Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government’s commission on adult social care will consider reform to the means test of the Disabled Facilities Grant.

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

In England, we continue to fund the locally administered Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), which helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes.

We have provided an additional £172 million across this and the last financial year to uplift the DFG, which could provide around 15,600 home adaptations to give older and disabled people more independence in their homes. This brings the total funding for the DFG to £711 million across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

We continue to keep all aspects of the DFG under consideration. Recently, we carried out a review of the upper limit for the DFG and are currently considering the findings.

We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The Terms of Reference for the commission are sufficiently broad to enable Baroness Casey to independently consider how to build a social care system fit for the future, including aspects of the DFG if she sees fit.

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 18 July 2025 to Question 67790 on Diabetes: Screening, when he expects the UK National Screening Committee to complete the review of the 2024 submission on autoimmune type 1 diabetes screening through blood testing.

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

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is currently awaiting the outcome of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) assessment of the drug teplizumab, which is expected in November.

Once the NICE recommendation on teplizumab has been published, the UK NSC will look again at the 2024 annual call submission on autoimmune type 1 diabetes screening through blood testing and will consider whether a fresh review of the evidence for type 1 diabetes screening should be undertaken.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Scottish Government on including aplastic anaemia on NHS Inform.

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

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

Collaboration at all levels across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales remains an underpinning priority. The Department works closely with colleagues across the devolved nations to ensure policy on rare disease is aligned across the UK, and that we share best practice and areas of learning.

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 17 July 2025 to Question 67788 on Prescriptions: Terminal Illnesses,, how many enquiry letters were to individuals regarding incorrectly claiming medical exemption from NHS prescription charges in this period.

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

Between 1 June 2024 and 30 June 2025, a total of 67,777 enquiry letters were issued in relation to National Health Service prescriptions for which a medical exemption certificate had been claimed.

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 17 July 2025 to Question 67788 on Prescriptions: Terminal Illnesses, how much revenue was raised from the 50,330 Penalty Charge Notices.

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

Between 1 June 2024 and 1 July 2025, a total of £980,266.02 was recovered from the 50,330 people who were issued Penalty Charge Notices for incorrectly claiming a medical exemption from prescription charges.

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 17 July 2025 to Question 67788 on Prescriptions: Terminal Illnesses, whether the 50,330 Penalty Charge Notices were issued as separate individual cases; and how many were issued to the same individuals for repeat offences.

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

Overall, 55,347 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were issued to 50,330 individuals for incorrectly claiming a medical exemption from prescription charges between 1 June 2024 and 1 July 2025. Of these, 4,339 individuals received multiple PCNs, while 45,991 received a single PCN.

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 assessment he has made of the accuracy of the statistic that 50% of land with solar panels on is used for agricultural production.

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

The statistics are estimates from the annual Defra June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture, a representative large scale sample survey of Defra registered farms* from across the country. Indications of accuracy in the estimates of the area of land with solar panels used/not used for agricultural production are provided below and in the published dataset https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agricultural-land-use-in-england.

The Relative Standard Error (RSE) is a measure of the variation in the data, expressed as a percentage of the estimated total. Low RSE’s indicate greater reliability in the figures. The 95% confidence interval indicates the likely range of the exact figure. The standard errors which underpin both the RSE’s and the 95% confidence intervals only give an indication of the sampling error and do not take into account any other sources of survey error such as non-response bias or data entry errors.

*Data only covers holdings which are registered with the Rural Payments Agency for payments or livestock purposes and have significant levels of farming activity. Holdings are only included if they have more than five hectares of agricultural land, one hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty on her departmental responsibilities.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department has a long-standing commitment to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant and support the education of children and young people from military families within the state-funded education system in England.

