Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on protecting children from the potential impacts of excessive use of smartphones.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Creating a safer online world is a priority for the government and we are focused on implementing the Online Safety Act so that children can benefit from its wide-reaching protections.

The Government is reviewing the evidence base on children’s smartphone use, social media and their wellbeing.

DSIT works closely with other government departments on a range of online safety matters with work on child online safety being a particular priority across government.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of care for bladder cancer in each region; and if he will hold discussions with NICE guidelines on the time taken to update its guidelines on bladder cancer care.

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

The Department is committed to improving cancer care in all regions of England, including for bladder cancer patients. The National Health Service has exceeded their pledge to deliver an extra two million appointments, having now delivered over three million more appointments as the first step to ensuring earlier and faster access to diagnosis and treatment.

The National Cancer Plan, due for publication later this year, will include further details on how the NHS will improve care for bladder cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and access to treatment. Furthermore, it will ensure that patients have access to the latest treatments and technology. These actions will help bring this country’s cancer survival rates back up to the standards of the best in the world.

Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer diagnosis and treatment is a priority for the Government and will be included as a key area of focus in the plan.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is in the process of updating its guideline on the diagnosis and management of bladder cancer, following the NICE prioritisation board’s decision that this work should proceed. The NICE’s current guideline on the diagnosis and management of bladder cancer is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng2

This work will be a partial update of the guideline, to include the recommendations on treating non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and muscle-invasive bladder cancer, and on managing locally advanced or metastatic muscle-invasive bladder cancer. NICE also plans to update the section of the guideline on diagnosing and staging.

NICE will set a provisional timeline for the update in due course and will share updates on its website as the update progresses.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many commercial agreements NHS England has made with manufacturers of medicines which have r resulted in indication-specific pricing between January 2020 and March 2025; and what therapeutic area these have been for.

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

Information provided by NHS England shows that there have been 74 commercial agreements involving indication-specific pricing arrangements between January 2020 and March 2025. The following table shows the split by therapeutic areas:

Note: therapeutic areas with fewer than five commercial agreements have been grouped under Other to avoid identification of specific commercial deals.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to consult the (a) medical technology sector, (b) Department of Health and Social Care and (c) Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency when developing environmental policies.

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

The Government consults regularly with a range of stakeholders when developing environmental policies, both within and outside of Government.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of school nurses have received specialist training in (a) allergy and (b) anaphylaxis management.

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

Data is not held centrally on the number of school nurses who have received specialist training in allergy and anaphylaxis management. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) sets the standards for education preparation for school nurses, who are registered nurses that undertake a post-graduate Specialist Public Health Nurse qualification with an NMC-approved university. School nurses will then also undertake any mandatory training required by their employer, as appropriate to their role.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on schools to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. Schools should ensure they are aware of any pupils with medical conditions, and should have policies and processes in place to ensure that these can be well managed, including for allergies. The policy should also set out how staff will be supported in carrying out their role to support pupils, including how training needs are assessed and how training is commissioned and provided. Any member of school staff providing support to a pupil with medical needs should have received suitable training. NHS England has also produced the Health School Child e-learning programme, which is available at the following link:

https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/healthy-school-child/

This is designed for healthcare professionals, including school nurses, working with children aged five to 12 years old. Module 5 of the e-learning programme includes sessions on asthma, eczema, and other allergies.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his Answer of 16 May 2025 to Question 51728, what steps he is taking to ensure that patients (a) improve and (b) protect their own health.

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

Whilst it is too early to say exactly what the 10-Year Health Plan will look like, what is certain is that delivering on prevention remains a priority as part of the plan’s three shifts, to get the health service and the nation’s health thriving once again. Through the 10-Year Health Plan, we want to take action to reduce the causes of the biggest killers and ensure the National Health Service uses its relationship with patients to help patients improve and protect their own health.

We have already taken action. For example, the landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill will gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country and will ban vapes and other nicotine products from being deliberately branded and advertised to children.

The NHS Health Check aims to detect people at risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and kidney disease, as well as providing advice on reducing cardiovascular disease risk and referring people for support and treatment to improve their health. It is offered to eligible people aged between 40 and 74 years old once every five years. To improve access and engagement, we are developing a new online service that people can use at home to understand and act on their cardiovascular disease risk.

We already have one of the most extensive vaccination programmes in the world, with vaccine confidence and uptake rates among the highest globally. The Department is working with the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England to take steps to promote uptake by providing diverse delivery methods to make getting vaccinated easier, increasing outreach efforts to under-served groups, and raising awareness of the dangers of vaccine preventable diseases.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the draft regulations entitled The Human Medicines (Amendments Relating to Hub and Spoke Dispensing etc.) Regulations 2025, what the VAT status will be for any (a) fees and (b) other charges between hubs and spokes under model one.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The rate of VAT applicable to this supply will depend on the exact nature of the arrangements. If VAT charges apply to invoices issued by the hub, a spoke should be able to recover VAT costs if they are registered for VAT and if the final supply qualifies for VAT zero rating.

VAT is a self-assessing tax and it is the responsibility of the supplier to charge, collect and pay to HM Revenue and Customs any VAT due on the supplies they make.

Negotiating rights for police officers

Farmers, growers and the supermarket supply chain

Found: Wera Hobhouse Ruth Cadbury Frank McNally Margaret Mullane Daniel Francis Mr Bayo Alaba Sadik Al-Hassan

Found: Wera Hobhouse Ruth Cadbury Frank McNally Margaret Mullane Daniel Francis Mr Bayo Alaba Sadik Al-Hassan

Found: Gelderd Kate Osamor Chris Bloore Clive Lewis Helen Maguire Jess Brown-Fuller Sarah Edwards Sadik Al-Hassan

Found: Pinkerton Susan Murray Clive Jones Dr Simon Opher Anna Gelderd Clive Lewis Sarah Edwards Sadik Al-Hassan

Found: Pinkerton Susan Murray Clive Jones Dr Simon Opher Anna Gelderd Clive Lewis Sarah Edwards Sadik Al-Hassan

Found: Pinkerton Susan Murray Clive Jones Dr Simon Opher Anna Gelderd Clive Lewis Sarah Edwards Sadik Al-Hassan

Found: Pinkerton Susan Murray Clive Jones Dr Simon Opher Anna Gelderd Clive Lewis Sarah Edwards Sadik Al-Hassan

Found: Pinkerton Susan Murray Clive Jones Dr Simon Opher Anna Gelderd Clive Lewis Sarah Edwards Sadik Al-Hassan

Found: Rethink Mental Illness, Children and Young People's Mental Health Coalition, Josh Dean MP , Sadik Al-Hassan

Found: Rethink Mental Illness Children and Young People's Mental Health Coalition Josh Dean MP Sadik Al-Hassan