Written questions by Anderson.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for the processing of Disabled Facilities Grants applications for people with motor neurone disease.

The government recognises the importance of timely and efficient delivery of home adaptations including through the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to help enable people with progressive conditions such as motor neurone disease (MND) to live independently in a safe and suitable environment.Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide adaptations for people who satisfy a needs assessment, eligibility criteria and a means test, and have powers to agree a more generous local policy. To support this duty, government have boosted funding for the DFG to £711 million for both 2024-25 and 2025-26.Local authorities have discretion in managing their DFG funding, and can publish a local housing assistance policy including detail on how they will respond to rapidly progressing conditions such as MND. For example, they can waive the means test or fast track the DFG process for people with MND.This is clearly set out in government guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disabled-facilities-grant-dfg-delivery-guidance-for-local-authorities-in-england) which encourages local authorities to streamline the application process to improve the delivery of adaptations, including for people living with MND. While it is for local authorities to determine the flexibilities that best meet the needs of their residents, the guidance also encourages them to prioritise urgent cases and work towards good practice timescales.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure teachers in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools remain politically neutral when teaching.

I refer the hon. Member for Ashfield to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43267.

What discussions he has had with private social care providers on levels of challenges for their staff.

I regularly hold discussions with providers from across the social care sector, including private and voluntary sectors, and with local authority providers. This includes roundtables and site visits.Department officials also regularly engage with private adult social care providers and sector representatives to understand the challenges faced by their workforce.In order to gain a full understanding of issues affecting the workforce, the Department commissioned ‘The Adult Social Care workforce and their work-related quality of life survey’ which provides detailed evidence on the issues most affecting staff.The full survey report is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-asc-workforce-and-work-related-quality-of-life

What steps he is taking to support social care staff working in supported living accommodation.

The Government recognises the vital role of social care staff working in supported living accommodation in enabling people to live independently with dignity.We are committed to transforming adult social care and supporting adult social care workers, turning the page on decades of low pay and insecurity. That is why we plan to introduce the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in 2028, backed by £500 million of funding to improve pay and conditions for the adult social care workforce. This will improve recruitment and retention and give staff better recognition for their vital work. The £500 million forms part of an increase of over £4 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in 2028-29, compared to 2025-26.Ensuring staff have the skills and training needed to work in social care is also essential, both to attract people to join and remain in the workforce, and for the provision of high-quality care and support. That is why we have developed the Care Workforce Pathway, the first national career framework for adult social care, and, we are investing £12 million in learning and development through the Learning and Development Support Scheme, to enable eligible staff to complete eligible courses and qualifications.These actions form part of our wider commitment to improving skills and support for the social care workforce.

What steps he is taking to help improve access to affordable home adaptations for people with motor neurone disease.

We recognise how important the right housing arrangements are in supporting people to live as independently and safely as possible. In England, we continue to fund the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), which is administered by local authorities. This grant helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes, including people with motor neurone disease, to adapt their homes.We have provided an additional £172 million over this and the last financial year to uplift the DFG. This uplift could provide approximately 15,600 extra home adaptations to give people more independence in their homes. This brings the total funding for the DFG to £711 million in each of 2024/25 and 2025/26.

What steps he is taking to improve care for people with motor neurone disease.

NHS England commissions the specialised elements of motor neurone disease (MND) care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England. Within these specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure patients can access a range of health professionals and specialised treatment and support, according to their needs. At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with MND, including the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit. NHS England has also established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically-led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with MND. In August 2025, NHS England updated its service specification for specialised adult neurology services. The service specification outlines that specialised neurology centres must include services for neuromuscular disorders, including MND. Service specifications define the standards of care expected from organisations funded by NHS England to provide specialised care.

What steps his Department is taking to support research into motor neurone disease.

Government responsibility for delivering research into motor neurone disease (MND) is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Medical Research Council for MND.The Government is investing in MND research across a range of areas, including an £8 million investment via the NIHR into the EXPERTS-ALS. This is a pre-clinical study which is designed to accelerate the identification and testing of the most promising treatment candidates for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): the most common form of MND.The MND Translational Accelerator, supported by £6 million of Government funding, is connecting the UK Dementia Research Institute, the UK MND Research Institute and Dementias Platform UK. Twelve projects have been funded through the Accelerator; all aimed at speeding up the development of treatments for MND.The NIHR and UKRI continue to welcome funding applications for research into MND.

Whether he is taking steps to ensure anticancer agents can be offered on the NHS for the duration of people’s cancer treatment.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that develops authoritative, evidence-based recommendations on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines in line with NICE’s recommendations.These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is right that they are taken independently and on the basis of the evidence. NICE’s methods and processes for making its recommendations are internationally respected and have been developed through extensive consultation. NICE is able to recommend the vast majority of new licensed medicines for use on the NHS, and many thousands of patients have benefited from access to medicines as a result.NICE’s guidance on the use of pembrolizumab for the treatment of untreated PD-L1-positive metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer recommends that treatment should be stopped at two years. This recommendation was based on the best available clinical evidence and was made in the interest of patient safety. During the development of guidance, NICE’s appraisal committee was informed by clinical experts that the optimal duration of treatment was unknown and, despite the medicine having low toxicity, long courses of intravenous infusion may be a burden to patients. Further information is set out in paragraph 3.6 of NICE’s published guidance at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta531/chapter/3-Committee-discussionThe Department and NHS England do not hold any data on the number of patients who are unable to self-fund treatment of medicines beyond any stopping rule set out in NICE’s guidance.

