Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the review of standards for Home Office Type Approval of road enforcement technology will be completed.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

My officials are currently conducting a comprehensive review of the Home Office Type Approval (HOTA) standard in collaboration with stakeholders, including safety camera manufacturers and suppliers and technical experts from the scientific and standards communities.

The review of the standards will conclude as soon as practicable.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on the review of standards for the Home Office Type Approval process applied to road enforcement technology.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

My officials are currently conducting a comprehensive review of the Home Office Type Approval (HOTA) standard in collaboration with stakeholders, including safety camera manufacturers and suppliers and technical experts from the scientific and standards communities.

The review of the standards will conclude as soon as practicable.

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 designating group B Streptococcus as a notifiable disease.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) does not recommend adding Group B Streptococcus as a notifiable disease. Existing national surveillance effectively captures Group B Streptococcus infections, monitors trends, and informs antibiotic prescribing policy. The UKHSA has assessed that mandatory notification for Group B Streptococcus would provide no additional public health benefit beyond this.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timeline is for the data collection, evaluation and interim decision for the in-service evaluation of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

The UK NSC recommended an in-service evaluation (ISE) of newborn blood spot screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in National Health Services in 2023. Since then, the SMA Newborn Screening ISE Partnership Board was set up to plan and develop work to shape the ISE, and progress is being made. This includes planning the duration of the ISE and planning for newborn laboratories to screen blood spot samples for SMA. The laboratories in England that will form part of the ISE are under consideration by the SMA partnership board led by NHS England. The researchers and the National Institute for Health and Research (NIHR) will be responsible for determining the number of babies and services that will be required to answer the research questions.

Earlier in the year, the NIHR published their Health Technology Assessment research brief to appoint researchers for this work. Applications closed at the end of September 2025, and final funding decisions are expected in spring 2026. A decision on the shape and roll out of the ISE will be made after the research call process has concluded.

A recommendation by the UK NSC on newborn screening for SMA is expected following the conclusion of an ISE, which is needed to answer several outstanding questions related to the implementation of a screening programme for SMA.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how newborn screening laboratories can join the in-service evaluation of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

The UK NSC recommended an in-service evaluation (ISE) of newborn blood spot screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in National Health Services in 2023. Since then, the SMA Newborn Screening ISE Partnership Board was set up to plan and develop work to shape the ISE, and progress is being made. This includes planning the duration of the ISE and planning for newborn laboratories to screen blood spot samples for SMA. The laboratories in England that will form part of the ISE are under consideration by the SMA partnership board led by NHS England. The researchers and the National Institute for Health and Research (NIHR) will be responsible for determining the number of babies and services that will be required to answer the research questions.

Earlier in the year, the NIHR published their Health Technology Assessment research brief to appoint researchers for this work. Applications closed at the end of September 2025, and final funding decisions are expected in spring 2026. A decision on the shape and roll out of the ISE will be made after the research call process has concluded.

A recommendation by the UK NSC on newborn screening for SMA is expected following the conclusion of an ISE, which is needed to answer several outstanding questions related to the implementation of a screening programme for SMA.

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 introducing a screening programme for group B Streptococcus in pregnant women.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

The UK NSC last reviewed the evidence to screen for group B streptococcus (GBS) at 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy in 2017 and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits of screening would outweigh the harms.

This was because the test currently available cannot accurately distinguish between those mothers whose babies are at risk and those who are not.

This means that many women would unnecessarily be offered antibiotics during labour, with the balance of harms and benefits from this approach being unknown.

The National Institute for Health Research funded a large-scale clinical trial to compare universal screening for GBS against the usual risk factor-based strategy.

Recruitment to the trial ended in March 2024 and a report is expected in early 2026. The UK NSC Secretariat is in contact with the researchers. The UK NSC will review its recommendation considering the evidence from the trial, after the report is presented.

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 potential merits of (a) repealing or (b) amending Section 2(4) of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.

As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn.

The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the Civil Procedure Rule Committee on the implementation of fixed recoverable costs in clinical negligence claims valued up to £25,000.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.

As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn.

The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.

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 help lower (a) legal and (b) overall costs incurred through clinical negligence.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.

As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn.

The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.

National ban on street-racing

25th Anniversary of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000