Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of furniture provision on people who have experienced rough sleeping; and what steps his Department is taking to assist people who have experienced rough sleeping to (a) settle into a new home and (b) become active members of their community.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has allocated £255.5 million through the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant this year. This includes the £69.9 million uplift that we announced on 10 October 2025. Local authorities can use this money flexibly to prevent and reduce rough sleeping, including through sustainable accommodation and support solutions. This can include the provision of furniture or specialist services, such as employment support.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of furniture provisions as a core component of the Crisis and Resilience Fund on people in receipt of Housing Benefit; and what steps he is taking to ensure that people experiencing a crisis can access essential items.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The new Crisis and Resilience Fund will be introduced from 1 April 2026. This represents the first ever multi-year settlement for locally delivered crisis support. This longer-term funding approach aims to enable local authorities to provide preventative support to communities – working with the voluntary and community sector – as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis

We are working closely with local authorities and external stakeholders on the detailed design of the Crisis and Resilience Fund and we will issue further information on our planned approach in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of safeguards in the Research and Development (R&D) tax relief scheme to prevent misuse by third-party claims agents; and whether she is taking steps to ensure that R&D tax incentives are (a) directed towards genuine innovation and (b) not subject to potential abuse.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC has implemented a number of policy and operational changes to the R&D reliefs in recent years to improve overall levels of compliance. This includes mandating digital claims and requiring additional information, which has transformed the ability to risk assess claims, as well as identify and address patterns of non-compliance.

The use of nominations and assignments for R&D tax credit payments have also been restricted, reducing the incentive for agents to submit spurious claims, providing customers with greater visibility over claims made on their behalf and ensuring claimants receive payments directly.

HMRC also investigate and take action against agents who encourage ineligible R&D claims, including issuing penalties, suspending their ability to make claims on behalf of clients and refusing to deal with an agent. This includes criminal action which can lead to arrests being made for R&D tax fraud, as was seen in September 2024.

The latest error and fraud estimates, published in HMRC's Annual Report and Accounts 2024 to 2025, show that the policy and operational changes are proving effective in driving down non-compliance. The estimates show a drop in the error and fraud rates to 9.9% (£759 million) for 2022 to 2023 compared to 17.6% (£1.34 billion) for 2021 to 2022. Illustrative estimates for 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 show error and fraud is expected to have fallen further to 6.5% (£497 million) and then to 5.9% (£481 million).

HMRC remains committed to tackling error and fraud, whilst also ensuring the claims process is straightforward for genuine claimants and supports the UK’s most innovative businesses.

HMRC has consulted on widening the use of advance clearances for R&D tax relief claims and has recently recruited an R&D Expert Advisory Panel. The Panel will work with HMRC to increase clarity of guidance for claimants and enhance HMRC’s understanding of innovation and developments across key growth sectors.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies on the development of futsal of the Football Association's level of influence in (a) FIFA and (b) UEFA.

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

The Football Association (FA) is the governing body for football and futsal in England and is responsible for the sport's strategic direction and development, including grassroots participation, coaching, and elite pathways.

The FA is an autonomous member of both FIFA and UEFA. Its relationships and level of influence within these international governing bodies are primarily a matter for the FA itself.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has set a national timeline for equal access to NHS-funded fertility treatment.

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

The Government recognises that fertility treatment across the National Health Service in England is subject to variation in access. Work continues between the Department and NHS England to better understand the offer around NHS-funded fertility services. This work will take time to develop, and the Department is keen to ensure there will be stakeholder engagement during this process, beginning in the new year.

Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their population. We expect ICBs to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.

NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS-funded treatment are still appropriate. A consultation on revised guidelines was published on 10 September 2025, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10263/consultation/html-content-2

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 Integrated Care Boards remove the requirement for self-funded intrauterine insemination for same-sex couples.

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

The Government recognises that fertility treatment across the National Health Service in England is subject to variation in access. Work continues between the Department and NHS England to better understand the offer around NHS-funded fertility services including the issue for female same sex couples.

Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their population. We expect ICBs to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.

NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS-funded treatment are still appropriate. A consultation on revised guidelines was published on 10 September 2025, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10263/consultation/html-content-2

In light of broader pressures on the National Health Service and ongoing changes within NHS England, we have been looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to fertility services and fairness for all affected couples.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that patients taking weight loss medication have equitable access to community-based (a) weight management and (b) lifestyle support services.

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

Both the license and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance for these medicines specify that they should be prescribed alongside a reduced calorie diet and physical activity. NICE guidance also states that healthcare professionals should arrange information, support, and counselling on additional diet, physical activity, and behavioural strategies when these medicines are prescribed.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning health services within their area in line with local population need and taking account of relevant guidance. NHS England has, however, also made a central wraparound service available that ICBs can use, known as Healthier You: Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing, for patients to be referred into, with a procurement underway for a longer-term offer. This central service focuses on nutrition, physical activity, and psychological support.

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 establishing a national multi-cancer case-finding initiative to identify people at higher risk of (a) pancreatic and (b) other less survivable cancers.

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

NHS England is working on case-finding approaches for less survivable cancers, where the evidence suggests this is appropriate. This includes a public-facing Family History Checker, which enables people and their families affected by pancreatic cancer to self-assess if they may inherit risk. Individuals identified as being at risk are referred directly to the European Registry of Hereditary Pancreatic Diseases research trial, which aims to understand inherited conditions of the pancreas. Referrals to the trial can be made by any healthcare professional across all health sectors or by individuals via self-referral, contributing to a centralised approach to case-finding.

