Written questions by Quigley.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of NHS England’s Workforce Training and Education Directorate in planning and commissioning training for eating disorder services, particularly whole-team training for Children and Young People’s Eating Disorder teams; and what steps he is taking to improve communication with training providers.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) removing spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowances funding and (b) the impact of reaching a decision on this prior to the conclusion of a consultation, on students receiving this allowance.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she made of whether there were adequate exceptional circumstances as a mitigating measure for the removal of spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowances.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) ensure that people with adrenal insufficiency have timely access to appropriate emergency steroid treatment and (b) prevent avoidable adrenal crises when time‑critical medication is (i) unavailable and (ii) insufficient in the context of the discontinuation of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate.

The Department is aware of the discontinuation of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate 100 milligram/one millilitre solution for injection, and we continue to work with industry to find a longer-term solution.Hydrocortisone sodium succinate 100 milligram powder and solvent for solution for injection vials remains available for patients. We have issued comprehensive management guidance to healthcare professionals on how to manage patients while supply is disrupted. The guidance highlighted the differences between the two hydrocortisone injections. It also included resources for patients and healthcare professionals on how to administer the alternative hydrocortisone injection. We also understand that The Addison’s Self Help Group have also published information on this discontinuation to keep patients informed along with resources for patients on how to administer the alternative hydrocortisone.

What his planned timetable is for bringing the cancer travel fund for children and young people into effect.

The National Cancer Plan, published on 4 February 2026, sets out clear actions and timeframes for when commitments will be delivered within the next 10 years. The action to provide £10 million annually for children and young people’s cancer travel costs will be in effect by 2027.

How many people were reported missing from (a) hospitals and (b) other healthcare settings in 2024/25 and so far in 2025/26.

The Department does not hold a national figure for the number of people reported missing from hospitals or other healthcare settings in 2024/25 or in 2025/26.Clear guidance is in place to support hospitals, other healthcare settings, and staff in preventing and responding to incidents where patients go missing. This includes the National Partnership Agreement: Right Care, Right Person, published in 2023, which sets out how health services, local authorities, and the police should work together to ensure people with mental health needs receive the right support from the right service. The agreement makes clear that patient safety must be protected and that inappropriate police involvement should be avoided, including in situations involving missing patients or people leaving healthcare settings before treatment is complete.Further guidance published by NHS England supports local commissioners and providers to put practical arrangements in place. This covers steps to reduce the risk of patients leaving care unexpectedly, action to take when someone does leave, and arrangements to locate and safely return patients from mental health inpatient settings, including where individuals are detained under the Mental Health Act, was admitted under the Mental Capacity Act, or is in hospital voluntarily.

What guidance is available to (a) hospitals, (b) healthcare settings and (c) healthcare staff in (i) preventing and (ii) responding to incidents of patients going missing.

The Department does not hold a national figure for the number of people reported missing from hospitals or other healthcare settings in 2024/25 or in 2025/26.Clear guidance is in place to support hospitals, other healthcare settings, and staff in preventing and responding to incidents where patients go missing. This includes the National Partnership Agreement: Right Care, Right Person, published in 2023, which sets out how health services, local authorities, and the police should work together to ensure people with mental health needs receive the right support from the right service. The agreement makes clear that patient safety must be protected and that inappropriate police involvement should be avoided, including in situations involving missing patients or people leaving healthcare settings before treatment is complete.Further guidance published by NHS England supports local commissioners and providers to put practical arrangements in place. This covers steps to reduce the risk of patients leaving care unexpectedly, action to take when someone does leave, and arrangements to locate and safely return patients from mental health inpatient settings, including where individuals are detained under the Mental Health Act, was admitted under the Mental Capacity Act, or is in hospital voluntarily.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of obtaining oversight of Isle of Wight ferry services.

The Government recognises that communities rely on Cross-Solent ferry services for accessing jobs, education and healthcare. However, these operate in a commercial environment without intervention from the Government. The Department has regular discussions on the Isle of Wight ferry services.

What progress his Department has made on plans for the redevelopment of the former Camp Hill prison site on the Isle of Wight, including its sports facilities.

The Ministry of Justice is currently evaluating all potential options for the site and is maintaining engagement with the local authority to explore appropriate future uses for both the site and the sports pitch once it is designated as surplus to operational requirements.

What assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of support available for survivors of sexual assault on the Isle of Wight.

This Government is investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years through:Funding to all Police and Crime Commissioners to allocate based on their assessment of local need, including for sexual violence victims.The national 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line, providing access to help and information.

What funding has been allocated to radiotherapy productivity through AI; and what steps he is taking to help ensure AI-based radiotherapy technologies are deployed across all radiotherapy centres in England.

As set out in our National Cancer Plan, we want oncologists to use artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with radiotherapy treatment, for example through contouring during treatment planning, which will lead to better outcomes for patients. Local systems are able to spend money on introducing AI products to improve radiotherapy productivity. NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme is leading a study on how to maximise the productivity of radiotherapy services. It is expected that this study will report later this year. We will consider and implement its recommendations as soon as it is published.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision not to temporarily exempt the Isle of Wight from the maritime expansion of the Emissions Trading Scheme on the cost of Isle of Wight ferries.

The Government assessed the expansion of the United Kingdom Emissions Trading Scheme to domestic maritime on a scheme wide basis rather than for individual routes. The Impact Assessment concluded that the policy is not expected to materially affect the competitiveness of ports or operators, and that applying the scheme consistently to domestic voyages and at berth emissions does not create a credible incentive for traffic diversion. The Government recognises the importance of ferry services to the Isle of Wight. Any potential impacts of the scheme on these services will be considered in a review of the UK ETS Maritime regime in 2028.

Whether his Department plans to seek a reviewable exemption for lifeline Solent ferry services under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme.

The Government does not plan to exempt Solent ferry services from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme at this time. Any potential impacts of the scheme on these services will be considered in a review of the UK ETS Maritime regime in 2028.

How often HM Treasury reviews (a) the level of the Sovereign Grant, and (b) what criteria are used in that review.

The requirements for reviewing the Sovereign Grant have been set by Parliament in the Sovereign Grant Act 2011, sections 6 and 7.The Government has also committed to bring forward legislation to reset the Grant to a lower level from 2027-28 once Buckingham Palace Reservicing works are completed.

What steps he is taking (a) to ensure consistent improvement in weekend care at St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight and (b) to help tackle weekend staffing shortages.

It is the responsibility of individual National Health Service trusts to ensure safe staffing levels in all settings and at all times, including over the weekend.Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements in emergency department care this winter and to make services better every day. We are aiming for 78% of patients to be seen in four hours this year, meaning over 800,000 people will receive more timely care. The Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/We are also investing nearly £450 million into same day and urgent care services, helping avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.Through our upcoming workforce plan, we will make sure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

What plans his Department has to reopen specialist dementia units.

The Government is committed to improving dementia care and is empowering local leaders with the autonomy they need to provide the best services to their local community, including those with dementia.The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include specialist dementia units. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.We will deliver the first ever Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.

What steps the Department is taking to ensure consistent and effective communication between hospital doctors, consultants, and the families of patients during inpatient care.

The Government is committed to putting patients first, including ensuring that people have the best possible experience of care. We recognise that poor communication can be a source of frustration and worry for patients and their families, particularly for inpatient care. It is therefore crucial that patients and families receive regular, consistent, and effective updates. Martha’s Rule is a patient safety initiative to support the early detection of deterioration by ensuring the concerns of patients, families, carers, and staff are listened to and acted upon. It gives patients, their family members, and carers a right to request a rapid review if they’re worried that a patient’s condition is getting worse and their concerns are not being responded to. Under the NHS Constitution, patients have the right to be involved in decisions about their health and care and must be given the information and support to enable this. Where appropriate this right includes family and carers. Hospitals also have a range of legal and regulatory duties, assured by the Care Quality Commission, to ensure consistent and effective communication, including the Duty of Candour, and the Accessible Information Standard, which requires bodies to identify, share, and meet people’s communication needs, and must adhere to national standards to improve communication within clinical teams. Additionally, improving perioperative care is a key priority for the Government. Better communication between patients and healthcare teams is a key part of improved perioperative care. To improve and standardise the quality of perioperative services in England, Getting It Right First Time is collaborating with NHS England’s Digital Outpatient, Elective Recovery, and Elective Workforce Recovery teams to form the National Perioperative Care Programme.The programme recognises that shared decision making, where a clinician collaborates and supports a patient and, if a patient wishes, a carer or someone close to them, to decide their treatment, should be embedded in all perioperative pathways, and should begin at the earliest opportunity when surgery is considered.It is also recognised that local providers are best placed to decide how to embed and maintain perioperative care approaches into their organisations, to reflect local needs and circumstances.

