Mark Pritchard

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six.

Local authorities in England have the power to go beyond their statutory obligations under the ENCTS and offer additional discretionary concessions, such as extending the times at which concessionary passes can be used.

All new tyres, both UK made and imported, require GB type approval before they are permitted for sale. To gain approval, manufacturers must demonstrate that they achieve a range of technical performance requirements. This includes a minimum wet grip performance which aims to ensure that sufficient deceleration can be achieved, even in adverse weather conditions. In addition, the braking system of the vehicle is required to achieve a minimum stopping performance in a variety of states.

Midlands Connect, a sub-national transport body which researches, develops and progresses transport projects in the Midlands, is prioritising line speed improvements to this railway line over electrification. They are in the process of refreshing the Business Case for line speed improvements, which they plan to submit towards the end of 2024. It will be important to consider a range of options to progress decarbonisation of the rail network, and I expect to receive advice on this matter later this year.

There are no requirements in the goods vehicle operator licensing regime for vehicles used by delivery companies, utility companies, or construction companies to have livery displaying the details of the owning business, and the company using the vehicles at the time.

The goods vehicle operator licensing regime applies to vehicles weighing 3.5 tonnes or more used domestically, and those weighing more than 2.5 tonnes used for the purposes of hire and reward in the European Union.

Vehicles subject to operator licensing must have a disc with the operator licence number displayed. This can be checked on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/find-vehicle-operators to identify the operator responsible for the operation of the vehicle, and the type of licence held.

I refer the honourable member to the answer to question UIN 500, given on the 25 July 2024.

Reciprocal healthcare arrangements (RHAs) cover emergency and medically necessary healthcare for United Kingdom nationals or residents on short-term visits. They benefit people with long term, pre-existing conditions, and along with insurance, offer all travellers greater peace of mind when travelling. We recognise the benefits associated with RHAs. We continually review options to update existing arrangements outside of the European Union, as well as the potential to develop new ones.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has no current plans to introduce additional measures to verify and validate the medical qualifications of non-United Kingdom trained doctors working in the National Health Service.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors practising in the UK. The GMC is independent of the Government and directly accountable to Parliament. The GMC sets and enforces the standards all doctors must adhere to and is responsible for ensuring that doctors have the necessary skills and knowledge to join the UK medical register. All doctors must register with the GMC and hold a license to practice in the UK.

There are currently no plans for my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to improve checks on declared medical qualifications for international employees in the National Health Service. NHS trusts have robust recruitment policies and processes aligned to employment law and good human resource practice, as set out in the NHS Employment Check Standards. For doctors, this includes a requirement to check with the General Medical Council that individuals meet the necessary standards of competency, skill, and training required of the medical profession, and that there are no known issues which would affect their fitness or licence to practice.

The UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) evidence review for prostate cancer screening is already underway and plans to report within the UK NSC’s three-year work plan.

The evidence review includes modelling the clinical cost effectiveness of several approaches to prostate cancer screening, including different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years old onwards and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher than average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.

Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended by the UK National Screening Committees (UK NSC). This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). A PSA-based screening programme could harm men as some of them would be diagnosed with a cancer that would not have caused them problems during their life. This would lead to additional tests and treatments which can also have harmful side effects.

The UK NSC is currently carrying out an evidence review for prostate cancer screening; this includes different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years of age onwards, and targeted screening programme aimed at groups of men identified as being at higher-than-average risk such as those with a family history, carriers of the BRCA2 gene and based on ethnicity.

In addition, we are working with Prostate Cancer UK to launch the TRANSFORM trial. The £42 million nationwide screening study will compare the most promising tests to look for prostate cancer in men that do not have any symptoms.

The Government continues to call for the human rights of all Afghans to be protected, including those of Hazara communities, most recently in our statement at the UN Human Rights Council on 27 September. We condemn recent attacks against Hazaras. In line with the Hazara Inquiry report's recommendations, we continue to monitor and document discrimination and abuses against Hazaras, including through our support for the UN Special Rapporteur. Officials from the UK Mission to Afghanistan regularly press the Taliban on human rights abuses and the rights of minorities in Afghanistan.

We have repeatedly condemned Russia's illegal military presence and the Russification of Abkhazia, including through the proposed Russian naval base at Ochamchire, most recently in a UN Security Council Statement on the 16th Anniversary of Russia's invasion of Georgia. The UK fully supports Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty, including over the breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in the face of continued hybrid aggression from Russia.

The UK is committed to improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for people in the developing world. The FCDO WASH programmes that are in fragile and conflict affected states including in Chad, DRC, Ethiopia and Mozambique. One example is the £18.5 million 4-year WASH Systems for Health program which works with governments and stakeholders to strengthen the planning, finance, management and accountability systems to improve water and sanitation services. We are also providing UNICEF with £6.25 million over 4 years to strengthen the capacity of governments to provide climate resilient WASH services in countries including fragile and conflict-affected states.

