Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent MS specialist nurses are employed by the NHS in England; and steps he plans to take to increase their number.

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

The Department does not hold information on the number of full time equivalent multiple Sclerosis (MS) nurses employed in the National Health Service in England.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) sets the standards for nurse education. There is no NMC requirement for specific post-graduate education for nurses working with those with MS; however, the education and practice learning that prepares nurses to join the register covers learning outcomes to support good care.

Local employers will plan the specialist nurse workforce they require to meet population needs. The NHS funds several post registration education programmes that supports the development of the knowledge and skills required in practice. Each nurse working in the NHS also has access to a continuing professional development budget of £1,000 over three years to enable them to develop their knowledge and skills.

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 ensure access to (a) cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator modulator therapies and (b) other cystic fibrosis treatments in rural parts of Wiltshire.

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

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations on whether licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE.

In July 2024, NICE approved three disease modifying treatments, Orkambi, Symkevi, and Kaftrio, as treatment options for eligible NHS patients with cystic fibrosis, under the terms of a commercial agreement reached between NHS England and the manufacturer, Vertex. These treatments are now routinely funded by the NHS in England for eligible patients.

NICE is also currently developing guidance for the NHS on whether vanzacaftor-tezacaftor-deutivacaftor can be recommended for routine funding for the treatment of cystic fibrosis. NICE is expecting to publish final guidance in August 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Orphan Drug Regulations in stimulating innovation in treatments for pancreatic cancer.

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

The Human Medicines Regulations include specific incentives to support orphan medicines, designed to encourage the development of medicines for rare diseases. The regulations enable the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to grant orphan designation to a medicine intended for the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of a rare condition. This orphan designation provides the product with a period of market exclusivity for the specified condition, preventing similar competitor medicines from entering the market during this time. Pancreatic cancer can be considered as falling under the definition of the rare diseases.

The MHRA further supports developers of orphan medicines by offering a full or partial refund of the marketing authorisation fee following a positive orphan designation. There is evidence that the regulations for orphan medicines do support development, with around 150 medicines successfully developed and authorised for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of rare diseases and given a United Kingdom orphan designation.

The MHRA will continue to review its approach to orphan medicines and, where necessary, propose updates to the criteria to further encourage research into rare diseases and improve patient outcomes.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of fraud involving impersonation of government agencies targeting pensioners have been recorded in each of the last five years by region.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office collects data on the number of fraud and computer misuse cases reported to Action Fraud that have been recorded as crimes by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). Information on the victims of these cases is not held.

Action Fraud reports of fraud and computer misuse offences are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) quarterly in the Crime in England and Wales tables, which can be found at this link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtables

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients have been prescribed stem cell transplantation therapy for MS in the last five years, by NHS region.

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

Whilst there is no data available for how many people with multiple sclerosis (MS) have been prescribed a stem cell transplant, the British Society for Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy (BSBMTCT) reports that, between 2018 and 2022, there were 232 autologous stem cell transplants performed for MS in England. There may be patients for whom a stem cell transplant was prescribed but they did not go ahead with the transplant.

This data has not been made available to NHS England by BSBMTCT by National Health Service region.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total funding allocated to councils and businesses for electric vehicle charging infrastructure was in the 2025 Spending Review; and what this allocation was in the previous five years.

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

In the 2025 Spending Review £400 million of capital funding was allocated to support the rollout of charging infrastructure in the four financial years from 2026/27 to 2029/30. This includes along the strategic road network in England, charging infrastructure to facilitate the deployment of zero emission vans and HGVs, and existing grants. This builds on £200 million allocated to support charging infrastructure in 2025/26.

In the previous five financial years, from 2019/20 to 2024/25, £456.2 million capital funding was provided for charging infrastructure, including through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund and the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NICE document entitled Myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome: diagnosis and management, published on 29 October 2021, what progress has been made on implementing the guidelines in NHS trusts serving Wiltshire; and what monitoring is in place.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning specialist myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), services that meet the needs of their population, subject to local prioritisation and funding. The process of commissioning services should take into account best practice guidance such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance on ME/CFS diagnosis and management, published in October 2021.

The NICE’s guidelines provide recommendations on principles of care for people with severe ME/CFS, including hospital care and adopting a multidisciplinary approach involving access to various health and social care professionals based on needs, including diet and nutrition. NICE guidelines are not mandatory, but the Government does expect healthcare commissioners to take the guidelines fully into account when designing services to meet the needs of their local population, and to work towards their implementation over time.

We are developing a final delivery plan for ME/CFS, which we aim to publish soon. The plan will focus on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease throughout England, including in Wiltshire.

Linked to the delivery plan, the Department has also been working with NHS England to develop an e-learning course on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes, including improving diagnosis.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to specialist cystic fibrosis services through (a) NHS Trusts in (i) Bath and (ii) Swindon and (b) other routes for patients in Wiltshire.

