Written questions by Lewell.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether Ofwat’s recent enforcement package on Northumbrian Water was in respect of overflows from sewage works in South Shields constituency.

Ofwat recently concluded its investigation into Northumbrian Water securing an enforcement package of £15.7 million, including £2 million allocated to further reduce spills at specific overflows. Ofwat does not hold post code specific data on sewage overflows, however South Shields was included in their investigation and factored into subsequent enforcement: OFF-SEN-25-06-04-Northumbrian-Water-final-decision-document.pdf.

What proportion of eligible families are receiving Healthy Start in South Shields constituency.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start and does not currently hold data on the number of people eligible for Healthy Start. An issue was identified with the source data that is used to calculate uptake of the NHS Healthy Start scheme. The NHSBSA has therefore removed data for the number of people eligible for the scheme and the uptake percentage from January 2023 onwards. The issue has only affected the data on the number of people eligible for the scheme. It has not prevented anyone from joining the scheme or continuing to access the scheme if they were eligible. The number of people on the digital scheme for South Tyneside in March 2025 was 1,162. The NHSBSA does not hold data on local constituencies. The following table shows the number of people on the digital scheme for all ward areas in South Tyneside, of which South Shields is a part:Local authorityWardPeople on digital schemeSouth TynesideBeacon and Bents44South TynesideBede93South TynesideBiddick and All Saints160South TynesideBoldon Colliery65South TynesideCleadon and East Boldon2South TynesideCleadon Park50South TynesideFellgate and Hedworth54South TynesideHarton59South TynesideHebburn North79South TynesideHebburn South65South TynesideHorsley Hill82South TynesideMonkton42South TynesidePrimrose71South TynesideSimonside and Rekendyke121South TynesideWest Park49South TynesideWestoe26South TynesideWhitburn and Marsden24South TynesideWhiteleas76

How many families receive Healthy Start in South Shields.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures on the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start. The number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme for South Tyneside in March 2025 was 1,162. The following table shows the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme, broken down by all ward areas in South Tyneside, of which South Shields is a part, as the NHSBSA does not hold data on local constituencies:Local authorityWardPeople on the digital schemeSouth TynesideBeacon and Bents44South TynesideBede93South TynesideBiddick and All Saints160South TynesideBoldon Colliery65South TynesideCleadon and East Boldon2South TynesideCleadon Park50South TynesideFellgate and Hedworth54South TynesideHarton59South TynesideHebburn North79South TynesideHebburn South65South TynesideHorsley Hill82South TynesideMonkton42South TynesidePrimrose71South TynesideSimonside and Rekendyke121South TynesideWest Park49South TynesideWestoe26South TynesideWhitburn and Marsden24South TynesideWhiteleas76

Whether Tumour-infiltrating Lymphocytes therapy has been licenced in the UK.

The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has not licenced any medicines that can be described as tumour infiltrating lymphocyte therapy.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2025 to Question 26821 on Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, whether the taskforce plans to engage with (a) families with lived experience of childhood cancer, (b) children’s cancer charities and (c) other representative groups.

The Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce will be engaging with experts from across the sector, from clinicians, researchers, advocates, and those with lived experience, and its membership will also be reflective of diverse patient needs. The taskforce is committed to considering patient experience alongside clinical care to improve the outcomes and experiences of children and young people with cancer and their families.Department officials are working with chairs of the taskforce to develop the Terms of Reference ahead of the first meeting, currently planned for March 2025. The taskforce will consider the most appropriate dissemination routes or publication channels for taskforce materials in due course.We expect the taskforce to run for six months with the possibility of extension. The taskforce will feed into, and report in line with the publication of the National Cancer Plan.

What the terms of reference will be for the Children and Young People’s Cancer Taskforce.

The Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce will be engaging with experts from across the sector, from clinicians, researchers, advocates, and those with lived experience, and its membership will also be reflective of diverse patient needs. The taskforce is committed to considering patient experience alongside clinical care to improve the outcomes and experiences of children and young people with cancer and their families.Department officials are working with chairs of the taskforce to develop the Terms of Reference ahead of the first meeting, currently planned for March 2025. The taskforce will consider the most appropriate dissemination routes or publication channels for taskforce materials in due course.We expect the taskforce to run for six months with the possibility of extension. The taskforce will feed into, and report in line with the publication of the National Cancer Plan.

