Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England or NHSBSA have identified any gaps or inconsistencies in national prescribing or outcomes data relating to puberty blockers in under-18s.

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

In March 2024, NHS England published a suite of documentation relating to its decision to remove gonadotrophin releasing hormone analogues as a routine treatment option in the National Health Service for children under 18 years old with gender dysphoria. This documentation included a review of the published evidence, which concluded that there is very limited evidence about safety, risks, benefits, and outcomes for the use of this medication in children with gender dysphoria. Restrictions on the sale and supply of these medicines via private and NHS prescriptions were introduced in May 2024.

In line with the findings and recommendations of the Cass Review, NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research have commissioned a carefully designed clinical trial to assess the relative benefits and harms of puberty suppressing hormones on young people’s physical, social, and emotional well-being.

With regard to national prescribing data, the Government holds information relating to NHS prescriptions of gonadotropin hormone-releasing hormone agonists for all purposes for children aged 17 years old and under that were prescribed and dispensed in community pharmacies or general practices in England in each year from 2015/16 to September 2025. The NHS Business Services Authority does not hold patient data prior to April 2015.

The Government does not hold data for prescriptions dispensed within secondary care, prisons, or other detention centres, or private prescriptions other than controlled drugs.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria the Crown Prosecution Service uses to determine whether to (a) release an absconder on bail and (b) bail them.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The decision to remand an individual in custody or to grant bail is solely a matter for the independent judiciary acting in accordance with the criteria set out in the Bail Act 1976.

Questions about the Crown Prosecution Service are for the Attorney General.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of irregular migrants currently residing in Great Yarmouth and the resource implications for local authorities.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has, since 2022, operated a system of Full Dispersal which works to ensure that asylum accommodation is spread equitably and fairly across the UK. Procurement of accommodation is driven by a set of evidence-based plans, which are reviewed regularly with Local Government, and which consider a range of factors, including the availability of housing, pressure on services and community cohesion, to ensure that no one area is overburdened.

Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including accommodation type, and broken down into Local Authority area, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab of our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (opens in a new tab).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent the concentration of high-need migrant cohorts in deprived coastal communities such as Great Yarmouth.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has, since 2022, operated a system of Full Dispersal which works to ensure that asylum accommodation is spread equitably and fairly across the UK. Procurement of accommodation is driven by a set of evidence-based plans, which are reviewed regularly with Local Government, and which consider a range of factors, including the availability of housing, pressure on services and community cohesion, to ensure that no one area is overburdened.

Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including accommodation type, and broken down into Local Authority area, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab of our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (opens in a new tab).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what evidential basis the Minister of State for Immigration said on 3 September 2025 that her Department does not hold any central record of the requested information on foreign nationals who have absconded after being served with a deportation order.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested on the number of foreign national offenders (including the previous request under UIN 74872) and irregular migrants who are classified as absconders is not currently available from published statistics. Nor is the breakdown of those figures by risk category, criminal history and nationality.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

Whilst local management information is held on absconder numbers and updated in line with operational need, this is used only for local management purposes. This data has not been verified or checked for accuracy to a standard that would make it suitable for publication, or to be provided to Members of Parliament. Obtaining the detailed information that has been requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple Home Office systems and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

With regard to the question about foreign national offenders who have been either re-apprehended or deported, such individuals in these circumstances would no longer be classified as absconders on Home Office systems. Similarly, irregular migrants in the total absconder pool who have been located or removed from the UK would no longer be classified as absconders.

With regard to the assessment of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool, joint working between Immigration Enforcement (IE), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) helps tackle threats posed by high-harm foreign national offenders within the community. This initiative is not directly linked to individuals who have absconded.

This initiative has developed a harm score threat assessment to ensure that multiagency efforts are able to utilise a risk-based prioritisation approach. The release of the methods utilised to calculate these risks would prejudice ongoing operational activity and is therefore not considered to be in the public interest to disclose this methodology.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2025 to Question 74872 on Deportation, whether this remains the case.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested on the number of foreign national offenders (including the previous request under UIN 74872) and irregular migrants who are classified as absconders is not currently available from published statistics. Nor is the breakdown of those figures by risk category, criminal history and nationality.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

Whilst local management information is held on absconder numbers and updated in line with operational need, this is used only for local management purposes. This data has not been verified or checked for accuracy to a standard that would make it suitable for publication, or to be provided to Members of Parliament. Obtaining the detailed information that has been requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple Home Office systems and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

With regard to the question about foreign national offenders who have been either re-apprehended or deported, such individuals in these circumstances would no longer be classified as absconders on Home Office systems. Similarly, irregular migrants in the total absconder pool who have been located or removed from the UK would no longer be classified as absconders.

With regard to the assessment of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool, joint working between Immigration Enforcement (IE), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) helps tackle threats posed by high-harm foreign national offenders within the community. This initiative is not directly linked to individuals who have absconded.

This initiative has developed a harm score threat assessment to ensure that multiagency efforts are able to utilise a risk-based prioritisation approach. The release of the methods utilised to calculate these risks would prejudice ongoing operational activity and is therefore not considered to be in the public interest to disclose this methodology.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in their Department have been on mental health leave for six months or more; and for what reason.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Sickness absence information in the format requested is not available. The Cabinet Office publishes statistics on Civil Service sickness absence in regular reports, which can be found here: Sickness absence in the Civil Service - GOV.UK. The next release is due to be published on 18 December 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when total absconder pool figures were first compiled; and how frequently those figures have been updated since.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested on the number of foreign national offenders (including the previous request under UIN 74872) and irregular migrants who are classified as absconders is not currently available from published statistics. Nor is the breakdown of those figures by risk category, criminal history and nationality.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

Whilst local management information is held on absconder numbers and updated in line with operational need, this is used only for local management purposes. This data has not been verified or checked for accuracy to a standard that would make it suitable for publication, or to be provided to Members of Parliament. Obtaining the detailed information that has been requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple Home Office systems and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

With regard to the question about foreign national offenders who have been either re-apprehended or deported, such individuals in these circumstances would no longer be classified as absconders on Home Office systems. Similarly, irregular migrants in the total absconder pool who have been located or removed from the UK would no longer be classified as absconders.

