Written questions by Maguire.

Communities and Local Government, if he will meet the Gardens Trust to discuss plans to remove the organisation as a statutory consultee.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 103649 on 14 January 2026.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure people with learning disabilities receive screenings for cervical cancer.

The Government is committed to its ambition to change the National Health Service so that it diagnoses earlier and treats faster. The NHS Cervical Screening Programme plays a vital role in this. Across the NHS, local systems and partnerships are working together to find ways to make cervical screening more accessible for people with a learning disability.Following the launch of the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag Information Standard, NHS England is considering the role this digital flag has in further personalisation in the programme.Reasonable adjustments can include:a longer or double appointment;information in other languages or formats, or an interpreter;a chaperone in the room; and/oran appointment with a trusted doctor or nurse who the individual already has a good relationship with.Additionally, in early 2026, the NHS Cervical Screening Programme will be offering a self-testing kit to under-screened women, starting with those who are the most overdue for screening. This will help tackle deeply entrenched barriers that keep some away from screening.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of removing the Gardens Trust's status as a statutory consultee on protecting registered parks and gardens.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 103649 on 14 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of removing the Gardens Trust as a statutory consultee on local planning authorities.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 103649 on 14 January 2026.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reinstating the annual health check target of 75% for people with learning disabilities.

The Department and NHS England have not undertaken a specific assessment of reinstating the 75% annual health check target for people with a learning disability. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, wrote to general practitioners (GPs) in October 2025 emphasising the importance of the learning disability register and providing high quality annual health checks. These checks are the first line of defence for people with a learning disability, many of whom live with additional health needs, including long-term conditions. Strong support from GPs to maintain learning disability annual health checks has enabled more people than ever before to receive a health check and health action plan, an increase of more than 20% since 2020. As of March 2025, 81.5% of eligible people on the GP learning disability register received an annual health check, surpassing the previous 75% National Health Service target.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people with learning disabilities do not remain in hospital beds when there is no medical need for them to do so.

Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out to tackle health inequalities and offer people more holistic, on-going support in the community. It is important that people are discharged promptly from hospital with the right support, both for their outcomes, and to free up beds for other patients.The Department is working to ensure that patients, including people with a learning disability, can leave hospital promptly by strengthening access to appropriate community-based services. Local systems, supported through the £9 billion Better Care Fund, are required to plan jointly for integrated health and social care that supports individuals to live independently. This includes commissioning supported living arrangements, residential care where needed, and tailored packages of domiciliary care. For 2025/26, National Health Service trusts have been asked to focus on eliminating discharge delays of more than 48 hours caused by issues within acute hospitals, and to work with local authorities on eliminate the longest delays, starting with those of over 21 days. NHS Operational Planning Guidance also sets an objective to deliver a minimum 10% reduction in the use of mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people in 2025/26. The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework maintains this focus, with an ambition for a 10% year-on-year reduction up to 2028/29.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of non-explicit sexual content and promotional material for adult services on social media platforms; and what steps she is taking to help reduce associated risks, particularly for children and young people.

Under the Online Safety Act, services likely to be accessed by children are required to use highly effective age assurance to prevent children encountering pornography. Ofcom acknowledge in their guidance that suggestive content of a kind that might be expected to feature in an advertisement, may not be pornographic, but still may be inappropriate for children of certain age groups and require protections for them.The Advertising Standards Authority requires the content of adverts to be socially responsible, to ensure vulnerable people, including children and young people, are protected. The UK Non-Broadcast Advertising Code specifies that adverts for age-restricted products are not targeted at children.

Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 102833 on 12 January 2026.

How many and what proportion of people admitted to hospital in (a) England and (b) Surrey were aged between (i) 30- 39 and (ii) 40 and 49, (iii) 50 and 59 in the past year.

