Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with (a) her Israeli counterpart, (b) the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and (c) the Royal British Legion on the bulldozing of parts of The Gaza War Cemetery in al-Tuffah.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Gaza War Cemetery in al-Tuffah holds the remains of more than 3,000 men who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars, the majority from the United Kingdom, but many also from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa and other countries. As I said in the General Debate on 5 February, that includes Private William Jordan and Private Wilfrid Ogden, from my own constituency, who died during the Battles for Gaza in 1917.
There is justifiable distress in our country and elsewhere at the reports that the cemetery has been damaged by Israeli bulldozers, and we also deplore the reports that the cemetery has been used for Hamas military operations. Brave servicemen laid to rest overseas should never have had their graves defiled in this way. Alongside our international partners, we are raising our concerns about this with the Israeli authorities, and we will work with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to ensure that - when the circumstances allow - they are able to go to Gaza, assess what damage has been done, and do what is necessary to repair that damage.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about the repair of graves in the Gaza war cemetery in al-Tuffah.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided by the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa on 13 February in response to Question 111058, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:
The Gaza War Cemetery in al-Tuffah holds the remains of more than 3,000 men who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars, the majority from the United Kingdom, but many also from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa and other countries. As I said in the General Debate on 5 February, that includes Private William Jordan and Private Wilfrid Ogden, from my own constituency, who died during the Battles for Gaza in 1917.
There is justifiable distress in our country and elsewhere at the reports that the cemetery has been damaged by Israeli bulldozers, and we also deplore the reports that the cemetery has been used for Hamas military operations. Brave servicemen laid to rest overseas should never have had their graves defiled in this way. Alongside our international partners, we are raising our concerns about this with the Israeli authorities, and we will work with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to ensure that - when the circumstances allow - they are able to go to Gaza, assess what damage has been done, and do what is necessary to repair that damage.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her Polish counterpart on outstanding cases of children abducted from the UK to Poland.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I recognise the distress of all those affected by international parental child abduction (IPCA). It is an issue this Government takes very seriously. Ministers and officials continue to raise IPCA with the Polish authorities at every appropriate opportunity. Most recently, the Deputy Prime Minister raised IPCA with Polish Deputy Prime Minister Sikorski in January. The Foreign Secretary and I also raised IPCA with our Polish counterparts in October 2025.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release entitled UK and Poland agree enhanced missile defence and helicopter training cooperation, published on 13 January, how many Polish helicopter pilots will conduct training in the UK in each remaining year of the current Parliament.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Poland is one of the UK’s strongest allies and the UK-Poland defence relationship goes from strength to strength. Cooperation under NATO’s Eastern Sentry mission sees British and Polish pilots flying together to protect Polish and NATO airspace. 8 Polish military helicopter pilots will commence training at RAF Shawbury in Training Year 2026/2027; this has been agreed through the NATO Flight Training Europe (NFTE) programme. NFTE allocations for the remaining Training Years in the current Parliament have not yet been confirmed.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Department is taking to improve the care system for cardiology patients in the UK; and whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting elements of the structured clinical programme established in Poland in the 1980s by Professor Religa.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to achieving a 25% reduction in premature mortality due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke across England. To accelerate progress and tackle variation across the country, a new CVD Modern Service Framework will be published in 2026. This framework will support improvement, reduce inequalities, and foster innovation where it is needed most.
No assessment has been made of adopting elements of the structured clinical programme established in Poland in the 1980s for heart transplant surgery. The National Health Service’s heart transplant programme provides life-saving heart transplants for adults, those 16 years old or older, with end-stage heart failure, involving assessment, surgery, and lifelong care.
NHS England has been undertaking a review of heart and lung transplantation services, building on a report commissioned by the Department, named Honouring the gift of organ donation, published in 2023 and avaiable at the following link:
The goals of the review are to increase the number of transplants, improve patient outcomes, reduce inequalities in access to transplants, and improve patient experience.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2025 to Question 93697, whether he has made an estimate of the differences in the number of conditions screened for in newborns between the UK and other countries such as Norway, Australia, Italy, Poland, and the Netherlands; and how those differences relate to the internationally recognised criteria used by the UK National Screening Committee.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Screening programmes in the United Kingdom have a more rigorous approach towards evaluating the benefits and harms of screening compared to many other countries such as the United States of America and Italy.
