Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress she has made on implementing the findings of the Green Book Review 2025.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Chancellor has listened to regional leaders who have said that, for too long, the Green Book has downplayed the importance of local outcomes and the potential of targeted regional investment. The Chancellor commissioned a new review of the Green Book.

The conclusions of that review were published in June, setting out a new approach to public sector appraisal that will deliver a more effective assessment of place-based interventions. This includes the introduction of place-based business cases that will galvanise departments across Whitehall and highlight the reinforcing effects of different investments within an area.

Liverpool, Plymouth, Port Talbot and Birmingham will be the first early adopters of place-based business cases. HM Treasury will also publish an updated Green Book at the start of 2026.

A cross-government taskforce has been established to develop the approach to place-based business cases and oversee their implementation. This taskforce is currently comprised of the Second Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury responsible for regional growth and devolution, the Director General for Local Government, Growth and Communities in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Director General for Public Transport and Local Group in the Department for Transport, and the CEO of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.

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 improve outcomes for patients with atrial fibrillation in Camborne and Redruth constituency.

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

The National Health Service in Cornwall has a comprehensive cardiovascular training programme in place for primary care staff. This is a key initiative to increase awareness of prevention, cause and management of stroke, atrial fibrillation, acute coronary syndromes and heart failure.

The NHS locally report over nine in ten patients with atrial fibrillation in Camborne and Redruth are treated with anti-coagulants, with treatment rates having increased across Cornwall over the last three years with biggest increases in areas with highest deprivation.

The NHS in Cornwall is also working to prevent, identify and treat linked conditions such as diabetes, alcohol dependency and high blood pressure and to support lifestyle changes that can improve atrial fibrillation symptoms, coronary heart disease, strokes and transient ischemic attacks as well as other cardiovascular conditions such as peripheral arterial disease.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the merits of introducing (a) ring-fenced grants and (b) bonuses for local authorities that exceed (i) affordable and (ii) sub-market housing delivery targets.

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

The government does not believe that the New Homes Bonus is an effective incentive. It often rewards authorities for housebuilding that would have occurred in the absence of any incentive, and its efficacy is further blunted by the interactions with the remainder of the Settlement.

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 improve outcomes for patients with peripheral arterial disease in Camborne and Redruth constituency.

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

To improve outcomes for patients with coronary heart disease, including those in the Camborne and Redruth constituency, the Government will publish a cardiovascular disease modern service framework. This will identify and set standards for the best evidenced interventions, drive innovation in cardiovascular disease prevention and management, and reduce unwarranted variation in healthcare.

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 improve outcomes for patients with coronary heart disease in Camborne and Redruth constituency.

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

To improve outcomes for patients with coronary heart disease, including those in the Camborne and Redruth constituency, the Government will publish a cardiovascular disease modern service framework. This will identify and set standards for the best evidenced interventions, drive innovation in cardiovascular disease prevention and management, and reduce unwarranted variation in healthcare.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has her Department has made of the adequacy of provision of school uniform for children with physical disabilities.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Decisions regarding school uniform policies are the responsibility of school governing boards and they should consider the needs of all pupils when developing their policies on school uniform. To support schools, the department has published non-statutory guidance on developing and implementing their school uniform policy, which includes advice on meeting their equality obligations. This guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform/school-uniforms.

The guidance states that a school uniform should be inclusive, and we expect schools to be considerate when implementing their policy so that their uniform can be worn by all pupils.

The guidance also states that schools should be willing to allow for some individual variations to their uniform policy, where necessary, to avoid indirect discrimination. For instance, reasonable adjustments must be made, as appropriate, for pupils with a disability.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Engineering Recommendation G100: Technical Requirements for Customers’ Export and Import Limitation Schemes, published in July 2016, what steps she is taking to encourage District Network Operators to accept new EV charging technologies.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is committed to enabling innovative electric vehicle (EV) charging technologies, including smart charging and vehicle-to-grid (V2G), to reduce energy bills and support the decarbonisation of our energy system.

Engineering Recommendation G100 is the responsibility of the Distribution Network Operators (DNOs). It is regularly updated to facilitate connections, while ensuring they do not adversely impact on customers or the local electricity network.

As set out in the Clean Flexibility Roadmap published in July 2025, Ofgem and DESNZ are considering with industry how to improve grid connection processes and technical interoperability for V2G to ensure they are fit for purpose. This includes working with DNOs in relation to the grid codes which set out the technical requirements for connecting V2G systems.

