Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of precision medicine on the (a) life expectancy and (b) quality of life of people living with motor neurone disease.

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

The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan sets out our vision for a future where genomic information and insights are fundamental to healthcare, enabling precision medicine, predictive prevention, and personalised treatment, including for people with motor neurone disease.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has selected tofersen for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis caused by SOD1 gene mutations as a topic for guidance development through its Highly Specialised Technology (HST) programme. The HST programme appraises medicines for the treatment of very rare, and often very severe diseases, and evaluates whether they can be considered a clinically and cost-effective use of National Health Service resources. If a positive recommendation is made, then NHS commissioners will be under a legal duty to fund the treatment for all eligible patients in England.

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 improve the (a) training and (b) awareness of healthcare professionals in (i) diagnosing and (ii) supporting people with (A) myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome and (B) long COVID.

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

The Department published the final myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), delivery plan on 22 July. The plan focusses on boosting research, improving education and attitudes, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease.

To support healthcare professionals in the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS, as set out in the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan, the Department has worked with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes. All three sessions of the e-learning programme are now available on the NHS.UK website, with sessions one and two having universal access whilst the third session is only available to healthcare professionals, at the following link:

https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/mecfselearning?nodeId=7288.

The Medical Schools Council will promote the NHS England e-learning programme on ME/CFS to all United Kingdom medical schools and will encourage those medical schools to provide undergraduates with direct patient experience of ME/CFS. The General Medical Council (GMC) is the regulator of medical schools, and it is important that education is reenforced at different stages of medical training. Royal colleges play an important role in this. The GMC has included ME/CFS in the content map for the new national exam, so all medical schools will need to teach it as a subject.

There is also targeted advice for healthcare professionals to manage long COVID. Patients should be managed according to current clinical guidance, such as that published and updated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG188

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 help (a) increase awareness of and (b) shorten diagnosis times for Postural Tachycardia Syndrome.

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

To improve awareness of postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) amongst healthcare professionals, and specifically general practitioners (GPs), the Royal College of General Practitioners provides training on PoTS as part of its Syncope toolkit, which is available at the following link:

https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/view.php?id=500

The Syncope toolkit includes an e-learning module, a podcast, and a webinar, and provides GPs with information about the diagnosis and management of PoTS. The webinar gives GPs the opportunity to hear the lived experience perspective of a patient representative from PoTS UK.

The National Institute for Care Excellence has also published a clinical knowledge summary on the clinical management of blackouts and syncope, that provides advice for clinicians in the United Kingdom on best practice in the assessment and diagnosis of PoTS. This was last updated in November 2023, and is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/blackouts-syncope/diagnosis/assessment/

We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting times down. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard, that 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, by March 2029.

We surpassed our pledge to deliver an extra two million elective appointments, having now delivered 5.2 million additional appointments in our first year of Government. Waiting lists are coming down, as they have fallen by over 206,000 since July 2024.

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 ensure Mounjaro, also called tirzepatide, is available to people who meet the clinical criteria for weight management.

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

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) estimated that approximately 3.4 million people are eligible for tirzepatide, known by the brand name Mounjaro, to treat obesity. Integrated care boards (ICBs) have a legal duty to make NICE-recommended medicines available to the eligible population alongside the appropriate behavioural and lifestyle support.

The National Health Service is rolling out access to tirzepatide, prioritising those with the greatest clinical need. Approximately 220,000 people are expected to benefit in the first three years of implementation. The NHS is developing and testing new models of care, including community-based services and digital technologies, and will speed up the roll out if possible. Progress on the NHS rollout of tirzepatide will be reviewed by NICE in three years.

NHS England is providing support for NHS ICBs, including providing:

- additional funding to support the delivery of services within primary care and the cost of obesity medicines in line with interim commissioning guidance; and

- a centrally funded wraparound care service ‘Healthier You: Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing’ to refer patients to.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to my statement to the House on 4 November 2025, Official Report, vol. 774, col. 33WS to 35WS.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support Cuba following Hurricane Melissa.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to my statement to the House on 4 November 2025, Official Report, vol. 774, col. 33WS to 35WS.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions her Department has had with Ofcom on mid-contract price increases by O2, in the context of levels of rises set out in customers’ contracts.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Secretary of State met and wrote to Ofcom’s CEO on 31st October to ask for its assessment of telecoms consumer protections and what could be done further, faster on transparent and fair pricing. The Secretary of State made clear that it is imperative that people feel empowered when interacting with the telecoms market, and that they can be confident they are getting a fair deal. The letter set out a number of potential measures for Ofcom to consider.

My department will continue working closely with Ofcom to ensure telecom contracts remain fair and transparent.

Mission Marigold

Scientific hearing on animal experiments

Submit Evidence (by 9 Jan 2026)

The Administration Committee will look at support for Members during the General Election and provisions for newly inducted Members, splitting into split into two different work streams: support for newly elected Members and support for departing Members after the General Election.