Written questions by Shannon.

What his planned timetable is for the rollout of Durvalumab for the treatment of bladded cancer.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations on whether new medicines should be funded by the National Health Service based on their costs and benefits. Wherever possible, NICE aims to align its processes with the regulatory process so that final guidance is published at, or around, the time that the treatment is granted a licence. The NHS in England is required to fund treatments recommended by NICE, normally within three months of guidance, and cancer medicines are eligible for funding from the Cancer Drugs Fund from the point of a positive draft recommendation.NICE has four relevant technology appraisals in development or awaiting development currently: Durvalumab for neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer, with development expected to start in April 2025 and earliest publication date February 2026; Durvalumab with enfortumab vedotin for neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer when cisplatin is unsuitable, with development expected to start in October 2026 and earliest publication date August 2027; Durvalumab with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) for treating high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer after resection of papillary tumours in people previously untreated with BCG, with timelines for this appraisal still to be confirmed as NICE is awaiting an update from the company regarding its preferred submission date; and Durvalumab with tremelimumab and chemotherapy for treating unresectable or advanced urothelial cancer, with development expected to start in January 2026 and earliest publication date October 2026.

Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support young men at (a) schools and (b) universities who are gambling online.

We are committed to protecting children and young people from gambling harm. In December last year, the Government laid a draft regulation introducing new stake limits for online slots games, including a lower stake limit of £2 for adults aged 18 to 24.We are introducing a statutory levy to be paid by gambling operators raising funding for research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. The levy will play an important part in the Government’s wider aim to have a better informed and protected public when it comes to gambling-related harms. The government also continues to support the NHS National Gambling Clinic which provides treatment for adults and children experiencing gambling harm.

What steps he is taking to help increase public awareness on the prevention of liver cancer.

NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns in England to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point.NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including liver cancer. This information can be found at sources like the NHS.UK website, which is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of humanitarian aid provided to help promote freedom of religion or belief in Pakistan is spent in-country.

The UK works to promote freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in Pakistan through our diplomatic engagement and programme funding. I underlined the importance of promoting religious tolerance and harmony when I met Pakistan's Human Rights Minister on 19 November and discussed this issue in Parliament on 28 November. The British High Commission also regularly raises FoRB issues at the highest levels. The UK-funded Aawaz programme supports both policy development and community empowerment to promote the rights of marginalised groups, including religious minorities. However, the UK Government does not ringfence UK Aid for FoRB programming in Pakistan, nor do we report UK Aid spending along religious lines.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help support small music venues.

The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's report on grassroots music venues sets out our commitment to working with the sector to support the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. In particular, the Government is urging the live music industry to introduce a voluntary levy on tickets for stadium and arena shows, to help safeguard the future of the grassroots music sector.The Government has also announced £2.5m of continued funding for the Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Music Fund for 2025-26. This enables grassroots music venues, recording studios, promoters and festivals to apply for grants of up to £40,000 to develop new revenue streams, make repairs and improvements, and enhance the live music experience for music lovers across the UK.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help de-escalate violence against Christians in Nigeria.

The UK Government is committed to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). We do this through our position at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora as well as raising FoRB bilaterally with the Government of Nigeria and other influential parties. This includes advocating for the protections of all vulnerable communities including religious minorities. The UK also supports programmes working to address the complex root causes of intercommunal violence in Nigeria through locally led peace-building efforts. This support aims to reduce intercommunal tensions by improving access to security and justice, and natural resource management in specific areas across northern Nigeria. In addition, the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership (SDP) works with Nigeria's security forces to tackle violence against all civilian communities, including those of different religious backgrounds and beliefs.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the level of persecution of Christians in North Korea.

The UK is deeply concerned by reports from North Korean escapees, which tell of serious human rights offences and persecution of those who are caught practising religion. It is unacceptable that citizens face surveillance, imprisonment or even death because of their religion or belief. We will continue to raise human rights issues in all relevant meetings with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) officials through multilateral and bilateral channels. Following the DPRK's Universal Period review in November 2024 in which the UK raised the issue of freedom of religion, we remain committed to engaging with the DPRK on their approach to human rights.

What steps he is taking to ensure that UK renewable energy infrastructure is not widely owned by companies owned by foreign governments.

