Written questions by Bloore.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support is available to British citizens travelling from countries outside of the Middle East on visas that expire before they are able to return to the UK as a result of journeys that have been cancelled due to the situation in Iran.

As part of the FCDO's crisis response, we have been working with the relevant authorities in various countries to request flexibility for people who might overstay their visas due to disrupted travel plans as a result of the crisis in the Middle East. Any British nationals affected in this way should in the first instance speak to their airlines, travel agents or insurance companies about their situation and flight options. FCDO staff are also available 24/7 via our contact centre in the event that consular assistance is required.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the planned consultation on hunting with dogs will accept submissions on potential amendments to Schedule 1 of the Hunting Act 2004.

The Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting, in line with its manifesto commitment. Defra will consult early this year on how to deliver a ban. All responses to the consultation will be considered carefully.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her department has made of the suitability of the penalties available under the Hunting Act 2004; and whether the planned consultation on trail hunting will include consideration of Part 2 of that Act.

The Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting, in line with its manifesto commitment. Defra will consult early this year on how to deliver a ban. All responses to the consultation will be considered carefully.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill on the availability of housing-with-care for older people.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 108467 on 3 February 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill on levels of supply of housing-with-care for older people.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 108467 on 3 February 2026.

What assessment he has made of the strategic risks to the United Kingdom arising from frontier artificial intelligence capability being concentrated in a small number of overseas jurisdictions.

Artificial intelligence (AI), including frontier AI, presents both risks and opportunities for the UK. The concentration of AI capability development in a small number of overseas jurisdictions raises challenges, in terms of balancing delivery of the capabilities we want with the assurance and freedom of action we need. The Government manages these strategic implications through close cooperation with trusted allies, engagement with industry, and sustained investment in domestic capability and skills.

What recent discussions he has had with Ofgem regarding the designation of Great British Energy as a supplier of last resort, to strengthen market stability and protect consumers from future supplier failures.

Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

What assessment he has made of the potential role of Great British Energy, including through a retail arm, in delivering a social tariff or national energy guarantee to support households facing high energy costs.

Great British Energy (GBE) as the government’s publicly owned energy development company is designed to deliver strategic, long-term investment in the UK’s energy infrastructure. GBE is a key part of the Government’s mission to deliver clean power by 2030 to protect billpayers from volatile international fossil fuel markets by increasing domestic energy production and bring down energy bills for good. Whilst GBE has been set up to participate in the production, distribution, storage and supply of clean energy there are currently no plans for it to have a retail arm.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to encourage frontier artificial intelligence laboratories to establish significant operations in the United Kingdom, including through public co-investment and support for UK capital markets.

The UK is an excellent place for frontier artificial intelligence companies to expand operations, with a world leading R&D ecosystem which is home to four of the world’s top ten research institutions. These companies are already choosing to build in this country. For example, in February 2026 OpenAI announced that it is significantly expanding its presence in London, establishing the city as its largest research hub outside of the United States. Google DeepMind is also opening its first automated research lab in the UK this year.The Government has also delivered an ambitious programme of reforms to make it easier for firms to list and raise capital on UK markets, this includes overhauling the Prospectus Regime and Listing Rules.

What recent assessment she has made of the impact of Brexit on the economy.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has included assessments of the economic impacts of leaving the EU in its forecasts since 2016. In March 2020, the OBR estimated that GDP will be 4% lower in the long run than it would have been had the UK not withdrawn from the EU, and that imports and exports will eventually both be 15 per cent lower than had the UK stayed in the EU. As of November 2025, OBRs assumptions were unchanged from its previous assessment.

With reference to the written statement of 23 February 2026 on Clinical trials, HCWS1347, what steps his Department plans to take to help support young people experiencing gender incongruence in the period until the PATHWAYS trial resumes.

For children and young people currently under the care of NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Services, a multi-disciplinary team of clinicians conducts assessments using a holistic framework, following recommendations from the Cass Review. Each child or young person receives an individual care plan, with a strong focus on psychosocial support tailored to their needs.More widely, in 2024 NHS England published a new service specification for the National Referral Support Service for Specialist Services for Children and Young People with Gender Incongruence. Now a referral for the specialist Children and Young People’s Gender Service can be only made by a National Health Service-commissioned, secondary care-level paediatric service or a children and young people mental health service. This helps ensure that healthcare professionals with the relevant expertise conduct the assessment and help determine any co-existing mental health or other health needs of these children and their onward care.Alongside this, a mental health support offer was launched where all children and young people on the waiting list as of 31 August 2024 were offered a mental health assessment by their local Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) team. Additionally, NHS Arden and GEM, which manages the national waiting list, signposts to information and support for children and young people and their families. This includes resources from CYPMH and the NHS, as well as trusted third-sector organisations such as YoungMinds and Samaritans.

If he will publish a national strategy for palliative and end of life care.

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England, for publication later this year.The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and will enable integrated care boards to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan.For further information on the MSF I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Statement HCWS1087 I made to the House on 24 November 2025.

What data her Department holds on the proportion of neurodivergent and disabled teachers currently working in schools.

Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers in state-funded schools, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.Schools are asked to record whether staff self‑report a disability. In the November 2024 school workforce census, disability information was either not yet obtained or was refused for around 59% of teachers, the most recent data available. Where disability information was reported, around 3% of teachers were recorded as disabled. However, this may not represent the true proportion due to the level of missing data. This has been available since 5 June 2025.The department does not collect data centrally on whether school staff are neurodivergent.

How does the new Ofsted inspection framework measure and assess workforce inclusion, particularly for neurodivergent and disabled teachers.

This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to my hon. Friend, the Member for Redditch directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the use of contract-based tenures in older people's housing-with-care.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 87630 on 11 November 2025.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of local variation in access to and quality of palliative and end of life care.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative care services to meet the reasonable needs of their population. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.This further clarified in the recently published Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium Term Planning Guidance, which makes clear the expectation that ICBs should understand current and projected service utilisation and costs, creating an overall plan to more effectively meet these needs through neighbourhood health.The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025. NHS England has developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of deaths in hospital.

Early identification of someone who has palliative and end of life care needs is vital. There are tools to aid clinicians in identifying those approaching the end of life, for example the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit. Further information on the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit is available, respectively, at the following two links: https://www.spict.org.uk/the-spict/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/north-west/north-west-coast-strategic-clinical-networks/our-networks/palliative-and-end-of-life-care/for-professionals/early-toolkit-for-primary-care/ NHS England has published universal principles for advanced care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. Further information on the universal principles for ACP is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/ The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the early identification of palliative care needs.

Early identification of someone who has palliative and end of life care needs is vital. There are tools to aid clinicians in identifying those approaching the end of life, for example the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit. Further information on the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit is available, respectively, at the following two links: https://www.spict.org.uk/the-spict/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/north-west/north-west-coast-strategic-clinical-networks/our-networks/palliative-and-end-of-life-care/for-professionals/early-toolkit-for-primary-care/ NHS England has published universal principles for advanced care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. Further information on the universal principles for ACP is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/ The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that the palliative care workforce is able to cope with increases in demand for end of life care.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.  The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it, including in palliative care and end of life care. The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce variation in the approaches of commissioners in meeting the local population's needs for palliative and end of life care services.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative care services to meet the reasonable needs of their population. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.This further clarified in the recently published Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium Term Planning Guidance, which makes clear the expectation that ICBs should understand current and projected service utilisation and costs, creating an overall plan to more effectively meet these needs through neighbourhood health.The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025. NHS England has developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.