Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the data on the number of patients being treated in corridors in England; and how regularly they plan to publish that data.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England published data on corridor care for the first time on Thursday 11 June. It will be published monthly from now on.

NHS England has worked closely with clinical partners, including the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, to establish a consistent national definition and approach to monitoring corridor care. A national definition and daily reporting arrangements were introduced in March 2026, with the aim of improving visibility of pressures and supporting targeted action to reduce instances of corridor care.

The Government is clear that corridor care is not acceptable and should not be considered as standard practice.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when in May they intend to publish the data on the number of patients being treated in corridors; and how regularly that data will be published.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England published data on corridor care for the first time on Thursday 11 June. It will be published monthly from now on.

NHS England has worked closely with clinical partners, including the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, to establish a consistent national definition and approach to monitoring corridor care. A national definition and daily reporting arrangements were introduced in March 2026, with the aim of improving visibility of pressures and supporting targeted action to reduce instances of corridor care.

The Government is clear that corridor care is not acceptable and should not be considered as standard practice.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards the near elimination of biodegradable waste to landfill in England from 2028.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK has gone further than previous targets to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste being sent to landfill. The introduction of measures such as landfill tax and mandatory food waste collections in the simpler recycling reforms will make significant progress in diverting further biodegradable waste from landfill. Following the publication of the summary of responses on our call for evidence in February 2025, we are considering next steps.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to launch a further consultation in respect of the near elimination of biodegradable municipal waste to landfill in England from 2028.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK has gone further than previous targets to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste being sent to landfill. The introduction of measures such as landfill tax and mandatory food waste collections in the simpler recycling reforms will make significant progress in diverting further biodegradable waste from landfill. Following the publication of the summary of responses on our call for evidence in February 2025, we are considering next steps.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic benefits of moving levies from electricity bills to general taxation for both domestic and non-domestic consumers.

Answered by Lord Livermore

At last year’s Budget, the Chancellor took the decision to fund 75% of the domestic share of the Renewables Obligation through the Exchequer and ended the levy-funded Energy Company Obligation. These decisions took on average £150 of costs off household energy bills and are forecast to reduce inflation by over 0.2 percentage points in 2026/27.

The Government’s fiscal plans – which factor in the impacts of the Chancellor’s decisions on levies – are bringing down borrowing and debt, keeping the public finances on a sustainable path and supporting the Bank of England to keep inflation as low as possible. According to the IMF, between 2025-2030, the UK will be reducing borrowing more than any other G7 country.

The Government keeps all taxes under review and is introducing a new framework to subject levies to enhanced scrutiny and ensure they are affordable, value for money and do not impose unnecessary costs.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of moving levies from electricity bills to general taxation on reducing inflation and lowering the Government’s borrowing costs.

Answered by Lord Livermore

At last year’s Budget, the Chancellor took the decision to fund 75% of the domestic share of the Renewables Obligation through the Exchequer and ended the levy-funded Energy Company Obligation. These decisions took on average £150 of costs off household energy bills and are forecast to reduce inflation by over 0.2 percentage points in 2026/27.

The Government’s fiscal plans – which factor in the impacts of the Chancellor’s decisions on levies – are bringing down borrowing and debt, keeping the public finances on a sustainable path and supporting the Bank of England to keep inflation as low as possible. According to the IMF, between 2025-2030, the UK will be reducing borrowing more than any other G7 country.

The Government keeps all taxes under review and is introducing a new framework to subject levies to enhanced scrutiny and ensure they are affordable, value for money and do not impose unnecessary costs.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to take further action to move levies from electricity bills to general taxation.

Answered by Lord Livermore

At last year’s Budget, the Chancellor took the decision to fund 75% of the domestic share of the Renewables Obligation through the Exchequer and ended the levy-funded Energy Company Obligation. These decisions took on average £150 of costs off household energy bills and are forecast to reduce inflation by over 0.2 percentage points in 2026/27.

The Government’s fiscal plans – which factor in the impacts of the Chancellor’s decisions on levies – are bringing down borrowing and debt, keeping the public finances on a sustainable path and supporting the Bank of England to keep inflation as low as possible. According to the IMF, between 2025-2030, the UK will be reducing borrowing more than any other G7 country.

