Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had discussions with Santander UK plc on its introduction of £120 annual charge for small business accounts.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders across the financial services sector including Santander.

While the Government recognises the concerns of long-standing customers who signed up to different business accounts, decisions regarding the products offered and any associated charges are commercial matters for individual firms. The Government does not intervene in these commercial decisions but continues to monitor wider access to bank account provision.

The Government also recognises the importance of transparency in business bank account fees, enabling businesses to make informed choices when selecting banking services. Encouraging competition in financial services helps stimulate a strong and diverse market for SMEs, improves access to finance, and ensures that businesses benefit from competitive pricing and improved choice.

The Government is committed to ensuring that SMEs are treated fairly by banks and have access to the financial services they need. That is why the Financial Ombudsman Service has jurisdiction over 99% of business banking disputes, providing a wide safety-net for businesses and an important avenue for redress where SMEs feel they have been misled or unfairly charged.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to reduce the energy price cap.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The level of the price cap is calculated based on factors including the costs of buying gas, of transporting energy to homes and businesses across the country, and suppliers’ day-to-day costs. The single largest component is the wholesale cost of energy driven by the price of gas. The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently.

We recognise that we need to support households struggling with bills whilst we transition to clean power by 2030. This is why we delivered the Warm Home Discount to around 3 million eligible low-income households last winter. On 19 June we announced that we are expanding the Warm Home Discount to around an additional 2.7 million households. This means that from this winter, around 6 million low-income households will receive the £150 support to help with their energy bills.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to reduce the average time taken to diagnose postural tachycardia syndrome.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and times down. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard, that 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, by March 2029.

Additionally, the shifts outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan will free up hospital-based consultants’ time by shifting care from hospitals to communities, utilising digital technology to reduce administrative burdens, and promoting prevention to reduce the onset and severity of conditions that lead to hospital admissions. This includes expanding community-based services, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, developing integrated neighbourhood health teams, and investing in digital tools and data. These shifts will allow specialists to focus on more complex cases of postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), enabling earlier identification and management, and improved patient outcomes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to help improve (a) clinical understanding, (b) diagnosis, and (c) treatment pathways for people with bile acid malabsorption.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The United Kingdom has a well-developed network of clinicians interested in bile acid disorders, namely the UK Bile Acid Related Diarrhoea Network, which is working with the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) on a major clinical trial.

The current treatment is mainly with “bile acid sequestrants” that bind the bile acids in the gut, but there is a recognised need to further develop new treatments. In 2025, the NIHR announced a £2 million investment in a research study to investigate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of treatments for bile acid malabsorption (BAM). Further information is available at the following link:

https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR160696

In addition, BAM has been highlighted in national guidance on managing chronic diarrhoea by the British Society of Gastroenterology, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued public-facing guidance on their website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/advice/esuom22/ifp/chapter/What-is-bile-acid-malabsorption

The standard diagnostic test for BAM is a SeHCAT study, pronounced “see cat” and named after the tauroselcholc [75 selenium] acid used in the procedure, and its use in the United Kingdom has rapidly expanded over the last 10 to 15 years, although there are limited research findings internationally, and consequently NICE has recently recommended further research in this area.

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 support the (a) development and (b) expansion of women’s health hubs across the country.

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

We are supporting integrated care boards (ICBs) to continue improving their delivery of women’s health hubs, in line with their responsibility to commission services that meet the needs of their local populations.

We have heard from ICBs on the positive impacts that women’s health hubs have on both women’s access to care in the community and their experience. The Government is committed to encouraging ICBs to further expand the coverage of women’s health hubs and to support ICBs to use the learning from the women’s health hub pilots to improve local delivery of services to women and girls.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are committed to moving towards a neighbourhood health service, with more care delivered in local communities, to identify and address problems earlier and closer to home. Women’s health hubs are an example of this approach and can play a key role in delivering the government’s manifesto commitments on tackling long NHS waiting lists, as well as shifting care into the community.

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 equitable access to Mounjaro for people with bile acid malabsorption.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In the United Kingdom, medicines need to have a licence before they can be marketed, and these are granted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). To get a licence, the manufacturer of the medicine has to provide evidence which shows that the medicine is safe and effective enough to be used for a specific condition and for a specific group of patients, and that they can manufacture the medicine to the required quality.

Most newly licensed medicines are then evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to see if they can be recommended for routine use on the National Health Service, based on an assessment of their clinical and cost-effectiveness. Mounjaro is not currently licensed for the treatment of bile acid malabsorption and therefore has not been evaluated by NICE for routine NHS use in this indication.

Clinicians can however prescribe medicines outside their licensed indication (known as ‘off-label’ use) where they consider it to be the best treatment option for their patient, and subject to funding by the NHS locally. In the absence of NICE guidance on the use of a medicine, including where it is used off-label, NHS organisations are expected to make decisions on funding based on an assessment of the available evidence.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps is she taking to ensure the safety of citizens’ personal data through the proposed digital ID scheme.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Privacy and security are integral to the Government’s proposals. People’s privacy and data will be protected in line with the UK’s data protection laws as well as using state-of-the-art encryption and authentication technology that’s already protecting millions of digital transactions daily - in the same way banking apps do.