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

NHS England commissions 47 specialised cystic fibrosis centres for adults and children across England. This includes the Bristol Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre, based at Bristol Royal Infirmary, the Oxford Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre, based at John Radcliffe Hospital, and the Wessex Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre, based at Southampton General Hospital, which serve patients in Bath, Swindon, and the wider county of Wiltshire.

Service specifications published by NHS England clearly define the standards of services, care, and outcomes that people can expect from these centres. Those service specifications aim to deliver improvements to life expectancy and quality of life for adults and children with cystic fibrosis.

In addition, NHS England is supporting the optimal monitoring of patients with cystic fibrosis at home and supporting best practice in remote consultations. In August 2024, NHS England published the RightCare cystic fibrosis toolkit to help improve cystic fibrosis services and reduce unwarranted variation. The toolkit is designed to help support systems to understand key priorities and ways of optimising cystic fibrosis care, by providing key actions for improvement. The toolkit should be used in conjunction with the NHS England service specification for cystic fibrosis and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust Standards of Care.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced guidance on the diagnosis and management of cystic fibrosis, which specifies how to monitor the condition and manage the symptoms to improve quality of life.

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 diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis in primary care settings in Wiltshire.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning specialist myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), services that meet the needs of their population, subject to local prioritisation and funding. The process of commissioning services should take into account best practice guidance such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance on ME/CFS diagnosis and management, published in October 2021.

The NICE’s guidelines provide recommendations on principles of care for people with severe ME/CFS, including hospital care and adopting a multidisciplinary approach involving access to various health and social care professionals based on needs, including diet and nutrition. NICE guidelines are not mandatory, but the Government does expect healthcare commissioners to take the guidelines fully into account when designing services to meet the needs of their local population, and to work towards their implementation over time.

We are developing a final delivery plan for ME/CFS, which we aim to publish soon. The plan will focus on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease throughout England, including in Wiltshire.

Linked to the delivery plan, the Department has also been working with NHS England to develop an e-learning course on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes, including improving diagnosis.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to help support (a) integrated care boards and (b) cancer alliances to develop (i) local and (ii) regional long-term workforce plans.

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

We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to ensure that the National Health Service has the right people in the right places to deliver the care patients need, transforming the health service and making it fit for the future.

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 provide (a) transport, (b) digital appointments and (c) other support to families managing the transition of cystic fibrosis patients from paediatric to adult care services in Wiltshire.

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

NHS England commissions 47 specialised cystic fibrosis (CF) centres for adults and children across England, in addition to supporting the optimal monitoring of patients with CF at home, and supporting best practice in remote consultations.

Service specifications published by NHS England clearly define the standards of services, care, and outcomes that people, including those in Wiltshire, can expect from specialist CF centres. Those service specifications aim to deliver improvements to life expectancy and quality of life for adults and children with CF. The service specification for children with CF outlines that the transition from paediatric to adult services should be planned with the patient and their parents/carers with due regard to patient choice, and discussions should take place as early as possible about the process of transition and the options for adult care.

The age of transition should be flexible, with the opportunity to visit the adult centre and meet key multi-disciplinary team members. There should be a detailed clinical handover and a documented paediatric and adult multi-disciplinary team member liaison. Specialist adult CF centres should demonstrate that they are actively engaging in the transition process for each child and are required to submit an annual audit report to commissioners of the experience of patients who transitioned during the year.

In August 2024, NHS England published the RightCare cystic fibrosis toolkit to help improve CF services and reduce unwarranted variation. The toolkit recommends that outpatient services should consider a hybrid model of face-to-face and virtual consultations, as appropriate. It recommends that trusts should provide the infrastructure and resources to provide virtual consultations, including IT tools and virtual monitoring capability, but should not replace face-to-face care where it is more appropriate, dependent on clinical need, or preferred by individuals.

To support patients, including those in Wiltshire, with the cost of travel, the National Health Service runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme. The scheme allows patients to claim a refund of reasonable travel costs, provided that they meet the eligibility criteria and have been referred to hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostic tests. Further details are available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/healthcare-travel-costs-scheme-htcs/

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people with multiple sclerosis who are expected to lose eligibility for Personal Independence Payment under the proposed reforms to the assessment criteria.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 58296 on 16^th June 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much research funding his Department has allocated to cystic fibrosis research with clinical links to (a) hospitals and (b) research institutions in (i) Wiltshire and (ii) the South West in the last three years.

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

The National Institute for Health and Care Research awarded £2,037,265 to six studies on cystic fibrosis in 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 to hospitals and research institutions in the South West region of England, including those in Wiltshire.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated to post-16 skills and vocational training in Wiltshire since 2020.

