Luke Akehurst

The United Kingdom has well-developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of eventualities. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years. This includes continuous reviews of the risk landscape through specific assessment and updating of NSRA risks. Plans are developed in line with the risk landscape and scalable to these risks.

The Government sets out some of the main risks and emergencies that drive this common consequence planning in the National Risk Register, the latest version of which was published earlier this year: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-risk-register-2025

GOV.UK/prepare, the Government’s website for resilience and emergency planning, is designed to help people plan for potential hazards and equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and resources to respond effectively.

The United Kingdom has well-developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of risks. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years.

The scale of these capabilities is driven by classified planning assumptions derived from the United Kingdom’s National Security Risk Assessment. The Government sets out some of the main risks and emergencies that drive this common consequence planning in the National Risk Register, the latest version of which was published earlier this year: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-risk-register-2025

GOV.UK/prepare, the Government’s website for resilience and emergency planning, is designed to help people plan for potential hazards and equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and resources to respond effectively.

The Procurement Act 2023, which is due to come into force on 24 February 2025, establishes a new public procurement regime, creating a simpler and more transparent system that will deliver better value for money.

Alongside this, a new National Procurement Policy Statement is being introduced aligned to the Government’s strategic priorities including growing the economy, creating high-quality local jobs, driving innovation and opening up opportunities to small businesses and social enterprises.

Contracting authorities are encouraged to consider how their procurement strategies can support domestic supply chains, including the vehicle manufacturing sector, while ensuring value for money for taxpayers.

This Government has greatly accelerated redress. We have launched the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) and Horizon Shortfall Scheme Appeals process. We have begun payments of a £75,000 fixed offer for those postmasters in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) who want to accept it. We deliver 89% of offers within 40 working days of receiving full claims. The total amount of redress paid under all schemes has more than quadrupled since July 2024. As of 29 August 2025, approximately £1,176 million has been paid in total redress to over 8,600 claimants across the three live Horizon schemes.

I am aware of the removal of the historical complaint records from the Hong Kong Ombudsman Office's website. While we recognise the importance of transparency and access to public information for businesses operating overseas, no formal assessment has been conducted on the specific impact of this change on UK businesses in Hong Kong. We continue to monitor developments in Hong Kong closely and maintain regular engagement with UK businesses to understand emerging concerns.

We are also working closely with colleagues across Whitehall, including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to ensure a coordinated approach to developments in Hong Kong that may affect UK commercial interests.

As at 30 October 2024, there were 222 members of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme in North Durham. Any transfer of the reserve would be used to enhance member benefits.

This Government will take a consistent, long term and strategic approach to managing the UK’s relations with China. We will co-operate where we can, compete where we have different interests, and challenge where we must. As an open economy, we welcome foreign trade and investment where it supports growth and jobs in the UK and meets our legal and regulatory requirements. We work closely with industry to build secure supply chains and back UK businesses. The government has also established Great British Energy to drive forward greater investment in clean, home-grown energy production and to build supply chains across the UK.

Work has already started across Government to deliver on our manifesto commitments. I will be meeting the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme Trustees shortly to discuss the best way to deliver the proposals.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is developing a Media Literacy Vision Statement in close collaboration with other government departments. The Vision Statement will set out a shared, whole-of-government vision for a safe, informed, media literate society. It will outline how media literacy will be embedded across key policy areas including education, public services, digital inclusion, and community resilience. We will announce publication in due course.

DSIT is the policy lead for media literacy and is committed to improving media literacy through coordinated cross-government work and collaboration with Ofcom and civil society. Minister Narayan is responsible for media literacy strategy, ensuring clear leadership and co-operation across departments. The Media Literacy Vision Statement will set out a clear direction and a joined-up approach across government, including how to empower parents and carers to better support young people online.

DSIT is working in close collaboration with the Department for Education to develop a dedicated ‘parent hub’ providing guidance on media literacy and online safety for parents and carers.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for North Durham to the answer of 17 January 2025 to Question 24633.

The Government Fleet Commitment states that 100% of the central government car and van fleet will be fully zero emission by 2027. This represents a major opportunity for UK-based manufacturers, and the Department is working with them to ensure they can take advantage.

