Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether, following the Government's announcement on measures to address AI chatbots producing romantic and sexual content for children, it plans to take further steps to close gaps relating to chatbots providing safeguarding advice and misleading information to child users.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

We have taken a power in the Crime and Policing Act to close loopholes in the Online Safety Act regarding AI chatbots. This means unregulated chatbots will have to comply with duties under the Online Safety Act to protect their users from illegal content once the relevant legislation is passed.

Alongside this we are considering the evidence from the ‘Growing up in the online world’ consultation. Some responses felt that chatbots could support children’s wellbeing. However, we also heard concerns about how these services can provide children with harmful, misleading, or inaccurate advice.

Following the publication of the progress statement in June, we plan to provide a further update on the consultation in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the 2026/27 GP contract on continuity of care; and whether he has made an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of reduced continuity, as a result of mandating urgent appointments, in terms of increased hospital admissions and overall NHS expenditure.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

Where a patient presents with a clinically urgent need, it is for the general practitioner to determine the appropriate course of action, and the patient should receive a clinically appropriate response on the same day. Where a request is ‘dealt with’, this does not always mean a same‑day appointment, but that the patient has received an appropriate clinical response. This could include advice, an appointment, including one that delivers continuity of care, or signposting to another suitable service, depending on the patient’s needs.

The Government recognises that continuity of care plays an important role in patient experience and outcomes, particularly for those with ongoing health challenges. As part of the 2026/27 contract, we have made it a core requirement for primary care networks to identify and prioritise cohorts for continuity of care using risk stratification tools as part of their core activities. This will make continuity a core expectation within primary care and support future work to embed more meaningful continuity models in subsequent contract reform.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increased use of online consultation systems on total demand for GP services; and whether additional funding has been provided to practices to meet any increase in workload arising from that demand.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

The Government is committed to improving access to general practices (GPs) by increasing capacity and making it easier for patients to contact their surgery. The changes made to online consultation systems in October 2024 are supporting greater parity across booking routes, reducing pressure on busy phone lines, and ensuring patients have a consistent and reliable way to request care.

The Office for National Statistics’ Health Insight Survey for May 2026 shows that 76.5% of patients reported it was easy to contact their GP, up from 60.9% in July 2024, an increase of nearly 16%

To support practices, we are investing an additional £601 million in GPs in 2026/27, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to approximately £14 billion. This builds on the £1.1 billion increase in 2025/26, the largest uplift in over a decade. Since October 2024 we have recruited 2,000 more GPs. We now have the highest number of GPs by headcount since 2015. The 2026/27 contract also introduces a practice-level GP reimbursement scheme, backed by £292 million, to help practices recruit more GPs or expand sessions

Data collected through General Practice Appointment Data provides insight into the volume of online consultation submissions received by practices. In May 2026, practices received 2.1 million more online consultation submissions than in May 2025, a 36.4% year-on-year increase. However, submissions were 7.2% lower than in April 2026, following a larger month-on-month decrease in April of 14.6%, equivalent to 1.5 million fewer submissions.

As a result, GPs have delivered 12.7 million additional appointments to patients compared with the previous year. This data is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/appointments-in-general-practice/may-2026

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) modelling and (b) risk assessment was undertaken prior to the implementation of the 1 April 2026 GP contract changes to evaluate their impact on (a) patient safety, (b) primary care capacity and (c) workload transferred to general practice through referral management and mandatory Advice and Guidance requirements.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

The Department and NHS England considered the potential impacts of expanding Advice and Guidance (A&G) as part of the policy development process, including through clinical input, established governance arrangements, and equalities considerations. A&G is intended to support timely clinical decision‑making and ensure patients are directed to the most appropriate care. National guidance is in place to support its safe and consistent use, and the use of A&G does not change existing clinical accountability or patient safety arrangements.

