Written questions by Farron.

What steps he has taken to acquire further funding for the rebuilding of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive. An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the state of repair of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

As part of the management of their estate, National Health Service trusts regularly assess the physical condition of their estate. NHS England’s annual Estates Returns Information Collection collects data from trusts on the quality of their estate annually, including the projected cost of bringing all the buildings on each NHS site into acceptable condition, recorded as backlog maintenance. The latest published data on backlog maintenance, for 2024/25, is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection/summary-page-and-dataset-for-eric-2024-25Hospitals in the New Hospital Programme, including the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, continue to receive support for maintenance and repairs. In addition to operational capital, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust has been provided with £3.3 million from the 2025/26 Estates Safety Fund for works at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of delays to rebuilding of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary on people in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency.

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive. An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

What his plan is to allocate funding for the rebuilding of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive. An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

If he will take steps to reduce ward work in portacabins at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

National Health Service trusts make decisions locally on their use of temporary facilities, in line with delivering clinical services.Any temporary facility must meet the same Health Building Notice and Health Technical Memorandum safety, environmental, fire, clinical, and other standards as a permanent healthcare building.

What his Department’s budget is for funding the Royal Preston Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary in 2026-27.

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive. An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

What estimate he has made of the number of patients who no longer meeting the criteria to reside in hospital in (a) the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, (b) Westmorland General Hospital and (c) Furness General Hospital.

The Department does not hold hospital level data. However, as per the trust level data for the University Hospital Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, which includes the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Westmorland General Hospital, and Furness General Hospital, in the month of September 2025, the latest month for which data is available, there were on average 145 adult patients, occupying 20.9% of the adult acute beds, each day who had no criteria to reside but who were not discharged by the end of the day. This was 6.1% higher than the average for England, of 14.8%, for September 2025.

Whether she has taken recent steps to implement a passing loop on the Lakes Line.

On 8 July, the Secretary of State announced the road and rail schemes which have been prioritised over the next four years following the Spending Review. The Lakes Line scheme has not been progressed at this time. We remain committed to working with Westmorland & Furness Council, should the business case be further developed locally.

What plans she has to improve accessibility at Staveley railway station.

This government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities. Since 2006, the Access for All (AfA) programme has delivered step free access at more than 270 stations across Britain. In 2022, the previous government sought nominations from train operators and transport authorities for potential upgrades through the AfA programme. Staveley station was not nominated.The hon member may wish to engage with Northern Trains and the local transport authority to make that case that Staveley station is a priority in any future rounds of funding.

Whether she plans to include the Lakes Line Passing Loop in the next Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline announcement.

On 8 July, the Secretary of State announced the road and rail schemes which have been prioritised over the next four years following the Spending Review. The Lakes Line scheme has not been progressed at this time. We remain committed to working with Westmorland & Furness Council, should the business case be further developed locally.

What estimate he has made of the number of people who are on NHS waiting lists for radiotherapy in South Cumbria.

We do not routinely publish data on current waiting list levels broken down to the level of specific treatment types, and so we cannot provide an estimate of the number of people who are on National Health Service waiting lists for radiotherapy in South Cumbria.However, the Government is aware that patients in all parts of the country, including South Cumbria, can be waiting too long for their treatment. That is why the Government is taking decisive action to get the NHS diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster.We have invested £70 million in replacing outdated radiotherapy machines across the NHS with cutting-edge technology that will speed up treatment for thousands of patients. These new machines are being rolled out across the country.

What steps she is taking to reduce train delays on the West Coast Mainline.

Improving rail performance is one of this Government’s strategic priorities for transport. We are determined to deliver more punctual and reliable services as well as better value for money for the taxpayer. In response to our challenge to improve performance, the rail industry has set out a Performance Restoration Framework, with five clear areas of focus to recover performance to acceptable levels, including timetable resilience, staffing and how to keep trains moving during disruptive events. Avanti West Coast (AWC) is beginning to see consistent and steady performance improvements on the network. However, there is still more to do with punctuality behind the industry average and Network Rail infrastructure reliability continuing to be a leading cause of passenger disruption on the West Coast Mainline. The Rail Minister is in regular contact with the AWC Managing Director and Network Rail, to challenge poor performance and demand immediate action to deliver urgent improvements.

