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 effectiveness of the NHS England Genomics Education Programme in improving healthcare professional awareness and understanding of (a) aplastic anaemia and (b) other rare diseases.

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

Working under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as aplastic anaemia.

NHS England’s flagship GeNotes resource, developed by NHS England's Genomics Education Programme, is aimed at healthcare professionals in order to continue their growth, and has more than 500 resources featured across nine specialties. Aplastic anaemia is not currently included in GeNotes. The Genomics Education Programme is also developing a range of training and educational resources on rare diseases, to include rare diseases in United Kingdom health professional education and training frameworks. Work continues to expand the programme’s coverage.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the requirement that (a) all and (b) terminally ill patients should renew their Medical Exemption Certificates every five years.

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

The Department has made no assessment of the cost to the public purse of the requirement for patients to renew their medical exemption certificate every five years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of data protection laws in ensuring that legitimate complaints processes are dealt with effectively by health bodies.

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

The handling of patient complaints in the National Health Service is governed by the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009. These regulations set out in law the minimum standards NHS organisations must adhere to in respect of their complaint handling arrangements.

There are strong protections in law to ensure that health and care information is used in a safe, secure, and legal way, and these must be observed in any complaints process. These include: the UK General Data Protection Regulation; the Data Protection Act 2018, which establishes a legal framework for processing personal information and keeping it secure, and for only using it for the purposes for which it was collected; the Human Rights Act 1998, which requires public bodies to respect the private life of an individual, including protecting any information held about them; and the common law duty of confidentiality.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to increase (a) the number of technical excellence colleges and (b) AI skills training to support the (i) advanced manufacturing and (ii) clean energy sectors in South Northamptonshire constituency, in the context of the skill commitments set out in the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, published on 23 June 2025.

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

Our Industrial Strategy puts skills at the heart of economic growth. This means ensuring training opportunities match growth areas like artificial intelligence (AI).

We are introducing Technical Excellence Colleges (TECs) to specialise in training skilled workforces for priority sectors, starting with Construction TECs. The number and design of TECs will reflect sectors’ needs, and further information will be published in due course. The government will introduce short courses in England, funded through the Growth and Skills Levy, in areas such as digital, AI and engineering.

The Technology Adoption Review (June 2025) considered barriers to adoption of transformative technologies across the Industrial Strategy’s priority sectors. The AI Opportunities Action Plan (January 2025) considered barriers for AI take-up across the economy aligned with the Industrial Strategy. The government will take forward all 50 recommendations, including recommendations on AI Skills and Talent.

The Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan (June 2025) set out government’s approach to supporting AI, including via one-stop-shops to offer expert advice for businesses around technology adoption.

The Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan (June 2025) establishes actions the government is taking to integrate AI into clean energy sectors, including accepting the findings of the Technology Adoption Review.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to reduce regulation on the plant breeding sector.

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

Precision breeding offers huge potential to transform the plant breeding sector in England. By reducing the regulatory requirements on the use of these plant breeding technologies, it will enable innovative products to be commercialised in years instead of decades.

The secondary legislation needed to implement The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 for plants in England was passed into law on 13 May 2025. Following a six-month implementation period, the new regulatory framework is due to commence on 14 November 2025.

This will unlock the potential benefits for British farmers and consumers, enabling the development of crops that are more nutritious, resistant to pests and disease, resilient to climate change and more beneficial to the environment.

Furthermore, through consultation across the relevant industries, the development of the first UK Plant Varieties and Seeds Strategy will look to support the UK plant breeding sector in meeting the challenges and opportunities of a changing world, and to maintain and enhance the UK’s global reputation in plant breeding.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) patients and (b) terminally ill patients have been (i) prosecuted under the 1999 Health Act, (ii) fined and (iii) investigated for fraudulently claiming prescription charge exemptions.

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

The Department has made no assessment of the cost to the public purse of the requirement for patients, including terminally ill patients and patients with type 1 diabetes, to renew their medical exemption certificate every five years.

Between 1 June 2024 and 1 July 2025, 50,330 people received a Penalty Charge Notice after claiming a medical exemption certificate on a National Health Service prescription.

