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 improve (a) waiting times and (b) access to phlebotomy services.

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

The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.

We also recognise that care, including phlebotomy, should be more easily accessible, and located in the community where possible, which is more convenient for patients than going to hospital.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of this parliament. The plan commits to transform and expand diagnostic services and speed up waiting times for tests, a crucial part of reducing overall waiting times and returning to the RTT 18-week standard.

Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are supporting one of the Government’s top priorities for health, to shift care from the hospital to the community. CDCs offer local populations a wide range of diagnostic tests, including phlebotomy, closer to home and greater choice on where and how they are undertaken whilst also reducing pressure on hospitals. Latest management information data shows that CDCs have delivered over 3.7 million phlebotomy tests since July 2021.

Healthcare services provided by general practice, including phlebotomy are commissioned locally by integrated care boards based on population need.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support the expansion of (a) safe, (b) accessible and (c) integrated (i) cycling and (ii) walking infrastructure.

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

The Chancellor has recently announced £616 million for Active Travel England up to 2029-30 to support local authorities to build and maintain walking and cycling infrastructure. In addition, this Government will provide nearly £18 billion to local authorities through the Transport for City Region settlements and the Local Transport Grant, supporting them to invest in their local transport priorities, including walking and cycling.

Active Travel England works with local authorities to help design and deliver high-quality networks. The forthcoming Integrated National Transport Strategy we will help to ensure that active travel is safe, accessible and integrated with other modes to encourage more people to cycle, walk and wheel.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to strengthen the (a) legal rights and (b) financial protections of (i) survivors of domestic abuse and (ii) cohabiting partners; and when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals for reform in this area.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The financial difficulties that cohabitants, including survivors of domestic abuse, can face when their cohabiting relationships come to an end is a matter of concern. That is why the Government committed in its manifesto to strengthening the rights and protections for women in cohabiting couples. We will launch a public consultation later this year to build public consensus on what form those cohabitation protections should take.

The Government is also carefully considering the findings of the Law Commission’s scoping report on financial provision on divorce, including in relation to issues raised about domestic abuse. The Government will provide a response to this report in due course.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to take steps to reduce the volume of substandard goods entering the UK market from (a) Temu and (b) other cheap import companies.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

UK product safety law requires all products to be safe before being placed on the market. The Office for Product Safety and Standards coordinates targeted and intelligence-led interventions at our ports and borders with Local Authority Trading Standards, HMRC, and Border Force to prevent unsafe products entering the UK. In 2023-2024, this resulted in more than 2.4m goods being blocked from entry.

Government has introduced the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill to update our product safety framework. Following Royal Assent, we intend to consult on the duties of e-commerce businesses, so that consumers and compliant businesses are even better protected.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the current regulatory framework in ensuring fair treatment of (a) farmers and (b) small food producers by large retailers.

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

Farmers should always receive a fair price for their products, and the Government is committed to tackling unfairness in the supply chain wherever it exists. Central to this is our work to improve contractual practices in agriculture, where we are introducing ‘Fair Dealings’ regulations using powers in the Agriculture Act 2020.

Fair Dealings regulations have already been introduced for the UK dairy and pig sectors, and further regulations are in development for the egg and fresh produce sectors too. The Government also recently announced the launch of a new review into issues facing the combinable crops sector. We will conduct a statutory review into the effectiveness of these regulations in due course.

In terms of those who supply large retailers, the Government also supports the work of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), which enforces the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) and regulates the relationship between the largest grocery retailers and their direct suppliers.

Evidence from previous statutory reviews of the GCA and from annual supplier surveys suggest that the adjudicator has been highly effective in enforcing GSCOP. The Government recently launched the fourth statutory review of the GCA’s effectiveness and has an ongoing public consultation open which closes on 5 August. We encourage anyone interested to respond to the review’s consultation and will carefully consider the views received.

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 support the water industry in meeting its commitment to end water poverty by 2030; and whether he has plans to introduce regulatory measures to ensure this target is met.

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

The Government expects companies to hold themselves accountable for their commitment to end Water Poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to this end.

We expect water companies to put robust support in place for vulnerable customers and keep current support schemes under review to ensure vulnerable customers are supported. These include bill discount schemes such as WaterSure and Social Tariffs as well as financial support measures to assist households to better manage their budgets and provide flexible payments including payment holidays, payment matching, benefit entitlement checks and money/debt advice referral arrangements.

