Written questions by Rosindell.

Whether his Department plans to introduce further Government advertising to encourage men to (a) speak to their GP about their risk of prostate cancer and (b) seek further testing if they are categorised as high risk.

Too many cancer patients are waiting too long to be treated, and we are determined to change that through faster and earlier diagnosis. We are investing £16 million towards the Prostate Cancer UK led TRANSFORM screening trial seeking to find better methods to catch prostate cancer. NHS England is taking steps to raise awareness of the symptoms of prostate cancer, where there are opportunities to do so.The UK National Screening Committee does not currently recommend screening for prostate cancer as the prostate-specific antigen test does not meet the required accuracy for use in a national screening programme. Current methods offer insufficient benefits in relation to harms caused by overdiagnosis, such as invasive investigative procedures and unnecessary treatment.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support persecuted Christians in Laos.

The UK is committed to promoting and defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). The UK Embassy in Laos raises concerns about limitations on freedom of expression and other human rights issues, including freedom of religion, on a regular basis, both publicly and in private. We also work through the UN to promote and protect these rights, including raising country specific issues at the UN Human Rights Council.

If he will make it his policy to encourage the introduction of the Prostate-Specific Antigen blood test on the NHS for men (a) a strong family history of prostate cancer and (b) under 50.

Too many cancer patients are waiting too long to be treated, and we are determined to change that through faster and earlier diagnosis. We are investing £16 million towards the Prostate Cancer UK led TRANSFORM screening trial seeking to find better methods to catch prostate cancer. NHS England is taking steps to raise awareness of the symptoms of prostate cancer, where there are opportunities to do so.The UK National Screening Committee does not currently recommend screening for prostate cancer as the prostate-specific antigen test does not meet the required accuracy for use in a national screening programme. Current methods offer insufficient benefits in relation to harms caused by overdiagnosis, such as invasive investigative procedures and unnecessary treatment.

Innovation and Technology, how much of Romford constituency receives 5G coverage; and when his Department expects that coverage to reach 100% of that constituency.

Although I am aware that official reports of mobile coverage often vary substantially from people’s experience on the ground, I am sure you will be delighted to know Ofcom reports that basic (non-standalone) 5G is available outside 100% of premises across your constituency from at least one mobile operator and 86% of premises from all four mobile operators. Ofcom does not measure indoor 5G coverage. Our ambition is for all populated areas, including Romford, to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. We are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition, and we are working with industry to ensure that all mobile operators meet our standalone 5G ambition. We will consider any further steps that might be necessary to improve coverage in light of any changes to Ofcom's coverage reporting.

What funding her Department is allocating to Havering Council to tackle potholes in the next financial year.

This Government is committed to tackling the poor state of our roads and has pledged to help local authorities to fix our pothole-ridden road networks. As part of this, it will help enable local highway authorities in England to fix up to a million more potholes a year. At Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced an extra £500 million for local highway maintenance for the 2025/26 financial year, an increase of nearly 50% compared to the current financial year. The Government will confirm 2025/26 funding allocations to local highway authorities in due course.

What steps his Department is taking to support the cadet forces in (a) the London Borough of Havering, (b) Romford constituency and (c) England.

The Government is convinced of the benefits of cadets, not just for young people who participate, but for society as a whole. Participation in the Cadet Forces has significant positive impacts on young people, increasing their performance at school and improving their employment and career prospects. The Cadet Forces instil values and standards and provide the opportunity for young people to develop key skills including self-discipline, confidence, and resilience which equip them for life. The skills, confidence, and cultural capital that young people gain from being cadets improves their social mobility, and in terms of health and wellbeing alone, participation in the Cadet Forces produces an annual return on investment in the region of £95 million. For all of these reasons, we are committed to sustaining the Cadet Forces across the UK.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help support press freedom.

Having a free and fair press in an age of misinformation and disinformation, is more important than ever. It is vital that the public have access to accurate and trustworthy information from a range of different sources.To ensure journalists operating within the UK can do so free from physical, legal and online threats, abuse and violence, I am reconvening the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists, together with the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls, in December. The Committee facilitates collaboration between government, journalism, policing, prosecution services and civil society in support of this aim. I will continue to work with members on this important issue, including by delivering the National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists.

How much was spent on encouraging students to take on the career path of midwifery in the last five years.

NHS England has several initiatives which support the encouragement of students to take on the career pathway of midwifery.To remove barriers to training in clinical roles, including midwifery, eligible students receive a non-repayable grant of £5,000 a year through the Learning Support Fund.The National Health Service has a long-established campaign process for promoting NHS careers, including midwifery, locally and nationally. This includes the We are the NHS campaign. NHS Health Careers, as part of NHS England, provides support to people in education and at different stages of their career, to learn more about all the career opportunities available in the NHS.NHS England is expanding routes into healthcare professions through apprenticeships and blended learning programmes, allowing students to choose to study in a flexible way that reflects their needs.To ensure midwifery remains an attractive career, the Government will also make sure that staff are treated with the respect they deserve, improve their working conditions and reform the way they deliver care.Due to the national and regional aspects of funding, NHS England is unable to provide a total cost for individual midwifery promotion spend.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the guidance entitled Bluetongue movement licences and designated slaughterhouses, last updated on 15 November 2023, what further steps he plans to take to tackle bluetongue.

