Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to people living with Multiple Sclerosis in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

At the national level, initiatives such as NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme and the NHS RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions toolkit both aim to reduce unwarranted variation in services and improve equity of care for people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

At the local level, the West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s neurology department provides care to patients with MS in the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency. The team consists of consultant neurologists, a consultant neurophysiologist, and two specialist nurses. All consultants hold joint appointments with University College London Hospitals or the Royal Free Hospital, giving access to specialised neurological care.

The Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust provides the community neurological rehabilitation service for adults in the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency. The service provides specialist therapy to patients with long term neurological conditions, including those with MS. Specialist advice and oversight is available from a consultant neurologist where clinically appropriate. The service offers complex care, needs-led intervention, specialist equipment, and self-management support according to intensity of clinical needs.

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 increase public participation in the bowel cancer screening programme in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Bowel screening uptake in Berkhamsted and Harpenden is currently between 84% and 87%. The NHS Central East Integrated Care Board (ICB) works closely with general practices (GPs) to encourage promotion of bowel screening through a ‘making every contact count’ approach when they are informed which of their patients have not returned their faecal immunochemical test (FIT).

The ICB has also used regional innovation screening funding to support cancer screening projects in Hertfordshire, including some specifically for bowel cancer. In 2025/26, the programme included:

• delivering outreach to people on the Serious Mental Illness Register who face barriers to screening because of their mental ill health;
• targeting non-responders from communities who find National Health Services hard-to-reach, including traveller and asylum seeker communities;
• supporting screening uptake within the learning disability population, with a particular focus on bowel screening;
• providing public education on cancer awareness to specific postcodes with low uptake of screening, delivered by the patient-led ‘Cancel out Cancer’ group;
• reviewing 130,000 bowel screening non-responders to identify themes in order to understand potential barriers; and
• reaching out to patients who are eligible for screening but who haven’t taken up the opportunity to answer any questions they have and book in appointments for people as needed, via Cancer Care Co-ordinators who form part of the GP teams across Hertfordshire.

In England, coverage of bowel cancer screening has been increasing in recent years. In 2019, 60.5% of people took the offer up, while now it is 71.8%. To further increase coverage across England, NHS England is doing the following:

• delivering new approaches to communicating with people about screening through the NHS App;
• incorporating the reasonable adjustment flag into screening to ensure that people get information in the way they want, and that adjustments are made to support people at appointments;
• has recently updated the bowel cancer screening leaflets and is updating the bowel cancer screening letters to improve accessibility; and
• has made the bowel cancer screening FIT kit more accessible for people who are blind or partially sighted.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the Fraud Strategy 2026 to 2029, published by the Home Office on 9 March 2026, to tackle online scams advertising on social media.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

While the Online Safety Act continues to be implemented, fraud is a ‘priority offence’ under the Act, with platforms already required to mitigate against criminals using their services and to remove scam content where appearing. Ofcom has existing robust powers to act where services do not fulfil regulatory obligations.

In the Summer, Ofcom intends to publish its register of Category 1 and 2A services and consult on additional duties for these platforms to tackle paid-for fraudulent advertising.

The Home Office’s Fraud Strategy was published on 9 March and so Government has not yet conducted a review of its impact.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle online scam advertising on social media.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

While the Online Safety Act continues to be implemented, fraud is a ‘priority offence’ under the Act, with platforms already required to mitigate against criminals using their services and to remove scam content where appearing. Ofcom has existing robust powers to act where services do not fulfil regulatory obligations.

In the Summer, Ofcom intends to publish its register of Category 1 and 2A services and consult on additional duties for these platforms to tackle paid-for fraudulent advertising.

The Home Office’s Fraud Strategy was published on 9 March and so Government has not yet conducted a review of its impact.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of children’s happiness at school.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department is committed to improving pupils’ experience of school, which can affect attendance, engagement, attainment and wider wellbeing.

As set out in the Every Child Achieving and Thriving white paper, the government will work with partners to produce a Pupil Engagement Framework to be published later this year. This framework will help schools to measure and improve the key factors that determine pupils’ engagement in education, including their sense of belonging and safety, inclusion and relationships with teachers and fellow pupils. By the end of the Parliament, we expect every school to monitor children’s sense of belonging and engagement, up from around 60% of schools today, and take action in line with the Framework so more children, including those who are disadvantaged or have special educational needs and disabilities, will feel a strong sense of belonging in school.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reform access to work in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

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

In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of the Access to Work scheme. We also considered the role of employers in creating accessible and inclusive workplaces as well as how we can shape the market for aids, appliances and assistive technology, to reduce their cost and spread their adoption.

We are using the outcomes of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultations, the Collaboration Committees, and upcoming work of the Independent Disability Advisory Panel to inform the future direction of Access to Work. Once the outcome is established, we will consider timelines, and work closely with stakeholders to ensure an appropriate transition, including in Harpenden and Berkhamsted.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of children’s physical safety in schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Nothing is more important than the safety of children. It is the responsibility of those running our schools (academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies) to ensure their school buildings are safe, well-maintained, and compliant with relevant regulations. The School Premises (England) Regulations 2012 specify minimum standards for the premises of all local-authority maintained schools in England, with the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 fulfilling the same function for voluntary aided, foundation and academy trust schools.

The department provides guidance, tools and support to help schools and responsible bodies effectively manage their school buildings.

The department has published the statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ alongside a range of other guidance, which sets out clear expectations in relation to training staff and putting effective systems in place to ensure the physical safety of children whilst in school. Schools are expected to have policies in place on security measures and to conduct risk assessments and develop plans, covering everything from deterring attacks and keeping learners safe, to developing lockdown procedures.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Valuation Office Agency’s performance in responding to Checks and Challenges to rateable values of non‑domestic properties; and what steps her Department is taking to help speed up that process.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the hon member to the answer to UIN 126458, tabled on 10 April 2026.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what workplace support the Menopause Action Plan will deliver for constituents in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

This Spring, we launched voluntary action plans for large employers, encouraging them to publish what they are doing to support employees experiencing menopause, alongside the steps they are taking to address their gender pay gap.

We have published step-by-step guidance, including a list of evidence-informed actions, to support employers in developing their action plans. Our common-sense actions include menopause training for managers, transparent, flexible working policies, and tailored workplace adjustments.

Action plans aim to enhance workplace support and tackle the barriers faced by women, benefiting both employers and employees across the country, including those in the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how far the proposed SEND reforms will address the postcode lottery in access to specialist education support.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

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