The National Disease Registration Service is developing a National Inherited Cancer Predisposition Register (NICPR), which launched on 30 June. The NICPR looks at a wide range of cancers for which there is an increased inherited risk, including for less survivable cancers. It aims to identify high-risk individuals who are eligible for targeted screening and surveillance and will act as an electronic referral route into national screening programmes where these exist.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to incorporate clinical trials as a performance metric within the NHS to encourage clinicians to prioritise research.

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

As outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan and Life Sciences Sector Plan, the Government is committed to providing full transparency on clinical trial performance by publishing a monthly scorecard for the National Health Service on trust-level clinical trial performance, in addition to wider measures to encourage clinicians to prioritise research through the UK Clinical Research Delivery (UKCRD) Programme.

The four-nation UKCRD programme brings together delivery partners and key stakeholders to create a faster, more efficient, more accessible, and more innovative clinical research delivery system in the United Kingdom.

In April 2025, the Department began publishing monthly key performance indicators on commercial clinical trial set up performance for all NHS trusts in England, as part of the four-nation UKCRD programme Study Set Up Plan.

Trust level data on clinical trials study set up is being published monthly alongside the UKCRD’s Key Performance Indicator Report to provide an additional monthly snapshot of site-level commercial study set-up performance.

In May 2025, NHS England wrote a letter to NHS providers requiring board-level reporting of research activity and income, with scrutiny of the UKCRD Programme’s site-level performance metrics for study set-up. NHS England will publish revised guidance on research financial management later in 2025.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has had recent discussions with utility companies on the exclusion of people in (a) flats and (b) houses in multiple occupation from off-peak reduced tariffs due to quiet time conditions in leases.

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

The Department has regular discussions with energy suppliers on a range of issues.

The Government is unable to comment on individual tariffs offered by energy suppliers, and we recommend that consumers contact their energy supplier directly to discuss their tariff.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the levels of furniture poverty in Southport; and what steps he is taking to reduce this.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My Department engages actively with registered providers of social housing on all issues facing social housing tenants and with a range of stakeholders on issues facing residents and has engaged with groups such as End Furniture Poverty to understand their research on this issue.

On 2 July, we opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It can be found on gov.uk here. The consultation is now closed and responses are being analysed.

People in need may be able to get support from their local authorities via the ‘Household Support Fund’ and other services available locally.

The ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce is also considering the impacts of living in poor quality housing on children.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the levels of furniture poverty in Southport constituency.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My Department engages actively with registered providers of social housing on all issues facing social housing tenants and with a range of stakeholders on issues facing residents and has engaged with groups such as End Furniture Poverty to understand their research on this issue.

On 2 July, we opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It can be found on gov.uk here. The consultation is now closed and responses are being analysed.

People in need may be able to get support from their local authorities via the ‘Household Support Fund’ and other services available locally.

The ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce is also considering the impacts of living in poor quality housing on children.

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 impact of the time taken to implement the Women’s Health Strategy on LGBTQ+ people ageing out of NHS fertility eligibility.

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

The Government recognises that fertility treatment across the National Health Service in England is subject to variation in access. In light of broader pressures on the NHS and ongoing changes within NHS England, we have been looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to fertility services and fairness for all affected couples.

Work continues between the Department and NHS England to better understand NHS-funded fertility services and the effectiveness of these services including the issue for LGBTQ+ people and specifically same-sex female couples. This work will take time to develop, however, the Department is keen to ensure there will be stakeholder engagement during this process beginning in the new year.

Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their population. We expect ICBs to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.

NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS-funded treatment are still appropriate. A consultation on revised guidelines was published on 10 September, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10263/consultation/html-content-2

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to take steps to support the LTA’s ambition to develop covered (a) tennis, (b) padel and (c) multi-sport facilities to facilitate year-round, all-weather participation.

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

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK following the Spending Review. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans. I have met with the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis and padel, along with representatives from other sports, to discuss this.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. This includes long term investment in the Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years from 2022 to 2027 to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives in England that will benefit as many people as possible.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the recently announced £400m UK Government funding for grassroots sports facilities will be allocated to facilities in Southport constituency.

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

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That’s why the Government is investing £98 million into the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme throughout 2025/26 to build and upgrade pitches and facilities UK wide.

On top of this, we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, and will then set out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK, including in Southport.

The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sports and health club facilities in England, through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on whether Sport England has published guidance on mechanisms to challenge the (a) misuse of public funds and (b) neglect of mandated responsibilities by football associations.

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

Sport England has mechanisms to address concerns, either in relation to Sport England funding conditions and/or the Code for Sports Governance via their published complaints procedure.

Sport England require their funding awards to be reconciled on a regular basis. This means that they have oversight of any misuse of funding, and can challenge funding recipients if this is detected.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates in the North West.

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

We recognise that there is more to do to improve cardiac arrest survival rates, including in the North West. The National Health Service 10-Year Health Plan addresses cardiac arrest at a national level through a broad focus on cardiovascular disease detection and prevention. Key initiatives include improving the early detection and treatment of high-risk conditions like atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, known as the ABCs, to prevent heart attacks and strokes, which can lead to cardiac arrest.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, ⁠what steps she is taking to rebuild the school estate.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Ensuring schools and colleges have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every young person the best start in life.

This government has given a long-term commitment to improve the condition of our schools and colleges. We are investing almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme, including two schools in the constituency of Southport, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years.

We are also investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance for schools and colleges, rising from £2.4 billion this year.