Written questions by Thomas.

How many people referred to the London North West University Hospital were (a) diagnosed with cancer and (b) had cancer ruled out within (i) 28 days and (ii) 62 days in each quarter since the start of 2022-23.

NHS England publishes data for the three cancer waiting time standards monthly, and this data can be broken down to a provider level, with further information available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/Since July 2025, NHS England has published Faster Diagnosis Standard data broken down by those who were diagnosed with cancer and those who had cancer ruled out. However, this data is not publicly available at a provider level.

How many people in (a) Harrow, (b) Barnet, (c) Brent, (d) England and (e) London were diagnosed with (i) Stage One, (ii) Stage 2, (iii) Stage 3 and (iv) Stage 4 cancer in (A) 2022-23, (B) 2023-24 and (C) 2024-25.

The National Disease Registration Service is the cancer registry for England, and is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrsData can be broken down by stage as well as by geographical location. However, data is not available by local authority. Currently, data is available up to 2022.

How many complaints (a) her Department, (b) the Financial Conduct Authority, (c) the Prudential Regulation Authority and (d) the Financial Ombudsman Scheme have received on high cost business lenders who have offered loans with interest rates payable of more than 40%.

The Treasury receives correspondence across a wide variety of subjects including financial services. While we are not able to measure the number of complaints the department receives in relation to high-cost credit for business loans with interest rates payable of more than 40%, the volume of correspondence on the cost of credit in relation to business loans is generally low. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) publishes annual and quarterly insights into which areas are attracting most complaints. In its last quarterly publication, it noted that complaints about unaffordable lending had halved. That data-point does not, however, distinguish between household and commercial credit and the areas of topical complaints may change quarter on quarter. In the last five years, credit card related complaints to the FOS have been one of the top five areas of complaints, but business lending specifically is not a significant source of FOS disputes in comparison to household and personal credit. The Bank of England’s ‘bankstats’ data provides insights into business and household credit, including the effective interest rates for SMEs on new and outstanding loans. The monthly average of UK resident banks’ sterling weighted loans for new advances to SMEs now stands at 6.35%, as of 31st August 2025, a figure that has tracked down as the base rate has fallen.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding she plans to provide to support UN peacekeeping operations in (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27.

For the 2025/26 peacekeeping fiscal year (July to June), the UK's mandatory contribution to the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Budget will be $245 million (4.7454 per cent) of a budget of $5.16 billion. Further funding will be required for the 2025/26 UK fiscal year following the Security Council's decision in September 2025 to establish a UN Support Office in Haiti, but the cost is yet to be confirmed. In addition, two UN Peacekeeping Operations are funded from the UN Regular Budget; the UN Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) and the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO). Their respective budgets for the 2025 UN Regular Budget fiscal year (January to December) are approximately $9.680 million and approximately $41.4 million. The UK's contribution to the UN Regular Budget is 3.991 per cent. UN peacekeeping budgets are negotiated from May to June so figures for the UK's contribution in 2026/2027 will be available once budgets are confirmed. The UK has forecast for the entirety of the UN Regular Budget for 2026, so it is difficult to provide individual figures for both UNMOGIP and UNTSO budgets until they are agreed.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of effectiveness of UK funding for (a) the United Nations Development Programme and (b) Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) assesses the effectiveness, value for money, performance and relevance of UK funding to multilateral organisations including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), through annual reviews and continuously encouraging effectiveness in delivery and reform where necessary. The FCDO scrutinises UN budget proposals to ensure activities are effective and in line with UK priorities.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding she plans to provide to support development efforts in (a) Pakistan and (b) Nepal in the (i) 2025-2026 and (ii) 2026-2026 financial years.

For Financial Year 25/26, UK Government development funding for Pakistan is £103 million, and for Nepal it is £47 million. We are currently in the process of allocating budgets for 2026 onwards. The Minister for Development will inform Parliament in the usual manner when these budgets are confirmed.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2025 to Question 81241 on Credit Unions: Mortgages, what information her Department holds on which credit unions offer mortgages in each (a) region and (b) UK nation.

There are six credit unions in the UK currently offering mortgages. Of these, two are headquartered in England, three in Scotland, and one in Northern Ireland. Of those headquartered in England, one is located in the North West and one is located in London. Depending on the credit union in question’s common bond type, these credit unions may serve members outside of their headquartered regions. Credit union policy is devolved to Northern Ireland, and so legislation may differ.

If she will encourage partnerships between (a) Barclays Bank, (b) Santander, (c) HSBC, (d) NatWest and (e) Lloyds Bank with community development finance institutions serving areas of highest deprivation.