The contract does not change the clinical threshold for referral to specialist care. General practitioners (GPs) should continue to make a clinical decision to refer for specialist care where that is in the patient’s best interests, and to request specialist advice where it is needed. GPs retain responsibility for referral decisions, and this model supports, and does not replace, clinical judgement.

The 2026/27 GP Contract embeds the previous A&G enhanced service funding into core practice funding. Following near universal uptake of the A&G Enhanced Service in 2025/26, the focus for 2026/27 is on stability and simplicity. Embedding the specialist advice model within the core contract recognises its role in routine clinical practice, removes annual signups, and provides more predictable funding while supporting consistent patient pathways.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the workload and associated cost to GP practices arising from the expansion of Advice and Refer under the 2026/27 GP contract; and what funding has been allocated to general practice to cover those costs.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

The Department and NHS England considered the potential impacts of expanding Advice and Guidance (A&G) as part of the policy development process, including through clinical input, established governance arrangements, and equalities considerations. A&G is intended to support timely clinical decision‑making and ensure patients are directed to the most appropriate care. National guidance is in place to support its safe and consistent use, and the use of A&G does not change existing clinical accountability or patient safety arrangements.

In 2025/26 we introduced an enhanced service for A&G with funding of up to £80 million made available nationally to support increased use of A&G in general practices (GPs). This was uplifted to £82 million in 2026/27.

The 2026/27 GP Contract embeds the previous A&G enhanced service funding into core practice funding. Following near universal uptake of the A&G Enhanced Service in 2025/26, the focus for 2026/27 is on stability and simplicity. Embedding the specialist advice model within the core contract recognises its role in routine clinical practice, removes annual signups, and provides more predictable funding while supporting consistent patient pathways.

The contract does not change the clinical threshold for referral to specialist care. GPs should continue to make a clinical decision to refer for specialist care where that is in the patient’s best interests, and to request specialist advice where it is needed. GPs retain responsibility for referral decisions, and this model supports, and does not replace, clinical judgement.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the funding uplift in the 2026/27 GP contract.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide £14 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the profession about what services GPs provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account of the cost of delivering services.

In early 2026, we concluded the 2026/27 GP Contract consultation. This year we expanded the consultation to engage with wider stakeholders, and these were the General Practitioners Committee England, the Royal College of General Practitioners, National Voices, the Institute of General Practice Management, Healthwatch England, NHS Confederation, now NHS Alliance following its merge with NHS Providers, and the National Association of Primary Care. The feedback we received from stakeholders across the system has been constructive and comprehensive, enabling us to refine proposals and address concerns while developing the final contract package.

We are investing £601 million in GPs in 2026/27, bringing the total spend on the GP Contract to £14 billion. This builds on last year’s £1.1 billion of investment. This uplift represents a 4.5% cash increase, or 2.2% real terms increase, and includes the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration recommended pay increase of 3.5%.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Sixth Report of the Work and Pensions Committee of Session 2021–22 on The Health and Safety Executive’s approach to asbestos management, HC 560, published on 21 April 2022, what steps his Department is taking to implement the Committee's recommendations.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is continuing its long-term work to deliver regulatory interventions, new communication campaigns and asbestos-related research in support of wider Government priorities. This work is aligned with those recommendations in the 2022 Work and Pensions Select Committee (WPC) report on HSE’s approach to asbestos management, which were accepted in the previous government’s response.

Three WPC recommendations related to specific requirements of Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and HSE is considering how best to address the findings of a public consultation which closed in January 2026. The consultation sought stakeholder’s views on regulatory and non-regulatory proposals to ensure the independence and impartiality of roles in the four-stage clearance process, improving the standard of asbestos surveys, and clarifying the type of work that constitutes Notifiable Non-Licensed Work with asbestos.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that products imported by businesses and retailers are free of asbestos.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

Under UK law, businesses placing consumer products on the market, including importers, are responsible for ensuring they are safe. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and local authorities have powers to require unsafe products be withdrawn from sale. Local Authorities are overseeing business recalls of products containing asbestos, and OPSS has notified major online marketplaces so they can swiftly identify and remove listings of affected products.

