
I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 5 December 2024 to question UIN 16635.
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.
Dr Dash’s review of patient safety across the health and care landscape was published in July 2025. It recommended that the strategic functions of Healthwatch England are transferred into the new patient experience directorate of the Department. This new directorate will be responsible for overseeing the collection of more informed feedback from both patients and carers and significantly improving the complaints function across the National Health Service. It ensures that the NHS properly manages and learns from complaints.
The abolition of Healthwatch England, the transfer of its functions, and the changes to local Healthwatch will require primary legislation. The timing of this is subject to the will of Parliament and will happen when parliamentary time allows.
We recognise that the use of cannabis-based medicines and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies, such as MDMA to treat mental illness, is gaining attention both within the medical and scientific communities as well as within the public more broadly. The licensing regime for controlled drugs allows legitimate medical research to take place with an appropriate licence and safeguards. A number of clinical studies are already being conducted, although no such substance has yet been licensed as safe and effective in the treatment of mental health conditions.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research supports the safe and scientifically sound conduct of clinical trials in this area and provides regulatory and scientific advice to companies at all stages of developing medicines. Any application for a marketing authorisation, otherwise known as a product licence, will be determined by the MHRA.
In line with the development of all medicines, as the evidence base grows and medicinal products are licensed, we will make sure that they are made available to patients, including through the National Health Service, if they are recommended by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence.
NHS England has invested £314 million since the start of the pandemic to provide care and support for people with long COVID. This includes establishing specialist clinics throughout England to assess adults, children, and young people who are experiencing the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection. A further £86.7 million of funding was included in integrated care board (ICB) core allocations for 2024/25, and specific regional funding was also allocated for assurance and system support.
These services offer physical, cognitive, and psychological assessment, and, where appropriate, refer patients onto existing services for treatment and rehabilitation. More information can be found via the NHS website at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/post-covid-syndrome-long-covid/
The commissioning and service provision of long COVID services are the responsibility of local ICBs, which are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local needs and priorities and to improve outcomes.
Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council, we have invested over £57 million on research into long COVID, with almost £40 million of this through two specific research calls on long COVID. The funded projects aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical care.
We are aware of the University of Derby’s study looking at the use of the drug Remdesivir for the treatment of long COVID, however officials have not discussed the study with the research team. The study is being managed by the University of Plymouth’s Peninsula Clinical Trials Unit. Since 2008, the Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, has funded clinical trials units in England to support developments in the design and delivery of efficient and innovative research. We will follow the progress of the study to understand the implications for policy and practice.
NHS England provides no guidance to National Health Service trusts to ensure the appropriate monitoring of individuals entering and leaving hospital wards, and data is not collected on how many reported security incidents relating to unauthorised access to wards there have been in the last five years. NHS trusts formulate policy at a local level to determine the best security for their estate.
National Health Service staff should have the confidence to speak out and come forward if they have concerns. There is support in place for staff who wish to raise concerns, including a network of more than 1,200 local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across healthcare in England, whose role it is to help and support NHS workers. In November 2024, the Department launched a consultation on options for regulating NHS managers, with the aim of improving leadership quality and accountability. This will help ensure that the NHS has strong and effective leadership in place, and that leaders and managers are held accountable for their practise.
Discrimination and bullying are unacceptable in any workplace and have no place in the NHS. All employers across the NHS should have robust policies in place on how these behaviours should be handled, and what support should be made available to staff.
In June 2023, NHS England published their Equality Diversity and Inclusion Improvement Plan, which set out a series of High Impact Actions, including the requirement for NHS organisations to review data by protected characteristics on bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence, and to develop plans to improve staff experience. NHS England has also developed an NHS Civility and Respect programme to tackle bullying and harassment in the NHS, and to create a culture of civility and respect.
The provision of care and management for people with facial palsy, also known as Bell’s palsy, is the responsibility of general practices, under local integrated care boards.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a clinical knowledge summary on Bell’s palsy, last revised in February 2023, which provides primary care practitioners with a readily accessible summary of the current evidence base and practical advice on best practice for Bell’s palsy. This clinical knowledge summary is available on the NICE’s website, at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/bells-palsy/
Our 10-Year Health Plan will consider what actions are needed to improve patient access and reduce waiting times for patients, including those with facial or Bell’s palsy, by setting out a bold agenda to deliver on the big shifts needed, including the shift from the hospital to the community.
The Department funded the Cancer 2.0 initiative in 2021, delivered by Genomics England in close partnership with NHS England. The three-year programme demonstrated that nanopore sequencing-based brain tumour classification demonstrates significant promise for the National Genomic Test Directory. Full validation is required before full clinical implementation can be considered.
Other genomic testing for brain cancer is already included in the National Genomic Test Directory. This testing can be delivered using a range of technologies, including whole genome sequencing (WGS) or Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology, namely large cancer gene panels, to ensure that a patient receives the most appropriate genomic testing depending on their individual circumstances.
To date no application has been made to NHS England to evaluate nanopore sequencing-based brain tumour methylome classification. If an application were received, NHS England would assess the evidence in line with the Test Directory policy.
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as cauda equina syndrome. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community: these include improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. We remain committed to delivering under the Framework and published the annual England action plan in February 2025.
The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is a national NHS England programme designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through in-depth review of services, benchmarking, and presenting a data-driven evidence base to support change.
GIRFT has worked collaboratively with a multidisciplinary group of more than 60 health professionals to develop an interactive pathway for those patients with suspected cauda equina syndrome, designed to support clinical teams to diagnose and treat the condition without delay and improve patient outcomes. The pathway offers best practice along all stages of the patient pathway, including post-operative care and best practice for surgical techniques, pain control and other post-operative support, which includes a section on finances. More information is available at the following link: