Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many appeals against decisions made under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme were awaiting determination by the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal as of 1 September 2026.

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

Available data on the operation of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) is published on a regular basis by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA). This can be found on the NHS BSA Open Data Portal at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/theme/public-services-schemes-and-payments

Appeals to the VDPS are lodged directly with and managed by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service, not the NHS BSA. The requested data is therefore not centrally held.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Newton Abbot sent on 18 August 2026 under case ref MW00400.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department replied to the Hon. Member’s correspondence on 14 October.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has assessed the Project Nectar pilot's compliance with the National Police Chiefs' Council's Covenant for Using Artificial Intelligence in Policing regarding the principle of Maximum Transparency by Default.

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

The Home Office has not assessed the Project Nectar pilot’s compliance with the Covenant for Using Artificial Intelligence in Policing.

PoliceAI is responsible for supporting the responsible adoption of AI across policing in England and Wales, including the testing and evaluation of AI tools. All Chief Constables have signed up to the principles of responsible AI use set out in the Covenant for Using Artificial Intelligence in Policing, and the Home Office expects forces to comply with these principles, including maximum transparency by default.

The government is committed to transparency on police use of AI, and PoliceAI will publish and maintain a public-facing AI registry, which is being developed in partnership with academics. This will include details on the steps taken by the force to deploy the AI responsibly, including ethical assessment and accountability arrangements. The registry is currently being piloted with a limited number of forces, and Bedfordshire Police is participating as a pilot force. A version of the of the public registry is expected to be published by the end of 2026, with all forces able to make disclosures for public viewing by the end of the financial year. We expect AI deployments to be disclosed through the registry, subject to appropriate exemptions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information the department holds on the average waiting time between an appeal being lodged and the appeal being determined under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme in each of the last five years.

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

Available data on the operation of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) is published on a regular basis by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA). This can be found on the NHS BSA Open Data Portal at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/theme/public-services-schemes-and-payments

Appeals to the VDPS are lodged directly with and managed by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service, not the NHS BSA. The requested data is therefore not centrally held.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many appeals under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme had been awaiting determination for more than (a) six months, (b) 12 months, (c) 18 months and (d) 24 months as of the 1st of September 2026.

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

Available data on the operation of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) is published on a regular basis by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA). This can be found on the NHS BSA Open Data Portal at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/theme/public-services-schemes-and-payments

Appeals to the VDPS are lodged directly with and managed by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service, not the NHS BSA. The requested data is therefore not centrally held.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme appeals.

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

Available data on the operation of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) is published on a regular basis by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA). This can be found on the NHS BSA Open Data Portal at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/theme/public-services-schemes-and-payments

Appeals to the VDPS are lodged directly with and managed by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service, not the NHS BSA. The requested data is therefore not centrally held.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether other forces are conduction similar tasks like the metropolitan police is under Op Reckoning, and what outcomes have come from these.

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

The Government is committed to tackling mobile phone theft and supports the operational activity being led by policing through Operation Reckoning.

Since January 2025, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has delivered its most comprehensive and intelligence-led response to mobile phone theft and robbery through Operation Reckoning. This is delivering results – street crime involving the theft of a mobile phone recorded by the MPS has fallen by over 16,000 offences in the year to September 2026, a reduction of 21% across London and 43% in Westminster, according to their own published data.

The Home Office collects data on the number of theft offences reported to the police in England and Wales by police force. It is not possible from information held centrally to identify mobile phone thefts reported to individual police forces.

The most recent phase of Operation Reckoning has, for the first time, expanded beyond London and involved forces across England and Wales working with industry and other partners. Activity has included visits to second-hand mobile phone retailers, intelligence-led enforcement activity and work to disrupt the criminal markets that enable stolen devices to be sold on for profit.

The operation is coordinated nationally by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, enabling forces to share intelligence, operational tactics and lessons learned to strengthen the collective response to mobile phone theft and support disruption activity across England and Wales.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what number of phone thefts have been reported in Devon & Cornwall in 2026 compared to a) The Met Force area and b) the rest of the country.

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

The Government is committed to tackling mobile phone theft and supports the operational activity being led by policing through Operation Reckoning.

Since January 2025, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has delivered its most comprehensive and intelligence-led response to mobile phone theft and robbery through Operation Reckoning. This is delivering results – street crime involving the theft of a mobile phone recorded by the MPS has fallen by over 16,000 offences in the year to September 2026, a reduction of 21% across London and 43% in Westminster, according to their own published data.

The Home Office collects data on the number of theft offences reported to the police in England and Wales by police force. It is not possible from information held centrally to identify mobile phone thefts reported to individual police forces.

The most recent phase of Operation Reckoning has, for the first time, expanded beyond London and involved forces across England and Wales working with industry and other partners. Activity has included visits to second-hand mobile phone retailers, intelligence-led enforcement activity and work to disrupt the criminal markets that enable stolen devices to be sold on for profit.