The department is supportive of the extension of the Armed Forces Covenant, and officials have liaised with the Ministry of Defence on plans to improve and extend key policies that target support for service pupils and their families.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential contribution of warehouse rooftop solar installations to the UK’s 2035 solar capacity target.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is aware of the significant potential that commercial rooftops have in our mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower. We are working to unlock this potential. The recently published Solar Roadmap sets out actions for government and industry including developing guidance for landlords and tenants to traverse the complex lease agreements that often hold back sector enthusiasm for rooftop solar deployment.

We will convene a joint government / industry Solar Council to monitor progress and drive delivery of the actions in the Roadmap.

Additionally, solar will play an important role in the Future Buildings Standard for new build non-domestic buildings due to be introduced later this year, and the UK’s overall approach to Net Zero commercial buildings will be set out in the government’s Warm Homes Plan strategy later this year.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to accelerate the deployment of rooftop solar panels on commercial warehouses as part of the Solar Taskforce roadmap.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is aware of the significant potential that commercial rooftops have in our mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower. We are working to unlock this potential. The recently published Solar Roadmap sets out actions for government and industry including developing guidance for landlords and tenants to traverse the complex lease agreements that often hold back sector enthusiasm for rooftop solar deployment.

We will convene a joint government / industry Solar Council to monitor progress and drive delivery of the actions in the Roadmap.

Additionally, solar will play an important role in the Future Buildings Standard for new build non-domestic buildings due to be introduced later this year, and the UK’s overall approach to Net Zero commercial buildings will be set out in the government’s Warm Homes Plan strategy later this year.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what tests his Department applies when assessing the necessity of the use of best and most valuable land in a Development Consent Order application.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The National Policy Statement for Energy (EN-1) and the National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure (EN-3) detail the Secretary of State’s considerations regarding the necessity of Best and Most Versatile (BMV) agricultural land. EN-1 notes at 5.11.12 that the Applicants should seek to minimise impacts on the BMV agricultural land (grades 1, 2 and 3a) and preferably use land in areas of poorer quality (grades 3b, 4 and 5). EN-1 notes at 5.11.34 that the Secretary of State should ensure that applicants do not site their scheme on the BMV agricultural land without justification, and where schemes are to be sited on BMV agricultural land the Secretary of State should take into account the economic and other benefits of that land.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what tests his Department applies when assessing the prioritisation of the best and most valuable land in a Development Consent Order application.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The National Policy Statement for Energy (EN-1) and the National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure (EN-3) detail the Secretary of State’s considerations regarding the prioritisation of Best and Most Versatile (BMV) agricultural land. EN-1 notes at 5.11.12 that Applicants should seek to minimise impacts on the BMV agricultural land (grades 1, 2 and 3a) and preferably use land in areas of poorer quality (grades 3b, 4 and 5). EN-1 notes at 5.11.34 that the Secretary of State should ensure that applicants do not site their scheme on the BMV agricultural land without justification, and where schemes are to be sited on BMV agricultural land the Secretary of State should take into account the economic and other benefits of that land.

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 17 July 2025 to Question 67788 on Prescriptions: Terminal Illnesses, how many of the people who received one of the 50,330 Penalty Charge Notices issued for incorrectly claiming medical exemption from NHS prescription charges have never been in possession of a medical exemption certificate.

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

The information requested is not held in the format requested, as it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost through manual matching of data from multiple unlinked data sources.

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 17 July 2025 to Question 67788 on Prescriptions: Terminal Illnesses, how many of the 50,330 Penalty Charge Notices issued for incorrectly claiming medical exemption from NHS prescription charges were paid.

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

Overall, 55,347 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were issued to 50,330 individuals for incorrectly claiming a medical exemption from NHS prescription charges in the period 1 June 2024 to 1 July 2025. 32,724 PCNs have had a payment made against them.

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 proportion of the 50% of land with solar panels that is still being used for agricultural production is being used for livestock grazing.

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

The statistics are based on results from the annual Defra June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture. The specific survey category was “Area of solar panels on land also used for grazing or agricultural production” but no breakdowns of the type of production were collected and are therefore not available.