The independent UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which is made up of leading medical and screening experts, advises Ministers in all four nations of the UK on the evidence on screening. Where the Committee is confident that screening provides more good than harm, they recommend a screening programme.
Some countries often cited as screening more conditions than the UK are not always running national programmes. Some countries or regions screen for a condition when it is only at the pilot or research stage. Some ‘screening programmes’ just test for a condition rather than being end-to-end quality-assured programmes that include diagnosis, treatment and care. And screening in some countries is delivered regionally, or even just by individual hospitals, rather than nationally. They are therefore not directly comparable to the national screening programmes offered in the UK.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much each country has paid back for healthcare use by their citizens in the UK within the same year in the latest year for which figures are available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS care is provided free at the point of use to people who are ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, including people who were born abroad if they are not subject to immigration controls. Where the person is not ordinarily resident, the National Health Service recovers costs for healthcare provided in the UK through the immigration health surcharge (IHS), directly charging individuals for care provided and charging countries responsible for their healthcare costs through reciprocal healthcare agreements.
The UK’s reciprocal healthcare agreements with the European Union, European Free Trade Association states and Switzerland allow for the reimbursement of costs at a country level. The UK pays for healthcare costs of eligible people visiting or living in these countries under these agreements. For other countries, the UK does not fund overseas treatment and NHS costs incurred are recovered through the IHS or directly charging the individual.
The following table shows the Department’s income and expenditure on overseas healthcare from the United Kingdom’s reciprocal healthcare agreements for 2023/24, the latest year for which figures are available:
Country | 2023/24 income (£) | 2023/24 expenditure (£) |
Austria | 327,322.25 | 3,360,423.14 |
Belgium | 3,474,379.36 | 3,822,245.19 |
Bulgaria | 81,739.18 | 1,212,566.29 |
Croatia | 36,473.40 | 365,199.00 |
Cyprus | 482,172.64 | 56,367,818.62 |
Czech Republic | (148,293.65) | 758,458.60 |
Denmark | - | - |
Estonia | - | - |
Finland | 109,284.40 | 7,213.62 |
France | 11,051,032.23 | 186,694,473.76 |
Germany | 3,559,100.19 | 10,919,120.07 |
Greece | 553,518.12 | 5,335,540.50 |
Hungary | - | 4,961.18 |
Iceland | (6,342.41) | 239,528.19 |
Ireland | (17,810,150.56) | 225,245,716.37 |
Italy | 2,208,886.74 | 172,132.80 |
Latvia | (762,470.36) | 26,357.08 |
Liechtenstein | 1,915.64 | 176.43 |
Lithuania | 75,266.54 | 242,985.85 |
Luxembourg | (265,645.79) | 575,414.85 |
Malta | 798,235.85 | - |
Netherlands | 2,981,546.13 | 1,485,724.03 |
Norway | - | (863.95) |
Poland | 7,123,224.03 | 386,044.52 |
Portugal | 1,871,249.74 | (356,506.41) |
Romania | 2,999,264.69 | 28,944.82 |
Slovakia | 782,608.15 | 557,904.39 |
Slovenia | 24,181.42 | 279,420.15 |
Spain | 6,775,123.13 | 441,009,133.86 |
Sweden | 2,580,816.63 | 2,960,047.61 |
Switzerland | 670,476.95 | 7,255,687.60 |
Total | 29,574,914.65 | 948,955,868.18 |
The figures in the table above relate to all reciprocal healthcare agreements where costs are exchanged between the UK and other countries. These figures are not directly comparable to the figures quoted in the Department’s accounts, which are not broken down by country and include accounting treatment and aggregation of other costs. Negative values in the table above reflect adjustments to prior year forecasts compared to actual receipts/payments received from member states.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on overseas healthcare in the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by country.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS care is provided free at the point of use to people who are ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, including people who were born abroad if they are not subject to immigration controls. Where the person is not ordinarily resident, the National Health Service recovers costs for healthcare provided in the UK through the immigration health surcharge (IHS), directly charging individuals for care provided and charging countries responsible for their healthcare costs through reciprocal healthcare agreements.
