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 the recording and classification of sudden cardiac deaths in people aged under 35.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for the processing, analysis, and publication of death records in England and Wales. Further information is available on the ONS website, at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/deathcertificationreformenglandandwales/9september2024to30june2025provisionaldata

NHS England has a published a national service specification for inherited cardiac conditions (ICC) that covers patients who often present as young adults with previously undiagnosed cardiac disease or families requiring follow up due to a death from this cause. The specification states that specialist ICC services should follow recommendations for standards of care, best practice, care pathways, treatment algorithms, data collection, and audit.

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 application of artificial intelligence for supporting the interpretation of electrocardiograms in screening for inherited cardiac conditions in people aged 14 to 35.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises that artificial intelligence (AI) has enormous potential for improving healthcare across all areas of the National Health Service and social care, including for cardiac conditions.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is funding research into the potential impact of AI on diagnosis and treatment for major conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, and research into how the technology can be used to improve NHS services and reduce the burden of clinicians’ workloads.

Between 2017 and 2023, the Department has invested £148 million through the NIHR and an additional £123 million through the AI in Health and Care Award to research AI in healthcare.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department issues guidance to coroners on investigating potential cardiac causes in unexplained deaths of young people.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones

Coroners are independent judges and the Chief Coroner is responsible for providing national guidance and training. In 2014, the Chief Coroner issued joint guidance for coroners regarding investigations into potential cardiac causes of deaths in young people: https://www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and-resources/joint-guidance-for-coroners-and-coroners-officers-sudden-cardiac-death-inherited-heart-conditions/.

This guidance was developed in conjunction with the British Heart Foundation, Cardiac Risk in the Young, the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had discussions with Cardiac Risk in the Young on the use of its cardiac screening dataset to support the development of AI-enabled diagnostic tools.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Sudden cardiac death in the young is always a tragedy. Officials and Ministers from the Department have met with representatives from Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) on several occasions.

The Department understands that the data set was recently published. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) will open a public consultation to seek comments from members of the public and stakeholders on screening for the conditions associated with sudden cardiac death this spring. This public consultation will provide an opportunity for members of the public and stakeholders, including CRY, to draw the UK NSC’s attention to any relevant evidence and which could inform its recommendation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with ministerial colleagues regarding the potential for the UK to become a global leader in AI-enabled cardiac diagnostics through partnerships with the third sector and academic institutions.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and ministers across the Government regularly engage with colleagues, the National Health Service, academia, and industry on how the United Kingdom can strengthen its position as a global leader in the safe and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare.

The Government recognises the significant potential of AI‑enabled technologies, including in cardiac diagnostics, to support earlier detection, improve clinical decision‑making, and deliver better outcomes for patients. The UK already benefits from a strong life sciences ecosystem and world‑leading academic research, which play an important role in developing, evaluating, and deploying innovative diagnostic tools.

Historically through programmes such as the NHS AI Lab, and current ongoing support for health data research through partnerships with universities, charities, and industry, the Government is creating the conditions for innovation to be translated safely into clinical practice. Any adoption of AI‑enabled diagnostics in the NHS is subject to robust evaluation, regulation, and clinical oversight to ensure patient safety and effectiveness through regulatory bodies such as The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

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 fertility patients under the South West London ICB can access three rounds of fertility care.

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

Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population.

On 31 March, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its updated fertility guideline, which recommends that women aged under 40 years old who meet the clinical eligibility criteria should be offered up to three full cycles of in vitro fertilisation.

We expect all ICBs to consider and reflect the updated NICE fertility guideline in their commissioning decisions, and we are working with NHS England to support greater consistency in provision.

The Government published the Women's Health Strategy on 15 April which commits to ensuring that every woman can easily access fertility services and we are currently working to assess current provision of NHS-commissioned fertility services as a baseline to inform supporting material for every ICB to implement the new NICE guidelines in full.

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 impact of the recent increase in Overseas Registration Examination (ORE) Part 2 fees on the ability of dentists to sit the exam.

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

The Government recognises the challenges faced by overseas qualified dentists seeking to sit the Overseas Registration Examination (ORE), particularly in relation to waiting times.

The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator of dental professionals in the United Kingdom and therefore is responsible for determining the standards that professionals wishing to practise in the UK must meet in order to be registered.

The GDC has recently put in place a new delivery contract which will significantly increase capacity across both parts of the ORE. This represents an unprecedented expansion in exam throughput, with capacity for Part 1 and Part 2 sittings expected to increase to 2,400 and 1,500 places per year respectively. Overall, the expansion is projected to deliver a more than fivefold increase in the number of overseas-qualified dentists able to complete the ORE and join the register by 2028. This significant increase in capacity will enable greater throughput of the examination and is therefore expected to reduce waiting times for ORE candidates over the coming years. In addition, the GDC is developing a new candidate portal, including a revised booking system, as part of the new contract. This is due to be in place for exams scheduled in 2027.

As an independent regulator, it is for the GDC to determine the appropriate fee level to effectively run the ORE examination. The GDC has indicated that the fee increase is necessary to support greatly expanded capacity under the new contract, including specialist facilities, examiners, quality assurance, and VAT on delivery costs.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England provided an alternative route for overseas qualified dentists, the License in Dental Surgery. In March 2026, the Government announced grant funding to support an expansion of this examination route, which is expected to increase final exam places tenfold by 2028, from approximately 180 to a projected 1,800.