With regard to the assessment of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool, joint working between Immigration Enforcement (IE), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) helps tackle threats posed by high-harm foreign national offenders within the community. This initiative is not directly linked to individuals who have absconded.

This initiative has developed a harm score threat assessment to ensure that multiagency efforts are able to utilise a risk-based prioritisation approach. The release of the methods utilised to calculate these risks would prejudice ongoing operational activity and is therefore not considered to be in the public interest to disclose this methodology.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) foreign national offenders and (b) irregular migrants are in the total absconder pool by risk category, criminal history and nationality.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested on the number of foreign national offenders (including the previous request under UIN 74872) and irregular migrants who are classified as absconders is not currently available from published statistics. Nor is the breakdown of those figures by risk category, criminal history and nationality.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

Whilst local management information is held on absconder numbers and updated in line with operational need, this is used only for local management purposes. This data has not been verified or checked for accuracy to a standard that would make it suitable for publication, or to be provided to Members of Parliament. Obtaining the detailed information that has been requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple Home Office systems and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

With regard to the question about foreign national offenders who have been either re-apprehended or deported, such individuals in these circumstances would no longer be classified as absconders on Home Office systems. Similarly, irregular migrants in the total absconder pool who have been located or removed from the UK would no longer be classified as absconders.

With regard to the assessment of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool, joint working between Immigration Enforcement (IE), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) helps tackle threats posed by high-harm foreign national offenders within the community. This initiative is not directly linked to individuals who have absconded.

This initiative has developed a harm score threat assessment to ensure that multiagency efforts are able to utilise a risk-based prioritisation approach. The release of the methods utilised to calculate these risks would prejudice ongoing operational activity and is therefore not considered to be in the public interest to disclose this methodology.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil servants are assigned to locating absconded foreign national offenders and irregular migrants; and whether performance targets are in place for reducing the size of the absconder pool.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The cost of collating information on absconders will depend on a range of variable factors, including the level of detail required and where the information is held. Extracting information from multiple databases and datasets may also involve manual scrutiny of individual records. Given these variables, any general estimate would be unreliable with assessments instead being made in response to individual requests and the specific circumstances.

The Home Office has a range of tools to trace those who abscond, the number of staff involved in tracing activity varies across Immigration Enforcement depending on operational need, with c.65 staff currently dedicated to tracing activities, aswell as resources elsewhere within the Migration and Borders System, who are responsible for recording information when individuals are found or come back into contact. The number of absconders recorded on Home Office systems can fluctuate and there are no formal targets linked to a reduction in the number. The Home Office works closely with the police, other government agencies, commercial companies and international partners to trace absconders and bring them back into contact. Where new contact details are found we will consider the most appropriate intervention for the person including arrest and detention.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of collating information on absconders.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The cost of collating information on absconders will depend on a range of variable factors, including the level of detail required and where the information is held. Extracting information from multiple databases and datasets may also involve manual scrutiny of individual records. Given these variables, any general estimate would be unreliable with assessments instead being made in response to individual requests and the specific circumstances.

The Home Office has a range of tools to trace those who abscond, the number of staff involved in tracing activity varies across Immigration Enforcement depending on operational need, with c.65 staff currently dedicated to tracing activities, aswell as resources elsewhere within the Migration and Borders System, who are responsible for recording information when individuals are found or come back into contact. The number of absconders recorded on Home Office systems can fluctuate and there are no formal targets linked to a reduction in the number. The Home Office works closely with the police, other government agencies, commercial companies and international partners to trace absconders and bring them back into contact. Where new contact details are found we will consider the most appropriate intervention for the person including arrest and detention.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many irregular migrants in the total absconder pool (a) have been located, (b) have been removed from the UK and (c) remain at large as of the most recent date for which data is available.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested on the number of foreign national offenders (including the previous request under UIN 74872) and irregular migrants who are classified as absconders is not currently available from published statistics. Nor is the breakdown of those figures by risk category, criminal history and nationality.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

Whilst local management information is held on absconder numbers and updated in line with operational need, this is used only for local management purposes. This data has not been verified or checked for accuracy to a standard that would make it suitable for publication, or to be provided to Members of Parliament. Obtaining the detailed information that has been requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple Home Office systems and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

With regard to the question about foreign national offenders who have been either re-apprehended or deported, such individuals in these circumstances would no longer be classified as absconders on Home Office systems. Similarly, irregular migrants in the total absconder pool who have been located or removed from the UK would no longer be classified as absconders.

With regard to the assessment of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool, joint working between Immigration Enforcement (IE), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) helps tackle threats posed by high-harm foreign national offenders within the community. This initiative is not directly linked to individuals who have absconded.

This initiative has developed a harm score threat assessment to ensure that multiagency efforts are able to utilise a risk-based prioritisation approach. The release of the methods utilised to calculate these risks would prejudice ongoing operational activity and is therefore not considered to be in the public interest to disclose this methodology.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool; and what risk categories are used in that assessment.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested on the number of foreign national offenders (including the previous request under UIN 74872) and irregular migrants who are classified as absconders is not currently available from published statistics. Nor is the breakdown of those figures by risk category, criminal history and nationality.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

Whilst local management information is held on absconder numbers and updated in line with operational need, this is used only for local management purposes. This data has not been verified or checked for accuracy to a standard that would make it suitable for publication, or to be provided to Members of Parliament. Obtaining the detailed information that has been requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple Home Office systems and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

With regard to the question about foreign national offenders who have been either re-apprehended or deported, such individuals in these circumstances would no longer be classified as absconders on Home Office systems. Similarly, irregular migrants in the total absconder pool who have been located or removed from the UK would no longer be classified as absconders.

With regard to the assessment of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool, joint working between Immigration Enforcement (IE), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) helps tackle threats posed by high-harm foreign national offenders within the community. This initiative is not directly linked to individuals who have absconded.

This initiative has developed a harm score threat assessment to ensure that multiagency efforts are able to utilise a risk-based prioritisation approach. The release of the methods utilised to calculate these risks would prejudice ongoing operational activity and is therefore not considered to be in the public interest to disclose this methodology.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the foreign national offenders included in the total absconder pool have (a) been re-apprehended, (b) been deported and (c) remain untraceable.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested on the number of foreign national offenders (including the previous request under UIN 74872) and irregular migrants who are classified as absconders is not currently available from published statistics. Nor is the breakdown of those figures by risk category, criminal history and nationality.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

Whilst local management information is held on absconder numbers and updated in line with operational need, this is used only for local management purposes. This data has not been verified or checked for accuracy to a standard that would make it suitable for publication, or to be provided to Members of Parliament. Obtaining the detailed information that has been requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple Home Office systems and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

With regard to the question about foreign national offenders who have been either re-apprehended or deported, such individuals in these circumstances would no longer be classified as absconders on Home Office systems. Similarly, irregular migrants in the total absconder pool who have been located or removed from the UK would no longer be classified as absconders.

With regard to the assessment of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool, joint working between Immigration Enforcement (IE), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) helps tackle threats posed by high-harm foreign national offenders within the community. This initiative is not directly linked to individuals who have absconded.

This initiative has developed a harm score threat assessment to ensure that multiagency efforts are able to utilise a risk-based prioritisation approach. The release of the methods utilised to calculate these risks would prejudice ongoing operational activity and is therefore not considered to be in the public interest to disclose this methodology.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what percentage of absconders have remained in the UK as a result of (a) unresolved legal appeals and (b) last-minute claims in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data.

An individual who is pursuing a legal appeal or has submitted a last–minute claim would not usually be considered to be an absconder, as they would no longer be out of contact with the department. Similarly, requests for travel documentation would not usually take place at the point that someone is considered to be an absconder.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of absconders could not be removed because their home countries would not issue travel documents in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data.

An individual who is pursuing a legal appeal or has submitted a last–minute claim would not usually be considered to be an absconder, as they would no longer be out of contact with the department. Similarly, requests for travel documentation would not usually take place at the point that someone is considered to be an absconder.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what percentage of people on immigration bail absconded again in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data.

An individual who is pursuing a legal appeal or has submitted a last–minute claim would not usually be considered to be an absconder, as they would no longer be out of contact with the department. Similarly, requests for travel documentation would not usually take place at the point that someone is considered to be an absconder.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the estimated average time is before an absconder going missing and a police report is filed.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data.

An individual who is pursuing a legal appeal or has submitted a last–minute claim would not usually be considered to be an absconder, as they would no longer be out of contact with the department. Similarly, requests for travel documentation would not usually take place at the point that someone is considered to be an absconder.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of absconders encountered by police have been detained by police in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data.

An individual who is pursuing a legal appeal or has submitted a last–minute claim would not usually be considered to be an absconder, as they would no longer be out of contact with the department. Similarly, requests for travel documentation would not usually take place at the point that someone is considered to be an absconder.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many absconders released on bail have committed further offences in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data.

An individual who is pursuing a legal appeal or has submitted a last–minute claim would not usually be considered to be an absconder, as they would no longer be out of contact with the department. Similarly, requests for travel documentation would not usually take place at the point that someone is considered to be an absconder.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refused asylum seekers are classified as absconders.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data.

An individual who is pursuing a legal appeal or has submitted a last–minute claim would not usually be considered to be an absconder, as they would no longer be out of contact with the department. Similarly, requests for travel documentation would not usually take place at the point that someone is considered to be an absconder.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of absconders have only been found after an arrest for a separate offence in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data.

An individual who is pursuing a legal appeal or has submitted a last–minute claim would not usually be considered to be an absconder, as they would no longer be out of contact with the department. Similarly, requests for travel documentation would not usually take place at the point that someone is considered to be an absconder.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions for fly-tipping were brought in Great Yarmouth in the last 12 months; and what assessment he has made of whether current penalties are a sufficient deterrent.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Fly-tipping is a serious crime which blights communities and the environment and dealing with it imposes significant costs on both taxpayers and businesses. Anyone caught fly-tipping may be prosecuted and faces potentially serious punishment.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions relating to fly tipping in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, which can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

Relevant offences can be filtered by using the offence filter and selecting 91.1 Offences related to fly-tipping - Triable either way.

Data is not published separately for Great Yarmouth, however, there have been no prosecutions for this offence at Great Yarmouth magistrates court in year ending June 2025.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts. Parliament has provided the courts with a broad range of sentencing powers to deal effectively and appropriately with offenders, including discharges, fines, community sentences, suspended sentences and custodial sentences.

The maximum penalty for fly-tipping is 5 years custody. When deciding what sentence to impose, courts must consider the circumstances of the case, including the culpability of the offender, the harm they caused or intended to cause, and any aggravating and mitigating factors. The courts also have a statutory duty to follow any relevant sentencing guidelines, developed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

The Government keeps the sentencing framework under ongoing review to ensure that it remains fit for purpose.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce reoffending rates among prolific offenders in Great Yarmouth town centre.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

In November 2024, the Home Office introduced Respect Orders to give police and local councils powers to ban persistent offenders from town centres. As well as prison sentences of up to two years, criminal courts will be able to issue unlimited fines and community orders, such as unpaid work, and curfews as punishment for breaching a Respect Order.