All drivers must have the correct insurance cover for the purpose they are using their vehicle for, and the police may check this when stopping a vehicle.

The Government takes uninsured driving seriously and tackles this through Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE), a scheme where the Motor Insurers’ Bureau and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency collaborate to identify uninsured drivers; police enforcement on the road and through Operation Tutelage.

An assessment suggested Chester-le-Street calls on Trans Pennine Express be increased to hourly services, which have now been implemented. As well as the LNER London to Newcastle trains be increased from two trains per hour to three trains per hour, now scheduled to start from December 2025.

Darlington should retain its two trains per hour to London by LNER and Durham should retain its one train per hour to London by LNER, both of which have been confirmed.

Other benefits to the North-east identified for introduction include more local trains north of Newcastle.

Network Rail is modelling the timetable to enable industry to focus on actions to ensure the timetable can be delivered reliably.

My Department works with stakeholders including Transport for the North, elected mayors, transport authorities and passenger groups, as well as train operators, to assess the demand for services. Rail North Partnership, through which the Department jointly manages Northern and TransPennine Trains’ contracts with Transport for the North, monitors operators’ planned train deployment to ensure this falls within the requirement on them to match capacity to demand within the constraints of the network.

The government knows that Britain needs a modern transport network to help kickstart economic growth. Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities. As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will pass the Better Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, to ensure networks can meet the needs to the communities who rely on them, including in County Durham and the North East.

We also plan to empower local transport authorities through reforming bus funding. By giving local leaders more control and flexibility over bus funding they can plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities. The Department will work closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on the government’s ambitions.

All government departments are subject to the Equality Act 2010, which places a legal duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled staff and job applicants where they would otherwise be at a substantial disadvantage. Government Departments meet this duty by providing adjustments such as assistive technology, flexible working arrangements, specialist furniture, interpreters, and accessible workplaces. The Department for Work and Pensions leads the Disability Confident scheme in its capacity supporting disabled people into work, which encourages all employers, including government departments, to recruit, retain and develop disabled people and those with health conditions.

As an accredited Disability Confident Leader, the Department for Work and Pensions take seriously its responsibility to support all staff, including those with a disability, who make disclosures about discrimination and preventing any retaliation.

The department has a number of mechanisms, including dedicated harassment, grievance, and HR policies and processes; regular promotion of Speak Up Safely Line and Ambassadors for Fair Treatment providing confidential, and if required anonymous support and guidance. We also provide wellbeing support (including mental health first aiders), as well as promoting a transparent and supportive approach to workplace adjustments, ensuring staff feel safe when disclosing disabilities.

Health Adjustment Passports are voluntary and available to everyone with a health condition or disability.

The Health Adjustment Passport enables disabled people to move more easily into employment and between job roles and reduces the need to repeat personal information about their disability. The Passport supports transitions into employment by providing a tool to enable disabled people to have structured conversations with employers about disability. It acts as a transferable record of the adjustments needed, along with sign posts to available support including Access to Work (AtW).

If an individual chooses to share the passport with their employer, it can help to raise the visibility of adjustments and highlight support available, including AtW. In the event the user applies for AtW support, the passport can aid an assessment by providing health and disability information beforehand, enabling support to be put in place more quickly.

Further information on the Health Adjustments Passport can be found on: Health Adjustment Passport - GOV.UK

Health Adjustment Passports are voluntary and available to everyone with a health condition or disability.

The Health Adjustment Passport enables disabled people to move more easily into employment and between job roles and reduces the need to repeat personal information about their disability. The Passport supports transitions into employment by providing a tool to enable disabled people to have structured conversations with employers about disability. It acts as a transferable record of the adjustments needed, along with sign posts to available support including Access to Work (AtW).

If a user chooses to share the passport with their employer, it can help to raise the visibility of adjustments and highlight support available, including AtW. In the event the user applies for AtW support, the passport can aid an assessment by providing health and disability information beforehand, enabling support to be put in place more quickly.

Further information on the Health Adjustments Passport can be found on: Health Adjustment Passport - GOV.UK

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) have no application or Mandatory Reconsideration (dispute) backlogs.

