Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training is available for teachers on supporting neurodivergent children in the classroom.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
From September 2025, the department implemented the revised initial teacher training and early career framework, adding more content related to adaptive teaching and improving inclusivity for SEND pupils. The department also enhanced the requirement on providers to develop SEND training materials.
Beyond the first few years of teaching, national professional qualifications (NPQs) are available to education professionals at all levels. In 2024 we began delivery of the NPQ for special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs). This is the mandatory qualification for SENCOs in mainstream schools. Participants will develop the knowledge and skills needed to set the strategic direction of special educational needs policy and the conditions for pupils with SEND to thrive.
The department has committed to a full review of both NPQs and early career teacher training, which will include a focus on SEND.
The Universal SEND Services programme helps the school and further education workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND earlier and more effectively. It also helps them to successfully prepare children and young people for adulthood, including employment.
The Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme is a national programme backed by £22 million of investment. It is a cross-government collaboration between the department, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, supported by the National Network of Parent Carer Forums. PINS deploys specialists from both health and education workforces to build teacher and staff capacity to identify and better meet the needs of neurodivergent children in mainstream primary schools.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve funding for speech and language (a) support and (b) specialists for children in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department, in collaboration with NHS England, has extended the Early Language and Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme, to strengthen early identification and intervention for children with speech, language and communication needs in early years settings and primary schools.
Under the Best Start in Life strategy, the department continues to invest in evidence-based initiatives such as the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, which has demonstrated significant impact on oral language and early literacy, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
Recognising the critical role of speech and language therapists, the department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will review the covid-19 vaccination eligibility criteria for (a) frontline workers and (b) carers to ensure that (i) those who work in high-risk environments, (ii) those who provide unpaid care, (ii) carers aged 70 and over, (iv) those who have previously had contact with infectious diseases and (v) those in who cannot afford to access private vaccination services are not excluded from receiving the vaccine.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, resulting in hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19. On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme for spring 2025, autumn 2025, and spring 2026. This advice is available at the following link:
The Government accepted the JCVI’s advice for autumn 2025 on 26 June 2025. The announcement is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/advice-accepted-on-autumn-2025-covid-19-vaccination-programme
In its advice for autumn 2024, the JCVI advised that in the era of highly transmissible Omicron sub-variants, any protection offered by the COVID-19 vaccine against the transmission of infection from one person to another is expected to be extremely limited. Therefore, the indirect benefits of vaccination, for instance vaccinating an individual such as an unpaid carer or household member in order to reduce the risk of severe disease in other people, are less evident now compared with previous years. In 2025, the JCVI conducted an extensive review of the scientific evidence surrounding the impact of vaccination on the transmission of the virus from frontline health and social care workers (HSCWs) to patients, the protection of HSCWs against symptoms of the disease, and staff sickness absences. In line with the JCVI’s advice, frontline health and social care workers and unpaid carers are not eligible for COVID-19 vaccination under the national programme for autumn 2025. The focus of the programme is now on those who remain at greatest risk of serious disease and who are therefore most likely to benefit from vaccination.
As with all NHS-provided vaccination programmes, only those eligible are offered vaccination. Any of the groups mentioned above who are otherwise eligible, because of their age or due to immunosuppression, are encouraged to take up the offer of vaccination.
As with all vaccines offered as part of the national programme in England, there is no charge for COVID-19 vaccination for those who are eligible. There is therefore no cost to those individuals that might discourage uptake.
The Government has accepted the JCVI’s advice for autumn 2025 and has no plans to change the eligibility for autumn 2025. As for all vaccines, the JCVI keeps the evidence under regular review.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that gambling harm prevention campaigns reach rural and remote communities.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The introduction of the new statutory levy on gambling operators, which came into effect in April 2025, guarantees sustainable funding for the research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harms which is entirely independent of the influence of the gambling industry.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), as the gambling harms prevention commissioner in England under the levy, acknowledges the role that public health and awareness-raising campaigns can play in preventing health harms, including harms associated with gambling.
OHID is working at pace to develop its gambling harms prevention programme, working closely with the gambling harms prevention commissioners in Scotland and Wales. OHID is considering the role of prevention campaigns in the future prevention programme at a national and Great Britain-wide level and will consider the reach of such activity across specific populations such as rural and remote communities. Further details will be confirmed before the end of this financial year.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the cancer service specifications for teenagers and young adults published in 2023 are (a) funded and (b) implemented as part of the National Cancer Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving outcomes and patient experience for teenagers and young adults with cancer. The Department recognises that cancer in teenagers and young adults is different to cancer in adults and children, and that age-appropriate care is necessary regarding treatment, diagnosis, and wider support, as per the NHS England service specifications.
The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so that more teenagers and young adults survive. The Department and NHS England are taking a range of steps to improve waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment across all cancer patient groups. This includes the NHS delivering an extra 40,000 scans, appointments, and operations each week to ensure that patients are seen and treated as quickly as possible.
Furthermore, the Department set out expectations for renewed focus on cancer targets in the Elective Reform plan, published on 6 January 2025. The Department has asked systems and providers to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the Faster Diagnosis Standard, to reduce the number of patients, including teenagers and young adults, waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer.
NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in teenagers and young adults. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.
