Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that children from non-privileged backgrounds have access to music and dance training, including through supporting the Music and Dance Scheme Schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Birmingham Edgbaston to the answer of 12 February 2026 to Question 111332.​

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to help provide long-term funding certainty for schools supported by the Music and Dance Scheme.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Birmingham Edgbaston to the answer of 12 February 2026 to Question 111332.​

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she to help support the Music and Dance Scheme Schools that face financial challenges.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Birmingham Edgbaston to the answer of 12 February 2026 to Question 111332.​

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer 17 November 2026 to Question 89462 on Armenia: Religious Freedom, what steps her Department is taking to monitor developments in relations between the Government of Armenia and the Armenian Apostolic Church; whether she is taking steps to support efforts to protect the Church and to seek accountability for attacks against it; and what metrics she is using to assess the potential impact of those steps.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

UK officials in London and at the our Embassy in Yerevan continue to monitor developments in the relationship between the Armenian Government and the Armenian Apostolic Church. We have consistently underlined the importance of all actions being fully in line with Armenia's constitutional and legal framework, ensuring that due process is respected and that all individuals are treated fairly under the law, with judicial proceedings remaining transparent and impartial. The Government remains firmly committed to the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief worldwide.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department was invited by the Office for National Statistics to provide evidence or input into its review of the ethnicity harmonised standard.

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

The Department for Transport was invited by the Office for National Statistics, via the Government Statistical Service harmonisation champions network, to respond to a consultation regarding possible changes to the standard for ethnicity categories.

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 implement the recommendation in the Cass Review to undertake a comprehensive tracing and long-term follow-up study of the approximately 9,000 children and young people who were seen by the Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

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

The Government and NHS England have made a clear commitment to implement all the recommendations in the Cass Review’s final report, and this includes the data linkage study.

The data linkage study remains an important commitment within the wider national research programme underpinning the design and delivery of the new model of National Health Service care in place in England for children and young people with gender incongruence / dysphoria. The study is observational in nature, linking and analysing existing, routinely collected healthcare data for adults who, as children, were referred into the former Gender Identity Development Service, previously operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

The data linkage study design will enable consideration of any associations observed within currently available data, rather than providing direct evidence on the cause and effect of any individual treatment approach. Nonetheless the study aims to provide valuable additional insights into the characteristics, healthcare experience and intermediate outcomes of this previous cohort of children and young people accessing NHS gender care, and to inform future gender care.

The Department has continued to regularly engage with and support NHS England, which has taken on responsibility for study delivery. Since taking over responsibility for delivering the data linkage study, NHS England has taken time to undertake further due diligence on the data sources that will underpin the study, and to re-engage with data-sharing organisations, on which the study will be dependent. This has led to small but important proposed improvements in study design, subject to the approval of the Health Research Authority (HRA), that both respond positively to stakeholder feedback and that will better facilitate the collaboration of study data sharing partners. This will include carefully monitoring and considering whether any further steps may be required to ensure timely progress on data collaboration.

These improvements also include a more appropriately confined data ask of adult gender clinics, planned phasing so that initial linkages can be completed against national data sets already available to NHS England, before additional adult clinic data becomes available from study partners, and the option for individuals in the study cohort to register via a single, more simply accessed study specific data opt-out which can remain open up until just before the study analysis is finalised.

Important final steps are currently being taken to enable the study to begin. On 26 February, an updated order was laid in both Houses of Parliament to facilitate delivery of the data linkage study. The order will provide appropriate legal protections for those individuals and organisations who will be sharing or processing data potentially subject to the specific protections of the Gender Recognition Act 2004, for the purpose of the study. The order is expected to come in to force on 20 March 2026. Final HRA study approval will also need to be in place before the study can begin.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has held discussions with NHS adult gender clinics on cooperation with researchers commissioned to undertake follow-up work on former Gender Identity Development Service patients.

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

The Government and NHS England have made a clear commitment to implement all the recommendations in the Cass Review’s final report, and this includes the data linkage study.