The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, which will seek views on the design, build and delivery of the system. The Government will work closely with expert stakeholders, including the Information Commissioner’s Office and the National Cyber Security Centre, to make the programme as effective and secure as possible.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Metropolitan Police leaders on safeguards to protect whistleblowers who report (a) misogyny and (b) racism.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Secretary and I have regular meetings with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and other police leaders on a range of issues including police conduct.

Police officers have a statutory duty to report wrongdoing by their colleagues when they see it, and the College of Policing’s Code of Practice for Ethical Policing puts a duty on Chief Officers to facilitate and protect whistleblowers. The Metropolitan Police Service has a specialist unit to handle any concerns raised by “whistleblowers” with provision to come forward anonymously and to provide additional support to those who are accorded “whistleblower status” over and above their protections in wider employment and whistleblowing law. In addition, the Independent Office for Police Conduct runs a dedicated telephone line for police officers and staff.

Part 2 of the Angiolini Inquiry is also considering a range of cultural issues in policing, including whistleblowing processes, and the Government will consider any recommendations it makes carefully.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Metropolitan Police leaders on the use of metrics to assess the efficacy of cultural reform programmes introduced following the Casey Review.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is clear that discriminatory attitudes and behaviours have no place in policing. All Londoners, including women and ethnic minorities, deserve to have trust and confidence in their police force. As part of our mission to take back our streets, we have committed to restoring neighbourhood policing and halving violence against women girls and knife crime in a decade.

Since the Casey Review’s publication in March 2023, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has set out his ‘New Met for London’ plan to improve confidence in the force. The London Policing Board holds the Commissioner to account for delivery of the plan, and I engage regularly with both the Commissioner and Mayor of London on progress.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help the Metropolitan Police restore public confidence among women and ethnic minorities.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is clear that discriminatory attitudes and behaviours have no place in policing. All Londoners, including women and ethnic minorities, deserve to have trust and confidence in their police force. As part of our mission to take back our streets, we have committed to restoring neighbourhood policing and halving violence against women girls and knife crime in a decade.

Since the Casey Review’s publication in March 2023, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has set out his ‘New Met for London’ plan to improve confidence in the force. The London Policing Board holds the Commissioner to account for delivery of the plan, and I engage regularly with both the Commissioner and Mayor of London on progress.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to strengthen the national framework for the Metropolitan Police’s vetting processes to (a) identify and (b) exclude applicants with discriminatory attitudes on the basis of characteristics protected under the Equality Act 2010.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Police forces are expected to carry out vetting in alignment with the national framework set out in the College of Policing’s statutory Vetting Code of Practice and accompanying Vetting Authorised Professional Practice (APP).

Vetting decision-making is made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account any risks posed by the individual to the public and the police service. The APP is clear that any adverse information uncovered during the vetting and recruitment processes - including evidence of discriminatory behaviour such as racism or homophobia - must be flagged and subject to additional scrutiny.

It also highlights that clearance should be declined where an applicant has a caution or conviction that demonstrated targeting of persons due to their vulnerabilities or protected characteristics.

To help ensure the system is as robust as possible, earlier this year the Government made changes to introduce a statutory duty for officers to hold and maintain vetting clearance, and provided a route to dismiss them should they fail to do so. We are building on this by introducing statutory vetting standards later this year, which forces must adhere to.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the projected cost is for introducing a national digital ID system.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year. The eventual total cost and savings will depend on the design, build and delivery of the system, matters which will be included in the consultation.

We expect the programme to be designed, built and run by in-house Government teams, not outsourced to external suppliers. In the event any specialist external services or expertise are procured to support the delivery of the new digital ID system, this will be subject to all the usual competitive processes to ensure transparency, and value for the taxpayer.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that women have confidence that they will be believed when reporting (a) assault, (b) abuse and (c) rape to the Metropolitan Police.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We are committed to playing a more active role in policing to ensure officers have the right support, to significantly improve standards across the board and to ensure justice is delivered for victims. Victims must feel confident in the police’s ability to handle their case.

We know these crimes disproportionately affect women and girls and are underreported, and we will take action to ensure victims coming forward get the response they deserve. This is why we are carefully developing options to deliver key commitments including ensuring specialist rape and sexual offence teams in all police forces and fast-tracking rape cases.

We are providing £13.1 million in 2025/26 to the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP) which is supporting all police forces, including the Metropolitan Police Service, to ensure they relentlessly pursue perpetrators who pose the greatest risk to women and use all the tools at their disposal to protect victims and get dangerous offenders off the streets. This includes continuing to drive forward Operation Soteria, which is supporting officers to build the strongest possible, suspect-focused rape cases.

Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this Government and we are going further than before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach to halve violence against women and girls, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published as soon as possible.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that egg production in the UK comes from cage-free systems.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, PQ UIN 47556.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take legislative steps to ensure that food outlets must display their Food Standards Agency food hygiene rating.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department of Health and Social Care 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.

Conduct of Sir Robbie Gibb and the independence of the BBC Board

Conduct of the hon. Member for Runcorn and Helsby