Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2026 to Question 12047 on Employment: Disability, what assessment he has made of the potential challenges faced by his Department to support people with disabilities into work and reduce the disability employment gap.

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

The barriers that disabled people and people with health conditions are unique and complex. Our programmes are informed by DWP and external research, making sure that our support is evidence based and targets the barriers that prevent disabled people and people with health conditions from getting work, and getting on in work.

Recent DWP research spoke to customers not currently in work, and who did not rule out work permanently, and they were asked the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements about the barriers to finding work. The barriers often related to their health, confidence and skills, the employer/workplace, DWP and benefits, and personal circumstance. The full findings can be viewed in our report available at: Work aspirations and support needs of health and disability customers: Final findings report - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with Rolls Royce regarding the (a) progress of the Ultrafan project in the UK and (b) potential opportunities for a commercial Ultrafan Engine to be built in the UK.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government recognises that a successful Rolls-Royce entry into the single aisle aircraft market could deliver significant UK economic benefits, including high value jobs and growth across the aerospace supply chain.

Rolls-Royce is a major UK employer and longstanding Government partner. We are discussing how any support could secure UK jobs, skills and long-term manufacturing, while delivering value for money for taxpayers. Building on the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme, which has anchored world leading R&D in the UK and strengthened the domestic supply chain, any future support would be structured to maximise UK benefits.

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 ensure consistent access across Integrated Care Boards to non-hormonal menopause treatments, including fezolinetant.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance on 31 March 2026 recommending fezolinetant as an option for treating moderate to severe menopause-related hot flushes and night sweats when hormone replacement therapy is unsuitable. The National Health Service in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance. This means integrated care boards (ICBs) are now required to fund fezolinetant in line with NICE’s recommendation. It remains for clinicians to decide whether it is the right treatment for an individual patient.

The Department has not assessed whether access to fezolinetant varies between the regions of England. It has also not had discussions with NHS England about access to fezolinetant in the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB.

NHS England has not issued separate national guidance to ICBs on prescribing fezolinetant.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether national guidance has been issued to Integrated Care Boards on the prescribing of fezolinetant following its approval for NHS use.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance on 31 March 2026 recommending fezolinetant as an option for treating moderate to severe menopause-related hot flushes and night sweats when hormone replacement therapy is unsuitable. The National Health Service in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance. This means integrated care boards (ICBs) are now required to fund fezolinetant in line with NICE’s recommendation. It remains for clinicians to decide whether it is the right treatment for an individual patient.

The Department has not assessed whether access to fezolinetant varies between the regions of England. It has also not had discussions with NHS England about access to fezolinetant in the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB.

NHS England has not issued separate national guidance to ICBs on prescribing fezolinetant.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of levels of regional variation in access to fezolinetant across England.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance on 31 March 2026 recommending fezolinetant as an option for treating moderate to severe menopause-related hot flushes and night sweats when hormone replacement therapy is unsuitable. The National Health Service in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance. This means integrated care boards (ICBs) are now required to fund fezolinetant in line with NICE’s recommendation. It remains for clinicians to decide whether it is the right treatment for an individual patient.

The Department has not assessed whether access to fezolinetant varies between the regions of England. It has also not had discussions with NHS England about access to fezolinetant in the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB.

NHS England has not issued separate national guidance to ICBs on prescribing fezolinetant.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with NHS England on access to fezolinetant within Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance on 31 March 2026 recommending fezolinetant as an option for treating moderate to severe menopause-related hot flushes and night sweats when hormone replacement therapy is unsuitable. The National Health Service in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance. This means integrated care boards (ICBs) are now required to fund fezolinetant in line with NICE’s recommendation. It remains for clinicians to decide whether it is the right treatment for an individual patient.

The Department has not assessed whether access to fezolinetant varies between the regions of England. It has also not had discussions with NHS England about access to fezolinetant in the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB.

NHS England has not issued separate national guidance to ICBs on prescribing fezolinetant.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to support the national rollout of the Leukaemia Best Practice Timed Pathway.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

NHS England is supporting development of a suspected haematology cancer timed diagnostic pathway, which is being developed by Leukaemia UK, Lymphoma Action, and Myeloma UK.

