Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many graduates who graduated in the last five years are registered as claimants at jobcentres.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

There has been no assessment made of the number of graduates who have graduated in the last five years and are claiming benefits.

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 impact of NICE condition severity ratings on the accessibility of drugs for those with secondary breast cancer.

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

he latest data for technology appraisals published up until the end of September 2025 shows that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended a greater proportion of medicines for advanced cancer since the severity modifier was introduced compared with NICE’s previous methods. The proportion of positive decisions for advanced cancer treatments since the severity modifier was introduced is 85% compared with 69% using NICE’s previous methods. Since the severity modifier was introduced, NICE has recommended all but one treatment for advanced breast cancer where the company has participated fully in the appraisal. The only treatment for advanced breast cancer that NICE has not been able to recommend in final guidance since the severity modifier was introduced is Enhertu.

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 the prognosis of those with secondary breast cancer.

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

The National Cancer Plan, published 4 February 2026, has set out actions aimed at improving prognosis for people with secondary breast cancer. The plan highlights the Government’s ambition to ensure that every person with secondary breast cancer has faster diagnosis and treatment, access to the latest treatments and technology, and high-quality support throughout their journey, while driving up cancer survival rates.

NHS England is piloting the use of self-referral breast cancer pathways to streamline diagnostic pathways and free up primary care capacity using the NHS App and NHS 111 online service. This is in addition to the Government’s commitment for NHS England to deliver 9.5 million additional tests by 2029 through a £2.3 billion investment in diagnostics and by ensuring that as many community diagnostic centres as possible are fully operational and open 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

To improve diagnosis of breast cancer, the National Health Service will harness 'circulating tumour DNA' tests for breast cancer which can pick up relapse months earlier, accelerating clinical decisions and allowing patients to start the most effective treatment faster. The National Cancer Plan has identified four priority areas to accelerate access to new technologies, which include artificial intelligence-assisted interpretation of pathology images for suspected prostate and breast cancer diagnosis.

To improve outcomes for breast cancer patients, NHS England funds the National Audit of Breast Cancer Treatment, covering both primary and metastatic disease. By analysing routine clinical data from NHS settings, these audits identify regional variations in care quality and establish best practices. This will benefit all breast cancer patients, including secondary breast cancer patients.

At the same time, the NHS is focusing on improving the experience of those with a cancer diagnosis. Every patient diagnosed with cancer will be supported through a full neighbourhood-level personalised care package, covering mental and physical health as well as any practical or financial concerns. For people with secondary breast cancer, this will be a step forward in building care around them, their needs, their lives, and their families.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will amend the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 to enable the Public Health and Service Ombudsman to stop requiring an hon. Member's signature before members of the public can refer a complaint to them.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government believes the filtering process MPs facilitate continues to provide an effective way to empower backbenchers to hold the executive to account and emphasises the Ombudsman’s position as a servant of Parliament.

We have no plans to amend the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 at this time.

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 adequacy of safeguards included in the Transition Plan for recreational water users, including those using waters outside designated bathing areas.

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

The Water Reform Transition Plan charts a clear path to the water system of the future, as set out in the recent water white paper. The transition plan will be accompanied by a new Strategic Policy Statement for Ofwat and ministerial direction for EA. These documents will set out what will change as we progress with reforms, the timeline and responsibilities. It will enable wide-ranging reforms to clean up our waters for recreational and non-recreational water users alike.

The Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 will not feature in the Transition Plan, having recently been amended. In March 2025 the Government published its response to a consultation on amending the Bathing Water 2013 Regulations, noting the support for expanding the definition of a bather to include other recreational water users. Work has begun on an evidence review to consider the environmental and public health implications of any change.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her department plans to establish the public health task force recommended by the Independent Water Commission prior to the introduction of the Water Reform Bill.

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

Through an upcoming Water Bill, we intend to progress an ambitious, coherent reset of the legislative framework.

As we take this forward, we will work in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure public health is considered broadly in our new water frameworks and regulations and to consider evidence gaps. Protecting and improving public health is a key consideration of the Government’s once-in-a-generation water reforms.

A new Public Health Water Taskforce, led by the Chief Medical Officer for England, will be a key part of Government’s reforms to the water system. The Taskforce will provide independent and technical advice on public health risks from water and opportunities to improve treatment and protection.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential benefits of amending the Bathing Water regulations to include a wider range of recreational users.

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

In March 2025 the Government published its response to a consultation on amending the Bathing Water 2013 Regulations. In this, the Government noted the support for expanding the definition of a bather to include other recreational water users.

Work has begun on an evidence review to consider the environmental and public health implications of any change.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans her Department has to help ensure that emerging transport technologies, including electric and autonomous vehicles, are accessible and affordable for disabled people.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government recognises the importance of accessibility for emerging technologies and works closely with the Disabled Person’s Transport Advisory Committee and experts from leading accessibility organisations, such as the Motability Foundation, on policy development.

