Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will conduct a longitudinal study of people treated with puberty blocking medication prior to its ban in 2024 to identify any issues before beginning another trial.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to supporting research that delivers a more robust, evidence-based understanding of gender incongruence support and treatment, especially for children and young people. The Cass Review received cross-party support and highlighted remaining significant gaps in clinical evidence. The PATHWAYS study positively responds to the Cass Review’s recommendation that a trial of puberty suppressing hormones should be taken forward urgently as part of a wider programme of research.
We are supporting the National Health Service in delivering this programme of research, to ensure research is embedded at the heart of new children and young people’s gender services as they are shaped. One element of the programme of research is a data linkage study.
The data linkage study is observational in nature, linking and analysing existing, routinely collected healthcare data for adults who, as children, were referred into the former Gender Identity Development Service, previously operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.
This study requires no active patient participation and may provide useful insights on the experience and outcomes of former child gender service patients.
It is important to highlight that as the study is not designed as a comparative clinical trial, it will not provide direct evidence on the cause or effect of any individual treatment approach, nor provide evidence relating to any treatment’s safety or efficacy.
The data linkage study and the PATHWAYS clinical trial are separate, with different designs and purposes within a wider research programme.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of drug and alcohol addiction treatment services in a) Lewisham North constituency, b) London and c) England.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services as part of their public health responsibilities. As a condition of the Public Health Grant, local authorities are responsible for improving the uptake of, and outcomes from, their drug and alcohol treatment services, based on an assessment of local need and a plan which has been developed with local health and criminal justice partners. Over the next three years, through the Public Health Grant, we are providing local authorities with £3.4 billion of ringfenced funding for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery.
The Department delivers a robust monitoring and assurance programme, and quality improvement interventions, for local authorities commissioning drug and alcohol treatment services. The number of adults in treatment is now the highest since reporting began, with the latest annual statistics showing that between April 2024 and March 2025 there were 329,646 adults aged 18 years old and over in contact with community drug and alcohol treatment services. Of this total, in London there were 45,873 adults in treatment, 9% higher than the previous year, and in Lewisham there were 1,910, 28% higher than the previous year.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on ensuring courts are ready for changes due to come into force as a result of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 107063 on 28 January 2026.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to allow letting agents to submit data to the Private Rented Sector database on behalf of their landlords.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government expects that letting agents will be able to carry out certain functions relating to the Private Rented Sector Database on landlords’ behalf.
The detailed requirements and any roles that may be undertaken by agents will be set out in regulations in due course.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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 effectiveness of its communication campaign in informing landlords of changes in the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In November 2025, my Department launched a multi-platform communications campaign to raise awareness of reforms to the private rented sector in England resulting from the Renters’ Rights Act. To date, the campaign has seen strong engagement and achieved a wide reach.
We continue to work closely with relevant media, and sector representative organisations to make sure we reach as many landlords as possible.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment the Department has made of the effectiveness of A&E navigator programmes in reducing a) youth violence and b) exploitation of young people.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
According to the Youth Endowment Fund toolkit, the available studies suggest that A&E navigator programmes could have a high impact on preventing further involvement in violence.
The majority of Violence Reduction Units in England and Wales deliver A&E navigator programmes. We will continue to learn from the ongoing delivery of A&E navigators to ensure victims of violence and exploitation are effectively supported.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects RAND Europe to deliver the process evaluation and feasibility impact study of its Young Futures Panel pilots.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
RAND Europe’s process evaluation and feasibility impact study of the Young Futures Panel pilots is ongoing and will be sent for independent peer review by academics with relevant expertise in due course.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Department has made any assessment of the link between the 1988 Furniture Regulations and the 323% elevated cancer rates among young firefighters cited in London Assembly's Exposure to fire contaminants in London: A hidden, growing risk? - Fire Committee report (February 2026).
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Whilst the government is not aware of any evidence that directly links elevated cancer rates to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (the FFRs), we recognise that there is an increasing body of evidence to support action to reduce the volume of chemical flame retardants (CFRs) which are used to ensure that upholstered furniture passes flammability tests.
The policy paper 'The fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture', published on 22 January 2025, set out the Government’s commitment to delivering reforms to the FFRs that maintain a high level of fire safety while also facilitating a reduction in the use of CFRs.
Since publication, the Department for Business and Trade has undertaken targeted engagement to inform next steps, including a roundtable in July 2025 that considered the issue of open-flame testing. The Government will provide an update on this in due course.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendation from the Environmental Audit Committee's Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Life report of 2019 to end the use of the ‘match and fillings’ tests; and whether he plans to prioritise the removal of chemical contaminants at source alongside existing cleaning protocols.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Whilst the government is not aware of any evidence that directly links elevated cancer rates to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (the FFRs), we recognise that there is an increasing body of evidence to support action to reduce the volume of chemical flame retardants (CFRs) which are used to ensure that upholstered furniture passes flammability tests.
The policy paper 'The fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture', published on 22 January 2025, set out the Government’s commitment to delivering reforms to the FFRs that maintain a high level of fire safety while also facilitating a reduction in the use of CFRs.
Since publication, the Department for Business and Trade has undertaken targeted engagement to inform next steps, including a roundtable in July 2025 that considered the issue of open-flame testing. The Government will provide an update on this in due course.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Final Police Funding Settlement (England and Wales) 2026-27, how much funding her Department has specifically provided for violence reduction units in the 2026-27 financial year.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Violence prevention is crucial to achieving our ambition of halving knife crime and making our streets safer.
The 2026/27 Police Funding Settlement included an allocation of £66.6m for Serious Violence Reduction Programmes.
This funding will be used to maintain our network of 20 Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in the areas of England and Wales which are experiencing over 80% of knife crime; support public sector bodies to fulfil their statutory requirements under the Serious Violence Duty and continue the promising work of the Young Futures Panel pilots, which are identifying young people at risk of being drawn into crime and intervening earlier with positive, diversionary support.