Written questions by Roca.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an independent inquiry into options for the future UK-EU relationship.

The Government was elected on the basis of a manifesto commitment to reset the UK’s relations with the European Union, including through a broad-based security pact and tackling barriers to trade. There are no plans to establish an independent inquiry into options for the future UK-EU relationship. As we move forward, we recognise the importance of maintaining an effective dialogue with Parliament, industry leaders, trade unions and civil society.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of supporting charities that support pregnant women and newborn babies in Afghanistan.

The UK is committed to supporting vital health services in Afghanistan, including for pregnant women and newborn babies. Our £161 million aid programme provides support to the most vulnerable, delivered through non-governmental organisations, UN agencies, and the Red Cross Movement. In 2023/24 the UK helped more than 1.4 million people, of whom over 1 million were women, to access essential health services, and we reached at least 57,000 children under 5 and pregnant and lactating women with dietary supplements.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing details of the GP contract earlier in the year to improve forward planning.

My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, wrote to general practices on 20 December 2024 to confirm an £889 million uplift to the contract for 2025/26 and set out the proposed areas of reform. The proposed changes to the contract bring about important reforms and make progress towards manifesto commitments. This announcement recognised the benefits in providing reassurance to the sector and supporting forward planning. The final details of the contract will be announced in the usual way following the close of the consultation with the General Practitioners Committee England in Spring 2025.

Whether he plans to take steps to support a fluoridation scheme in Macclesfield constituency.

There are no current plans to support a fluoridation scheme in Macclesfield. Public consultation is required on proposals for new, or the expansion of existing, community water fluoridation schemes. The Water Fluoridation (Consultation) (England) Regulations 2022 set out the requirements, and are available at the following link:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/1163/contents/made.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to meet sustainable development goal six.

The UK works with governments and development partners to strengthen the delivery of climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. We work to strengthen systems in six countries: Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Nepal and Bangladesh, and we support the Heads of State Initiative to gain high level political commitment for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 acceleration. Through this initiative, the President of Ghana recently committed $1.7 billion for WASH-related SDG 6 targets. The UK is also implementing the £39m Just Transitions for Water Security programme, enhancing resilience for 40 million people in insecure countries through better planning, water governance and increased investment in water infrastructure.

What estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of vaccine doses that are thrown away due to reaching their expiry date before they could be used.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) manages the central storage and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines for the United Kingdom’s programme. In their published accounts for the financial year 2022/23, the figure was £143.280 million. The following table shows a summary of vaccine related losses for the latest published account:DescriptionAmountConstructive loss as a result of COVID-19 vaccine expiry due to lower-than-expected use of vaccines compared to those planned for during purchasing.£127,560,000Constructive loss as a result of lower-than-expected consumption of flu vaccine resulting in the date expiry of this vaccine.£15,720,000Total£143,280,000Source: pages 124 to 125 of the UKHSA’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, which is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65c0cf5763a23d000dc821bb/UKHSA-Annual-Report-2022_23-printable_file-2.pdfFurther information regarding vaccine expiry will be published as part of the UKHSA’s Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the financial situation of the British Council.

In 2024/25, the FCDO will provide the British Council with £162.5 million Grant-in-Aid funding. The British Council is projected to generate £885 million from other sources over the same period, according to its Corporate Plan 2024-25. This self-generated income is largely derived from the British Council's teaching and exams businesses.The Government is committed to a successful British Council that is financially stable. Our funding to the British Council underlines our support.

If he will make an assessment of the (a) adequacy of the UK Foundation Programme allocation process and (b) potential impact of changes to the UK Foundation Programme allocation process on levels of satisfaction among applicants in 2023.

The allocation process for the UK Foundation Programme this year was changed to a Preference Informed Allocation method. This new process saw applicants being given a computer-generated rank and the removal of the requirement to sit the Situational Judgement Test. The move to the new system aimed to address concerns about the previous system, including that was it was perceived as unfair and stressful for applicants, and that there was lack of standardisation within and across schools. This change was based on extensive stakeholder engagement by the four statutory education bodies in the United Kingdom.When confirming the move to the new system last year, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, set out that once implemented it would be kept under constant review to make sure it is working well for applicants.All 9,702 eligible applicants for the 2024 Foundation Programme were allocated to a Foundation School, with 75% of those applicants getting their first preference. This is an improvement on last year when 8,655 applicants were placed and 71% got their first preference.

What steps he is taking to provide support for people with (a) long Covid, (b) chronic fatigue syndrome and (c) ME.

