Sorcha Eastwood

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 31 July 2024, Official Report, PQ 1251.

As the Prime Minister announced recently, the Hillsborough Law is a priority for this Government. Discussions have already begun between officials in the Cabinet Office and those in the devolved governments. I will continue to ensure that Ministerial colleagues in the devolved governments are engaged on this policy.

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority is responsible for making payments to those eligible under the scheme, and they are carefully considering all options around payments, including the prioritisation of any payments. For those who are infected, the Government expects the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to begin making payments before the end of 2024. The Authority is working on developing a service that balances speed with ease of use.

Where a person who would have been eligible to apply to the Scheme as an infected person has tragically died, the personal representatives of the deceased person’s estate can apply for compensation on behalf of the estate of the deceased infected person. Where compensation is payable to someone who lacks capacity, including due to health issues, the award will be paid to the person with power of attorney or other legal authority to act on the person’s behalf. In both cases, the acting representative must make the application to the Scheme. In line with the Inquiry’s recommendation, where an affected person has died it is not possible for the personal representatives of their estate to apply for compensation.

The Government expects the majority of claims will be made via the tariff-based Core Route. In some exceptional cases however, the level of compensation awarded through the Core Route may not be sufficiently reflective of the financial loss and care costs that a person has experienced as a result of infected blood. This may be the case where, for example, the person had particularly high earnings prior to their infection and therefore suffered greater financial loss, or where they have suffered a particular associated health condition that has necessitated increased levels of care. Where an applicant can demonstrate that their defined circumstances necessitate a higher compensation payment for care and financial loss, they will be able to apply for additional compensation awards through the Supplementary Route.

Sir Wyn Williams is committed to progressing matters as swiftly as he can. Now that the final Phase of gathering oral evidence is complete, Sir Wyn will look to deliver his report on what happened, what went wrong and why. He said in December 2024 that publication would take “many months”. Once the report is published, the Government will respond in due course.

The Government is supporting small businesses to understand and comply with the new General Product Safety Regulation.

We have published guidance on the new Regulation in Northern Ireland, which we will keep under review, and we are continuing to engage directly with businesses, including through regular drop-in sessions. Firms exporting to the EU should note that EU guidance is now available and may also wish to contact the Government’s Export Support Service.

The Department will be monitoring the application of the new General Product Safety Regulation in Northern Ireland and will keep the guidance on the Regulation under review to ensure we are supporting businesses to trade freely across the UK.

My officials have been engaging regularly with businesses on the new General Product Safety Regulations in Northern Ireland. The guidance for businesses has been shared with the business community in Great Britain and Northern Ireland through existing channels. My officials are also engaging with businesses through drop-in sessions, both before and after the Regulation takes effect in Northern Ireland.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is committed to implementing the Windsor Framework in good faith and are constructively working with all stakeholders, including consumer groups, to protect the UK Internal Market. HM Government continues to support businesses in ensuring a smooth flow of goods between Northern Ireland (NI) and the rest of the UK. This includes through the provision of guidance and advice, as offered through the Trader Support Service and published online.

It is important that we consider consumer views when developing policy. As such, DBT meets consumer representatives from across the UK, and works with the NI Department for the Economy to support people in Northern Ireland.

The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out how we will achieve our AI ambitions by laying the foundations for AI growth, driving adoption and building UK capability at the frontier. The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology engaged with Northern Ireland’s Ministerial representatives about the Action Plan. We will continue to engage widely as government takes the Action Plan forward.

Fraud offences are designated as priority under the Online Safety Act, which means that user-to-user and search services in scope of the Act must implement measures to prevent users encountering scams and frauds via their services.

Additional duties to have systems and process in place to prevent users from encountering paid-for fraudulent advertising will also apply to Category 1 and 2A services (user-to-user and search services over designated thresholds).

These measures are designed to prevent a range of online frauds, including social media scams.

The cancer detection initiatives announced on 06 October 2024 were part of UK-wide funding calls led by the Office for Life Sciences (OLS), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Northern Ireland companies and universities are engaged in collaborations with the recently announced MANIFEST cancer immunotherapy platform and the National Healthcare Research Hub for Advanced Long-acting Therapeutics. The Government is funding these cancer detection initiatives with a view to these being deployed across the UK, including Northern Ireland.

We are considering the Commission’s recommendations and have been working with bereaved family groups and other stakeholders, including other government departments and Devolved Governments.

We want to do justice to the hard work of the Commission for Covid Commemoration and carefully consider our response to all of the recommendations.

While we cannot commit to an exact date for publication of the government response, we are working to publish soon.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Meeting the skills needs of the next decade is central to delivering the government’s mission. To support business and boost opportunity, the department will transform the existing Apprenticeship Levy into a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy. This will allow employers to invest in a wider range of training and empower them to upskill their workforces for current and future challenges.