Publication of this pathway document is expected later this year.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the press notice entitled 50,000 more young people to benefit from apprenticeships as Government unveils new skills reforms to get Britain working, published in December 2025, if he will take steps to ensure comparable investment within non-mayoral strategic authorities for linking young people with employers for apprenticeship opportunities.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government is investing £140 million over the current spending review period, to pilot, with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, new approaches to better connect young people aged 16-24, including those who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), to local apprenticeship opportunities. Funding beyond this is subject to future spending review processes.

The new Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) brokerage service pilots will enable us to test and learn from different local approaches as we build the evidence base for what works. MSAs are best placed to deliver these pilots due to their strategic oversight of local skills systems, established relationships with employers and training providers, and ability to operate at scale across functional economic areas.

We will announce further details about the pilots in due course, including which areas will take part. We expect the pilots to launch later this year, and we will share learning and best practise widely throughout the pilot.

More widely, to support our ambition of 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, from August we are fully funding apprenticeship training for 16-24-year-olds with non-levy paying employers (typically SMEs), and from October we are introducing a new hiring payment of £2,000 for non-levy payers which take on 16-24 year old apprentices as new employees. This funding support is available to eligible employers across England.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether patients with recognised palliative or end-of-life care needs are subject to specific identification or prioritisation processes within accident and emergency departments.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

Patients attending an emergency department are assessed on arrival by an appropriately trained clinician or healthcare professional using established clinical triage processes. Triage is intended to identify patients who require the most urgent assessment and treatment, with priority determined by clinical need and the severity of the patient's condition rather than by any single diagnosis or patient group.

Where patients have recognised palliative or end-of-life care needs, clinicians will take account of the patient's presenting condition, any relevant advance care plans or documented care preferences, and exercise clinical judgement when determining the most appropriate course of treatment or onward care.

There is no national urgent and emergency care policy that provides a separate triage category or automatic prioritisation process solely on the basis that a patient is identified as having palliative care or end-of-life care needs.

The Single Patient Record will support our wider integration work providing a single trusted source of patient information, including care plans, that will be available to providers of health and care enabling them to offer more seamless co-ordinated care across the range of health and care services. Our ambition is that, from 2028, patients in England will be able to view their Single Patient Record via the NHS App, starting with maternity and frailty.

We are developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-life care. The MSF will provide a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation. The MSF will provide the framework against which palliative care and end-of-life care will be improved across all settings, including hospital and community.

The MSF will build on the ambitions set out in the Neighbourhood Health Framework to improve the identification of people approaching the end of life by 10% and reduce non elective admissions and hospital bed days for people at the end of life by 10% by March 2029. We recognise that care can be planned more proactively, and unwanted emergency admissions avoided, through good palliative care in the community.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance exists on shared care arrangements for patients seeking to transition from privately obtained medication to NHS prescriptions where those treatments later become available on the NHS.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The General Medical Council (GMC) has published guidance on shared care agreements, which supports clinicians in deciding whether entering into a shared care agreement is appropriate for an individual patient. The GMC guidance is clear that shared care agreements are voluntary, and that a general practitioner cannot be mandated to enter a shared care agreement and may decline requests on clinical or capacity grounds.

If a shared care arrangement cannot be put in place after the treatment has been initiated, the responsibility for continued prescribing falls upon the specialist clinician, and this applies to both National Health Service and private medical care.

If a patient receives a treatment privately which subsequently becomes available on the NHS, they should discuss arrangements for transferring or sharing care with their NHS clinician.

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 ensure that patients are not disadvantaged when accessing NHS care after accessing treatment privately due to a previous lack of NHS availability.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The General Medical Council (GMC) has published guidance on shared care agreements, which supports clinicians in deciding whether entering into a shared care agreement is appropriate for an individual patient. The GMC guidance is clear that shared care agreements are voluntary, and that a general practitioner cannot be mandated to enter a shared care agreement and may decline requests on clinical or capacity grounds.

If a shared care arrangement cannot be put in place after the treatment has been initiated, the responsibility for continued prescribing falls upon the specialist clinician, and this applies to both National Health Service and private medical care.

If a patient receives a treatment privately which subsequently becomes available on the NHS, they should discuss arrangements for transferring or sharing care with their NHS clinician.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2026 to Question 12047 on Employment: Disability, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of employment advisors in (a) NHS Talking Therapies, (b) Connect to Work and (c) Workwell on the number of people with disabilities in work.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) delivers a range of interventions to help disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to find and stay in work. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Connect to Work and WorkWell. Additionally, the Joint DWP and DHSC Work and Health Directorate has developed a digital information service for employers and continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme.

