Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total expenditure of NHS England on agency staff was in each of the last three years; and what plans his Department has to reduce the use of agency employees.

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

Agency spend of National Health Service trusts in England in each of the last three years is shown in the table below and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/financial-performance-reports

Agency spend is already going down and fell by nearly £1 billion in 2024/25.

The NHS 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance sets an expectation that trusts should reduce their temporary staffing spend by a minimum of 30% over the financial year and reduce bank spend by 10%. The accompanying Revenue finance and contracting guidance for 2025/26 sets the ambition of eliminating agency spend entirely in the coming years and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/revenue-finance-and-contracting-guidance-for-2025-26/

In June, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the Chief Executive of NHS England wrote to trusts and integrated care boards emphasising the message in the guidance to reduce spend. The letter states that if sufficient progress is not made the Government will consider what further action it can take to reduce spend.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the powers of employment tribunals to seize and destroy lists of blacklisted workers.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

As part of the Plan to Make Work Pay, the Department for Business and Trade intends to publish a consultation on blacklisting protections in due course. The consultation will cover, amongst other things, the powers of employment tribunals in regard to lists of blacklisted workers. The government will carefully consider responses to the consultation before outlining next steps.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Legal Aid Agency informed the Information Commissioner’s Office of the April 2025 data breach within the required statutory timescale; what investigations have been launched by her Department or the ICO into the breach; and whether her Department plans to commission an independent review into the handling of the cyber-attack and the subsequent response by the Legal Aid Agency.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

To ensure we reached as many potentially impacted individuals as possible, the Ministry of Justice published a notice as swiftly as possible at 08:15 on 19 May on GOV.UK.

The statement provides information about the cyber-attack and directs concerned members of the public to the National Cyber Security Centre’s webpage, which contains information on how to protect against the impacts of a data breach. If it is identified that a specific individual is at risk, action will be taken to try to contact them.

The published statement referred to above sets out information about who may have been impacted and the categories of data exfiltrated. It remains the case that there is no evidence to suggest that any of the data accessed has been published.

The recent data breach is the result of serious criminal activity, but it was enabled by the fragility of the LAA’s IT systems as a result of long term underinvestment under the last Conservative Government. By contrast, since taking power this Government has prioritised work to reverse the damage of over a decade of under-investment. That includes the allocation of over £20 million in extra funding this year to stabilise and transform the Legal Aid Agency digital services. This investment will make the system more robust and resilient in the face of similar cyber-attacks in future.

The Legal Aid Agency is complying with all legal and regulatory requirements arising from the cyber-attack. The current priority is the restoration of services and the prevention of future attacks. Once we can be assured that our legal aid services are operating properly and handling people’s data in a safe way, there will need to be a stocktake and an effort to learn lessons.

It is too early to comment on what remedial actions, if any, may be appropriate for impacted individuals, whether clients or providers.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department and the Legal Aid Agency have taken to notify individuals whose personal data was compromised in the April 2025 cyber-attack; whether the Legal Aid Agency has notified affected people directly; and what criteria are being used by the Legal Aid Agency to determine which people are contacted following the breach.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

To ensure we reached as many potentially impacted individuals as possible, the Ministry of Justice published a notice as swiftly as possible at 08:15 on 19 May on GOV.UK.

The statement provides information about the cyber-attack and directs concerned members of the public to the National Cyber Security Centre’s webpage, which contains information on how to protect against the impacts of a data breach. If it is identified that a specific individual is at risk, action will be taken to try to contact them.

The published statement referred to above sets out information about who may have been impacted and the categories of data exfiltrated. It remains the case that there is no evidence to suggest that any of the data accessed has been published.

The recent data breach is the result of serious criminal activity, but it was enabled by the fragility of the LAA’s IT systems as a result of long term underinvestment under the last Conservative Government. By contrast, since taking power this Government has prioritised work to reverse the damage of over a decade of under-investment. That includes the allocation of over £20 million in extra funding this year to stabilise and transform the Legal Aid Agency digital services. This investment will make the system more robust and resilient in the face of similar cyber-attacks in future.

The Legal Aid Agency is complying with all legal and regulatory requirements arising from the cyber-attack. The current priority is the restoration of services and the prevention of future attacks. Once we can be assured that our legal aid services are operating properly and handling people’s data in a safe way, there will need to be a stocktake and an effort to learn lessons.

