Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, amongst those who are not in employment, education or training, how many are unable to participate because of their disability or health condition.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Data on the number of economically inactive people by reason is routinely published here by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Data on the number of young people (16 to 24) who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET) due to disability or ill-health was published in 2025 as part of The employment of disabled people.

Data for each fiscal year, starting 2013/14, can be found at The employment of disabled people 2025 - GOV.UK (Table NEE006). These figures are based on the Annual Population Survey.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will provide an update on the nationalisation of East Midlands Railway.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is committed to bringing rail passenger services back into public ownership. We expect the transfer of passenger services operated under contract with the Department to complete by the end of 2027. Ahead of transferring into public ownership, the Department and DFTO continue to work with EMR to restore the full intercity timetable as soon as operating conditions allow. Decisions on further transfers into public ownership, including the transfer of East Midlands Railway's services, will be taken in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria her Department will use to assess the further rollout of community water fluoridation in areas where oral health outcomes are poorest, whether Nottinghamshire and the wider East Midlands will be included in that assessment, and when she expects it to be completed.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions on the assessment of further water fluoridation will be based on feasibility studies and other epidemiological data. Severn Trent Water has been commissioned to complete a study across the Midlands, which will finish by 31 March 2027. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/056982-2026

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the answer of 5 February 2026 to question 90176, what progress she has made on her assessment of the adequacy of (a) fresh-freezing, (b) snap-freezing and (c) flash frozen capacity for brain cancer tissue samples across NHS trusts in England.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 22 September to Question HL2877.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has assessed the potential impact of the University of Nottingham's Future Nottingham restructuring programme on NHS clinical service delivery, including the number of clinical academic posts at risk, the clinical sessions provided by those postholders to Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the arrangements for ensuring continuity of NHS services.

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

No such assessment has been made by the Department. Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.

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 requiring pharmaceutical companies to contribute towards, or provide, a comprehensive national collection and recycling system for medicine blister packs.

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

Medicine blister packs are obligated under Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. The scheme incentivises producer-funded take-back arrangements, as producers do not pay disposal fees on packaging separately collected and recycled through these schemes. There are currently no plans to mandate specific collection arrangements for blister packs.

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 working with The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency on producing medical blister packaging that is easy to recycle, without compromising safety.

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

Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging incentivises producers to use more recyclable packaging. Defra, PackUK, and the Department of Health and Social Care are working to support industry on how they comply with the regulations. Any changes to medicine packaging must maintain product safety and comply with relevant regulatory requirements.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether proposed reforms to the water sector will include specific protections for recreational water users within measures relating to public health.

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

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of sewage pollution on the health of people using inland waters for recreation.

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

The Public Health Water Taskforce brings together senior leaders with expertise in public health and water to provide independent advice to Government on risks associated with drinking and recreational water quality, and opportunities to mitigate those risks. The Taskforce aims to publish its final report and recommendations in 2027.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much pharmaceutical blister-pack waste is generated in the UK each year; what proportion is recycled; and what proportion goes into general waste.

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

Defra does not hold UK-wide data on annual pharmaceutical blister-pack waste or the proportions recycled and disposed in general waste. Blister packs are not separately identified in national packaging waste statistics or other waste datasets. They are generally difficult to recycle through household collections because they contain mixed materials.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her department has made on the potential merits of revoking the pitch-side ban on alcohol in UK football stadiums.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

This is a matter for the Home Office to consider. The Government keeps alcohol-related issues at football matches under review, however there are currently no plans to change the law.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when her Department plans to announce a revised timetable for the inclusion of waste incineration facilities within the UK Emissions Trading Scheme.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

A new timeline will be set out in due course, with sufficient time for the waste sector to implement.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the 159,341 extensions granted under the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme between 4 February 2025 and 30 June 2026, how many grants of permission have been made under that Scheme to date, broken down by (a) initial grants of up to 18 months’ permission to stay and (b) further grants of up to 24 months’ permission to stay; and what is the latest date for which those figures are available.

Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

UKVI published data on Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme does not differentiate between 18 months and 24 months grants of leave. Details of applications issued and refused by nationality and immigration route to June 2026 can be found here Migration transparency data - GOV.UK

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to guanfacine through primary care for patients with ADHD.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The independent review into the prevalence and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism, led by Professor Peter Fonagy, was published on 9 October, providing analysis and recommendations across a wide range of issues relating to the current provision of services in this area.

