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 help improve outcomes for glioblastoma brain tumour patients.

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

NHS England and the Department are taking several steps to help improve outcomes for glioblastoma brain tumour patients. NHS England has worked with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to designate centres of excellence in the management of brain tumours, with nine centres having achieved designation. The Mission has a workstream on training to expand the brain tumour treatment workforce in collaboration between National Health Service bodies, Royal Colleges and charities.

Further to this, in September 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) announced new research funding opportunities for brain cancer research, including glioblastoma, spanning both adult and paediatric populations. This includes a national NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium, to ensure the most promising research opportunities are made available to adult and child patients and a new funding call to generate high quality evidence in brain tumour care, support and rehabilitation.

We are aware of Siobhain McDonagh's campaign, in memory of the late Baroness McDonagh, and are committed to working together to explore options.

We will get the NHS diagnosing cancer, including brain tumours, on time, diagnosing it earlier and treating it faster so more patients survive this horrible set of diseases, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system. To do this, we will address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times, providing the number of CT, MRI and other tests that are needed to reduce cancer waits.

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 potential merits of introducing legislation to require all vaping products to be (a) sold in plain packaging and (b) kept out of sight behind the counter.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As set out in the Kings Speech, the Government will soon introduce legislation which will impose limits on the sale and marketing of vapes, and stop future generations from becoming hooked on nicotine.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will give ministers’ powers to regulate the flavours, packaging, and point of sale display of vapes. Further consultation and assessment will follow which will determine what specific regulations are brought in using these powers.

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 help improve outcomes for skin cancer patients.

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

To improve outcomes for skin cancer patients, NHS England is undertaking a number of interventions. This includes funding and programme management to support local cancer alliances in achieving the Faster Diagnosis Standard for skin cancer. NHS England provides implementation guidance, as well as collaboration and networking events, to support providers with ways to deliver best practice timed pathways.

Since 2023/24, NHS England has also been rolling out teledermatology services, which allow a virtual review of dermoscopic images. In providers where this has been fully implemented, improvements in workforce capacity have been seen doubling the number of patients that can be reviewed per clinic in some cases, and improving Faster Diagnosis Standard performance. Nationally, as of June 2024, 43% of all urgent suspected skin cancer referrals were managed via teledermatology, with the aim of reaching 50% by the end of the financial year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of working with local authorities to (a) freeze and (b) reform the Right to Buy.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government is currently reviewing the increased Right to Buy discounts that were introduced in 2012, with a view to better protecting existing social housing stock. The Government will also review the Right to Buy more widely, including looking at eligibility criteria and protections for newly-built social housing and will launch a public consultation in the autumn.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of setting (a) national and (b) regional targets to build social homes within the 1.5 million homes that have already been planned.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. Our aspiration is to ensure that, in the first full financial year of this Parliament (2025-26), the number of Social Rent homes is rising rather than falling. We will update Parliament on our progress.

We have therefore asked Homes England and the Greater London Authority to maximise the number of Social Rent homes in allocating the remaining Affordable Homes Programme funding.

My department published an update on targets in the 2021-26 Programme on 30 July 2024. We have also proposed a number of changes to national planning policy that are designed to support the delivery of Social Rent homes. We will bring forward details of future Government investment in social and affordable housing at the Spending Review.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on regional variations in (a) the speed of diagnosis and (b) health outcomes for blood cancer patients.

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

We will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, including blood cancer. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer, to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a general practitioner or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.

The Department is committed to implementing the recommendations of Lord O'Shaughnessy’s review into commercial clinical trials, making sure that the United Kingdom leads the world in clinical trials, and ensuring that innovative, lifesaving treatments are accessible to NHS patients, including those with blood cancer.

Making improvements across different cancer types is critical to reducing disparities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.

Professor Lord Darzi has undertaken an independent investigation into the state of the NHS, the findings of which will feed into the Government’s 10-year plan to build a health service that is fit for the future. The Government will therefore set out any further priorities on cancer and health in due course.

The National Disease Registration Service, through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services (NCRAS), collects information on how many people in England have cancer. Blood cancer is included as a distinct category, labelled haematological neoplasms. The National Disease Registration Service’s website also shows the number of people treated for different tumour types by treatment type, as well as survival rates, mortality rates, and data on urgent suspected cancer referrals. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/

All cases of cancer diagnosed and treated in the NHS in England are registered by the NCRAS. This creates a clinically rich data resource that is used to measure diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for patients diagnosed with cancer. The data held by the NCRAS supports service provision and commissioning in the NHS, clinical audits, and public health and epidemiological research, all of which contribute to improved outcomes for those diagnosed with cancer.