The data linkage study remains an important commitment within the wider national research programme underpinning the design and delivery of the new model of National Health Service care in place in England for children and young people with gender incongruence / dysphoria. The study is observational in nature, linking and analysing existing, routinely collected healthcare data for adults who, as children, were referred into the former Gender Identity Development Service, previously operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

The data linkage study design will enable consideration of any associations observed within currently available data, rather than providing direct evidence on the cause and effect of any individual treatment approach. Nonetheless the study aims to provide valuable additional insights into the characteristics, healthcare experience and intermediate outcomes of this previous cohort of children and young people accessing NHS gender care, and to inform future gender care.

The Department has continued to regularly engage with and support NHS England, which has taken on responsibility for study delivery. Since taking over responsibility for delivering the data linkage study, NHS England has taken time to undertake further due diligence on the data sources that will underpin the study, and to re-engage with data-sharing organisations, on which the study will be dependent. This has led to small but important proposed improvements in study design, subject to the approval of the Health Research Authority (HRA), that both respond positively to stakeholder feedback and that will better facilitate the collaboration of study data sharing partners. This will include carefully monitoring and considering whether any further steps may be required to ensure timely progress on data collaboration.

These improvements also include a more appropriately confined data ask of adult gender clinics, planned phasing so that initial linkages can be completed against national data sets already available to NHS England, before additional adult clinic data becomes available from study partners, and the option for individuals in the study cohort to register via a single, more simply accessed study specific data opt-out which can remain open up until just before the study analysis is finalised.

Important final steps are currently being taken to enable the study to begin. On 26 February, an updated order was laid in both Houses of Parliament to facilitate delivery of the data linkage study. The order will provide appropriate legal protections for those individuals and organisations who will be sharing or processing data potentially subject to the specific protections of the Gender Recognition Act 2004, for the purpose of the study. The order is expected to come in to force on 20 March 2026. Final HRA study approval will also need to be in place before the study can begin.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will mandate data sharing across NHS trusts and adult gender services to enable a robust, independent longitudinal study consistent with the recommendations of the Cass Review.

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

The Government and NHS England have made a clear commitment to implement all the recommendations in the Cass Review’s final report, and this includes the data linkage study.

The data linkage study remains an important commitment within the wider national research programme underpinning the design and delivery of the new model of National Health Service care in place in England for children and young people with gender incongruence / dysphoria. The study is observational in nature, linking and analysing existing, routinely collected healthcare data for adults who, as children, were referred into the former Gender Identity Development Service, previously operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

The data linkage study design will enable consideration of any associations observed within currently available data, rather than providing direct evidence on the cause and effect of any individual treatment approach. Nonetheless the study aims to provide valuable additional insights into the characteristics, healthcare experience and intermediate outcomes of this previous cohort of children and young people accessing NHS gender care, and to inform future gender care.

The Department has continued to regularly engage with and support NHS England, which has taken on responsibility for study delivery. Since taking over responsibility for delivering the data linkage study, NHS England has taken time to undertake further due diligence on the data sources that will underpin the study, and to re-engage with data-sharing organisations, on which the study will be dependent. This has led to small but important proposed improvements in study design, subject to the approval of the Health Research Authority (HRA), that both respond positively to stakeholder feedback and that will better facilitate the collaboration of study data sharing partners. This will include carefully monitoring and considering whether any further steps may be required to ensure timely progress on data collaboration.

These improvements also include a more appropriately confined data ask of adult gender clinics, planned phasing so that initial linkages can be completed against national data sets already available to NHS England, before additional adult clinic data becomes available from study partners, and the option for individuals in the study cohort to register via a single, more simply accessed study specific data opt-out which can remain open up until just before the study analysis is finalised.

Important final steps are currently being taken to enable the study to begin. On 26 February, an updated order was laid in both Houses of Parliament to facilitate delivery of the data linkage study. The order will provide appropriate legal protections for those individuals and organisations who will be sharing or processing data potentially subject to the specific protections of the Gender Recognition Act 2004, for the purpose of the study. The order is expected to come in to force on 20 March 2026. Final HRA study approval will also need to be in place before the study can begin.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what timetable he has set for commissioning and commencing a tracing and follow-up study of former GIDS patients.

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

The Government and NHS England have made a clear commitment to implement all the recommendations in the Cass Review’s final report, and this includes the data linkage study.

