Written questions by Jones.

What steps he is taking to ensure that the a) registration scheme and b) testing regime enabled by the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be applied effectively to i) online and ii) distance sales of vaping products, including those supplied by overseas sellers.

The future registration scheme will apply to all products sold in the United Kingdom, including distance sales and those sold online, regardless of their origin. The scheme will be designed to ensure the highest level of consumer safety and to reassure retailers that they are selling legitimate products. This will support enforcement and build an evidence base on the types of products entering the UK market.The details of the registration scheme and testing requirements will be subject to consultation. We launched a call for evidence in October 2025 which sought further detail on the existing product notification schemes and where registration could go further than current requirements, including testing requirements. The call for evidence closed on 3 December 2025, and we are in the process of analysing the responses. We will consult on policy proposals based on the evidence provided in due course.

What conversations he has had with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that enforcement against non-compliant vaping products will be effectively coordinated once the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is enacted.

Officials in the Department of Health and Social Care regularly meet with officials from other departments, including HM Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, the Office for Product Safety and Standards, Border Force, and the Home Office, as well as National Trading Standards, to share intelligence and ensure a coordinated approach to the enforcement of our rules on vaping products. This coordinated approach to enforcement will continue once the Tobacco and Vapes Bill becomes law.Furthermore, in 2025/26, we are investing £30 million of new funding in total for enforcement agencies including Trading Standards, Border Force, and HM Revenue and Customs, to tackle the illicit and underage sale of tobacco and vapes, and to help enforce the law. As part of this, the Government is investing £10 million of new funding in 2025/26 in Trading Standards. This funding is being used to boost the Trading Standards workforce by hiring 94 apprentices across England.

What discussions he has had with Welsh Government counterparts about sharing best practice around increasing screening uptake for breast cancer.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises ministers and the National Health Service in the four nations of the United Kingdom about all aspects of screening. The implementation of any UK NSC screening recommendation is a devolved matter.

What action his Department is taking to ensure that 85 per cent of breast cancer patients start treatment within 62 days of urgent referral.

We will support the National Health Service to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners. The Government is investing an extra £26 billion in the NHS and is opening up community diagnostic centres at evening and weekends, to help catch cancer earlier, including breast cancer.The NHS has exceeded its pledge to deliver an extra two million appointments, having now delivered over five million more appointments as the first step to ensuring earlier and faster access to treatment. Between October 2024 to September 2025, approximately 139,000 more patients were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days compared to the previous 12 months.To ensure that the most advanced treatment is available to the patients who need it, and so that patients can be treated sooner, the Government has invested £70 million of central funding to replace outdated radiotherapy machines.

When NHS England will publish the breast screening uptake improvement plan.

In 2026, NHS England is planning to publish a Breast Screening Programme Uptake Improvement Review to help improve uptake and address inequalities.They aim to publish a review of actions taken at a national level by the NHS Breast Screening Programme so far, as well as setting out where the focus will be going forward, to support local services to drive uptake even further.

What steps his Department is taking to increase clinic capacity to help ensure that urgent breast referrals meet the 28 day Faster Diagnosis Standard.

We will support the National Health Service to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners. The Government is investing an extra £26 billion in the NHS and is opening up community diagnostic centres at evening and weekends, to help catch cancer earlier, including breast cancer.The NHS has exceeded its pledge to deliver an extra two million appointments, having now delivered over five million more appointments as the first step to ensuring earlier and faster access to treatment. Between October 2024 to September 2025, approximately 139,000 more patients were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days compared to the previous 12 months.To ensure that the most advanced treatment is available to the patients who need it, and so that patients can be treated sooner, the Government has invested £70 million of central funding to replace outdated radiotherapy machines.

What steps his Department is taking to fund the work of the Health and Care Professions Council in regulating NHS managers.