NHS England does not publish hospital admissions broken down by age. Instead, it publishes numbers of ‘Finished Consultant Episodes’ (FCEs) which means a completed hospital treatment session under a consultant. This data is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activity/2024-25NHS England publishes data by financial year, meaning the most recent available dataset relates to 2024/25. The following table shows the number and proportion of FCEs by age for patients aged 30 to 39 years old, 40 to 49 years old, and 50 to 59 years old in England in 2024/25:AgeFCEsPercentage of total FCEs30 to 392,224,5319.9%40 to 491,823,6608.1%50 to 592,609,20711.6% The information is collected at integrated care board (ICB) level, not by county. In addition, the following table shows the number and proportion of FCEs by age for patients aged 30 to 39 years old, 40 to 49 years old, and 50 to 59 years old in the NHS Frimley ICB and the NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB, both of which are within Surrey, in 2024/25: NHS Frimley ICBNHS Surrey Heartlands ICBAgeFCEsPercentage of total FCEsFCEsPercentage of total FCEs30 to 3924,03010.3%39,66510.0%40 to 4919,5858.4%32,7158.3%50 to 5926,76511.5%44,30511.2%

What steps his Department is taking to regulate health advice on AI overviews on internet browsers.

NHS England and the Department are taking steps to ensure that health related information is easily available and well-structured to support safe and reliable answers by artificial intelligence (AI), including AI overviews in internet browsers. The NHS.UK website and information provided through the NHS App on different health conditions is clinically assured and we are working with different technology providers to encourage the use of verified and trusted health information to train their AI models to provide content to citizens.Where AI tools meet the definition of a medical device, they fall under the regulation of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). General‑purpose AI systems that do not qualify as medical devices, such as AI‑generated summaries within search engines, may fall within the scope of the Online Safety Act. Services covered by the act must protect users from illegal and harmful content, including misleading health information. The Government has asked Ofcom to use its existing powers to safeguard users and will consider further action if needed.

When the Off-Road Machinery Decarbonisation Strategy will be published.

The Department is working closely with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the development of the Off-Road Machinery Decarbonisation Strategy. Further details of which, including publication timeline, will be shared in due course.

If he will set a definition of corridor care.

The provision of clinical care in corridors is unacceptable, and we are committed to ending its practice in the National Health Service. Furthermore, our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 commits to publishing data on the prevalence of corridor care for the first time.A definition of corridor care is being agreed and will be published once finalised. NHS England has been working with trusts to put in place new reporting arrangements regarding the use of corridor care to drive improvement and data transparency. The data quality is currently being reviewed, and we expect to publish the information shortly.We are also introducing new clinical operational standards for the first 72 hours of care, setting clear expectations for timely reviews and specialist input, further supporting our efforts to eliminate corridor care and improve patient experience.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the monetisation and algorithmic amplification of misogynistic and sexually degrading content on social media platforms on young people’s attitudes towards women, relationships and self-worth.

This Government will do everything in our power to keep women and children safe online.Under the Online Safety Act, services are required to protect children from both illegal and harmful content, including violent, abusive or hateful misogynistic content. Services are also required to adjust algorithms for children, so that they do not encourage harmful content, leading to safer feeds.We expect companies to introduce, without delay, the recommended measures in Ofcom’s industry guidance on making platforms safer for women and girls including deprioritising harmful content in recommender algorithms and de‑monetising content which promotes misogynistic abuse and sexual violence.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI) safety mechanisms.

There is considerable debate and uncertainty around Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), but the possibility of its development must be taken seriously. The increasing capabilities of AI may exacerbate existing risks and present new risks, for which the UK need to be prepared.The role of the AI Security Institute (AISI) is to build an evidence base on these risks, so the government is equipped to prepare for them. AISI focuses on emerging AI risks with serious security implications, including the potential for AI to help users develop chemical and biological weapons, and the potential for loss of control presented by autonomous systems.The Government will continue to take a long-term, science-led approach to understand and prepare for emerging risks from AI. This includes preparing for the possibility of very rapid AI progress, which could have transformative impacts on society and national security.

What steps his Department is taking to regulate food preservatives associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cancer.

All food additives used in the United Kingdom, including preservatives, are subject to rigorous safety assessments before they are authorised for use. These assessments consider the intended purpose, the types of foods they may be added to, and maximum permitted levels to ensure consumer safety.The permitted levels are established in line with the latest scientific evidence to protect health, and there is no conclusive evidence that approved preservatives, when used within these limits, increase the risk of type 2 diabetes or cancer.The Food Standards Agency is responsible for food safety in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and regularly reviews emerging evidence, taking action if new risks are identified.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of safe evening transport for women in (a) rural areas and (b) Langley Vale.

