Written questions by Davies.

What recent discussions he has had with representatives from devolved administrations on the potential impact of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty to more policy areas.

In developing policy to support putting the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law, over 150 organisations, including representatives from the Devolved Administrations, have taken part in the Ministry of Defence’s roundtable discussions and workshops. This is part of an ongoing extensive research and engagement programme to identify areas for inclusion in the Covenant Duty extension where the Armed Forces community may experience disadvantage. The UK Government will continue to work proactively with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Governments throughout the legislation process.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of real-term reductions to the public health grant on HIV (a) prevention and (b) support services delivered by the voluntary sector.

In 2025/26 we increased funding through the ring-fenced Public Health Grant to £3.858 billion, providing local authorities with an average 5.4% cash increase and a 3% real terms increase to support the improvement of the delivery of public health services, including sexual and reproductive health services. This marks the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending. It is at the discretion of individual local authorities to determine spending priorities based on an assessment of local need, including the role of the voluntary and community sector in the delivery of prevention and support services.Funding for future work will be determined by the Spending Review. Although we have reached an overall settlement for the Department, the details of the budget allocations are still being determined. The Department is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans as soon as possible.

What assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the National Literacy Trust’s report entitled Children and young people’s writing in 2025, published on 12 June 2025.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Colne Valley, to the answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62713.

How much funding has (a) the Department for Health and Social Care and (b) NHS England given to voluntary, community and social enterprises organisations for the commissioning of HIV services in the last 12 months.

As part of the development of the new HIV Action Plan, the Department, through its HIV Prevention England Programme (HPE), recently hosted engagement sessions with approximately 60 voluntary and community Sector (VCS) and external partners. Professor Kevin Fenton, the Government’s Chief Advisor on HIV, has also hosted a series of engagement workshops with approximately 250 system partners, including the VCS and people with lived experience. These discussions highlighted the impact of trends in the level of funding provided to HIV charities, and are being considered as we develop the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year.In 2025/26, the Department is investing £1.5 million to fund HPE, which is being delivered by the Terrence Higgins Trust. Furthermore, a key component of the Government’s successful HIV emergency department opt-out testing programme includes a recommendation that 10% of the funding allocated to each site should be used to support community and peer support services for individuals diagnosed with a blood borne virus. The Department does not hold detailed financial information on locally commissioned HIV services.Funding for future work will be determined by the Spending Review. Although we have reached an overall settlement for the Department, the details of the budget allocations are still being determined. The Department is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans as soon as possible.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of funding provided to HIV charities on (a) HIV health outcomes and (b) the delivery of the HIV Action Plan for England target of ending new HIV transmissions by 2030.

As part of the development of the new HIV Action Plan, the Department, through its HIV Prevention England Programme (HPE), recently hosted engagement sessions with approximately 60 voluntary and community Sector (VCS) and external partners. Professor Kevin Fenton, the Government’s Chief Advisor on HIV, has also hosted a series of engagement workshops with approximately 250 system partners, including the VCS and people with lived experience. These discussions highlighted the impact of trends in the level of funding provided to HIV charities, and are being considered as we develop the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year.In 2025/26, the Department is investing £1.5 million to fund HPE, which is being delivered by the Terrence Higgins Trust. Furthermore, a key component of the Government’s successful HIV emergency department opt-out testing programme includes a recommendation that 10% of the funding allocated to each site should be used to support community and peer support services for individuals diagnosed with a blood borne virus. The Department does not hold detailed financial information on locally commissioned HIV services.Funding for future work will be determined by the Spending Review. Although we have reached an overall settlement for the Department, the details of the budget allocations are still being determined. The Department is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans as soon as possible.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of setting a two-year direct spending target with the HIV voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.

As part of the development of the new HIV Action Plan, the Department, through its HIV Prevention England Programme (HPE), recently hosted engagement sessions with approximately 60 voluntary and community Sector (VCS) and external partners. Professor Kevin Fenton, the Government’s Chief Advisor on HIV, has also hosted a series of engagement workshops with approximately 250 system partners, including the VCS and people with lived experience. These discussions highlighted the impact of trends in the level of funding provided to HIV charities, and are being considered as we develop the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year.In 2025/26, the Department is investing £1.5 million to fund HPE, which is being delivered by the Terrence Higgins Trust. Furthermore, a key component of the Government’s successful HIV emergency department opt-out testing programme includes a recommendation that 10% of the funding allocated to each site should be used to support community and peer support services for individuals diagnosed with a blood borne virus. The Department does not hold detailed financial information on locally commissioned HIV services.Funding for future work will be determined by the Spending Review. Although we have reached an overall settlement for the Department, the details of the budget allocations are still being determined. The Department is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans as soon as possible.

With reference to the National Procurement Policy Statement, published 13 February 2025, if he will make it his policy to ensure (a) local authority and (b) NHS commissioners (i) set appropriate spending targets and (b) reserve contracts specifically for HIV voluntary sector providers.

Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual and reproductive health services through the Public Health Grant (PHG). Individual local authorities decide on spending priorities based on an assessment of local need, and commission the blend of services that best suit their population. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care does not have the statutory powers to direct local authorities or National Health Service HIV commissioners in relation to the allocation of the PHG, beyond what is in existing regulations, and therefore cannot compel local commissioners to set specific targets or implement particular service decisions. As such, no spending targets or specifically reserved contracts are being considered.

How many Integrated Care Boards are currently meeting the (a) NHS England service specification for adult specialised HIV services and (b) British HIV Association (BHIVA) Standards of Care for People Living with HIV.

In April 2024, NHS England published the updated national Service Specification for Adult HIV services, which sets out the mandatory standards of care that National Health Service providers are expected to meet.It is for integrated care boards, as the responsible commissioners for adult specialised services for people living with HIV, to determine when and how to assess and monitor provider compliance with the service specification.NHS England would not assess providers against British HIV Association guidelines, although the service specification includes a reference to these guidelines, and commissioners would expect providers to take the guidelines into account when delivering services.

If his Department will ensure national access to HIV peer support through (a) in-community, (b) in-clinic and (c) online services in partnership with voluntary sector organisations.

The Government is committed to ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030, and is developing the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year. The plan will address ways to optimise rapid access to treatment and retention in care, and will improve the quality of life for people living with HIV, including consideration of peer support services.A key component of the Government’s successful HIV emergency department opt-out testing programme includes a recommendation that 10% of the funding allocated to each site should be used to support community and peer support services for individuals diagnosed with a blood borne virus.NHS England holds overall accountability for the commissioning of HIV services, and since April 2025, commissioning responsibility, including support services for those living with HIV, has been delegated to the integrated care boards. In April 2024, NHS England published the updated national Service Specification for Adult HIV services, which sets out the standards of care that HIV providers are expected to meet, including the availability of community, psychological, and psychosocial support for patients.

What recent discussions his Department has had with (a) NHS England and (b) local authorities on expanding community-based PrEP services.

The Government is committed to ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030. The Department, NHS England, and the UK Health Security Agency are working together on the development of the new HIV Action Plan which we aim to publish this year. We continue to engage and consult with a range of system partners and stakeholders, including local authorities, as we develop the plan. The plan will consider ways to expand pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services and improve equity and access to PrEP for all communities, focusing on underserved groups such as the black African community and women.

What steps his Department is taking to tackle inequalities in access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis among (a) the black community and (b) women.

The Government is committed to ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030. The Department, NHS England, and the UK Health Security Agency are working together on the development of the new HIV Action Plan which we aim to publish this year. We continue to engage and consult with a range of system partners and stakeholders, including local authorities, as we develop the plan. The plan will consider ways to expand pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services and improve equity and access to PrEP for all communities, focusing on underserved groups such as the black African community and women.

Whether his Department is planning to take steps to the next HIV Action Plan for England with the principles of the forthcoming Civil Society Covenant.

The Government recognises the importance of the Civil Society Covenant’s four key principles: recognition; partnership; participation; and transparency. These principles will be reflected in the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year.These are already at the core of the new plan, and we are therefore engaging a wide range of system partners in its development, including the voluntary and community sector (VCS), and people with lived experience. In order to recognise our strong and experienced civil society and to ensure that communities and people can be heard, we recently hosted engagement sessions with approximately 60 VCS and external partners to discuss what the next action plan should look like. Professor Kevin Fenton, the Government’s Chief Advisor on HIV, has also hosted a series of engagement workshops with approximately 250 system partners, including the VCS, industry, primary care, and integrated care board colleagues, to inform our plan.Department officials have also engaged with officials from across the Government to align resources and efforts in relation to the next HIV Action Plan for England, all of which is being considered in the new plan’s development.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that social media platforms enforce their own (a) hate speech and (b) child protection policies.

Under the Online Safety Act, the largest services will need to put in place processes to enforce any Terms of Service they set for legal content for adults, including legal hate speech. Platforms likely to be accessed by children must also protect children from content that is harmful to them, including hateful content.Services must have clear and accessible Terms of Service about how they fulfil their illegal content and child safety duties and apply them consistently.Ofcom has robust enforcement powers to use against services that fail to fulfil duties. This includes fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.

Innovation and Technology, if he will take (a) regulatory and (b) legislative steps to hold platforms accountable for monetising content which (i) does not meet internal policies on hate speech, (ii) promotes misogyny and (iii) promotes gender-based hate.

The Online Safety Act gives online platforms new duties to tackle illegal user-generated content on their services. This includes duties for illegal content that stirs up hatred. Under these duties, providers need to remove this content. It cannot then be monetised. Categorised services also need to have systems and processes in place to enforce their terms of service about content that is prohibited on their service, including hate speech and misogyny. The regulation is overseen by Ofcom and it has strong powers to enforce compliance.

Whether she plans to consider support for the (a) mental health and (b) wellbeing of students in the national curriculum as part of the Curriculum and Assessment Review.

