Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of taking steps to help ensure that the transition of children from foster care to adoption does not have a detrimental impact to the (a) children and (b) former foster parents.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The transition from foster care to adoption is a critical period that can significantly impact both the children involved and their former foster parents.

Statutory guidance on placing adopted children states that a clear plan to move a child from foster care to an adoptive placement must be agreed. In many cases a series of introductory meetings will be needed, and guidance is clear that foster carers should be supported by their social worker on such arrangements. What is important is that both the child and prospective adopter feel well prepared before the placement and are happy with the pace of the introductions and date of the placement.

Adoption England are implementing National Matching Practice Standards, which includes detail on how children should move in with their adoptive families. The Standards state that professionals involved with the child should ensure an appropriate plan is made to enable the child to maintain relationships with their foster family following the period of introductions to their prospective adoptive family.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason her Department introduced mandatory renewal of driving licenses for drivers over 70 and every subsequent three years.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The requirement for driving entitlement to be renewed at the age of 70 and then at most every three years thereafter has been in place since 1976. Prior to this all drivers had been required to renew their driving entitlement every three years. Renewal at the age of 70 recognises that a person’s health may deteriorate in ways that affect driving. The driving licence renewal process provides a timely reminder to individuals to consider their health in the context of driving.

All drivers, irrespective of their age, must still ensure they are medically fit to drive at all times and are legally required to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency about the onset or worsening of a medical condition that could affect safe driving.

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 increase levels of research into Parkinson's disease.

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

Government responsibility for delivering Parkinson’s disease research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.

Between the financial years 2019/20 and 2023/24, the Government spent a total of £79.1 million on research into Parkinson’s disease. Research spend is calculated retrospectively, with a time lag due to annual reporting lapses, and so 2023/24 is the most recent financial year we have data for.

As well as funding research itself, the NIHR invests significantly in research expertise and capacity, specialist facilities, support services, and collaborations to support and deliver research in England. Collectively, this forms NIHR infrastructure. NIHR infrastructure enables the country’s leading experts to develop and deliver high-quality translational, clinical, and applied research into Parkinson’s disease. For example, in financial year 2022/23, the NIHR Clinical Research Network enabled 114 studies related to Parkinson’s disease to be conducted in the National Health Service.

The Government is continuing to invest in Parkinson’s disease research. For example, the UK Dementia Research Institute, primarily funded by the Government, is partnering with Parkinson’s UK to establish a new £10 million research centre dedicated to better understanding the causes of Parkinson’s and finding new treatments.

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including Parkinson’s disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

Welcoming applications on Parkinson's disease to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans in receipt of the housing element of universal credit were in private rented accommodation in the Stevenage constituency in the latest period for which data is available.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.

Data coverage continues to improve over time and by November 2024 data was held on the armed forces status of approximately 78% of the GB UC caseload. It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past.

Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far.

The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed Forces status is recorded may not be representative of the UC caseload as a whole. This means it is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past.

For the purposes of answering these questions, “veterans” has been interpreted as referring to those who have declared having served in the past.

The number of claimants who have identified themselves as veterans in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 50.

The housing element of Universal Credit is paid to the claimant household rather than individuals. The number of households receiving the housing element of Universal Credit, containing at least one claimant who has identified themselves as a veteran in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 40.

Similarly, the number of households receiving the housing element of Universal Credit, with a tenure type of the Private Rented Sector, containing at least one claimant who has identified themselves as a veteran in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 10

1. Figures are for Great Britain. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland.

2. Figures in the table have been rounded to either the nearest ten, hundred, thousand or hundred thousand in line with Department’s Official Statistics rounding policy: Background information note: DWP benefits statistical summary - GOV.UK.

3. Further information on the caseload definition used for the UC official statistics can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans received the housing element of universal credit in the Stevenage constituency in the latest period for which data is available.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.

Data coverage continues to improve over time and by November 2024 data was held on the armed forces status of approximately 78% of the GB UC caseload. It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past.

Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far.

The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed Forces status is recorded may not be representative of the UC caseload as a whole. This means it is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past.

For the purposes of answering these questions, “veterans” has been interpreted as referring to those who have declared having served in the past.

The number of claimants who have identified themselves as veterans in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 50.

The housing element of Universal Credit is paid to the claimant household rather than individuals. The number of households receiving the housing element of Universal Credit, containing at least one claimant who has identified themselves as a veteran in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 40.

Similarly, the number of households receiving the housing element of Universal Credit, with a tenure type of the Private Rented Sector, containing at least one claimant who has identified themselves as a veteran in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 10

1. Figures are for Great Britain. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland.

2. Figures in the table have been rounded to either the nearest ten, hundred, thousand or hundred thousand in line with Department’s Official Statistics rounding policy: Background information note: DWP benefits statistical summary - GOV.UK.

3. Further information on the caseload definition used for the UC official statistics can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans were claiming universal credit in the Stevenage constituency in the latest period for which data is available.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.

Data coverage continues to improve over time and by November 2024 data was held on the armed forces status of approximately 78% of the GB UC caseload. It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past.

Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far.

The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed Forces status is recorded may not be representative of the UC caseload as a whole. This means it is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past.

For the purposes of answering these questions, “veterans” has been interpreted as referring to those who have declared having served in the past.

The number of claimants who have identified themselves as veterans in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 50.

The housing element of Universal Credit is paid to the claimant household rather than individuals. The number of households receiving the housing element of Universal Credit, containing at least one claimant who has identified themselves as a veteran in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 40.

Similarly, the number of households receiving the housing element of Universal Credit, with a tenure type of the Private Rented Sector, containing at least one claimant who has identified themselves as a veteran in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 10

1. Figures are for Great Britain. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland.

2. Figures in the table have been rounded to either the nearest ten, hundred, thousand or hundred thousand in line with Department’s Official Statistics rounding policy: Background information note: DWP benefits statistical summary - GOV.UK.

3. Further information on the caseload definition used for the UC official statistics can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

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 enable earlier diagnosis for pancreatic cancer.

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

The Government recognises that pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose early. Its symptoms are often vague and non-specific, meaning many patients are diagnosed at a late stage when treatment options are limited and outcomes are poor. This underlines the critical importance of improving routes to earlier diagnosis.

To address this challenge, the National Health Service has implemented non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways across England. These services support faster and more accurate diagnosis for patients who present with symptoms that do not clearly indicate a specific type of cancer, including those often seen in pancreatic cancer. There are currently 115 NSS services operating, ensuring more patients benefit from quicker access to the right investigations.

The NHS has launched a £2 million initiative funding 300 general practices (GPs) to identify pancreatic cancer early by screening high-risk patients over 60 years old with new diabetes diagnoses and unexplained weight loss for urgent testing. More than 300 GPs across England will begin using the initiative, with dozens rolling it out now, and the rest to be up and running in the autumn.