It is too early to comment on what remedial actions, if any, may be appropriate for impacted individuals, whether clients or providers.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were impacted by the cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency’s IT systems on 23 April 2025; what categories of (a) personal and (b) sensitive data were (i) accessed and (ii) taken; and what security measures were in place to protect the data of Legal Aid applicants prior to the breach.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

To ensure we reached as many potentially impacted individuals as possible, the Ministry of Justice published a notice as swiftly as possible at 08:15 on 19 May on GOV.UK.

The statement provides information about the cyber-attack and directs concerned members of the public to the National Cyber Security Centre’s webpage, which contains information on how to protect against the impacts of a data breach. If it is identified that a specific individual is at risk, action will be taken to try to contact them.

The published statement referred to above sets out information about who may have been impacted and the categories of data exfiltrated. It remains the case that there is no evidence to suggest that any of the data accessed has been published.

The recent data breach is the result of serious criminal activity, but it was enabled by the fragility of the LAA’s IT systems as a result of long term underinvestment under the last Conservative Government. By contrast, since taking power this Government has prioritised work to reverse the damage of over a decade of under-investment. That includes the allocation of over £20 million in extra funding this year to stabilise and transform the Legal Aid Agency digital services. This investment will make the system more robust and resilient in the face of similar cyber-attacks in future.

The Legal Aid Agency is complying with all legal and regulatory requirements arising from the cyber-attack. The current priority is the restoration of services and the prevention of future attacks. Once we can be assured that our legal aid services are operating properly and handling people’s data in a safe way, there will need to be a stocktake and an effort to learn lessons.

It is too early to comment on what remedial actions, if any, may be appropriate for impacted individuals, whether clients or providers.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support is being provided by (a) the Legal Aid Agency and (b) her Department to people whose data was compromised in the April 2025 cyber-attack; and whether those affected have been offered access to (i) credit monitoring, (ii) identity protection services and (iii) any other assistance.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

To ensure we reached as many potentially impacted individuals as possible, the Ministry of Justice published a notice as swiftly as possible at 08:15 on 19 May on GOV.UK.

The statement provides information about the cyber-attack and directs concerned members of the public to the National Cyber Security Centre’s webpage, which contains information on how to protect against the impacts of a data breach. If it is identified that a specific individual is at risk, action will be taken to try to contact them.

The published statement referred to above sets out information about who may have been impacted and the categories of data exfiltrated. It remains the case that there is no evidence to suggest that any of the data accessed has been published.

The recent data breach is the result of serious criminal activity, but it was enabled by the fragility of the LAA’s IT systems as a result of long term underinvestment under the last Conservative Government. By contrast, since taking power this Government has prioritised work to reverse the damage of over a decade of under-investment. That includes the allocation of over £20 million in extra funding this year to stabilise and transform the Legal Aid Agency digital services. This investment will make the system more robust and resilient in the face of similar cyber-attacks in future.

The Legal Aid Agency is complying with all legal and regulatory requirements arising from the cyber-attack. The current priority is the restoration of services and the prevention of future attacks. Once we can be assured that our legal aid services are operating properly and handling people’s data in a safe way, there will need to be a stocktake and an effort to learn lessons.

It is too early to comment on what remedial actions, if any, may be appropriate for impacted individuals, whether clients or providers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with a diagnosis of dementia have needed to sell their home to pay for care costs in each of the last five years.

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

The information requested is not held by the Department.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department holds information on the number of independent UK veterinary practices that offer out-of-hours emergency care.

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

Defra does not hold data on the number of independent UK veterinary practices that offer out-of-hours emergency care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to support GPs (a) with professional training and (b) to update their clinical knowledge on the less survivable cancers.

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

All registered doctors in the United Kingdom are expected to meet the professional standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC). In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice.

General practitioners (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. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.

The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and has to meet the standards set by the GMC. The RCGP provides several resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis, and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.

We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, the biggest increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is bigger than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole, demonstrating our commitment to shifting resources to the community.

Protections for the welfare of wild animals in tourism

Found: It consisted of the following members: Chris Bloore (Lab) Aphra Brandreth (Con) David Burton-Sampson

Submit Evidence (by 7 Nov 2025)

2026 marks 25 years since the establishment of the PSNI following the recommendations of the Patten review on policing. This inquiry will examine how far the objectives and aspirations of the Patten review have been realised, and explore the key challenges facing policing and security in Northern Ireland today—particularly in areas that remain under UK Government co-ordination and funding. Read our call for evidence [here] for more detail about the inquiry and how to contribute your views.