Whether he requires Integrated Care Boards to hold data on the number of patients provided with hospital transport, broken down by (a) treatment type and (b) mode of transport.

NHS England requires integrated care boards to submit monthly data for the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Scheme (NEPTS). This includes the total number of NEPTS journeys, timeliness of journeys, and journeys covered by the Healthcare Travel Cost Scheme. The data is categorised by treatment types, namely Outpatient – Renal Dialysis, Outpatient – Other, Discharge, Hospital Transfer, and Other. However, the data is not further broken down by specific treatment type or by mode of transport.Further information on the data collected for NEPTS is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/non-emergency-patient-transport-services-nepts/guidance#data-collection

What steps his Department is taking to (a) improve recognition of topical steroid withdrawal and (b) ensure that NHS clinicians are able to diagnose that condition accurately.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has reviewed topical steroid withdrawal (TSW) reactions and first communicated about these reactions in September 2021 through our Drug Safety Update (DSU), which is widely disseminated among health care professionals. This communication can be found at the following link:www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/topical-corticosteroids-information-on-the-risk-of-topical-steroid-withdrawal-reactionsThe MHRA had continued to monitor reports of TSW reactions and undertook a further review in 2024, resulting in an additional DSU publication which can be found at the following link:www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/topical-steroids-introduction-of-new-labelling-and-a-reminder-of-the-possibility-of-severe-side-effects-including-topical-steroid-withdrawal-reactionsDuring this review advice was sought from dermatologists, the National Eczema Society, and the Commission on Human Medicines. Consequently, the MHRA took forward a number of actions including ensuring there are updated warnings in the product information that is supplied with the creams, and the inclusion of information regarding the potency of topical steroids on the packaging. The British National Formulary (BNF) has updated their topical steroids potency information in line with the outcomes of the MHRA review. BNF treatment summary for topical corticosteroids, including information on withdrawal reactions, can be found at the following link:https://bnf.nice.org.uk/treatment-summaries/topical-corticosteroids/Furthermore, the MHRA engaged with the British Association of Dermatologists who have released an updated statement that can be found at the following link:https://cdn.bad.org.uk/uploads/2024/02/22095550/Topical-Steroid-Withdrawal-Joint-Statement.pdfFollowing these discussions, the British Association of Dermatologists has formed a Topical Steroid Withdrawal Working Party Group in collaboration with National Eczema Society, Scratch That, Primary Care Dermatology Society, and the British Dermatological Nursing Group. A Topical Steroid Withdrawal Joint Statement from the Topical Steroid Withdrawal Working Party Group is available at the following link:https://www.bad.org.uk/topical-steroid-withdrawal-joint-statementThe objective of the TSW Working Party Group is to develop an expert consensus guidance on supporting people with concerns about TSW, including a Patient Information Leaflet, and any revision to the above joint statement, as appropriate.The MHRA acknowledges that more high-quality research would enhance the understanding of TSW reactions, including what causes them and how to accurately diagnose and manage them. To make good decisions about what research to fund, the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) needs a balanced picture about which questions most urgently need answering. To achieve this, they ask patients, carers, clinicians, healthcare workers, service managers, and researchers for research topics. Any member of the public can submit suggestions via the NIHR website at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/suggest-a-research-topicIn the meantime, the MHRA continues to monitor reports of TSW reactions via the Yellow Card Scheme, which encourages anyone to report if they suspect an adverse reaction to a medical product or products. Access to the Yellow Card reporting site can be found at the following link:https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/In addition to Yellow Card Scheme, the MHRA receives adverse event reports from pharmaceutical companies who collect data from healthcare professionals and patients, as well as cases from published literature and other sources.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support local authorities in scaling up the provision of stepping stone homes for young people at risk of homelessness.

My Department continues to engage with stakeholders in the homelessness sector to support the development of schemes and policies to tackle homelessness, including stepping stone accommodation. The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that it is for local authorities to assess the size, types and tenure of housing needed for different groups, including those who require affordable housing, and reflect this in their planning policies.