The data linkage study remains an important commitment within the wider national research programme underpinning the design and delivery of the new model of National Health Service care in place in England for children and young people with gender incongruence / dysphoria. The study is observational in nature, linking and analysing existing, routinely collected healthcare data for adults who, as children, were referred into the former Gender Identity Development Service, previously operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

The data linkage study design will enable consideration of any associations observed within currently available data, rather than providing direct evidence on the cause and effect of any individual treatment approach. Nonetheless the study aims to provide valuable additional insights into the characteristics, healthcare experience and intermediate outcomes of this previous cohort of children and young people accessing NHS gender care, and to inform future gender care.

The Department has continued to regularly engage with and support NHS England, which has taken on responsibility for study delivery. Since taking over responsibility for delivering the data linkage study, NHS England has taken time to undertake further due diligence on the data sources that will underpin the study, and to re-engage with data-sharing organisations, on which the study will be dependent. This has led to small but important proposed improvements in study design, subject to the approval of the Health Research Authority (HRA), that both respond positively to stakeholder feedback and that will better facilitate the collaboration of study data sharing partners. This will include carefully monitoring and considering whether any further steps may be required to ensure timely progress on data collaboration.

These improvements also include a more appropriately confined data ask of adult gender clinics, planned phasing so that initial linkages can be completed against national data sets already available to NHS England, before additional adult clinic data becomes available from study partners, and the option for individuals in the study cohort to register via a single, more simply accessed study specific data opt-out which can remain open up until just before the study analysis is finalised.

Important final steps are currently being taken to enable the study to begin. On 26 February, an updated order was laid in both Houses of Parliament to facilitate delivery of the data linkage study. The order will provide appropriate legal protections for those individuals and organisations who will be sharing or processing data potentially subject to the specific protections of the Gender Recognition Act 2004, for the purpose of the study. The order is expected to come in to force on 20 March 2026. Final HRA study approval will also need to be in place before the study can begin.

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 absence of outcome data on the cohort of young people treated by the Gender Identity Development Service during the period in which referral patterns and clinical presentations changed significantly on (a) patient safety and (b) public confidence.

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

The Government and NHS England have made a clear commitment to implement all the recommendations in the Cass Review’s final report, and this includes the data linkage study.

The data linkage study remains an important commitment within the wider national research programme underpinning the design and delivery of the new model of National Health Service care in place in England for children and young people with gender incongruence / dysphoria. The study is observational in nature, linking and analysing existing, routinely collected healthcare data for adults who, as children, were referred into the former Gender Identity Development Service, previously operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

The data linkage study design will enable consideration of any associations observed within currently available data, rather than providing direct evidence on the cause and effect of any individual treatment approach. Nonetheless the study aims to provide valuable additional insights into the characteristics, healthcare experience and intermediate outcomes of this previous cohort of children and young people accessing NHS gender care, and to inform future gender care.

The Department has continued to regularly engage with and support NHS England, which has taken on responsibility for study delivery. Since taking over responsibility for delivering the data linkage study, NHS England has taken time to undertake further due diligence on the data sources that will underpin the study, and to re-engage with data-sharing organisations, on which the study will be dependent. This has led to small but important proposed improvements in study design, subject to the approval of the Health Research Authority (HRA), that both respond positively to stakeholder feedback and that will better facilitate the collaboration of study data sharing partners. This will include carefully monitoring and considering whether any further steps may be required to ensure timely progress on data collaboration.

These improvements also include a more appropriately confined data ask of adult gender clinics, planned phasing so that initial linkages can be completed against national data sets already available to NHS England, before additional adult clinic data becomes available from study partners, and the option for individuals in the study cohort to register via a single, more simply accessed study specific data opt-out which can remain open up until just before the study analysis is finalised.

Important final steps are currently being taken to enable the study to begin. On 26 February, an updated order was laid in both Houses of Parliament to facilitate delivery of the data linkage study. The order will provide appropriate legal protections for those individuals and organisations who will be sharing or processing data potentially subject to the specific protections of the Gender Recognition Act 2004, for the purpose of the study. The order is expected to come in to force on 20 March 2026. Final HRA study approval will also need to be in place before the study can begin.