Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that British businesses follow human rights obligations set out in the Second Report of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Session 2021-22 on Never Again: The UK's Responsibility to Act on Atrocities in Xinjiang and Beyond, HC 198, published on 29 June 2021.

Answered by Catherine West

The UK has carefully considered and implemented several of the Foreign Affairs Committee's recommendations on responding to human rights violations in China since 2021. This Government will stand firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.

Regarding recommendations on forced labour and the business sector, this Government has launched a Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) review to consider the effectiveness of the UK's current RBC measures and alternative policy options, including approaches to tackle forced labour. There are a number of ways in which HMG currently tackles the issue of Uyghur forced labour in supply chains. The Overseas Business Risk Guidance makes clear to UK companies the risk of operating in certain regions and urges them to conduct appropriate due diligence when making business decisions. The UK also has reporting requirements for companies with a turnover of £36 million or more under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what response he received from his Chinese counterparts on the concerns he raised about human rights abuses in Xinjiang in October 2024.

Answered by Catherine West

I am not able to comment on the details of discussions with international counterparts. The effective conduct of the UK's international relations depends upon maintaining the trust and confidence of other states and international organisations.

This Government will stand firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor, Energy Secretary and I all raised human rights recently with our counterparts. We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account, for example, joining a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang and Tibet at the UN General Assembly in October.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress his Department has made with international counterparts on cooperating to protect the human rights of Uyghurs.

Answered by Catherine West

This Government will stand firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.

We will continue to work closely with international partners in a number of areas, including holding China to account in international fora. For example, we joined a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang and Tibet at the UN General Assembly in October. We also work together to monitor, expose and react to human rights violations in Xinjiang. This includes working with international partners to understand the impact and effectiveness of measures to combat forced labour.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has implemented the recommendations of the Second Report of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Session 2021-22 on Never Again: The UK's Responsibility to Act on Atrocities in Xinjiang and Beyond, HC 198, published on 29 June 2021.

Answered by Catherine West

The UK has carefully considered and implemented several of the Foreign Affairs Committee's recommendations on responding to human rights violations in China since 2021. This Government will stand firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.

We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor, Energy Secretary and I all raised human rights recently with our counterparts. We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account, for example, joining a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang and Tibet at the UN General Assembly in October. In the recently published Trade Strategy, the Department for Business and Trade launched a Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) review to consider the effectiveness of the UK's current RBC measures and alternative policy options, including approaches to tackle forced labour.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which Department will present the bill on regulating secondary ticketing markets.

Answered by Justin Madders

The government is committed to putting fans back at the heart of live events by clamping down on exploitative practices in the ticket resale market. We ran a consultation earlier this year to seek views on a range of proposals, including a price cap that would restrict the price at which tickets could lawfully be resold.

We are currently reviewing all the evidence that we received in response to our consultation. We will set out our plans in the government response, which we intend to publish in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to intervene in negotiations on the Horserace Betting Levy to (a) increase the rate to 11.5% and (b) include overseas races within the scope of that levy.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Horserace Betting Levy is vital for the financial sustainability of horseracing.

The Government believes a voluntary deal is the fastest path towards delivering appropriate funding for the sport.

We continue to encourage the betting and racing industry to resume negotiations and reach a new agreement in the best interests of horseracing.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the harmonisation of gambling duty rates on levels of promotion of more addictive forms of online gaming.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government consultation on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one closed on 21 July 2025. Responses are now being analysed and a response to the consultation will be published at Autumn Budget 2025.

If any changes are made to gambling duties at a future Budget following the consultation, they will be accompanied by a Tax Information and Impact Note which will set out the expected impacts.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposals in her Department’s consultation on the harmonisation of gambling duty rate on the horseracing industry.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government consultation on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one closed on 21 July 2025. Responses are now being analysed and a response to the consultation will be published at Autumn Budget 2025.

If any changes are made to gambling duties at a future Budget following the consultation, they will be accompanied by a Tax Information and Impact Note which will set out the expected impacts.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential benefit of changing the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence test by (a) using CCTV on test vehicles and (b) introducing detailed written feedback for failed tests.

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

No assessment has been made by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) of the benefits of using CCTV on test vehicles, as part of the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC). The existing testing framework for large vehicles already incorporates structured reporting and feedback mechanisms.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's planned timetable is for increasing the annual provision of specialty training places for resident doctors.

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

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan published in July 2025, over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of conducting efficiency savings to fund more (a) clinical staff and (b) equipment in the NHS.

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

NHS England’s 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance made it clear that the National Health Service must live within the budget it is allocated, reduce waste and increase productivity to deliver growth against demand. The Autumn Statement 2024 reaffirmed a 2% NHS productivity growth target for 2025/26, and the recent Spending Review set out the commitment to achieve 2% productivity growth across the Spending Review period, supported by up to £10 billion of technology and digital investment.

As part of the 2025/26 planning process, all NHS systems set efficiency and savings targets necessary to achieve a balanced financial position, and planned delivery of the other national priorities set out in planning guidance including recovering elective activity. To help organisations identify savings and plan for 2025/26, NHS England shared core productivity and efficiency metrics with benchmarked opportunities. For a given budget, savings and productivity opportunities can enable the same level of clinical staff to do more activity, or can involve savings to non-clinical areas or reduction in input costs, for example, procurement and agency savings, to enable reinvestment in additional clinical staff or non-capitalised equipment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs have (a) been hired and (b) left practice since July 2024.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Between June 2024 and June 2025, the most recent period for which data is available, 2,611 full time equivalent (FTE), or 4,174 headcount, fully qualified general practitioners (GPs) joined general practice, while 1,760 FTE, or 2,756 headcount, fully qualified GPs left general practice.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the recruitment of GPs.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are starting to see consistent growth in the general practitioner (GP) workforce.  In July 2025, there were 658 more fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs working in practices than in July 2024.

The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs in primary care networks (PCNs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25. This is part of our initiative to secure the future pipeline of GPs, with over 1,000 doctors otherwise likely to graduate into unemployment in 2024/25. Data on the number of recently qualified general practitioners for which PCNs are claiming reimbursement via the ARRS show that, since 1 October 2024, over 2,000 GPs were recruited through the scheme.

Newly qualified GPs employed under the ARRS will continue to receive support under the scheme in the coming year as part of the 25/26 contract. Several changes have been confirmed to increase the flexibility of ARRS. These include: GPs and practice nurses included in the main ARRS funding pot; an uplift of the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme; and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.

We are boosting practice finances by investing an additional £1,092 million in general practice to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP contract in 2025/26 is faster than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department has allocated to GP practices to hire more GPs.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are starting to see consistent growth in the general practitioner (GP) workforce.  In July 2025, there were 658 more fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs working in practices than in July 2024.

The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs in primary care networks (PCNs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25. This is part of our initiative to secure the future pipeline of GPs, with over 1,000 doctors otherwise likely to graduate into unemployment in 2024/25. Data on the number of recently qualified general practitioners for which PCNs are claiming reimbursement via the ARRS show that, since 1 October 2024, over 2,000 GPs were recruited through the scheme.

Newly qualified GPs employed under the ARRS will continue to receive support under the scheme in the coming year as part of the 25/26 contract. Several changes have been confirmed to increase the flexibility of ARRS. These include: GPs and practice nurses included in the main ARRS funding pot; an uplift of the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme; and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.

We are boosting practice finances by investing an additional £1,092 million in general practice to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP contract in 2025/26 is faster than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.

Final delivery plan on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Protecting children from sexual abuse

Review into breast cancer screening