Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of welfare conditions for dogs bred at establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides robust protections for animals, including dogs, bred for use in scientific procedures. Establishments licensed under ASPA must comply with the Act and the Code of Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals Bred, Supplied or Used for Scientific Purposes (www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-housing-and-care-of-animals-bred-supplied-or-used-for-scientific-purposes) which sets standards for the accommodation, care, monitoring and veterinary oversight of the animals.
Licensed establishments are also required to have key named individuals in place, including veterinary surgeons and animal welfare officers, who are responsible for the health, care and welfare of animals and for advising on their use before and during regulated procedures. Establishments must operate local ethical review processes to provide ongoing oversight of animal welfare, review care and housing arrangements, and ensure that licence conditions are met.
Compliance is assured through a programme of announced and unannounced audits from the Regulator (the Animals in Science Regulation Unit – ASRU). Any instances of non-compliance are taken seriously and addressed in accordance with ASRU’s published compliance policy, which provides for a range of regulatory responses, including enforcement action where appropriate.
In 2025, ASRU implemented organisational reforms to strengthen delivery of its regulatory functions including increasing the size of its inspectorate, further enhancing oversight of animal protections across licensed establishments.
The Government has no current plans to conduct a separate review of licensing conditions for commercial breeders, as these are already set and enforced within this robust regulatory framework.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has conducted a recent review of licensing conditions applied to commercial breeders of animals for use in scientific procedures.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides robust protections for animals, including dogs, bred for use in scientific procedures. Establishments licensed under ASPA must comply with the Act and the Code of Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals Bred, Supplied or Used for Scientific Purposes (www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-housing-and-care-of-animals-bred-supplied-or-used-for-scientific-purposes) which sets standards for the accommodation, care, monitoring and veterinary oversight of the animals.
Licensed establishments are also required to have key named individuals in place, including veterinary surgeons and animal welfare officers, who are responsible for the health, care and welfare of animals and for advising on their use before and during regulated procedures. Establishments must operate local ethical review processes to provide ongoing oversight of animal welfare, review care and housing arrangements, and ensure that licence conditions are met.
Compliance is assured through a programme of announced and unannounced audits from the Regulator (the Animals in Science Regulation Unit – ASRU). Any instances of non-compliance are taken seriously and addressed in accordance with ASRU’s published compliance policy, which provides for a range of regulatory responses, including enforcement action where appropriate.
In 2025, ASRU implemented organisational reforms to strengthen delivery of its regulatory functions including increasing the size of its inspectorate, further enhancing oversight of animal protections across licensed establishments.
The Government has no current plans to conduct a separate review of licensing conditions for commercial breeders, as these are already set and enforced within this robust regulatory framework.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in what proportion of rail‑related criminal investigations CCTV footage was requested but could not be used due to issues including image quality, equipment failure and insufficient coverage.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport 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.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of variations in CCTV quality, coverage and functionality across train operating companies and rail infrastructure providers.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The railway is a CCTV-rich environment, with over 125,000 cameras across the network. CCTV systems are owned and managed by individual train operating companies and Network Rail, and the Department does not hold a centralised dataset on variations in quality, coverage or functionality.
The Department is working with the rail industry to improve the consistency and effectiveness of CCTV through multiple initiatives. These include the recently published Visual Safety and Security Systems strategy, and a £17 million programme to connect station CCTV to the British Transport Police, enabling greater real-time access to footage across the network.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of withdrawing funding from certain Level 6 apprenticeships, such as the Level 6 Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship, on employers’ ability to develop internal leadership pipelines, improve workforce productivity, and retain staff.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Over the past decade we’ve seen apprenticeship starts by those aged 16-24, fall by 40%. At the same time, last year, the government spent 100% of its multi-billion pound apprenticeship budget. This Government wants to reverse that decline and support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships.
We are therefore reviewing the existing apprenticeship offer, which has grown to more than 700 standards, an outlier by international standards, to ensure it better supports young people starting their careers.
From September 2026, we will withdraw funding from 16 existing apprenticeship standards.
Three of these are generic leadership and management apprenticeships, which have grown significantly but are predominantly used as continuing professional development for established staff aged 25 and over.
In the 2024/2025 academic year, nearly 90% of apprentices on these leadership and management standards are over 25 (compared to 50% across the programme as a whole); and 83% are long-term employees (compared to 43% across the programme as whole – which is a 10-year high). This has happened at a time when we have seen the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) increase to nearly one million. Rebalancing the programme is necessary and proportionate to achieve our legitimate aim of rebalancing funding towards the government’s priorities supporting young people and delivering growth, whilst being aligned to the Youth Guarantee and the Industrial Strategy.
We know that apprenticeships offer strong returns, and that is particularly true for young people. The changes to streamline the apprenticeship offer will help to create headroom to invest in more opportunities for young people and new apprenticeship units for adults.