The operation is coordinated nationally by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, enabling forces to share intelligence, operational tactics and lessons learned to strengthen the collective response to mobile phone theft and support disruption activity across England and Wales.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make (a) an estimate of the total number of police officers required in the UK for police forces to operate effectively and (b) an assessment of the adequacy of the current number serving.

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

The Government is clear that an effective, well-supported police service is central to delivering safer communities and improved public confidence.

The Home Office does not set a requirement for the number of officers forces should have in order to operate effectively.

For too long the focus has been on officer numbers alone. Society, crime, and public expectations are changing, and policing must modernise to reflect this.

The Police Reform White Paper published earlier this year outlines our plans to develop a new Police Workforce Strategy to build and support a modern, capable, and sustainable police workforce. The strategy will consider what mix of officers, staff, and specialist skills policing needs to respond to today’s challenges and anticipate those of the future.

It is for Chief Constables, directly accountable to the relevant Police and Crime Commissioner or Mayor, to make operational decisions. This includes decisions on local workforce requirements informed by individual forces’ operational needs and assessments of local demand and risk.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) prevalence of respiratory disease and (b) number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in Newton Abbot.

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

The specific data requested by the Hon Members is not centrally held. They may find useful information on the prevalence and treatment of respiratory conditions in their local areas at the Department’s Fingertips website, at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profiles

In addition, the National flu and COVID-19 surveillance report, published by the UK Health Security Agency, provides weekly surveillance of respiratory virus activity in England, including hospital admission rates specifically for influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus. This is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2026-to-2027-season

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to op Reckoning, how the department plans to work with Apple and major Android developers to implement tactics to reduce phone theft.

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

The Government is committed to tackling mobile phone theft and supports the operational activity being led by policing through Operation Reckoning.

Since January 2025, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has delivered its most comprehensive and intelligence-led response to mobile phone theft and robbery through Operation Reckoning. This is delivering results – street crime involving the theft of a mobile phone recorded by the MPS has fallen by over 16,000 offences in the year to September 2026, a reduction of 21% across London and 43% in Westminster, according to their own published data.

The Home Office collects data on the number of theft offences reported to the police in England and Wales by police force. It is not possible from information held centrally to identify mobile phone thefts reported to individual police forces.

The most recent phase of Operation Reckoning has, for the first time, expanded beyond London and involved forces across England and Wales working with industry and other partners. Activity has included visits to second-hand mobile phone retailers, intelligence-led enforcement activity and work to disrupt the criminal markets that enable stolen devices to be sold on for profit.

The operation is coordinated nationally by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, enabling forces to share intelligence, operational tactics and lessons learned to strengthen the collective response to mobile phone theft and support disruption activity across England and Wales.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information the department plans to share with forces outside of the metropolitan police area as a result of Op Reckoning.

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

The Government is committed to tackling mobile phone theft and supports the operational activity being led by policing through Operation Reckoning.

Since January 2025, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has delivered its most comprehensive and intelligence-led response to mobile phone theft and robbery through Operation Reckoning. This is delivering results – street crime involving the theft of a mobile phone recorded by the MPS has fallen by over 16,000 offences in the year to September 2026, a reduction of 21% across London and 43% in Westminster, according to their own published data.

The Home Office collects data on the number of theft offences reported to the police in England and Wales by police force. It is not possible from information held centrally to identify mobile phone thefts reported to individual police forces.

The most recent phase of Operation Reckoning has, for the first time, expanded beyond London and involved forces across England and Wales working with industry and other partners. Activity has included visits to second-hand mobile phone retailers, intelligence-led enforcement activity and work to disrupt the criminal markets that enable stolen devices to be sold on for profit.

The operation is coordinated nationally by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, enabling forces to share intelligence, operational tactics and lessons learned to strengthen the collective response to mobile phone theft and support disruption activity across England and Wales.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of reducing the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate on (a) EV take-up and (b) emissions levels in Devon.

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

Alongside any changes to the ZEV Mandate, a Cost Benefit Analysis will be made which set out the potential impact on ZEV uptake and emissions at a UK level. On 14 August, the Government launched the ZEV Mandate Review consultation, which seeks views from the public and stakeholders to consider the ZEV Mandate. This consultation forms an important part of the long-committed ZEV Mandate review.