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

The department publishes details of 16 to 19 Total Programme Funding allocations by academic year. These are available for each academic year since 2020, and can be accessed at the following pages:

• 2020/21: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-allocation-data-2020-to-2021-academic-year.
• 2021/22: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-allocation-data-2021-to-2022-academic-year.
• 2022/23: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-allocation-data-2022-to-2023-academic-year.
• 2023/24: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-allocation-data-2023-to-2024-academic-year.
• 2024/25: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-allocation-data-2024-to-2025.

Each publication can be filtered by local authority to identify the funding for Wiltshire.

Allocations for the Adult Skills Fund, formerly the Adult Education Budget, are also published annually, and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adult-education-and-skills-funding-allocations#published-allocations.

Whilst they cannot be filtered by local authority, they can be filtered by individual provider.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes in incentivising circular product design.

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

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes are internationally recognised as effective tools for promoting more sustainable product design. As part of the development of packaging EPR (pEPR) scheme, we have engaged with industry stakeholders to better understand how it can incentivise circular design principles. The introduction of modulation from year two of pEPR will benefit the most recyclable materials by providing a fee discount. In contrast, less recyclable alternatives will incur an increased fee. Producers can respond to these fee-based incentives and make their packaging easier to reuse or recycle, further, they can adapt design so that less packaging is used. A full assessment, beyond the impact assessment, has not yet been made.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of PIP decisions for people with MS have been overturned on appeal in the last five years, by region.

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

For the proportion of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) New Claim and DLA reassessment decisions, for claimants with MS as main medical condition, overturned at appeal stage by region for the last five Financial Years, see Table 1 below.

Table 1: the percentage of PIP New Claim and DLA reassessment decisions, for claimants with MS as main medical condition, overturned at appeal stage by region for the last five Financial Years

For the proportion of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Award Review and Change of Circumstances decisions, for claimants with MS as main medical condition, overturned at appeal stage by region for the last five Financial Years, see Table 2 below.

Table 2: the percentage of PIP Award Review and Change of Circumstances decisions, for claimants with MS as main medical condition, overturned at appeal stage by region for the last five Financial Years

Source(s): PIP Administrative Data

Notes:

• Figures for England and Wales only.
• Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
• These figures include appeal clearances and decisions for PIP New Claims, Reassessments, Award Reviews and Change of Circumstances. These figures include appeals cleared from April 2019 to December 2024, in line with latest PIP statistics Personal Independence Payment: Clearance/Outstanding Times and Customer Journey Statistics to January 2025, England & Wales (XLS).
• Appeals data has been taken from DWP PIP customer system’s management information. Therefore, this appeal data may differ from that held by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.
• This data is unpublished data. It should be used with caution, and it may be subject to future revision.
• Figures include appeals overturns following tribunal hearing and lapsed appeals.
• A lapsed appeal is where DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.
• An overturned appeal is where the decision was changed in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged and was heard at tribunal hearing.
• Appeals can have their decision upheld or may also be withdrawn by the claimant. These are not included in the above tables.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of NHS mental health referrals for under-18s were seen within four weeks in Wiltshire in the last 12 months.

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

The following table shows the number of new referrals in 2024/25 for those aged zero to 17 years old, and their associated waiting times, in Wiltshire:

Source: Mental Health Services Dataset.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential economic merits of implementing circular economy models in the UK.

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

This Government has committed to transitioning to a circular economy to improve lives up and down the country, grow our economy, and protect our environment for generations to come. Recent economic modelling of illustrative measures suggests we could grow GDP in England by 0.8% over 15 years, deliver green jobs, promote efficient and productive use of resources, minimise negative environmental impacts and accelerate to Net Zero.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to review the (a) guidance and (b) training provided to assessors conducting Work Capability Assessments for people living with ME.

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

When the FAS Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) contracts commenced, DWP Clinical Policy Group took over ownership of all the clinical Core Training and Guidance Materials (CTGM). These documents, amongst other things, contain clinical condition specific training including ME.

All HAAS Lot Suppliers are required to use CTGM to inform and develop training programmes and associated materials for their Health Care Professionals (HCPs) delivering Work Capability Assessments, Personal Independence Payment and Specialist benefit assessments on behalf of the DWP. HCPs are required to have appropriate knowledge of the clinical aspects and the functional effects of a wide range of health conditions and disabilities.

To maintain quality and consistency across all Suppliers, we have established a Clinical Authorship Team (CAT), an Editorial Board and a robust quality assurance process. The CAT is responsible for producing, reviewing, and updating all CTGM annually. The CAT is comprised of: Clinical leads, Clinical authors & Admin leads from each of the Suppliers and is overseen by the DWP clinical policy team.

To ensure CTGM is unbiased and fit for purpose it is subject to a rigorous quality assurance process. All materials are clinically quality assured by external independent clinicians (in line with best practice and current up-to-date clinical guidance e.g. NICE guidelines) and policy quality assured by DWP clinical policy experts.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available through Access to Work for people with cystic fibrosis (a) with and (b) without (i) transport and (ii) rural connectivity barriers to employment in Wiltshire.