Defra acted quickly to contain bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) when the first case this season was detected on 26 August, implementing zones with movement controls on susceptible livestock to prevent spread. Disease control restrictions have been adapted in response to new findings and there is now a single restricted zone (RZ) covering the east coast and some inland areas in England. As disease controls have developed, advice on movement licences and designated slaughterhouses has been regularly updated to reflect changes to controls and permitted movements, for example advice on applying for licences to move animals from the RZ to slaughter and breeding markets outside the zone: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/bluetongue-movement-licences-and-designated-slaughterhouses Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency continue surveillance and epidemiological assessments, remaining vigilant for any changes, and are working closely with key industry stakeholders to review how we approach controls for BTV-3 for the coming winter months, in 2025 and beyond.

If she will take steps to help increase the number of pupils taking T-Level courses in (a) Romford constituency and (b) Havering.

This government wants every young person to be able to pursue the post-16 education and training pathway that sets them up with the skills to achieve, including ensuring that more young people have access to the opportunities T Levels provide. 21 T Levels are now available and the department has introduced three new subjects this academic year, with a further T Level planned for September 2025.Over 250 providers across the country deliver T Levels, including Barking and Dagenham College in the Romford area, which is now offering six T Levels, and New City College, which is offering seven T Levels. Both colleges have benefited from capital funding to support the development of industry standard facilities and equipment for T Level students in the area.T Levels are promoted to young people via the department’s national ‘Skills for Life’ communications campaign, supported by regional PR and partnership work with organisations such as Snapchat and UCAS. Schools can also access face to face support from advisers who offer information on T Levels to support students’ and teachers’ understanding of the opportunities they provide.The department’s annual T Levels Week will take place from 2 to 6 December this year and will see providers, employers and the department’s 800 member-strong T Level ambassador network sharing student stories to raise the profile of T Levels and drive-up student demand across the country.

What progress he has made on the selection process for Small Modular Reactors.

Since summer 2023, Great British Nuclear (GBN) has been administering a small modular reactor technology selection process for UK deployment, and as announced at Autumn Budget in October, four vendors have been invited to negotiate. Once negotiations have concluded, the companies will be invited to submit final tenders, which GBN will then evaluate. Final decisions will be taken in the spring. GBN is working to a timeline that enables a robust process underpinned by fairness and transparency and ensures any selected technology provides best value for money.

What progress he has made on (a) a free trade agreement and (b) reducing trade tariffs applicable to Scottish whiskey with India.

At the G20 on 18 November, the Prime Minister met Prime Minister Modi to announce that the UK will relaunch trade talks in the new year with India – one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Work is underway across government to prepare for negotiations. Our trade programme, including negotiations with India, is driven by stakeholder engagement, including with the Scotch Whisky Association.

What steps his Department has taken to improve the availability of GLP-1 drugs to help tackle obesity.

Obesity medicines can be effective for some patients living with obesity when prescribed alongside diet, physical activity, and behavioural support. Exactly what is most appropriate for an individual is down to health care professionals to advise, in discussion with patients, and considering relevant clinical guidance.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended liraglutide (Saxenda) and semaglutide (Wegovy) as clinically and cost-effective drugs for weight management in adults in the National Health Service in England. NICE guidance includes eligibility criteria and, for some products like Saxenda and Wegovy, a restriction that these treatments should be used within specialist weight management services. NHS organisations are continuing to look at the best way to manage access to these treatments.We are expecting NICE to issue guidance on tirzepatide (Mounjaro) before the end of the year. This could see it being prescribed by general practitioners rather than restricted to specialist services. To manage this, NHS England has proposed a phased rollout to make tirzepatide available in a way that is effective, affordable, and sustainable. Under NHS England’s plan, almost 250,000 people with the greatest clinical need could receive this medicine in the first three years of implementation.Integrated care boards are responsible for arranging the provision of health services within their area in line with local priorities, considering population need and relevant guidance. This includes the commissioning of NHS specialist weight management services. The licensed treatments for weight loss such as Wegovy (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) are in good supply.

What steps he his taking to use (a) data and (b) AI to improve NHS efficiency.

