Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the level of variation between local authorities in the discretionary provision of free bus passes for carers of disabled people; and what steps she is taking to ensure a consistent approach across England.

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

The Department does not have any plans to provide advice on offering a discretionary concession to carers of disabled people, as offering this is a choice for the individual local authority to make.

In the year ending March 2025, 66% of Travel Concession Authorities in England outside London offered a discretionary concession for those travelling with a disabled person. The decision on whether to offer discretionary concessions is for the local authority to make depending on their needs and circumstances.

As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the government allocated £955 million to support and improve bus services in 25/26. This includes £712 million for local authorities, of which Leicester City Council was allocated £9.4 million. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, which could include funding discretionary concessions.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to issue guidance to local authorities on the discretionary provision of concessionary bus passes for carers of disabled people.

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

The Department does not have any plans to provide advice on offering a discretionary concession to carers of disabled people, as offering this is a choice for the individual local authority to make.

In the year ending March 2025, 66% of Travel Concession Authorities in England outside London offered a discretionary concession for those travelling with a disabled person. The decision on whether to offer discretionary concessions is for the local authority to make depending on their needs and circumstances.

As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the government allocated £955 million to support and improve bus services in 25/26. This includes £712 million for local authorities, of which Leicester City Council was allocated £9.4 million. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, which could include funding discretionary concessions.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of removing Sport England’s role as a statutory planning consultee under the Planning and Infrastructure Bill on the consideration of sporting and recreational needs in local planning decisions.

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

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill contains no provisions relating to the role of Sports England in the planning system.

The government is committed to reviewing the existing statutory consultee arrangements to ensure they align with the government’s ambitions for growth.

As per the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510), we intend to consult on removing a limited number of statutory consultees, including Sports England.

We also intend to review the range and type of planning applications on which statutory consultees are required to be consulted and consider whether some types of application could be removed, or addressed by alternative means of engagement and provision of expert advice.

Further details will be set out in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps (a) his Department and (b) the NHS are taking to counter (i) misinformation and (ii) disinformation about vaccines.

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

The Government is committed to tackling vaccine misinformation, and we have highlighted our focus on this within the 10-Year Health Plan where we have committed to working with local government, civil society, voluntary organisations and community groups to support public trust in vaccines, particularly in terms of what is needed to restore childhood immunisations rates.

Inaccurate information can spread easily, particularly on online platforms, and it is important that we continue to robustly counteract mis and dis information and point to science. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) closely monitors online activity, including social media and search data, to gather insights about the conversations people are having about vaccinations online, to help inform the information we provide and communications campaigns.

The Department and its partners, take a broad multi-pronged approach to provide authoritative, accurate and transparent information on the benefits and risks of vaccination. For example, UKHSA and NHS England are working to ensure that health care professionals are adequately briefed and trained, with UKHSA recently updating its National Minimum Standards and core curriculum for vaccine training, published in June 2025, which set out expectations for training and competency requirements for all those delivering immunisation services.

Additionally, the Department is working with UKHSA and the National Health Service to ensure that parents and patients have access to up to date and accurate information on all vaccines delivered by the NHS, and to identify and rebut false information. This includes information leaflets and promotional materials available online about different vaccination programmes, covered in a range of translations and accessible formats. Vaccination is also included in the latest Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum guidance from July 2025 to ensure that young people learn the facts and scientific evidence relating to vaccination and immunisation.

Furthermore, the Department, UKHSA and NHS England are also delivering national communication campaigns which proactively highlight the value of vaccines and the risks associated with vaccine preventable diseases, and build confidence in vaccine efficacy and safety. Campaign activity includes paid advertising, media, stakeholder engagement and partnerships with a wide range of organisations.

Whilst there is no room for complacency, UKHSA’s latest parental attitudes survey 2025, data shows that vaccine confidence remains high, with 84% of parents saying they trusted vaccines.

We encourage people to speak to a trusted health professional about any vaccine concerns.

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 readiness of integrated care boards to assume responsibility for commissioning vaccination and immunisation services from April 2026.

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

The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan reaffirmed the importance of work to establish integrated care boards (ICBs) as ‘strategic commissioners of local health services, responsible for all but the most specialised commissioning’.

In preparation for this, the NHS Executive commissioned a review of NHS England’s direct commissioning functions to make recommendations on the future arrangements for discharging these functions in light of the planned integration of NHS England into a restructured Department of Health and Social Care.

The review, which has now been agreed, proposes transferring commissioning responsibility for suitable specialised services, vaccination and screening services, and health and justice services to ICBs. It is proposed that this transfer will take place, alongside the implementation of changes to legislation, in April 2027.

Our expectation is that during 2026/27, ICBs will take a more central role in shaping these services. This will be achieved through closer collaboration and partnership with NHS England, as the accountable organisation, and will build on the strong joint working arrangements already in place this year for delegated specialised services. A development programme and safe transfer checklist will, alongside this closer working, help to ensure that ICBs are ready to take on their new responsibilities from April 2027.

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