The Government keeps all taxes under review and is introducing a new framework to subject levies to enhanced scrutiny and ensure they are affordable, value for money and do not impose unnecessary costs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the press release published by the Department of Health and Social Care on 15 April about their 150-day clinical trial target, what was the average time taken for each stage of interventional commercial clinical trial set-up in the reporting period in relation to (1) regulatory approval, (2) site set-up, and (3) recruitment, of the first participant.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The UK Clinical Research Delivery key performance indicators report brings together data to monitor the delivery of globally competitive clinical research across the United Kingdom.

The report includes several indicators relating to study set-up. Indicator 1 measures the time it takes for commercial interventional clinical trials to recruit their first participant from the date initial clinical trial authorisation is submitted. The measure links the different stages of the study set-up process, regulatory review, study opening, and recruitment of the first participant.

The information requested is shown in the below table, as an unpublished subset of the statistics that were published on 15 April 2026 as part of the UK Clinical Research Delivery key performance indicators report, a copy of which is attached. The information is taken from studies held on the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Delivery Network’s Central Portfolio Management System.

The following table shows the average number of days taken for each of the stages of the study set-up process that makes up indicator 1 of the report:

Studies are included where the application was submitted between 1 April 2025 and 30 September 2025. This is a total of 73 studies. These data were processed and assured by the NIHR in the same way as those provided to the Department for publication in April 2026 of 150-day set-up performance, using established data checking processes within the NIHR Research Delivery Network’s data and analytics and specialty teams.

The Department is committed to turbocharging clinical research and delivering better patient care, to make the UK a world-leading destination for clinical research. We are working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the press release published by the Department of Health and Social Care on 15 April about their 150-day clinical trial target, what was the average study set-up time for interventional commercial clinical trials relating to (1) dementia, (2) cancer, (3) stroke, and (4) coronary heart disease, in the reporting period.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The UK Clinical Research Delivery key performance indicators report brings together data to monitor the delivery of globally competitive clinical research across the United Kingdom.

The report includes several indicators relating to study set-up. Indicator 1 measures the time it takes for commercial interventional clinical trials to recruit their first participant from the date initial clinical trial authorisation is submitted.

The information requested is shown in the table below, as an unpublished subset of the statistics that were published on 15 April 2026 as part of the UK Clinical Research Delivery key performance indicators report, a copy of which is attached. The information is taken from studies held on the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Delivery Network’s Central Portfolio Management System.

The following table shows the average number of days taken for commercial interventional clinical trials to recruit their first participant from the date initial clinical trial authorisation is submitted, for each of the disease types:

Studies are included where the application was submitted between 1 April 2025 and 30 September 2025. These data were processed and assured by the NIHR in the same way as those provided to the Department for publication in April 2026 of 150-day set-up performance, using established data checking processes within the NIHR Research Delivery Network’s data and analytics and specialty teams.

The Department is committed to turbocharging clinical research and delivering better patient care, to make the UK a world-leading destination for clinical research. We are working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future, including for dementia, cancer, stroke, and coronary heart disease.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs met in March 2026; and, if so, when the communique will be published on the gov.uk website.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs did not meet in March 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in interventional commercial clinical trials, what the average time taken for (1) regulatory review, (2) study opening, and (3) recruitment of the first participant, was in the reporting period used to support their 15 April statement that the 150 day target had been met.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The UK Clinical Research Delivery key performance indicators report brings together data to monitor the delivery of globally competitive clinical research across the United Kingdom.

The report includes several indicators relating to study set-up. Indicator 1 measures the time it takes for commercial interventional clinical trials to recruit their first participant from the date that initial clinical trial authorisation is submitted. The measure links the different stages of the study set-up process, such as regulatory review, study opening, and recruitment of the first participant.

The information requested is shown in the following tables, as an unpublished subset of the statistics that were published on 15 April 2026 as part of the UK Clinical Research Delivery key performance indicators report, a copy of which is attached. The information is taken from studies held on the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Delivery Network’s Central Portfolio Management System.

