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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that planning policy does not inhibit the creation of transitional self-contained stepping stone homes for young people who are ready to live independently but cannot afford the private rented sector.

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

My Department continues to engage with stakeholders in the homelessness sector to support the development of schemes and policies to tackle homelessness, including stepping stone accommodation.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that it is for local authorities to assess the size, types and tenure of housing needed for different groups, including those who require affordable housing, and reflect this in their planning policies.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support local authorities in scaling up the provision of stepping stone homes for young people at risk of homelessness.

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

My Department continues to engage with stakeholders in the homelessness sector to support the development of schemes and policies to tackle homelessness, including stepping stone accommodation.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that it is for local authorities to assess the size, types and tenure of housing needed for different groups, including those who require affordable housing, and reflect this in their planning policies.

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 (a) improve recognition of topical steroid withdrawal and (b) ensure that NHS clinicians are able to diagnose that condition accurately.

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

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has reviewed topical steroid withdrawal (TSW) reactions and first communicated about these reactions in September 2021 through our Drug Safety Update (DSU), which is widely disseminated among health care professionals. This communication can be found at the following link:

www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/topical-corticosteroids-information-on-the-risk-of-topical-steroid-withdrawal-reactions

The MHRA had continued to monitor reports of TSW reactions and undertook a further review in 2024, resulting in an additional DSU publication which can be found at the following link:

www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/topical-steroids-introduction-of-new-labelling-and-a-reminder-of-the-possibility-of-severe-side-effects-including-topical-steroid-withdrawal-reactions

During this review advice was sought from dermatologists, the National Eczema Society, and the Commission on Human Medicines. Consequently, the MHRA took forward a number of actions including ensuring there are updated warnings in the product information that is supplied with the creams, and the inclusion of information regarding the potency of topical steroids on the packaging. The British National Formulary (BNF) has updated their topical steroids potency information in line with the outcomes of the MHRA review. BNF treatment summary for topical corticosteroids, including information on withdrawal reactions, can be found at the following link:

https://bnf.nice.org.uk/treatment-summaries/topical-corticosteroids/

Furthermore, the MHRA engaged with the British Association of Dermatologists who have released an updated statement that can be found at the following link:

https://cdn.bad.org.uk/uploads/2024/02/22095550/Topical-Steroid-Withdrawal-Joint-Statement.pdf

Following these discussions, the British Association of Dermatologists has formed a Topical Steroid Withdrawal Working Party Group in collaboration with National Eczema Society, Scratch That, Primary Care Dermatology Society, and the British Dermatological Nursing Group. A Topical Steroid Withdrawal Joint Statement from the Topical Steroid Withdrawal Working Party Group is available at the following link:

https://www.bad.org.uk/topical-steroid-withdrawal-joint-statement

The objective of the TSW Working Party Group is to develop an expert consensus guidance on supporting people with concerns about TSW, including a Patient Information Leaflet, and any revision to the above joint statement, as appropriate.

The MHRA acknowledges that more high-quality research would enhance the understanding of TSW reactions, including what causes them and how to accurately diagnose and manage them. To make good decisions about what research to fund, the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) needs a balanced picture about which questions most urgently need answering. To achieve this, they ask patients, carers, clinicians, healthcare workers, service managers, and researchers for research topics. Any member of the public can submit suggestions via the NIHR website at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/suggest-a-research-topic

In the meantime, the MHRA continues to monitor reports of TSW reactions via the Yellow Card Scheme, which encourages anyone to report if they suspect an adverse reaction to a medical product or products. Access to the Yellow Card reporting site can be found at the following link:

https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/

In addition to Yellow Card Scheme, the MHRA receives adverse event reports from pharmaceutical companies who collect data from healthcare professionals and patients, as well as cases from published literature and other sources.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he requires Integrated Care Boards to hold data on the number of patients provided with hospital transport, broken down by (a) treatment type and (b) mode of transport.