The Department for Transport is committed to making the transport network safer for everyone, including women and girls, whenever and wherever they are travelling. As part of the Government’s aims to reduce Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade, the Department has an ambitious, evidence-based programme of work to help tackle VAWG on transport. This includes measures in the Bus Services Act 2025 such as training on how to recognise and respond to incidents of criminal and antisocial behaviour (ASB).We know that women and girls are more likely than men to avoid travelling alone when it’s dark. The Department’s ‘Protected characteristics and public transport perceptions and safety’ research, published in 2023, also found that women were more concerned than men about the risk of violence regardless of the time of day. People living in rural areas were more likely to say they felt safe, albeit by a relatively small margin.We are continuing to build our evidence base to better understand the prevalence of VAWG and ASB across the transport network so we can better target interventions. In the meantime, the Department will continue to work across government and with partners, including the British Transport Police (BTP), the transport industry and local authorities to ensure that everyone feels and is safe when travelling. In relation to taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs), the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill is seeking a power to set in regulations national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. The power was approved by the House of Commons at Report Stage, and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords. If passed, this would enable government to set robust standards for licensing right across England, to keep women and girls and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel.

What steps she is taking to help ensure the provision of safe transport for women and girls in rural areas in Surrey.

The Department for Transport is committed to ensuring everyone, including women and girls, is safe on the transport network, including those in rural areas. As part of the Government’s aims to reduce Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade, the Department has an ambitious, evidence-based programme of work to help tackle VAWG on transport. This includes measures in the Bus Services Act 2025 such as training on how to recognise and respond to incidents of criminal and anti-social behaviour (ASB). The Department is working across government and with partners, including the British Transport Police (BTP), the transport industry and local authorities to ensure that everyone feels safe and is safe when travelling. BTP work closely with Govia Thameslink Railway and South Western Railway to ensure a joined-up approach to safe transport for women and girls in Surrey. They work with Train Operating Companies (TOCs) to promote their discreet 61016 text service, encouraging anyone feeling unsafe or vulnerable on the rail network to contact them directly and discreetly. Every report received builds a bigger picture which informs patrols and policing presence, and every day across the network, officers are present in uniform and plain clothes, looking out for offenders and acting as a visible deterrent. BTP also works with community organisations, private sector organisations and industry partners to raise awareness of VAWG, encourage reporting and receive feedback to improve our response.

Whether small modular reactors will be commercially insurable against nuclear radiation events.

Under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965, operators of nuclear licensed sites are required to have sufficient financial coverage to ensure compensation would be available in the unlikely event of a nuclear incident. Most operators secure this coverage through nuclear insurance. These are commercial arrangements between operators and insurers. Small modular reactor operators could seek such arrangements in the same manner as other nuclear projects. In the event that commercially available cover is unattainable, the Secretary of State can make provision for financial security under such terms it considers appropriate. This can be used to ensure there are no gaps in cover.

If her Department will publish information on the taxable status of, and taxes collected from, Libya’s frozen assets.

We do not have this specific information. The UK’s tax system is not able to target specific tax rates at specific pots of money. The UK tends to apply tax to classes of transactions, rather than assets in situ. Under all UK sanctions regimes, including the Libya Regulations, taxes and other payments may be made under licences and exceptions from frozen funds, subject to strict conditions. However, specific licence or exception related information is not available for publication to ensure and maintain confidentiality and to comply with UK data protection law.

What steps he is taking to ensure the well-being of prison guards witnessing hunger strikes.

By the nature of their roles, staff working in the prison system can experience challenging situations and it is essential that they are supported to carry out their important roles to support prisoners, including those who refuse food. Given these challenges, we provide extensive mental health support, including a 24-hour helpline, confidential counselling, and online wellbeing services.We deliver Trauma Risk Management training (TRiM) - a peer-led support scheme for frontline staff who have experienced a traumatic event - in all establishments, and our TRiM practitioners and Care Teams provide further support following any incidents while on duty.The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) offers confidential 24/7 telephone helpline for counselling and provides a range of wellbeing and health promotion workshops. EAP also delivers reflective sessions which are a proactive mental ill health preventative intervention. The sessions focus on the impact of traumatic events at work, helping employees to develop coping strategies and preventing an adverse impact on their professional and private life.