The department has already established Skills England which will work closely with employers, training providers, unions, Mayoral Combined Authorities and others across the skills landscape to identify the training for which the Growth and Skills Levy will be accessible.

The Department will announce a date for the next meeting of the Motor Insurance Taskforce in due course.

The cross-Government Motor Insurance Taskforce met for the first time on 16 October 2024. The Government will provide updates on the Taskforce’s work in due course.

The Secretary of State has made no announcement regarding having job coaches visit mental health patients in hospital and therefore did not consult any organisations. She was referring to her experience visiting a severe mental illness Individual Placement and Support programme.

The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) employment model is internationally recognised as one of the most effective way to support people with mental health problems to gain and keep paid employment. Individual Placement and Support services offer intensive, individually tailored support to help people to choose and find the right job, with ongoing support for the employer and employee to help ensure the person sustain their employment.

In August, 38,704 people had accessed Individual Placement and Support services in the previous 12 months, meaning we are above our trajectory to meet the end of year target of 40,500 people accessing these services.

Although there is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. It has been a long-held feature of the GB benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid to avoid duplication for the same need. Although entitlement to State Pension and Carer’s Allowance arise in different circumstances they are nevertheless designed for the same contingency – as an income replacement. Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer has given up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to care for a severely disabled person is unable to undertake full time employment due to their caring responsibilities, while State Pension replaces income in retirement. For this reason, social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together, to avoid duplicate provision for the same need.

However, if a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance which is currently £81.90.

Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £45.60 a week and potentially other means-tested support. Around 125,000 people are receiving the Carer Premium with their Pension Credit. And even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, they may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were restored to the 30th percentile of local market rents from April 2024 for one year.

Decisions on LHA for future years will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, housing priorities, and the fiscal context.

Maternity pay is primarily a health and safety provisions for pregnant working women. It is not intended to replace a woman's earnings completely, rather it provides a measure of financial security to help pregnant working women take time off work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth.

We want new parents to be able to take time away from work. The standard rate of Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance and Statutory Paternity Pay is reviewed annually. All three rates were raised again by 6.7% in April from £172.48 to £184.03.

These payments are not paid in respect of each child but in respect of each pregnancy. The qualifying conditions for both are generally based on a woman's, father’s or partner’s recent employment and earnings. They are not intended to assist with the costs associated with the birth of a new child or children.

Finding effective and enduring solutions to enable self-employed people to achieve greater financial security in later life is a challenge, which the UK like other countries is confronting. Research has highlighted that while self-employments are diverse, the behavioural barriers that were overcome through Automatic Enrolment for employees persist for self-employed people, in particular low levels of knowledge and inertia make it difficult to get started with retirement saving. In addition, there are specific barriers experienced by many self-employed people, including irregularity of income.

My department has been working with research partners to explore the feasibility of addressing such barriers through building and testing default retirement saving solutions in digital platforms, used by many self-employed people to manage their money.

The second phase of our pensions review will begin later this year, looking at further steps to improve pension outcomes, including assessing pension adequacy.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England. NICE published final draft guidance on 13 March 2025 that recommends relugolix-estadiol-norethisterone as an option for treating symptoms of endometriosis in adults of reproductive age who have had medical or surgical treatment for endometriosis. NICE currently expects to publish final guidance in April 2025. Health is a devolved matter and decisions on the availability of medicines in Northern Ireland are a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/national-institute-health-and-care-excellence-nice

The United Kingdom actively engaged in negotiations on the World Health Organization (WHO) resolution, Reducing the Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) through the Promotion of Kidney Health and Strengthening Prevention and Control of Kidney Disease, in advance of the 156th WHO Executive Board in February 2025. The Executive Board recommended adoption of all resolutions considered to the World Health Assembly, including this one, subject to ongoing budget discussions. If adopted, the resolution will apply to the UK as a Member State of the WHO. We remain committed to tackling NCDs, including kidney disease, domestically and internationally.

The Department has met with Kidney Care UK and will be arranging further meetings with civil society organisations on the full range of health topics to be discussed in advance of the World Health Assembly in May 2025.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 October 2024 to Question 5808.

The National Disease Registration Service, through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services (NCRAS), collects information on how many people in England are diagnosed with or treated for cancer. Blood cancer is included as a distinct category, labelled haematological neoplasms. 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 National Health Service, clinical audits, and public health and epidemiological research, all of which contribute to improved outcomes for those diagnosed with cancer, including those with blood cancer. The information is available at the following link:

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

National Disease Registration Service analysts attend quarterly meetings with United Kingdom and Ireland Association of Cancer Registries analysts to discuss any differences in the reporting of cancer data and how these can be made analogous. Annual performance indicators, including key performance indicators for haematology, are available at the following link:

https://ukiacr.org/kpis