The UK’s reciprocal healthcare agreements with the European Union, European Free Trade Association states and Switzerland allow for the reimbursement of costs at a country level. The UK pays for healthcare costs of eligible people visiting or living in these countries under these agreements. For other countries, the UK does not fund overseas treatment and NHS costs incurred are recovered through the IHS or directly charging the individual.
The following table shows the Department’s income and expenditure on overseas healthcare from the United Kingdom’s reciprocal healthcare agreements for 2023/24, the latest year for which figures are available:
Country | 2023/24 income (£) | 2023/24 expenditure (£) |
Austria | 327,322.25 | 3,360,423.14 |
Belgium | 3,474,379.36 | 3,822,245.19 |
Bulgaria | 81,739.18 | 1,212,566.29 |
Croatia | 36,473.40 | 365,199.00 |
Cyprus | 482,172.64 | 56,367,818.62 |
Czech Republic | (148,293.65) | 758,458.60 |
Denmark | - | - |
Estonia | - | - |
Finland | 109,284.40 | 7,213.62 |
France | 11,051,032.23 | 186,694,473.76 |
Germany | 3,559,100.19 | 10,919,120.07 |
Greece | 553,518.12 | 5,335,540.50 |
Hungary | - | 4,961.18 |
Iceland | (6,342.41) | 239,528.19 |
Ireland | (17,810,150.56) | 225,245,716.37 |
Italy | 2,208,886.74 | 172,132.80 |
Latvia | (762,470.36) | 26,357.08 |
Liechtenstein | 1,915.64 | 176.43 |
Lithuania | 75,266.54 | 242,985.85 |
Luxembourg | (265,645.79) | 575,414.85 |
Malta | 798,235.85 | - |
Netherlands | 2,981,546.13 | 1,485,724.03 |
Norway | - | (863.95) |
Poland | 7,123,224.03 | 386,044.52 |
Portugal | 1,871,249.74 | (356,506.41) |
Romania | 2,999,264.69 | 28,944.82 |
Slovakia | 782,608.15 | 557,904.39 |
Slovenia | 24,181.42 | 279,420.15 |
Spain | 6,775,123.13 | 441,009,133.86 |
Sweden | 2,580,816.63 | 2,960,047.61 |
Switzerland | 670,476.95 | 7,255,687.60 |
Total | 29,574,914.65 | 948,955,868.18 |
The figures in the table above relate to all reciprocal healthcare agreements where costs are exchanged between the UK and other countries. These figures are not directly comparable to the figures quoted in the Department’s accounts, which are not broken down by country and include accounting treatment and aggregation of other costs. Negative values in the table above reflect adjustments to prior year forecasts compared to actual receipts/payments received from member states.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support cultural engagement with the Polish community.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I value the close cultural partnership we share with Poland and recognise the rich cultural offering the Polish diaspora brings to the UK, which sustains Polish language and traditions and facilitates cultural enrichment through cultural events, festivals, and exhibitions, supported by arms length bodies such as Arts Council England.
Since July 2024, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £346,427 across three projects that explore the history of, or directly engage, the UK's Polish population.
This year we have also supported the UK/Poland Season 2025, a programme of over 100 events taking place in both countries across 40 cities, linking institutions and people to collaborate in the visual arts, film and music. Events in Poland are organised and funded by the British Council, while in the UK they are led by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute, and the British Council.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of UK defence readiness following recent Russian incursions in NATO airspace; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that (a) the UK and (b) its allies are able to respond effectively to potential future incursions.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The UK is committed to defending every inch of NATO territory, including our contribution of Typhoon jets to defend Polish airspace as part of NATO’s Eastern Sentry. NATO is more united than ever as we continue to work closely to support Ukraine and defend the alliance’s territory. The Defence Secretary recently confirmed that we will be extending our contribution to Eastern Sentry until the end of 2025. Over the past 18 months, the RAF has also conducted routine deployments of Typhoons to both Poland and Romania to protect NATO airspace.
In the UK, RAF fighter jets at RAF Coningsby and RAF Lossiemouth are held at continuous high readiness 24/7, 365 days a year, to protect UK sovereign airspace. They routinely launch to intercept unidentified aircraft flying in the UK’s area of interest as part of NATO’s air policing mission.