Written questions by Babarinde.

Whether the Government plans to support the Domestic Abuse (Aggravated Offences) Bill.

This Government was elected on a landmark pledge to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. Tackling domestic abuse is a core part of this mission. As discussed during the recent Adjournment Debate on Domestic Abuse Offences, the Government is actively considering various approaches to address the challenges posed by domestic abuse. However, there is a risk that proposals set out in the Domestic Abuse (Aggravated Offences) Bill could unwittingly create a system in which some offences are deemed serious enough to constitute offences that could be aggravated by domestic abuse, whereas other offences in which domestic abuse could play a part are not. For example, we should not return to the outdated view that domestic abuse only involves physical violence. We recognise the importance of ensuring that the harm caused by offences typically committed against women and girls is appropriately and proportionally reflected in the sentencing framework. The Sentencing Review, chaired by former Lord Chancellor David Gauke, is currently examining the sentencing of offences primarily committed against women and girls. We are committed to engaging with the review to ensure the best outcomes for survivors of domestic abuse. We agree with the Honourable Member for Eastbourne that it is crucial that we are able to better protect victims of domestic abuse, and I have committed to discuss this with him in more detail.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to produce an animal protection strategy detailing steps to (a) increase animal welfare standards and (b) end the use of cages for farm animals.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Department has initiated a series of meetings with key stakeholders as part of the development of an overarching approach to animal welfare. We will be outlining more detail in due course. The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of placing a ban on the import of lamb produced on farms that carry out mulesing without pain relief.

The Government is firmly committed to upholding our animal welfare standards and to promoting robust standards internationally. The independent Trade and Agriculture Commission considered, in the context of its report on the UK-Australia FTA, the issue of imports to the UK of lamb that has been subject to mulesing without pain relief. The Commission concluded that lambs reared for meat are not mulesed and the likelihood of mutton from mulesed sheep being imported into the UK is negligible.

What the total value is of penalty charges imposed on Serco for underperformance in relation to its electronic tagging contract since November 2023.

Serco’s performance is not good enough, and last year’s backlog of outstanding visits has been substantially reduced. We will continue to hold Serco to account and will not hesitate to impose further contract penalties, where necessary, to drive performance improvement.The Ministry of Justice believes that the information is commercially sensitive and releasing this information would prejudice, or would likely prejudice, Serco Group Limited’s commercial interests.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) improve early diagnosis and (b) access to effective treatments for people with brain tumours.

We will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer, including cancerous brain tumours, earlier, and treating it faster, so more patients survive, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system. To do this, we will address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times, providing the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests that are needed to reduce cancer waits. We have also delivered an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, during our first year in Government as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment. We realise that there are currently limited treatment options available for people who have been diagnosed with brain tumours. The Government is invested in driving new lifesaving and life-improving research, supporting those diagnosed and living with brain tumours.In the five years between 2018/19 and 2022/23, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) directly invested £11.3 million in brain cancer research projects plus an estimated £31.5 million to enable brain tumour research to take place in NIHR research infrastructure, namely facilities, services and the research workforce, enabling delivery of 227 studies involving 8,500 people. In September 2024, the NIHR announced new research funding opportunities for brain cancer research, spanning both adult and paediatric populations. This includes a national NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium, to ensure the most promising research opportunities are made available to adult and child patients and a new funding call to generate high quality evidence in brain tumour care, support, and rehabilitation.

What steps he is taking to help raise awareness of (a) endometriosis and (b) other women's health issues; and what steps he is taking to help (i) reduce waiting times for diagnosis, (ii) increase access to treatment and (iii) improve treatment of chronic symptoms.

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health and improving the care received by those suffering from gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis.The Department and the National Health Service created a women’s health area on the NHS website to improve awareness of women’s health and brings together over 100 health topics including endometriosis. In 2024, the Department and national media titles ran an information campaign across England, encouraging women not to suffer in silence with periods or menopause symptoms. The NHS has also published two video series on endometriosis and heavy periods on its YouTube channel, providing evidence-based information for women and girls, as well as some short videos filmed with NHS doctors.We have taken urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan. In gynaecology, the plan supports innovative models offering patients care closer to home, and piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres. Women’s health hubs also have a key role in shifting care out of hospitals and reducing gynaecology waiting lists.Clinical guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published updated recommendations on the diagnosis, management and treatment of endometriosis. This is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73

How many cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed within Eastbourne constituency in the most recent year that data are available.

Data on cancer incidence, including for prostate cancer, are available at the level of England, former Government office regions, Cancer Alliances and integrated care boards, rather than by constituency. The data, which also provides an interactive tool for exploring incidence with data available up to 2022, is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/cancer-registration-statistics/england-2022

What steps his Department is taking to (a) improve early diagnosis rates and (b) support the (i) development and (ii) availability of treatments for dementia.

The Government is committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the National Health Service to increase diagnostic capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.The Department of Health and Social Care funds research into dementia via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Alongside Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society and the People’s Postcode Lottery, the NIHR is funding the Blood Biomarker Challenge which seeks to produce the clinical and economic data that could make the case for the use of a blood test in the NHS to support diagnosis of dementia. The NIHR has also invested nearly £50 million over five years into the Dementia Trials Network, which seeks to significantly expand the United Kingdom’s early phase clinical trial capabilities in dementia which will support the development of treatments.To prepare for the new generation of dementia treatments in development, we are working to ensure the diagnostic and treatment capacity, clinical pathway redesign and investment are in place to support the adoption of any new licensed and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-recommended treatments as soon as possible.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with representatives from the agricultural industry on (a) animal welfare and (b) ending the use of cages for farm animals; and if he will take steps to publish a strategy for animal protection until 2029.

