Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing regulations to enhance financial transparency within the hairdressing industry.

Answered by Tulip Siddiq

Financial transparency is key to ensuring cash-based businesses meet their legal obligations, such as registering with HMRC and paying taxes promptly.

However, these benefits must be balanced against the burdens on business created by new regulation.

While cash-based businesses such as hairdressers are not regulated for money laundering purposes, they will regularly interact with regulated financial businesses, such as banks. These regulated entities are required to report any suspicious financial activity by their customers.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she take steps to delegate powers to local authorities to (a) identify and (b) automatically register all children eligible for free school meals.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

There are currently around 2.1 million pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals (FSM). The department recognises the vital role played by FSM and encourages all eligible families to take up their entitlement. To make this as easy as possible the department provides the Eligibility Checking System, which allows local authorities to quickly verify eligibility for FSM.

The department is aware of a range of measures aimed at maximising take up of FSM, including through approaches being trialled by local authorities. We welcome local authorities taking action to ensure government support reaches families, subject to them meeting legal and data-protections requirements.

In addition to FSM, the department supports families through the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides free childcare places, enriching activities and healthy meals to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning throughout the school holidays.

We are also rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school, so children start the day ready to learn. This is part of the department‘s commitment to breaking down barriers to opportunity so that all children have the freedom to achieve and thrive in education.

The department is also working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to develop a child poverty strategy to reduce child poverty by tackling its root causes and giving every child the best start in life. The strategy will be published in the spring.

As with all government programmes, the department will keep its approach to FSM under continued review.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps with local authorities to extend provision of free school meals to school holidays.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

There are currently around 2.1 million pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals (FSM). The department recognises the vital role played by FSM and encourages all eligible families to take up their entitlement. To make this as easy as possible the department provides the Eligibility Checking System, which allows local authorities to quickly verify eligibility for FSM.

The department is aware of a range of measures aimed at maximising take up of FSM, including through approaches being trialled by local authorities. We welcome local authorities taking action to ensure government support reaches families, subject to them meeting legal and data-protections requirements.

In addition to FSM, the department supports families through the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides free childcare places, enriching activities and healthy meals to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning throughout the school holidays.

We are also rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school, so children start the day ready to learn. This is part of the department‘s commitment to breaking down barriers to opportunity so that all children have the freedom to achieve and thrive in education.

The department is also working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to develop a child poverty strategy to reduce child poverty by tackling its root causes and giving every child the best start in life. The strategy will be published in the spring.

As with all government programmes, the department will keep its approach to FSM under continued review.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will (a) introduce emergency presentation as a proxy staging measure for non-stageable blood cancers and (b) apply a corresponding national target to (i) measure and (ii) support reduction of late diagnosis of blood cancer.

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

There are no current plans to introduce a specific proxy staging measure or a corresponding national target to support the earlier diagnosis of blood cancers. To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the National Health Service is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

The National Disease Registration Service, through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services, collects information on how many people in England have blood cancer, labelled as haematological neoplasms. The National Disease Registration Service’s website 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. This data supports service provision and commissioning in the NHS, clinical audits, and public health and epidemiological research, all of which contributes to improved outcomes, including for blood cancer patients. Further information is available at the following link:

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

As part of the Government’s five long-term missions, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and make it fit for the future. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention, and will be co-designed with the public, staff, and patients. I would encourage you to engage via our online portal, which is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has been clear that there should be a National Cancer Plan. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be. We will provide updates on this in due course, including on how we plan to engage blood cancer partners.

I met with the Hon. Member for Poole and Blood Cancer UK, a member of the Blood Cancer Alliance, on 22 October 2024 to discuss the UK Blood Cancer Action Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet the Blood Cancer Alliance to discuss the need to include specific measures to improve blood cancer (a) diagnosis, (b) treatment and (c) care in the forthcoming cancer strategy.