Evaluation is a key driver in delivering DWP’s priority outcomes and ensuring alignment with the Government’s Plan for Change. As set out in the DWP Evidence and Evaluation Strategy, ongoing evaluation of policies to support disabled people into appropriate employment is crucial in assessing whether they are achieving intended results and informs future policy design.

An evaluation of the WorkWell pilot is underway to assess the effectiveness of WorkWell and is conducted by an independent consortium of evaluators using surveys, interviews and econometric measures of success. The evaluation is tracking several outcome metrics, including reported health and wellbeing and earnings. The first pilot evaluation report has been published here: WorkWell Pilots Evaluation Early Implementation Findings. A final report in Autumn 2028 will aim to give a full assessment of the impact and effectiveness of the pilot.

A similar evaluation is being commissioned for the national rollout of WorkWell and will explore the feasibility of using a randomised control trial design. The learnings from these evaluations will inform any future decisions on the Programme.

The Connect to Work Business Case, published January 2026 (Connect to Work - Programme Business Case 1 Summary), estimates that an additional 22,000 people will be in work over the lifetime of the programme. These, and wider, impacts are being monitored through a comprehensive national evaluation, with a final report expected in 2031.

For Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, a report commissioned through IFF Research is expected to be published in Autumn 2026 which includes an impact evaluation. An independent evaluation of Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies was published on 26^th May 2026 by the Office for National Statistics. These are early findings part of a wider National Institute of Health and care Research (NIHR) evaluation. Further findings are due to be published over the coming year.

Other recent policy evaluations include assessments of Additional Work Coach Support (Evaluation of Additional Work Coach Support) and the Intensive Personalised Employment Support scheme (Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) Programme Evaluation).

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the forthcoming Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework will include provisions relating to the timeliness of diagnostic results and communication for patients with a limited prognosis.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

The Government is developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care, which remains on track for publication in Autumn 2026. On 4 June, we published an interim update in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, which is available at the following link:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-06-04/hcws88

The MSF will be a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in outcomes and experiences for patients and carers, and to reduce unwarranted variation in access, experience, and outcomes.

It would not be appropriate to pre-empt the final contents of the MSF. However, our goal is that every person who needs palliative care or care at the end of life receives high-quality, personalised support, shaped by what matters to them, their families, and carers. This includes promoting earlier identification of need, better coordinated care, and improved communication with patients and those important to them.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with (a) local and national health bodies, (b) academics and (c) the Men's Health Strategy Stakeholder Group on the issues surrounding Anabolic Steroids, IPEDs and SARMS.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

We are committed to working in partnership with men, academics, stakeholders, research funders, employers, service providers, and important sectors such as media and sport to implement the Men’s Health Strategy. This includes our Men’s Health Academic Network and Stakeholder Group.

We are scoping the work on media literacy and will consider the inclusion of issues surrounding anabolic steroids, image and performance enhancing drugs, and selective androgen receptor modulators.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to WPQ 9089 answered on 19 June 2026 about Steroid Drugs: Young People, if he will hold discussions with [i] local and national health bodies, [ii] academics and [iii] the Men's Health Strategy Stakeholder Group to ensure that issues surrounding Anabolic Steroids, IPEDs and SARMS are included in the work to improve men's health literacy.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

We are committed to working in partnership with men, academics, stakeholders, research funders, employers, service providers, and important sectors such as media and sport to implement the Men’s Health Strategy. This includes our Men’s Health Academic Network and Stakeholder Group.

We are scoping the work on media literacy and will consider the inclusion of issues surrounding anabolic steroids, image and performance enhancing drugs, and selective androgen receptor modulators.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to WPQs 2849, 2850 and 2851 answered on 9 June 2026 about Steroid Drugs: Young People, if he will have discussions with UK Anti Doping on the findings of their 2026 Clean Sport Survey on trends in the use of SARMs by young people.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport are responsible for anti-doping in sport.

In November 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care launched England’s first ever Men’s Health Strategy, which sets out a bold vision to improve the health and wellbeing of all men and boys. The strategy recognises the role that the media plays in shaping how men interpret health information. The Department of Health and Social Care is taking action to identify ways to build media literacy skills in men to help them critically assess health information and protect against misinformation that harms health.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has undertaken an assessment of the funding required to achieve the aims set out in the interim update to the Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End of Life.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

The Modern Service Framework for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care was never intended to introduce new, ring‑fenced funding. Its primary purpose is to set the strategic direction for improving palliative care and end-of-life care, including reducing variation in access, quality, and outcomes across the system.

