Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to item 24/132 of Network Rail's Board minutes of 05 December 2024, what the proposed (a) resourcing and (b) functions were of the Shadow Great British Railways Delivery Unit; and for what reason did the then Secretary of State decided not to establish it.

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

Shadow Great British Railways has been established to bring together the leaders responsible for the operational railway working with an independent Chair to start to realise the benefits of rail reform for passengers and freight ahead of the formal creation of Great British Railways.

To maximise collaboration, we are utilising cross-organisational project teams working together, with Shadow Great British Railways drawing on existing resources and capabilities from across the department, Network Rail and DfT Operator.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's press notice entitled Transport Secretary launches review of train company revenue protection practices, published on 13 November 2024, what progress the Office of Rail and Road has made on that review; and when she expects the conclusions of that review to be published.

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

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) will provide a final report to the Secretary of State no later than 15 May 2025. The review is currently in progress, and regular updates have been provided to the Department for Transport throughout. The ORR will determine when to publish the report.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) his Department, (b) his Department's agencies and (c) his Department's advisory bodies have made comparative assessments of the efficacy of (i) natalizumab Tysabri and (ii) natalizumab Tyruko for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

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

Tyruko and Tysabri are United Kingdom licensed medicines. Tyruko is a biosimilar to the originator Tysabri. A biosimilar is a biological medicinal product that contains a version of the active substance of an already authorised original biological medicinal product. The guiding principle of authorising a biosimilar is to establish similarity between the biosimilar, Tyruko, and the originator, Tysabri, based on a comprehensive comparability exercise, ensuring that the previously proven safety and efficacy of the originator also applies to the biosimilar. This is assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) during the process of obtaining a marketing authorisation.

Following the introduction of Tyruko to the UK, the MHRA has investigated reports of increased disability associated with suspected allergic reactions, known as immunogenicity, following treatment with Tyruko, mainly in patients who were switched from Tysabri. The majority of these reports originated from a single National Health Service centre and only a few patients had residual symptoms after stopping Tyruko or transferring back to Tysabri. The assessment noted that more reassuring real world data has been described by other centres, which indicates some heterogeneity in the experience. The MHRA’s review was considered by the Commission on Human Medicine’s Neurology, Pain and Psychiatry Expert Advisory Group, which concluded that there was no corroborative evidence that allergic reactions are associated with progressive disability or any lack of efficacy for Tyruko when compared with Tysabri. The group recommended enhanced pharmacovigilance measures, including a specific follow up questionnaire, and that the marketing authorisation holder should review the risk of allergic reactions every four months or so and submit their data to the MHRA for monitoring, until greater experience with Tyruko is gained. The MHRA communicated the findings and outcomes of this review to clinicians at an NHS England webinar on 2 May 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Table 9, on page 19 of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority's Annual Report and Accounts, published on 24 July 2024, what the wording of the question that measured overall satisfaction was; and what the response rate was to that question.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

When issuing decision letters by post at both first and review decision stage, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority includes a paper survey form that applicants can complete and return. The wording of the question used to measure overall satisfaction was “Overall how did you feel about the service you received throughout the claims process”. In response applicants can select very good, good, average, poor and very poor. In 2023-24, the response rate to this question was 5.6%* (2326 surveys returned).

*The survey is issued at both first and review decision stage meaning the same applicant may be asked to complete this more than once. The survey is not issued again for cases which are appealed to the First-tier Tribunal.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to item 5.4.4 of the minutes of HS2 Limited's Board meeting of 25 September 2024, what the (a) membership and (b) remit is of the Tripartite Cooperation Board.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Tripartite Cooperation Board (TCB) was established in 2014 following a memorandum of understanding signed between the DfT, NR and HS2 Ltd. The TCB brings together the senior executives from the Department, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, as sponsor for the programme, HS2 Ltd as delivery agent for the programme and Network Rail as owner and operator of the existing network. Its purpose is to provide strategic advice at the request of the Programme Senior Responsible Owner, Alan Over, or the Programme Board to ensure the successful integration of HS2 onto the conventional network in such a way that the whole network is enhanced.

The members at this time are:

Alan Over, Major Rail Projects Group DG, DfT - Chair

Alex Hynes, Rail Services Group DG, DfT

Sir Andrew Haines, Chief Executive, Network Rail Chief Exec

Mark Wild, CEO, HS2 Ltd

Richard Goodman, Rail Reform and Strategy DG, DfT

Clare Dixon, DfT – Secretariat.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) process and (b) timetable will be for recruiting a new Chief Executive of Network Rail.