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 help ensure that local authorities are sufficiently resourced to a) meet increases in temporary accommodation costs and b) fund their preventative duties as outlined in the National Plan to end Homelessness.

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

We are providing £3.6 billion in funding for homelessness, prevention and rough sleeping services from 2026/27 to 2028/29. The largest element of this is the is the Homelessness Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant.

Using a bespoke formula that reflects local costs and demand, we have rolled funding for temporary accommodation into the local authorities’ Revenue Support Grant. This approach better supports local authorities to deliver on the priorities set out in the National Plan to End Homelessness by splitting out temporary accommodation costs and creating dedicated ringfenced funds for prevention.

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 made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a legislative framework for the provision of temporary accommodation to include minimum suitability standards.

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

This Government is committed to improving standards across all types of housing, including temporary accommodation, to ensure that it is safe, decent, and stable. Councils must already ensure that temporary accommodation is suitable for the needs of the household, when securing accommodation under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996, and should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Housing authorities must also, as a minimum, ensure that all temporary accommodation is free of Category 1 hazards as identified by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

These suitability and safety standards are set out in Chapter 17 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance, which is statutory guidance for local authorities, setting out what factors housing authorities need to take into account when determining the suitability of accommodation in line with legislation.

As we set out in our National Plan to End Homelessness, to increase protections against poor quality, this government has committed to introducing the reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) wherever possible and to consulting on introducing Awaab’s Law across temporary accommodation. We are also increasing the supply of good-quality temporary accommodation, both through the £950 million fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund, and through exploring options for partnerships with social impact and institutional investors, which will help local authorities make suitable local placements. We will also engage with councils experiencing the highest pressures and other stakeholders to develop new metrics to improve the monitoring and suitability of placements, and test proposed changes to guidance to target improvements to quality.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints from members of the public who are unhappy with how the council have handled their homelessness application or the temporary accommodation provided by the council, and can recommend that the council take steps to address any injustice suffered by the complainant or make recommendations for service improvement to prevent further failings in the future. Meanwhile, for social housing, the Regulator of Social Housing has operated as a standalone, operationally independent, arm’s-length body since 2018. It regulates to ensure that registered providers are financially viable, well-governed and deliver good quality homes and services to their tenants.

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 potential merits of an independent regulator for (a) temporary accommodation and (b) other social housing.

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

This Government is committed to improving standards across all types of housing, including temporary accommodation, to ensure that it is safe, decent, and stable. Councils must already ensure that temporary accommodation is suitable for the needs of the household, when securing accommodation under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996, and should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Housing authorities must also, as a minimum, ensure that all temporary accommodation is free of Category 1 hazards as identified by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

These suitability and safety standards are set out in Chapter 17 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance, which is statutory guidance for local authorities, setting out what factors housing authorities need to take into account when determining the suitability of accommodation in line with legislation.

As we set out in our National Plan to End Homelessness, to increase protections against poor quality, this government has committed to introducing the reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) wherever possible and to consulting on introducing Awaab’s Law across temporary accommodation. We are also increasing the supply of good-quality temporary accommodation, both through the £950 million fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund, and through exploring options for partnerships with social impact and institutional investors, which will help local authorities make suitable local placements. We will also engage with councils experiencing the highest pressures and other stakeholders to develop new metrics to improve the monitoring and suitability of placements, and test proposed changes to guidance to target improvements to quality.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints from members of the public who are unhappy with how the council have handled their homelessness application or the temporary accommodation provided by the council, and can recommend that the council take steps to address any injustice suffered by the complainant or make recommendations for service improvement to prevent further failings in the future. Meanwhile, for social housing, the Regulator of Social Housing has operated as a standalone, operationally independent, arm’s-length body since 2018. It regulates to ensure that registered providers are financially viable, well-governed and deliver good quality homes and services to their tenants.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help improve conditions in temporary accommodation.

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

This Government is committed to improving standards across all types of housing, including temporary accommodation, to ensure that it is safe, decent, and stable. Councils must already ensure that temporary accommodation is suitable for the needs of the household, when securing accommodation under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996, and should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Housing authorities must also, as a minimum, ensure that all temporary accommodation is free of Category 1 hazards as identified by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

These suitability and safety standards are set out in Chapter 17 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance, which is statutory guidance for local authorities, setting out what factors housing authorities need to take into account when determining the suitability of accommodation in line with legislation.

As we set out in our National Plan to End Homelessness, to increase protections against poor quality, this government has committed to introducing the reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) wherever possible and to consulting on introducing Awaab’s Law across temporary accommodation. We are also increasing the supply of good-quality temporary accommodation, both through the £950 million fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund, and through exploring options for partnerships with social impact and institutional investors, which will help local authorities make suitable local placements. We will also engage with councils experiencing the highest pressures and other stakeholders to develop new metrics to improve the monitoring and suitability of placements, and test proposed changes to guidance to target improvements to quality.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints from members of the public who are unhappy with how the council have handled their homelessness application or the temporary accommodation provided by the council, and can recommend that the council take steps to address any injustice suffered by the complainant or make recommendations for service improvement to prevent further failings in the future. Meanwhile, for social housing, the Regulator of Social Housing has operated as a standalone, operationally independent, arm’s-length body since 2018. It regulates to ensure that registered providers are financially viable, well-governed and deliver good quality homes and services to their tenants.

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Found: Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, M P for To oting, expressed conc ern about the knock -on e ffects of the proposals