Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the levels of wholesale crime.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. Everybody has a right to feel safe on the job and this Government is committed to taking retail crime seriously.

Partnership working to tackle retail crime is essential. I am committed to chairing the Retail Crime Forum, which the Federation of Wholesale Distributors are a member of, to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration between the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement.

This Government will introduce a new specific offence for assaults on shopworkers to protect them from violence and abuse. The scope of this new offence will be confirmed when legislation is brought forward.

The Home Office Commercial Victimisation Survey 2023, published in May 2024, showed that theft by customer was the most prevalent type of theft experienced in the retail and wholesale sector, experienced by 26% of premises. The wholesale and retail sector experienced a higher prevalence of victimisation (41%) compared with most other commercial sectors.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help protect wholesale workers from crime.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. Everybody has a right to feel safe on the job and this Government is committed to taking retail crime seriously.

Partnership working to tackle retail crime is essential. I am committed to chairing the Retail Crime Forum, which the Federation of Wholesale Distributors are a member of, to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration between the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement.

This Government will introduce a new specific offence for assaults on shopworkers to protect them from violence and abuse. The scope of this new offence will be confirmed when legislation is brought forward.

The Home Office Commercial Victimisation Survey 2023, published in May 2024, showed that theft by customer was the most prevalent type of theft experienced in the retail and wholesale sector, experienced by 26% of premises. The wholesale and retail sector experienced a higher prevalence of victimisation (41%) compared with most other commercial sectors.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to introduce specific protections for wholesale workers.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. Everybody has a right to feel safe on the job and this Government is committed to taking retail crime seriously.

Partnership working to tackle retail crime is essential. I am committed to chairing the Retail Crime Forum, which the Federation of Wholesale Distributors are a member of, to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration between the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement.

This Government will introduce a new specific offence for assaults on shopworkers to protect them from violence and abuse. The scope of this new offence will be confirmed when legislation is brought forward.

The Home Office Commercial Victimisation Survey 2023, published in May 2024, showed that theft by customer was the most prevalent type of theft experienced in the retail and wholesale sector, experienced by 26% of premises. The wholesale and retail sector experienced a higher prevalence of victimisation (41%) compared with most other commercial sectors.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that teenagers and young adults with cancer have access to specialist psychological support within the 10-year health plan.

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

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact teenagers and young adults with cancer, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.

We have also launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in the way teenagers and young adults with cancer receive care, and who are aged 16 years old or over, to take part in that process, so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This can be done via the online portal, which is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

We plan to run engagement events with children and young people in the new year and are working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Children’s Commissioner, the National Children’s Bureau, and other partners to ensure we hear from children affected by ill health.

Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan. We are committed to ensuring that the needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered in the National Cancer Plan, and will set out further details in due course.

In order to maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.

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 teenagers and young adults with cancer have access to clinical trials within the 10-year Health plan.

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

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact teenagers and young adults with cancer, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.

We have also launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in the way teenagers and young adults with cancer receive care, and who are aged 16 years old or over, to take part in that process, so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This can be done via the online portal, which is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

We plan to run engagement events with children and young people in the new year and are working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Children’s Commissioner, the National Children’s Bureau, and other partners to ensure we hear from children affected by ill health.

Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan. We are committed to ensuring that the needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered in the National Cancer Plan, and will set out further details in due course.

In order to maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department will take to improve the speed of diagnosis for teenagers and young adults with cancer within the 10-year Health plan.

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

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact teenagers and young adults with cancer, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.

We have also launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in the way teenagers and young adults with cancer receive care, and who are aged 16 years old or over, to take part in that process, so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This can be done via the online portal, which is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

We plan to run engagement events with children and young people in the new year and are working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Children’s Commissioner, the National Children’s Bureau, and other partners to ensure we hear from children affected by ill health.

Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan. We are committed to ensuring that the needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered in the National Cancer Plan, and will set out further details in due course.

In order to maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to ensure that the specific issues faced by teenagers and young adults with cancer are accounted for in the 10-Year Health Plan.

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

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact teenagers and young adults with cancer, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.

We have also launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in the way teenagers and young adults with cancer receive care, and who are aged 16 years old or over, to take part in that process, so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This can be done via the online portal, which is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

We plan to run engagement events with children and young people in the new year and are working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Children’s Commissioner, the National Children’s Bureau, and other partners to ensure we hear from children affected by ill health.

Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan. We are committed to ensuring that the needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered in the National Cancer Plan, and will set out further details in due course.

In order to maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.

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 consult teenagers and young adults with cancer on the 10-year Health plan.

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

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact teenagers and young adults with cancer, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.

We have also launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in the way teenagers and young adults with cancer receive care, and who are aged 16 years old or over, to take part in that process, so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This can be done via the online portal, which is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

We plan to run engagement events with children and young people in the new year and are working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Children’s Commissioner, the National Children’s Bureau, and other partners to ensure we hear from children affected by ill health.

Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan. We are committed to ensuring that the needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered in the National Cancer Plan, and will set out further details in due course.

In order to maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department considers people living with HIV to have a priority need for housing.

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

Local authorities are required to give ‘reasonable preference’ (priority) for social housing to people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds. This includes people with chronic or progressive medical conditions such as HIV.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Housing Act 1996 to help protect people living with HIV from housing discrimination.

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

All people diagnosed with HIV are already afforded the full protections from discrimination relating to the provision of housing or services under the Equality Act 2010. Landlords and agents may not victimise or discriminate against a person based on their HIV status in relation to the offer of a tenancy, the terms on which a tenancy is offered, or in their general treatment in relation to the letting process.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department taking to improve information for (a) young people and (b) their families about the symptoms of cancer.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to getting the National Health Service catching cancer on time, diagnosing it earlier, and treating it faster, so that more patients survive this horrible set of diseases. This includes in relation to children and young people.

NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in children. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.

The Department is not currently taking any additional specific action to expand on information of the signs and symptoms of childhood cancers. However, we are committed to improving outcomes for children and young people with cancer and are considering next steps to take forward work in this area through the relaunch of Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to tackle barriers teenagers and young adults with cancer face in accessing clinical trials.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

To maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing recommendations from the Lord O'Shaughnessy independent review of commercial clinical trials in full.

The Department funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research across the United Kingdom, through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). For children and young people with cancer, this infrastructure includes the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres, co-funded by the NIHR, Cancer Research UK and the Little Princess Trust, which act as a UK-wide network, bringing together world-leading laboratory and clinical researchers to test new treatments for adults and children with cancer. This includes 12 paediatric phase I/II centres, which function as a single virtual centre to improve patient recruitment and expand geographical access to cancer treatments, tackling some of the barriers to teenagers and young adults accessing cancer clinical trials.

The Department is committed to ensuring clinical trials are people-centred and more accessible, including for teenagers and young adults with cancer. For example, the NIHR provides an online service called 'Be Part of Research' which promotes participation in health and care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies. Young adults aged 18 or over, can consent to be matched to and contacted about relevant studies.