The Government launched an Independent Commission in October 2024 to examine the water sector and its regulations. The Commission forms the next stage in the Government’s long-term approach to ensuring we have a robust and stable regulatory framework. The Independent Water Commission: interim report was released on 03 June 2025. Final recommendations will be published this summer and presented to both the UK and Welsh Governments. Both Governments will then respond and consult on proposals, including potential legislation.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the national adoption strategy in improving outcomes for children in care; and what steps she is taking to (a) reduce waiting times and (b) ensure consistency in adoption services across England.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is always working to improve adoption services, and particularly the work of Adoption England, which we fund to improve local adoption services. The department collects quarterly statistics on the main adoption indicators of performance and Ofsted inspects local authority performance through their inspection programme.

Adoption England published a three-year strategy in 2024 that the government supports. It sets out a wide range of work to develop services across the country, in partnership with those with lived experience. This includes the introduction of national standards, improving the recruitment of adopters and timely matching of children and family support. The strategy can be accessed here: https://adoptionengland.co.uk/sites/default/files/2024-04/Adoption%20England%20Strategy.pdf.

For 2025/26, the department has provided £8.8 million for Adoption England and I recently set out my priorities for this funding in a letter to Sarah Johal, Adoption England’s National Strategic leader. The letter can be accessed here: https://adoptionengland.co.uk/sites/default/files/2025-04/FINAL%20JD%20LETTER%20TO%20SARAH%20JOHAL%20-%20030425.pdf. Departmental officials and I regularly meet with Sarah to discuss progress on improvements to adoption services.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to phase out low-welfare farming practices.

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

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.

This will build on the support already available through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, which includes access to testing for priority diseases and advice to continually improve the health, welfare and productivity of farmed animals through funded vet visits.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve support for unpaid carers.

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

Unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting elderly or disabled relatives or friends. Sometimes unpaid carers will need to turn to the benefit system for financial support, so it is right that we keep Carer’s Allowance (CA) under review, to see if it is meeting its objectives, and giving unpaid carers the help and support they need and deserve.

Unpaid carers may be able to receive financial and/or employment support from the department depending on their circumstances. This includes CA and means tested benefits such as Universal Credit (UC). UC can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the additional amounts for carers. UC pays an extra £2400 a year to unpaid carers.

Carers (providing at least 35 hours per week) of severely disabled people may be eligible for benefit support as set out above. They are not required to undertake any work-related activity but can access employment support on a voluntary basis if they wish.

A part-time carer on UC (providing care for under 35 hours a week) would be supported to combine work and care. They will receive personalised employment support from their work coach, who tailors the number of hours a week they are expected to work or search for work to fit their caring responsibilities and take into account any other barriers to working full time, for example a health condition.

Employment support can include identifying skills gaps and referral to skills training, careers advice, job search support, volunteering opportunities and access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry. Unemployed customers who require more intensive employment support can also be referred to the Restart and Connect to Work programmes.

We also know that some carers are keen to maintain contact with the labour market, so we want to encourage carers to combine some paid work with their caring responsibilities wherever possible, meaning they can increase their overall income (eligibility rules apply).

That’s why we have pegged the CA earnings limit to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. The earnings limit increased to be £196 a week net earnings on 7 April 2025, compared to £151 in 24/25. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since CA was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive CA between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result.

DWP has also begun some scoping work to see whether an earnings taper in CA might be a feasible option in the longer term. This will require significant change to current DWP systems.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to help ensure that children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities continue to have reliable access to home-to-school transport.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for eligible children. This includes children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of their special educational needs (SEN), disability or mobility problem.

We know that challenges in the wider SEN system are creating pressure on home-to-school travel. We have committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools so fewer children need to travel long distances to a school that can meet their needs. The Spending Review announcement on 11 June confirmed significant new funding to support special educational needs and disabilities reform and a White Paper with further details on plans will be published in the autumn. This will reduce the pressure on home-to-school travel over time leaving it better able to meet the needs of those that continue to need it.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Law Commission’s report entitled Hate crime laws: Final report, published on 7 December 2021, whether her Department is taking steps to implement the recommendation to extend aggravated offence provisions to include hostility based on (a) sexual orientation and (b) gender identity.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes.

