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 take steps to introduce a registration and accreditation system for organisations that deliver wildlife rehabilitation services in England.

Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra has no current plans to introduce a registration and accreditation system for organisations that deliver wildlife rehabilitation services in England.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the proposal to require synthetic folic acid to be added to non-wholemeal flour on the health of (a) pregnant women and (b) the wider population.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 17 July in response to Question 18201.

A full assessment of the impact of the policy was published alongside the legislation, with the title The Bread and Flour (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2024, and is available at the following link:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/1162/pdfs/uksiod_20241162_en_001.pdf

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to address the fire risk posed by batteries and other combustible items in landfill sites during periods of extreme heat.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Landfill operators are required to have a fire risk management plan and have measures to prevent the receipt of hot or reactive waste.

This Government is engaging with stakeholders to inform a review of the UK Batteries Regulations and other potential interventions to address incorrect disposal into residual waste.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to establish a National Social Carers' Register for England.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

On 29 July, as set out in the link below, the Prime Minister set out his objectives to reform the social care system, and brought forward the timetable for Baroness Casey’s commission to inform that reform programme:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-sets-out-new-path-to-fix-social-care-together-29-july-2026

All aspects of the current system will be reviewed as part of that process, including proposals for a register of social carers, and we will continue to update Parliament on a regular basis.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the SEND tribunal case process.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice and HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) assess the effectiveness of the SEND Tribunal case process through published statistics and operational monitoring. The latest published statistics are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2026/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2026.

HMCTS is taking action to improve case progression and make best use of judicial and administrative capacity, including measures to resolve or narrow disputes earlier and streamline case management. Furthermore, we are currently running a recruitment campaign for more judges and administrative staff to increase capacity.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, if he will take steps to increase funding for non-animal New Approach Methodologies to improve innovation and support the transition away from animal testing.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 15 July 2026 in response to Question 16739.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what mental health care systems in England require a clinical diagnosis prior to treatment; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of this requirement on (a) young people’s waiting times for mental health treatment and (b) the effectiveness of the treatment they receive.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The interim report of the independent review into mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism found that access to support is too often slow, fragmented, and heavily dependent on having a diagnosis. Where support depends heavily on a formal diagnosis, demand for assessment can outstrip capacity, contributing to long waits, repeated assessments, and pressure on services. Diagnosis remains essential to inform treatment and enhance understanding, but the review is considering how people can receive appropriate support earlier and according to need. Its final report will make recommendations for the Government, the health system, and wider public services.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to update the National Curriculum to prepare children and young people in education for their future employment, in the context of increasing job automation as Artificial Intelligence progresses.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The world in which young people are growing up is changing more rapidly than ever, and we know that human skills will become even more valuable when preparing them to succeed in life and work.

Our refreshed curriculum will deliver high standards for all, making sure that pupils obtain the breadth and depth of knowledge and skills they need to thrive in the future.

They will learn to master the essential technological and digital skills needed for the workplace through a curriculum rich in digital and media literacy.

The government will nurture the next generation of leaders by creating fluent and confident speakers through a greater emphasis on oracy across curriculum subjects.

We will also widen opportunity for all young people and create clear pathways into further study, training and high-quality careers where they live.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to expand access to clinical trials for (a) pancreatic cancer patients and (b) patients with cancerous brain tumours.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon Member to the answers of 22 May in response to Question 1156 and of 15 July in response to Question 16704.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to assess the potential impact of the (a) social media ban for under 16s and (b) smartphone ban in schools, once implemented, on the (i) mental health of, (ii) b of self-harm incidents amongst, and (iii) suicide attempts amongst teenagers.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

Government will be monitoring the impact of the ban closely and conduct a full review three to five years after implementation, allowing time for the expected cultural change and long-term impacts on mental and physical health to emerge. The review will consider a range of metrics including regular reporting from children and parents on online experiences and the impact on children’s physical and mental health. Government has committed to reviewing the mobile phones in schools guidance and making any necessary revisions by September 2027.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of access to freshwater sources as a nationally developed capability for use in aerial firefighting.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

When aerial firefighting is required, local emergency responders work collaboratively with partners to determine the best sources of water to use. This requires balancing the logistics of firefighting with a range of factors. These discussions are typically held at a local level.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of deploying military personnel to support the Fire Service in wildfire fighting capability.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

Through Military Aid to the Civil Authorities, Defence can bolster civilian responders and help protect communities. Deploying military personnel can give Fire and Rescue Services additional capacity to carry out general duties, logistics and transport tasks when the Fire Service are under significant pressure.