More widely, Ofgem is working to improve the connections experience for all customers in its end to end review of connections.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help support pharmacies to increase their productivity.

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

The Department has recently implemented several reforms to help pharmacy contractors to improve dispensing efficiencies and productivity. Since January 2025, pharmacies have been allowed to dispense medicines in the original manufacturers package if the quantity in the package is 10% higher or lower than the quantity ordered on prescription. This removes the need to open and split the package in a pharmacy and increases the number of orders that can be processed through automated dispensing facilities. From 1 October 2025, pharmacies can make arrangements with a pharmacy owned by a different legal entity to undertake routine assembly of medicines on their behalf. This is known as hub and spoke arrangements and enables smaller pharmacies to utilise automated dispensing hubs to free up time for the pharmacist in the spoke pharmacy to focus on patient facing tasks.

On 17 July, draft regulations were laid with the aim to modernise the rules concerning who must supervise the dispensing of medicines in pharmacies. The Government is working to make the National Patient Prescription Tracking Service available in each pharmacy to help patients track their prescriptions online through the NHS App. This will reduce the burden on busy general practitioners and pharmacy teams and will avoid patients queuing at a pharmacy only to find that their prescription is not ready. The Government has also launched a public consultation on giving pharmacists increased flexibilities to supply an alternative product against a prescription, if the prescribed item is not available.

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 increase the numbers of walk-in consultation services at pharmacies.

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

Community pharmacies already provide a range of walk-in consultation services, including blood pressure checks, contraception consultations, and Pharmacy First. They also provide health advice and sell over the counter medicines for minor illnesses.

The Government is committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. For example, on 29 October the Pharmacy Contraception Service was expanded so that pharmacies can supply emergency contraception free of charge, to ensure women have access to a consistent offer across England.

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 improve outcomes for patients with (a) strokes and (b) transient ischaemic attacks in Camborne and Redruth constituency.

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

The National Health Service operates an Integrated Community Stroke Service at Camborne Redruth Community Hospital. This service provides specialist therapy, advice, and support for people, their families, and carers following stroke and transient ischaemic attack or mini stroke.

To improve outcomes for patients with stroke and transient ischaemic attacks, the Government will publish a cardiovascular disease modern service framework. This will identify and set standards for the best evidenced interventions, drive innovation in stroke prevention and management, and reduce unwarranted variation in healthcare.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has considered the potential merits of introducing loan guarantees for joint ventures between housing associations and local authorities to support affordable housing delivery.

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

My Department already operates guarantee schemes that support affordable housing delivery.

Subject to eligibility criteria, joint ventures between Registered Providers (such as housing associations) and Local Authorities can qualify for these schemes.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to prioritise the release of surplus public land to (a) councils and (b) housing associations for affordable housing projects at discounted rates.

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

This government has made significant progress in respect of the release of surplus and underutilised public land for new homes.

On 27 March 2025, we announced the establishment of a new taskforce to unlock surplus public defence land for development.

On 30 July, we announced a new company, Platform 4, to kickstart the delivery of up to 40,000 new homes on surplus rail land across the UK.

While it is for individual Departments to set the prices at which they are willing to dispose of their assets, we are taking a joined-up approach and working across government to promote shared objectives, including building more social and affordable homes, and maximise broader public value.

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 improve service provision for people with sarcoma in Cornwall.

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

NHS England has published a national service specification, covering both bone and soft tissue sarcomas. The specification requires close working between sarcoma services and other National Health Service partners, co-ordinated by Sarcoma Advisory Groups, to improve care pathways.

Work is underway across both bone and soft tissue sarcoma provision to ensure that cancer care providers meet national service standards and improve care to patients across the country, including in Cornwall.

The Government welcomes the recent publication of Sarcoma UK’s sarcoma state of the nation report as it highlights the importance of early diagnosis, care co-ordination across complex pathways, research into new treatments, and survivorship. Our forthcoming National Cancer Plan will set out how we will improve outcomes for all cancers, including sarcoma.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Education and Skills Funding Agency plans to publish updated guidance on the conditions under which academy trusts may operate electric vehicle salary-sacrifice schemes.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

New electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes in the public sector are currently paused whilst a cross-government review on these schemes is undertaken. The department will inform academy trusts when a decision has been made, and the academy trust handbookwill be updated accordingly.