Written questions by Nichols.

How she plans to roll out at-home electric vehicle charging points for people in terrace housing with no off-street parking.

The Department is working with local authorities to encourage the use of cross-pavement solutions and on the 13 July, announced the £25m Electric Vehicle Pavement Channel grant to further support local authorities in England to adopt pavement channels. This will allow EV drivers to access their domestic electricity tariffs by safely connecting a home EV charger to their vehicle parked on-street and adds to published local authority guidance and home charging grants that the Government already provides.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to encourage the recycling of re-usable vapes once they have reached end-of-use.

Since April 2024, businesses selling vapes have been legally required to offer in-store takeback, making recycling vapes accessible for consumers and preventing vapes being littered or incorrectly disposed of. In addition, the Government is introducing legislation to create a new category of Electrical and Electronic Equipment for vapes, to ensure that the costs of collection and treatment fall fairly on those who produce them. As part of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations, producers can pay into a Producer Compliance Fee, funding consumer awareness campaigns including on the correct disposal of vapes. You can find your nearest recycling location online by searching "Recycle Your Electricals."

What proportion of applications to the vaccine damage payment scheme since 2020 have been successful, by vaccine type.

Data from the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), shows that 22,408 VDPS claims were received between 1 November 2021 and 4 July 2025. 1.1% of these have been successful, with a further 0.1% having been successful following an appeal, known as a mandatory reversal. Of the claims received:21,213 of these were for claims related to vaccination against COVID-19. 1.1% of these claims have been successful, with a further 0.1% having been successful after a mandatory reversal request;171 claims were received in relation to vaccination against flu in adults. 1.8% of these claims have been successful, and none of these claims were successful after a mandatory reversal; and1,024 claims were received in relation to vaccination against other diseases. 0.7% of these claims have been successful, and none of these claims were successful after a mandatory reversal.These figures are based on total applications received. Some of these applications will not yet have been assessed or were invalid.

How many applications have been made to the vaccine damage payment scheme since 2020, by vaccine type.

Data from the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), shows that 22,408 VDPS claims were received between 1 November 2021 and 4 July 2025. 1.1% of these have been successful, with a further 0.1% having been successful following an appeal, known as a mandatory reversal. Of the claims received:21,213 of these were for claims related to vaccination against COVID-19. 1.1% of these claims have been successful, with a further 0.1% having been successful after a mandatory reversal request;171 claims were received in relation to vaccination against flu in adults. 1.8% of these claims have been successful, and none of these claims were successful after a mandatory reversal; and1,024 claims were received in relation to vaccination against other diseases. 0.7% of these claims have been successful, and none of these claims were successful after a mandatory reversal.These figures are based on total applications received. Some of these applications will not yet have been assessed or were invalid.

What proportion of applications to the vaccine damage payment scheme since 2020 have been successful on appeal,by vaccine type.

Data from the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), shows that 22,408 VDPS claims were received between 1 November 2021 and 4 July 2025. 1.1% of these have been successful, with a further 0.1% having been successful following an appeal, known as a mandatory reversal. Of the claims received:21,213 of these were for claims related to vaccination against COVID-19. 1.1% of these claims have been successful, with a further 0.1% having been successful after a mandatory reversal request;171 claims were received in relation to vaccination against flu in adults. 1.8% of these claims have been successful, and none of these claims were successful after a mandatory reversal; and1,024 claims were received in relation to vaccination against other diseases. 0.7% of these claims have been successful, and none of these claims were successful after a mandatory reversal.These figures are based on total applications received. Some of these applications will not yet have been assessed or were invalid.

If she will review the statutory walking distance for free school transport.

The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport.Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for children of compulsory school age, 5 to 16, who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there due to the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. There are extended rights to free travel for children from low-income families, intended to help them exercise school choice.The government is committed to creating opportunities for all children so that they can achieve and thrive and is working with department officials to understand how well home-to-school travel supports children to access educational opportunity.

What steps he plans to take to increase the uptake of measles vaccines.