When he expects the Children and Young People’s Cancer Taskforce to report.

The Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce will be engaging with experts from across the sector, from clinicians, researchers, advocates, and those with lived experience, and its membership will also be reflective of diverse patient needs. The taskforce is committed to considering patient experience alongside clinical care to improve the outcomes and experiences of children and young people with cancer and their families.Department officials are working with chairs of the taskforce to develop the Terms of Reference ahead of the first meeting, currently planned for March 2025. The taskforce will consider the most appropriate dissemination routes or publication channels for taskforce materials in due course.We expect the taskforce to run for six months with the possibility of extension. The taskforce will feed into, and report in line with the publication of the National Cancer Plan.

What progress the Children and Young People's Cancer Taskforce has made.

The Department will be relaunching the Children and Young People’s Cancer Taskforce in the coming weeks. Dame Caroline Dinenage and Professor Darren Hargrave have been appointed as its co-chairs, alongside Dr Sharna Shanmugavadivel as vice-chair.The taskforce will examine clinical and non-clinical ways to improve outcomes and patient experience for children and young people with cancer. This will feed into the Department’s wider work on the national cancer plan.

What the average time period is for issuing payments via the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.

Between November 2021 and January 2025, the average time period for issuing payments following confirmation of a successful claim was 46 calendar days. A payment can only be made once bank details and identification verification has been received from the claimant. Once received, the NHS Business Services Authority operates a 10-working day service level agreement for the payment to be processed.

How many and what proportion of applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (a) are pending, (b) have been paid and (c) have been refused.

Between 1 November 2021 and 17 January 2025, the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme has received 19,115 claims. Of these, 7,159, or 37% of claims, are awaiting resolution, 208, or 1% of claims, have been awarded, and 11,748, or 61% of claims, have not been awarded a payment.

How many pensioners are eligible for the Warm Homes Discount in each region.

The Warm Home Discount statistics (published at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/warm-home-discount-statistics-2023-to-2024) provide data on the number of rebates received by region (table 2), by the benefits claimed which make recipients eligible...

How much her Department spent on Budgeting Loans (a) overall and (b) in each category in the 2023-24 financial year.

The total spent on Budgeting Loan awards in the 2023/24 financial year was £260.6 million. A category breakdown for budgeting loans will be published in due course in the 2023/24 Social Fund annual report. This will include the breakdowns by regions, clai...

If she will make it her policy to (a) review and (b) update the National Radiological Protection Board report published on 4 January 1988.

The National Radiological Protection Board report that was published in 1988 has been updated a further three times. The publications are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nuclear-weapons-test-participants-study/re...

What his Department's timetable is for its review of the medical records of nuclear veterans.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 17507 on 12 December 2024 to the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes).

How many nuclear veterans have (a) applied for and (b) been refused compensation under the War Pension Scheme.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 13419 on 19 November 2024 to the hon.Member for the Wrekin (Mark Pritchard).

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2024 to Question 12460 on AUKUS, whether he has received Sir Stephen Lovegrove’s report on AUKUS; and when he plans to publish that report.

An extension was provided to allow Sir Stephen Lovegrove to gather all the necessary information, and we are now awaiting his final report. An unclassified version of his report will be published in due course.

With reference to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 21056 on Defence: Artificial Intelligence, whether the Capability Lead, AI Talent and Skills is now in post.

Yes, I can confirm that there is an incumbent in post as of June 2024. The individual has made some good early progress working collaboratively with Digital Skills for Defence (DS4D), the Defence Academy Shrivenham, and other relevant stakeholders.

If his Department will take steps to automatically enrol eligible families in the NHS Healthy Start programme.

The Healthy Start scheme was introduced in 2006 to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies and young children under four from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk and in...

Whether her Department's review of Universal Credit will include the income threshold used to determine eligibility for (a) free school meals and (b) the NHS Healthy Start scheme.

Eligibility criteria, including earnings thresholds for passported benefits including Free School Meals and Healthy Start payments are owned by Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social care respectively.

When she plans to launch her Department's review of Universal Credit.

We are committed to reviewing Universal Credit, to make sure it is doing the job we want it to. We will set out the details of this in due course.