Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing real-terms funding for the (a) the Music and Dance Scheme and (b) eight schools supported by this scheme.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Tooting to the answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 79113.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a three-year funding settlement for the Music and Dance Scheme.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Tooting to the answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 79113.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered the potential merits of introducing financial support for the cost of temporary wheelchairs for children following discharge from an NHS hospital.

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

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and ensuring every child gets the support they need. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services.

NHS England is taking steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people, including children, receiving timely wheelchair equipment. This includes publishing a Wheelchair Quality Framework in April 2025, which sets out quality standards and statutory requirements for ICBs, such as offering personal wheelchair budgets. The framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/wheelchair-quality-framework/

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of the West Coast Main Line in December 2025 and January 2026 on commuters.

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

Network Rail has been working closely with operators to try and keep passengers on trains for as much of their journey as possible during this period of essential works. The Settle to Carlisle line will be used as a diversionary route for long-distance services for the first time in a decade. Rail replacement buses will also be available to assist passengers to continue their journeys onwards.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing recipients of universal credit to receive performance based bonuses without penalty.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made.

A Universal Credit award is calculated on the basis of the set benefit rate against money coming in to ensure fairness of treatment for all customers against the money that they have earned. This means as earnings increase Universal Credit is gradually reduced. This is a long-standing principle of means-tested benefits.

Bonuses are usually treated as earnings and are treated in the same way as any other earnings. This is already true for tax and other purposes, regardless of whether or not an individual is claiming a benefit. All earnings, above any applicable work allowance, are subject to the 55% taper and the Universal Credit award is calculated on that basis.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of uprating temporary accommodation subsidy rates to 90 per cent of 2024 Local Housing Allowance rates.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions pays local authorities a Housing Benefit subsidy for Temporary Accommodation cases. There are restrictions on the amount paid, including a subsidy cap which is the lowest of £500 per week in certain areas of London or £375 elsewhere, 90% of 2011 LHA rates, or the claimant’s Housing Benefit entitlement. This incentivises local authorities to ensure Temporary Accommodation is good value for money.

We recognise the financial pressures which local authorities are experiencing. This Government has invested £1bn in homelessness and rough sleeping services this year (2025/26), a £233m increase on the previous year.

We want to encourage better investment into Temporary Accommodation stock up-front to minimise costs to local authorities and £950m was announced in the latest round of the Local Authority Housing Fund. This coupled with measures to strengthen local authorities’ financial position such as a new £39 billion Affordable Homes Programme and a 10-year rental settlement at Consumer Price Index + 1, will support local authorities in England to increase the supply of good quality Temporary Accommodation and drive down the use of costly bed and breakfasts and hotels.

We continue to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Inter Ministerial Group.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the freeze in temporary accommodation subsidy rates since 2011 on (a) local authority budgets and (b) the financial sustainability of homelessness services.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions pays local authorities a Housing Benefit subsidy for Temporary Accommodation cases. There are restrictions on the amount paid, including a subsidy cap which is the lowest of £500 per week in certain areas of London or £375 elsewhere, 90% of 2011 LHA rates, or the claimant’s Housing Benefit entitlement. This incentivises local authorities to ensure Temporary Accommodation is good value for money.

We recognise the financial pressures which local authorities are experiencing. This Government has invested £1bn in homelessness and rough sleeping services this year (2025/26), a £233m increase on the previous year.

We want to encourage better investment into Temporary Accommodation stock up-front to minimise costs to local authorities and £950m was announced in the latest round of the Local Authority Housing Fund. This coupled with measures to strengthen local authorities’ financial position such as a new £39 billion Affordable Homes Programme and a 10-year rental settlement at Consumer Price Index + 1, will support local authorities in England to increase the supply of good quality Temporary Accommodation and drive down the use of costly bed and breakfasts and hotels.

We continue to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Inter Ministerial Group.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS IT suppliers with dominant market positions do not engage in anti-competitive practices.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Competition and Markets Authority, the “CMA”, is responsible for investigating anti-competitive practices. As an independent authority, the CMA has discretion to investigate competition cases which, according to its prioritisation principles, it considers most appropriate.

