Written questions by Shannon.

What is the criteria for disabled people to access transport from the Ambulance Service for hospital appointments.

Non-Emergency Patient Transport Schemes (NEPTS) often provide funded transport where a medical condition means that a patient would struggle to safely attend their treatment independently. NEPTS can be provided by ambulance trusts or other providers depending on local arrangements.In 2019, NHS England set out updated eligibility criteria, which includes disability criteria, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/B1244-nepts-eligibility-criteria.pdfWe want disabled people’s access to, and experience of, healthcare services to be equitable, effective and responsive to their needs.NEPTS in England is an operational matter for the National Health Service and how the NEPTS guidance is implemented at a local level is determined by integrated care boards and their partners, including local ambulance trusts.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of overcrowding in emergency departments on infection control.

All health and social care providers have statutory obligations, set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008: code of practice on the prevention and control of infections, to undertake steps to keep patients, residents, and staff safe. Ensuring patient and public safety in all areas where healthcare is provided is a priority, and infection prevention and control (IPC) is a core component of safe, high-quality care, regardless of care setting. More information about these obligations is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-health-and-social-care-act-2008-code-of-practice-on-the-prevention-and-control-of-infections-and-related-guidanceThe National infection prevention and control manual for England contains guidance on Standard Infection Control Precautions, which are to be used by all staff, in all care settings, at all times, for all patients whether infection is known to be present or not. This manual is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/national-infection-prevention-and-control-manual-nipcm-for-england/

What the component costs are to facilitate a social security appeal hearing.

The information is not centrally recorded and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Whether he has requested that the Drax power station provides further documents relating to its conduct following of the 2022 BBC Panorama investigation.

Ofgem is responsible for investigating compliance. In 2024 Ofgem concluded an investigation into Drax’s reporting for the period April 2021 to March 2022. Its investigation included a review of over 3,000 documents. The investigation did not find evidence that Drax had failed to comply with sustainability requirements or had received subsidy payments incorrectly. However, Ofgem identified an absence of adequate data governance and controls and Drax agreed to make £25m voluntary redress payment. In September 2025 Ofgem and Drax appointed Forvis Mazars to conduct an independent audit of Drax’s annual profiling data and associated reporting across its global supply chain.

What steps he is taking to support NHS dentists to tackle waiting lists.

Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend and no national waiting list. Some dental practices may operate local waiting list arrangements.NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients. In circumstances where patients are unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice, they should contact NHS 111.The Government is committed to ensuring people can access urgent dental care when they need it. Over the past year, integrated care boards have been commissioning additional urgent dental appointments and there is now an urgent care safety net available in all areas of the country. 1.8 million additional courses of NHS dental treatment have been delivered in the seven months between April 2024 to October 2025 compared to the corresponding months prior to the general election. We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December, we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on quality and payment reforms to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. More information is available from the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms/outcome/government-response-to-consultation-on-nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of greater reference to blood cancer diagnosis and treatment pathways in upcoming cancer policy documents.

The National Cancer Plan for England, released on 4 February 2026, sets out a commitment to diagnose cancers earlier and ensure people receive timely, effective treatment. The government is committed to helping the National Health Service to detect cancers, including blood cancers, earlier and provide faster treatment to improve outcomes.While there has been no separate assessment of the benefits of including blood cancer pathways in future policy documents, the National Cancer Plan for England outlines actions to improve outcomes for all cancer patients, including those diagnosed with blood cancer. These include expanding faster access to diagnostic tests, improving treatment turnaround times, and ensuring patients benefit from the latest innovations and technologies.The NHS in England now uses non‑specific symptom pathways for people presenting with symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, fatigue or general illness that do not point to a particular cancer type. These pathways are especially important for detecting blood cancers, which often present with vague or non‑specific symptoms.In addition, ongoing investment in diagnostic capacity, including new magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners, will support the NHS in England to diagnose all cancers, including blood cancers, earlier and ensure patients can begin treatment as quickly as possible.

What steps he is taking to prevent double payments in clinical negligence cases.

The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC is providing expert policy advice on the rising costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims. The review is ongoing, following initial advice to ministers and the recent National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee reports.

Who the members are of the Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework Task and Finish Group.

There are two appointed co-chairs to the Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) Task and Finish Group, namely Dr. Jessica Randall-Carrick and Sir Andrew Goddard.The membership of the group comprises of a wide range of representatives from 31 stakeholder organisations, including, charities, professional bodies, patient, and public voices, the Department, and NHS England, related to cardiovascular disease and associated conditions.The Department and NHS England are engaging widely with stakeholders to co-produce the CVD MSF, ensuring that experts, people, and communities are at the heart of its development.The CVD MSF will be published later this year and will support consistent, high quality, and equitable care whilst fostering innovation across the cardiovascular disease pathway.

Whether she has held recent discussions with her counterpart in the United Arab Emirates on the enforcement of UK High Court rulings in the case of Muhammad Tahir Lakhani and Muhammad Ali Lakhani.

The Solicitor General has not had any such meetings.

Whether he plans to take steps to help ensure that soldiers will not be prosecuted for following orders in future conflicts.