I met with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) most recently on 29 October 2025, where work to introduce National Health Service managers into statutory regulation was discussed.Department officials are working with the HCPC to identify the cost implications to the Government of implementing a barring mechanism for senior NHS managers, recognising that the HCPC cannot fund the implementation or operation of a barring system for senior NHS managers through registration fees levied against the 15 professions it currently regulates.

When he last met the Health and Care Professions Council to discuss its planned role in regulating NHS managers.

I met with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) most recently on 29 October 2025, where work to introduce National Health Service managers into statutory regulation was discussed.Department officials are working with the HCPC to identify the cost implications to the Government of implementing a barring mechanism for senior NHS managers, recognising that the HCPC cannot fund the implementation or operation of a barring system for senior NHS managers through registration fees levied against the 15 professions it currently regulates.

What steps is his Department taking to (a) promote earlier detection and (b) ensure (i) dentists, (ii) GPs and (iii) other frontline health professionals are (A) trained to identify early warning signs and (B) improve timely diagnosis and referral for treatment.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry and diagnostic activity, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England.Dentists and other dental professionals, including hygienists, routinely check the soft tissues of a patient’s mouth for signs of cancer during dental visits and, as part of the check-up, will make an assessment and record an individual’s oral cancer risk.Dentists will prioritise patients at a higher risk of oral cancer for more frequent recall and review in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance. Members of the public who are worried about their oral health in relation to cancer should seek advice from their dentist or general practitioner (GP). Patients with symptoms of concern should be assessed and offered an urgent dental appointment based upon clinical need, in line with advice from NHS England.We know how important it is to detect cancer and other potentially life-threatening illnesses earlier, in GPs. That’s why we recently launched Jess’s Rule, a new patient safety initiative, in memory of Jessica Brady. In honour of Jessica Brady, all GPs are encouraged to think again if they have been unable to offer a diagnosis after three appointments or if the patient’s symptoms have escalated. This could include seeking a second opinion, offering episodic continuity of care, ordering additional tests, and offering more face-to-face appointments. As well as supporting the earlier identification of the most serious, potentially fatal conditions, this approach aims to improve timely diagnosis and referral for treatments.The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of this Parliament. The plan commits to transforming and expanding diagnostic services and speeding up waiting times for tests, a crucial part of reducing overall waiting times and returning to the referral to treatment 18-week standard.

What assessment he has made of (a) trends in the number of deaths from mouth cancer over the past ten years and (b) the potential role of late diagnosis in these trends.

We know that more needs to be done to improve outcomes for patients with mouth cancer. To support earlier and faster cancer diagnosis, we are now delivering additional checks, tests, and scans at 170 community diagnostic centres. As the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and treatment, the National Health Service in England has delivered an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week since the start of this administration.Our forthcoming National Cancer Plan, which will be published in the new year, will have patients at its heart, and it will include further details on how we will speed up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates, including for mouth cancer.

With reference to the Answer of 16 June 2021 to Question 14142 on Chemicals: Health and Wildlife, when she expects the UK Health Security Agency to publish the biomonitoring data collected on the exposure of UK citizens to chemicals under (a) Horizon 2020, (b) the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative and (c) the Partnership for Chemicals Risk Assessment.

As part of the Human Biomonitoring for Europe (HBM4EU) project, funded under Horizon 2020, the feasibility of integrating human biomonitoring data into an existing United Kingdom health examination survey was explored. However, no UK biomonitoring data was collected in the project.As a result of the HBM4EU work carried out by the UK Health Security Agency in collaboration with Imperial College London, a human biomonitoring module was implemented into the NHS Health Survey for England 2022/23 programme. Samples collected in this study are currently being analysed to ascertain exposure within England to a number of priority substances. This data for England will be integrated into the Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals alongside that of other participating countries.Data on background levels of metals, bisphenols, and phthalates in the population samples are expected to be published by Autumn 2026, with data on per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and flame retardants to follow at a later stage.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of migration from Employment Support Allowance to Universal Credit on care charges levied on disabled people by local authorities.

