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 the impact of AI-based auto contouring on radiotherapy waiting times.

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

No assessment has been made. However, the Department supports the National Health Service in reviewing opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence to transform performance, bring down waiting times, and support staff with their workload. We expect that radiotherapy treatment centres will use all appropriate technology for treating patients, to ensure that they receive the best possible care. This includes the use of artificial intelligence where available.

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as reducing waiting times for diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with international counterparts to help prevent the forced transfer of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

This government has been clear that stability in the West Bank is crucial. All sides should work to ensure a lowering of tension in the West Bank at this time. The risk of instability is serious and the need for de-escalation urgent. We continue to call on Israeli authorities to exercise restraint, adhere to international law, and clamp down on the actions of those who seek to inflame tensions. The UK is clear that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and harm prospects for a two-state solution. Israel must clamp down on settler violence and end settlement expansion. We are also clear that in all but the most exceptional of cases, demolitions by an occupying power are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. The Foreign Secretary has raised the situation in the West Bank with his Israeli and other international counterparts and during previous visits has met with Palestinian community members in the West Bank where he heard how communities are affected.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her proposed changes to disability benefits on (a) people who receive social care support and (b) social care support providers.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

This Government has already started to bring about change to address health-related economic inactivity. We are injecting almost £26 billion of extra funding next year to get the health and social care system back on its feet and bring down waiting lists.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out our plans to reform the health and disability and employment support system. As we bring forward changes, we will ensure that the most vulnerable and severely disabled people are protected, so that they can live with dignity and security.

For those affected by the changes to PIP eligibility, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. For new claimants on the Universal Credit health element after April 2026, we are proposing that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected.

As we develop detailed proposals for change, we will continue to consider the potential impacts of reforms.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that creditors and debt collection agencies respond to customer enquiries and amend credit files in a timely manner.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Under data protection laws, the information on a person’s credit file must accurately reflect their credit history. If an individual believes that an organisation, such as a creditor or a debt collection agency, has not corrected inaccurate information reported to credit reference agencies, they can submit a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is responsible for upholding information rights and enforcing data protection legislation. If the ICO finds that the organisation has indeed failed to make the necessary corrections, it may take enforcement action.

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 the potential merits of a cross-government mental health strategy for children and young people.

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

The Government is committed to taking a cross-government strategic approach to children and young people’s mental health.

We are currently co-developing the NHS 10 Year Health Plan with the public, staff and patients. We continue to listen to emerging insights on children and young people’s mental health and are taking the concerns of participants seriously. The consultation process has provided invaluable feedback, and we are in the process of exploring how we best take this forward.

Whilst the National Health Service is responsible for evidence-based treatment of mental ill health, we recognise the levers to prevent mental ill health sit largely outside of the health system. That’s why we are using the cross-government missions as a strategic tool to tackle the socioeconomic determinants of mental ill health amongst children and young people.

We continue to work with the Department for Education to deliver our commitment of providing access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England. We are also working across government and with NHS England to set up a network of community Young Futures hubs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease have access to (a) appropriate information, (b) treatment options and (c) a multidisciplinary care team.

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

There are 27 specialised neurological treatment centres across the National Health Service in England, which provide access to neurological multidisciplinary teams to ensure that patients with Parkinson’s disease can receive specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.

Most services for long-term conditions are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), including for Parkinson’s. It is the responsibility of ICBs, working with clinicians, service users, and patient groups, to develop local services and care pathways that are convenient and that meet patients’ needs.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of long-term conditions for use by healthcare professionals and commissioners. The NICE published Parkinson’s disease in adults guidance in July 2017, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71/chapter/recommendations

The NICE guidance includes that communication with people with Parkinson's disease should aim towards empowering them to participate in judgements and choices about their own care, and individually tailored and consistent communication from the professionals involved.

We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and improve care for people with long-term conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease. A central and core part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to make it more accessible, proactive, and tailored for patients.

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 referred for a potential diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease are seen by a neurologist within 18 weeks.

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

The Government is committed to delivering the National Health Service constitutional standard for 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. This includes patients waiting for elective treatment on neurological pathways.

We have taken our first step towards delivering this commitment goal by exceeding our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments in our first year in office, having now delivered over three million more appointments.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard.

The Getting It Right First Time programme, which provides tailored regional and national support to providers, also has a neurology specific Further Faster workstream. This is a clinically led initiative supporting peer to peer learning and improvement. A neurology 'handbook' and checklist with benchmarked data and case studies has been published and there are regular neurology online sessions for clinical and operational leads.

Humanitarian aid into Gaza

Arms exports to Israel

Restless legs syndrome

Support for the trans community

Launch of The Rational Policy-Maker’s Guide to Rebuilding the NHS report

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Found: Duncan-Jordan Kim Johnson Mr Adnan Hussain Brian Leishman Bell Ribeiro-Addy Jeremy Corbyn Nadia Whittome

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