To support electric vehicle accessibility, electric wheelchair accessible vehicles can receive a grant of up to £2,500 and attract the largest bonus credit in the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate. Government also works closely with industry on accessible charge point designs.

Automated Vehicles have the potential to improve accessible transport options for older and disabled people. Government consulted on the statutory accessibility reporting requirement for Automated Passenger Services (APS) permits and is establishing the Accessibility Advisory Panel to help guide reporting and best practice for the accessibility of new services as they emerge.

Government is also reviewing the legal framework for powered wheelchairs and mobility scooters, which has remained largely unchanged for nearly 40 years.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of cases in which there have been miscommunications with respect to the Person Escort Record in the last 12 months.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Obtaining the information requested relating to possible miscommunications with respect to person escort records would require each prison to undertake a manual search of all such records for the period in question. That could not be undertaken without incurring disproportionate cost.

When a prisoner arrives in prison reception, risk assessment procedures are carried out in accordance with HM Prison and Probation Service’s current policy frameworks. During the reception process, staff review all available documentation, including the person escort record, and any existing Digital Prison Service alerts, as well as undertaking an observational assessment of the prisoner’s presentation and behaviour. A structured reception screening is then carried out by both operational and healthcare staff, to identify any risks relating to suicide or self-harm, violence, vulnerability, physical or mental health issues, or other safeguarding concerns. In addition, a cell-sharing risk assessment (CSRA) is completed for all prisoners new to custody, to identify whether they would be likely to cause serious harm to another prisoner if they were to share a cell. When a prisoner is transferred, their CSRA accompanies them. If the CSRA cannot be located at the time of transfer, a new assessment is undertaken to ensure that risks are appropriately identified.

The processes relating to capturing and transferring risk management information are set out in the Person Escort Record Policy Framework. The framework is currently being reviewed: this will help to capture a broader range of risk information, and support more accurate and consistent completion of the form.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help improve the accuracy of documentation used during transfers between custodial settings.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Obtaining the information requested relating to possible miscommunications with respect to person escort records would require each prison to undertake a manual search of all such records for the period in question. That could not be undertaken without incurring disproportionate cost.

When a prisoner arrives in prison reception, risk assessment procedures are carried out in accordance with HM Prison and Probation Service’s current policy frameworks. During the reception process, staff review all available documentation, including the person escort record, and any existing Digital Prison Service alerts, as well as undertaking an observational assessment of the prisoner’s presentation and behaviour. A structured reception screening is then carried out by both operational and healthcare staff, to identify any risks relating to suicide or self-harm, violence, vulnerability, physical or mental health issues, or other safeguarding concerns. In addition, a cell-sharing risk assessment (CSRA) is completed for all prisoners new to custody, to identify whether they would be likely to cause serious harm to another prisoner if they were to share a cell. When a prisoner is transferred, their CSRA accompanies them. If the CSRA cannot be located at the time of transfer, a new assessment is undertaken to ensure that risks are appropriately identified.

The processes relating to capturing and transferring risk management information are set out in the Person Escort Record Policy Framework. The framework is currently being reviewed: this will help to capture a broader range of risk information, and support more accurate and consistent completion of the form.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what processes are used to assess risks presented by people on admission to custodial facilities.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Obtaining the information requested relating to possible miscommunications with respect to person escort records would require each prison to undertake a manual search of all such records for the period in question. That could not be undertaken without incurring disproportionate cost.

When a prisoner arrives in prison reception, risk assessment procedures are carried out in accordance with HM Prison and Probation Service’s current policy frameworks. During the reception process, staff review all available documentation, including the person escort record, and any existing Digital Prison Service alerts, as well as undertaking an observational assessment of the prisoner’s presentation and behaviour. A structured reception screening is then carried out by both operational and healthcare staff, to identify any risks relating to suicide or self-harm, violence, vulnerability, physical or mental health issues, or other safeguarding concerns. In addition, a cell-sharing risk assessment (CSRA) is completed for all prisoners new to custody, to identify whether they would be likely to cause serious harm to another prisoner if they were to share a cell. When a prisoner is transferred, their CSRA accompanies them. If the CSRA cannot be located at the time of transfer, a new assessment is undertaken to ensure that risks are appropriately identified.

The processes relating to capturing and transferring risk management information are set out in the Person Escort Record Policy Framework. The framework is currently being reviewed: this will help to capture a broader range of risk information, and support more accurate and consistent completion of the form.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what mechanisms his Department has put in place to help ensure that lessons identified in (a) inspections and (b) reports are implemented consistently across relevant agencies.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

In response to all reports by HM Inspectorate of Prison and HM Inspectorate of Probation, H M Prison and Probation Service is required to produce a formal action plan, which is published on the GOV.UK website, to address concerns raised and recommendations made by the Inspectorate.