For those who persistently break the law, we are building 14,000 new prison places to make sure they are removed from the streets. Whilst in prison they will be expected to take part in education or learn new skills to make them more useful contributors to society after release.

The Probation Service's first priority is to protect the public. Anyone released from prison is subject to strict licence conditions, including exclusion zones where appropriate. If found to have breached these conditions they can be returned to prison.

The Probation Service puts in place services aimed at reducing re-offending by supporting the needs of people on probation in Great Yarmouth. These include providing support in obtaining and maintaining suitable accommodation, help with drug and alcohol dependency issues, assistance with personal wellbeing needs and a holistic service addressing all needs for women.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what evidence NICE has identified as the basis for its clinical assessment of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria; and whether NICE has undertaken (a) scoping and (b) evaluation exercises since 2015.

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

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not developed guidance on, or made a clinical assessment of, puberty blockers for gender dysphoria. In 2020, NICE developed two evidence summaries:

• Gonadotrophin releasing hormone analogues for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria; and
• Gender-affirming hormones for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria.

These summaries were commissioned by NHS England and developed by NICE to an NHS England process. They helped inform the Cass review.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department reviews NHS England expenditure reports relating to the prescribing of puberty blockers for children; and whether (a) financial oversight and (b) risk assessments have been conducted since 2010.

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

All arms-length bodies, including NHS England, are held to high standards of financial responsibility and publish annual reports and accounts which are laid before Parliament.

Gonadotrophin releasing hormone analogues, or puberty blockers, have been prescribed to children under 16 years of age in England for licenced uses, for instance precocious puberty and endometriosis, and off label uses, such as gender dysphoria. The cost of prescribing drugs to a patient is met by the patient's integrated care board.

Regarding risks assessments conducted since 2010, in March 2024 NHS England published a suite of documentation relating to its decision to remove gonadotrophin releasing hormone analogues as a routine treatment option in the National Health Service for children under 18 years old with gender dysphoria. This documentation included a review of the published evidence, which concluded that there is very limited evidence about safety, risks, benefits, and outcomes for the use of this medication in children with gender dysphoria.

Restrictions on the sale and supply of these medicines via private and NHS prescriptions were introduced in May 2024. As part of that legislation the Government conducted a targeted consultation and sought advice on patient safety from the independent Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) and Cass Review.

The Government response to the consultation, the full report of the CHM, and the Cass review are available publicly, and respectively, at the following three links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-the-availability-of-puberty-blockers-for-under-18s/outcome/governments-response-to-the-targeted-consultation-on-proposed-changes-to-the-availability-of-puberty-blockers

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chms-report-on-proposed-changes-to-the-availability-of-puberty-blockers/commission-on-human-medicines-report-on-proposed-permanent-order-to-restrict-the-sale-and-supply-of-gnrh-agonists-in-children-and-young-people-under-1

https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20250310143633/https://cass.independent-review.uk/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what aggregated safety data, including adverse-event summaries, the MHRA has recorded relating to the use of puberty blockers in under-18s since 2010; and whether the Department has been informed of any safety signals during that period.

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

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from their independent advisory committee, the Commission on Human Medicines, where appropriate to inform regulatory decisions.

Puberty blockers are also known as gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues. These medicines are licenced for conditions such as young children who enter puberty too early, also known as precocious puberty, prostate cancer, and endometriosis. The use of GnRH analogues to suppress puberty in children and young people with gender dysphoria is off-label prescribing. This means that the use of these medicines for this purpose is outside of the licensed uses, and as such the benefits and risks of the medicine for use in this specific population have not been assessed. The MHRA does not regulate off-label use.

The MHRA has received three United Kingdom suspected adverse drug reaction reports in which a GnRH analogue has been reported as being used in a child or young person for the purpose of puberty suppression in gender dysphoria. The GnRH analogues included in this search were buserelin, leuprorelin, goserelin, gonadorelin, nafarelin, and triptorelin. Please note it is not mandatory to provide information on indication when submitting an adverse drug reaction report.

It is important to note that a reaction reported to the Yellow Card scheme does not necessarily mean it has been caused by the medicine, only that the reporter had a suspicion it may have. Underlying or concurrent illnesses may be responsible, or the events could be coincidental.

The MHRA has not identified any safety signals which concern the off-label use of the GnRH analogues for the purpose of puberty suppression in gender dysphoria. However, we acknowledge that there is a clear lack of clinical evidence for the safety and efficacy of using these medicines for gender incongruence and/or dysphoria in those aged 18 years old and under. That is why NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research have commissioned a carefully designed clinical trial to assess the relative benefits and harms of puberty suppressing hormones on young people’s physical, social, and emotional well-being.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of Answers to Parliamentary written questions on absconded foreign national offenders and irregular migrants.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Secretary of State for the Home Department has no plans to commission an independent review into the Department’s handling, recording, and disclosure of absconder data. The Department already undertakes:

• Regular internal audits and quality assurance checks to monitor data integrity and reporting standards.
• Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, including data protection legislation and parliamentary accountability.
• Existing independent scrutiny mechanisms, such as oversight by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and parliamentary committees, which provide assurance on operational performance and data handling.

The Department remains committed to maintaining robust and transparent processes, ensuring compliance with all relevant standards and obligations. It is also dedicated to continuous improvement and will review and strengthen its procedures whenever necessary.

The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Written Parliamentary Questions. Departmental performance on Written Parliamentary Questions is published at the end of each session by the Procedure Committee and is therefore publicly available.

