Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what action is the Home Secretary taking to implement the recommendations of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration report on age assessments to ensure that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are properly safeguarded.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office accepted all eight of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) age assessment recommendations which were designed to improve training, guidance, assurance, resources and communication.
Initial age decisions were a primary focus of the report and, to date, the Home Office has:
The National Age Assessment Board (NAAB) was also a key focus of the inspection and improvements have been made to assurance frameworks to further ensure age assessments are conducted consistently, robustly and in line with both legislative requirements and best practice.
We have also focused on improving our use of technology. The NAAB online referral portal will also be going live in the next few months which will improve access for local authorities by providing a new, streamlined route for referring age assessment cases to the NAAB. This new technology will deliver operational efficiencies and enable referrals to be made more easily and quickly.
The Home Office has improved the quality of age assessment data. To strengthen transparency, the publication of age assessment official statistics will resume as part of the Immigration Statistical Release scheduled for 21 May 2026. This release will include new disaggregated data on the outcomes of age disputes. Over time, this will provide a more complete national picture, make clearer distinctions between stages of the process and allow improved monitoring.
We continue to develop proposals on how we can share more information with local authorities, where appropriate to support effective planning and safeguarding. We are also engaging directly with stakeholders on progress made against the recommendations to ensure they are delivered in a way that continues to strengthen protections for children.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the reasons that females have a longer average lifespan, and shorter average health span, than males.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that women live longer but spend more years in poor health than men, often due to conditions that are misdiagnosed, undertreated, or under-researched.
Healthy life expectancy measures health-related wellbeing by measuring the difference between mortality and the average time someone is expected to remain in self-reported “good” health.
In 2022 to 2024, males in England could expect to spend 60.9 years, or 77% of their life, in “good” general health, compared to 61.3 years, or 74%, for women. While there has been a reduction for both men and women from 2019 to 2021, and this reduction has been larger for women, at 2.4 years, than for men, at 1.8 years. Healthy life expectancy at birth in England has decreased to its lowest level since the Office for National Statistics’ time series began.
A 2023 report from the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities found that changes in self-reported “good” health prevalence has a larger impact on healthy life expectancy than changes in mortality rates. Research found that self-reported poor health was associated with chronic health conditions and multimorbidity.
Our renewed Women’s Health Strategy, published on the 15 April, sets out a bold, long‑term plan to transform how the health and care system listens to, supports and delivers for women and girls. It puts women’s voices and choices at the centre of care, drives faster improvements in services and outcomes that matter most to women, and tackles long‑standing health inequalities across the life course. The strategy aligns with the 10-Year Health Plan to shift care into the community, harness digital innovation and strengthen prevention so women can live healthier, more fulfilled lives.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the Universal Credit claimant count has been in (a) Leiston and (b) the IP16 postcode area in each month since January 2022.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Monthly Universal Credit statistics showing the number of people on Universal Credit, for the Postcode Area IP16, and the Ward Aldeburgh & Leiston or Leiston Jobcentre Plus office, are published in the People on Universal Credit dataset on Stat-Xplore, and are currently available to February 2026.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract information. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
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 patients without access to the internet to get appointments with GPs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We understand that not all patients have access to or want to use online services. The GP Contract is clear that patients should always have the option of telephoning or visiting their practice in person, and all online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing a general practice (GP).
The 2026/27 GP Contract includes a new requirement for practices to enable online appointment requests throughout the duration of core opening hours, which will ease pressure on phone lines for people who prefer to telephone.
We are also improving capacity in GPs. We have invested £160 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of over 2,000 individual GPs into primary care networks across England, helping to increase appointment availability and improve care for thousands of patients. As a result, we have successfully delivered an additional 8.3 million GP appointments for patients compared to the same period last year, meaning more patients are getting the support they need, when they need it.
The Office for National Statistics’ Health Insight Survey from March 2026 shows that 73.7% of patients reported it was “easy” to contact their GP, up from 60.9% in July 2024.
Asked by: Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders were in the community as of 30 September 2025 by nationality.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest published information can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.
The information you have requested on the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) living in the community split by nationality is not available from published statistics.
Any FNO convicted of a crime who receives a custodial sentence in the UK is referred to the Home Office for deportation consideration following sentencing.
Where removal is not immediately possible, electronic monitoring can be used to manage FNOs. We will pursue deportation action against individuals living in the community rigorously, actively monitoring and managing cases through the legal process and negotiating barriers to removal.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 of the impact of food inflation on residents in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food and drink prices showed an annual rate of inflation of 3.3% in the year to February 2026, in the most recently published inflation figures for the UK, released by the Office for National Statistics. This is a decrease from 3.6% in January 2026.
General inflation in the UK was 3.0% in February 2026, unchanged from January 2026.
The ONS does not breakdown inflation figures at constituency level.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of using the Government Statistical Service categories in the Government's response to the consultation on ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting on the risk of legal challenge relating to the inclusion of Sikhs and Jews as distinct ethnicity options.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The current harmonised standard for ethnicity data does not include specific “Sikh” and “Jewish” categories for a person’s ethnic group. However, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is independent of government, is currently running a public consultation which seeks to review the harmonised standard to ensure it meets the needs of both data users and respondents. The views of Sikh and Jewish communities are being carefully considered as part of the review. We will monitor its progress and consider its findings closely.
We published the government response to the consultation on mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting on 25 March. The majority of respondents (77%) agreed with the proposal in the consultation that large employers should collect ethnicity data using the GSS harmonised standards for ethnicity.
The legislation being developed will provide flexibility if the list of ethnicity classifications of the harmonised standard is updated following the review.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department monitors the different methods by which patients book appointments to see a GP in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes monthly data on submissions received via online consultation systems, including clinical and administrative requests, and the number of cloud-based telephony calls received by general practices (GPs). The annual General Practice Patient Survey and the monthly Office for National Statistics Health Insight Survey collect data on the methods patients use to contact their GP and the perceived ease of contact with each method.
As part of our ambition to end the 8:00am scramble, we want patients to contact their practice by phone, online, or by walking in, and for people to have an equitable experience across these access modes. To ensure that patients are not digitally excluded, the GP Contract is clear that patients should always have the option of telephoning or visiting their practice in person, and all online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing a GP. Practice receptions should be open so that patients without access to telephone or online services are in no way disadvantaged.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 improve the recording and classification of sudden cardiac deaths in people aged under 35.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for the processing, analysis, and publication of death records in England and Wales. Further information is available on the ONS website, at the following link:
NHS England has a published a national service specification for inherited cardiac conditions (ICC) that covers patients who often present as young adults with previously undiagnosed cardiac disease or families requiring follow up due to a death from this cause. The specification states that specialist ICC services should follow recommendations for standards of care, best practice, care pathways, treatment algorithms, data collection, and audit.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department collects on (a) digital impersonation of children and (b) other forms of online crime.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects data on online crime recorded by the police in England and Wales, which is published as official statistics each quarter by the Office for National Statistics. It is not possible to separate out incidents of digital impersonation of children in data held centrally.
The latest information can be found in Table C5 of the Appendix tables to Crime in England and Wales at the link below:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtables/yearendingseptember2025/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtablesyesep2025.xlsx