The following table shows the average number of days taken for each of the stages of the study set-up process that makes up indicator 1 of the report:

Studies are included where the application was submitted between 1 April 2025 and 30 September 2025. This is a total of 73 studies. The median days taken for each of the stages are calculated independently and therefore do not sum to the overall median for days from submission to first participant. These data were processed and assured by the NIHR in the same way as those provided to the Department for publication in April 2026 of 150-day set-up performance, using established data checking processes within the NIHR's Research Delivery Network data and analytics and specialty teams. The same reporting period was used to support the 15 April 2026 press release Government drives forward its 150-day clinical trial target, a copy of which is attached.

The Department is committed to turbocharging clinical research and delivering better patient care, to make the UK a world-leading destination for clinical research. We are working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the average study set-up time was for interventional commercial clinical trials relating to (1) dementia, (2) cancer, (3) strokes, and (4) coronary heart disease, in the reporting period used to support their 15 April statement that the 150-day target had been met.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The UK Clinical Research Delivery key performance indicators report brings together data to monitor the delivery of globally competitive clinical research across the United Kingdom.

The report includes several indicators relating to study set-up. Indicator 1 measures the time it takes for commercial interventional clinical trials to recruit their first participant from the date initial clinical trial authorisation is submitted.

The information requested is shown in the following tables, as an unpublished subset of the statistics that were published on 15 April 2026 as part of the UK Clinical Research Delivery key performance indicators report, a copy of which is attached. The information is taken from studies held on the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Delivery Network’s Central Portfolio Management System.

The following table shows the average number of days taken for commercial interventional clinical trials to recruit their first participant from the date initial clinical trial authorisation is submitted, for each of the disease types:

Studies are included where the application was submitted between 1 April 2025 and 30 September 2025. These data were processed and assured by the NIHR in the same way as those provided to the Department for publication in April 2026 of 150-day set-up performance, using established data checking processes within the NIHR's Research Delivery Network data and analytics and specialty teams. The same reporting period was used to support the 15 April 2026 press release Government drives forward its 150-day clinical trial target, a copy of which is attached.

The Department is committed to turbocharging clinical research and delivering better patient care, to make the UK a world-leading destination for clinical research. We are working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future, including for dementia, cancer, stroke and coronary heart disease.

Found: Foster of Aghadrumsee Baroness Goudie Lord Hain Baroness Ludford Baroness O’Loan Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Dholakia Baroness Freeman of Steventon Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Baroness Neuberger Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Foster of Aghadrumsee Baroness Goudie Lord Hain Baroness Ludford Baroness O’Loan Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Foster of Aghadrumsee; Baroness Goudie; Lord Hain; Baroness Ludford; Baroness O’Loan; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Steventon Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Baroness Neuberger Lord Randall of Uxbridge Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger; Baroness Neuberger; Baroness Nye; Lord Randall of Uxbridge; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger; Baroness Neuberger; Baroness Nye; Lord Randall of Uxbridge; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard Baroness Goudie Baroness Ludford Baroness O’Loan Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Foster of Aghadrumsee; Baroness Goudie; Lord Hain; Baroness Ludford; Baroness O'Loan; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Freeman of Steventon Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Baroness Neuberger Baroness Nye Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Steventon; Baroness Hodgson of Abinger; Baroness Neuberger; Lord Randall of Uxbridge; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Steventon; Baroness Hodgson of Abinger; Baroness Neuberger; Lord Randall of Uxbridge; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: interests to declare Baroness O’Loan • No relevant interests to declare Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Duncairn Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee Baroness Goudie Lord Hain Baroness Ludford Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard; Baroness Goudie; Baroness Ludford; Baroness O’Loan; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Freeman of Steventon Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Baroness Neuberger Baroness Nye Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger; Baroness Neuberger; Baroness Nye; Lord Randall of Uxbridge; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger; Baroness Neuberger; Baroness Nye; Lord Randall of Uxbridge; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: Duncairn; Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee; Baroness Goudie; Lord Hain; Baroness Ludford; Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: stakeholder engagement (NIO Lords Spokesperson) Ruth Anderson 2026-04-10 Intertrade Ireland & Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: >2026-04-10

Found: 2026-04-10 Training for Women Network Ruth Anderson 2026-04-10 Intertrade Ireland & Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

Found: >2026-04-10