There has been one prosecution in relation to non-payment of NHS prescription charges, which was in 2019.

Data that specifically identifies patients with a terminal illness in relation to prosecutions, fines, or investigations under the 1999 Health Act for fraudulent prescription charge exemptions is not held. Data is recorded based on a qualifying medical condition which entitles someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2025 to Question 64957 on Prescriptions: Terminal Illnesses, if he will make an assessment of the cost to the public purse of the requirement for patients to renew their medical exemption certificate every five years for (a) all patients, (b) terminally ill patients and (c) patients with Type 1 diabetes.

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

The Department has made no assessment of the cost to the public purse of the requirement for patients, including terminally ill patients and patients with type 1 diabetes, to renew their medical exemption certificate every five years.

Between 1 June 2024 and 1 July 2025, 50,330 people received a Penalty Charge Notice after claiming a medical exemption certificate on a National Health Service prescription.

There has been one prosecution in relation to non-payment of NHS prescription charges, which was in 2019.

Data that specifically identifies patients with a terminal illness in relation to prosecutions, fines, or investigations under the 1999 Health Act for fraudulent prescription charge exemptions is not held. Data is recorded based on a qualifying medical condition which entitles someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 56079 on Agriculture: Land Use, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of commissioning commissioning independent research to assess the cumulative impact of solar farm development on (a) rural land use and (b) visual amenity.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Land Use Framework will provide a long-term view of land use change. Over the next 25 years, England’s landscapes will need to change to support climate change mitigation and adaptation, economic growth, housing delivery, food production, clean energy and meeting statutory targets for nature recovery

The Land Use Consultation published this year was underpinned by analysis of land use change for nature restoration and other objectives. This included analysis produced by Defra’s Land Use Analysis and Research Programme of potential spatial distributions of change through to 2050.

The evidence base for this consultation also underpins wider Government reform, including a Farming Roadmap, the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan and review of the Environmental Improvement Plan.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a reserve-style service as part of the Cyber and Specialist Operations Command.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

SDR 2025 directs that “the future Cyber & EM Force should be a whole force endeavour, drawing heavily on reserves and civilians where expertise lies”. The future Cyber & EM Forces will be part of the Cyber & Specialist Operations Command. Planning to date is drawing heavily on our experience of using specialist cyber reserves and will seek to expand opportunities for reserve-style service; this is likely to include increasing the number of cyber specialist reserves, adjusting forms of military service (including expanding the Cyber Direct Entry scheme), and partnering differently with industry to leverage skills & capacity in wider workforce.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57938 on Investment: Fraud, whether her Department has considered establishing a centralised redress mechanism for victims of investment fraud that fall outside the scope of the Faster Payments System or the PSR reimbursement regime.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

In October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) introduced a mandatory reimbursement regime for authorised push payment (APP) scams which take place over the Faster Payments system, as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2023. The PSR’s regime requires payment service providers to reimburse victims for losses up to £85,000. FSMA 2023 also gave the PSR powers to take action to require reimbursement for other payment systems which have been designated by HMT.

The details of the reimbursement regime and its enforcement are a matter for the independent PSR, but it has committed to carry out an independent evaluation of the reimbursement requirement after the rules have been in place for 12 months, including considering the maximum level of reimbursement.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57938 on Investment: Fraud, what steps her Department is taking to ensure consistency and transparency in how Payment Service Providers determine eligibility for reimbursement under the APP scam regime.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

In October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) introduced a mandatory reimbursement regime for authorised push payment (APP) scams which take place over the Faster Payments system, as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2023. The PSR’s regime requires payment service providers to reimburse victims for losses up to £85,000. FSMA 2023 also gave the PSR powers to take action to require reimbursement for other payment systems which have been designated by HMT.