Data and technology is a key enabling workstream in our 10-Year Health Plan. The NHS is already using and promoting several national tools and datasets to help systems and providers identify and implement efficiency opportunities. The NHS Spend Comparison Service allows NHS procurement teams to identify savings opportunities. Model Hospital is a data-driven improvement tool that provides benchmarked insights across the quality of care, productivity, and organisational culture to identify opportunities for improvement. Model Hospital includes a section on the top ten medicines to support trust progress towards meeting national and trust-level uptake and savings targets by using less costly or biosimilar versions of these drugs.The Federated Data Platform, being rolled-out to trusts and integrated care systems, will allow them to be much more effective in how they handle data to improve outcomes. It brings together information about staff, waiting times, equipment, and medicines, to allow for better planning of how the NHS uses its resources, including supply main management. This was piloted in trusts across England and showed that better use of data could help discharge patients quicker and make better use of operating theatres.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has also recently announced the intention for there to be a single patient record, including primary care and hospital data, so professionals have the data to make better informed decisions, and deliver more preventative and more efficient health and care.Through the AI in Health and Care Award, the Department has helped accelerate the testing and evaluation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to develop an evidence base to support the commissioning of technologies that are clinically and cost effective. So far, £113 million has been provided to 86 AI technologies, which are live in 99 hospitals across 40% of NHS acute trusts in England, as well as hundreds of Primary Care Networks across the United Kingdom.AI technologies have huge potential in improving efficiency across the NHS by supporting clinicians with faster and more accurate diagnosis, enhancing clinical decision-making about treatment plans, and reducing the administrative burden faced by healthcare staff. The Department and NHS England are developing guidance for the responsible use of these tools and how they can be rolled out to make the day-to-day operations of the NHS more efficient.

Whether stockpiles of NLAW armoury are being replenished.

Yes. In December 2022, a contract was signed for several thousand Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon (NLAW) systems to be delivered to the UK Armed Forces, and deliveries have commenced.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of pursuing machine ratio reforms to the land-based gambling industry.

We are considering the best available evidence in respect of machine ratio reforms, and the Minister for Gambling has met with a wide range of stakeholders including industry trade bodies. We will provide further updates to the House soon.

If he will make an estimate of the number of weeks the UK could sustain continuous combat for before exhausting its 155mm shells stock.

Munition stockpile levels are actively reviewed balancing current holdings against threats, availability, industrial capacity and evolving technology. It is not however possible to comment on specific stockpile levels, as this information is operationally sensitive.

How many and what proportion of people referred to the Prevent programme went on to commit acts of (a) terrorism and (b) violent crime in each of the last five years for which data is available.

The first priority of Government is to keep its citizens safe. Prevent is a vital part of that. We must try and divert people away from radicalisation and violent ideologies.Between 2019 and 2024, there have sadly, been 4 instances where somebody who had previously been referred to Prevent for early intervention support went on to commit a terrorist attack. This is a very small, but tragic number compared to the 2,800 individuals that have been supported through the Channel multi-agency programme since 1 April 2019. We have looked very closely at each of these 4 cases to identify lessons and then to deliver improvements to ensure that the Prevent programme does all it can to identify and support those susceptible to radicalisation.The Home Office does not hold a comprehensive dataset on those individuals that have been referred into Prevent and have subsequently committed a violent crime. We are working with regional police forces and CT Police to strengthen this dataset and learn from any such incidents.

What steps he is taking to keep the UK as a competitive place to invest in AI start-ups.

The UK has a competitive advantage in AI, with some of the world’s most innovative AI companies based here.The government commissioned an Action Plan in July, led by Matt Clifford to identify how AI can drive economic growth and explore untapped AI opportunities. HMG will form a new “AI Opportunities Unit” to seize the benefits of AI. The Action Plan, to be published shortly, will consider key enablers such as the UK’s compute and broader infrastructure requirements by 2030, how this infrastructure is made available for start-ups and scale-ups and how to develop and attract top AI talent.https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ai-expert-to-lead-action-plan-to-ensure-uk-reaps-the-benefits-of-artificial-intelligence

What recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Prevent programme.

The Independent Review of Prevent, published on 8 February 2023, was conducted by Sir William Shawcross. 33 of the 34 recommendations have now been implemented. This has included strengthening guidance and training, regionalising Prevent delivery, and improving case management. This includes introducing a new risk assessment tool for all referrals that will be evaluated in 2025.The Home Office has commissioned an independent evaluation of Channel that will assess whether Channel is effective at reducing individuals’ susceptibility to radicalisation. It will also explore how well Channel interventions are being delivered and how the programme could be improved. The evaluation is expected to report findings in 2025.In addition, the Desistance and Disengagement Programme, which helps to manage the risk of individuals who have already been involved in terrorism or terrorism related activity, has been independently evaluated. Most recommendations from that evaluation have been implemented.The Prevent Standards and Compliance Unit, which sits within the Commission for Countering Extremism, fulfils a crucial oversight function of Prevent, providing a route for the public and Prevent duty partners to register complaints or concerns, and ensuring Prevent is being delivered properly within the direction set by ministers.