The Department is working alongside its partners to increase vaccine uptake across all childhood vaccination programmes, including the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) programme.In light of a surge in measles cases in the North West, the UK Health Security Agency and the National Health Service are working with local partners to monitor the situation, provide advice, and support local communities to be aware of action they can take to protect themselves, including getting vaccinated.Building on the MMR coverage gains achieved in 2023/4, NHS England continues to deliver national and regional improvement plans that include activities to strengthen the routine vaccination offer and to address inequalities by supporting MMR catch up vaccination by school age vaccination services in schools and community settings. For example, summer ‘catch up’ immunisation clinics are being stood in some of the areas with the lowest MMR uptake including Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, and St Helens.National childhood vaccination communication campaigns are planned in August and September 2025 for children returning to school. This will be a re-launch of the 2024 childhood vaccination campaign aimed at increasing the awareness of childhood vaccinations and encouraging parents to book catch-up appointments.It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations they are entitled to, for themselves, their families, and wider society.  The MMR vaccine is highly effective, safe, and is the best way to prevent measles.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2025 to Question 61211 on Asbestos: Ovarian Cancer, if she will direct the Health and Safety Executive to collect data on asbestos-related ovarian cancer cases.

Collecting data on individual cases of asbestos-related ovarian cancer is not feasible due to difficulties attributing them to historic exposure with confidence. Significant resource would be needed to produce estimates based on epidemiological evidence. These are likely to be small in comparison to other asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma (which is more clearly linked to past exposure) and would have considerable associated uncertainty.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to provide free menstrual products to homelessness shelters.

The Government does not directly commission homelessness shelters or services. In 2025/26 the Government is investing £1 billion in homelessness services, an increase of £233 million on the previous year. Local authorities can use this funding to provide a range of services to meet local need, which may include the provision of menstrual and other sanitary products.

What information his Department holds on the impact of (a) diamorphine assisted therapy, (b) safe consumption rooms and (c) needle and syringe exchange services on rates of skin and soft tissue infection.

The Department does not collect information on the impact of diamorphine assisted therapy (DAT), safe consumption rooms and needle and exchange services on rates of soft skin tissue infections (SSTI). The Department is aware of the dangers of SSTI to people who inject drugs and in 2021 issued guidance for commissioners and providers of drugs services on being ‘wound aware’. This recommends that a range of local services can help prevent SSTIs and stop them getting worse through early identification and treatment.DAT is an option that remains open to local areas under the existing legal framework, where the relevant licences are obtained from the Home Office. There is good evidence that needle and syringe programmes alongside opioid substitution treatment are associated with reduced rates of HIV and hepatitis C infection in the target population. The review of the evidence is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drug-misuse-treatment-in-england-evidence-review-of-outcomes

If he will make it his policy that publicly-funded medical trials (a) must be balanced by sex and (b) results must be sex-disaggregated.

Medical trials, wherever possible, should always be balanced by sex, however, certain clinical trials are designed to investigate conditions that are only specific to one sex, so enforcing a balance would not make sense on those occasions.The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). As outlined in the Research Inclusion Strategy 2022-2027, the NIHR is committed to exploring an approach which enables and encourages the research community to integrate sex and gender into their research design, including in the disaggregation of research findings. The Research Inclusion Strategy 2022-2027 is available at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/research-inclusion/strategy-2022-27On 10 March, the NIHR launched its sex and gender policy, which is expected to come into force later in 2025, with further information available at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/integrating-sex-and-gender-health-and-care-researchImplementing such a policy will ensure that research accounts for sex and gender across every stage of the research cycle, thus facilitating both funding into topics that impact males and females, and a greater understanding of how they might be impacted differently by the same health condition.

If she will make it her policy to ensure that (a) all cars sold in the UK must have had safety tests undertaken on them that include specifically-female crash dummies in both the driver and passenger seats and (b) data from such tests is (i) recorded and (ii) published.