If she will take steps with her Scottish counterpart to help prevent issues on the railways in Scotland that cause northbound trains on the West Coast Mainline to terminate at Preston rather than continuing up to Carlisle.

The Secretary of State is aware of difficulties passengers face during disruption in the North-West of England with limited options to keep services moving on the West Coast Mainline north of Preston. The Rail Minister has strongly pressed Network Rail and Avanti West Coast, requesting that they urgently work together to come up with solutions for passengers during disruption. Network Rail is undertaking an upgrade programme on the West Coast Main Line north of Crewe to improve the performance and reliability of the railway. This section of the route was last upgraded in the 1970s and suffers from performance issues today.

When she plans to seek new nominations for another round of mid-tier Access for All funding.

Spending Review 2025 confirmed £280m total funding for the Access for All programme over a four-year period. Our focus is on delivering full step free access at stations, rather than the smaller scale upgrades previously delivered under the mid-tier. As such, we have no current plans to fund a future round of mid-tier projects.

Food and Rural Affairs, what data his Department holds on whether any areas of Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency exceeded the nitrogen dioxide annual mean limit in 2023.

No exceedances of the annual mean limit value for nitrogen dioxide were reported in 2023 in the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency from data held by the Department.

How many unaccompanied children were granted refugee family reunion visas in the year ending 30 June 2025.

The Home Office publishes data on refugee family reunion in the 'Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release'. Data on refugee family reunion visa grants, by age group, is published in table Fam_D01 of the 'family reunion visa grants detailed datasets'. The latest data relate to June 2025.In the year ending June 2025 11,641 children under the age of 18 were granted a family reunion visa - this figure includes both accompanied and unaccompanied children.We do not publish data for the number of unaccompanied children who have been granted family reunion visas. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

What estimate he has made of the average travel distance for cancer patients from South Cumbria and North Lancashire required to attend Royal Preston Hospital for radiotherapy.

NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring healthcare needs of local communities in England are met. For the Royal Preston Hospital, this is the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board.The National Health Service in England runs schemes to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. The NHS Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme provides financial assistance to patients who do not have a medical need for transport, but who require assistance with the costs of travelling to receive certain NHS services.The Department has not made any assessment of average travel distances in the South Cumbria and North Lancashire area.

How many patients resident in the postcode district (a) LA2, (b) LA5, (c) LA6, (d) LA7, (e) LA8, (f) LA9, (g) LA10, (h) LA11, (i) LA12, (j) LA13, (k) LA14, (l) LA15, (m) LA16, (n) LA17, (o) LA18, (p) LA19, (q) LA20, (r) LA21, (s) LA22 and (t) LA23 received radiotherapy treatment at the Rosemere Cancer Centre, Royal Preston Hospital in each of the last five years.

The attached table shows the number of patients who received radiotherapy treatment at the Rosemere Cancer Centre, Royal Preston Hospital each year between 2019 and 2024 for the postcode districts requested.

Food and Rural Affairs, which localised hotspots in the reporting zones of (a) Greater London, (b) Nottingham, (c) Reading/Wokingham, (d) Coventry/Bedworth, (e) Eastern, (f) Greater Manchester, (g) Portsmouth, (h) South East, (i) Liverpool, (j) West Yorkshire, (k) Bristol, (l) Sheffield, (m) The Potteries, (n) West Midlands and (o) Tyneside are delaying compliance with the nitrogen dioxide annual mean limit value beyond 2023 in each calendar year until full compliance is achieved.

Predicting when locations will comply with the annual mean limit value for nitrogen dioxide is inherently uncertain.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the localised hotspots in the reporting zones of (a) Greater London, (b) Nottingham, (c) Reading/Wokingham, (d) Coventry/Bedworth, (e) Eastern, (f) Greater Manchester, (g) Portsmouth, (h) South East, (i) Liverpool, (j) West Yorkshire, (k) Bristol, (l) Sheffield, (m) The Potteries, (n) West Midlands and (o) Tyneside which are not complying with the nitrogen dioxide annual mean limit value beyond 2023 in each calendar year until full compliance is achieved.

The localised hotspots identified through Defra’s national modelling and monitoring networks are published annually as part of the national compliance assessment under the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010.