All Parliamentary Questions are reviewed and cleared by Ministers prior to publication including those referring to absconders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she received internal representations on the adequacy of Ministerial replies to Parliamentary Questions on absconders prior to their publication.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Secretary of State for the Home Department has no plans to commission an independent review into the Department's handling, recording, and disclosure of absconder data. The Department already undertakes:

• Regular internal audits and quality assurance checks to monitor data integrity and reporting standards.
• Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, including data protection legislation and parliamentary accountability.
• Existing independent scrutiny mechanisms, such as oversight by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and parliamentary committees, which provide assurance on operational performance and data handling.

The Department remains committed to maintaining robust and transparent processes, ensuring compliance with all relevant standards and obligations. It is also dedicated to continuous improvement and will review and strengthen its procedures whenever necessary.

The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Written Parliamentary Questions. Departmental performance on Written Parliamentary Questions is published at the end of each session by the Procedure Committee and is therefore publicly available.

All Parliamentary Questions are reviewed and cleared by Ministers prior to publication including those referring to absconders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commission an independent review into her Department's handling, recording and disclosure of absconder data.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Secretary of State for the Home Department has no plans to commission an independent review into the Department’s handling, recording, and disclosure of absconder data. The Department already undertakes:

• Regular internal audits and quality assurance checks to monitor data integrity and reporting standards.
• Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, including data protection legislation and parliamentary accountability.
• Existing independent scrutiny mechanisms, such as oversight by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and parliamentary committees, which provide assurance on operational performance and data handling.

The Department remains committed to maintaining robust and transparent processes, ensuring compliance with all relevant standards and obligations. It is also dedicated to continuous improvement and will review and strengthen its procedures whenever necessary.

The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Written Parliamentary Questions. Departmental performance on Written Parliamentary Questions is published at the end of each session by the Procedure Committee and is therefore publicly available.

All Parliamentary Questions are reviewed and cleared by Ministers prior to publication including those referring to absconders.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of recent trends in the level of fly-tipping incidents in Great Yarmouth; and whether additional enforcement funding will be provided.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

No assessment of recent trends in the level of fly-tipping incidents in Great Yarmouth has been made. Local authorities are however required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions to Defra, which we publish annually here. This excludes the majority of private-land and large scale incidents. Great Yarmouth reported the following number of incidents in the last five years:

2019-20 = 1491

2020-21 = 2146

2021-22 = 1869

2022-23 = 1171

2023-24 = 1153

We are not considering additional funding specifically for fly-tipping enforcement. However, the Spending Review 2025 provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of street cleaning, litter collection and maintenance in Great Yarmouth’s town centre and seafront.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

No assessment has been made of the adequacy of street cleaning, litter collection and maintenance in Great Yarmouth’s town centre and seafront.

Local councils are responsible for keeping their streets clear of litter and refuse. The role of central Government is to enable and support local action. In the Pride in Place Strategy this Government has committed to bringing forward statutory enforcement guidance on both littering and fly-tipping, modernising the code of practice that outlines the cleaning standards expected of local authorities, and refreshing best practice guidance on the powers available to local authorities to force land and building owners to clean up their premises.

We are also targeting some of the more commonly littered items to reduce the presence of these on our streets. The sale of single-use vapes was banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. Plastic drinks bottles and metal drinks containers make up 55% of litter volume. The Deposit Return Scheme will cover plastic and metal drinks containers (like bottles and cans), and the goal is to reduce litter and help keep our streets, rivers, and oceans clean.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will review the impact of waste disposal charges on the level of illegal dumping in Great Yarmouth.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Department has no plans to review the impact of waste disposal charges on the level of illegal dumping in Great Yarmouth.

Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) play an important role in helping people to dispose of their waste responsibly. Local authorities have responsibility for the operation and management of HWRCs in their area. It is their duty to provide services for residents within their local area to dispose of or recycle their waste responsibly.

Local authorities are also responsible for tackling fly-tipping in their areas. They have a range of fly-tipping enforcement powers at their disposal, which we encourage them to make good use of. Powers include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing and crushing of vehicles and prosecution action.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Department holds complete archived referral, assessment, prescribing, and safeguarding data from the former Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service; and whether the Department will publish an aggregated historical summary.

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

NHS England, as the responsible commissioner of the service at the time, will hold some relevant data, of the type and nature that would routinely be reported through the commissioning process. This would not include patient identifiable information.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

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

​​During the period of 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, the department spent £0.00 on LinkedIn membership fees.

​During the same period, the department and its executive agencies spent £274,988.24 on services that fit the broad description of ‘subscription’.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

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

The Department’s total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees for the last financial year was nil and (ii) other similar membership subscriptions was nil.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what instructions his Department issued to NHS regional gender hubs on prescribing restrictions.

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

In March 2024, NHS England published its clinical policy on puberty suppressing hormones for children and young people who have gender incongruence and/or gender dysphoria.

This set out that puberty supressing hormones are not available as a routine commissioning treatment option for the treatment of children and young people who have gender incongruence and/or gender dysphoria.

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 adequacy of the number of GPs in Great Yarmouth constituency.

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

As of 31 October 2025, there were 66 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors in general practice (GP) in the Great Yarmouth Constituency. The median number of FTE doctors per 10,000 registered patients was 5.5, compared to the England median of 5.6.

Since October 2024 we have funded primary care networks with an additional £160 million to recruit recently qualified GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. Over 2,600 individual GPs have now been recruited, preventing them from graduating into unemployment. This was a measure to respond to feedback from the profession and to help solve an immediate issue of GP unemployment.

We have committed to training thousands more GPs across the country which will increase capacity and take the pressure off those currently working in the system.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any NHS regional gender hubs have prescribed puberty blockers to patients under 18 since the publication of the Cass Review.

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

From 1 April 2024, NHS England adopted a new clinical commissioning policy that prevents the newly established Children and Young People's Gender Services from initiating prescriptions for gonadotrophin releasing hormone analogues for the purpose of puberty suppression.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many premises have been investigated, restricted, or closed in the last five years due to concerns relating to extremist ideology.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

It is a long-standing policy that the Home Office does not comment on specific cases.