We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully. We are engaging with key stakeholders as part of the development of our overarching approach to animal welfare. We will be outlining more details on this in due course.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of dispensing PIP payments on a weekly basis.

Payments of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are made every four weeks in arrears, other than SREL (Special Rules, End of Life) cases, which are paid weekly in advance. These are set out in legislation.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) the Government Actuary Department and (b) fire service pension providers have adequate tools to calculate pension entitlements for retired fire service workers.

The Home Office works closely with the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) to ensure that all actuarial advice, guidance and tools provided to Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) actively reflect changes to the firefighters’ pension schemes and regulations.GAD, in partnership with the Home Office, support FRAs by providing appropriate actuarial guidance to pensions administrators, ensuring they have the means to accurately calculate pension entitlements for retired firefighters, where necessary.While the Home Office has responsibility for overarching policy and legislative changes to the firefighters’ pension scheme regulations, the firefighters’ pension scheme is locally administered by each individual FRA.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ban animal snares in England.

The Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation. As outlined in our manifesto, we will bring an end to the use of snare traps in England. We are considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his Department's timetable is for ratifying the United Nations Global Ocean Treaty.

The Government is completely committed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the "High Seas Treaty" or "Global Ocean Treaty"), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Legislation to implement the BBNJ Agreement will be introduced as soon as the legislative timetable allows.

Communities and Local Government, whether investment in local swimming facilities is accommodated in the pre-approved interventions for the Plan for Neighbourhoods.

The new £1.5 billion Plan for Neighbourhoods will deliver up to £20 million of funding and support over the next decade into 75 communities across the UK, laying the foundations to kickstart local growth and drive-up living standards. We are putting power in the hands of local people to address deprivation and regenerate their local area and unleashing the full potential of places that have for too long been overlooked. The 75 communities will set up Neighbourhood Boards bringing together residents, businesses, and grassroots campaigners to draw up and implement Plans for how they will spend the up to £20 million of funding, whether that is repairing pavements and high streets, setting up community grocers providing low-cost alternatives when shopping for essentials, or neighbourhood watches to keep people safe. We have doubled the number of interventions that communities can spend the money on and we are focusing on three long-term aims - building thriving places, strengthening communities and empowering people to taking back control instead of sticking plaster policies. We are giving local people their say by strengthening our consultations to make sure local people have a voice on how the funding is spent. The pre-approved interventions have been drafted broadly to give flexibility to boards as to how and what they can deliver, providing examples where possible to indicate ideas for spend, but it is not exhaustive. Investment in local swimming facilities would fall under the category of ‘Funding for local sport and activity facilities, events, teams and leagues, to foster community engagement and connection’.

If she will make it her policy to consult claimants before making any future changes to (a) Personal Independence Payments, (b) Work Capability Assessments and (c) the Disability Living Allowance.

We are working to develop proposals for health and disability reform in the months ahead and will set them out in a Green Paper ahead of the Spring Statement later this year. This will launch a public consultation on the proposals. This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, so we will consult on these proposals, where appropriate, with disabled people and representative organisations. Ahead of the formal consultation for the Green Paper, we have already started to explore ways of engaging with disabled people and their representatives, including through stakeholder roundtables and public visits. We look forward to progressing these initiatives over the coming months.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to support the development of a United Nations Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.

The UK Government is committed to equality and opportunity for all, with a particular focus on those most likely to be marginalised and discriminated against, including on the grounds of their age. We are open in principle to the idea of a multilateral instrument dedicated to the human rights of older people and will continue to play a constructive role in discussions on this issue at the UN and other relevant fora.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will reverse the Government’s decision not to provide pension compensation to women who were born in the 1950s and 1960s.

We carefully considered the Ombudsman’s findings to ensure our decision was fair and based on the evidence.We have accepted the Ombudsman’s finding that there was a 28-month delay in sending out letters and for this we have apologised. However, we do not agree with the Ombudsman’s approach to injustice or remedy. Full details of the Government’s decision are available here: Government response to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Investigation into Women’s State Pension age communications and associated issues - GOV.UK

What steps he is taking to (a) improve the accessibility of NHS hospital services for the elderly and (b) reduce the social stigma associated with seeking medical help.

As part of the Government’s Health Mission, our goal is to create a more equitable healthcare system that leaves no person or community behind. The Government has introduced ambitious reforms aimed at enhancing patient access to services, such as the Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025. We will set out further reforms to improve the National Health Service in the upcoming 10-Year Health Plan. Further information on the Elective Reform Plan is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/reforming-elective-care-for-patients/

If she will make it her policy to provide funding for the Safeline counselling service for male survivors of sexual abuse after March 2025.

The Ministry of Justice’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF) was recommissioned in 2023, under Government Commercial Function processes. Grant awards were made to successful applicants following an open competition. Grant amounts were dependent on the population formula amount allocated to the Police and Crime Commissioner area, and the application score. On 2 December 2024, I confirmed to RASASF grant recipients, including Safeline, that grant awards would be maintained through 2025-26 at 2024-25 levels.

What steps she has taken to support SEND transport services following the increase to employers National Insurance contributions.

I refer the hon. Member for Eastbourne to the answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 26397.