What information his Department holds on the number of cancer patients who could not afford to continue using their anticancer agent beyond its NHS availability.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that develops authoritative, evidence-based recommendations on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines in line with NICE’s recommendations.These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is right that they are taken independently and on the basis of the evidence. NICE’s methods and processes for making its recommendations are internationally respected and have been developed through extensive consultation. NICE is able to recommend the vast majority of new licensed medicines for use on the NHS, and many thousands of patients have benefited from access to medicines as a result.NICE’s guidance on the use of pembrolizumab for the treatment of untreated PD-L1-positive metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer recommends that treatment should be stopped at two years. This recommendation was based on the best available clinical evidence and was made in the interest of patient safety. During the development of guidance, NICE’s appraisal committee was informed by clinical experts that the optimal duration of treatment was unknown and, despite the medicine having low toxicity, long courses of intravenous infusion may be a burden to patients. Further information is set out in paragraph 3.6 of NICE’s published guidance at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta531/chapter/3-Committee-discussionThe Department and NHS England do not hold any data on the number of patients who are unable to self-fund treatment of medicines beyond any stopping rule set out in NICE’s guidance.

If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of systems for determining the duration of NHS funding for anticancer agents.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that develops authoritative, evidence-based recommendations on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines in line with NICE’s recommendations.These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is right that they are taken independently and on the basis of the evidence. NICE’s methods and processes for making its recommendations are internationally respected and have been developed through extensive consultation. NICE is able to recommend the vast majority of new licensed medicines for use on the NHS, and many thousands of patients have benefited from access to medicines as a result.NICE’s guidance on the use of pembrolizumab for the treatment of untreated PD-L1-positive metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer recommends that treatment should be stopped at two years. This recommendation was based on the best available clinical evidence and was made in the interest of patient safety. During the development of guidance, NICE’s appraisal committee was informed by clinical experts that the optimal duration of treatment was unknown and, despite the medicine having low toxicity, long courses of intravenous infusion may be a burden to patients. Further information is set out in paragraph 3.6 of NICE’s published guidance at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta531/chapter/3-Committee-discussionThe Department and NHS England do not hold any data on the number of patients who are unable to self-fund treatment of medicines beyond any stopping rule set out in NICE’s guidance.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people who cannot afford anticancer treatment will continue to receive treatment beyond the stopping date of their anticancer agent being available on the NHS.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that develops authoritative, evidence-based recommendations on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines in line with NICE’s recommendations.These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is right that they are taken independently and on the basis of the evidence. NICE’s methods and processes for making its recommendations are internationally respected and have been developed through extensive consultation. NICE is able to recommend the vast majority of new licensed medicines for use on the NHS, and many thousands of patients have benefited from access to medicines as a result.NICE’s guidance on the use of pembrolizumab for the treatment of untreated PD-L1-positive metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer recommends that treatment should be stopped at two years. This recommendation was based on the best available clinical evidence and was made in the interest of patient safety. During the development of guidance, NICE’s appraisal committee was informed by clinical experts that the optimal duration of treatment was unknown and, despite the medicine having low toxicity, long courses of intravenous infusion may be a burden to patients. Further information is set out in paragraph 3.6 of NICE’s published guidance at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta531/chapter/3-Committee-discussionThe Department and NHS England do not hold any data on the number of patients who are unable to self-fund treatment of medicines beyond any stopping rule set out in NICE’s guidance.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making pembrolizumab available on the NHS for longer than two years.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that develops authoritative, evidence-based recommendations on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines in line with NICE’s recommendations.These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is right that they are taken independently and on the basis of the evidence. NICE’s methods and processes for making its recommendations are internationally respected and have been developed through extensive consultation. NICE is able to recommend the vast majority of new licensed medicines for use on the NHS, and many thousands of patients have benefited from access to medicines as a result.NICE’s guidance on the use of pembrolizumab for the treatment of untreated PD-L1-positive metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer recommends that treatment should be stopped at two years. This recommendation was based on the best available clinical evidence and was made in the interest of patient safety. During the development of guidance, NICE’s appraisal committee was informed by clinical experts that the optimal duration of treatment was unknown and, despite the medicine having low toxicity, long courses of intravenous infusion may be a burden to patients. Further information is set out in paragraph 3.6 of NICE’s published guidance at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta531/chapter/3-Committee-discussionThe Department and NHS England do not hold any data on the number of patients who are unable to self-fund treatment of medicines beyond any stopping rule set out in NICE’s guidance.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, whether her Department monitors how (a) primary and (b) secondary schools spend English as an additional language funding.

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor​ forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, how many schools receive English as an additional language funding.

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor​ forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, what English as an additional language funding may be used for in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor​ forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, whether her Department plans to review the English as an additional language funding formula.

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor​ forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in English as an additional language funding on the long term financial sustainability of schools.

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor​ forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.

If he will reinstate the winter fuel payment in full.

The Government has increased the level at which Winter Fuel Payments are means-tested in England and Wales from winter 2025/26 so that the vast majority of pensioners – around 9 million individuals – will benefit from them.

What data his Department holds on the cost to the public purse of treatment for people who came to Britain only for (a) health and (b) medical treatment in each of the last three years.

The Department does not collect or hold the information requested.

What data his Department holds on how many people resident outside the UK received medical treatment on the NHS in each of the last three years.

The Department does not collect or hold the information requested.