Learning taken from Inspection reports directly informs policy review and development, and positive practice identified in reports is shared across the agency. Robust internal measures are in place to assure senior leaders that appropriate action is taken where lessons are identified.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent front-line customer support staff worked on his Department's bereavement line in each year between 2021 and 2026.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The number of staff employed is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

• The Full Time Equivalent (FTE) figure supplied is at March for each financial year, and January for 2026 as this is the most up to date Data held for this financial year.
• The number Bereavement scheme staff has been derived from DWP's Activity Based Model (ABM). This model gives an estimated FTE based on a point in time estimate by Line Managers, as recorded on our internal systems each month.
• This total represents all aspects of Bereavement delivery, including Processing and Telephony.
• Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 FTE.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the accessibility of transport on barriers to employment experienced by disabled people.

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

The Department regularly conducts research and analysis that looks at the barriers faced by disabled people such as the ‘Work aspirations and support needs of health and disability customers’ and this can be found on GOV.UK. One way the Department supports disabled people to work with transport accessibility is through Access to Work. Access to Work contributes to the disability-related extra costs of working faced by disabled people and those with a health condition in the workplace that are beyond standard reasonable adjustments. It does not replace an employer’s duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments. The grant provides personalised support and workplace assessments, travel to work, support workers, and specialist aids and equipment.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review how teacher suspensions are used in disciplinary investigations.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

By law, all maintained schools are required to have a capabilities policy, which sets out disciplinary and grievance procedures in the workplace. As employers, all schools and trusts must follow all aspects of employment law and equalities legislation in employment decisions. They should ensure that members of their workforce are fully aware of the process by which they can seek redress as a result of any grievance relating to their work at the school.

Guidance for schools on disciplinary and grievance matters is provided by ACAS in its Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance, which makes clear that an employer has a legal 'duty of care' to support an employee during suspension and to look out for their wellbeing.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what oversight exists to ensure schools comply with national procedures when suspending teachers.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

By law, all maintained schools are required to have a capabilities policy, which sets out disciplinary and grievance procedures in the workplace. As employers, all schools and trusts must follow all aspects of employment law and equalities legislation in employment decisions. They should ensure that members of their workforce are fully aware of the process by which they can seek redress as a result of any grievance relating to their work at the school.

Guidance for schools on disciplinary and grievance matters is provided by ACAS in its Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance, which makes clear that an employer has a legal 'duty of care' to support an employee during suspension and to look out for their wellbeing.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mechanisms are in place to monitor the welfare of teachers while they are suspended.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

By law, all maintained schools are required to have a capabilities policy, which sets out disciplinary and grievance procedures in the workplace. As employers, all schools and trusts must follow all aspects of employment law and equalities legislation in employment decisions. They should ensure that members of their workforce are fully aware of the process by which they can seek redress as a result of any grievance relating to their work at the school.

Guidance for schools on disciplinary and grievance matters is provided by ACAS in its Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance, which makes clear that an employer has a legal 'duty of care' to support an employee during suspension and to look out for their wellbeing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with regard to the Animals in Science Regulation Unit Annual Report 2024, published in December 2025, how many unannounced audits were there in 2024; and whether she plans to increase the number of unannounced audits by inspectors.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

There were 10 unannounced audits in 2024, as reported in the published Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) 2024 Annual Report.

ASRU will increase the number of unannounced audits as part of its programme of regulatory strengthening. The inspectorate is being expanded from an average of 14.5 inspectors in 2023 to 22 by March 2026, enabling a greater volume of risk‑based audits across the system.

Both announced and unannounced audits play an important role in providing regulatory assurance. The number of audits alone should not be taken as a measure of regulatory impact: audit quality, depth and scope are central to assessing compliance effectively.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, between 1 January 2026 and 28 February 2026, how many licences have been granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 for projects that use a) cats b) dogs c) horses and d) non-human primates.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Between 1 January 2026 and 28 February 2026, one project licence was granted which authorised the use of dogs, and one was granted that authorised the use of non-human primates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. No project licences were granted within this period that authorised the use of cats or horses.

Official statistics are published on an annual basis and are available here: www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) average and (b) longest recorded wait time was on his Department's bereavement line in each year between 2021 and 2026.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The below table shows the Average Time to Answer and Maximum Time to Answer for all calls to Bereavement Services in an hours, minutes and seconds format (hh:mm:ss), itemised by each of the requested Reporting Years.

Please note, that the current *2025 – 2026 reporting year, shows data up to and including 22/02/2026 only.

Centenary of Babbacombe Cliff Railway in Torquay

Online abuse and exploitation of Ukrainian refugees

St Neots Walk and Talk 4 Men 5th anniversary

Sign Language Week

Coniston Hydro

Funding for rural Britain

Windermere

Securing the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme

Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal 2026

Found: response to a written parliamentary question from Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesperson Steve Darling

Found: Work and Pensions Committee members present: Steve Darling; Amanda Hack.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Debbie Abrahams (Chair); Johanna Baxter; Mr Peter Bedford; Steve Darling