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

There are no current plans to introduce a specific proxy staging measure or a corresponding national target to support the earlier diagnosis of blood cancers. To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the National Health Service is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

The National Disease Registration Service, through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services, collects information on how many people in England have blood cancer, labelled as haematological neoplasms. The National Disease Registration Service’s website 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. This data supports service provision and commissioning in the NHS, clinical audits, and public health and epidemiological research, all of which contributes to improved outcomes, including for blood cancer patients. Further information is available at the following link:

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

As part of the Government’s five long-term missions, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and make it fit for the future. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention, and will be co-designed with the public, staff, and patients. I would encourage you to engage via our online portal, which is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has been clear that there should be a National Cancer Plan. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be. We will provide updates on this in due course, including on how we plan to engage blood cancer partners.

I met with the Hon. Member for Poole and Blood Cancer UK, a member of the Blood Cancer Alliance, on 22 October 2024 to discuss the UK Blood Cancer Action Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) the number of blood cancer patients diagnosed via Non-Specific Symptom pathways and (b) other data on the performance of such pathways.

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

The capturing of non-specific symptom pathway outcomes was introduced in July 2023. From July 2023 to October 2024, 263 patients have been diagnosed via non-specific symptom pathways. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/supplementary-information/

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services, collects information on how many people in England have cancer.

Blood cancer is included as a distinct category in the NDRS, labelled haematological neoplasms. The NDRS’ 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/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many blood cancer patients have been diagnosed via Non-Specific Symptom pathways in each of the last three years.

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

The capturing of non-specific symptom pathway outcomes was introduced in July 2023. From July 2023 to October 2024, 263 patients have been diagnosed via non-specific symptom pathways. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/supplementary-information/

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services, collects information on how many people in England have cancer.

Blood cancer is included as a distinct category in the NDRS, labelled haematological neoplasms. The NDRS’ 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/

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding his Department has allocated to organisations supporting the delivery of aid in Gaza since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK has now announced £112 million for the Occupied Palestinian Territories so far this financial year, providing vital services to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank delivered through partner agencies. As part of this total, since July we have announced that the UK would reinstate £21m funding to UNRWA including £1m to implement the recommendations of the Colonna report, £5.5m for UK-MED to operate field hospitals in Gaza, £6 million for UNICEF to support vulnerable families in Gaza, in addition to UK-Kuwait joint funding totalling £4.5 million for UNICEF to continue their lifesaving aid in Gaza and Yemen, £1m to support the Egyptian Ministry of Health to care for medically evacuated Palestinians, £6m to both OCHA and WFP and £7 million of new UK funding to UNRWA's Flash Humanitarian Appeal for Gaza. On 11 December we announced an additional £13 million for UNRWA to provide essential services to Palestinian refugees in the OPTs, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the student loan finance repayment system to reduce monthly repayments for students in England.

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

The department is determined that the higher education (HE) funding system should deliver for our economy, universities and students. The government is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university.

​The department will set out this government’s longer-term plan for HE reform by summer 2025. ​

Right to protest outside the BBC

FareShare’s 30th anniversary

UN Special Rapporteur's report on atrocity crimes in Iran

Found: Dr Simon Opher made representations.

Found: _NC3 Alex Sobel Margaret Mullane Charlotte Nichols Carla Denyer Dr Simon Opher Cat Eccles Kim Johnson

Found: _NC3 Alex Sobel Margaret Mullane Charlotte Nichols Carla Denyer Dr Simon Opher Cat Eccles Kim Johnson

Found: _NC3 Alex Sobel Margaret Mullane Charlotte Nichols Carla Denyer Dr Simon Opher Cat Eccles Kim Johnson

Found: _NC3 Alex Sobel Margaret Mullane Charlotte Nichols Carla Denyer Dr Simon Opher Cat Eccles Kim Johnson

Found: _NC3 Alex Sobel Margaret Mullane Charlotte Nichols Carla Denyer Dr Simon Opher Cat Eccles Kim Johnson

Found: _NC3 Alex Sobel Margaret Mullane Charlotte Nichols Carla Denyer Dr Simon Opher Cat Eccles Kim Johnson

Found: _NC3 Alex Sobel Margaret Mullane Charlotte Nichols Carla Denyer Dr Simon Opher Cat Eccles Kim Johnson

Found: rented sector. ” _NC3 Alex Sobel Margaret Mullane Charlotte Nichols Carla Denyer Dr Simon Opher

Found: rented sector. ” _NC3 Alex Sobel Margaret Mullane Charlotte Nichols Carla Denyer Dr Simon Opher