The details of the reimbursement regime and its enforcement are a matter for the independent PSR, but it has committed to carry out an independent evaluation of the reimbursement requirement after the rules have been in place for 12 months, including considering the maximum level of reimbursement.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57938 on Investment: Fraud, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the £85,000 reimbursement cap for victims of investment fraud where losses significantly exceed this threshold.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

In October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) introduced a mandatory reimbursement regime for authorised push payment (APP) scams which take place over the Faster Payments system, as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2023. The PSR’s regime requires payment service providers to reimburse victims for losses up to £85,000. FSMA 2023 also gave the PSR powers to take action to require reimbursement for other payment systems which have been designated by HMT.

The details of the reimbursement regime and its enforcement are a matter for the independent PSR, but it has committed to carry out an independent evaluation of the reimbursement requirement after the rules have been in place for 12 months, including considering the maximum level of reimbursement.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 57937 on Roads: Closures, whether her Department has considered introducing a centralised digital platform to improve transparency and real-time coordination between (a) statutory undertakers, (b) HS2 Ltd and (c) local authorities during roadworks planning and implementation.

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

My department has already introduced Street Manager, our digital service that is used by all highway authorities and statutory undertakers in England. Our online service allows highway authorities to plan and manage street and road works on their road network. HS2 Ltd also uses this service. We stream open data on live and planned works that is made available to the public via apps and websites.

Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) can be used during works to regulate or restrict use of a road. My department has been developing a central publication platform, known as D-TRO (digital TRO service). The service will improve efficiency and provide real time updates on restrictions. It is currently in private beta testing with a selection of authorities.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 57937 on Roads: Closures, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Code of Practice for the Co-ordination of Street and Road Works in reducing levels of disruption caused by overlapping works from (a) statutory bodies and (b) HS2 Ltd.

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

My department provides the statutory code of practice for the co-ordination of street and road works. It is not possible to assess the effectiveness of this code of practice alone in reducing disruption. The code of practice is one tool amongst many others, including other legislation, statutory guidance and guidance that enables highway authorities to coordinate works on their network and reduce disruption caused by overlapping works.

HS2 Ltd also use a range of mitigation measures to manage disruption across the route and keep local communities informed. To help coordinate works with other parties in the area, HS2 Ltd uses traffic management plans, and holds regular local traffic liaison meetings with highway authorities along the route.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of a universal, paediatric Type 1 Diabetes screening programme.

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

In the United Kingdom, national screening programmes are introduced based on the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which advises ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries on all aspects of population and targeted screening, and which supports implementation.

A proposal for screening for neonatal diabetes mellitus was submitted to the UK NSC via its 2021 annual call process. An evidence-mapping exercise was conducted at that time which concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to recommend screening for this condition.

The UK NSC received a submission via its 2024 annual call process to consider screening for autoimmune type 1 diabetes through blood testing. The committee requested further information from the submitter, and this is now in the process of being reviewed. Further information on the annual call process is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-annual-call-submitting-a-screening-proposal/uk-nsc-annual-call-how-to-submit-a-proposal

The UK NSC is aware of the ELSA study that is looking at screening children for type 1 diabetes and looks forward to receiving the results of this study in due course.

When the UK NSC makes a recommendation to introduce any screening programme they consider the cost effectiveness of the programme, and the Department estimates the cost of implementing the recommendation before ministers agree to the recommendation. Therefore, if the UK NSC makes a recommendation to screen for type 1 diabetes, a cost assessment will be made.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 57937 on Roads: Closures, what mechanisms are in place to ensure accountability when coordination between HS2 Ltd and local authorities fails to prevent avoidable road closures or extended disruption.

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

Highway authorities have a duty to coordinate works on the highway. HS2 Ltd holds regular local traffic liaison meetings with highway authorities to assist with this. Whilst traffic disruption is inevitable on a project of HS2’s scale, HS2 Ltd is committed to ensuring that this is minimised as far as reasonably practicable. This includes ensuring that any plans for road closures or works that may cause extended disruption are scrutinised carefully to ensure that they cannot be avoided and that appropriate mitigations are put in place.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 56079 on Agriculture: Land Use, whether he plans to collect date on the potential impact of large-scale solar farms on (a) agricultural land use and (b) landscape character to inform future land use policy.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 June 2025 to Question 56079.