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

The Access to Work Scheme provides grant funding for workplace adjustments that go beyond an employer’s duty to provide reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. The Scheme can provide support for those in work or about to start work for a wide range of health conditions, such as Cystic Fibrosis, including support to travel to and in work.

In 2018, the Department commissioned NatCen, an independent social research organisation, to explore the feasibility of evaluating the impacts of Access to Work. The report uncovered several challenges determining the impacts of Access to Work mainly around identifying an appropriate counterfactual and the difficulties in constructing a comparison group.

To assess the role of Access to Work in supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to enter and stay in work, the Department commissioned qualitative evaluations of Access to Work in most recently in 2018, and 2009. The 2018 evaluation ‘Access to Work: Qualitative research with applicants, employers and delivery staff’ gathered evidence on the value of Access to Work to employers and employees.

The 2009 evaluation: ‘Evaluation of Access to Work: Core Evaluation’ explored customer, employer, assessor and other views relating to: marketing and awareness, application process, assessments, outcomes, impact and areas for improvement.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to promote the transition to a circular economy.

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

This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy and has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, for which we plan to publish for consultation in the coming autumn.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the commercialisation of circular economy innovations in UK supply chains.

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

Defra recognises that commercialising circular economy innovations in UK supply chains is critical to driving genuine circular change and economic growth. In taking a whole-economy approach, the Circular Economy Taskforce will consider how the Government can support innovation, particularly at scale, as it develops the Circular Economy Strategy for England.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the £2.65 billion allocated under the Government’s flood defence investment programme is being directed to flood mitigation schemes in Wiltshire.

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

We’re investing a record £2.65 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. The full list of over 700 schemes to benefit from fresh funding this year was announced on 31 March and can be found here.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of flooding incidents reported in Wiltshire (a) since 2020 and (b) each of the previous five-year periods.

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

Since 2010, the Wiltshire Council area has experienced multiple flood incidents that have required the response of the Environment Agency and other Flood Risk Authorities. This included widespread flooding during 2023/24, resulting in two-thirds of towns and parishes in the county being flooded and over 450 properties flooded. Flooding was also particularly acute during 2012-2014, with heavy rain and ten storms experienced between October 2013 and February 2014.

Projects such as Salisbury River Park, that helps to better protect 350 properties from flooding, and property flood resilience measures that were installed in areas such as Dauntsey in 2015, help to create more flood resilient communities.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) funding and (b) resourcing for the Financial Conduct Authority for effective regulation of the cryptoasset sector.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Since January 2020, certain cryptoasset firms have been required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the UK’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations (MLRs). To date, 51 cryptoasset firms have been registered with the FCA under the MLRs and there are 49 firms with current registration.

On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets that will protect consumers while supporting growth by giving industry the certainty it needs to invest in the UK. The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year.

The FCA is operationally independent from Government and is a self-financing organisation funded via a levy on financial services firms. Any costs incurred under the forthcoming cryptoasset regulatory regime will therefore be recovered by the FCA through authorisation fees and the annual levy.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps her Department has taken to strengthen consumer protection in relation to investments in unbacked cryptocurrencies.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Since January 2020, certain cryptoasset firms have been required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the UK’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations (MLRs). To date, 51 cryptoasset firms have been registered with the FCA under the MLRs and there are 49 firms with current registration.

On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets that will protect consumers while supporting growth by giving industry the certainty it needs to invest in the UK. The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year.

The FCA is operationally independent from Government and is a self-financing organisation funded via a levy on financial services firms. Any costs incurred under the forthcoming cryptoasset regulatory regime will therefore be recovered by the FCA through authorisation fees and the annual levy.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data her Department holds on the number of UK-based firms registered with the Financial Conduct Authority to provide cryptoasset services.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Since January 2020, certain cryptoasset firms have been required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the UK’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations (MLRs). To date, 51 cryptoasset firms have been registered with the FCA under the MLRs and there are 49 firms with current registration.

On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets that will protect consumers while supporting growth by giving industry the certainty it needs to invest in the UK. The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year.

The FCA is operationally independent from Government and is a self-financing organisation funded via a levy on financial services firms. Any costs incurred under the forthcoming cryptoasset regulatory regime will therefore be recovered by the FCA through authorisation fees and the annual levy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish waiting times for ADHD assessment by region; and what steps he is taking to help Integrated Care Boards with the longest waits reduce those waiting times.

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

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for assessment and diagnosis for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for individual organisations by regions in England. Although the data requested is not held centrally, it may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or commissioners.

