Written questions by Taylor.

What steps she is taking to improve road safety for people (a) walking, (b) wheeling and (c) cycling.

The safety of our roads is an absolute priority for this Government. The Highway Code was updated in 2022 to improve road safety for cyclists and pedestrians, by strengthening pedestrian priority on pavements and at crossings and introducing the Hierarchy of Road Users, which places those road users most at risk in the event of a collision, at the top of the hierarchy. The Highway Code makes it clear that those in charge of vehicles that can cause the greatest harm in the event of a collision bear the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger they pose to others and highlights the need to take care and be particularly aware of young cyclists and pedestrians.

What steps she is taking through her policy of public ownership of the railways to (a) tackle last-minute train cancellations and (b) improve service reliability.

Ministers have been clear that rail services have been failing passengers. Bringing train operations into public ownership is the first step in the Government’s plan to improve the railways for passengers and taxpayers. Great British Railways, when established, will take a whole rail system view, ensuring that all parts of the sector are working together, to deliver against Ministers’ priorities and improve reliability for passengers.

Whether her Department plans to re-instate late night services at Worcester Park station.

When adding or reinstating services, the Department needs to assess business cases and balance demand with value for the taxpayer in its considerations. There are currently no plans to reinstate a later train between Sunday and Thursday. However, a later Friday and Saturday service was reinstated from December 2020 departing from Waterloo at twenty-five minutes past midnight.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of abolishing residential leaseholds.

I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).

What estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of bringing South Western Railway into public ownership.

The costs associated with the transfer of a train operating company into public ownership cannot be determined until engagement with the train operator has commenced. Each train operator will have their own circumstances that need to be addressed to enable a successful transfer. These are identified during the due diligence phase and then the costs for addressing them can be agreed. As an example, previously, the Department has paid fees to South Western Railway of £8.2 million between September 2020 to March 2021. These can be found in the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dft-payments-to-passenger-rail-operators-under-emergency-agreements#full-publication-update-history Overall, transferring service operations to the public sector will result in a saving of fixed and performance-based management fees currently paid to private sector train operators. This saving is estimated to be £110 million to £150 million per annum once all franchised contracts had expired, with a proportion of these savings achieved each year in the interim as individual services transfer. Please see the following link: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0133/en/240133en.pdf Whilst all services will transfer as their existing contracts end, there are costs associated with the transfer from a private sector operator to a public sector company (mobilisation and due diligence costs) estimated at £1 million to £1.5 million per transaction. This is consistent with costs associated with transition following any competed franchise award as shown in the following link: https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/56108/documents/5037.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help protect the rights of minority groups in Pakistan.

We work to protect and promote human rights in Pakistan through our diplomatic engagement and programme funding. I (Minister Falconer) underlined the importance of promoting religious tolerance and harmony when I met with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister Azam Tarar on 19 November. On 20 November, I attended a meeting with Pakistan's Minister of Interior Mosin Naqvi, where the British High Commissioner and I raised concerns about threats of violence directed towards Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan. The UK will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people as laid down in Pakistan's Constitution and in accordance with international standards.

What steps he is taking to help reduce the number of cases of late diagnoses of blood cancers in emergency NHS settings.

It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancer, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes.The Department is committing to this by improving waiting times for cancer treatment, starting by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, to support faster diagnosis and access to treatment.In addition to improving cancer waiting time performance, the NHS has implemented non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes leukaemia, which the national evaluation found was one of the most common cancers diagnosed via these pathways.

Whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of non-specific symptom pathways in diagnosing blood cancers in each of the last three years.

We will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, including blood cancer. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer, to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a general practitioner or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.NHS England has implemented non symptom specific pathways for patients who present with non-specific symptoms, or combinations thereof, that can indicate several different cancers. This includes leukaemia, which can present non-specific symptoms, such as unexpected weight loss and night sweats. From our national evaluation, blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

What steps he is taking to ensure UK blood cancer patients can access effective new therapies that are available to patients overseas but have been subject to NICE terminated appraisals.

Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are made on the basis of recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), following an evaluation of a treatment’s costs and benefits.The NICE process relies on the company to make an evidence submission. When the company does not make an evidence submission, the NICE is unable to develop recommendations, and the appraisal is terminated. NHS England’s default position is not to routinely commission a treatment where the company has not engaged in the NICE appraisal process. This is to avoid a potential pathway for circumventing the NICE process, that ensures value for the taxpayer.The Government encourages all companies to engage constructively in the NICE appraisal process. The NICE is able to recommend most medicines for use in the NHS where companies engage in the process, and has recommended 79% of cancer medicines that it has appraised. This includes many medicines for blood cancers, that are now available to NHS patients, including through the Cancer Drugs Fund, which makes promising new medicines available to patients while further evidence is collected to address uncertainties in clinical and cost-effectiveness.

Whether he plans to publish a 2024 progress report for the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the programme continues to support (a) (i) perinatal and (ii) infant mental health and (b) parent-infant relationships.

Launched in August 2022, the three-year Family Hubs and Start for Life programme provides approximately £300 million to 75 local authorities in England with high levels of deprivation. The joint Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Education programme has created a network of Family Hubs with Start for Life services, which support the period from conception to the age of two years old, providing families with the support they need when they need it.While the Government does not have plans at this stage to publish a progress report on the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, two national, independent evaluations are underway to understand implementation and impact.At the 2024 Autumn Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £69 million to continue delivery of a network of Family Hubs. The Department will confirm Start for Life funding for 2025/26 in due course, including support for perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship services.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong on human rights violations in that region.