It would therefore not be appropriate for government to intervene on such matters. Any concerns regarding anti-competitive conduct can be raised directly with the CMA. Details of how to submit information, along with general guidance, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-anti-competitive-or-market-issues-to-the-cma

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the cut to funding the International Baccalaureate on students.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department will provide transitional protection funding to institutions facing a significant reduction in funding. From calculating the initial 2026/27 large programme uplift (LPU) for each institution, the department will look at how these compare with the LPU in the 2025/26 academic year.

Institutions providing the International Baccalaureate retain the freedom to continue doing so, regardless of the changes to the LPU.

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 Oracle Cerner’s (a) pricing and (b) upgrade policies on (i) St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and (ii) other NHS trusts.

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

National Health Service trusts procure from suppliers on the Clinical Digital Health Solutions Framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.commercialsolutions-sec.nhs.uk/frameworks/clinical-digital-health-solutions-cdhs#nav-suppliers

The pricing and policies related to the Oracle Cerner system are based on the NHS frameworks for purchasing electronic patient record (EPR) systems. We are constantly reviewing the effectiveness of the system in the interests of our patients and staff.

The costs of specific trust EPR implementations are dealt with in the EPR business cases that trust boards themselves agree to, and which are submitted for approval. A key Business Case test will be whether trusts can afford both the capital and revenue costs of EPR implementation and upgrades.

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 NHS trusts are not subject to inappropriate (a) pricing and (b) contractual practices by major IT suppliers.

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

National Health Service trusts procure from suppliers on the Clinical Digital Health Solutions Framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.commercialsolutions-sec.nhs.uk/frameworks/clinical-digital-health-solutions-cdhs#nav-suppliers

The pricing and policies related to the Oracle Cerner system are based on the NHS frameworks for purchasing electronic patient record (EPR) systems. We are constantly reviewing the effectiveness of the system in the interests of our patients and staff.

The costs of specific trust EPR implementations are dealt with in the EPR business cases that trust boards themselves agree to, and which are submitted for approval. A key Business Case test will be whether trusts can afford both the capital and revenue costs of EPR implementation and upgrades.

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 maintain levels of (a) quality of care and (b) patient safety following cost improvement plans in the NHS.

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

The National Quality Board (NQB) published a Quality Impact Assessment (QIA) framework in June 2025. QIAs ensure that quality of care considerations, which incorporates patient safety, clinical effectiveness, and patient experience, are central to decision-making for the design and delivery of health and care services. The new framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/quality-impact-assessment-framework/

The new framework updates the guidance from the NQB published in 2012, a copy of which is attached. The updates from the framework recognise the need for QIAs to be carried out in a wider range of circumstances when any service change is proposed, not only those focused on financial efficiencies.

The new framework is intended to be used by commissioners and providers of health and care services to support the development of organisational policy and processes for undertaking QIAs. This may include National Health Service providers, independent sector providers, integrated care boards (ICBs), and local authorities.

The 2025/26 NHS priorities and operational planning guidance also asks ICBs to embed a robust quality and equality impact assessment process into financial and operational decision-making, test all changes with boards, and consider the appropriate involvement by the public, service users, staff, local authorities, and wider stakeholders. Further information on the 2025/26 NHS priorities and operational planning guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/2025-26-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance/#annex-principles-for-local-prioritisation

In addition, a new Quality Strategy is being developed under the leadership of the NQB, to coordinate key commitments within the 10-Year Health Plan and to support the delivery of high quality care across the NHS, specifically care that is safe, effective, and that provides a positive experience for patients, parents, carers, and service users.

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 impact of the cost to the individual of a COVID-19 vaccination on (a) vaccination rates and (b) public health more widely.

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

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

As with all vaccines offered as part of the national programme in England, there is no charge for COVID-19 vaccination for those who are eligible. There is therefore no cost to those individuals that might impact vaccination rates or public health.

As with other UK vaccination programmes, the JCVI advice on eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination carefully considers the evidence on the risk of illness, serious disease, or death as a consequence of infection, in specific groups, as well as cost-effectiveness analysis.