No policy decisions have been made yet regarding the trajectories of the ZEV Mandate. We are seeking views on whether a revised approach to the existing Mandate trajectories is warranted. The Government remains committed to the 2030 and 2035 phase-out dates and they are not subject to change.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Department has asked NHS England to review its use of the term "signed up" in reporting uptake of the Federated Data Platform, in circumstances where NHS organisations described as signed up are not actively using the platform.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department routinely monitors performance, costs, risks, and other factors in relation to all major contracts as part of its ongoing contract management processes, and reports on those issues in the normal way at appropriate milestones. We do not provide a running commentary outside of that process.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are additional costs for the NHS FDP programme if the NHS increases the amount of data (a) processed and (b) stored.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department routinely monitors performance, costs, risks, and other factors in relation to all major contracts as part of its ongoing contract management processes, and reports on those issues in the normal way at appropriate milestones. We do not provide a running commentary outside of that process.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the costs for the NHS Federated Data Platform will be after 7 years of the contract with Palantir.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department routinely monitors performance, costs, risks, and other factors in relation to all major contracts as part of its ongoing contract management processes, and reports on those issues in the normal way at appropriate milestones. We do not provide a running commentary outside of that process.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England’s web publication NHS Federated Data Platform uptake and benefits, whether NHS England will publish uptake statistics that distinguish between hospitals that are (a) signed up but not actively using an FDP product, (b) actively using one FDP product and (c) actively using two or more FDP products.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department routinely monitors performance, costs, risks, and other factors in relation to all major contracts as part of its ongoing contract management processes, and reports on those issues in the normal way at appropriate milestones. We do not provide a running commentary outside of that process.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of time required to port the Federated Data Platform from Palantir to another supplier.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department routinely monitors performance, costs, risks, and other factors in relation to all major contracts as part of its ongoing contract management processes, and reports on those issues in the normal way at appropriate milestones. We do not provide a running commentary outside of that process.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) prevalence of respiratory disease and (b) number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in Newton Abbot.

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

The specific data requested by the Hon Member is not centrally held, but he may find useful information on the prevalence and treatment of respiratory conditions in his local area at the Department’s Fingertips website at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profiles

In addition, the National flu and COVID-19 surveillance report, published by the UK Health Security Agency, provides weekly surveillance of respiratory virus activity in England, including hospital admission rates specifically for influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus rather than the full range of respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The report is available on the GOV.UK website at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2026-to-2027-season

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of whether existing NHS workforce plans for England plans are sufficient to meet the objectives set out in the 10 Year Plan for England published in July 2025.

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

The Government has committed to introduce a new 10 Year NHS Workforce Plan to complement the 10-Year Health Plan for England, and we will keep Parliament updated on the publication of that plan in the normal way.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan for England published in June 2023 is still in operation.

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

The Government has committed to introduce a new 10 Year NHS Workforce Plan to complement the 10-Year Health Plan for England, and we will keep Parliament updated on the publication of that plan in the normal way.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what workforce plan is currently in operation for the NHS in England.

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

The Government has committed to introduce a new 10 Year NHS Workforce Plan to complement the 10-Year Health Plan for England, and we will keep Parliament updated on the publication of that plan in the normal way.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 23 March 2026 to Question 121056 on General Practitioners: Contracts, by what date her Department plans to implement a revised Carr-Hill funding formula for general practice.

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

The Department does not have anything further to add at this time to the answers previously provided to the Hon Member on this subject, but we will keep Parliament updated when there is new information to report.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will arrange a meeting between the hon. Member for Newton Abbot and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation to discuss the Federated Data Platform.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I am always happy to engage with Parliamentary colleagues on these and other issues within my areas of responsibility, as I will do this week at our next session of departmental oral questions.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to ensure that future digital inclusion programmes are not dependent on software licences from a single provider.

Answered by Vicky Foxcroft - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

Everyone in every community should benefit from technology, including access to appropriate software that meets individual needs.

People need high-quality devices with compatible, up to date software, to maximise their use. Through the IT Reuse for Good Charter, and government pilot, our delivery partners refurbished devices with software suited to the recipient’s needs. For future programmes, we are exploring how software provision can be made more sustainable, accessible, and suitable for individual needs.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether his Department operates a software asset management system to maintain a central record of its software licences; and when his Department last completed a review of its software estate to identify dependencies and redundancies.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

The Department does not currently operate a dedicated Software Asset Management (SAM) system that maintains a single, central record of all software licences across its estate.

The Department most recently conducted a review of its software estate in 2025 through an application portfolio exercise, which consolidated data from multiple sources to improve understanding of software and applications in use across the Department. As part of a broader technology improvement programme, the department aims to have all software assets catalogued, mapped and proactively managed by the end of 2027.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the evaluation report relating to the Project Nectar pilot with Bedfordshire Police.

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

The Home Office does not hold the information requested. Decisions relating to the publication of any evaluation report concerning the Project Nectar pilot are a matter for Bedfordshire Police, as decisions on the procurement and use of technology are matters for operationally independent police forces.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what work her Department has undertaken to assess AI pilot projects for police forces; and what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade regarding Police AI.

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

Piloting, procuring and deploying of AI solutions by police forces is ultimately a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables, accountable to their locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).

In April, the government established PoliceAI to support Chiefs and PCCs in making informed and responsible decisions about AI. This was established by the Home Secretary using funding powers in the Police Act 1996. PoliceAI is actively working with forces to implement AI pilots across a range of use cases and will undertake evaluation, testing and assurance of these pilots, with a view to supporting police rapidly scale the best tools. These pilots are vital to ensure the AI models are accurate and bias free, with robust safeguards in place to mitigate the risk of hallucinations.

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Found: Samantha Niblett (Labour; South Derbyshire) Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat; Henley and Thame) Martin Wrigley