Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the evidential basis used by the Office for Students when deciding when to use its regulatory powers.

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

The Office for Students (OfS) is an independent regulator with autonomy to decide how and when to use its regulatory powers, including the gathering and use of evidence. The department does not therefore hold information on the evidential basis used by the OfS when exercising those powers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people on NHS waiting lists have been removed (a) in total, (b) because they were a duplicate appointment, (c) because the person had deceased or (d) for any other reason other than receiving a consultation.

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

NHS England publishes monthly Referral to Treatment (RTT) data, including information on completed pathways and overall changes to the waiting list.

In 2025/26, 21.8 million pathways were removed from the waiting list. Of these, 18.6 million were completed pathways, an increase of 2.8% compared to 2024/25, the highest ever recorded. The remaining 3.18 million were recorded as “unreported removals”.

On average, over 85% of removals from the RTT waiting list are completed pathways. This can include patients starting their first definitive treatment, a period of active monitoring, a clinical decision not to treat, or a patient declining a treatment.

Validation is a routine part of providers’ waiting list management which ensures that patients are on the best pathway to meet their needs, that they still need their appointments and that patient records are accurate. This includes checking for duplicate appointments. Validation is not the same as unreported removals.

The Department does not hold data on the number of patient pathways removed from the elective waiting list in all the ways requested, including identification of duplicate appointments.

However, data on instances where a patient died before treatment is collected through the Waiting List Minimum Data Set (WLMDS). The WLMDS is unpublished management information, subject to less validation than the monthly official statistics and totals do not match between the two sources.

In 2025, there were 77,874 removals from the waiting list where the patient died before treatment. The cause of death is unknown and, in many cases, will not relate to the condition for which the patient was awaiting treatment.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Office for Students has taken enforcement action or opened up investigations into any higher education institutions relating to the E6 regulation since it came into force.

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

The Office for Students (OfS) operates independently of the government, and is responsible for regulating higher education (HE) providers in England, including compliance with the Harassment and Sexual Misconduct registration condition E6.

The department does not hold information on the number or proportion of notifications received by the OfS. Decisions on investigations and enforcement are taken wholly by the OfS. It is for the OfS to determine what it publishes about its regulatory activity. To date it has not published any information about notifications, enforcement or investigations relating to registration condition E6.

The OfS has powers to require and publish information from HE providers, and any decisions about introducing additional public data reporting are a matter for the OfS.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Office for Students will consider requiring public data reporting from higher education institutions to support enforcement of E6.

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

The Office for Students (OfS) operates independently of the government, and is responsible for regulating higher education (HE) providers in England, including compliance with the Harassment and Sexual Misconduct registration condition E6.

The department does not hold information on the number or proportion of notifications received by the OfS. Decisions on investigations and enforcement are taken wholly by the OfS. It is for the OfS to determine what it publishes about its regulatory activity. To date it has not published any information about notifications, enforcement or investigations relating to registration condition E6.

The OfS has powers to require and publish information from HE providers, and any decisions about introducing additional public data reporting are a matter for the OfS.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many notifications has the Office for Students received relating to harassment and sexual misconduct since Condition E6 came into effect; what proportion of the total number of notifications this is; and what actions the Office for Students has taken in relation to these notifications.

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

The Office for Students (OfS) operates independently of the government, and is responsible for regulating higher education (HE) providers in England, including compliance with the Harassment and Sexual Misconduct registration condition E6.

The department does not hold information on the number or proportion of notifications received by the OfS. Decisions on investigations and enforcement are taken wholly by the OfS. It is for the OfS to determine what it publishes about its regulatory activity. To date it has not published any information about notifications, enforcement or investigations relating to registration condition E6.

The OfS has powers to require and publish information from HE providers, and any decisions about introducing additional public data reporting are a matter for the OfS.

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 improve children's access to dental care in York Central constituency.

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

The 10-Year Health Plan for England confirms that child dental health is a priority. The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards across England.

1.8 million additional courses of NHS dental treatment have been delivered in the seven months between April to October 2025 compared to the corresponding months prior to the general election, nearly half of which were delivered to children. The data for York Central Constituencies shows that over 23,000 children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2025.

From April 2026, we began introducing a package of reforms, including a new course of treatment for fluoride varnish for children to be applied by suitably trained dental nurses in between regular check-ups. We will also increase remuneration for dentists for fissure sealants to support increased use of this effective treatment for primary prevention purposes.

We are also committed to fundamentally reforming the dental contract, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention, and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability.

We are committed to a further shift to prevention of ill health. Since 2025, we have invested over £42,000 for supervised toothbrushing in the City of York and over 2,900 free toothbrushing products have been donated so far as a result of our partnership with Colgate-Palmolive to support children in the most deprived areas. We are also currently working with Yorkshire Water on the potential to introduce community water fluoridation in the region, ahead of any public consultation on this matter.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time for a dental appointment was in the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB area in each of the last ten years.

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

Data on waiting times for National Health Service dental treatment is not held centrally so it is not possible to provide information for the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area.

Patients in England are not registered with a NHS dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend. Some dental practices may operate local waiting list arrangements.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for a list of the number of animal experimentations carried out on each species over each of the last 3 years.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office collects and publishes annual statistics on scientific procedures involving living animals in Great Britain which include the number of scientific procedures carried out and broken down by species for each year, available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether current workforce planning assumptions for prevention and long term condition management services specify roles for (a) individual allied health professions and (b) dietitians; and whether those assumptions will be published.

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

The forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out how the Government will ensure the National Health Service workforce is equipped to deliver the ambitions set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, including the shift towards prevention and from hospitals to community-based services. The plan will include workforce assumptions for a range of professional groups. Details of these assumptions will be published as part of the plan in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was to access Community Dental Services for (a) children (b) adults under the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust area in each of the last 5 years.

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

Data on waiting times for National Health Service dental treatment is not held centrally so it is not possible to provide information for the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area.

Community Dental Services provide care to patients who may have difficulty accessing high street dental services due to their social, medical, or dental needs. This may include adults or children with learning disabilities, complex medical needs, physical disabilities, or challenging behaviour.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS clinical pathways for patients prescribed weight loss medications require access to dietary and nutritional support, including referral to dietetic services.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Weight loss medicines were initially only available through National Health Service specialist weight management services. In specialist services, patients receive wraparound care from a multidisciplinary team providing nutritional, psychological, and medical support, tailored to individual need. Where clinically appropriate, this will include specialist dietetic services.

From June 2025, the obesity medicine tirzepatide, brand name Mounjaro, has been made available in primary care through a phased approach. In primary care, clinical oversight is provided by general practitioners and other prescribing healthcare professionals, with wraparound support delivered through locally commissioned services or via the national Healthier You: NHS Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing service. Dietary support typically forms part of the wider wraparound package of care.

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