OPSS coordinates activity at ports and borders to identify and block non-compliant imports, and has asked local authorities in border locations to increase checks for asbestos-contaminated products.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to order the removal of asbestos from public (a) buildings and (b) workplaces.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR) provide a robust regulatory system to ensure that asbestos-containing materials in non-domestic buildings are managed proactively, to prevent harm to building occupants on the basis that asbestos in good condition that is undamaged, undisturbed, properly maintained and regularly monitored can be safely left in situ.

Where asbestos cannot be managed safely in situ it must be removed. Asbestos must also be removed before any major refurbishment work or before demolition.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to protect children from harm caused by AI chatbots.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

We have taken a power in the Crime and Policing Act to close loopholes in the Online Safety Act regarding AI chatbots. This means unregulated chatbots will have to comply with duties under the Online Safety Act to protect their users from illegal content once the relevant legislation is passed.

Alongside this we are considering the evidence from the ‘Growing up in the online world’ consultation. Some responses felt that chatbots could support children’s wellbeing. However, we also heard concerns about how these services can provide children with harmful, misleading, or inaccurate advice.

Following the publication of the progress statement in June, we plan to provide a further update on the consultation in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of rail service renationalisation on (a) employment levels, (b) direct jobs in train operating companies and (c) indirect jobs across the wider rail supply chain.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

As part of the public ownership programme, existing staff at train operating companies will be able to transfer to the relevant public sector operator with their terms and conditions protected under TUPE regulations.

In future, these passenger services will be operated by Great British Railways. Great British Railways design is underway, working with Network Rail, DfT Operator and the wider industry.

The ownership of the supply chain will remain private and they will continue to play a critical role in delivering a better railway. No assessment of supply chain jobs has been undertaken, and employment levels remain a matter for individual companies.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed renationalisation of passenger rail services under Great British Railways on (a) private sector (i) suppliers and (ii) manufacturers and (b) their role in the UK rail industry.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government will establish Great British Railways (GBR) as a new, publicly owned body to integrate track and train. In developing these proposals, the Department has been clear that the private sector will continue to play a vital role across the rail industry.

GBR will provide a single directing mind for the rail network and will continue to work closely with a wide range of suppliers and manufacturers. Rail reform is intended to provide greater certainty and clearer direction, which will support continued private sector investment and innovation in areas such as rolling stock, infrastructure and services. The supply chain will remain essential to maintaining and developing the railway, and the Department continues to engage extensively with the industry to support a thriving and competitive rail sector.

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 current eligibility criteria for the MenB catch up vaccination programme; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending eligibility to all unvaccinated young people born before the introduction of the routine MenB infant programme in 2015.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

On 12 June 2026, I announced a one-off, time-limited meningococcal group B (MenB) immunisation programme to protect those at highest immediate risk of MenB disease this autumn.

People currently in the Year 13 age group in England and Wales, those born from 1 September 2007 to 31 August 2008, will be eligible for vaccination, as well as people under 25 years of age attending higher education or living at some residential further education settings for the first time in the 2026/27 academic year.

Data on invasive meningococcal disease over the last five years has shown that after infancy, the highest number of cases are seen in 18- to 19-year-olds. Students in their first year of university have a risk that is about seven times higher than young people of a similar age who do not go to university.

The aim of this one-off programme is to protect those at greatest immediate risk from MenB, which is why these age-based cohorts have been selected.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which provides expert independent advice on our vaccination programmes, is updating its assessment of the appropriate eligibility for routine MenB vaccination, which will be provided to ministers in due course. I will consider that advice before making any longer-term decisions regarding MenB vaccination.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the steps taken by retailers to warn the public of sold products that contain asbestos.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

Our laws are clear: the UK has a zero-tolerance approach to asbestos in consumer products. Where it is identified, businesses that supplied affected products must recall them, taking all reasonable steps to identify and notify affected consumers, and publishing information to raise broader awareness. Local Authorities are overseeing product recalls led by businesses within their areas, ensuring these are effective and follow best practices. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and local authorities have powers to take further action where business actions are not effective in mitigating the risks. Recalls are published by OPSS on GOV.UK to further raise awareness.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the provision of contraceptive services.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

The Government provides funding for contraception, both as an essential service which general practices (GPs) must either provide or arrange for the provision of to their patients through the GP Contract, and through the Public Health Grant to local authorities.

