Written questions by Brown-Fuller.

What assessment she has made of the relationship between primary school assessment practices and rates of school attendance among pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to a) secure alternative treatments for people at risk of adrenal crisis following the discontinuation of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate solution and b) help ensure that people with adrenal insufficiency have timely access to appropriate emergency steroid treatment.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Isle of Wight West on 22 April 2026 to Question 126862.

Whether his Department plans to review the prohibition on prison officers taking industrial action.

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

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the findings of the European Committee of Social Rights on the UK’s compliance with the European Social Charter in relation to prison officers.

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

Whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the Licensing Act 2003.

The Government regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders to keep the Licensing Act 2003 under review and is confident that it continues to provide a clear and effective legislative framework for regulating licensable activities.The Government published a new National Licensing Policy Framework in November to provide further guidance to applicants and local licensing authorities on striking the right balance between providing safeguards to prevent nuisance, crime and disorder while promoting growth and recognising the contribution licensed premises make to our hospitality sector and to thriving night-time economies.We continue to work closely with licensing practitioners to ensure the regime remains fit for purpose and responds to emerging challenges. Using the powers already in place within the regime we will shortly be legislating for national licensing hours extensions to allow fans to celebrate England and Scotland team successes at the men’s football World Cup this summer.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has identified any crop protection products currently approved in Great Britain but not in the European Union that may be affected by regulatory alignment.

The UK-EU SPS agreement is under negotiation and pesticides regulations are in scope. The Common Understanding sets out that the United Kingdom, acting in respect of Great Britain, will dynamically align with all the relevant European Union rules. My Department’s analysis of divergence between the UK and EU regulatory decisions is ongoing. This has greatly benefited from evidence and insight from business, which is informing the approach to negotiations and implementation.

What steps he is taking to ensure that brand‑specific prescribing is matched by adequate supply and distribution arrangements.

Decisions about what medicines to prescribe, including whether to prescribe by brand name or generically, are clinical decisions made following discussion with a patient.Where a prescriber specifies a particular brand or supplier because it is clinically necessary, for example due to side effects or allergies, pharmacies are required to dispense that specific product.Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes, or distribution issues and regulatory issues. There are approximately 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply.While we can’t always prevent supply issues from occurring, we have a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise and mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals including pharmacists, so they can advise and support their patients.The Department monitors and manages medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand.

Communities and Local Government, if he will take legislative steps to make parish councils more accountable to their constituents.

Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the day to day running of their organisation and workforces. This includes parish and town councils. Government has no remit to intervene in the day-to-day affairs of local councils, except where specific provision has been made in legislation. Parish councils are accountable for their actions to their electorate and must act within their statutory powers. Local people can hold councils to account, through the parish councils' own complaints processes. Central government has no current plans to take any further legislative steps on this matter.

What steps he is taking to improve access to cardiac screening for young people.

The Government recognises how worrying heart health can be for the families of young people. That is why the National Health Service already offers cardiac tests for young people who present with symptoms that could indicate a cardiac issue.However, testing young people without symptoms would be classed as a screening programme. It is vital that screening policy is based on robust scientific evidence, as screening can also cause harm.In considering whether any screening programme should be introduced, the Government is guided by the independent scientific advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). The UK NSC makes its recommendations based on internationally recognised criteria and a rigorous evidence review and consultation process. Where the committee is confident that offering screening provides more good than harm, they recommend a screening programme.The UK NSC last reviewed screening for the conditions associated with sudden cardiac death in people under the age of 39 years old in 2019. The conclusion of that review was that population screening should not be offered, as research showed that current tests are not accurate enough to use on young people with no symptoms.Current evidence suggests that introducing population-level screening for sudden cardiac death would cause harm by misdiagnosing some people, which could lead to some people being prescribed medication that they don’t need or undergoing medical procedures that they don’t need, such as having an implantable defibrillator fitted. It could lead to people living in fear of sudden cardiac death when they’re not at risk, and potentially making life-changing decisions, such as giving up exercise, which could have a negative long-term impact on their health.The UK NSC is due to open a public consultation to seek comments from members of the public and stakeholders on screening for the conditions associated with sudden cardiac death later this spring, and we would encourage those with an interest to contribute.

What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the DVLA webchat.

In 2025-2026, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s contact centre answered 8,929,400 customer contacts, of which 964,576 were answered via webchat. The webchat service provides customers with an online option to support them when they are using one of the DVLA’s digital services or if they have a general enquiry. The DVLA’s webchat also incorporates a chatbot function which automatically answered 498,780 customers in 2025-26 without any human intervention. The chatbot function is available constantly, allowing the DVLA to answer some customer enquiries outside of its standard opening hours.In 2025-26, the average time taken to handle an enquiry via the webchat channel was around 90 seconds quicker than the telephone option.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Government’s response to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report of 21 March 2024 on public confidence in the Ombudsman process.

We have taken the PHSO’s report seriously and given the findings the close examination that they deserved. We have set out the detailed reasons for our decision in our new response, on the 29 January, which has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of the health risks associated with brachycephalic animals.