For the first time, NHS England published management information on ADHD waits at a national level on 29 May 2025 as part of its ADHD data improvement plan; it has also released technical guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) to improve recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data and publishing more localised data in future.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report is expected to be published shortly, with the final report expected in the summer. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support local systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of trends in waiting times for ADHD assessments in (a) children and (b) adults in the last five years; and what steps he is taking to reduce these delays.

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

Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service, published in September 2024, highlighted the severe delays for accessing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments and that demand for assessments for ADHD has grown significantly in recent years.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim is expected to be published shortly, with the final report expected in summer 2025.

For the first time, NHS England published management information on ADHD waits at a national level on 29 May 2025 as part of its ADHD data improvement plan; it will soon release technical guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) to improve recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the minimum unit of dental activity value to £35; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on incentivising dentists to stay in the NHS while a new dental contract is being developed.

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

From 1 April 2024, the Department raised the minimum Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) rate to £28 to support practices with historically low UDA rates, benefitting 876 contracts. Integrated care boards (ICBs) have the flexibility to influence the UDA rate locally, which may help to support local interventions, and there are differential UDA rates across England. Differential UDA rates allow providers to use differing pay rates to reflect the local market rates.

More broadly, the Government is committed to reforming the dental contract and will not wait to make improvements to the current system where these can increase access and incentivise the workforce to deliver more National Health Service care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the implementation plan for the upcoming 10-year health plan will include steps to reform NHS dental contracts.

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

The 10-Year Health Plan will set out the next steps the Government will take to rebuild dentistry in the long term.

We will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists. There are no perfect payment systems, and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.

We are continuing to meet the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to discuss how we can best deliver our shared ambition to improve access for NHS dental patients.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the update was of the Warm Home Discount Scheme in 2024 in each region.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The most recent uptake data for the Warm Home Discount is available in the publication: Warm Home Discount statistics, 2023 to 2024- gov.uk. The scheme for winter 2024/25 closed on 31 March 2025 and is expected to have supported over 3 million households. The Department will publish the official statistics for winter 2024/25 on 26 June 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to give dental (a) hygienists and (b) therapists NHS performer numbers in workforce (i) retention and (ii) access strategies.

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

To work under a National Health Service primary care dental services contract, a dentist must join the NHS Dental Performers List. This is not a requirement for other members of the dental team, and the Government has no plans to change this.

Amendments to the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 took effect on 26 June 2024, to allow dental hygienists and dental therapists to supply or administer specific medicines under exemptions, supporting them to work to their full scope of practice.

NHS England has issued guidance which includes information about training for those wishing to work under the exemptions. All education should be supported by a certificate as well as reflection for personal development. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/supply-and-administration-of-medicines-by-dental-hygienists-and-dental-therapists/#which-medicines-are-approved-for-supply-and-administration

This guidance also clarified that whilst dental therapists and dental hygienists do not have performer numbers, they can open and close NHS courses of treatment and provide further direct access to NHS care, where that care is within the General Dental Council’s Scope of Practice, if they are qualified, competent, and indemnified to do so.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the tax gap.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

At the Budget last autumn, the Government introduced the most ambitious package ever to close the tax gap, ensuring more individuals and businesses pay the taxes they owe and raising £6.5 bn in additional tax revenue per year by 2029-2030. At the Spring Statement, the Government built on this and announced a package of measures to further close the tax gap and raise over £1 billion more.

The announcements since the start of this Government will see 5,500 more compliance officers, alongside 2400 staff in HMRC’s debt management teams to ensure those who can afford to pay their tax debts do so.

The Government is also delivering on its commitments to prosecute more tax fraudsters, to introduce a new HMRC reward scheme for informants, to tackle ‘phoenixism’, and to overhaul HMRC’s approach to offshore tax non-compliance. The Government has also set out its plans to go further in the future to make it easier for taxpayers to pay the right tax through a modern and digital tax system.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take legislative steps to require platform providers to collect proof of (a) qualifications, (b) insurance and (c) local authority licenses from people offering pet (i) boarding or (ii) walking services on their platform.

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

The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 require anyone in the business of boarding cats and dogs to have a valid licence from their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities. There are no plans to make it mandatory for platforms to collect proof in relation to pet boarding or walking services.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department plans to take to help ensure prompt payment of the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners in Wiltshire.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The vast majority of pensioners in England and Wales – around 9 million individuals - will now benefit from Winter Fuel Payments. No pensioner will need to take any action now as they will automatically receive the payment this winter, and for those with incomes above the threshold it will be automatically recovered via HMRC. Pensioners who want to opt out and not receive the payment at all, will be able to do so.

Announcing the increase in eligibility before the Summer recess and by paying all pensioners—except those who opt out—we are able to rely on established processes that can ensure prompt payments of Winter Fuel Payments for the coming winter.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding her Department provides to support SMEs in the construction sector to adopt circular design and reuse practices.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Small and medium sized housebuilders are essential to meeting the government’s housing ambitions and supporting local economies.