The latest international vehicle regulations covering frontal impact protection developed under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) currently use a crash test dummy representative of a female occupant in the front passenger seat. The Government is currently considering mandating this regulation in Great Britain as part of an extensive package of vehicle safety measures. The UNECE has also established a group of experts, in which the Department for Transport is an active member, which is reviewing its Regulations to ensure all vehicle occupants benefit from comparable levels of protection irrespective of their sex, age or stature. This is likely to require testing with a greater number of female occupant locations. The Department for Transport remains a member of the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP). This programme is complementary to regulation and includes impact tests using crash test dummies representative of a female occupant in the driver and opposite rear passenger seating positions. Data from regulatory testing is recorded by the Type Approval Authority responsible for approval, but the data is highly technical and not routinely published. Summarised data from Euro NCAP testing is translated into easily understood safety information and is always published on its website - www.euroncap.com

Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with Artificial Intelligence developers to ensure they do not introduce gender bias in their algorithms.

It is crucial that AI systems are developed and deployed in a fair, inclusive and responsible way. That is why we have designated AI assurance as a key pillar of support for meeting the commitments made in government’s response to the AI Opportunities Action Plan.As part of our work on AI assurance, we recently concluded our Fairness Innovation Challenge, which provided over £465,000 to fund the development of novel solutions to address bias and discrimination – including gender bias – in AI systems across four different sectors.The Secretary of State and his department will continue to engage with AI developers on a range of matters related to model development and deployment.

If she will require the Health and Safety Executive to collect data on asbestos-related ovarian cancer cases.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for collection of data of workplace injury and illness. Under Regulation 9 of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR), it requires the responsible person to report a diagnosis of any cancer attributed to an occupational exposure to a known human carcinogen in their current job. When reporting, the responsible person must provide details on the affected person's occupation or job title and a description of the work that led to the disease. Estimated numbers of cases of certain kinds of cancer other than mesothelioma and lung cancer that are attributable to past exposure to asbestos are available from previous HSE sponsored research into the burden of occupational cancer in Great Britain. However, ovarian cancer in relation to asbestos was not considered at the time this research was carried out, and so estimates are not currently available and HSE has no plans to collect this data.

Whether she plans to add pharmacy to the list of degree courses that will be funded if an applicant already has a degree.

Under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, additional entitlement may be available for priority subjects or longer courses in addition to an individual’s core 4-year entitlement. Details of these additional entitlements will be announced in due course.

What recent progress her Department has made on the implementation of a GCSE in British Sign Language.

The new British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE is a key feature of our commitment to enhancing the status of BSL in education and society.The department published subject content for the BSL GCSE in December 2023.As is the usual process for introducing a qualification, the independent qualifications regulator, Ofqual, is currently running a public consultation on its proposed assessment arrangements and expects to confirm its decision on the qualification rules in autumn 2025. At this point, any exam board that chooses to offer the GCSE will be able to start developing specifications.

How many and what proportion of applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme were successful at (a) first application and (b) appeal since 2020.

Between 1 January 2020 and 6 June 2025, data from the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the scheme, shows that 205 claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme were successful at a first application. This equates to 1.5% of the claims that had received an initial outcome.In the same time period, 29 mandatory reversal requests were successful. This equates to 2.1% of the reversal outcomes that had been notified to claimants.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to introduce traceable labels on nitrous oxide canisters to identify the point of sale.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given by the Home Office on 9 May 2025 to PQ 49048.

What steps he plans to take to help make it easier for (a) tenants and (b) leaseholders to install heat pumps.

The Warm Homes Plan will help upgrade homes across the country, including those occupied by tenants and leaseholders, by making them cleaner and cheaper to run, from installing new insulation to rolling out solar and heat pumps. The Government is helping make heat pumps more efficient and easier to install, through increasing funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to £295 million for this financial year, ensuring more families can benefit from £7,500 off the cost of a heat pump. The Government has also allowed heat pumps to be installed within 1m of the property boundary without applying for planning permission.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the adoption and special guardianship support fund permanent.

I refer my hon. Friend, the member for Warrington North, to my written statement of 22 April 2025, which is available here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-04-22/hcws589.