The conflict in Sudan has created a manmade humanitarian disaster with 8.5 million people facing emergency or famine conditions, more than Gaza, South Sudan, Mali, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan combined. This financial year, UK bilateral ODA to Sudan will increase to £92 million. UK support is being delivered through the UN and other trusted partners, and is providing nutrition, safe drinking water, medical care and shelter. The UK continues to pursue all diplomatic avenues to press the warring parties into a permanent ceasefire, allow unrestricted humanitarian access, protect civilians and commit to a sustained and meaningful peace process.

The UK has taken extensive action to limit Russian energy revenues, including prohibiting the import of Russian liquid natural gas (LNG) and an export ban on energy-related goods to target Russia's longer-term LNG production. The new Government is committed to rigorously enforcing our sanctions, cracking down on those who seek to circumvent them, and to working with partners to constrain Russian revenue which is supporting Putin's illegal war in Ukraine.

We took robust action against Russia's "shadow fleet", alongside allies, at the European Political Community, and will continue to explore further options to strengthen our sanctions regime and enforcement, including in the energy sector.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the insurance industry operates on a fair and competitive basis.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the independent regulator, has a primary objective to ensure relevant markets are functioning well and a secondary objective to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers.

The FCA has robust powers to tackle anti-competitive practices, working with the Competition and Markets Authority where required. The Government is confident that both regulators are effective in their oversight of the insurance market.

The Government is supporting farmers and land managers to adapt their business models and access tailored support to do so through the agricultural transition, including through diversification. For example, farmers can access free business advice through the Farming Resilience Fund.

The Government recognises that many farmers may choose to let out part of their estates as furnished holiday lettings (FHLs). Nevertheless, while the government recognises the important role that FHLs have, including those located on farms, in the visitor economy, tax rules currently privilege short-term lets over long-term rentals. The Government will therefore abolish the FHL tax regime from April 2025,which will equalise the tax treatment of landlords’ property income and gains.

The definition of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) encompasses crimes which disproportionately, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. We recognise that men and boys also experience abusive and violent crimes, such as stalking, domestic abuse and sexual abuse. That is why we fund a specific helpline with Respect, which provides specialist tailored support for male victims of domestic abuse.

On 24 October, the Home Secretary announced a package of reforms to improve the police response to victims of VAWG related crimes. Ensuring that all victims have a positive experience when dealing with the police is essential to increase reporting of these crimes and deliver better outcomes for victims.

Our new VAWG strategy to be published next year aims to help all victims of domestic abuse and this strategy will lay out our plans for any future initiatives and research, including for men who are victims of abuse.

This Government is committed to tackling domestic and sexual abuse in all its forms. Achieving our aim of halving violence against women and girls in a decade will require a whole systems approach.

The Domestic Abuse Act (2021) recognises children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right when they see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse.

We recognise that domestic abuse and sexual violence can take many forms such as from family members in the context of so-called honour-based abuse, or older victims experiencing abuse from their partner or adult children. That is why we fund Hourglass and Karma Nirvana to deliver specialist helplines, which provide tailored support for older victims of domestic abuse and victims of honour-based abuse respectively.

This government also remains firmly committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse and working to keep children safe across the country. We are driving forward action right across government, education, children’s social care, health, policing, law enforcement, and working with industry, international and civil society partners to ensure we are all doing all that we can to tackle this horrific crime.

The definition of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) encompasses crimes which disproportionately, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. We recognise that men and boys also experience abusive and violent crimes, such as stalking, domestic abuse and sexual abuse. That is why we fund a specific helpline with Respect, which provides specialist tailored support for male victims of domestic abuse.

On 24 October, the Home Secretary announced a package of reforms to improve the police response to victims of VAWG related crimes. Ensuring that all victims have a positive experience when dealing with the police is essential to increase reporting of these crimes and deliver better outcomes for victims.

Our new VAWG strategy to be published next year aims to help all victims of domestic abuse and this strategy will lay out our plans for any future initiatives and research, including for men who are victims of abuse.

The definition of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) encompasses crimes which disproportionately, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. We recognise that men and boys also experience abusive and violent crimes, such as stalking, domestic abuse and sexual abuse. That is why we fund a specific helpline with Respect, which provides specialist tailored support for male victims of domestic abuse.

On 24 October, the Home Secretary announced a package of reforms to improve the police response to victims of VAWG related crimes. Ensuring that all victims have a positive experience when dealing with the police is essential to increase reporting of these crimes and deliver better outcomes for victims.

Our new VAWG strategy to be published next year aims to help all victims of domestic abuse and this strategy will lay out our plans for any future initiatives and research, including for men who are victims of abuse.

The Home Office Homicide Index holds information on the age of victims and whether the offence was initially classified as murder or manslaughter. The data are given in the table.