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 the breakdown in the type of agricultural production on the 50% of land with solar panels which is used for agricultural production is.

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

The statistics are based on results from the annual Defra June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture. The specific survey category was “Area of solar panels on land also used for grazing or agricultural production” but no breakdowns of the type of production were collected and are therefore not available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many appointments to ministerial private offices since July 2024 have been made by civil service recruitment principles exceptions including the transfer of civil servants from other departments who were appointed by exceptions without open and fair competition.

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

The Department has made one appointment to ministerial private offices since July 2024 to 4 September 2025 by exception to the Civil Service recruitment principles.

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 merits of developing a proxy measure for early diagnosis in blood cancer, in the absence of staging information.

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

The Department continues to support the National Health Service to diagnose and treat cancer as early and fast as possible. There have been improvements in the prognosis of blood cancer patients, with patients now living twice as long. However, we recognise that because of the damaged NHS this Government inherited, patients with cancers with non-specific symptoms such as blood cancer, are waiting too long for diagnosis and subsequent treatment.

There are no current plans to introduce a specific proxy staging measure or a corresponding national target to support the earlier diagnosis of blood cancers. However, the Department will continue to engage with blood cancer charities and key stakeholders to determine how to support the best outcomes for blood cancer patients.

At this time no current assessment has been made on the potential merits of a proxy measure for early diagnosis in unstageable blood cancers. However, we remain committed to making improvements across different cancer types and reducing disparities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities. The NHS currently track early diagnosis in stageable blood cancers by combining the percentage of diagnoses within stage 1 or 2, as it would for any other stageable cancer.

Furthermore, to tackle late, emergency setting diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. There are currently 115 NSS services operating in England with blood cancers being one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services, collects information on how many people in England have cancer. Blood cancer is included as a distinct category, labelled haematological neoplasms. The NDRS website also shows the number of people treated for different tumour types by treatment type, as well as survival rates, mortality rates, and data on urgent suspected cancer referrals. Further information is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-outputs/cancer-data-hub

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on improving outcomes for cancer patients in England, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment. It will ensure patients, including those with blood cancer, have timely access to the latest treatments and technology.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what metrics are used to track early diagnosis in blood cancer.

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

The Department continues to support the National Health Service to diagnose and treat cancer as early and fast as possible. There have been improvements in the prognosis of blood cancer patients, with patients now living twice as long. However, we recognise that because of the damaged NHS this Government inherited, patients with cancers with non-specific symptoms such as blood cancer, are waiting too long for diagnosis and subsequent treatment.

There are no current plans to introduce a specific proxy staging measure or a corresponding national target to support the earlier diagnosis of blood cancers. However, the Department will continue to engage with blood cancer charities and key stakeholders to determine how to support the best outcomes for blood cancer patients.

At this time no current assessment has been made on the potential merits of a proxy measure for early diagnosis in unstageable blood cancers. However, we remain committed to making improvements across different cancer types and reducing disparities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities. The NHS currently track early diagnosis in stageable blood cancers by combining the percentage of diagnoses within stage 1 or 2, as it would for any other stageable cancer.

Furthermore, to tackle late, emergency setting diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. There are currently 115 NSS services operating in England with blood cancers being one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), through the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Services, collects information on how many people in England have cancer. Blood cancer is included as a distinct category, labelled haematological neoplasms. The NDRS website also shows the number of people treated for different tumour types by treatment type, as well as survival rates, mortality rates, and data on urgent suspected cancer referrals. Further information is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-outputs/cancer-data-hub

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on improving outcomes for cancer patients in England, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment. It will ensure patients, including those with blood cancer, have timely access to the latest treatments and technology.

Agriculture

Found: Current membership Mr Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat; Orkney and Shetland) (Chair) Sarah Bool

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

Found: Current membership Mr Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat; Orkney and Shetland) (Chair) Sarah Bool

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