CMS is working on modernising service delivery with an aim of making services more cost efficient, effective, and timely. Both the applications and the Mandatory Reconsideration (dispute) process have been developed by improving customer communications, introducing digital options for making and progressing applications and disputes. Improved data sharing through enhanced collaboration with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and improvements to DWP systems to increase accuracy and speed of service.

Additionally, we are investing in improving training and guidance products and ensuring all of our services are resourced at stable levels that meet demand.

The CMS continues to monitor the effectiveness of these measures and continue to build on these improvements.

His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service have responsibility for appeals on CM decisions.

There are currently no personalised cancer vaccines with a marketing authorisation for use in the United Kingdom. All new, licensed medicines, including personalised cancer vaccines, are evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which makes recommendations on whether they should be routinely funded by the National Health Service, based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. NICE aims wherever possible to issue recommendations on new medicines close to the point of licensing, and cancer medicines are eligible for funding from the Cancer Drugs Fund from the point of a positive draft NICE recommendation, bringing forward patient access by up to five months.

The measures that we announced in the Life Sciences Sector Plan will enhance NICE’s collaboration with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and will support faster access to medicines for NHS patients in England.

Further, the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) is a platform set up to accelerate the development of cancer vaccines and speed up access to mRNA personalised cancer vaccine clinical trials for cancer patients. The CVLP has been instrumental in accelerating trial activity in cancer research, with CVLP sites driving faster activation and enrolment timelines. The platform is designed to be company- and clinical trial type-agnostic. Any company that wishes to deliver trials via the platform, including those developing vaccines for brain tumours, can contact the CVLP to explore how the platform can support their research.

The Department is committed to supporting an innovative clinical research ecosystem in the United Kingdom so that patients in this country can be among the first to benefit as we make the National Health Service fit for the future.

The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, such as glioblastomas, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the NHS will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.

Early next year, the Government will publish a National Cancer Plan which will set out targeted actions to reduce the lives lost to cancers and improve the experience of patients, including rarer cancers such as glioblastomas.

The Department has not made an estimate of the number of (a) nurses and (b) other healthcare professionals exposed to hazardous medicinal products.

Any incidents involving staff exposure to hazardous medical products are reported and handled through local National Health Service body reporting procedures. Risk assessments should be undertaken routinely and mitigations put in place to minimise any environmental exposure to health care professionals (and others) relating to “hazardous medicinal products”.

The Government has not commissioned any research on the reproductive health outcomes or long-term health effects of the occupational exposure of nursing staff to hazardous medicinal products. No assessment has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of sickness absence related to this.

Sickness absence is managed at an organisational level across the NHS. NHS organisations have their own policies and procedures in place to manage and reduce sickness absence, including any reasonable adjustments to allow people to return to work and/or prevent future absence. It is important that employers across the NHS take a preventative and proactive approach to supporting their staff and keeping them healthy.

Primary progressive aphasia is a rare type of dementia where the recommended treatment is usually speech and language therapy, which is carried out by a speech and language therapist. NHS England is committed to delivering high quality care and support for every person with dementia, and central to this is the provision of personalised care and support planning for post diagnostic support.

Local authorities are required to provide or arrange services that meet the social care needs of the local population under the Care Act 2014.

Provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. It is the responsibility of the IBC to work within their geographical area to offer services that meet the needs of their population.

The Foreign Secretary met with the Palestinian Foreign Minister on 1 November. As part of their conversation they discussed educational reforms. The UK continues to monitor and advance the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation through an annual strategic dialogue. In the meantime, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, through the British Consulate in Jerusalem, engage regularly with the Palestinian Authority on many areas, including education reform.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on 17 September to question 74029.

In President Abbas' letter to President Macron, dated 9 June 2025, he set out his commitment to the principles of non-violence, the organisation of elections, the development of a school curriculum that is free from incitement, and the implementation of a new social security system, which will revoke so-called prisoner payments, and ensure that any future welfare payments are needs-based and delinked from violent actions. The Palestinian Authority must now ensure that an independent audit is conducted to verify that these reforms have been completed.