In August 2026, Defence deployed 200 Service personnel to support South West Wales Fire and Rescue Service. This included transporting water and clearing vegetation, allowing firefighters to focus their efforts on containing and extinguishing the fire.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues and international counterparts on the potential merits of introducing an additional tax on high-polluting corporations to fund the tackling of pollution caused by such companies.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) is our key lever to ensure those companies who are responsible for carbon emissions pay for them.

Introduced in January 2021, the UK ETS covers 25% of UK emissions across the power sector, energy-intensive industry, domestic and UK–EEA flights, and domestic maritime.

Revenues from the scheme accrue to the consolidated fund and support spending on government priorities, which includes net zero objectives.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to introduce additional funding for SEND support provision in all schools in England as part of the Experts at Hand programme, following the initial funding provision; and whether her Department plans to provide separate funding for additional teaching assistants to support children with SEND in mainstream schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The Experts at Hand offer is funded by a £1.8 billion grant, over the three years of the spending review period. It is for local authorities, working in partnership with local system partners, to provide advice and direct support to mainstream schools, colleges and early years settings. This funding is for investment in services that individual settings cannot commission alone, such as specialist health and education support, to improve the quality of inclusive education for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND), in line with the 2026 Schools White Paper and SEND Reform consultation document.

Over the same time period, the £1.6 billion Inclusive Mainstream Fund will be provided for mainstream schools, colleges and early years settings. It will support schools to transition towards a reformed education system that is inclusive by design, ensuring every child and young person receives high-quality, adaptive teaching and early help when they need it.

We have fulfilled a commitment in ‘SEND Reform, Putting Children and Young People First’ to consult on ways to allow local authorities to pass more of their high needs funding directly to local mainstream schools. The proposals are intended to support earlier intervention and enable a more proactive approach to meeting needs, reducing reliance on funding being tied to statutory processes. More information is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/upfront-funding-for-mainstream-schools-creating-a/supporting_documents/upfront-funding-for-mainstream-schools-creating-a-local-send-inclusion-formulapdf.

Over time, there will be further rebalancing of funding from the high needs budget into schools’ budgets, in line with new accountability arrangements. This will allow them to deliver more flexible, direct and timely support and further incentivise early intervention and inclusive practice.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to require all new homes to have rainwater collection methods installed on the property.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government is taking steps to support rainwater harvesting and recycling in homes. We have committed to reforming how rainwater is used in homes through the Clean Water Bill. This sits alongside our review of the water efficiency and drainage standards in Building Regulations (2010).

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the installation of rainwater collection methods in existing homes.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government is taking steps to support rainwater harvesting and recycling in homes. We have committed to reforming how rainwater is used in homes through the Clean Water Bill. This sits alongside our review of the water efficiency and drainage standards in Building Regulations (2010).

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data her Department holds on the trends in costs for using recycling centres; and whether she has made an assessment of whether there is a link between these costs and the number of instances of fly tipping.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra does not hold any data on trends in costs for using recycling centres. Local councils are not allowed to charge for small scale household waste at Household Waste Recycling Centres.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase the clarity and efficiency of the Continuing Healthcare assessment process.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National framework for NHS continuing healthcare and NHS-funded nursing care is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-framework-for-nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care

It sets out the basis for National Health Service continuing healthcare eligibility. It also sets out the detailed eligibility assessment process which integrated care boards must have regard of. NHS England’s assurance regime promotes accurate assessment, equal access, and consistency within NHS continuing healthcare delivery.

The Department recognises the importance of providing information to individuals and their families. Our Public Information Leaflet is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care-public-information-leaflet/public-information-leaflet-nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care--2

This leaflet explains the criteria used to determine eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare, and the assessment process which facilitates the decision. NHS England has also commissioned a free Information and Advice Service for NHS continuing healthcare, supplied by Beacon.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to provide clarity to Continuing Healthcare applicants regarding what constitutes a health need rather than a social care need in determining eligibility for this funding.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National framework for NHS continuing healthcare and NHS-funded nursing care is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-framework-for-nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care

It sets out the basis for National Health Service continuing healthcare eligibility. It also sets out the detailed eligibility assessment process which integrated care boards must have regard of. NHS England’s assurance regime promotes accurate assessment, equal access, and consistency within NHS continuing healthcare delivery.