The national service specifications relating to the provision of Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) Cancer Services describes the service and clinical standards, as well as the relationships that need to be in place with other services that patients might need to access. Alongside the publication of the TYA Cancer Service Specifications, NHS England provided investment to establish and run networks, whose purpose is to drive improvements to pathways and the co-ordination of care. As of 1 April 2025, the responsibility for commissioning TYA Cancer Services was delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs). This means that ICBs are responsible for ensuring continued compliance with national service specifications.
TYA Cancer Services provide a level of psycho-social support for patients dealing with cancer diagnosis and treatment through cancer nursing and clinical support. Teenagers and young adults with cancer may also access support for their mental health needs in mental health services commissioned by ICBs, for example Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
The National Cancer Plan, due to be published in the new year, will have a commitment to children and young people, aged between zero and 24 years old with cancer, as a priority group. The plan will cover the entire pathway and aims to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer.
On 4 February 2025, the Department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will also ensure that the unique needs of teenagers and young adults with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 psycho-oncology provision for teenagers and young adults with cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving outcomes and patient experience for teenagers and young adults with cancer. The Department recognises that cancer in teenagers and young adults is different to cancer in adults and children, and that age-appropriate care is necessary regarding treatment, diagnosis, and wider support, as per the NHS England service specifications.
The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so that more teenagers and young adults survive. The Department and NHS England are taking a range of steps to improve waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment across all cancer patient groups. This includes the NHS delivering an extra 40,000 scans, appointments, and operations each week to ensure that patients are seen and treated as quickly as possible.
Furthermore, the Department set out expectations for renewed focus on cancer targets in the Elective Reform plan, published on 6 January 2025. The Department has asked systems and providers to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the Faster Diagnosis Standard, to reduce the number of patients, including teenagers and young adults, waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer.
NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in teenagers and young adults. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.
The national service specifications relating to the provision of Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) Cancer Services describes the service and clinical standards, as well as the relationships that need to be in place with other services that patients might need to access. Alongside the publication of the TYA Cancer Service Specifications, NHS England provided investment to establish and run networks, whose purpose is to drive improvements to pathways and the co-ordination of care. As of 1 April 2025, the responsibility for commissioning TYA Cancer Services was delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs). This means that ICBs are responsible for ensuring continued compliance with national service specifications.
TYA Cancer Services provide a level of psycho-social support for patients dealing with cancer diagnosis and treatment through cancer nursing and clinical support. Teenagers and young adults with cancer may also access support for their mental health needs in mental health services commissioned by ICBs, for example Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
The National Cancer Plan, due to be published in the new year, will have a commitment to children and young people, aged between zero and 24 years old with cancer, as a priority group. The plan will cover the entire pathway and aims to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer.
On 4 February 2025, the Department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will also ensure that the unique needs of teenagers and young adults with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people initially coded with (a) pre‑diabetes and (b) type 2 diabetes who were later found to have early or established type 1 diabetes in the most recent period for which data is available; and what steps his Department is taking with NHS England to help improve diagnostic accuracy in England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data is not collected centrally on the numbers or proportions of people initially coded with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes who were later found to have type 1 diabetes. The change of patient diagnosis would be reflected by a change of diagnosis code in clinical systems. However, the way that data extraction works for national audits means that it is not possible to track these types of changes.
Published data on diabetes registrations by GP practice can be found in the quarterly National Diabetes Audit (NDA) data release. This also contains data on care process and treatment target attainment as well as the number of new diagnoses by calendar year.
The latest quarterly report is available at the following link:
The NDA supports improvements in diagnosis by assessing whether people with diabetes are receiving the recommended diagnostic checks and to identify variations and shortfalls in care delivery against National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will include a target in a future Rare Disease Action Plan on proportionate access to multi-indication medicines for (a) rare and (b) ultra-rare disease patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs is a priority under the UK Rare Diseases Framework. The 2025 England Rare Diseases Action Plan was published in February 2025 and reports on progress against existing actions under this priority. This included reviewing the effectiveness of the Early Access to Medicines Scheme, the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway, and the Innovative Medicines Fund, which are key access initiatives aimed at facilitating earlier availability of innovative treatments. Our review specifically assessed how effective these pathways are in supporting timely access to therapies for individuals living with rare diseases.
As set out in the Life Sciences Sector plan, we will be introducing a new and proportionate approach to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) appraisals and NHS indication-specific based pricing agreements for medicines with large numbers of indications, strong long-term outcome data, and low affordability risk. This will support treatments for rare diseases. There are currently no plans to introduce an access target, as it is essential to review the available evidence on a case-by-case basis. However, the Government remains committed to improving access to medicines for rare and ultra-rare diseases.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) reviewing and (b) increasing the level of payment provided under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to reiterate my deepest sympathies to all those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.
I recognise many of the concerns that campaigners have raised regarding the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). Their input will shape our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme.
In parallel, the Department continues to work with the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the VDPS, to take further steps to improve the scheme, including through processing claims at a faster rate.
I will keep Parliament updated, as appropriate.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the 60% disability threshold requirement to qualify for the vaccine damage payment scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to reiterate my deepest sympathies to all those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.
I recognise many of the concerns that campaigners have raised regarding the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). Their input will shape our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme.
In parallel, the Department continues to work with the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the VDPS, to take further steps to improve the scheme, including through processing claims at a faster rate.
I will keep Parliament updated, as appropriate.