This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.As part of the curriculum, teaching about mental health has been part of the statutory health education, taught as part of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum since 2020. We are currently reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance, including the content on mental health.The government established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review in July 2024 to shape a curriculum that is rich, broad, inclusive, and innovative. As part of this, the Review wants to ensure that the assessment system captures the strengths of every child and young person and the breadth of curriculum. This includes the right balance of assessment methods, whilst maintaining the important role of examinations.The interim findings were published in March and acknowledged the importance of ensuring that the content, volume and frequency of assessments are not unnecessarily burdensome for students or teachers. The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published in autumn, at which point the government will respond.

What steps his Department plans to take to encourage uptake of the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to people aged 50 following the reduction of age eligibility.

The age extension for bowel screening started in April 2021 with the 56 year old cohort and, based on modelling and clinical advice, has followed the planned gradual reduction to age 50 by 2025. This has been done to ensure that screening centres could manage the required increase in colonoscopy capacity.Services have increased screening capacity. Screening and symptomatic endoscopy services are working closely together as part of the ongoing endoscopy transformation of symptomatic pathways, which aims to release colonoscopy capacity through, for example:the use of the faecal immunochemical test as a clinical triage tool in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance;the use of alternative imaging modalities such as colon capsule endoscopy/computed tomography colonography; andthe use of other pre diagnostic tools such as the capsule sponge.Bowel cancer screening is a crucial aspect of prevention, helping identify apparently healthy people who may have an increased risk of a particular condition, preventing bowel cancer and promoting earlier diagnosis and detection. NHS England is committed to delivering bowel cancer screening uptake across the whole population and is working to reduce inequalities. As part of this, NHS England is developing public communications to increase awareness of screening amongst younger age groups, particularly in those 50 years old and over cohorts, who are newly eligible. This includes updating online and digital channels and working with key external stakeholders.

What steps his Department plans to take to support colonoscopy services following the extension of the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to include people aged 50-74.

The age extension for bowel screening started in April 2021 with the 56 year old cohort and, based on modelling and clinical advice, has followed the planned gradual reduction to age 50 by 2025. This has been done to ensure that screening centres could manage the required increase in colonoscopy capacity.Services have increased screening capacity. Screening and symptomatic endoscopy services are working closely together as part of the ongoing endoscopy transformation of symptomatic pathways, which aims to release colonoscopy capacity through, for example:the use of the faecal immunochemical test as a clinical triage tool in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance;the use of alternative imaging modalities such as colon capsule endoscopy/computed tomography colonography; andthe use of other pre diagnostic tools such as the capsule sponge.Bowel cancer screening is a crucial aspect of prevention, helping identify apparently healthy people who may have an increased risk of a particular condition, preventing bowel cancer and promoting earlier diagnosis and detection. NHS England is committed to delivering bowel cancer screening uptake across the whole population and is working to reduce inequalities. As part of this, NHS England is developing public communications to increase awareness of screening amongst younger age groups, particularly in those 50 years old and over cohorts, who are newly eligible. This includes updating online and digital channels and working with key external stakeholders.

What steps he is taking to improve the regulatory environment for business.

On 17 March 2025 this Government published the Action Plan for Regulation, outlining reforms to streamline regulation and support growth. As part of this we are cutting regulatory administrative costs to business by 25%, strengthening accountability for regulators and simplifying their duties to ensure the regulatory environment is focusing on growth, investment, and transparency. This will include finding ways to reduce costs for the manufacturing sector, which I know is important to businesses such as New Holland who have been making tractors in my honourable friend for Reading West and Mid Berkshire's constituency for over 60 years.

What steps NHS England plans to take to improve (a) awareness and (b) training for (i) GPs and (ii) frontline healthcare professionals to better (A) recognize and (B) refer suspected cases of adrenal cancer.

General practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge, including on adrenal cancer, remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.The training curriculum for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council. The RCGP provides a number of resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis, and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.NHS England supports initiatives aimed at enhancing early cancer diagnosis and awareness among healthcare professionals. These initiatives include GatewayC, an online education platform providing modules on early cancer diagnosis for primary care professionals, and the Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development programme, designed to improve cancer-related knowledge and capabilities across the non-medical workforce. These measures aim to equip GPs and frontline professionals with the skills necessary to identify and act on potential cancer symptoms, including those of rare cancers such as adrenal cancer.

What steps he is taking to support research into Adrenal cancer through (a) funding, (b) clinical trials and (c) collaboration with academic institutions.

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with cancer as one of the largest areas of spend at over £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. The NIHR funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research.The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including research into adrenal cancer. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.The NIHR also welcomes applications for training awards from the clinical and non-clinical academic workforce conducting research into any aspect of human health, including adrenal cancer. The Department is the United Kingdom’s largest funder of clinical academic training, working with academic institutions and the wider health and care system to deliver a comprehensive research career pathway for the full range of clinicians.The Department is committed to working with delivery partners, including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, and other key stakeholders, to achieve the common aim of creating a faster, more efficient, more accessible, and more innovative clinical research delivery system. We expect these efforts to attract more commercial investment in clinical research and yield a broad and diverse portfolio of clinical trials in the UK, so that we can provide innovative treatment options for patients, including those with adrenal cancer.