Regardless of the worldview it draws from, if an ideology is causing harm by radicalising others into hatred, violence and extremism we will take action to prevent this and to safeguard susceptible individuals.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which visa routes are currently open to nationals of countries designated as high-risk for terrorism-related activity.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The UK operates a robust and effective visa system, which is an important part of securing the UK border and a vital tool for the UK in reducing illegal immigration, tackling organised crime and protecting national security. A requirement to obtain a visa prior to travelling to the UK means that we can assess, based on a visa application and following background checks, whether an individual will comply with the Immigration Rules on arrival. It allows us to intervene and, where necessary, refuse a visa before the individual travels to the UK.

This Government will not stop at anything to protect border and national security, and the UK keeps its visa system under regular review. This is conducted on the basis of a range of factors including security, compliance and returns arrangements. However, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific operational security matters.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has considered suspending visa routes from countries assessed as high-risk for terrorism;

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The UK operates a robust and effective visa system, which is an important part of securing the UK border and a vital tool for the UK in reducing illegal immigration, tackling organised crime and protecting national security. A requirement to obtain a visa prior to travelling to the UK means that we can assess, based on a visa application and following background checks, whether an individual will comply with the Immigration Rules on arrival. It allows us to intervene and, where necessary, refuse a visa before the individual travels to the UK.

This Government will not stop at anything to protect border and national security, and the UK keeps its visa system under regular review. This is conducted on the basis of a range of factors including security, compliance and returns arrangements. However, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific operational security matters.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria are used to designate a country as high-risk for terrorism and extremist activity for the purposes of visa policy.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The UK operates a robust and effective visa system, which is an important part of securing the UK border and a vital tool for the UK in reducing illegal immigration, tackling organised crime and protecting national security. A requirement to obtain a visa prior to travelling to the UK means that we can assess, based on a visa application and following background checks, whether an individual will comply with the Immigration Rules on arrival. It allows us to intervene and, where necessary, refuse a visa before the individual travels to the UK.

This Government will not stop at anything to protect border and national security, and the UK keeps its visa system under regular review. This is conducted on the basis of a range of factors including security, compliance and returns arrangements. However, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific operational security matters.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role the Prevent strategy currently plays in identifying and disrupting Islamist radicalisation; and whether changes are planned to improve its effectiveness.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Prevent aims to limit exposure to radicalising narratives, both online and offline, and to create an environment where radicalising ideologies are challenged and are not permitted to flourish.

The Prevent Duty Guidance sets out how local partners should address this issue by identifying and considering opportunities to disrupt those who use extremist narratives to spread hatred and division and radicalise others to terrorism.

This includes information sharing, risk assessment, and developing operational plans to proactively address the influences and narratives that may foster permissive environments within the community.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many referrals to counter-extremism programmes have been made in each of the last five years, broken down by ideology.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

i) Individuals referred to the Prevent programme

Prevent aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It works to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are offered appropriate interventions and support, and that communities are protected against radicalising influences.

The Home Office publishes statistics annually on individuals referred into Prevent, which can be found here.

Links to the data on individuals referred in by the type of concern, or ideology, can be found below.

ii) Years 2024-2025, broken down by ideology. Table 16.

iii) Years 2023-2024, broken down by ideology. Table 6.

iv) Years 2022-2023, broken down by ideology. Table 6.

v) Years 2021-2022, broken down by ideology. Table 6.

vi) Years 2020-2021, broken down by ideology. Table 6.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what oversight mechanisms exist to monitor institutions where extremist ideology may be promoted.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Prevent duty requires specified authorities such as education, health, local authorities, police and criminal justice agencies (prisons and probation) to help prevent the risk of people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism which includes the need to reduce permissive environments.

It sits alongside long-established safeguarding duties on professionals to protect people from a range of other harms, such as substance abuse, involvement in gangs, and physical and sexual exploitation.

The duty helps to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are supported as they would be under safeguarding processes.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DCMS has spent £52,670.85 on Linkedin membership fees and £92,099 on other subscriptions in the financial year 24/25. Costs are exclusive of VAT.

These costs are used to maintain access to the widest possible applicant base for job roles in the department, to increase visibility of the department’s employer brand, and to reach a diverse range of potential applicants.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide funding to help increase staffing levels at (a) James Paget University Hospital and (b) Northgate Hospital.

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

Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.

Funding provided to NHS trusts, including James Paget University Hospital and Northgate Hospital, is not ringfenced for specific items such as staffing levels. Hospitals receive funding allocations which they can use at their discretion, based on local priorities.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure 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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the absence of nationality-grouped oversight forms part of the Government’s election integrity risk assessments, and if so, what assessment has been made of the risks associated with foreign-national elector cohorts.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government is committed to upholding and strengthening UK democracy by protecting against foreign interference, improving political transparency, adding tougher checks for donations and closing loopholes by reinforcing electoral legislation against foreign interference.

MHCLG election reforms will deliver a robust and proportionate response to known risks protecting the integrity of our system and reinforcing public trust in democracy. MHCLG published an elections strategy in July 2025 detailing this.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the total annual NHS expenditure on GnRH analogue puberty blockers for under-18s in each financial year since 2010.

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

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists or ‘puberty blockers’ are used to treat several medical conditions in children and young people. These can include precocious puberty, some forms of cancer, and endometriosis. They have also been used outside of their licenced indication to treat gender dysphoria.

There is no central registry that provides the total number of children in England who have been prescribed GnRH agonists through the National Health Service since 2010.

The following table shows the number of identifiable patients and total net ingredient cost for NHS prescriptions of GnRH agonists for all purposes for children aged 17 years old and under that were prescribed and dispensed in community pharmacies or general practices in England in each year from 2015/2016 to September 2025:

Source: ePACT2, which sources data from the NHS Business Services Authority’s Information Services Data Warehouse.

