Written questions by Glindon.

What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of transitioning from Student Finance England support to the NHS bursary on the finances of medical students in their final years of study.

The Department works closely with the Department for Education on a wide range of matters to ensure the education system is supporting healthcare students, including student funding.For the 2025-26 academic year, the Government will increase the NHS Bursary tuition fee contributions, maintenance grants and all allowances by 3.1%. This is the second consecutive academic year that this Government has increased support through the NHS Bursary. For the 2025-26 academic year, the Government has also announced that maximum loans for living costs from Student Finance England (SFE), including reduced rate non-means tested loans for students in NHS Bursary years, will increase by 3.1%.The Government reviews the funding arrangements for medical students annually. This includes the NHS Bursary scheme and SFE support.

If he has made an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the effectiveness of the NHS bursary scheme.

The Department works closely with the Department for Education on a wide range of matters to ensure the education system is supporting healthcare students, including student funding.For the 2025-26 academic year, the Government will increase the NHS Bursary tuition fee contributions, maintenance grants and all allowances by 3.1%. This is the second consecutive academic year that this Government has increased support through the NHS Bursary. For the 2025-26 academic year, the Government has also announced that maximum loans for living costs from Student Finance England (SFE), including reduced rate non-means tested loans for students in NHS Bursary years, will increase by 3.1%.The Government reviews the funding arrangements for medical students annually. This includes the NHS Bursary scheme and SFE support.

What steps he is taking to ensure all eligible recipients are registered for their NHS Healthy Start entitlement.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Those eligible for Healthy Start must apply to the NHSBSA to receive Healthy Start payments.All applicants, where they meet the eligibility criteria, must accept the terms and conditions of the Healthy Start prepaid card at the point of application. As the prepaid card is a financial product and cannot be issued without the applicant accepting these terms, the NHSBSA is not able to automatically provide eligible families with a prepaid card.We remain open to all viable routes to improve uptake to ensure that as many eligible people as possible are accessing the scheme, to support their children with a healthy start in life. In March 2025 Healthy Start supported over 359,000 people.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 43451 on Neuroendocrine Cancer: Radiotherapy, what recent discussions his Department has had with Integrated Care Boards on the commissioning of selective internal radiation therapy.

NHS England commissions selective internal radiation therapy for chemotherapy refractory / intolerant metastatic colorectal cancer in adults in accordance with criteria which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Selective-internal-radiation-therapy-for-chemotherapy-refractory-intolerant-metastatic-colorectal-cancer.pdfThe National Cancer Plan, coming later in 2025, will set out plans to improve the experience and outcomes for people at every stage of the cancer pathway. It will include how to improve communication and coordination for patients, so that they feel informed, empowered, and in control of their care.

What her planned timeline is for the implementation of recorded assessments as standard for Personal Independence Payments.

We announced our intention to record assessments as standard in the Pathways to Work Green Paper as a valuable tool to improve people’s trust in the health assessment process. We are developing our plans to implement this measure and will set out further details in a White Paper later this year.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the Universal Credit system to automatically register eligible households for (a) free school meals and (b) the NHS Healthy Start scheme.

No such assessment has been made. The Universal Credit system permits Department of Health and Social Care to check a citizen’s entitlement to Healthy Start vouchers, and Department for Education to check eligibility for Free School Meals.

If she will take steps to ensure that (a) charities, (b) asylum seekers and (c) refugees are included in the development of her Department's (i) policy and (ii) procedures.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and other stakeholders.

What estimate she has made of the proportion of substantive asylum interview appointments that were cancelled due to an inability to secure a translator in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.

The number of substantive interviews completed per month is published in tab ASY_05(M) of the Immigration and Protection dataset: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-and-protection-data-q4-2024.The requested information on cancelled appointments could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at a disproportionate cost.

Whether her Department uses artificial intelligence to transcribe asylum interviews.

No.

Whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential implications for her policies of (a) the report by the Law Commission entitled Fiduciary Duties of Investment Intermediaries, published on 30 June 2014, and (b) its evaluation that there is no impediment to pension trustees taking account of environmental factors where (i) they are and (ii) may be financially material.

Trustees have a range of duties set out in governing provisions of the scheme, common law and relevant statutory provisions. These include duties to make investment decisions in the best interests of members of the pension scheme. The Law Commission concluded in 2014, that there was no impediment to trustees taking account of Environmental, Social and Governance factors, where they are or may be financially material, and that trustees should take into account financially material factors. The Financial Markets Law Committee’s (FMLC) report in 2024 revisited the Law Commission’s findings and argued that there is a strong case for trustees to consider climate change and other environmental factors as ‘financial factors’ in investment decision-making. The government welcomes the opinion the FMLC reached.The Law Commission’s 2014 report also stated that trustees may take such factors, which are not strictly and directly financial, into account. This should be to the extent that they would not involve a risk of significant financial detriment to the trust’s funds and where they have good reason to think scheme members would support the decision. The FMLC’s report concludes that financial factors are broad and many factors that may appear at first to be ‘non-financial’ are in fact ‘financial’. Findings from both reports reflect the permissive nature of trustee fiduciary duty, and why the government is not currently considering any change to the law.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the level of turnover of Local Government Pension Scheme trustees on an understanding of the duty to consider climate-related risk.

Administering authorities are already required to consider factors that are financially material to the performance of their investments, including environmental considerations such as climate risks.The government has consulted on proposals to ensure that those involved in decision making in administering authorities have the appropriate level of knowledge and understanding for their roles.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and the University of Exeter report entitled Planetary Solvency, published on 16 January 2025; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing guidance on how pension funds can gain more realistic assessments of climate risk.

Trustees of pension schemes in scope of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) are required to undertake scenario analysis to assess the resilience of their investment strategy against climate-related risks and opportunities. Trustees must have regard to the DWP’s statutory guidance when complying with these requirements. The Pensions Regulator has also issued guidance to trustees, which references free online resources such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) climate risk map. This resource can help trustees form an initial view of the types of risks and opportunities that might be relevant and help guide their discussions with advisers.Climate scenario analysis tools and the information and data behind them are evolving rapidly, so trustees should keep developments under review. It is sensible for trustees to update their scenario analysis if modelling techniques and capabilities change.The government will continue to work in collaboration with regulators and welcomes progress within the industry to ensure that climate risk models support effective decision-making under the existing legislative requirements.

If she has made an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that newly appointed pension fund trustees are aware of the responsibility to consider climate risks in investments.

There are a range of governance and reporting requirements that trustees, including new trustees, must meet. For trustees in scope, this includes disclosing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies in the Statement of Investment Principles (SIP) and explaining how and the extent to which those policies have been followed over the scheme year. Guidance is available from the Pensions Regulator (TPR) to help trustees understand these requirements and the 2024 Market Oversight Review provides further insight into TPR’s expectations around ESG duties.The Occupational Pension Schemes (Climate Change Governance and Reporting) Regulations 2021 place requirements on trustees in our largest occupational pension schemes to demonstrate how they are managing climate-related risks and opportunities in an annual Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) report. TPR’s Guidance includes a step-by-step example to help trustees develop their understanding of the requirements and upskill newer trustees. In a 2024 review of TCFD reports, TPR reported confidence in trustees maintaining up-to-date knowledge and understanding of climate risk.As set out in their Climate Adaptation Report (2025), TPR is proactively focused on raising trustee awareness of climate-related systemic risks. TPR also continues to support new trustees through specific guidance and the Trustee toolkit, a free online learning programme that helps trustees gain the relevant skills, knowledge and understanding needed to fulfil their role.

If she will take steps to ensure that fiduciary duty explicitly places a duty on pension fund trustees to consider system risks.