Under the Care Act 2014, the responsibility for interpreting and applying the law and the Care and Support Statutory (CASS) guidance rests with local authorities. Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the CASS guidance.We are aware of some concerns raised around the impact of migration from Employment Support Allowance to Universal Credit on care charges. We are actively looking into this potential impact. To date, no specific assessment has been made.

What steps his Department is taking to collaborate with (a) academic institutions, (b) industry, and (c) research charities in rolling out new diagnostic tools for pancreatic cancer across primary care pathways.

While cancer, including pancreatic cancer, is not diagnosed in primary care, there are initiatives to improve the identification of cancer symptoms in primary care. This includes ‘Jess’s Rule’, which supports clinicians to rethink their assessments when patients have presented three times with the same symptoms or concerns. Jess’s Rule was developed through a process of engagement with leading clinicians and charities.NHS England is working with Pancreatic Cancer UK to develop a public-facing Family History Checker, which enables people, and their families, affected by pancreatic cancer to self-assess if they have inherited risk. People identified of being at risk are referred directly to the European Registry of Hereditary Pancreatic Diseases research trail, which aims to understand inherited conditions of the pancreas. Referrals to the trail can be made by any healthcare professional across all health sectors, including primary care, or by individuals via self-referral.Research continues to play a vital role, with National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) infrastructure supporting dozens of studies annually in partnership with industry and charities. This is also a vital part of improving diagnosis and treatment for cancer. The NIHR has invested £4.4 million to directly funded pancreatic cancer research from 2018/19 to 2023/24. These investments are pivotal to informing efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment and outcomes.

What plans his Department has to prioritise research into the early detection of pancreatic cancer.

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). Cancer is one of the largest areas of spend at over £141.6 million in 2024/25, reflecting its high priority.These investments are pivotal to informing efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment and outcomes. An example of this investment is research led by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Imperial College London on breath tests for early detection of cancer, including pancreatic cancer. Further information on the breath tests is available at the following link:https://imperialbrc.nihr.ac.uk/2023/06/05/imperial-led-uk-cancer-breath-tests-reach-final-stages/The NIHR continues to encourage and welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including pancreatic cancer research. The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the National Health Service will improve diagnosis and outcomes for cancer patients in England.

With reference to the MS Society’s report entitled A Different Path: Rethinking MS hospital care, published in September 2025, what steps he is taking to increase staffing levels in (a) neurology, (b) multiple sclerosis nursing and (c) allied health professions in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. To support this, the Department and NHS England will be engaging with key stakeholders to ensure that the particular needs of different patient groups and relevant health professionals are reflected in this work.

Whether his Department is taking steps to develop a modern service framework for neurological conditions other than dementia; and whether he plans to consult (a) the MS Society and (b) people with neurological conditions on future policy decisions.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out the development of a new series of service frameworks to accelerate progress in conditions where there is potential for rapid improvements in the quality of care and productivity. The first wave of modern service frameworks will be published in 2026 and, following this, the 10-Year Health Plan allows for service frameworks to be developed for other conditions, including neurological conditions.We will continue to work closely with neurological charities like the MS Society, as this work progresses.

What recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Wales on the implementation of plans for cross-border healthcare.

My Rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, regularly meets his devolved administration counterparts, both bilaterally and at Inter-Ministerial Groups on Health and Social Care. There is also significant official level engagement daily with the devolved administrations.There are special cross-border arrangements in place for patients who live on the England-Wales border to make sure they receive healthcare without confusion or delay, and patient data can be accessed by the relevant professionals. These arrangements have been implemented and are managed by the Department, NHS England, the Welsh Government and NHS Wales.

What steps his Department is taking to support independent community pharmacies.

As identified by Lord Darzi’s review, primary care is under pressure and in crisis.The previous government did not conclude the consultation on the funding and contractual arrangements for community pharmacy in England. However, I am looking at this as a matter of urgency.This Government is committed to better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians and developing an independent pharmacy prescribing service