Employers who value these apprenticeship standards can continue to use them on a privately funded basis.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of Carer’s Allowance eligibility and conditionality on families where a child is unable to attend school for medical and special educational reasons.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Carer’s Allowance is payable to those who meet the eligibility criteria. In these circumstances, the key elements would be that (i) the child being cared for qualifies for the middle or higher rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance and (ii) they are receiving at least 35 hours a week unpaid care (short breaks in care may be allowed).
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
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 timely access to haematology specialists for patients with (a) suspected and (b) diagnosed leukaemia.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan for England, released on 4 February 2026, sets out a commitment to diagnose cancers earlier and ensure people receive timely, effective treatment.
The Government is committed to helping the NHS England detect cancers, including blood cancers, earlier and provide faster treatment to improve outcomes.
NHS England uses non‑specific symptom pathways for people presenting with symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, fatigue or general illness that do not point to a particular cancer type. These pathways are especially important for detecting blood cancers, which often present with vague or non‑specific symptoms.
In addition to ongoing investment in diagnostic capacity, including new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scanners, we will support NHS England to diagnose all cancers, including blood cancers, earlier and ensure patients can begin treatment as quickly as possible.
The Department will work to end the postcode lottery to ensure that access to the best cancer diagnosis, treatment and care is available for everyone, including leukaemia patients.
The Department is working with partners such as the Royal College of Pathologists, Cancer Alliances, and genomics programme leads to strengthen diagnostic workforce capacity across cancer services, including pathology and cancer genomics. This includes investment in new training pathways, digital pathology, and genomics education, all of which support timely and accurate diagnosis for people with blood cancers, including leukemia.
NHS England is investing in expanding specialty training posts in high-demand disciplines, including haematology, and is supporting local systems to retain and develop multidisciplinary teams. This includes increasing medical training posts in haematology and enhancing the scientific workforce supply through initiatives such as the Scientist Training Programme and Higher Specialist Scientist Training.
As of February 2026, there are 2,318 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of Haematology in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is 130, or 6%, more than a year ago. This also includes 1,082 FTE consultants, which is 51, or 4.9%, more than a year ago.
We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan later this spring to put the NHS workforce on a sustainable footing so staff can deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee’s Occasional Paper 27 entitled The influence of the social security system on educational and vocational decision-making at age 16, what steps he is taking to support 16- and 17-year-old apprentices experiencing loss of income after starting apprenticeships due to exclusion from family benefit calculations; and if he will implement the Committee’s recommendation to close the transitional payment gap between benefit recalculation and receipt of the apprentice’s first wage.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is determined to reverse the 40% drop in young people starting apprenticeships, and so we welcome the Social Security Advisory Committee’s insight into this important area. We are carefully considering the report's recommendations and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's NG12 guideline document entitled Suspected cancer: recognition and referral, updated on 15 April 2026, what steps he is taking to tackle phlebotomy capacity issues to ensure full blood count testing occurs for patients in primary care presenting with non-specific symptoms which may indicate leukaemia within 48 hours of referral, as recommended in the NG12 guidelines.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan for England, published on 4 February 2026, sets out a commitment to diagnose cancers earlier and ensure people receive timely, effective treatment. The Government is committed to helping NHS England detect cancers, including blood cancers, earlier and provide faster treatment to improve outcomes.
NHS England uses non‑specific symptom pathways for people presenting with symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, fatigue, or general illness that do not point to a particular cancer type. These pathways are especially important for detecting blood cancers, which often present with vague or non‑specific symptoms.
In addition, ongoing investment in diagnostic capacity, including new magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners, the Government will support NHS England to diagnose all cancers, including blood cancers, earlier to ensure patients can begin treatment as quickly as possible.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has a guideline on suspected cancer called Recognition and referral, which aims to support the identification of children, young people, and adults with symptoms that could be caused by cancer. The guideline provides guidance on appropriate investigations in primary care, and the selection of people to refer for a specialist opinion. The guideline recommends that people with specific symptoms should be offered a very urgent full blood count to assess for leukaemia. Local National Health Service organisations are expected to take NICE guidelines fully into account in ensuring that their services meet the needs of their local populations. The NHS is held to account to deliver guidelines, which include all NICE directions, at a local and regional level.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the treatment of crime‑prevention measures, including CCTV systems, within business rates valuations on levels of business investment in security; and whether she plans to reform the business rates system to help support crime prevention.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Please refer to the previous answers to UIN 84492 and UIN 49676.
The Call for Evidence published at Budget sought further evidence on the role business rates and reliefs play in investment, including Improvement Relief. Transforming the business rates system is a multi-year process, and any reforms taken forward will be phased over the course of the Parliament.
Moreover, the Government is providing up to £7m over the next 3-years to support the police in tackling retail crime, including continued funding for a specialist policing team to tackle organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders. This money will also support police-led work to strengthen policing and retailers’ joint response to retail crime.