As an open economy, we welcome foreign trade and investment where it supports growth and jobs in the UK and meets our legal and regulatory requirements. We work closely with industry to build secure supply chains and back UK businesses. The government has also established Great British Energy to drive forward greater investment in clean, home-grown energy production and to build supply chains across the UK. Great British Energy will work with DESNZ, The Crown Estate and the National Wealth Fund to support domestic clean energy supply chains.

What steps he is taking to help protect the chemical industry from (a) site closures and (b) job losses.

The chemicals sector underpins almost all manufacturing in the UK and is fundamental to maximising growth and productivity across the economy to drive forward the government’s missions, including delivering growth for all. Reforms are underway to address planning barriers to growth, channel finance towards growth priorities and accelerate the transition to net zero.This will be supported by our modern Industrial Strategy which will implement targeted policy interventions to drive long-term sustainable, inclusive and secure growth.Last autumn’s Budget announced continued support for Energy Intensive Industries – including chemical companies - through £350M of additional funding across the next two years.

What discussions she has had with her international counterparts on tackling human trafficking.

Responsibility for modern slavery and human trafficking sits within the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls' portfolio in the Home Office.Modern slavery is a global crime and the Government is committed to working with international partners to tackle it.In September 2024, the Minister met the (now former) US Ambassador to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to discuss the Government's modern slavery and humans trafficking priorities. The Minister has also met senior representatives from the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings during their evaluation visit in December 2024.The UK has close relationships with Governments from other countries, including Albania, Vietnam and Romania, to address shared priorities on modern slavery. Partnerships with these countries are maintained through regular senior official engagement and deliver initiatives to prevent modern slavery, improve law enforcement cooperation and support effective reintegration of victims so they can rebuild their lives.

Media and Sport, if she will make representations with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development to her French counterpart on the impact of the hijab ban in sports in France on freedom of religion or belief.

Sport must be open to everyone. The UK will continue to champion freedom of religion or belief for all, both at home and abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in.The Government expects sports bodies in the UK to take robust action to tackle discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs. The Government will continue to work with National Governing Bodies and sector organisations to fight all forms of discrimination at all levels of sport.We are working to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through our positions at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora and in our important bilateral work. Ministers regularly engage with their French counterparts on a broad range of issues.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support freedom of religion or belief for athletes.

Sport must be open to everyone. The UK will continue to champion freedom of religion or belief for all, both at home and abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in.The Government expects sports bodies in the UK to take robust action to tackle discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs. The Government will continue to work with National Governing Bodies and sector organisations to fight all forms of discrimination at all levels of sport.We are working to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through our positions at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora and in our important bilateral work. Ministers regularly engage with their French counterparts on a broad range of issues.

Pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2024 to Question 15751 on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Health Services, when he expects NHS England to finalise the development of their approach for COPD; and when this approach will be made public.

Respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are a clinical priority within the NHS Long Term plan and the National Health Service is investing in the provision of more and better rehabilitation services for respiratory patients. This has the objective of improving outcomes for people with COPD through early diagnosis and increased access to treatments. NHS England has established 13 Respiratory Clinical Networks across the country. These have been vital in providing clinical leadership for respiratory services and supporting services in primary care, including restoring spirometry, which is one of the tests used to diagnose COPD.The NHS RightCare COPD pathway has been rolled out nationally and defines the optimal service for people with COPD. Furthermore, the National Respiratory Audit Programme aims to improve the quality of care, services, and clinical outcomes for patients with asthma and COPD, by collecting and providing data on a range of indicators and pulmonary rehabilitation activity.A national programme of work is underway to support systems with improving access to pulmonary rehabilitation for the eligible population, increase the capacity of provision to reduce waiting lists, and improve the quality and consistency of rehabilitation programmes through accreditation. Pulmonary rehabilitation is effective for people with COPD, improving exercise capacity or increasing quality of life in 90% patients who complete a programme. National Respiratory Audit Programme data shows that the number of people completing pulmonary rehabilitation in 2023/24 exceeded pre-pandemic levels, an important milestone in the post pandemic service recovery objective.NHS England is leading on the development of an approach for COPD management to support the proactive identification and management of rising risk patients in winter, to reduce demand on primary and secondary care. The approach fully aligns with a Neighbourhood Health Service model and includes the identification of rising risk patients, optimisation of care, support, and management, through remote monitoring, and a greater focus on self-management and education, as well as access to strengthened support in the community.The plan is to test and evaluate this approach in four sites this winter, recognising that many other services in the country already implement some of the elements of the approach described, to help inform decisions on winter planning in the future. In Hull and East Yorkshire, one of the selected sites, where this service has been studied in patients following severe COPD exacerbations, patients using this service had significantly fewer emergency department attendances and hospital admissions at three-months, compared with a historical control cohort.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality.

Respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are a clinical priority within the NHS Long Term plan and the National Health Service is investing in the provision of more and better rehabilitation services for respiratory patients. This has the objective of improving outcomes for people with COPD through early diagnosis and increased access to treatments. NHS England has established 13 Respiratory Clinical Networks across the country. These have been vital in providing clinical leadership for respiratory services and supporting services in primary care, including restoring spirometry, which is one of the tests used to diagnose COPD.The NHS RightCare COPD pathway has been rolled out nationally and defines the optimal service for people with COPD. Furthermore, the National Respiratory Audit Programme aims to improve the quality of care, services, and clinical outcomes for patients with asthma and COPD, by collecting and providing data on a range of indicators and pulmonary rehabilitation activity.A national programme of work is underway to support systems with improving access to pulmonary rehabilitation for the eligible population, increase the capacity of provision to reduce waiting lists, and improve the quality and consistency of rehabilitation programmes through accreditation. Pulmonary rehabilitation is effective for people with COPD, improving exercise capacity or increasing quality of life in 90% patients who complete a programme. National Respiratory Audit Programme data shows that the number of people completing pulmonary rehabilitation in 2023/24 exceeded pre-pandemic levels, an important milestone in the post pandemic service recovery objective.NHS England is leading on the development of an approach for COPD management to support the proactive identification and management of rising risk patients in winter, to reduce demand on primary and secondary care. The approach fully aligns with a Neighbourhood Health Service model and includes the identification of rising risk patients, optimisation of care, support, and management, through remote monitoring, and a greater focus on self-management and education, as well as access to strengthened support in the community.The plan is to test and evaluate this approach in four sites this winter, recognising that many other services in the country already implement some of the elements of the approach described, to help inform decisions on winter planning in the future. In Hull and East Yorkshire, one of the selected sites, where this service has been studied in patients following severe COPD exacerbations, patients using this service had significantly fewer emergency department attendances and hospital admissions at three-months, compared with a historical control cohort.

If he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the severe asthma service specification in ensuring eligible severe asthma patients are able to access biologic medicines.

NHS England’s current severe asthma service specification is being revised by the Specialised Respiratory Clinical Reference Group. The revised specification will support the management of patients who require further investigation and treatments, including biological medicines. The specification will also be updated to reference the most recent clinical guidelines such as the British Thoracic Society, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network’s asthma guideline, covering diagnosing, monitoring, and managing asthma in adults, young people, and children. It is expected to improve outcomes for people with asthma and identify early those who require further investigation and treatments, including biologic medicines. Eligibility for biologics is governed by the NICE’s Technology Appraisals, which make recommendations for the National Health Service on whether treatments represent a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources. The NHS in England is legally required to fund NICE-recommended treatments.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce emergency admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are a clinical priority within the NHS Long Term plan and the National Health Service is investing in the provision of more and better rehabilitation services for respiratory patients. This has the objective of improving outcomes for people with COPD through early diagnosis and increased access to treatments. NHS England has established 13 Respiratory Clinical Networks across the country. These have been vital in providing clinical leadership for respiratory services and supporting services in primary care, including restoring spirometry, which is one of the tests used to diagnose COPD.The NHS RightCare COPD pathway has been rolled out nationally and defines the optimal service for people with COPD. Furthermore, the National Respiratory Audit Programme aims to improve the quality of care, services, and clinical outcomes for patients with asthma and COPD, by collecting and providing data on a range of indicators and pulmonary rehabilitation activity.A national programme of work is underway to support systems with improving access to pulmonary rehabilitation for the eligible population, increase the capacity of provision to reduce waiting lists, and improve the quality and consistency of rehabilitation programmes through accreditation. Pulmonary rehabilitation is effective for people with COPD, improving exercise capacity or increasing quality of life in 90% patients who complete a programme. National Respiratory Audit Programme data shows that the number of people completing pulmonary rehabilitation in 2023/24 exceeded pre-pandemic levels, an important milestone in the post pandemic service recovery objective.NHS England is leading on the development of an approach for COPD management to support the proactive identification and management of rising risk patients in winter, to reduce demand on primary and secondary care. The approach fully aligns with a Neighbourhood Health Service model and includes the identification of rising risk patients, optimisation of care, support, and management, through remote monitoring, and a greater focus on self-management and education, as well as access to strengthened support in the community.The plan is to test and evaluate this approach in four sites this winter, recognising that many other services in the country already implement some of the elements of the approach described, to help inform decisions on winter planning in the future. In Hull and East Yorkshire, one of the selected sites, where this service has been studied in patients following severe COPD exacerbations, patients using this service had significantly fewer emergency department attendances and hospital admissions at three-months, compared with a historical control cohort.

Representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to ensure the next Archbishop of Canterbury upholds the values of Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Lord Evans of Weardale KCB DL was appointed by the Prime Minister to be the Chair of the Crown Nominations Committee (CNC) for the See of Canterbury on 16th December: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/appointment-of-chairman-of-the-crown-nominations-commission-for-canterbury-16-december-2024In February and March 2025 the Church of England will undertake an extensive public consultation exercise to inform the CNC's discernment. The consultation will consider the role of the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the mission of the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion, and the gifts, skills, and experience needed in the next Archbishop.Through this consultation, Members of Parliament and the public will be able to submit their views on how the Church of England engages on a wide range of issues—including freedom of religion and belief—and the leadership required from the next Archbishop. Specific details of how to contribute to the consultation are expected to be made available in the next few weeks.Once open, the consultation will be available here: https://www.churchofengland.org/about/governance/archbishops/appointing-new-archbishop-canterbury The bishops of the Church of England frequently raise issues of freedom of religion and belief in the House of Lords, and seek to highlight the need for its protection overseas in their visits and public interventions. The Bishop of Winchester, in 2019 as Bishop of Truro, authored the Independent Review for the UK Foreign Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth Office Support for Persecuted Christians. The Church also looks forward to working with the newly appointed Prime Ministerial Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief

Representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to recognise the positive impact of ecumenical relations with other Christian denominations.

The Church of England is committed to ecumenical partnerships at every level and is seeking to increase its work with others, including newer partnersEcumenical activity in the Church of England is overseen by the Council for Christian Unity (CCU). This is supported by a network of local clergy who act as Denominational Ecumenical Officers (DEOs). Evidence shows that ecumenical partnerships increase the effectiveness of local projects, including food banks, warm spaces, youth work and refugee resettlement. These partnerships reduce duplication and administrative burdens, enable better resource management, provide better support for volunteers, and build stronger relationships across diverse communities. There is some evidence that ecumenical partnerships are becoming significant in the pursuit of racial justice, particularly where unity groups consciously seek wider membership.CCU is currently working with the Church of England’s Data Services unit to study Single Congregation Local Ecumenical Partnerships (SCLEPs). This research should also be available later in the yearThe Church of England works with partners through ecumenical instruments. Churches Together in England (CTE) now has more than 50 member churches and has experienced notable growth amongst Pentecostal and Orthodox members. Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) works with the national ecumenical instruments and member churches, learning from the work of peace and reconciliation on these islands and building on that experience with collaboration on other areas of shared concern. CTBI carried out research in 2024 into the work carried out by churches and charities around Climate Sunday. This research will help in the planning of future projects.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in the new Syrian government on protecting the rights of minority religious communities in Syria.

The Foreign Secretary underlined the importance of an inclusive political process with interim Foreign Minister Al Shaybani during a meeting in Riyadh on 12 January. In December 2024, senior FCDO officials met with the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the interim Foreign Minister. They highlighted the need to protect the rights of all civilians, including religious minorities. We are closely monitoring the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. We will continue to advocate for the right of Freedom of Religion or Belief in Syria and for an inclusive political transition.

How many people have been arrested for using forged passports at airports in the last 12 months.

The Home Office publishes statistics on detected irregular air arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK’ statistics release, available at:Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UKWe do not hold central data on the number of people arrested for using forged passports at airports, and the figures could only be obtained for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.