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 help improve the provision of healthy food options in hospital vending machines.

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

National Health Service hospitals are required to meet the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services through the NHS Standard Contract. They are also required to develop and maintain a food and drink strategy which focuses on healthier eating across the whole hospital community, including for their vending machines.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the processing times of (a) applications for and (b) mandatory reconsiderations of Disability Living Allowance.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

From April 2025 to August 2025, the actual average clearance times (AACT) for new Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claims is 77 days. Over the same period, the AACT for DLA Mandatory Reconsiderations (MR) is 125 days. These figures are averages, and are for child DLA claims only, as new claims for DLA are only open to children under the age of 16.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help reduce the delays in decisions on Disability Living Allowance claims.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We have seen unprecedented demand in new claims to the DLA Child service line. Additional resources have been deployed, and cases are cleared in date order to ensure fair customer service. As a result, we are seeing improvements in our processing times for new claims. As of the 30^th December 2024, The Actual Average Clearance Time was 97.8 days and has since reduced to 57.3 days as of 25^th of August 2025, a reduction of 40.5 days.

Found: Tuesday 29 October 2024 Members present1 Mr Toby Perkins, in the Chair2 Julia Buckley Ellie Chowns

Found: Julia Buckley: It seems like a key area for us is to close some gaps straightaway.

Found: membership Toby Perkins (Labour; Chesterfield) (Chair) Olivia Blake (Labour; Sheffield Hallam) Julia Buckley

Found: Adrian Ramsay Freddie van Mierlo Mrs Elsie Blundell Sir Roger Gale Carla Denyer James Naish Julia Buckley

Found: White Adrian Ramsay Freddie van Mierlo Mrs Elsie Blundell Sir Roger Gale Carla Denyer James Naish Julia Buckley

Submit Evidence (by 4 Nov 2025)

This Environmental Audit Committee inquiry will examine the Climate Change Committee's advice on the Seventh Carbon Budget. It will consider the assumptions and costs underpinning the CCC’s recommendations, explore the balance between emerging and established technologies, the policy choices facing Government, and the potential impacts on households, businesses and the wider economy. The inquiry will also look at how the Government should communicate choices and trade-offs, and how Parliament and the public can best scrutinise delivery plans and progress.