Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he intends to answer WPQ 84255 tabled on 22 October 2025.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 January 2026 to Question 84255.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the Question 84255 from the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 January 2026 to Question 84255.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) number and (b) variety of available work experience places for under 18s in the latest period for which data is available.

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

Post-16 providers must record work placement activities as part of planned hours for each student for funding purposes and this data is not publicly available. Small scale sample audit checks are undertaken by the department.

Schools and colleges self-report institution level data on the proportion of students undertaking work experience by academic year. Data captured through the Compass+ online self-assessment tool shows that the majority of students in 74% schools and colleges had an experience of the workplace in the 2024/25 academic year.

The department is funding the Careers & Enterprise Company to deliver the first phase of activity to prepare schools and employers to deliver the government’s commitment to ensure every pupil has access to two weeks’ worth of work experience during their secondary education.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an estimate of the number of hospitals admissions which could be avoided per year among over 80 years olds through use of the RSV vaccine.

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

The Government takes advice on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunisation programmes from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). At its main committee meeting of 4 June 2025, the JCVI considered the potential extension of the older adults RSV catch-up programme to include those aged 80 years old and older.

Data on hospitalisations formed part of the evidence which informed the discussions at JCVI and the subsequent advice provided. The minutes of the meeting can be found on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to mandate the release of data for the data linkage study.

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

NHS England is committed to delivering the data linkage study, as part of a wider programme of research that will ensure research is embedded at the heart of the new children and young people’s gender services.

The study was planned to take place during the lifespan of the Independent Cass Review, and a statutory instrument was brought forward in 2022 aiming to protect those disclosing protected information. It is well documented that some NHS adult Gender Dysphoria Clinics did not send data to allow the study to commence and the study was not completed.

After the Cass Review concluded, NHS England took on responsibility for delivering the data linkage study. Following a further period of engagement with study data contributors, including adult gender clinics, the Department and NHS England are now ensuring all necessary requirements are in place to allow the study to successfully progress.

As a publicly funded study, the updated protocol is subject to refreshed research approvals from the Health Research Authority, before the study can begin.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has decided who the members of the maternity and neonatal taskforce will be.

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

We are now finalising taskforce membership based on valuable feedback from some families and those who work in the maternity and neonatal sector. The members of the taskforce will be announced in due course.

The taskforce will include family representatives, those with clinical and international perspectives, workforce representatives, charities, and campaigners, including those who can speak to the inequalities within maternal health.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Leader of the House on the timing of the introduction of legislation on the abolition of NHS England.

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

We are working with the Leader of the House and business managers on the introduction of the primary legislation required to abolish NHS England. This will ensure an appropriate timetable that enables us to work towards the two-year delivery schedule announced by the Prime Minister.

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 9 January 2026 to Question 78391 on Dentistry: Recruitment, whether he plans to publish in 2026 or 2027.

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

Golden Hello data will be published in 2026 and will consist of data showing the regional distribution of the original allocation of posts and the number of posts recruited to at both a national and regional level.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to inform families of his plans for (a) interim and (b) main payment compensation before the second anniversary of the publication of the Hughes Report.

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

The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh.

This is a complex issue involving input from different Government departments. Since taking up my post, I have met with the patient safety commissioner to discuss her recommendations and discussed how we may respond in the near term to recommendations regarding improving the outcomes and lives of people harmed by Valproate and Pelvic mesh. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report.