Local authorities across England are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception, to meet local demand, and it is for them to decide on commissioning arrangements based on an assessment of local need.

To offer greater choice in how people can access contraception services, the NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service has been introduced. This enables pharmacists to issue ongoing supplies of contraception initiated in GP surgeries and sexual health services and to initiate oral contraception. Since October 2025, Emergency Hormonal Contraception forms part of the Pharmacy Contraception Service, which means women have access to the morning-after pill free of charge from pharmacies.

However, there is more to do. In the Renewed Women’s Health Strategy, published on 15 April 2026, we have set out our commitment to improve access to contraception through seamless contraception pathways, with closer working between National Health Services and local authorities to reduce fragmentation. The renewed strategy also commits to simpler, faster access to the full range of contraception, including through community, pharmacy, and digital routes.

In addition, we will include contraception in the upcoming sexual and reproductive health framework to clarify current commissioning arrangements and share opportunities and best practice for closer working and improved pathways.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the GP contract changes on (a) patient safety, (b) primary‑care capacity and (c) workload transferred to general practice prior to its implementation on 1 April 2026.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

The Department and NHS England considered the potential risks, benefits, and wider impact of the policy changes as part of standard policy-development processes and Equalities Impact Assessments.

No immediate negative impacts have been identified from these policies. If any are identified at a later stage, the Department will consider and review them. The changes are intended to improve access to general practices (GPs), build workforce capacity, and strengthen prevention. They include measures to increase GP capacity, including a new practice-level GP reimbursement scheme and greater flexibility to recruit GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme.

We are routinely collecting data on workforce, patient access, and service use to inform the assessment of impacts.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support people who receive a neurodevelopmental diagnosis in adulthood, particularly women, and ensure that health professionals effectively guide people to appropriate local services and support.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The Government is committed to supporting people with neurodevelopmental conditions, including women and those diagnosed in adulthood, so that they receive the right support, tailored to their individual needs, to live well in their communities.

Following a neurodevelopmental diagnosis, adults can access a range of health and care support. Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing individual’s health needs and local authorities are responsible for an individual’s care and support needs, and making appropriate provision available locally, including access to support services. NHS Talking Therapies are also available for adults with neurodevelopmental conditions experiencing depression or anxiety.

NHS England’s national operational guidance on autism sets out that post-diagnostic support should include appropriate information and signposting or facilitating introductions to other services within or beyond health. Post-diagnostic support can also include signposting to sources of help for other conditions or provision of support around accepting and understanding a diagnosis.

Similarly, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) recommends that people diagnosed with ADHD are provided with information, support, and advice to help them understand and manage their condition and access appropriate local services.

In December 2025, the Government launched the Independent Review into the Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism. The interim report, published in March 2026, finds that access to diagnosis and support remains uneven, with some groups and individuals still under-identified, while others are entering diagnostic pathways in increasing numbers. The next phase will examine inequalities in prevalence, diagnosis, support, and outcomes in more detail, including variation by age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation and other characteristics. The final report, due in the summer, will make recommendations on how the Government, the health system, and wider public services can respond to increasing demand for support more fairly and effectively so that people receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place.