The government is acting to support SME housebuilders by increasing their access to land, providing further financial assistance and easing the burden of regulation. Further details can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 2 June 2025 (HCWS673).

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, which the government expects to consult on in the Autumn.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cryptocurrency-related suspicious activity reports were filed with the National Crime Agency in each of the last three years.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

The number of cryptocurrency-related suspicious activity reports filed in each of the last three years were:

FY 2021/22 – 73,652

FY 2022/23 – 78,132

FY 2023/24 – 70,222

Figures for FY 2024/25 are not yet available.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of cryptocurrency use in illicit finance; and what steps she is taking to reduce this activity.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

Directed by the Economic Crime Plan 2 (and supported by an Economic Crime Levy funding) UK law enforcement is investing in improving both its capacity and capability to investigate the criminal use of cryptoassets. This includes:

• Investing in specialist capability in the NCA and partner agencies, including the recruitment of an additional 475 Financial Crime investigators (292 currently in post) and developing an improved crypto track and trace capability which will go live in December 2025.
• Funding public-private crypto collaboration teams in police forces and ROCUs through the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme
• New training and upskilling that has been rolled out to improve law enforcement officers’ understanding of cryptoassets, supported by the provision of specialist tooling (i.e. blockchain analytics tools).
• Building a new crypto-specific public/ private partnership within the existing Joint Money Laundering Taskforce structure in order to understand the threat and foment various joint initiatives (including around data sharing).
• Developing a multi-agency operational crypto cell to ensure that knowledge and abilities in investigating cryptoassets are pooled together, and that all available tools and powers and are exploited efficiently.
• Designing a system-wide strategy, with an accompanying roadmap of activities required to prevent and disrupt digital asset-enabled crime impacting the UK. The focus is on ensuring system co-ordination and collaboration, keeping the public / consumers safe, effectively disrupting criminals through robust enforcement and building global co-operation to effectively share information and gain a consistency in regulatory standards.

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 raise public awareness of cholangiocarcinoma (a) symptoms and (b) risk factors.

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

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 23 January 2025 to Question 24851.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research funding has been allocated to cholangiocarcinoma through (a) UK Research and Innovation and (b) the National Institute for Health and Care Research in the last five years.

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

The Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. These investments are pivotal to informing efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes, including research into cholangiocarcinoma and cancers of the bile duct.

In the period 2020/21 to 2024/25, the NIHR invested approximately £2 million across five chloangiocarcinoma research projects. NIHR’s wider investments in research infrastructure and workforce enabled another 90 non-NIHR funded cholangiocarcinoma research studies to take place in the same period. In addition, between 2020 and 2024, UK Research and Innovation committed a further £1.4 million to cholangiocarinoma research.

NIHR investments have included studies looking at the clinical and cost effectiveness of drugs for treating cholangiocarcinoma, including futibatinib, and druvalumab in conjunction with gemcitabine and cisplatin.

NIHR continues to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including cholangiocarcinoma and cancers of the bile duct.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of residents paying above 5% of household income on (a) broadband and (b) mobile services in Wiltshire; and what steps he is taking to monitor the affordability of connectivity in rural areas.

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

The Government has not estimated the number of residents spending over 5% of household income on broadband and mobile services in Wiltshire.

We regularly engage with Ofcom, the independent regulator of telecommunications, who publish research on affordability of telecoms services, including the number of households who struggle to pay for their bills, but they do not report on the number of households paying above 5% of their income.

To support low-income households, over 25 providers offer low-cost mobile and broadband packages for those on Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the higher education admissions system takes into account the frequent relocations of military service children.

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

Universities are autonomous bodies, independent from government and are responsible for their own admissions decisions.

Universities and colleges decide who to offer a place to by considering a range of factors detailed within an applicant's UCAS application. In addition to their predicted grades, this can include their personal statement, teacher references, contextual factors and, for certain courses that have an October application deadline, their performance in admissions tests. This is a process that differs between providers and even between different courses at the same providers.

Admissions teams are accustomed to considering a wide range of personal circumstances when making decisions.

Higher education (HE) providers registered with the Office for Students (OfS) intending to charge higher level tuition fees must have an Access and Participation Plan approved by the OfS. Providers are expected to take into account the OfS Equality of Opportunity Risk Register in developing a plan. The Register identifies service children as a group in particular need of support.

The government takes a close interest in ensuring that the system is fair. We work closely with HE providers and sector bodies to make sure the system works well for students.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of households without home internet access in Wiltshire; and what recent estimate his Department has made of levels of digital exclusion in (a) Wiltshire and (b) Chippenham constituency.