Trustees have a range of duties set out in governing provisions of the scheme, common law and relevant statutory provisions. These include duties to make investment decisions in the best interests of members of the pension scheme. The Law Commission concluded in 2014, that there was no impediment to trustees taking account of Environmental, Social and Governance factors, where they are or may be financially material, and that trustees should take into account financially material factors. The Financial Markets Law Committee’s (FMLC) report in 2024 revisited the Law Commission’s findings and argued that there is a strong case for trustees to consider climate change and other environmental factors as ‘financial factors’ in investment decision-making. The government welcomes the opinion the FMLC reached.The Law Commission’s 2014 report also stated that trustees may take such factors, which are not strictly and directly financial, into account. This should be to the extent that they would not involve a risk of significant financial detriment to the trust’s funds and where they have good reason to think scheme members would support the decision. The FMLC’s report concludes that financial factors are broad and many factors that may appear at first to be ‘non-financial’ are in fact ‘financial’. Findings from both reports reflect the permissive nature of trustee fiduciary duty, and why the government is not currently considering any change to the law.

Communities and Local Government, if she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using proposed biennial governance reviews of administering authorities to ensure that trustees regularly review science-based forecasts of climate risks.

Administering authorities are already required to consider factors that are financially material to the performance of their investments, including environmental considerations such as climate risks.The government has consulted on proposals to ensure that those involved in decision making in administering authorities have the appropriate level of knowledge and understanding for their roles.

Whether he has had discussions with the National Institute for Health and Social Care on providing guidance on the adoption of selective internal radiation therapy for patients with neuroendocrine tumours .

The Department has had no such discussions. In May 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published interventional procedures guidance that recommends that selective internal radiation therapy can be used as an option for neuroendocrine tumours that have metastasised to the liver, with standard arrangements in place for clinical governance, consent, and audit. The NICE’s interventional procedures make recommendations based on an assessment of safety and efficacy, but do not consider whether the procedure represents a clinically and cost-effective use of National Health Service resources. NHS commissioners are responsible for decisions on whether procedures recommended in the NICE’s interventional procedures guidance should be routinely offered to NHS patients.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to (a) Personal Independence Payment, (b) Universal Credit and (c) Carers’ Allowance on (i) adult social service capacity and (ii) housing demand.

DWP is working across Government, including with DHSC and MHCLG, to consider the impact of the reforms to the welfare system. We will also consider the impacts on benefits for unpaid carers as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation as we develop our detailed proposals for change. Through the Green Paper we are consulting on the support needed for those who may lose any entitlements as a result of receiving PIP daily living and what this support could look like. We will also work closely with the DHSC and others on how the health and eligible care needs of those who would lose entitlement to PIP could be met outside the benefits system.

What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of selective internal radiation therapy on the (a) survival outcomes and (b) quality of life for neuroendocrine tumour patients.

No assessment has been made on the potential impact of selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) on survival outcomes and quality of life for neuroendocrine tumour patients. However, the Department recognises the need to offer suitable treatment, including SIRT, to the patients who need it the most.Radiotherapy treatment for cancer is highly individualised and decisions about cancer treatment are typically made by clinicians and multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals. They consider all aspects of a patient's health and circumstances when recommending treatment options. While certain treatments may not be advised for some patients, these decisions are based on medical assessments and what is best for the individual's overall health and well-being.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanese Hizballah.

The UK has made clear the importance that all sides maintain a cessation of hostilities and work towards securing a lasting peace. This is the only way to restore security and stability for the people living on either side of the border. The UK continues to engage Israel and Lebanon to urge them to build on the progress made and implement fully the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the affordability of service charges for leaseholders; and if he will take steps to limit their rate of increase.

The government recognise the considerable financial strain that rising services charges are placing on leaseholders. The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease and the age and condition of a building. By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal. The government has no plans to cap service charges for tenants and leaseholders given this would prevent necessary funds being raised for legitimate purposes when necessary. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. Once commenced, these will ensure all leaseholders receive minimum key financial and non-financial information on a regular basis, including introducing a standardised service charge demand form and an annual report. The government is committed to acting quickly to implement the provisions of the Act. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on Thursday 21 November (HCWS244).