The Department recognises the importance of providing information to individuals and their families. Our Public Information Leaflet is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care-public-information-leaflet/public-information-leaflet-nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care--2

This leaflet explains the criteria used to determine eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare, and the assessment process which facilitates the decision. NHS England has also commissioned a free Information and Advice Service for NHS continuing healthcare, supplied by Beacon.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring a diagnosis of terminal illness to trigger a referral for a Specialist Palliative Care assessment from a hospital or community centre.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are developing a Modern Service Framework for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care. The framework will cover both generalist and specialist palliative care. As part of developing the framework, our evidence review highlighted both identification of need and specialist palliative care as areas of action.

One of the goals of the Modern Service Framework will be to provide a person-centred approach and ensure equitable access to earlier and more effective identification of needs, in all settings of care. We are looking at how we can enable more proactive assessment of palliative care need and subsequent access to services and personalised care and support.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, following the revised recommendations of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation made on 16 July 2026 relating to unprimed adolescents' MenB vaccinations, whether she will take steps to offer Men B vaccinations in a 2-dose schedule to adolescents born on or before 30 April 2015.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon. Member to the GOV.UK news story on this issue which was published on 16 July and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-publishes-new-recommendation-to-government-on-adolescent-menb-vaccination

Any further updates will be announced in the normal way in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Food Standards Agency on its decision to classify Trametes Versicolor and Cordyceps Militaris as novel foods and plans for assessing the safety of consumption of those functional mushrooms.

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

The Department of Health and Social Care is the sponsoring department of the Food Standards Agency.

Based on the information currently available to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), Trametes versicolor and Cordyceps militaris have not been consumed to a significant degree as food in the UK or EU before 15 May 1997. They are therefore likely to be considered novel foods, which must be authorised before they are placed on the market in Great Britain.

If any Food Business Operator (FBO) would like the FSA to make formal determinations on the novel food status of these two mushroom species, they can submit consultation requests (under Article 4 of assimilated Regulation 2015/2283), including the evidence required on history of consumption.

When an FBO submits an application for the authorisation of a novel food, the safety of the food is considered as part of the risk assessment stage of the process.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps her Department is taking to prioritise Civil Service Pension cases where there are urgent (a) health, (b) financial, or (c) other exceptional circumstances affected by delays under the Capita contract.

Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The four month quotation process is a guideline, not a rule. Therefore no consideration has been given to changing this process.

To specifically prioritise cases where members are facing urgent health or financial circumstances, the Department has taken the following direct steps:

• Health Circumstances: All outstanding ill-health retirement and death-in-service cases have been placed under strict, individual 'hypercare' tracking. We have deployed a cross-government surge team of over 140 civil servants, alongside experts from the Government Actuary’s Department, to bypass standard queues and directly clear the oldest and most complex cases. We have also established dedicated virtual surgeries for MPs and caseworkers to escalate urgent and exceptional cases directly to our recovery taskforce.

• Financial Hardship: To provide immediate financial support to those who may need it, including those who have left under the compensation scheme, arrangements are in place for interest-free bridging loans of £5,000 and up to £20,000 in exceptional cases - to most recent retirees facing payment delays. This is alongside interim lump sum payments being made to provide immediate funds to retiring members.

• Other Exceptional Circumstances: These are considered for prioritisation and ‘hypercare’ tracking on a case-by-case basis.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what consideration has been given to (a) varying or (b) suspending the Civil Service Pension Scheme's four month quotation process.

Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The four month quotation process is a guideline, not a rule. Therefore no consideration has been given to changing this process.

To specifically prioritise cases where members are facing urgent health or financial circumstances, the Department has taken the following direct steps:

• Health Circumstances: All outstanding ill-health retirement and death-in-service cases have been placed under strict, individual 'hypercare' tracking. We have deployed a cross-government surge team of over 140 civil servants, alongside experts from the Government Actuary’s Department, to bypass standard queues and directly clear the oldest and most complex cases. We have also established dedicated virtual surgeries for MPs and caseworkers to escalate urgent and exceptional cases directly to our recovery taskforce.

• Financial Hardship: To provide immediate financial support to those who may need it, including those who have left under the compensation scheme, arrangements are in place for interest-free bridging loans of £5,000 and up to £20,000 in exceptional cases - to most recent retirees facing payment delays. This is alongside interim lump sum payments being made to provide immediate funds to retiring members.

• Other Exceptional Circumstances: These are considered for prioritisation and ‘hypercare’ tracking on a case-by-case basis.

Barbering and hairdressing

Royal National Lifeboat Institution (No. 2)

Work of Sands and Baby Loss Awareness Week

Defibrillators in police vehicles

Autumn Budget 2026 (No. 3)

Second Reading of the Mental Capacity (Duty to Assess) Bill