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 improve the (a) speed and (b) accuracy of blood cancer diagnoses.

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

We will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, including blood cancer. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer, to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a general practitioner or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.

The Department is committed to implementing the recommendations of Lord O'Shaughnessy’s review into commercial clinical trials, making sure that the United Kingdom leads the world in clinical trials, and ensuring that innovative, lifesaving treatments are accessible to NHS patients, including those with blood cancer.

Making improvements across different cancer types is critical to reducing disparities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.

Professor Lord Darzi has undertaken an independent investigation into the state of the NHS, the findings of which will feed into the Government’s 10-year plan to build a health service that is fit for the future. The Government will therefore set out any further priorities on cancer and health in due course.

The National Disease Registration Service, through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services (NCRAS), collects information on how many people in England have cancer. Blood cancer is included as a distinct category, labelled haematological neoplasms. The National Disease Registration Service’s website also shows the number of people treated for different tumour types by treatment type, as well as survival rates, mortality rates, and data on urgent suspected cancer referrals. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/

All cases of cancer diagnosed and treated in the NHS in England are registered by the NCRAS. This creates a clinically rich data resource that is used to measure diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for patients diagnosed with cancer. The data held by the NCRAS supports service provision and commissioning in the NHS, clinical audits, and public health and epidemiological research, all of which contribute to improved outcomes for those diagnosed with cancer.

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 increase the survival rate of blood cancer patients.

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

We will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, including blood cancer. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer, to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a general practitioner or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.

The Department is committed to implementing the recommendations of Lord O'Shaughnessy’s review into commercial clinical trials, making sure that the United Kingdom leads the world in clinical trials, and ensuring that innovative, lifesaving treatments are accessible to NHS patients, including those with blood cancer.

Making improvements across different cancer types is critical to reducing disparities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.

Professor Lord Darzi has undertaken an independent investigation into the state of the NHS, the findings of which will feed into the Government’s 10-year plan to build a health service that is fit for the future. The Government will therefore set out any further priorities on cancer and health in due course.

The National Disease Registration Service, through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services (NCRAS), collects information on how many people in England have cancer. Blood cancer is included as a distinct category, labelled haematological neoplasms. The National Disease Registration Service’s website also shows the number of people treated for different tumour types by treatment type, as well as survival rates, mortality rates, and data on urgent suspected cancer referrals. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/

All cases of cancer diagnosed and treated in the NHS in England are registered by the NCRAS. This creates a clinically rich data resource that is used to measure diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for patients diagnosed with cancer. The data held by the NCRAS supports service provision and commissioning in the NHS, clinical audits, and public health and epidemiological research, all of which contribute to improved outcomes for those diagnosed with cancer.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) non-compliances and (b) legal breeches in (i) publicly funded and (ii) all other slaughterhouses in the UK.

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

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) monitors and enforces animal welfare legislation in slaughterhouses in England and Wales. Food Standards Scotland operate in Scotland and the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs are responsible in Northern Ireland.

FSA animal welfare enforcement non-compliance data can be accessed on their website here. The FSA records non-compliances in all slaughterhouses in the same way irrespective of if the slaughterhouse receives Government funding.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making wildlife crimes notifiable offences.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

There are no plans currently to make wildlife crimes notifiable. Any non-notifiable wildlife crime reported to the police can still be investigated where appropriate, as Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities.

This Government recognises the importance of tackling wildlife crime, which is why, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office directly funds the National Wildlife Crime Unit to help tackle these crimes.

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 merits of removing car-parking charges for NHS patients and staff.

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

No assessment has been made of the potential merits of removing car-parking charges for National Health Service patients and staff.

All NHS trusts that charge for hospital car parking provide free parking to in-need groups, which include NHS staff working overnight, frequent outpatient attenders, disabled people, and parents of children staying overnight in hospital.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the levels of cost of school uniforms for (a) primary and (b) high school children.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department recently published its latest research on the cost of school uniforms, surveying parents and carers of children aged 4 to 16 attending state-funded schools in England. The research report assessed the relative changes to the cost of school uniforms since the department’s previous report in 2015. It is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms-survey-2023.​

The research found that the average total expenditure on school uniform, based on the items required in the 2023/24 academic year, was £249.58 compared with £279.51 for a similar period and adjusted for inflation in 2014/15. It was less expensive for parents or carers of children in primary schools (£217.65 for boys and £246.80 for girls) than for those with children in secondary schools (£266.14 for boys and £289.04 for girls).

Too many families still tell the department that the cost of school uniform remains a financial burden. That is why as part of the King’s Speech we have committed to legislate to limit the number of expensive branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require.