The Government recognises the vital role Community Development Finance Institutions play in providing affordable credit to underserved consumers and businesses. To support this, in November 2024, the British Business Bank launched the Community ENABLE Funding (CEF) Programme, which aims to deploy £150 million over the next two years to ‘not for profit’ lenders, including CDFIs. This will enable these organisations to provide enhanced support to consumers and businesses by broadening access to finance. In 2024, CDFIs and social banks lent £96.7 million to 364 social enterprises, with 67% of this lending directed to the UK’s most disadvantaged areas. In July, my predecessor co-chaired a roundtable in July with Responsible Finance which was an important opportunity to discuss how banks and CDFIs can work together to improve access to affordable credit. Several banks have already shown tangible support for CDFIs. For example, in 2023 NatWest provided £900,000 to the sector, with half distributed directly to households to help meet immediate needs during the cost-of-living crisis, and the remainder used to strengthen the sector’s capacity for future support. Similarly, Lloyds was announced as the lead investor in a new £62 million Community Investment Enterprise Fund, designed to help small businesses across England and Wales access finance through CDFIs, supporting local jobs and economic activity. Furthermore, in recognition of the important role responsible credit can play for consumers, the Government’s forthcoming Financial Inclusion Strategy includes a focus on access to credit, among other priority issues, and will seek to ensure people have access to useful products and services for their needs.

Communities and Local Government, if he will require registered social landlords to promote credit union membership to their tenants.

There is currently no requirement for registered providers of social housing to promote credit union membership to their tenants, and we do not propose to introduce one. Registered providers are expected to deliver the outcomes of the Regulator of Social Housing’s regulatory standards. This includes the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, which includes a requirement for registered providers to co-operate with relevant partners to promote social, environmental and economic wellbeing in the areas where they provide social housing. This could include signposting tenants to sources of support, and we recognise the work many register providers do to help tenants sustain their tenancies and manage their finances.

When she plans to publish the responses to the call for evidence entitled Credit Union Common Bond Reform, published on 14 November 2024.

The government recognises the role that credit unions play in providing savings and affordable loans to their members, serving local communities throughout the country. This is why the government is taking steps to ensure credit unions are fully supported to grow and scale into the future. This includes exploring legislative reform to the credit union common bond, to ensure it remains fit for purpose. We launched a call for evidence at last year’s Mansion House on the potential reform, which closed in March this year. Responses to the call for evidence are being carefully considered and the government will provide an update on this work in due course.

If she will require banks to submit quarterly data on the number of small and medium sized business account (a) openings and (b) closures.

The Government recognises the vital role financial services play in supporting millions of businesses across the UK, and believes all customers should be treated fairly by banks and have access to the financial services they need. This is why the Government introduced new rules earlier this year to require banks to give customers 90 days' notice before closing accounts and provide a clear explanation. The Government’s new rules will ensure more transparent and predictable access to banking, while still recognising that it is a commercial decision for a provider as to whom they provide services for. More widely, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) monitors banks regarding account openings and closures and has published reports looking at debanking. Beyond this, the Treasury has no plans to require banks to submit further information in this area.

If she will require the Bank of England or Prudential Regulation Authority to monitor personal lending and lending to businesses in left behind communities.

The Government welcomes the work of the Bank of England to assess and monitor credit provision in the UK for households and businesses, through its bankstats releases and regular business surveys. The Government has no further plans in this area. The Government is, however, committed to ensuring that access to finance is available across the UK and to tackle barriers where these exist. In recognition of this, in November 2024, the British Business Bank launched the Community ENABLE Funding (CEF) Programme, which aims to deploy £150 million over the next two years to ‘not for profit’ lenders, including Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). In 2024, CDFIs and social banks lent £96.7 million to 364 social enterprises, with 67% of this lending directed to the UK’s most disadvantaged areas.Furthermore, in recognition of the important role responsible credit can play for consumers, the Government’s forthcoming Financial Inclusion Strategy includes a focus on access to credit, among other priority issues, and will seek to ensure people have access to useful products and services for their needs.

How many extra GP appointments have been created in Harrow West since the end of June 2024; and at which GP surgery locations.

Harrow West sits within the NHS North West London Integrated Care Board (ICB). Across the ICB, there were 661,209 more appointments in the 14-months to August 2025 than the 14-months to August 2024 across 343 individual practices. There were 1,617 fewer appointments in the 14-months to August 2025 than the 14-months to August 2024 in the Harrow West constituency, across 16 practices.

Where does he expect a neighbourhood health centre to be established in the London Borough of Harrow; and when this will be.

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and we recognise that delivering high quality NHS healthcare requires the right infrastructure in the right places.That is why, over the course of our 10-Year Health Plan, we aim to establish a Neighbourhood Health Centre in every community, transforming healthcare access by bringing historically hospital-based services into communities and addressing wider determinants of health through services like debt advice, employment support, and obesity management programmes.We recently announced the places that will form wave 1 of the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP), after a rigorous assessment of applications against the core criteria. The first wave of the NNHIP covers 43 sites across England, from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in the south-west to Sunderland in the north-east, ensuring that communities nationwide benefit from this new model of care.Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning, planning, securing, and monitoring general practice services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. Both ICBs and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for Neighbourhood Health Centres.Nationwide coverage will take time, but we are starting in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, using public capital to update and refurbish existing, under-used buildings.

