Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his intention to expand Start for Life funding to the 78 local authorities currently without provision.

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

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out an ambitious agenda on how we will improve the nation’s health by creating a new model of care that is fit for the future.

We recognise that local authorities are ambitious, seeking to deliver universal support to families and prevent escalating need. We are committed to delivering the 10-Year Health Plan’s ambition to match Healthy Babies, formerly Start for Life, to Best Start Family Hubs over the next decade.

From April, this Government is rolling out Best Start Family Hubs to all local authorities, backed by over £500 million to reach up to half a million more children and families. This funding will help embed Hubs within a wider support system, including integrated child health services, enable proactive identification and support for health issues and early developmental delays.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many removals from elective waiting lists there have been as a result of data validation exercises in 2025-26; and what the cost to his Department has been of those exercises.

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

Validation is a well-established component for the effective management of waiting lists, ensuring that the patients who are on the list should still be there. While we have significantly reduced the size of the total elective waiting list by over 206,000 since the Government took office, a large list requires consistent validation in order to ensure that all patients on the list still require care, and all appointments are of optimum value for patients and clinicians.

The Department does not hold data centrally on the number of patient pathways removed from the elective waiting list as a result of data validation.

NHS England has paid the system £18,818,566 for validation exercises from April to September 2025. Payments for the most recent validation exercises have not yet been issued to providers. We know validation provides significant benefits for patients by reducing missed appointments, making effective use of clinical time, and ensuring patients are on the best care pathway for their needs.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of a ban on trail hunting on the economy in rural communities.

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

The department intends to launch a consultation seeking views on how to deliver a ban on trail hunting. The responses to that consultation will be used to inform our assessment of the potential impact of a ban on trail hunting on the economy in rural communities.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to consult (a) rural stakeholders and (b) trail hunting organisations prior to the introduction of legislative proposals to ban trail hunting.

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

We intend to launch a consultation seeking views on how to deliver a ban on trail hunting. We will welcome input from all quarters, including from rural stakeholders and trail hunting organisations.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of jobs in rural areas that will be affected by a ban on trail hunting.

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

The department intends to launch a consultation seeking views on how to deliver a ban on trail hunting. The responses to that consultation will be used to inform our assessment of the potential impact of a ban on trail hunting on the economy in rural communities.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has considered freezing or reducing the small business multiplier in response to rising fixed costs for SMEs.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to UIN 101363.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to publish analysis of the business rates burden by sector and business size following the 2026 revaluation.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to UIN 101363.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the comparative impact of the 2026 business rates revaluation on (a) small retailers and (b) online distribution centres.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to UIN 101363.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to introduce further transitional relief for small businesses facing increases in business rates liabilities following the 2026 revaluation.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to UIN 101363.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the 2026 business rates revaluation on small businesses operating in high street premises.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to UIN 101363.

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 adequacy of the time taken for leukaemia diagnosis; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential implications for its policies of the findings of Leukaemia UK’s Count Us In campaign.

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

The National Cancer Plan will seek to improve outcomes for all cancers, including non-stageable cancers such as leukaemia. The Department remains committed to the early diagnosis of cancer and to improving outcomes for patients. However, we recognise that there is more to be done to ensure that patients with harder to stage cancers, such as blood cancer, receive fast and early diagnoses.

The National Health Service is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

We have engaged extensively with Cancer 52 and other cancer charities, including Leukaemia UK to inform development of the National Cancer Plan, which will be published shortly. We have listened to concerns about existing early diagnosis targets and considered the feasibility of adopting new metrics to track progress, including suggestions from stakeholders that we track emergency presentation. Further details on our approach to early diagnosis, including how we can improve outcomes for rarer cancers, will be set out in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has considered including emergency presentation as a metric for tracking early cancer diagnosis across all tumour types, including non-stageable cancers such as leukaemia, in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.

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

The National Cancer Plan will seek to improve outcomes for all cancers, including non-stageable cancers such as leukaemia. The Department remains committed to the early diagnosis of cancer and to improving outcomes for patients. However, we recognise that there is more to be done to ensure that patients with harder to stage cancers, such as blood cancer, receive fast and early diagnoses.

The National Health Service is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

We have engaged extensively with Cancer 52 and other cancer charities, including Leukaemia UK to inform development of the National Cancer Plan, which will be published shortly. We have listened to concerns about existing early diagnosis targets and considered the feasibility of adopting new metrics to track progress, including suggestions from stakeholders that we track emergency presentation. Further details on our approach to early diagnosis, including how we can improve outcomes for rarer cancers, will be set out in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department considers trail hunting to form part of the UK’s rural cultural heritage.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DCMS and each of the Devolved Governments are working to create inventories of living heritage in the UK. The criteria are set out here: https://livingheritage.unesco.org.uk/info/guidance/criteria.