Note: the net ingredient cost is the basic price of a product excluding VAT. It does not take account of discounts, rebates, dispensing costs, fees, and allowances paid to pharmacists and appliance contractors for the service they provide to the NHS, or prescription charge income received, where the single charge or Prescription Prepayment Certificate fee is paid, or foregone where prescriptions are dispensed free of charge.

The NHS Business Services Authority does not hold patient data prior to April 2015. This data excludes dispensing in secondary care and other settings, and private prescriptions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any NHS Trusts (a) employ specialist staff or (b) operate dedicated services to address genetic disorders associated with consanguinity.

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

The National Health Service in England supports patients with a variety of conditions related to genetics. NHS England is piloting and evaluating new models of care to improve the equity of access to genetic services for the small proportion of couples at increased genetic risk due to close relative marriage. NHS England is funding additional capacity in several professions, including midwifery, genomics associates, and neonatal nurses, in nine pilot sites through the Genetic Risk Equity Project. 3.8 whole time equivalent (WTE) midwives and one WTE neonatal nurse were in post in 2024/25 to deliver the Genetic Risk Equity Project.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS staff there are whose responsibilities include addressing genetic disorders associated with consanguinity.

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

The National Health Service in England supports patients with a variety of conditions related to genetics. NHS England is piloting and evaluating new models of care to improve the equity of access to genetic services for the small proportion of couples at increased genetic risk due to close relative marriage. NHS England is funding additional capacity in several professions, including midwifery, genomics associates, and neonatal nurses, in nine pilot sites through the Genetic Risk Equity Project. 3.8 whole time equivalent (WTE) midwives and one WTE neonatal nurse were in post in 2024/25 to deliver the Genetic Risk Equity Project.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients aged under 18 have been prescribed GnRH analogue puberty blockers through the NHS in each year since 2010.

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

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists or ‘puberty blockers’ are used to treat several medical conditions in children and young people. These can include precocious puberty, some forms of cancer, and endometriosis. They have also been used outside of their licenced indication to treat gender dysphoria.

There is no central registry that provides the total number of children in England who have been prescribed GnRH agonists through the National Health Service since 2010.

The following table shows the number of identifiable patients and total net ingredient cost for NHS prescriptions of GnRH agonists for all purposes for children aged 17 years old and under that were prescribed and dispensed in community pharmacies or general practices in England in each year from 2015/2016 to September 2025:

Source: ePACT2, which sources data from the NHS Business Services Authority’s Information Services Data Warehouse.

Note: the net ingredient cost is the basic price of a product excluding VAT. It does not take account of discounts, rebates, dispensing costs, fees, and allowances paid to pharmacists and appliance contractors for the service they provide to the NHS, or prescription charge income received, where the single charge or Prescription Prepayment Certificate fee is paid, or foregone where prescriptions are dispensed free of charge.

The NHS Business Services Authority does not hold patient data prior to April 2015. This data excludes dispensing in secondary care and other settings, and private prescriptions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide additional funding to (i) James Paget Hospital and (ii) Northgate Hospital to help support (a) local residents and (b) its seasonal tourist population.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning and funding the care delivered by healthcare providers, including the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. The amount of funding received by each provider is based on the NHS Payment Scheme, which is a set of rules, prices, and guidance that determine how the providers of National Health Service funded healthcare are paid for the services they deliver.

NHS England is responsible for determining the allocation of financial resources to ICBs. The process of setting funding allocations is informed by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation, an independent committee that provides advice to NHS England on setting the target formula which impacts how allocations are distributed over time according to factors such as demography, morbidity, deprivation, and the unavoidable cost of providing services in different areas.

NHS England produces a technical guide to allocation formulae, with the 2025/26 edition available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/PRN01601-technical-guide-to-allocation-formulae-and-convergence-for-2025-to-2026-revenue-allocations.pdf

The edition covering 2026/27 to 2028/29 allocations will be published in due course.

The NHS also has an operational pressures escalation levels (OPEL) framework which provides a standardised approach to support an effective, integrated, and coordinated response to acute trust operational pressures. This includes actions locally, regionally, and nationally that support the depressurising of services and ensure patient safety. Further information about the OPEL framework is published by NHS England, and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/integrated-opel-framework-2024-to-2026/#escalation-and-actions-in-response-to-operational-risks-and-pressures

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 patients in Great Yarmouth receive equal access to NHS services.

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

As part of the 10-Year Health Plan we are focusing the role of integrated care boards (ICBs) on strategic commissioning to improve population health. NHS England has published the Strategic Commissioning Framework which supports the development of care models that are better matched to local needs, improved access to appropriate services, and a stronger focus on population health and reducing inequalities.

As outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan, neighbourhood health plans will be created, including for the Norfolk and Waveney ICB, which covers Great Yarmouth.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has direct oversight of financial efficiencies at the James Paget Trust.

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

The East of England Regional Team has detailed and regular engagement with the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to discuss both their financial position and, more specifically, the delivery of their financial efficiencies. The monthly financial position and progress in delivering efficiencies is a key aspect of the monthly System Financial Review meetings with the trust’s Chief Finance Officer, alongside the integrated care board and other trusts within the local system.

As of October 2025, the James Paget University Hospitals Trust is on track to deliver against its agreed efficiency target.

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 level of ambulance handover delays at James Paget Hospital in each of the past three years.

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

NHS England publishes monthly data on ambulance handovers, including at the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust over the past three years. This information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/ambulance-management-information

In addition, weekly handover data split by day is also published as part of national winter reporting. This information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/uec-sitrep

We are working closely with the trust and system partners to deliver ongoing, evidence-based improvement to ambulance handovers. Key actions include the Release and Respond Programme since December 2024, which targets long delays and supports rapid handovers, new protocols for managing hospital capacity and safe patient flow, enhanced discharge planning and long length-of-stay reviews, Same Day Emergency Care investment enabling same-day assessment and treatment, and enhanced geriatrician support for early assessment and frailty management.