The Government issued an initial response on the day of publication, available at the link below, but we will set out the full action we are taking in response to the review recommendations in our new Mental Health Strategy to be published later this year, including in relation to the issues raised by the Hon Member.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-pledges-earlier-support-to-tackle-mental-health-crises

Guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are not in shortage, and the supplier base has recently expanded.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for ADHD assessments; and what steps she is taking to help tackle shortages in the supply of Guanfacine.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The independent review into the prevalence and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism, led by Professor Peter Fonagy, was published on 9 October, providing analysis and recommendations across a wide range of issues relating to the current provision of services in this area.

The Government issued an initial response on the day of publication, available at the link below, but we will set out the full action we are taking in response to the review recommendations in our new Mental Health Strategy to be published later this year, including in relation to the issues raised by the Hon Member.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-pledges-earlier-support-to-tackle-mental-health-crises

Guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are not in shortage, and the supplier base has recently expanded.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the outcomes of the Early Language Support for Every Child pathfinder sites; and whether she plans to increase funding for these sites beyond the initial two-year period.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department commissioned an independent evaluation of the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme. The interim evaluation, published in January 2026, found evidence of progress in implementing the programme and emerging benefits from earlier identification and support for children with speech, language and communication needs. It also identified challenges, including workforce capacity, staff training and development, and variation in local delivery.

The programme has been expanded to support up to 20,000 children. The final evaluation will provide further evidence on the programme’s delivery and outcomes.

There are currently no plans to provide further funding to ELSEC pathfinder sites beyond the existing programme period. Learning from ELSEC is being embedded in the wider special educational needs and disabilities reform programme through Experts at Hand. It has informed the Experts at Hand guidance, which identifies the ELSEC model as an approach that local areas may draw on when developing early identification and intervention support for children with speech, language and communication needs.

Through Experts at Hand, local areas can build on relevant features of the ELSEC model when designing their offer to reflect local needs and workforce arrangements.​

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the introduction of free bus travel for under-16s has led to an increase in anti-social behaviour nationwide.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department has not identified evidence that the Summer Bus Fare Offer led to an increase in anti-social behaviour nationwide.

The Department worked closely with operators, local transport authorities and representative groups on the design and delivery of the scheme, and operators retained their existing powers and procedures for managing passenger behaviour and safety.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many under 25s that receive the Universal Credit health element are not in employment, education or training; and how many are.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

The Universal Credit health journey includes claimants with a fit note, those assessed as having Limited Capability for Work (LCW), and those assessed as having Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA).

Claimants who have submitted a fit note have not yet completed a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and are therefore not considered to be receiving the Universal Credit health element. Similarly, claimants in the LCW group do not receive the health element; instead, they benefit from reduced work-related requirements and conditionality. Only claimants assessed as having LCWRA are entitled to receive the health element within Universal Credit.

Table 1 - Under-25 Universal Credit claimants with LCWRA in England, May 2024, by participation in education, training and employment:

Notes/caveats:

1. Cohort is England only as we do not hold education data from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
2. DFE data for education does not cover private education so a small number may be missed.
3. Education also includes those on training courses such as apprenticeships.
4. Data covers those on the caseload in May 2024 to match both employment and education datasets.
5. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
6. Those under 18 can claim UC (and by extension UC Health) in specific circumstances such as no parental support, pregnancy (or recently given birth), responsible for a child or have a long-term health condition, but numbers are low.
7. Usually those in full-time education cannot claim UC. Exceptions are made for those responsible for a child or have received LCWRA and are entitled to another disability benefit such as PIP.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he is planning to restrict the Universal Credit health element for under 25s; and whether this could this affect existing claimants.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

Our future depends on young people being able to achieve their full potential. The period when young people transition from full-time education to building their careers is critical in shaping their professional future. A period of unemployment early in adult life can have long-term scarring effects. However, right now too many young people are being left behind, unable to access the educational and career opportunities they need to build their futures. We need to change that.

We have launched the Milburn review (Young People and Work Review) which is taking a wider look at welfare, health, education, skills and employment. It will consider the challenges facing young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), particularly those living with health conditions or disabilities.