Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2024 to Question 244 on Dental Services: North Cornwall, what discussions he has had with the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB on the proposed innovative access pilot project in Cornwall to support the most vulnerable to see an NHS dentist.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the needs of their population and ensuring that the relevant dental services are available. The ICB has confirmed a range of measures to increase appointment availability for local residents, including a dental van launched in 2025 that is providing treatment to vulnerable patients, those in rural communities, and those who have been waiting a long time to see a National Health Service dentist.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that access to bluefin tuna fishing licences is (a) increased and (b) distributed across inshore fleets, including in coastal communities such as North Cornwall constituency.

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

In 2026 Defra is making up to 30 licence authorisations available for commercial rod and line fishing for bluefin tuna, double the number in 2025. The fishery is accessed through an application process run by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and is open to applicants with eligible vessels registered in any part of the UK. The application process will be open between 8 April and 30 April 2026. The vessel criteria have been chosen to create opportunities for sustainable inshore fishing across the UK.

For bluefin tuna catch and release recreational fisheries (CRRFs), in 2026 Defra is making up to 230 permits available across all UK CRRFs with around 150 of those in English waters. Each Fisheries Administration has the power to open a CRRF in their waters. In England, the MMO will regulate the fishery and ran an application process between 24 March and 13 April 2026.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of including Water Hyacinth in the list of Species of Special Concern.

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

Water hyacinth, along with 65 other non-native species, has been risk assessed and is listed as an invasive non-native species of special concern.

The risk assessment for water hyacinth can be found here: https://www.nonnativespecies.org/assets/Uploads/RA_Eichhornia_crassipes_Water_Hyacinthpoc.pdf

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to Motability mileage allowances on disabled people living in rural areas.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Responsibility for the terms and administration of the Scheme sits with Motability Foundation and its Board of Governors.

The changes to the leasing package were announced on 26 March and include reducing the mileage allowance from 20,000 per year to 10,000 per year. Changes only apply to new leases and there are no changes to the mileage allowance of existing leases. Motability Foundation have advised that approximately 75% of customers on the Scheme already use less miles than the proposed new mileage allowance. They have acknowledged that there will be an impact on some customers and are considering if the impact can be mitigated in some limited circumstances.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the consultation undertaken on proposed changes to Motability mileage allowances.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Responsibility for the terms and administration of the Scheme sits with Motability Foundation and its Board of Governors.

The changes to the leasing package were announced on 26 March and include reducing the mileage allowance from 20,000 per year to 10,000 per year. Changes only apply to new leases and there are no changes to the mileage allowance of existing leases. Motability Foundation have advised that approximately 75% of customers on the Scheme already use less miles than the proposed new mileage allowance. They have acknowledged that there will be an impact on some customers and are considering if the impact can be mitigated in some limited circumstances.

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 tackle increases in the level of kidney disease.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease. Eight commissioned regional renal clinical networks are implementing the renal service transformation toolkit in collaboration with providers, with a clear focus on improving early diagnosis, slowing disease progression, and reducing the number of patients reaching advanced stages of kidney disease. This work is supported nationally by the Renal Clinical Reference Group.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disease are closely linked, with shared risk factors, as well as being risk factors for each other. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework. As part of its development, officials are also considering opportunities for earlier identification and diagnosis of CKD and are engaging widely to identify the best evidenced interventions.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the current regulation of property agents in relation to (a) court-ordered property sales, and (b) vulnerable individuals.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 77534 on 17 October 2025 and UIN 113165 on 2 March 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government is working with regulators and professional bodies to strengthen endometriosis education.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government acknowledges the importance of ensuring healthcare professionals are adequately trained and educated on women’s health conditions, including endometriosis, and we have taken action to address this.

The standard of undergraduate medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), the independent regulator of the medical profession, which set the outcomes and standards expected at undergraduate level. Medical schools are responsible for their curricula. The delivery of these undergraduate curricula must meet the standards set by the GMC, who then monitor and check to make sure that these standards are maintained.