Separately, we will develop and publish a revised cross-Government autism strategy. The current strategy will remain in effect until a revised strategy is published. This will be informed by all relevant evidence, reviews, and reports, including the recommendations from the House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Inquiry Committee report and the Independent Review into Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism. As part of this work, we will consider and seek the views of stakeholders as to whether the revised autism strategy should be extended to cover ADHD.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his department is doing to address recruitment and retention issues in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

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

Decisions on employment in obstetrics and gynaecology are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are working closely with NHS England, employers, and educators to improve transition into the workforce.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women's health hubs have been established in NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB; and what services they provide.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) has established two virtual Women’s Health Hubs, one serving Derby City and one serving Derbyshire County. These operate collectively as the Derby and Derbyshire Women’s Health Hubs, using a mixed delivery model across primary care, community, voluntary sector and digital services. Whilst each hub serves its local population, a number of services and initiatives are delivered across Derby and Derbyshire, providing coordinated access to women's health support, information and clinical services. The hubs have been developed in line with the NHS England Women’s Health Hub core specification, bringing together existing services and strengthening access to core women’s health care through a coordinated hub model.

The hubs provide and support a range of women’s health services and initiatives. This includes assessment and treatment for menstrual health concerns, menopause support, contraceptive counselling and provision, community-based gynaecology services, sexual and reproductive health services, prevention and early intervention programmes, women’s health information and signposting, and initiatives to tackle health inequalities and improve equitable access to care.

The Women’s Health Hub model adopts a coordinating approach, supporting delivery across a range of primary and community settings, making it easier for women to access information, advice, assessment, treatment and onward referral through joined-up pathways across Derby and Derbyshire. Oversight of these services is undertaken by the Integrated Care System's Sexual Health Alliance, which includes representatives from the main NHS provider, public health and the ICB.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to invest in evidence-based training, guidance and resources to improve health and education professionals' understanding of neurodevelopmental conditions and support neurodivergent children and adults.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

Under the Health and Care Act 2022, from 1 July 2022, all providers registered with the Care Quality Commission must ensure their staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role. This will ensure staff have the right confidence, knowledge, and skills to provide safe and informed care. To guide providers on how to meet the statutory training requirement, a Code of Practice was published and laid in Parliament, becoming final on 6 September 2025. To support this, the Government is rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism to the health and adult social care workforce.

NHS England has also published guidance and operational frameworks to improve the quality of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services, including guidance to support clinicians and services in providing appropriate assessment, diagnosis, and care. The Medium-Term Planning Framework sets clear expectations for integrated care boards (ICBs) and providers to improve access to services and the quality of assessments by implementing existing and new guidance, as published.

As part of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms, we are investing approximately £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and ICBs, to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer. This offer is designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings by providing access to support from key services and health and specialist education practitioners, including speech and language therapists and support workers or assistants, occupational therapists and support workers or assistants, educational psychologists and trainees, and specialist teachers, both local authority-based and those based in specialist or alternative provision settings.

We are also investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train more educational psychologists and £15 million to support more speech and language therapists to work in education settings. This new offer is designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings so that more specialist expertise can be accessed by mainstream settings to support all children and young people thrive, including those with SEND.

In December 2025, the Government launched an Independent Review into Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism. This review will inform a new approach that reduces waiting times, improves the quality of care, and promotes prevention and early intervention. The review’s final report is due to be published in the summer.

Found: equalityhumanrights.com Rachel Taylor MP  Emily Darlington MP  Kate Osborne MP  Danny Beales MP  Samantha Niblett

Found: Tom Collins; Emily Darlington; Maya Ellis; George Freeman; Dr Allison Gardner; Kit Malthouse; Samantha Niblett

Found: Members present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); George Freeman; Kit Malthouse; Freddie van Mierlo; Samantha Niblett

Found: Members present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); George Freeman; Kit Malthouse; Freddie van Mierlo; Samantha Niblett

Found: Allison Gardner (Labour; Stoke-on-Trent South) Kit Malthouse (Conservative; North West Hampshire) Samantha Niblett

Found: Kit Malthouse (Conservative, North West Hampshire) (added 21 Oct 2024) 43 of 55 (78.2%) Samantha Niblett