Whether she has had discussions with the Prudential Regulation Authority on the potential merits of a central finance facility for credit unions.

The Government has made clear its strong support for the credit union sector, recognising the value that credit unions bring to their members in local communities across the country in providing savings products and affordable credit. HM Treasury is delivering on measures announced by the Chancellor in last year’s Mansion House speech, including: concluding a call for evidence on potential reforms to credit union common bonds, supporting the industry-led Mutual and Co-operative Sector Business Council, and commissioning the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to publish a report on the mutuals landscape by the end of 2025. The Government currently has no plans to develop a central finance facility for credit unions but continues to engage with the sector and the regulators, and will keep all issues, like central finance functions, under review.

How many patients were waiting for more than 18 weeks for treatment at the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust at the end of (a) June 2004 and (b) June 2025.

Monthly referral to treatment waiting times data has been published by NHS England since March 2007. The requested data for June 2004 is therefore unavailable. As of the end of June 2025, there were 38,284 pathways over 18 weeks at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. This data is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/rtt-data-2025-26/#Jun25The standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18-weeks from referral to treatment came into effect in April 2012. Prior to this, national standards related to admitted or non-admitted completed pathways only. From 2015, trusts have solely been assessed on performance against the standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18-weeks from referral to treatment. Any data comparisons across these periods should therefore be treated with caution.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she plans to take to help ensure that there is an effective replenishment conference for the Global Fund to fight HIVAids, TB and Malaria.

The UK is proud to be co-hosting the Global Fund's Eighth Replenishment with South Africa and looks forward to working with an expanded range of partners to help end AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for good.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is working with South Africa and the Global Fund on a range of international engagements and events to help generate international support for the Replenishment. For example, Heads of Mission have recently hosted events in support of the Global Fund at our High Commission in Canberra, our Embassy in Addis Ababa and our High Commission in Pretoria, in addition to bilateral discussions in other key countries.

If she will provide the Financial Ombudsman Service with additional powers to monitor the use of personal guarantees by financial services companies for lending to small and medium sized businesses.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) was set up to resolve complaints between consumers and small businesses, and their financial services providers. While the Treasury sets the legal framework in which the FOS operates, the rules on how the FOS should handle complaints, including the jurisdiction of the FOS and what complaints it can deal with, are determined by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and set out in the FCA Handbook. As set out in the government’s small business strategy, which my Honourable Friend contributed so much to, we are committed to working with lenders on the appropriate use of personal guarantees. This includes a mandatory Code of Conduct for accredited lenders that use the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme to ensure the use of personal guarantees under the Scheme is fair and transparent. Recognising the necessary role that personal guarantees play in business lending, the government will work with UK Finance to build on their existing lender commitments to use personal guarantees responsibly, and with the business finance community as a whole to build businesses’ understanding of how to access the right finance on the right terms to meet their needs and to help businesses better understand the role of personal guarantees.

Communities and Local Government, what further steps he plans take to help tackle (a) Islamophobic and (b) antisemitic hate crime in London.

In response to the concerning rise in both antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred, the Government is absolutely committed to rooting out these forms of hatred. We continue to work across government on security, education and working alongside local government, including via the following.An Antisemitism Working Group has been established to advise the Government on effective strategies to tackle hate against Jewish communities and will explore how the Government should engage with Jewish communities in relation to international, national, and local events that impact British Jews. In addition, the Government continues to work with the independent advisor Lord Mann in combating antisemitism through meaningful engagement with diverse communities.The Government established an independent working group to advise on a non-statutory definition of anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia. The working group have engaged widely to ensure their proposed definition accounts for the variety of backgrounds and experiences of communities across the United Kingdom.The government also funds the British Muslim Trust to deliver a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hatred and provide support to victims, and True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report to the police.In response to the Manchester terror attack, Home Office, DfE and DHSC have increased funding to support policing, security and education to tackle antisemitism. Jewish communities will receive up to £10 million in an emergency cash injection to scale up security at synagogues and schools, taking funding to protect faith communities to record levels. As part of the DfE’s committed £7 million to tackling antisemitism in schools, universities and colleges, a £4 million innovation fund will be launched in late November to provide an opportunity for organisations to come up with innovative means to tackle antisemitism in education. NHS England will also roll out updated mandatory antisemitism and anti-racism training for all 1.5 million NHS staff.

Communities and Local Government, if he will encourage Councils to offer payroll deduction to employees wishing to save money with a credit union.

Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management of their own workforces including setting their own terms and conditions and employment packages in compliance with all relevant employment legislation.