The curriculum for specialty training is set by individual royal colleges and faculties. The GMC approves curricula and assessment systems for each training programme. Curricula emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is responsible for publishing the postgraduate curriculum for general practitioners (GPs) and ensuring it remains up to date. The RCGP curriculum covers endometriosis as part of its gynaecology and breast health module.

GPs are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. The RCGP has worked with partners, including Endometriosis UK, to develop educational resources relating to endometriosis to support GPs and other healthcare professionals to deliver the best possible care for women, based on the latest evidence.

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 (a) the prevalence of respiratory disease and (b) the number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in North Cornwall constituency compared with national averages.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data is available for emergency finished admission episodes (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’. The following table shows the number of FAEs where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’ for North Cornwall and England, for activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector, for 2024/25 and provisionally for 2025/26:

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.

Available data on trends in respiratory conditions can be found on the Department’s Fingertips dataset. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data is available at regional, county, unitary authority, and integrated care board level. Information for Cornwall is available at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/Respiratory#page/1/gid/1/pat/15/ati/502/are/E06000052/iid/90933/age/314/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take legislative steps to ensure kinship carers receive an allowance equivalent to that provided to foster carers.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Kinship carers play a vital role in providing stable, loving homes for children who cannot live with their parents, and the government recognises the significant contribution they make.

The department is testing the impact of financial support through the Kinship Zones pilot, including an allowance set at the fostering National Minimum Allowance. This pilot is designed to support up to 5,000 families over the life of the pilot, with over £126 million confirmed for the first two years while we test and learn.

The pilot is exploring how this can improve outcomes for children in kinship care and provide greater stability for families. An independent evaluation will track outcomes for carers and children and will inform any future policy decisions.

The department is also investing in wider support for kinship families, including ensuring all local authorities publish a kinship local offer and that all kinship carers have access to free information, support and peer group services nationally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list the integrated care boards that returned money for unfulfilled NHS dental care.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government wants to ensure that every penny we allocate for dentistry is spent on dentistry, and that the ringfenced dental budget is spent on the patients who need it most.

Changes to the contract already mean that commissioners can more easily redistribute ringfenced dentistry funding to ensure delivery of dental care, in scenarios where contractors are persistently unable to deliver their National Health Service commitments.

We have reduced the NHS dentistry underspend from £392 million in 2023/24 to £36 million in 2024/25. The following table shows the integrated care boards (ICBs) that returned dental allocation to NHS England in 2024/25:

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Housing Ombudsman Service's (a) funding, (b) staffing levels and (c) case management capacity for its caseload and adherence to published timescales.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Housing Ombudsman is an independent, impartial and free service for social housing residents.

My Department remains committed to ensuring it meets its strategic objectives and is delivering value for money.

Since 2021 to this year, demand for the Housing Ombudsman’s services will have increased by 500%. We have been working closely with the Ombudsman to ensure it has the resources and capacity need to meet this increasing demand.

Following consultation, the Housing Ombudsman published its 2026-27 Business Plan on 15 April. Both the final Business Plan and a consultation response summary can be found on the Housing Ombudsman’s website here.

Fees will be increased to £9.64 per home in 2026-27 to deal with ongoing increases in demand. This increase will support the Ombudsman in meeting its KPIs on determination times (90% of high risk cases resolved within four months and 50% of other cases resolved in six months) and will help to reduce the number of their older cases.

The Business Plan also makes clear that in 2026-27 the Housing Ombudsman will undertake a discovery exercise on alternative fee models that recognise positive complaint handling to potentially replace the per home charge and will work with my Department to support an earlier consultation.

Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday

Protection and restoration of ancient woodland

UK defence bonds

MS Awareness Week 2026

Food Bill

Mountain rescue in Cumbria

Introduction of reforms to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

Upland farmers and common land