The Government has committed to ensuring parity of protection for aggravated offences and will bring forward a suitable amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill at the Lords' Committee stage to give effect to that commitment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve access to NHS dentistry in Warrington South constituency; and what plans he has to increase the number of NHS dentists practising in Warrington.

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

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Warrington South constituency, this is the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.

ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB is expected to deliver 46,617 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.

ICBs have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Recommendation 11 of the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Report, published on 16 June 2025, what legislative proposals her Department is developing to standardise taxi and private hire vehicle licensing across local authorities; and what steps she is taking to prevent the use of out of area taxis.

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

The Department for Transport will legislate to address the important issues raised in the report, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We will work as quickly as possible and consider all options – including out of area working, national standards and enforcement – seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.

In the interim we will act urgently to make improvements, including consulting on making local transport authorities responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, and determining how existing statutory guidance can be strengthened to further protect the public. We are also reviewing authorities’ compliance with existing guidance and will hold those who do not follow it to account.

Some important protections have already been put in place since earlier inquiries into Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. All licensing authorities in England now undertake extensive driver background checks, and since 2023 they are required to use a single database to prevent a driver refused a licence in one area on safety grounds going elsewhere. Careful consideration of the options is needed as we do not want any change to decrease the availability of highly vetted licensed drivers and vehicles and inadvertently increase the use of those offering illegal services that evade these licensing checks.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of financial losses to consumers caused by cryptocurrency-related scams; and what steps she is taking to improve (a) prevention, (b) enforcement and (c) consumer protection for those scams.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s most recent consumer research publication provides indications of the levels of cryptoasset related fraud in the UK. This research is available online at: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/research-notes/cryptoasset-consumer-research-2024-wave-5.pdf

The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is developing a new and expanded fraud strategy to further protect the public and businesses from this appalling crime.

Relevant cryptoasset firms are already subject to UK financial promotions requirements, and required to register with the FCA for money laundering supervision.

Building on this, the Government is introducing a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets this year. The new regime will provide further protections for UK consumers, by requiring firms offering them services to be authorised and regulated by the FCA.

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 establish the National Care Service; and what his planned timeline is for (a) consultation with stakeholders and (b) implementation.

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

The Government has taken a critical first step towards a National Care Service by launching an independent commission into adult social care.

The commission will build national consensus to create a National Care Service that is productive, preventative, and gives people who draw on care, and their families and carers, more power in the system.

It will be for the independent commission to determine their approach, but we expect it will include engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including people with lived experience and unpaid carers, as well as building cross-party consensus. Further details will be set out by the commission in due course.

In the short-term, we are laying the foundations for a National Care Service by introducing legislation for the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for the care workforce, expanding the first-ever national career structure for the adult social care workforce, digitising care providers, and setting new standards for care technologies.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with international partners to (a) help tackle the (i) humanitarian and (ii) security conditions that cause displacement and to (b) strengthen refugee protection in conflict-affected regions.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office tackles forced displacement through a wide range of interventions which aim to: reduce the drivers of displacement; protect people once they are displaced; support host communities; find long term solutions; and create the conditions that allow people to return home.

This includes working closely with international partners to provide humanitarian assistance in key situations of displacement and using all the diplomatic, development and security levers available to prevent conflict and conflict-related displacement. Our work includes focusing on improving early warning systems, reforming multilateral institutions, and supporting regional mediation and peacebuilding.

Found: (Liberal Democrat; Tiverton and Minehead) Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat; Chesham and Amersham) Sarah Hall

Found: (Liberal Democrat; Tiverton and Minehead) Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat; Chesham and Amersham) Sarah Hall

Found: (Liberal Democrat; Tiverton and Minehead) Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat; Chesham and Amersham) Sarah Hall

Found: Q4 Sarah Hall: The entire service was taken offline.

Found: (Liberal Democrat; Tiverton and Minehead) Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat; Chesham and Amersham) Sarah Hall

Found: Professor Sarah Hall: Thank you very much for the question, Lord Stirrup.

Found: Antoniazzi Dr Allison Gardner Jen Craft Abtisam Mohamed Tom Hayes Adam Jogee Tracy Gilbert Sarah Hall