In the context of wider fiscal pressures, the focus is on ensuring that existing resources are used as effectively as possible, supported by a shift towards more strategic, population‑based commissioning.

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 merits of introducing an investment package to support apprenticeship brokerage pilots in non-developed mayoral authorities, modelled on the £140 million fund to support mayoral-led apprenticeship brokerage pilots.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 July 2026 to Question UIN 16082.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the forthcoming Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care will be accompanied by a costed delivery plan.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

The forthcoming Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care will include a delivery plan to support implementation of the framework. On 4 June, we published an interim update in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, which is available at the following link:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-06-04/hcws88

The MSF will support the shift to the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care, based on the integrated needs assessment completed by the integrated care board. This supports the effective and equitable use of resources of services commissioned and contracted at a local level to meet identified population needs now and in the future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance exists for NHS providers on the timely communication of significant diagnostic findings to patients and their families where deterioration or recurrence of cancer is suspected.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

While no specific assessment has been made of diagnostic imaging turnaround time guidance and the needs of patients with a recognised terminal diagnosis or the impact of separate reporting time standards, the Government is committed to reducing waiting times for all patients and expects providers to communicate findings in a compassionate manner.

NHS England has established diagnostic reporting turnaround time guidance that applies to all patients. For diagnostic imaging tests, including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans, the guidance states that verified reports should be available within four weeks of image acquisition. Performance against turnaround times is monitored through routine national reporting. In addition, cancer pathways are supported by national cancer waiting time standards, including the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which aims to ensure that patients receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out promptly following an urgent suspected cancer referral. The Faster Diagnosis Standard applies to urgent referrals for suspected cancer recurrence.

We are developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care. The MSF is a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in outcomes for patients and carers, including by systematically identifying, measuring, and reducing health inequalities, and reducing unwarranted variation in access, experience, and outcomes. Further metrics and associated targets will build on the 2029 ambitions set out in the Neighbourhood Health Framework.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of whether NHS England’s diagnostic imaging turnaround time guidance is sufficient to meet the needs of patients with a recognised terminal diagnosis.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

While no specific assessment has been made of diagnostic imaging turnaround time guidance and the needs of patients with a recognised terminal diagnosis or the impact of separate reporting time standards, the Government is committed to reducing waiting times for all patients and expects providers to communicate findings in a compassionate manner.

NHS England has established diagnostic reporting turnaround time guidance that applies to all patients. For diagnostic imaging tests, including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans, the guidance states that verified reports should be available within four weeks of image acquisition. Performance against turnaround times is monitored through routine national reporting. In addition, cancer pathways are supported by national cancer waiting time standards, including the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which aims to ensure that patients receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out promptly following an urgent suspected cancer referral. The Faster Diagnosis Standard applies to urgent referrals for suspected cancer recurrence.

We are developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care. The MSF is a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in outcomes for patients and carers, including by systematically identifying, measuring, and reducing health inequalities, and reducing unwarranted variation in access, experience, and outcomes. Further metrics and associated targets will build on the 2029 ambitions set out in the Neighbourhood Health Framework.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment on the potential impact of introducing specific diagnostic or reporting time standards for patients with a limited or terminal prognosis.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

While no specific assessment has been made of diagnostic imaging turnaround time guidance and the needs of patients with a recognised terminal diagnosis or the impact of separate reporting time standards, the Government is committed to reducing waiting times for all patients and expects providers to communicate findings in a compassionate manner.

NHS England has established diagnostic reporting turnaround time guidance that applies to all patients. For diagnostic imaging tests, including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans, the guidance states that verified reports should be available within four weeks of image acquisition. Performance against turnaround times is monitored through routine national reporting. In addition, cancer pathways are supported by national cancer waiting time standards, including the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which aims to ensure that patients receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out promptly following an urgent suspected cancer referral. The Faster Diagnosis Standard applies to urgent referrals for suspected cancer recurrence.

We are developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care. The MSF is a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in outcomes for patients and carers, including by systematically identifying, measuring, and reducing health inequalities, and reducing unwarranted variation in access, experience, and outcomes. Further metrics and associated targets will build on the 2029 ambitions set out in the Neighbourhood Health Framework.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to WPQ 12787 answered on 11 November 2024 on Marriage: Relatives, what recent progress he has made on considering [i] marriage law and [ii] placing restrictions on marriages between first cousins.

