Written questions by Sollom.

If his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of compulsory walking aid return and reuse schemes for NHS trusts.

The National Health Service is committed to reducing its environmental impact, and in 2020, published its Delivering a Net Zero NHS strategy, committing to reach net zero by 2045.The NHS recognises that reusing walking aids, such as crutches, frames, and walking sticks, provides an excellent opportunity for carbon savings due to the high greenhouse gas intensity of aluminium manufacture. As part of its commitment to reach net zero by 2045, NHS England is working to expand walking aid refurbishment and reuse schemes, and has made a range of resources and tools available to support NHS staff starting new schemes or boosting existing schemes. The most recent support for staff being the inclusion of walking aids in the net zero product savings calculator, available to all NHS staff. NHS Supply Chain’s Aid for Daily Living framework has also been designed to maximise the return and reuse of such devices with the inclusion of a refurbishment service.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 November to Question 14520 on Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients, how many people have been held in Section 136 suites for over 24 hours in the last five years; and under which section of the Mental Health Act 1983 they were held.

The Department does not hold the information in the format requested. Information on the number of uses of section 136 suites, collected by NHS England, is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-act-statistics-annual-figures

Whether his Department plans to meet regularly with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board; and whether he plans to issue guidance to the Board on the the construction of a town hub in Northstowe.

The Department currently has no plans to meet regularly with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board, and is not taking any steps to issue guidance to the ICB on the construction of a town hub in Northstowe.

What progress he has made on ensuring that children and young people in every community have access to drop in mental health support.

The Government is committed to improving mental health support for children and young people. Our commitment to roll out a network of Young Futures Hubs in every community to provide open access mental health support is proof of this.We are currently working across Government to consider options in order to deliver Young Futures Hubs. The hubs will bring together services, including mental health support, to improve how young people access opportunities and support at the community level.

Whether he plans to extend the extra funding awarded to early support hubs after March 2025.

My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer presented the Autumn Budget to Parliament on 30 October 2024. As a Department, we are finalising the outcomes of the Budget. We will set out plans for mental health funding for 2025/26 in due course. We remain committed to improving mental health support for children and young people, with our commitment to roll out a network of Young Futures Hubs to provide open access mental health support as proof of this.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of the updated 2024-2025 Nuvaxovid™ COVID-19 Vaccine.

All vaccines in the United Kingdom must be authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before they can be placed on the UK market. The MHRA assesses all applications for authorisations of vaccines promptly, to ensure their safety, quality, and efficacy.The updated 2024-2025 Nuvaxovid COVID-19 Vaccine has not been authorised by the MHRA. We are unable to confirm whether the MHRA has or has not received an application for Novavax's updated 2024-2025 Nuvaxovid COVID-19 Vaccine, as this information is considered commercially sensitive.Pharmaceutical companies can decide to make information regarding the status of their Marketing Authorisation Applications publicly available, and the MHRA advocates that companies publish information on medicines in their pipelines, where and when it is reasonable to do so.