Written questions by Jones.

What his planned timetable is for procuring replacement aircraft for the Hawk T1 Trainer to be used by the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate liquid solution from the medicine market on to patients with adrenal insufficiency.

The Department is aware of the discontinuation of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate 100mg/1ml solution for injection and we continue to work with industry to find a longer-term solution.Hydrocortisone sodium succinate 100mg powder remains available for patients. We have issued comprehensive management guidance to healthcare professionals on how to manage patients while supply is disrupted. The guidance highlighted the differences between the two hydrocortisone injections. It also included resources for patients and healthcare professionals on how to administer the alternative hydrocortisone injection. We also understand that the Addison’s Disease Self Help Group have also published information on this discontinuation to keep patients informed along with resources for patients on how to administer the alternative hydrocortisone.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department made of the potential impact of the Renters’ Rights Act 2026 on tenants with fixed-term tenancy agreements entered into before the Act’s commencement where such agreements contained no (a) break clause and (b) requirement to give notice at the end of the fixed term, prior to the introduction of that Act to Parliament.

Awaiting answer.

When she plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Wokingham transferred to her Department on 24 November 2025, reference MC2025/24514.

A response has been sent to the hon. Member for Wokingham.

With reference his Department's press release entitled NHS patients to get quicker tests and scans closer to home, published on 13 April 2026, whether teenagers and young adults will have access to diagnostic services at new and expanded Community Diagnostic Centres; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that diagnostic pathways at these Centres are appropriate for patients aged 13–25.

The Department is committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the National Health Service to increase diagnostic capacity to bring down the size of the list and reduce waiting times. The Department also recognises that teenagers and young adults require age-appropriate care, regarding diagnosis, treatment and wider support.In April 2026, the Department announced its plan to open four new community diagnostic centres during 2026/27. The Department also announced a further 32 centres, which will be expanded and improved with new scanning equipment, outpatient clinic space and testing facilities. The 36 centres, backed by a £237 million Government investment, will significantly boost NHS diagnostic capacity and deliver more care in local communities, including for teenagers and young adults.

With reference to page 74 of his Department's document entitled National Cancer Plan for England, published on 4 February 2026, what progress he has made on implementing action 4 in the Rare and less common cancers section; whether his Department has a timeline to introduce the regular publication of data on the occurrence of the emergency diagnoses of non‑stageable cancers, including blood and brain cancers; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including such data into early diagnosis performance metrics.

The National Cancer Plan for England sets out a comprehensive ten-year strategy to transform cancer outcomes across the country. Rare and Less Common Cancers have been prioritised through the National Cancer Plan, to drive forward progress for cancers that have previously been neglected.To meet its obligations for rare cancers, the Government will appoint a new national clinical lead for rare cancers.  This national clinical lead will have a clear mandate to speak up for rare cancers, and to provide clinical advice and support for the delivery of the actions in the plan.Brain and some blood cancers such as leukaemia cannot be staged in the same way as other cancers and are therefore not included in current early‑diagnosis measures. However, the Plan commits to publishing regular data on the number of these cancers diagnosed in emergency settings, as a proxy for late or ineffective diagnosis. Moreover, adding this to the basket of early diagnosis metrics we prioritise will help incentivise systems and providers to focus on earlier diagnosis of blood and brain cancers. This will happen across the lifetime of the plan.Across the life of the National Cancer Plan, Ministers will publish an annual summary of progress, along with a more in-depth report after three years to assess where the plan may need updating and refreshing.

With reference to page 28 of his Department's document entitled National Cancer Plan for England, published on 4 February 2026, what progress he has made on the development and implementation of multi‑cancer early detection tests; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of evaluating and integrating blood‑based biomarker tests and other non‑invasive diagnostic tools for earlier detection of brain tumours.

The Department will continue to implement the actions set out in the National Cancer Plan, including supporting the development and adoption of multi-cancer early detection tests and other non-invasive diagnostic tools.Whilst the 10-Year Health Plan anticipated a breakthrough within the next five years, any new screening test must be subject to review by the UK National Screening Committee, to prove safety, efficacy and value before it can become part of a national screening program. We will prioritise further efforts to research and evaluate effective diagnostic tools and tests for rare cancers, including brain cancer, using multi-cancer early detection tests and other non-invasive diagnostic tests.