Answered by Catherine Atkinson

The Government has announced that it intends to reform weddings law when parliamentary time allows.

The reforms are intended to make weddings law fairer, simpler and more modern, whilst protecting the dignity and significance of marriage. The aim is to launch a consultation before summer recess, which begins on 16 July 2026. It will focus on how people get married, rather than who is legally permitted to marry.

As set out in the answer of 11 November 2024, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 makes sexual activity with certain family members a criminal offence, but this does not include first cousins. Placing restrictions on first cousin marriage would require changes to the Marriage Act 1949 and could potentially require changes to the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

While the evidence is limited, it does suggest that there may be an increased risk of congenital birth defects to children whose parents are first cousins. We welcome evidence suggesting that the number of first cousins choosing to marry in England is declining.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to WPQ 12787 answered on 11 November 2024 about Marriage, Relatives, whether he has commissioned advice on whether placing restrictions on first cousin marriage would require changes to the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Answered by Catherine Atkinson

The Government has announced that it intends to reform weddings law when parliamentary time allows.

The reforms are intended to make weddings law fairer, simpler and more modern, whilst protecting the dignity and significance of marriage. The aim is to launch a consultation before summer recess, which begins on 16 July 2026. It will focus on how people get married, rather than who is legally permitted to marry.

As set out in the answer of 11 November 2024, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 makes sexual activity with certain family members a criminal offence, but this does not include first cousins. Placing restrictions on first cousin marriage would require changes to the Marriage Act 1949 and could potentially require changes to the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

While the evidence is limited, it does suggest that there may be an increased risk of congenital birth defects to children whose parents are first cousins. We welcome evidence suggesting that the number of first cousins choosing to marry in England is declining.

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 merits of expanding online chat facilities as a means for pensioners to raise pension-related queries with the DWP.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

DWP continually reviews how customers access its services and is committed to providing a range of communication channels that meet differing customer needs and preferences.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2026 to Question 12047 on Employment: Disability, what recent conversations he has had with (a) other government departments and (b) third party bodies to support efforts to champion people with disabilities into work.

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

This government is committed to working collaboratively to support disabled people and people with health conditions. We are championing the rights of disabled people and working with them so that their views and voices are at the heart of everything we do. Every government department has a Lead Minister for Disability and alongside their ministerial portfolio, they have a specific responsibility to work across government to remove barriers for disabled people. Chaired by the Minister for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms, the group meets regularly throughout the year.

Last year, the Minister for Social Security and Disability announced our plans for a UK Government Plan for Disability. The Plan will:

• summarise work already underway across Government to champion the rights of disabled people,
• develop a set of aspirations for Government to prioritise next in order to break down barriers for disabled people; and
• set out a clear vision that will show what this Government is aiming to achieve for disabled people in the longer term.

Ministers also meet regularly with several strategic networks of disabled people, their representative organisations and other disability stakeholders to discuss disability employment. This includes the Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO) Forum England, the Regional Stakeholder Network, the Disability Charities Consortium and the Disability and Access Ambassadors

Additionally, DWP’s Strategic Relationship Team works with employers and partners, including trade bodies, industry groups and training providers, to promote inclusive recruitment and improve awareness of workplace adjustments and support for disabled people.

DWP’s Independent Disability Advisory Panel is helping to shape and guide our health and disability policy and strategy through providing guidance, feedback, and recommendations. The eleven-member panel has personal experience of health and disability and wider experience across Disabled People’s Organisations, charities, research, the health system, and employment.

In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published the Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to reshape how government works with employers to improve work and health outcomes through creating healthier, more inclusive workplaces. The government is now working with volunteer employers, providers and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches to help disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions receive the support they need to remain and thrive in employment.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2026 to Question 12047 on Employment: Disability, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of (a) work coaches, (b) disability employment advisers at Jobcentres and (c) access to work grants on the number of people with disabilities in work.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department published an evaluation of Additional Work Coach Support: The impact of Additional Work Coach Support on the employment outcomes of LCWRA participants and Evaluation of Additional Work Coach Support. Additionally, we have published a study that assessed the feasibility of evaluating the impact of Access to Work: Feasibility of evaluating the impact of the Access to Work programme.