The Government is unstinting in its admiration and gratitude for our Armed Forces. We expect the highest standards of our Service personnel and they serve with great distinction. We rightly hold them to account when they fall short. We are committed to supporting our people who act reasonably and in good faith in the course of their duties. Legal advice and welfare support are available to all serving and former members of the Armed Forces, where they face criminal allegations that relate to their service.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the number of nurses and midwives.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure Christian clergy and lay believers in Nicaragua are able to practice freedom of religion and belief.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 3 November 2025 to Question 85308. We share widespread international concern about the suppression of democratic, religious, and other fundamental freedoms in Nicaragua.

What support exists for children under 16 diagnosed with Long Covid.

NHS England has invested significantly in supporting people with long COVID. This includes setting up specialist long COVID services nationwide for adults, and children and young people, and investing in ensuring general practice (GP) teams are equipped to support people affected by the condition. Since April 2024, in line with the National Health Service operating framework and the establishment of integrated care systems, the commissioning of services to support patients with long COVID, including children, has been the responsibility of integrated care boards. Where local long COVID services are not available, children and young people with long COVID symptoms should see their GP, who will be able to refer them to alternative existing services depending on their clinical needs.The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, are committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment for long COVID.  This includes a new funding opportunity for a development award which is focussed on the feasibility of a phase 2 platform clinical trial that tests multiple repurposed pharmaceutical and/or non-pharmacological interventions for the treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, and long COVID.We have also funded research specifically focused on long COVID in children and young people, including the approximate £1.9 million CLoCk study jointly funded by the NIHR and the MRC. The study developed an agreed definition of long COVID in children and young people and associated symptoms, to improve understanding of the condition and help harmonise research.

Whether he is providing additional resources for respite care for parents.

In England, the Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of high-quality care and support services, including support for carers.The Government is making over £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in England in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector in making improvements. This includes additional grant funding, growth in other sources of income available to support adult social care, and an increase to the National Health Service contribution to adult social care via the Better Care Fund compared to 2025/26.The Better Care Fund includes funding that can be used for carer support, including short breaks and respite services. Local areas determine how the money is best used to support carers, depending on local need and with reference to their statutory responsibilities.We have raised the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit from £151 to £196 per week, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage and representing the largest cash increase ever.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Syrian and Iraqi counterparts on the security and protection of Yazidis and other minority faith communities in Syria.

We have consistently advocated for an inclusive political transition in Syria and underlined the importance of protecting the rights of all, regardless of religious or ethnic background, both publicly and as part of our engagement with the Syrian Government. I raised this with the Syrian Foreign Minister during his visit to London in November and further pressed the point on the importance of human rights when we spoke last month.Supporting stabilisation and safe returns of Yazidis to Sinjar, the Yazidi homeland, is a priority for the UK and part of our Freedom of Religion or Belief strategy (FoRB). In July 2025 the former Minister for Human Rights and the UK Special Envoy for FoRB met with Mir Hazem Tahsin Beg, the Prince of the Yazidis. We also raise threats to minority faith communities in regular engagements with the Government of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and in multilateral fora. For example, at Iraq's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in June, we recommended that Iraq upholds the right for minorities to freely practice their religion or belief, without fear of persecution.

Whether he plans to introduce at-home test kits for cervical smears.

The Government has announced the introduction of human papilloma virus (HPV) self-testing in the National Health Service cervical screening programme for the under-screened population in England. The NHS has begun planning an in-service evaluation (ISE) of HPV self-testing in the wider population.The purpose of the ISE is to ensure that the self-test is acceptable, accurate, and feasible compared with a clinician collected specimen, and to evaluate its impact on cervical screening uptake and ensure that the programme continues to prevent the same number of cancers. The findings of the ISE will inform any future UK National Screening Committee recommendation to ministers to offer self-testing across the whole population, alongside clinician-led screening.

What steps he is taking to ensure a robust audit of diabetes services.

The National Diabetes Audit (NDA), and the National Peadiatric Diabetes Audit (NPDA), which are delivered in partnership with NHS England, provide comprehensive data on care processes and outcomes. NHS Digital’s NDA dashboards and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s NPDA dashboards are designed to help integrated care boards, providers, and paediatric diabetes units benchmark themselves and target improvements. Further information on NHS Digital’s NDA dashboards and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s NPDA dashboards is available, respectively, at the following two links: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/clinical-audits-and-registries/national-diabetes-audit/dashboards https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/NPDA-dashboards

Whether he plans to develop a workforce strategy to provide support for diabetes patients.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a National Health Service workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different service areas and professional groups, such as those that support diabetes patients.

How much funding his Department has allocated to counselling services for victims of rape and sexual assault in 2024-2025.

We cannot provide the information on this as the Department does not hold a single, centrally allocated budget line specifically for counselling services for victims of rape and sexual assault. Funding for these services is provided through a combination of routes, including National Health Service-commissioned mental health services, and through funding administered by other departments. NHS England also funds sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) which provide crisis care, medical and forensic examinations, and onward referral to other support services. NHS England spent £57.6 million on SARCs in 2024/25. More widely, the 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including victims of rape and sexual assault. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the NHS App. The plan will build on the work that has already begun to bring down waiting lists. This includes providing an extra £688 million in Government funding this year to transform mental health services, to hire more staff, deliver more early interventions, and get waiting lists down.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to pause the passage of the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill until the Metropolitan Police investigation into Peter Mandelson has concluded, and it is established there was conflict of interest with the 2025 UK/Mauritius Agreement concerning the Chagos Islands.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 2 March to question 111415.