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

According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2025 Spring Update, in the Wiltshire local authority area, 104 premises had no mobile, fixed or wireless internet service provider coverage and in the Chippenham constituency, 14 premises. And through Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network, we are continuing to deliver broadband and mobile connectivity to hard-to-reach areas with limited or no coverage.

Ofcom survey data shows that around 5% of households nationally do not have at home internet access, we do not have a more local breakdown of this figure.

The Government published its Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February 2025, which outlines the first five actions we are taking over the next year to boost digital inclusion across the UK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to increase (a) school and (b) college funding per pupil above the rate of inflation in each financial year until 2029.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Across the spending review, core schools funding, including special educational needs and disabilities investment, will increase from £65.3 billion in the 2025/26 financial year (including the additional funding announced in May 2025) to £69.5 billion by the 2028/29 financial year. Taken together, this grows per-pupil spending over this spending review period by 2.7% in real terms.

This government is making a substantial investment in skills, with over £1 billion of additional funding by the 2028/29 financial year, on top of the phase 1 settlement for the 2025/26 financial year. This funding protects opportunity, delivers the workforce needed for the Plan for Change, and fuels future growth. It includes funding to support 1.3 million 16 to 19-year-olds, including 65,000 additional learners by financial year 2028/29.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) school and (b) college funding per pupil in Wiltshire in 2024–25.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Through the dedicated schools grant (DSG), Wiltshire received £364.5 million for mainstream schools in the 2024/25 financial year. This represented an increase of 2.3% per pupil compared to 2023/24, excluding growth funding. On top of that, they received £20.9 million in additional grant funding to support teacher and support staff pay rises as well as increases in teachers’ pension employer contribution rates.

Funding for 16 to 19-year-olds uses the same funding formula regardless of whether the student is studying at a school sixth form, general further education college, or other provider type for their study programme or T Level.

The department publishes details of 16 to 19 Total Programme Funding allocations by academic year, with academic year 2024 to 2025 available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-allocation-data-2024-to-2025. This can be filtered by local authority to identify the funding for Wiltshire.

Allocations for the Adult Skills Fund, formerly the Adult Education Budget, are also published annually and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adult-education-and-skills-funding-allocations#published-allocations. Whilst they cannot be filtered by local authority, they can be filtered by individual provider.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of provision of Relationship and Sex Education for young people aged 16 to19 in post-16 education settings.

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

The department recognises the importance of promoting healthy relationships to young people. This is why relationships and sex education (RSE) is a standard element of the personal development tutorial system in further education.

These regular tutorials allow students to hear about and discuss subjects important to their lives as responsible, active citizens, such as British values, resilience and how to navigate the world of work.

Education in healthy relationships is at the core of each college’s programme. Students participate in debates about respect, consent, misogyny, gender stereotyping, coercive control, sexual violence and sexual health, and consider the impact of negative behaviours.

Ofsted’s personal development judgement evaluates a college’s intent to provide for the personal development of learners, and the quality of the way in which it does this. Education in healthy relationships is one of the areas of focus.

The department has engaged an expert college leader, Polly Harrow, to develop a toolkit for colleges to drive the quality and consistency of RSE. The toolkit, to be launched in November, will provide tutorial materials and delivery advice, giving all colleges the skills and confidence to deliver on personal development effectively, and to tackle misogyny head on.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to make Relationship and Sex Education mandatory in post-16 education settings.

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

The department recognises the importance of promoting healthy relationships to young people. This is why relationships and sex education (RSE) is a standard element of the personal development tutorial system in further education.

These regular tutorials allow students to hear about and discuss subjects important to their lives as responsible, active citizens, such as British values, resilience and how to navigate the world of work.

Education in healthy relationships is at the core of each college’s programme. Students participate in debates about respect, consent, misogyny, gender stereotyping, coercive control, sexual violence and sexual health, and consider the impact of negative behaviours.

Ofsted’s personal development judgement evaluates a college’s intent to provide for the personal development of learners, and the quality of the way in which it does this. Education in healthy relationships is one of the areas of focus.

The department has engaged an expert college leader, Polly Harrow, to develop a toolkit for colleges to drive the quality and consistency of RSE. The toolkit, to be launched in November, will provide tutorial materials and delivery advice, giving all colleges the skills and confidence to deliver on personal development effectively, and to tackle misogyny head on.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the incidence of domestic abuse among 16 to 19 year-olds.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Acknowledging the complex nature of domestic abuse, the ONS recently revised a question module in the Crime Survey for England and Wales to improve the accuracy and depth of data collected on domestic abuse. According to the new survey module, 18.7% of 16 to 19-year-olds experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2024.

The Home Secretary has been clear that teenage relationship abuse is an extremely important issue the government is tackling. Current CPS guidance applies to all cases of domestic abuse, irrespective of the age of the perpetrator or victim, meaning that protective orders such as Restraining Orders can be implemented to protect victims.

