Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of decreased funding on the provision of specialist domestic violence services; what steps she is taking to prevent further harm to victims.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Specialist and ‘by and for’ services are essential for providing the tailored support that victims and survivors of domestic abuse need. Access to support services can prevent re-victimisation, and help victims to access support, escape abuse, and move forward with their lives.

That is why we uplifted the National VAWG Helplines, including ‘by and for’ helpline providers, by over £1.5m in 2024/25, and we are now providing a further uplift of over £1m, bringing the total investment to over £6m in 2025/26. We also uplifted the Support for Migrant Victims Scheme by £398k in 2024/25, and we are now providing a further uplift of £600k to bring the total investment up to £2.4m for 2025/26.

The is part of a wider £19.9 million investment into 2025/26, which also includes £2.5m to help prevent and improve the response to VAWG. This includes increasing the understanding and identification of VAWG, work to prevent ‘honour’ based abuse and improving multi-agency working and risk management.

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 adequacy of his Department's provision of care for dementia patients within the local community.

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

Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Health Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.

We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in the quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.

The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia, and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.

To reduce variation in diagnosis rates, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network has developed a tool for local systems, which includes an assessment of population characteristics such as rurality and socio-economic deprivation. This enables systems to investigate local variation in diagnosis and take informed action to enhance their diagnosis rates. The tool has been released and is available via the NHS Futures Collaboration platform.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has considered the potential merits of introducing transparency obligations on generative AI companies to facilitate the appropriate (a) licensing and (b) enforcement of music rights; and whether her Department has considered the potential merits of requiring the clear labelling of content solely generated by AI.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government held a consultation earlier this year to consider how the copyright framework should apply in the context of generative AI, including the merits of transparency obligations and labelling AI generated content. That consultation received a wide range of responses from stakeholders across the creative industries, technology sectors and academia. We are now carefully reviewing that evidence and establishing stakeholder working groups to inform the development of policy on copyright and AI.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has set ICBs targets to promote CPR training in schools.

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

No formal requirement for integrated care boards (ICBs) to promote or recommend cardiopulmonary resuscitation training or any associated targets has been set. The Department and NHS England welcome ICBs setting locally led targets as best practice for local services and commissioners to work to.

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 mandating standardised domestic abuse training for all frontline NHS staff.

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

It is the responsibility of National Health Service organisations to ensure that all staff undertake mandatory training on domestic abuse. Mandatory training at Level 1 is captured in the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR), as part of the integrated safeguarding training module. This is monitored by the Care Quality Commission as part of their provider compliance visit. Level 2 and 3 are stand-alone modules and are not always captured in the ESR. Staff are also required to undertake further domestic abuse training where it is relevant to their role.

National mandatory safeguarding training for all NHS staff is being strengthened for launch in early 2026. This will reinforce the safeguarding responsibilities of staff and will support them in identifying and responding to victims of abuse.

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 make the NHS more accessible for people with hearing impairment.

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

Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.

The Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag was developed to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments, across the National Health Service and social care, wherever the person is seen or treated.

Since 2016, all NHS organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard, which details the recommended approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, including people with a hearing or visual impairment.

On 30 June 2025, a revised Accessible Information Standard (AIS) was published. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication, and engagement, and is reviewing the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using services.

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 make the NHS more accessible for people with visual impairment.

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

Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.

The Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag was developed to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments, across the National Health Service and social care, wherever the person is seen or treated.

Since 2016, all NHS organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard, which details the recommended approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, including people with a hearing or visual impairment.

On 30 June 2025, a revised Accessible Information Standard (AIS) was published. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication, and engagement, and is reviewing the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using services.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many full-time equivalent civil servants are working on appointing the new contractor for St Michaels School in Paignton.

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

St Michael’s School is part of the school rebuilding programme. The project team is made up of a project director, who is a civil servant, and a project manager. A number of technical specialists also support the project at different stages.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of school food guidelines.

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

This government is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever. It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating. The school food standards define the foods and drinks that must be provided, which are restricted, and those which must not be provided.

To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, we are acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.

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 support dementia carers.

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

The 10-Year Health Plan reaffirms our commitment to improve the lives of people drawing on care, unpaid carers, and the social care workforce through the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for the sector, as well as our commitment to the creation of a National Care Service, informed by Baroness Louise Casey’s independent commission into adult social care.

The commission will build national consensus on how to create a National Care Service and will produce tangible, pragmatic recommendations that make adult social care more productive and preventative, giving people who draw on care, and their families and carers, more power in the system.

In the meantime, to support unpaid carers, the Government has increased the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This represents the largest increase in the earnings limit since the Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976, and the highest percentage increase since 2001. We are also committed to reviewing the implementation of Carer’s Leave and examining the benefits of introducing paid Carer’s Leave.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve coordination across departments to ensure that key Domestic Homicide Review recommendations are acted upon in a timely manner.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) provide vital opportunities for national and local agencies, local communities and society as a whole to learn lessons from domestic abuse related deaths.

We know that recommendations are often made to the Home Office by default when they should sit with other departments and we are working to resolve this issue through clearer guidance and embedding best practice in training for those responsible for DHRs, the DHR Chairs. Creating a clear process that directs recommendations to the right department will ultimately ensure recommendations are received and implemented in a timely manner.

The Home Office also worked closely with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner on the DHR Oversight Mechanism pilot, to improve the implementation of DHR recommendations across Government.

The upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy will detail the Government’s work going forward to reform DHRs.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to (a) improve awareness of and (b) ensure the implementation of Domestic Homicide Reviews recommendations.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) provide vital opportunities for national and local agencies, local communities and society as a whole to learn lessons from domestic abuse related deaths.

We know that recommendations are often made to the Home Office by default when they should sit with other departments and we are working to resolve this issue through clearer guidance and embedding best practice in training for those responsible for DHRs, the DHR Chairs. Creating a clear process that directs recommendations to the right department will ultimately ensure recommendations are received and implemented in a timely manner.

The Home Office also worked closely with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner on the DHR Oversight Mechanism pilot, to improve the implementation of DHR recommendations across Government.

The upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy will detail the Government’s work going forward to reform DHRs.

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 support people with multiple sclerosis.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services for their local population, including for multiple sclerosis (MS). The Government expects ICBs to assess the demand for service provision when designing their local services.

There are initiatives to support better care for patients with neurological conditions, such as MS, across England. These include the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, which aims to improve MS care by supporting the National Health Service to address variations in care and promote best practice.

The Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit, published by NHS England’s RightCare Programme, supports healthcare systems in improving the care of individuals living with progressive neurological conditions, including MS. It aims to enhance local services and reduce hospital admissions by focusing on preventative care and optimising the delivery of services.

NHS England’s Neurology Transformation Programme (NTP) is a multi-year programme to develop a new model of integrated care for neurology services. The NTP has collaborated with clinicians and patient groups to create specific pathways for MS, aiming to improve the quality and coordination of care.

NHS England is also updating its Specialised Neurology service specification, which includes MS. Service specifications define the standards of care expected from organisations funded by NHS England to provide specialised care.

The three shifts outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan will support people with long-term conditions, including those with MS, to better manage their condition and access services closer to home. For example, it will empower them to access their medical history and allow them to book and manage their appointments and medication.

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 support people with pulmonary fibrosis.

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

NHS England is responsible for the commissioning of services for interstitial lung disease and funds the cost of anti-fibrotic treatments to treat this disease. Access to these treatments has recently been expanded to patients with non-idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, following the publication of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisal Nintedanib for treating progressive fibrosing interstitial lung diseases, in November 2021.

In order to increase awareness of pulmonary fibrosis, NHS England has established 13 Respiratory Clinical Networks across the country. These have been vital in providing clinical leadership for respiratory services and supporting services in primary care, including restoring spirometry, which is one of the tests used to diagnose pulmonary fibrosis.

Pulmonary rehabilitation plays an important role in the management of patients with pulmonary fibrosis, and should be made available to all patients who would benefit from this intervention.

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 adequacy of existing treatment options for people with Secondary Breast Cancer.

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

To assess the adequacy of existing treatment options for people with secondary breast cancer, NHS England funded an audit into primary and metastatic breast cancer. Using routine data collected from patients diagnosed in a National Health Service setting, the audit brings together information to look at what is being done well, where it’s being done well, and what needs to be done better. On 12 September 2024, the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre published this audit, and the NHS is now acting on the findings.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluates all new licensed medicines and makes recommendations on whether they should be routinely funded by the NHS based on their costs and benefits. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE. Since April 2018, NICE has recommended 24 of the 25 breast cancer medicines it has evaluated, and they are now available for the treatment of NHS patients.

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 support people with postural tachycardia syndrome.

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

Improving health outcomes for everyone living with a long-term condition, including postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), is a key part of the Government's mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future.

People with PoTS can access a variety of NHS services that are locally commissioned by integrated care boards, which are responsible for ensuring that their local area has appropriate services in place to meet the needs of their population.

Many patients can be diagnosed and managed effectively within primary care. In complex cases, or where patients do not respond to initial treatment, patients may be referred to specialised cardiology or neurology services.

At a national level, NHS England has made additional support available. This includes a focus on healthy working environments, tools and resources to support line managers to hold meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their wellbeing, and emotional and psychological health and wellbeing support.

The three shifts outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan will support people with long-term conditions, including those with PoTS, to better manage their condition and access services closer to home. For example, it will empower them to access their medical history and allow them to book and manage their appointments and medication.

100th anniversary of The Palace Hotel, Paignton

Carers and social care reform

Funding and support for SEND

Support for local independent businesses, shops, markets and producers

Government policy on the Hillsborough Law

Introduction of the Hillsborough Law and the 36th anniversary

Found: Baxter (Labour; Paisley and Renfrewshire South) Mr Peter Bedford (Conservative; Mid Leicestershire) Steve Darling

Found: Baxter (Labour; Paisley and Renfrewshire South) Mr Peter Bedford (Conservative; Mid Leicestershire) Steve Darling

Found: (Labour; Paisley and Renfrewshire South) Mr Peter Bedford (Conservative; Mid Leicestershire) Steve Darling

Found: Baxter (Labour; Paisley and Renfrewshire South) Mr Peter Bedford (Conservative; Mid Leicestershire) Steve Darling

Found: Munt Vikki Slade Wera Hobhouse Andrew George Daisy Cooper Steff Aquarone Mr Paul Kohler Steve Darling

Found: Munt Vikki Slade Wera Hobhouse Andrew George Daisy Cooper Steff Aquarone Mr Paul Kohler Steve Darling

Millions of children and parents are served by the Child Maintenance Service. But is it working as effectively as it could be so that the best interests of the child are being met?