With reference to action 9 on page 76 of his Department's document entitled National Cancer Plan for England, published on 4 February 2026, what progress he has made on assessing novel procurement routes for diagnostics and treatments for rare cancers, including brain tumours; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure timely adoption and rollout of approved diagnostic innovations.

The Government is committed to improving outcomes for people with rare and less common cancers, including brain tumours, and to ensuring that patients benefit from effective innovations as quickly and safely as possible.The Department is working with NHS England to consider how procurement approaches can better support earlier access to diagnostics and treatments for rare cancers, including for brain tumours. The plan sets out that we will explore new procurement routes in 2026 and we will publish an annual report on progress against the commitments in the National Cancer Plan.To support timely adoption and rollout of approved diagnostic innovations, NHS England is strengthening cancer pathways and making greater use of digital tools to identify bottlenecks and delays. This includes expanding the use of the Federated Data Platform to all trusts to support clinicians and operational teams to consolidate multiple frontline operational systems into a single view, facilitating more effective and efficient clinical and operational decisions.The Department is also supporting the deployment of diagnostic innovations through national investment, including focusing the £21 million AI Diagnostic Fund on the deployment of technologies in key, high-demand areas such as chest X-Ray and chest CT scans to enable faster diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in over half of acute trusts in England.NHS England will continue to work with Regions and Cancer Alliances to support providers to adopt effective innovations and to improve pathway performance, including targeted support for challenged trusts and pathways.

Innovation and Technology, when the correspondence sent on 22nd October 2025 by the Hon. Member for Wokingham, reference number MC2025-00013812, will receive a response.

The Department apologises for the significant delay in responding to the hon. Member’s correspondence on this occasion. I provided a full response on 24 April 2026.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2026 to Question 116006 on Vitamin D: Dietary Supplements, what interim measures he is taking to tackle Vitamin D deficiency rates in black and Asian populations prior to the analysis of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

The Government is not currently planning to introduce any targeted vitamin D measures. Any further risk management approaches will be considered once the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition has completed reviewing the evidence on vitamin D requirements for people with higher melanin concentrations and made recommendations.Government recommendations on vitamin D are publicised via the NHS.UK website and the Department's social marketing campaigns Better Health, Healthier Families, and Best Start in Life. These channels help ensure that at-risk groups, for example people who have an African, African-Caribbean, or South Asian background, as well as the general population, are aware of the importance of vitamin D supplementation.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the exclusion of UK recyclate from the Single Use Plastics Directive on (a) material dumping and (b) the circular economy.

We are monitoring ‘European preference’ and ‘Made in Europe’ clauses included in legislation and strategies. We are working across government departments and with key industry stakeholders to understand potential impacts.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has had discussions with the European Commission on the exclusion of UK recyclate from the Single Use Plastics Directive.

Yes. The UK Government has raised Directive (EU) 2019/904 (the Single Use Plastics Directive) and associated implementing decisions with the EU Commission.

What is the total anticipated generation capacity in MWh of solar power projects that are approved but have not yet been connected to the grid.

According to the latest version of the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), as at January 2026 approximately 24GW capacity of ground mounted solar power projects have received planning consent but are not yet connected to the grid. This figure is an approximation as the REPD does not track projects below 150kW.

What estimate he has made of the number of court cases delayed in 2025 as a result of the failure of custody transport services to deliver the defendant at the correct time.

Data on the number of trials declared ineffective due to the non-production of defendants can be found here: Criminal court statistics - GOV.UK (trial effectiveness at the criminal courts tool).In 2025, the non-production of defendants by the Prisoner Escort Custody Service (PECS) accounted for 176 (2%) of ineffective trials in the Crown Court and 885 (4%) of ineffective trials in the magistrates’ courts.Sir Brian Leveson made a number of recommendations to address the late arrivals of prisoners to court in his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. We recognise the problems we inherited in prisoner transfer with delays occurring at prisons, en route between prison and court, and at courts themselves in bringing prisoners to the dock. We are gripping this – along with the Minister for Prisons, I am establishing an oversight body to review prisoner transfer from end to end. This will monitor and drive performance improvements in prisoner transfer across the country.We are also working with the Department for Transport and local authorities to expand the number of areas where PECS vans can use bus lanes to reduce traffic delays, and in London we are working with Transport for London to retime the traffic signals to prioritise PECS vans so they are more likely to receive a green light.