In the upcoming VAWG Strategy, we will also outline steps we are taking to respond to teenage relationship abuse - including through prevention and supporting victims further.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that fair dealing improvements under Grocery Supply Code of Practice are extended to upstream suppliers who are not covered by the Code.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Groceries Code is a competition measure owned by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA can only change the Code in ways which address the specific effects on competition found during its original market investigation, and not to address new issues or sectors.

The government has introduced Fair Dealing Regulations under the Agriculture Act 2020 to deal with the production end of the supply chain in specific sectors. These are enforced by the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA).

The government is currently undertaking the fourth statutory review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA). The review additionally asks if there are unfair contractual practices in parts of the supply chain not covered by the GCA or ASCA.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department holds data on how many local authorities have complete and accessible records of historic stillbirth burials.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government understands that tracing a baby’s grave or a record of cremation can be a very difficult time for people both mentally and emotionally. It is important, therefore, that parents searching for the final resting place of their child’s remains are given as much help as possible.

We know some councils are actively engaged with providing markers and memorials in cemeteries where stillborn babies were laid to rest in communal graves, and I would encourage members to contact their local authority directly. We anticipate councils will be open to suggestions from MPs on how best to support families affected in the way she describes.

The government expects all hospitals and burial and cremation authorities to assist by providing all information and records available to them, to any parents that enquire about what happened to their stillborn babies and their final resting place, in a timely manner.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support his Department is providing to local authorities and families wishing to install memorials or markers on sites of historic communal graves of stillborn babies.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government understands that tracing a baby’s grave or a record of cremation can be a very difficult time for people both mentally and emotionally. It is important, therefore, that parents searching for the final resting place of their child’s remains are given as much help as possible.

We know some councils are actively engaged with providing markers and memorials in cemeteries where stillborn babies were laid to rest in communal graves, and I would encourage members to contact their local authority directly. We anticipate councils will be open to suggestions from MPs on how best to support families affected in the way she describes.

The government expects all hospitals and burial and cremation authorities to assist by providing all information and records available to them, to any parents that enquire about what happened to their stillborn babies and their final resting place, in a timely manner.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to allocate additional resources to help rural and farming communities adapt to increased drought risk.

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

The Environment Agency (EA) has produced an updated irrigation prospects report for summer 2025. The report provides options to support irrigators now and in the longer term.

The updated irrigation prospects across England for the summer season is ‘moderate’. If the dry weather continues, irrigation supplies are at risk, especially where farm reservoirs have been depleted over the spring. Reduced irrigation may impact on crops.

Options to support irrigators this summer include following good irrigation practice, signing up to managing water abstraction and impoundment licences online, and discussing short-term options with the EA for improving access to water (e.g. water rights trading).

One way to increase longer-term water supply resilience is to apply for a local water resources options screening study – for which applications are now open. The EA also encourage the sector to establish Water Abstractor Groups to work together to plan for their future water needs.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of consolidating the functions of the Grocery Code Adjudicator and the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator to create a unified regulator with a broader oversight remit.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The government is currently undertaking the fourth statutory review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA). The consultation to this review includes question about the GCA’s remit in relation to the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA), and additionally asks if there are unfair contractual practices in parts of the supply chain not covered by either Adjudicator. The government encourages those interested to respond to the consultation by 5 August.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent data her Department holds on the prevalence of intimate partner violence among young people aged 16 to 19.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Acknowledging the complex nature of domestic abuse, the ONS recently revised a question module in the Crime Survey for England and Wales to improve the accuracy and depth of data collected on domestic abuse. According to the new survey module, 18.7% of 16 to 19-year-olds experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2024.

The Home Secretary has been clear that teenage relationship abuse is an extremely important issue the government is tackling. Current CPS guidance applies to all cases of domestic abuse, irrespective of the age of the perpetrator or victim, meaning that protective orders such as Restraining Orders can be implemented to protect victims.

In the upcoming VAWG Strategy, we will also outline steps we are taking to respond to teenage relationship abuse - including through prevention and supporting victims further.

Mandatory relationship education for 16 to 19-year-olds

Burial of stillborn babies in unmarked graves

Waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services in Wiltshire

Domestic Abuse Offences

Loan Charge and settlement terms offered to large companies and individuals

British companies and the transportation of Russian liquefied natural gas

Contribution of technical colleges

International Women in Engineering Day

Role of relationship education in preventing violence against women and girls

Local authority funding

Press ownership by foreign states

Harmful chemicals in period products

Disconnection of stolen phones

Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month 2025

Clean Air Day 2025

Securing habitat for endangered swifts and other cavity nesting birds

Democracy in Hong Kong

Farmers, growers and the supermarket supply chain

Found: Miller Luke Murphy Dr Jeevun Sandher Shaun Davies Amanda Martin Steve Yemm Lloyd Hatton Sarah Gibson