These initiatives are already delivering positive results with the average handover time reducing by 27 minutes in November 2025 compared to November 2024. Furthermore, current four-hour performance for November stands at 73.4%, up 10.3% from last November.

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 staff parking charges on recruitment and morale at James Paget Hospital.

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

No assessment has been made of the impact of staff parking charges on recruitment and morale at James Paget Hospital.

The health and wellbeing of National Health Service staff is a top priority, and all NHS organisations have a responsibility to create supportive working environments for staff, ensuring they have the conditions they need to thrive.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace.

All NHS hospitals in England are expected to follow the published NHS Car Parking Guidance. The guidance makes clear that where hospital car parking charges exist, they should be reasonable for the area.

In addition, free hospital car parking is already in place for ‘in-need’ groups, and this includes NHS staff working overnight.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much (i) James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and (ii) Norfolk and Waveney Community Health and Care NHS Trust spent on external consultants in each of the last three financial years.

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

The following table shows the amount spent by James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Norfolk and Waveney Community Health and Care NHS Trust for the last three financial years:

The information is published in their annual report and accounts on their websites, where further detail is available.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

For FY24/25, DSIT spent £159,000 on LinkedIn subscriptions and £1,221,168 on other subscriptions. DSIT uses its LinkedIn subscription to support with recruitment efforts including role advertisement and usage of LinkedIn Insights which supports with strategic workforce planning. With more than 44 million registered users in the UK as of January 2025, LinkedIn offers DSIT the ability to promote live vacancies to as many potential external candidates as possible. This is particularly important for DSIT’s critical digital and data vacancies, whereby it is estimated that more than half of our applicants come from outside of the civil service market.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government has considered standardising the collection of nationality-grouped data at national level to ensure consistent oversight of local-election eligibility across the UK.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Department does not hold data on the number of foreign nationals registered to vote in UK local elections. Electoral registers are managed at a local level by Electoral Registration Officers. The Electoral Commission already has access to information about nationality that is held on electoral registers and have published this data in the past, including most recently in 2023. The government has no plans to make any changes to these matters.

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 holds aggregated data on the number of foreign nationals registered to vote in UK local elections, broken down by EU citizens, Irish citizens, and qualifying Commonwealth citizens.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Department does not hold data on the number of foreign nationals registered to vote in UK local elections. Electoral registers are managed at a local level by Electoral Registration Officers. The Electoral Commission already has access to information about nationality that is held on electoral registers and have published this data in the past, including most recently in 2023. The government has no plans to make any changes to these matters.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to require the Electoral Commission to collect nationality data already held by EROs in order to improve transparency and electoral integrity.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Department does not hold data on the number of foreign nationals registered to vote in UK local elections. Electoral registers are managed at a local level by Electoral Registration Officers. The Electoral Commission already has access to information about nationality that is held on electoral registers and have published this data in the past, including most recently in 2023. The government has no plans to make any changes to these matters.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy for either (a) his Department or (b) the Electoral Commission to centrally collect nationality data for registered electors.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Department does not hold data on the number of foreign nationals registered to vote in UK local elections. Electoral registers are managed at a local level by Electoral Registration Officers. The Electoral Commission already has access to information about nationality that is held on electoral registers and have published this data in the past, including most recently in 2023. The government has no plans to make any changes to these matters.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether nationality data held by EROs is used in any national-security screening or analysis relating to electoral interference risk.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Department does not hold data on the number of postal or proxy votes issued to foreign nationals eligible to vote in English local elections. The Department also does not hold data on the number of foreign nationals registered to vote in English local elections.

Electoral registers and the approval and issuing of postal and proxy votes are managed at a local level by Electoral Registration Officers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government monitors the number of postal or proxy votes issued to non-UK nationals eligible to vote in local elections.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Department does not hold data on the number of postal or proxy votes issued to foreign nationals eligible to vote in English local elections. The Department also does not hold data on the number of foreign nationals registered to vote in English local elections.

Electoral registers and the approval and issuing of postal and proxy votes are managed at a local level by Electoral Registration Officers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether additional support will be given to coastal councils like Great Yarmouth facing above-average costs for waste and public space maintenance.

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

The government recognises the significant pressures that councils are facing. This is why, alongside the additional £3.4 billion of grant funding announced at the Spending Review, the government is delivering fair funding reforms to ensure money goes to the places that need it most.

On 17 December, the government published the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, the first multi-year Settlement in a decade. The provisional 2026-27 Settlement will make available almost £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England, a 5.7% cash-terms increase compared to 2025-26. By the end of the multi-year period, we will have provided a 15.1% cash-terms increase, worth over £11 billion, compared to 2025-26.

The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural and coastal communities. Our updated assessment of need will more effectively capture variations in demand for services within a local authority. We will continue to apply Area Cost Adjustments to account for the different costs faced in delivering services, including in coastal areas.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2025 to question 95741 on Offenders and Undocumented Migrants, if he will commit to collating and verifying the requested data to publish on a regular basis.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data. The Home Office does not publish data on subjects where the information held is known to not be sufficiently robust or of high enough quality.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The department does not hold information on LinkedIn membership fees and other subscriptions in the format requested, and this could only be collated at a disproportionate cost.

Norfolk County Council Elections in May 2026

Tackling Islamist extremism

Digital ID and civil liberties

Found: On resuming— Q33 Rupert Lowe: I am slightly at a loss as to where to start.

Found: Q11 Rupert Lowe: My question is for Cat.

Found: Rupert Lowe: I will take it that you do not know.