What steps he is taking to help ensure that an accurate record exists of which homes are reliant on Home Heating Oil for heating.

Information on the heating fuels used by households is published by the Office for National Statistics and the Devolved Administrations. For more information, please see here - Constituency data: Households off the gas grid - House of Commons Library The Government has made £53 million of additional support available to help low-come households who use heating oil. In England this has been allocated to Local Authorities via the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF). Households should apply to their local authority and provide any evidence that is requested.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to eliminate sewage overflow releases into (a) the River Loddon and (b) other protected chalk streams.

Through the Water Industry National Environment Programme, the Environment Agency (EA) is driving improvements at sewage treatment works including in the Loddon catchment. These include upgrades to deliver against the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan and other investigations and improvement schemes which Thames Water are required to complete. The EA has inspected all Thames Water sewage treatment works within the River Loddon catchment. Any permit breaches it identifies are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and any confirmed serious breaches are investigated and enforced against in line with the EA’s enforcement and sanctions policy. Across England, over £10 billion is being invested to improve about 2,500 storm overflows by 2030, with upgrades prioritised at high priority sites including chalk streams.

Whether she is taking steps with relevant stakeholders to help reduce the number of leaks in school buildings.

Schools and their responsible bodies are not obliged to report school closures to the department and therefore the department does not hold the information requested. Many responsible bodies manage school closures locally and without central government support.Where the department is notified of a significant event or issue with a school or college building that cannot be managed with local resources, we consider additional support on a case-by-case basis. We work closely with these responsible bodies and schools to minimise the impact of any closures and ensure continuity of education for pupils.Effective and proactive estate management is key to maintaining a high-quality estate and preventing issues materialising that can disrupt education, like leaks. We already set out clear expectations in our School Estate Management Standards and, in February, launched a new digital service to bring together estates-related guidance, data, tools, programmes and funding in one place. From this autumn, we will ask responsible bodies to make an annual return to confirm they are meeting those standards. For those that are not, we will put in place an estate management capability support plan in agreement with the responsible body.

What is her estimate of the number of days of education lost during 2025 as a result of water leaks in school buildings.

Schools and their responsible bodies are not obliged to report school closures to the department and therefore the department does not hold the information requested. Many responsible bodies manage school closures locally and without central government support.Where the department is notified of a significant event or issue with a school or college building that cannot be managed with local resources, we consider additional support on a case-by-case basis. We work closely with these responsible bodies and schools to minimise the impact of any closures and ensure continuity of education for pupils.Effective and proactive estate management is key to maintaining a high-quality estate and preventing issues materialising that can disrupt education, like leaks. We already set out clear expectations in our School Estate Management Standards and, in February, launched a new digital service to bring together estates-related guidance, data, tools, programmes and funding in one place. From this autumn, we will ask responsible bodies to make an annual return to confirm they are meeting those standards. For those that are not, we will put in place an estate management capability support plan in agreement with the responsible body.

Communities and Local Government, how many affordable housing units have been built which have never been occupied because no housing association has taken them on.

My Department does not hold comprehensive, historic data on social and affordable homes that have been completed but remain unoccupied because a registered provider has not contracted with a housebuilder to acquire them. I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement on 28 January 2026 (HCWS1286) and the answer given to Question UIN 112630 on 2 March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, whether he is taking steps to increase the rate of collection of civil penalties issued by local authorities against landlords for housing offences.

The government engages regularly with local authorities and other relevant stakeholders in relation to how enforcement against rogue landlords in the private rented sector might be strengthened.Local authorities already have a range of tools that they can use to support the collection of unpaid fines imposed on rogue landlords, including charging orders and bankruptcy proceedings.My Department will continue to engage with local authorities and consider how best practice can be shared as part of supporting the effective implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act.