Dog breeders licensed under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations are prohibited from breeding dogs if it can be reasonably expected that on the basis of their genotype, phenotype or health, this would lead to welfare problems for the mother or the puppies. In the Animal Welfare Strategy, the Government committed to launch a consultation on dog breeding reform to improve health and welfare, and also to improve understanding of the size, scale and current management practices related to cat breeding, and consider any further steps which may improve welfare practices in the cat breeding sector. The strategy was developed following engagement with key stakeholders and consideration of sector evidence, such as the Animal Welfare Committee’s reports on canine and feline breeding practices. Defra works with a range of sector organisations who are raising public awareness of the health risks associated with brachycephalic animals. This includes via tools such as the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare’s Innate Health Assessment, Royal Kennel Club’s Respiratory Function Grading scheme assessment for brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome and the Canine and Feline Sector Group Code of Practice for Dog Breeding. Many organisations have public facing campaigns to promote awareness such as Cats Protection, and the UK Brachycephalic Working Groups ‘stop and think’ campaign to prioritise health when purchasing dogs.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to include reference to freedom of religion or belief, including the experiences of women who convert to minority religions, in future Human Rights and Democracy reports.

I refer the Hon Member to the answers provided on 23 April to Questions 128246-47.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of breeding and ownership of brachycephalic animals.

Dog breeders licensed under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations are prohibited from breeding dogs if it can be reasonably expected that on the basis of their genotype, phenotype or health, this would lead to welfare problems for the mother or the puppies. In the Animal Welfare Strategy, the Government committed to launch a consultation on dog breeding reform to improve health and welfare, and also to improve understanding of the size, scale and current management practices related to cat breeding, and consider any further steps which may improve welfare practices in the cat breeding sector. The strategy was developed following engagement with key stakeholders and consideration of sector evidence, such as the Animal Welfare Committee’s reports on canine and feline breeding practices. Defra works with a range of sector organisations who are raising public awareness of the health risks associated with brachycephalic animals. This includes via tools such as the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare’s Innate Health Assessment, Royal Kennel Club’s Respiratory Function Grading scheme assessment for brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome and the Canine and Feline Sector Group Code of Practice for Dog Breeding. Many organisations have public facing campaigns to promote awareness such as Cats Protection, and the UK Brachycephalic Working Groups ‘stop and think’ campaign to prioritise health when purchasing dogs.

If he will require online vendors to clearly display which courier service they are using.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 prohibits unfair commercial practices, including misleading actions and omissions of material information, that are likely to impact the average consumer’s transactional decision.Beyond this, how vendors display information is a commercial decision. Consumers are encouraged to provide feedback and suggestions to businesses directly. This encourages businesses to adapt and fairly compete based on demand.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of NICE's severity modifier on access to drugs for secondary breast cancer patients.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on 3 March 2026 to Question 114336.

If he will take steps to address the potential impact of brand‑specific prescribing on the availability of medication at pharmacies.

Decisions about what medicines to prescribe, including whether to prescribe by brand name or generically, are clinical decisions made following discussion with a patient.Where a prescriber specifies a particular brand or supplier because it is clinically necessary, for example due to side effects or allergies, pharmacies are required to dispense that specific product.Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes, or distribution issues and regulatory issues. There are approximately 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply.While we can’t always prevent supply issues from occurring, we have a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise and mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals including pharmacists, so they can advise and support their patients.The Department monitors and manages medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome in dogs in the UK.

Dog breeders licensed under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations are prohibited from breeding dogs if it can be reasonably expected that on the basis of their genotype, phenotype or health, this would lead to welfare problems for the mother or the puppies. In the Animal Welfare Strategy, the Government committed to launch a consultation on dog breeding reform to improve health and welfare, and also to improve understanding of the size, scale and current management practices related to cat breeding, and consider any further steps which may improve welfare practices in the cat breeding sector. The strategy was developed following engagement with key stakeholders and consideration of sector evidence, such as the Animal Welfare Committee’s reports on canine and feline breeding practices. Defra works with a range of sector organisations who are raising public awareness of the health risks associated with brachycephalic animals. This includes via tools such as the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare’s Innate Health Assessment, Royal Kennel Club’s Respiratory Function Grading scheme assessment for brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome and the Canine and Feline Sector Group Code of Practice for Dog Breeding. Many organisations have public facing campaigns to promote awareness such as Cats Protection, and the UK Brachycephalic Working Groups ‘stop and think’ campaign to prioritise health when purchasing dogs.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing parish councils' staff with additional support.

Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the day to day running of their organisation and workforces. This includes parish and town councils. Government has no remit to intervene in the day-to-day affairs of local councils, except where specific provision has been made in legislation. Parish councils are accountable for their actions to their electorate and must act within their statutory powers. Local people can hold councils to account, through the parish councils' own complaints processes. Central government has no current plans to take any further legislative steps on this matter.

Communities and Local Government, if he will take legislative steps to tackle the mismanagement of parish councils.

Local authorities are independent employers, responsible for the day to day running of their organisation and workforces. This includes parish and town councils. Government has no remit to intervene in the day-to-day affairs of local councils, except where specific provision has been made in legislation. Parish councils are accountable for their actions to their electorate and must act within their statutory powers. Local people can hold councils to account, through the parish councils' own complaints processes. Central government has no current plans to take any further legislative steps on this matter.