Written questions by Morgan.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of BMI-based restriction on access to joint replacement surgery on health inequalities.

The Department has made no specific assessment of the potential impact of body mass index (BMI) based restrictions on health inequalities.It is the responsibility of individual integrated care boards to determine policies for their local area, including that of the BMI threshold criteria for joint replacement surgery. As with all surgery, BMI should be considered as part of a holistic, personalised perioperative evaluation of the risks versus clinical need for joint replacement surgery of an individual patient. However, BMI should not be considered in isolation and in and of itself should not act as a barrier to surgery.While National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines are not mandatory, they do represent best practice and National Health Service organisations are expected to take them fully into account in ensuring that local services meet the needs of their populations.The NHS and local government provide a range of services to help people living with overweight and obesity to manage their weight, which may include individuals waiting for joint replacement surgery, where they meet other eligibility criteria. These range from multi-component behavioural programmes, such as the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, to specialist services for those living with severe obesity and associated co-morbidities.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the potential impact of climate change-driven food inflation on food security.

Defra is taking action to reduce this impact and support the continued production and supply of food for UK citizens. For example, we are actively implementing the third National Adaptation Programme which sets out a range of measures to improve resilience and adaptation to climate change across the food supply and farming sector. Defra works across Government to improve understanding of the drivers of food prices and their impact on households. This includes analysis of food inflation trends, engagement with industry to improve transparency where possible, and close collaboration with HM Treasury, the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care to mitigate cost pressures on consumers, particularly those most affected by the cost of living. Defra also works to reduce unnecessary regulatory costs that can feed through to consumer prices.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to establish a clear and consistent definition of good quality mobile connectivity, beyond coverage alone.

The draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for Telecommunications, the Management of Radio Spectrum, and Postal Services sets out a priority for Ofcom to keep under review its definitions of what constitutes “good” 4G and 5G and the signal strength thresholds it uses to measure this, so that these definitions continue to reflect consumer and business expectations as user requirements and behaviours evolve.In parallel, the Government is undertaking a Mobile Market Review to assess the impact of technological, structural and financial market developments on investment in comprehensive high-quality mobile connectivity.As part of the call for evidence to inform the review, we are asking for detailed evidence on how the Government should think about, and define, ‘good’ mobile coverage in relation to the quality of service provided to consumers, businesses and the public sector and what steps could Government take to ensure operators are able to provide this. We will use these responses to further inform policy on this issue. The call for evidence was published on 10 February 2026 and closes 5 May 2026.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the adequacy of weight management support on patients required to lose weight to become eligible for joint replacement surgery.

The Department has made no specific assessment of the potential impact of body mass index (BMI) based restrictions on health inequalities.It is the responsibility of individual integrated care boards to determine policies for their local area, including that of the BMI threshold criteria for joint replacement surgery. As with all surgery, BMI should be considered as part of a holistic, personalised perioperative evaluation of the risks versus clinical need for joint replacement surgery of an individual patient. However, BMI should not be considered in isolation and in and of itself should not act as a barrier to surgery.While National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines are not mandatory, they do represent best practice and National Health Service organisations are expected to take them fully into account in ensuring that local services meet the needs of their populations.The NHS and local government provide a range of services to help people living with overweight and obesity to manage their weight, which may include individuals waiting for joint replacement surgery, where they meet other eligibility criteria. These range from multi-component behavioural programmes, such as the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, to specialist services for those living with severe obesity and associated co-morbidities.

If he will publish the ten advice and guidance referral pathways selected by each integrated care board.

Currently there are no plans to publish a national dataset setting out the specialties selected by National Health Service providers at integrated care board level. This position is being kept under review.

What assessment he has made of the gap between diagnosed and actual incidence of placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

If he will publish the referral network map for specialist centres for placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Whether his Department holds guidance on histopathological examination of retained placenta to identify undiagnosed placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

(a) what criteria a hospital must meet to be designated as an accredited specialist centre for placenta accreta spectrum disorder and (b) what assessment process is used to verify compliance with those criteria.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What assessment he has made of the causes of the reported 19 per cent increase in postpartum haemorrhage rates among mothers in England.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What steps he is taking to address regional differences in funding for patients trying to conceive through IVF, in the context of NICE guidelines on offering people under 40 up to three full cycles of IVF.

Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population.On 31 March, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its updated fertility guideline, which recommends that women under 40 years old who meet the clinical eligibility criteria should be offered up to three full cycles of in vitro fertilisation.We expect ICBs to consider and reflect the updated NICE fertility guideline in their commissioning decisions, and we are working with NHS England to support greater consistency in provision.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will consider reclassifying insects from the farmed livestock classification under Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009, Article 3(6), to enable insect bioconversion for waste treatment.

There are no plans to review Article 3(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 that defines insects as farmed animals and therefore restricts their use in insect bioconversion for waste treatment. This is because catering waste cannot be fed to farmed animals. This position is set out in Defra’s animal by-products policy guidance: Supplying and using animal by-products as farm animal feed - GOV.UK.

When he will publish the legal text for the UK-US pharmaceuticals deal.

The full text of the UK-US pharmaceutical agreement is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-us-arrangement-on-pharmaceutical-trade-and-pricing/arrangement-between-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-united-kingdom-on-pharmaceutical-pricing-html

How much money she has committed to the (a) Safety National Programme and (b) Small Schemes National Programme elements RIS3.

RIS3 included for the first time a set of four National Programmes, which are a new way for National Highways to deliver defined outputs that support RIS3 objectives, where these are not funded in other programmes. Details of the funding for each National Programme will be confirmed in National Highways’ Delivery Plan for 2026-31, which is expected to be published in the summer.

What assessment he has made of the role of battery storage in reducing the UK's reliance on international energy markets.

Batteries help balance the electricity system at lower cost and maximise the output from intermittent renewable generation, which helps reduce our reliance on gas and thus international energy markets.As of March 2027, there is 7.2GW of grid-scale battery storage on the GB grid. S The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan set out an ambition for 23-27 GW of grid-scale batteries connected by 2030. We are therefore already making significant strides towards reducing our dependence on gas.

Pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2026 to question 121915, which sites have been affected by temporary suspension of cadet activity; and when the closures of those sites began.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What the average waiting time is for an application for a controlled drug licence to be decided.

The Home Office Drug and Firearms Licensing Unit (DFLU) considers applications for premises and company specific controlled drug licences. All applications are considered individually and on their merits, after undertaking a physical site visit- if one is needed- and reviewing the evidence submitted to support an application.Application processing times can vary considerably depending on whether a site visit is needed or if the application can be decided with a paper-based review. Other factors, including site location and resourcing, company availability, timeliness of the submission of any additional information requested will also be relevant. On this basis, we do not publish average processing times as a statistical average may not be representative of the customer journey.Operational pressures in DFLU have meant that there are currently higher caseloads than we would wish, which has resulted in extended lead times for consideration of some applications at this time.

What steps he is taking with local optometrists to support eye care services within neighbourhood health systems.

The Neighbourhood Health Framework outlines the national minimum aims and objectives of Neighbourhood Health Services. It is important that reforms are locally led, as integrated care boards and local authorities are best placed to design services that make sense for their local populations. Local systems can choose to go further than the minimum aims set out in the framework, including in relation to optometry.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of optometrists on neighbourhood‑level health planning; and whether he considered including optometrists as a listed provider in the Neighbourhood Health Framework.

The Neighbourhood Health Framework outlines the national minimum aims and objectives of Neighbourhood Health Services. It is important that reforms are locally led, as integrated care boards and local authorities are best placed to design services that make sense for their local populations. Local systems can choose to go further than the minimum aims set out in the framework, including in relation to optometry.

What steps his Department is taking to work with local optometrists to ensure that neighbourhood‑level eye care services are supported.

The Neighbourhood Health Framework outlines the national minimum aims and objectives of Neighbourhood Health Services. It is important that reforms are locally led, as integrated care boards and local authorities are best placed to design services that make sense for their local populations. Local systems can choose to go further than the minimum aims set out in the framework, including in relation to optometry.