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

1. The Network Rail Board via its Nomination and Remuneration Committee is responsible for the Chief Executive selection process. In line with the Network Rail Framework Agreement, the Secretary of State for Transport has the right to approve the Board’s suggested candidate for Chief Executive.

2. The timetable for appointing a new Chief Executive will be confirmed once the Secretary of State has considered the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which Ministers have been members of the HS2 Ministerial Taskforce since its creation; and on which dates each Minister (a) joined and (b) left the taskforce.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Secretary of State for Transport, Minister for Rail and Chief Secretary to the Treasury have been members of the Ministerial Task Force for HS2 since its first meeting on 30 April 2020. Ministers from the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (and its predecessors) are no longer members, with the former last attending the meeting held on 15 December 2021 and the latter on 27 January 2022.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates the HS2 ministerial taskforce has met since 25 October 2022.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Ministerial Task Force for HS2 has met on the following dates since 25 October 2022:

1 November 2023

31 January 2024

22 October 2024

18 March 2025.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 07 April 2025 to Question 43306 on Birmingham City Council: Finance, when the transparency publication referred to in that Answer will next be updated.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Commissioners’ fees and expenses up to and including March 2025 have now been published on Birmingham City Council’s website.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her spokesperson's comments in the Birmingham Mail article entitled The reason staff at a Birmingham school decided a last resort strike, published on 7 March 2025, whether she plans to make an Academy Order for the George Dixon Primary School in Birmingham.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

High and rising standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity so every child can achieve and thrive.

An academy order for George Dixon Primary School in Birmingham was issued in June 2023 and remains in place. Departmental officials continue to work with the local authority on next steps. A request has been made by the school’s governing body to revoke the academy order, and a decision will be shared with them shortly.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of National Archives documents misplaced while on loan to Departments.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Section 4(6) of the Public Records Act 1958 gives departments the right to recall records that they have transferred to The National Archives. In 2018, The National Archives put in place a framework for safeguarding public records that establishes firm controls around such recalls. Officials at The National Archives are unaware of any records going missing since the establishment of this framework.

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 reduce barriers to the sharing of medical records between NHS trusts in cases when those trusts are treating the same patients.

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

Appropriate information sharing is essential for the provision of safe and effective health care. Improving this will enable enhanced quality of care and safety for patients and better informed clinical and care decision-making, empowered by access to precise and comprehensive information.

The Connecting Care Records programme joins up information based on the individual rather than via one organisation. Through targeted investment, local Connecting Care Record systems have been established in all integrated commissioning board areas. 97% of trusts and 92% of primary care networks are now connected.

As you may also be aware, NHS England has been supporting National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in acquiring and developing the effectiveness of their electronic patient records, and support is available to bring trusts to an optimum level of digital maturity, which will further reduce barriers to the information sharing needed to treat patients. Further information on data and clinical record sharing is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/data-and-clinical-record-sharing/

Going beyond this, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has announced the intention for there to be a single patient record, which would provide a comprehensive patient record and end the need for patients to have to repeat their medical history when interacting with the NHS. We have been engaging with the public to help shape our plans, including what information they would want to see included in a single record.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 50727 on Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority: Standards, what proportion of the respondents to that paper survey selected (a) very good, (b) good, (c) average, (d) poor and (e) very poor in 2023-24.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Of the respondents to the paper survey in 2023-34, (a) 53.2% selected very good, (b) 31.0% selected good, (c) 10.0% selected average, (d) 3.3% poor and (e) 2.5% selected very poor.

Found: Catherine Atkinson; Mrs Elsie Blundell; Katie Lam; Alex Mayer; Baggy Shanker; Rebecca Smith; Laurence Turner

Found: Atkinson Mrs Elsie Blundell Olly Glover Katie Lam Alex Mayer Baggy Shanker Rebecca Smith Laurence Turner

Found: 79.4%) Rebecca Smith (Conservative, South West Devon) (added 21 Oct 2024) 13 of 34 (38.2%) Laurence Turner

Found: law can be updated to recognise new international regulations and changes in metrology.26 Laurence Turner

Found: Harding Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Found: Harding Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Found: Harding Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Found: Harding Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Found: Anderson Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Found: Richard Baker Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Found: Damian Hinds Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner