Written questions by Leadbeater.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is considering further sanctions in response to settler violence in the Occupied West Bank.

In response to the persistent cycle of serious violence undertaken by extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, the former Foreign Secretary announced three sanctions packages targeting individuals, outposts and organisations. This included, on 10 June, acting alongside Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway, to impose UK sanctions on Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, in their personal capacity, in response to their repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities.Imposing sanctions is one response among other diplomatic tools, and we will continue to consider a range of approaches to achieve our foreign policy objectives globally. However, it is not appropriate to speculate on future designations as to do so could reduce their impact.

If his Department will have discussions with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on streamlining the registration process for nurses who are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland but obtained their initial qualifications outside of the EEA.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. The NMC sets the standards that must be met by domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to its registers, and the required routes to registration. Whilst we do discuss matters of registration with regulators, the UK's model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government, and as such decisions on registration processes remain their responsibility.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to (a) develop satellite navigation capabilities and (b) ensure that satellite navigation systems are up to date.

The National Space Strategy and our identified priority capability goals, including Space Positioning Navigation and Timing, continue to drive government policy and we will publish an ambitious programme for space when the Spending Review has completed.The Government is also implementing the October 2023 Policy Framework for Greater Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Resilience, which will provide improved resilience for PNT services in the event of any disruption to Global Navigation Satellite Systems. The UK does not own or operate any Global Navigation Satellite Systems, and responsibility for ensuring those systems are up to date lies with their owners.

What steps she is taking to ensure that people who are unable to work due to (a) long-term illness, (b) disability, and (c) other circumstances are adequately supported following her planned reforms to the welfare system.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out plans to reform the health and disability and employment support system. Our reforms will ensure we can always protect people who will never be able to work – now and into the future. But, for those that can, we know that good work brings hope, dignity and self-respect and can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty. We are taking steps to support those who will never be able to work and to make sure they receive the support that they need. The changes to PIP eligibility will not affect those who are unable to complete activities at all or who require more help from others to complete them, who will continue to receive financial support. For new claimants on the Universal Credit health element after April 2026, we are proposing that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected. We will also aim to guarantee that for both new and existing claims, those in this group will not need to be reassessed in the future.

With reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, when information on how the Government plans to use the extra £1 billion investment in preparing people for work will be available.

We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding.As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the design of this guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we will be seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector providers, employers and potential users. We will confirm further details in due course after we have completed our consultation process.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing subsidised dental care for patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The Government recognises that patients with a cancer diagnosis can have specific dental needs. Free National Health Service dental care is available to people who meet the following criteria:- under 18 years old, or under 19 years old and in full-time education;- pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months;- being treated in an NHS hospital and the treatment is carried out by the hospital dentist, although patients may have to pay for any dentures or bridges; and- receiving low-income benefits, or under 20 years old and a dependant of someone receiving low-income benefits.Support is also available through the NHS Low Income Scheme for those patients who are not eligible for exemption or full remission of dental patient charges. In 2023/24, 49% of NHS dentistry courses of treatment were delivered to children and adults exempt from paying patient charges. While there are no current plans to extend the list of people eligible for free NHS dental care, the Government is working across the system to ensure that patients who have a diagnosis of cancer receive timely, safe and effective dental care. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-free-nhs-dental-treatment-in-england/

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2025 to Question 21525 on Influenza: Vaccination, whether he plans to expand the eligibility criteria for winter flu vaccinations in the context of trends in the number of people with flu in winter 2024-25.

Eligibility for the seasonal influenza vaccination programme is based on the advice and recommendations of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). This advice is kept under regular review.Trends in influenza activity varies across the season, and from season to season. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes weekly flu surveillance reports, which are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2024-to-2025-seasonThe UKHSA has confirmed that during this season so far, flu activity has been higher than in the winter of 2023/24, but similar to levels seen in the 2022/23 season.

Whether his Department plans to expand the eligibility criteria for winter flu vaccinations.

Eligibility for the seasonal influenza vaccination programme is based on the advice and recommendations of an independent expert committee, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The latest JCVI advice on seasonal influenza vaccines i...

What his planned timescale is to provide funding for newly opened dental practices in Spen Valley aiming to secure NHS contracts.

This Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentis...

What steps his Department is taking to help improve the process for families to obtain a diagnosis for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

The Department asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a quality standard in England for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), to help the health and care system improve both diagnosis and support for people affected by FA...

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of including people with learning disabilities in the spring Covid-19 booster vaccination programme.

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccinatio...

Whether she has made an assessment of the impact of carers losing access to Carers Allowance once they become entitled to the State Pension on those carers.

Although there is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. It has been a long held feature of the UK’s benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits...

What steps she is taking to ensure transparency in Crown Prosecution Service decisions.

The Code for Crown Prosecutors makes clear that, when making decisions, prosecutors must be fair and objective and act in the interests of justice. To maintain transparency around its legal decision-making, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has integrat...

What steps she is taking to ensure public protection as part of her Department's early release scheme.

Amending the automatic release point for eligible Standard Determinate Sentences to 40% (SDS40) has allowed us to end more challenging measures like End of Custody Supervised Licence which gave us less predictability and stability in release planning. Del...

What his Department's policy is on future furniture and furnishings fire safety regulations.

The Government is committed to ensuring that only safe products are made available on the UK market, including products that fall under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988.Following the formation of the Government in July, the D...

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Court of Protection's communications; and whether she has had discussions with them on improving their application processes.

The central office for the Court of Protection installed a new telephone system on 29 April 2024. This has helped the court to monitor demand and move resource to address peak call times as well as using the interactive voice response technology to direct...

What steps he is taking to increase awareness of urinary tract infections (UTIs); and if he will (a) take steps to support research on the (i) diagnosis and (ii) treatment of UTIs and (b) have disc

The Department has a number of existing partnerships to help promote awareness of urology conditions. NHS England is partnering with P-Wave for a campaign targeted at men, specifically focussing on blood in urine as a possible symptom of cancer. The partn...

Whether he is taking to steps to protect soft facilities management employment in the NHS.

National Health Service trusts are independent employers who need to determine how best their services are delivered, which includes the provision of soft facilities management.

What the evidential basis is for not including household members of people who are clinically vulnerable within the eligibility criteria for covid-19 booster vaccinations.

As with all United Kingdom vaccination programmes, the decision of which groups are eligible for a particular part of the programme is made following careful consideration of the groups most at risk of illness, severe illness, or death, as a consequence of infection.As currently available COVID-19 vaccines provide limited protection against transmission and mild or asymptomatic disease, the focus of the programme is on offering vaccination to those most likely to directly benefit, particularly those with underlying health conditions that increase their risk of hospitalisation following infection.The benefit of vaccinating an individual to reduce the risk of severe disease in other people is much less evident now compared with previous years. For this reason, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation did not advise an offer of COVID-19 vaccinations in autumn 2024 for household contacts of people with immunosuppression.

Whether she has plans to review and update the Overseas Scale Rates.

Employers have a choice about whether to use the Overseas Scale Rates (OSR) or to pay the actual expenses incurred. If an employer pays actual expenses, they must check the employees’ receipts, but they do not have to do this if they use the OSR. There will be occasions where OSR may not reflect the current prices in a particular location. If the employer chooses not to reimburse all of the actual expenses, the employee may claim tax relief on the difference from HMRC. The employee must provide HMRC with evidence such as receipts and what the employer has reimbursed. The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken in the context of the wider public finances.