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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support does the Government provide to homeowners who are impacted by late buyer withdrawals.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 10314 on 24 June 2026.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to assist local businesses in providing professional work experience and internships to unemployed graduates.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Through Jobcentre Plus, we work with employers to provide work experience opportunities and help businesses access talented candidates. Employers can receive support through the Employer Services Line and local Employer Advisers, who can help promote opportunities, connect employers with suitable candidates and support recruitment activity. This underpins our commitment to expand work experience and training placements by 300,000 as part of the Youth Guarantee.

Unemployed graduates can access personalised support through Jobcentre Plus, including targeted job search assistance, CV and interview preparation, and help to identify opportunities that reflect their skills, qualifications and experience. Unemployed graduates aged 16 to 24 can also access additional support through Youth Hubs, including mental health support, essential and vocational skills provision, and employer engagement.

Jobcentre Plus also works with expert organisations such as Milkround (www.milkround.com) and Prospects (www.prospects.ac.uk) to support graduates in navigating the early career labour market and identifying suitable opportunities. In addition, the National Careers Service provides free, impartial careers advice in England, including support with applications, interviews and career planning, helping individuals gain experience and progress towards sustainable employment.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, will she take steps to introduce economic incentives for people to work in the science industry.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

The UK’s science and research strengths are central to this Government’s mission to deliver economic growth, raise productivity and improve living standards. To realise that ambition, the research and innovation system must attract, retain and support the very best talent. DSIT is investing over £5 billion in research talent over the Spending Review period, including funding for prestigious fellowships and studentships through UKRI and the National Academies, and the £54 million Global Talent Fund launched last summer to attract top researchers and their teams. DSIT has also recently launched a new voluntary Women in Research Charter which includes a headline commitment of a minimum standard on family leave for doctoral researchers, as well as commitments to enabling more flexible working, eliminating bias from grant and job application processes, and ensuring inclusive workplace cultures.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure bus stations have audio-visual stop information (a) nationally and (b) in Hertfordshire.

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

The Government is committed to improving transport services right across the country, including in Hertfordshire, so they are more inclusive and enable everyone to travel safely, confidently and with dignity.

The Bus Services Act 2025 includes a comprehensive package of measures to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of local transport. This includes requiring local authorities to produce a Bus Network Accessibility Plan, and to have regard to new statutory guidance on the safety and accessibility of stopping places when providing new or upgrading existing bus stations and stops.

We are also providing nearly £700 million a year to local transport authorities through the Local Authority Bus Grant over the next three years to maintain and improve local bus services. Hertfordshire County Council has been allocated £34.1 million of this funding from 2026/27 to 2028/29. These allocations include capital funding for most areas, which can be used to improve the accessibility of transport infrastructure, including introducing audio-visual stop information at bus stations.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to increase awareness of the reproductive and sexual health implications for young people presenting symptoms that may lead to unplanned or medically complex pregnancies.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

Dedicated local authority sexual health services (SHSs) play a key public health role in the diagnosis, early treatment, and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and some contraception services. Individual local authorities are responsible for funding and commissioning decisions about the SHSs that best meet the needs of their local populations, including for young people. This is funded via the ringfenced Public Health Grant.

The National Health Service website provides comprehensive information on sexual and reproductive health, including contraceptive choices, STI symptoms, treatment, and complications. This includes information on pregnancy where applicable.

The Government’s introduction in 2020 of compulsory Relationships, Sex and Health Education means all pupils are now taught about several areas of health, including menstruation, contraception, fertility, pregnancy, and the menopause. In July 2025 the Department for Education published updated statutory guidance which includes a specific reference to how different sexually transmitted infections are transmitted and how risk can be reduced. The statutory guidance is clear that all young people should be taught factual knowledge around sex, sexual health, and sexuality, set firmly within the context of relationships. By the end of secondary school, they should know about the prevalence of STIs, the short- and long-term impact they can have on those who contract them, and key facts about treatment. They should also know how to counter misinformation, including signposting towards medically accurate information and further advice, and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment.

The UK Health Security Agency produces several stakeholder communications toolkits which collate communications resources to raise awareness of STIs and sexual health. These are aimed at supporting stakeholders, including local authorities, NHS organisations, integrated care boards, and charities, to promote good sexual health with their audiences, including accessing SHSs. As well as a sexual health specific toolkit, there is sexual health messaging in travel health, festivals, and getting ready for university toolkits.

In addition, the National Chlamydia Screening Programme focuses on reducing the reproductive harms from untreated chlamydia infection in young women and other people with a womb or ovaries.

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 coordination across community healthcare services when diagnosing rare cancers in young people.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

The Government is committed to supporting the National Health Service to diagnose cancer earlier and treat it faster, so that more children and young people survive. The NHS is improving the experience of young cancer patients across the system, including those with rare cancers.

The National Cancer Plan, published in February 2026, has pledged to speed up the detection and diagnosis of cancer in children and young people, ensuring their needs are embedded into the design of the neighbourhood health service as well as ensuring general practices identify rare cancers, including in children and young people.

NHS England has published service specifications that set out the service standards required of all providers of children and young people’s cancer services. The requirements include implementing networked care, simplifying pathways, and transitions between services.

To gain information on the experience of children and young people, NHS England and Picker carry out an Under 16 Cancer Patient Experience Survey to understand the experiences of cancer and tumour care among children under the age of 16 years old and their parents/carers, in England. The results of the survey are used to understand and improve cancer care nationally and locally.

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 accelerate the delivery of compensation to people impacted by pelvic mesh and valproate; and if he will set out a timetable for that financial redress.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The Government extends its deepest sympathies to all those affected by pelvic mesh, and recognises the profound, life‑changing impact these harms have had on individuals and their families. We know that for many, the consequences are ongoing and deeply felt.

The Government is carefully considering the work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner (PSC), Professor Henrietta Hughes, including her report, which set out recommendations for redress for those harmed by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh.

The Government has been clear that there must be meaningful progress on this matter during this Parliament, although a decision to provide compensation has not yet been made. We recognise how difficult this uncertainty is for those affected, and we will ensure that the public is kept informed on this important work.

As you may be aware, the Department has been in contact with the PSC with regard to the ongoing health initiatives that the Department is taking forward in conjunction with NHS England, regarding sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. Details of the Government’s work to date are set out in recent letters to Professor Hughes, which are published on the PSC website, at the following link:

www.patientsafetycommissioner.org.uk

Found: Wednesday 30 October 2024 Members present: Jamie Stone, in the Chair1 Lewis Atkinson Kevin Bonavia