Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of trains on the East Midlands Railway Sheffield to London service a) had the requisite number of carriages and b) were short formed in each year between 2022 and 2026.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department can provide the percentage of trains which were short formed on East Midland Railway’s Sheffield to London service for the last three full calendar years.
In 2023, 115 EMR trains between London and Sheffield were short formed, which constitutes 1 per cent of total trains, in 2024, 204 trains were short formed, which constitutes 1.7 per cent of total trains, and in 2025, 342 trains were short formed, which constitutes 2.9 per cent of the total. From Sheffield to London, in 2023, 104 trains between were short formed, constituting 0.9 per cent of total trains, in 2024 105 trains were short formed, constituting 0.9 per cent of the total, and in 2025, 131 trains were short formed, constituting 1.1 per cent of total trains.
EMR’s new Aurora bi-mode trains, which will deliver much-needed additional seats compared to the class 222 trains they are replacing on EMR’s intercity routes, have now started to enter passenger service and will continue with a phased rollout through 2026. EMR has put in place plans which will minimise the passenger impact of this fleet transition. However, to protect a reliable service for passengers, a small number of services may operate with shorter trains than usual reducing capacity during this transition period.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department's contract with East Midlands Railway for train services from Sheffield to London specifies the number of carriages each service should have available.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The National Rail Contract does not specify the number of carriages for each service, it is for the Train Operator to prepare a timetable which sets out the train formation that best matches available capacity to the forecast passenger demand.
EMR’s new Aurora bi-mode trains, which will deliver much-needed additional seats compared to the class 222 trains they are replacing on EMR’s intercity routes, have now started to enter passenger service and will continue with a phased rollout through 2026. EMR has put in place plans which will minimise the passenger impact of this fleet transition. However, to protect a reliable service for passengers, a small number of services may operate with shorter trains than usual, reducing capacity during this transition period.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
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 reduce the waiting time for children to access an autism spectrum disorder assessment.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes quarterly Autism Waiting Time Statistics, which are available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/autism-statistics
These set out the waiting times for children to access an autism spectrum disorder assessment for each integrated care board (ICB) in England. These are statistics in development and do not yet represent a complete picture of waiting times for autism assessments in England. Work to determine which provider organisations should be submitting data for autistic people is ongoing.
The Government has recognised that, nationally, demand for assessments for autism has grown significantly in recent years and that people of all ages are experiencing severe delays for accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future, and reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities focus on improving early intervention and support.
ICBs are responsible for planning and commissioning services to meet the needs of their local populations, including making decisions about how best to manage demand and capacity within available resources. The Medium-Term Planning Framework, published 24 October 2025, was explicit that ICBs and providers are expected to optimise existing resources to reduce long waits for autism assessments and improve the quality of assessments by implementing existing and new guidance, as published.
In April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services, which can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/autism-diagnosis-and-operational-guidance/
This guidance intends to help the NHS improve autism assessment services and improve the experience for those referred to a service.
In December 2025, we launched an independent review into the Prevalence and Support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism. The review’s interim report, published at the end of March, sets out the evidence reviewed so far on prevalence, describes the impact of rising demand for diagnosis and support, identifies where the evidence is uncertain, and outlines the key questions for the next phase. It does not offer final conclusions or recommendations. The final report, due in the summer, will make recommendations on how the Government, the health system, and wider public services can respond to increasing demand for support more fairly and effectively so that people receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the average waiting time for children to access an autism spectrum disorder assessment in each ICB area.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes quarterly Autism Waiting Time Statistics, which are available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/autism-statistics
These set out the waiting times for children to access an autism spectrum disorder assessment for each integrated care board (ICB) in England. These are statistics in development and do not yet represent a complete picture of waiting times for autism assessments in England. Work to determine which provider organisations should be submitting data for autistic people is ongoing.
The Government has recognised that, nationally, demand for assessments for autism has grown significantly in recent years and that people of all ages are experiencing severe delays for accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future, and reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities focus on improving early intervention and support.
ICBs are responsible for planning and commissioning services to meet the needs of their local populations, including making decisions about how best to manage demand and capacity within available resources. The Medium-Term Planning Framework, published 24 October 2025, was explicit that ICBs and providers are expected to optimise existing resources to reduce long waits for autism assessments and improve the quality of assessments by implementing existing and new guidance, as published.
In April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services, which can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/autism-diagnosis-and-operational-guidance/
This guidance intends to help the NHS improve autism assessment services and improve the experience for those referred to a service.
In December 2025, we launched an independent review into the Prevalence and Support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism. The review’s interim report, published at the end of March, sets out the evidence reviewed so far on prevalence, describes the impact of rising demand for diagnosis and support, identifies where the evidence is uncertain, and outlines the key questions for the next phase. It does not offer final conclusions or recommendations. The final report, due in the summer, will make recommendations on how the Government, the health system, and wider public services can respond to increasing demand for support more fairly and effectively so that people receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to enforce new minimum NHS staff standards, and measure them at ward level.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Staff Standards will be mandatory. Trust performance against them will be measured via the NHS National Oversight Framework.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will introduce a statutory duty in England to calculate and take reasonable steps to maintain safe nurse staffing on adult acute wards, with ward-level public reporting and mandatory escalation when recognised staffing risk indicators are breached.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress she has made with relevant Overseas Territories on developing clear, time-bound action plans to come into line with UK requirements and international standards on money laundering and transparency.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answers I gave on these issues at departmental oral questions on 21 April, and to my written ministerial statement updating the House on the outcome of discussions at the Joint Ministerial Council on 13 January (HCWS1237).
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the completion rate of apprenticeships since the introduction of end point assessment.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The apprenticeship ‘National achievement rate tables’ are published in the Apprenticeships statistics publications.
Academic Years | Link |
2017/18 and 2018/19 | |
2019/20 and 2020/21 | |
2021/22 and 2022/23 | |
2023/24 and 2024/25 |
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government's document entitled Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security, published on 20 January 2026, which teams a) produced the key judgements listed on page 2, b) produced the assessments outlined on pages 9 and 10 and c) conducted the literature review and workshops mentioned on page 12.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government published the Nature Security Assessment on 20 January. It is a cross-government strategic analysis and was not produced by any single department. The assessment brings together expertise from teams across the Government, combining scientific evidence, policy analysis and national security judgment to inform long-term resilience and security planning.
This assessment builds on existing cross-government work to strengthen understanding of how biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation can affect national and global stability. It forms part of routine cross-government resilience planning and complements the National Security Strategy, National Risk Register, and Chronic Risks Analysis.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which Departments commissioned the Government's document entitled Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security, published on 20 January 2026.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government published the Nature Security Assessment on 20 January. It is a cross-government strategic analysis and was not produced by any single department. The assessment brings together expertise from teams across the Government, combining scientific evidence, policy analysis and national security judgment to inform long-term resilience and security planning.
This assessment builds on existing cross-government work to strengthen understanding of how biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation can affect national and global stability. It forms part of routine cross-government resilience planning and complements the National Security Strategy, National Risk Register, and Chronic Risks Analysis.