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

NHS England requires integrated care boards to submit monthly data for the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Scheme (NEPTS). This includes the total number of NEPTS journeys, timeliness of journeys, and journeys covered by the Healthcare Travel Cost Scheme. The data is categorised by treatment types, namely Outpatient – Renal Dialysis, Outpatient – Other, Discharge, Hospital Transfer, and Other. However, the data is not further broken down by specific treatment type or by mode of transport.

Further information on the data collected for NEPTS is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/non-emergency-patient-transport-services-nepts/guidance#data-collection

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 reopen specialist dementia units.

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

The Government is committed to improving dementia care and is empowering local leaders with the autonomy they need to provide the best services to their local community, including those with dementia.

The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include specialist dementia units. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

We will deliver the first ever Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.

The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Department is taking to ensure consistent and effective communication between hospital doctors, consultants, and the families of patients during inpatient care.

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

The Government is committed to putting patients first, including ensuring that people have the best possible experience of care. We recognise that poor communication can be a source of frustration and worry for patients and their families, particularly for inpatient care. It is therefore crucial that patients and families receive regular, consistent, and effective updates.

Martha’s Rule is a patient safety initiative to support the early detection of deterioration by ensuring the concerns of patients, families, carers, and staff are listened to and acted upon. It gives patients, their family members, and carers a right to request a rapid review if they’re worried that a patient’s condition is getting worse and their concerns are not being responded to.

Under the NHS Constitution, patients have the right to be involved in decisions about their health and care and must be given the information and support to enable this. Where appropriate this right includes family and carers. Hospitals also have a range of legal and regulatory duties, assured by the Care Quality Commission, to ensure consistent and effective communication, including the Duty of Candour, and the Accessible Information Standard, which requires bodies to identify, share, and meet people’s communication needs, and must adhere to national standards to improve communication within clinical teams.

Additionally, improving perioperative care is a key priority for the Government. Better communication between patients and healthcare teams is a key part of improved perioperative care. To improve and standardise the quality of perioperative services in England, Getting It Right First Time is collaborating with NHS England’s Digital Outpatient, Elective Recovery, and Elective Workforce Recovery teams to form the National Perioperative Care Programme.

The programme recognises that shared decision making, where a clinician collaborates and supports a patient and, if a patient wishes, a carer or someone close to them, to decide their treatment, should be embedded in all perioperative pathways, and should begin at the earliest opportunity when surgery is considered.

It is also recognised that local providers are best placed to decide how to embed and maintain perioperative care approaches into their organisations, to reflect local needs and circumstances.

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 (a) to ensure consistent improvement in weekend care at St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight and (b) to help tackle weekend staffing shortages.

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

It is the responsibility of individual National Health Service trusts to ensure safe staffing levels in all settings and at all times, including over the weekend.

Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements in emergency department care this winter and to make services better every day. We are aiming for 78% of patients to be seen in four hours this year, meaning over 800,000 people will receive more timely care. The Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/

We are also investing nearly £450 million into same day and urgent care services, helping avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.

Through our upcoming workforce plan, we will make sure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how often HM Treasury reviews (a) the level of the Sovereign Grant, and (b) what criteria are used in that review.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The requirements for reviewing the Sovereign Grant have been set by Parliament in the Sovereign Grant Act 2011, sections 6 and 7.

The Government has also committed to bring forward legislation to reset the Grant to a lower level from 2027-28 once Buckingham Palace Reservicing works are completed.

Habitat regulations

Thanking postal workers

Found: Peter Lamb (Labour; Crawley) John Lamont (Conservative; Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) Mr Richard Quigley

Found: law in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territories • Antonia Bance: Black Country Day • Richard Quigley

Found: Simon Hoare (Chair); Richard Baker; Sam Carling; Lauren Edwards; Peter Lamb; John Lamont; Mr Richard Quigley

The report from the Infected Blood Inquiry includes recommendations for Parliament on two key areas: how to respond to calls for public inquiries and how to scrutinise the implementation of recommendations resulting from future inquiries.

Submit Evidence (by 27 Feb 2026)

The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee scrutinises the work and performance of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.