Defra does not collect information on the potential impacts of constructing green energy infrastructure on agricultural land use or landscape character.

However, Defra does produce statistical estimates of agricultural land areas each year from the annual June Survey of Agriculture:

• In 2024, the utilised agricultural area (UAA) in England was 8.7 million hectares and this has remained broadly stable, only changing by around +/-1% each year over the past decade. Full breakdowns of agricultural land areas are published here Agricultural land use in England - Agricultural land use in England - GOV.UK.
• In 2024, around 7,300 hectares of this land were used for solar panels (less than 0.1% of UAA). However, 50% of this land is still being used for agricultural production e.g. for livestock grazing.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 55644 on Arts and Cultural Heritage: South Northamptonshire, what discussions she has had with (a) Arts Council England and (b) National Lottery Heritage Fund on evaluating the potential long-term impact of arts grants on levels of local (i) cultural participation and (iI) economic development in South Northamptonshire constituency.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Secretary of State has not carried out an assessment of the funding allocated for arts and heritage in the South Northamptonshire constituency specifically, however, the Department has carried out an initial review of publicly funded arts, culture and heritage sectors, including looking at national and local government funding. This work ensures any future policy development is evidence driven.

Ministers have also launched a review of Arts Council England, our arms-length body who are responsible for the distribution of arts funding across England. The review will examine everything from funding mechanisms to community engagement. Baroness Hodge of Barking is leading the review and will provide government with her report and recommendations in the autumn of 2025. The government will then publish the conclusions of the review along with the government’s response in 2026.

Details of Arts Council England funding since 2021 can be found on the Arts Council England website here https://culture.localinsight.org/#/map

The Secretary of State has a range of discussions with Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund across the whole of her portfolio, and DCMS officials regularly discuss support for arts, culture and heritage with their counterparts at our arms-length bodies.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 55644 on Arts and Cultural Heritage: South Northamptonshire, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the funding allocated for arts and heritage in (a) South Northamptonshire constituency, (b) rural and semi-rural communities and (c) urban areas since 2021.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Secretary of State has not carried out an assessment of the funding allocated for arts and heritage in the South Northamptonshire constituency specifically, however, the Department has carried out an initial review of publicly funded arts, culture and heritage sectors, including looking at national and local government funding. This work ensures any future policy development is evidence driven.

Ministers have also launched a review of Arts Council England, our arms-length body who are responsible for the distribution of arts funding across England. The review will examine everything from funding mechanisms to community engagement. Baroness Hodge of Barking is leading the review and will provide government with her report and recommendations in the autumn of 2025. The government will then publish the conclusions of the review along with the government’s response in 2026.

Details of Arts Council England funding since 2021 can be found on the Arts Council England website here https://culture.localinsight.org/#/map

The Secretary of State has a range of discussions with Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund across the whole of her portfolio, and DCMS officials regularly discuss support for arts, culture and heritage with their counterparts at our arms-length bodies.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 56079 on Agriculture: Land Use, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that planning decisions on solar farms are informed by up-to-date assessments of local agricultural productivity and landscape sensitivity.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government places great importance upon our agricultural land and food production and has committed to empower Protected Landscapes to become greener, wilder and more accessible.

There are established routes in the planning system to consider the impacts of renewable and low carbon energy projects, as well as processes to enable communities to engage in the consultation of applications.

Where a proposal involves agricultural land, the National Planning Policy Framework sets out how the best and most versatile agricultural land should be reflected in planning policies and decisions, making clear that where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be preferred to those of a higher quality. This will, where relevant, be a material consideration in planning decisions, including those made by the Secretary of State. Guidance on assessing development proposals on agricultural land is available from Natural England to ensure decisions are informed by up-to-date assessments of agricultural land.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Alistair Carmichael (Chair); Sarah Bool; Charlie Dewhirst; Helena

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Alistair Carmichael (Chair); Sarah Bool; Charlie Dewhirst; Helena

Found: Blake Stephenson supported by David Simmonds, Nick Timothy, Mr Gagan Mohindra, Dr Ben Spencer, Sarah Bool