Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of taper rates on young people living in supported accommodation who take on paid work; and if he will bring forward proposals to ensure that those young people are better off when they increase their hours of work.

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

It remains the department’s priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter the labour market and to sustain employment.

We acknowledge there is a challenge arising from the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for working age customers (including young people) residing in supported and temporary accommodation.

Currently, a broad spectrum of customers receive rent support through Housing Benefit. This includes pensioners, residents in Supported or Temporary Accommodation and customers who have not yet migrated to Universal Credit. Any amendment to the Housing Benefit taper rules would apply to all these groups.

We are considering options to improve work incentives for residents of supported housing and temporary accommodation, while taking into account the views of stakeholders. Any future decisions will be taken in the round and in the context of the current fiscal environment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that the National Cancer Plan for England includes measures that improve (a) early diagnosis and (b) outcomes for people with (i) myeloma and (ii) other blood cancers not covered by staging-based targets.

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

Early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including myeloma and other blood cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes.

To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS 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 will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancers earlier and treating them faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.

The National Cancer Plan, which will be published in the new year, will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for all cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately driving up this country’s cancer survival rates.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of creating a national fostering strategy.

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

​​Foster care is one of my top priorities as Minister. The department is already investing £25 million of transformation funding for foster care, which is additional to the £15 million announced at the Autumn Budget covering the 2025/26 financial year. We are already working with over 60% of local authorities in England to transform the way they recruit and retain foster carers.

​However, we know we need to go further and faster with recruiting and retaining more carers to create a system which provides the best possible home for children in care.

​The department will be setting out a comprehensive package of measures to improve recruitment and retention, increase the number of foster carers, and expand the types of foster care available to meet children's needs. These changes will bring meaningful benefits to thousands of fostered children. We will set out more detail on our planned investments and reforms for fostering in due course. ​

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Helen Hayes (Chair); Jess Asato; Mrs Sureena Brackenridge; Darren

Submit Evidence (by 9 Jan 2026)

Reading brings a range of benefits to children, young people and their families, but the number of children reading for pleasure is declining rapidly.