I met Regina Ip on 31 October in London. Human rights were raised as part of the discussion. The UK will continue to speak often and candidly with Hong Kong authorities across both areas of contention as well as areas for cooperation. Engagement with representatives of Hong Kong and China is pragmatic and necessary to support UK interests.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what humanitarian steps he is taking to (a) support peace and (b) protect vulnerable communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The UK is delivering a three-year humanitarian programme in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), providing life-saving emergency assistance and increasing the resilience of crisis-affected communities affected by the conflict. During his visit to the DRC in August Lord Collins, Minister for Africa, announced £3.1 million of new funding to help the DRC tackle the outbreak of mpox and cholera.We are engaging with the DRC and Rwanda at the highest levels to encourage de-escalation and progress on the Luanda Peace Process - with Lord Collins having visited and met with the Presidents of Angola, DRC and Rwanda in August and September.

What steps she is taking to ensure police officers are more able to (a) identify and (b) respond to stalking crimes.

This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking as part of our ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.Achieving this will require a dramatic improvement in the policing and criminal justice response to these crimes, including stalking. improving the police and wider criminal justice response and sustained support for victims.To start that work, we have committed to giving women the right to know the identity of online stalkers and to strengthening the use of Stalking Protection Orders, and will set out further action on stalking in the coming weeks.In addition, to help ensure support for victims, the Home Office part-funds the National Stalking Helpline, run by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

What steps she is taking to improve support to victims of stalking.

This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking as part of our ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.Achieving this will require a dramatic improvement in the policing and criminal justice response to these crimes, including stalking. improving the police and wider criminal justice response and sustained support for victims.To start that work, we have committed to giving women the right to know the identity of online stalkers and to strengthening the use of Stalking Protection Orders, and will set out further action on stalking in the coming weeks.In addition, to help ensure support for victims, the Home Office part-funds the National Stalking Helpline, run by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

What steps she is taking to help tackle (a) moped and (b) illegal e-bike related crimes.

This government is determined to crack down on snatch theft and other crimes, including those facilitated by mopeds and e-bikes, that make people feel unsafe in our communities.We are committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing, recruiting and putting thousands of additional officers back on the beast to provide a visible presence in our communities, and tackle all forms of street crime.Tackling the market for stolen goods and making these crimes less attractive to commit in the first place, is a key part of our approach. As announced last month, the Home Office is engaging with tech companies to see what more can be done to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.The police may, when appropriate, pursue mopeds and e-bikes, and may employ tactical options to bring the vehicle to a stop. The College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Roads Policing Police Pursuits provides guidance for police pursuits.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle school absences among young carers.

The department wants to ensure that young carers have the best life chances by supporting them in their education. The department recognises that absence from school is almost always a symptom of wider needs and barriers that a family are facing. It is often also the best early indication of need in a family that may not be in contact with other services.The department’s expectations of local authorities and schools, as set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, were made statutory on 19 August 2024. The ‘support first’ ethos of the attendance guidance is that pupils and families, including young carers, should receive holistic, whole-family support to help them overcome the barriers to attendance they are facing. This includes holding regular meetings with the families of pupils who the school, and/or local authority, consider to be vulnerable to discuss attendance and engagement at school. Schools are expected to recognise that absence is a symptom and that improving pupil’s attendance is part of supporting the pupil’s overall welfare.Young carers are also now part of the school census, which will improve their visibility in the school system, allowing schools to better identify and support their young carers. This will provide an annual data collection to establish long term trends. Separately, the department also publishes daily attendance data fortnightly and will continue to monitor the quality of data on young carers that is collected via the school register for consideration to include in the daily data collection in the future.Schools can also use pupil premium funding to support other pupils with identified needs, including young carers. Pupil premium funding has increased to over £2.9 billion for the 2024/25 financial year.

Whether she has had discussions with the Mayor of London on levels of noise pollution on the London Underground.

The Secretary of State has not had discussions with the Mayor of London specifically on levels of noise pollution on the London Underground. Ministers and officials have regular conversations with Transport for London on a variety of issues. However, transport in London is devolved to the Mayor, and TfL is responsible for the operation of London’s transport network.

What information his Department holds on the average change in (a) stroke and (b) heart attack ambulance waiting times as a result of the London drop and go ambulance policy.

The Department does not hold the information requested. Category 2 ambulance calls are emergency responses, which can include serious time-sensitive incidents such as strokes and heart attacks. The following table shows the national and London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) Category 2 response times, displayed in minutes and seconds, for September 2024: Response timeLAS42:27England36:02Source: The data is published by NHS England, and is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/

Whether she plans to extend the HS2 terminus from Old Oak Common to London Euston.

The government is reviewing the position it has inherited on HS2 and will set out detailed plans in due course.

Whether he plans to review the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's decision not to recommend Ruxolitinib for use within NHS England for the treatment of vitiligo.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing guidance for the National Health Service on whether ruxolitinib should be routinely funded by the NHS, based on an assessment of its costs and benefits.The NICE was unfortunately unable to recommend ruxolitinib as a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources in its final draft guidance published on 18 July. The NICE received four appeals against its draft recommendation which were heard by an independent panel on 11 October 2024. If any of the appeals are upheld, the NICE’s appraisal committee will reconsider its recommendations in light of the appeal panel’s decision.It is right that the NICE makes its decisions at arm’s length of the Government and in line with its carefully developed methods and processes. As such, it would not be appropriate for ministers to intervene in the NICE’s decision-making.