Since 2020, the National Health Service in England has invested significantly in supporting people with long COVID. This includes setting up specialist post-COVID services nationwide for adults, and children and young people, as well as investing in ensuring general practice teams are equipped to support people affected by the condition.As of 1 April 2024, there are more than 90 adult post-COVID services across England, along with an additional ten children and young people’s hubs. These services assess people with long COVID and direct them into care pathways which provide appropriate support and treatment. General practitioners will assess patients that have COVID-19 symptoms lasting longer than four weeks and refer them into a long COVID service where appropriate. Referral should be via a single point of access, which is managed by clinician-led triage.Over the last five years, the Government, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), has invested over £57 million in long COVID research, with almost £40 million of this through two specific research calls on long COVID. The NIHR specifically has invested £42.7 million towards research funding for long COVID. The projects funded aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate clinical care. Further information on the research into long COVID commissioned through the NIHR is available at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/what-we-do/covid-19/long-COVIDIt is a priority for the Department to publish the final myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) delivery plan, and it is our intention to publish a consultation response summary later this autumn. We cannot comment on the exact content of the final delivery plan at this time, but it will be shaped by the consultation responses, along with continued close engagement with stakeholders, with three broad themes of attitudes and education, research and living with ME. We aim to publish in the winter of 2024/25.The Department is also currently working with NHS England to develop an e-learning course on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes.Additionally, the Government funds research into ME/CFS through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), through UK Research and Innovation. In 2020, the NIHR and the MRC came together to fund the world’s largest genome-wide association study of ME/CFS. This £3.2 million study, termed DecodeME, will analyse samples from 25,000 people with ME/CFS to search for genetic differences that may indicate underlying causes or an increased risk of developing the condition. Further details of the study are available at the following link:www.decodeme.org.uk

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make two weeks the maximum time between bin collections.

Simpler Recycling will mean that people across England will be able to recycle the same materials at home, work or school, ending the confusion over what can or cannot be recycled in different parts of the country. Ministers are currently reviewing final Simpler Recycling policy decisions, including guidance on the approach to collections, and we hope to provide further certainty and clarity to stakeholders as soon as possible.

What her policy is on (a) access to cash, (b) businesses being required to use cash and (c) helping vulnerable people reliant on cash infrastructure adapt to a cashless society.

The Government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups. The Financial Conduct Authority has recently assumed regulatory responsibility for protecting access to cash, and its new rules went live on 18 September. The rules require the UK’s largest banks and building societies to assess the impact of a closure of a relevant cash withdrawal or deposit facility and put in place a new service if necessary.It is for each business to decide on the forms of payment it chooses to accept, based on a variety of factors, including cost and customer preferences. Research published by the Financial Conduct Authority found that 98 per cent of small businesses surveyed would never turn customers away if they needed to pay in cash. The new rules by the Financial Conduct Authority will also support businesses to accept cash by ensuring they have reasonable access to deposit facilities.The Government also recognises that promoting digital inclusion is essential to building the skills and confidence people need to participate in a modern digital economy and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, as the lead department, is considering barriers to this.

What steps he is taking to increase the number of dental practices that accept new NHS patients.

The Government will tackle the immediate crisis with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK website profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients. This information is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentistThe responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Macclesfield constituency, this is the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish guidance on withdrawing a Certificate of Exemption for XL Bully dogs.

Where an owner has applied for a certificate of exemption and no longer thinks that their dog is an XL Bully, it will be possible to ask Defra to withdraw the certificate. Defra will provide more information about this process soon.

Whether any arms export licences to Israel are under review other than those already suspended.

All extant licences to Israel are kept under careful and continual review as standard.

Whether he has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of decarbonising the grid by 2030 on job creation in Macclesfield constituency.

Through our clean power mission, including through investments made by Great British Energy, and the National Wealth Fund, we will work with industry to deliver the jobs and investment required to achieve our clean power 2030 ambition. Whilst we are still deciding where investments will be made, we expect that good jobs will be available across the country as we see a rapid expansion in the renewable workforce by 2030.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support national parks.

Labour introduced National Parks 75 years ago, and introduced the Rights of Way Act that secured public access and preserved natural beauty. This Labour Government is committed to empowering Protected Landscapes to become greener, wilder and more accessible to all. We are actively considering options to ensure Protected Landscapes bodies like National Park Authorities have the tools and powers they need to deliver for people and nature, including through regulation and guidance.

If she will take steps with Cheshire East Council to help improve (a) buses and (b) other public transport in Macclesfield.

Improving local transport services is a key part of this government’s growth mission, and the government has set out plans to deliver better bus services, grow passenger numbers and drive opportunity to under-served regions.As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this session. This will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in Cheshire, to ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them. The Bill will seek to increase the powers available to local leaders to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership. The government will continue working closely with local transport authorities including Cheshire East Council, to deliver better bus and public transport services throughout England.

Whether she plans to take steps to ensure that Cheshire East Council has the power to hold bus companies to account.

Improving local transport services is a key part of this government’s growth mission, and the government has set out plans to deliver better bus services, grow passenger numbers and drive opportunity to under-served regions. As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this session. This will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in Cheshire East, to ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them. The Bill will seek to increase the powers available to local leaders to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership. The government will continue working closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on its ambitions.

What progress she has made on establishing a Border Security Command.

We have created the Border Security Command to lead the fight against the criminal smuggling gangs who threaten our border, put lives at risk, and undermine our national security, and we have been delighted to appoint the former Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, Martin Hewitt, to lead that work.Backed by £75 million of funding, the Border Security Command is already working closely with operational partners in the UK and overseas towards our shared goal to disrupt and dismantle this criminal trade in human lives.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2024 to Question 8070 on Unlawfully detained British nationals abroad, in how many cases his Department has the consent of individuals to raise welfare or human rights concerns.

Where the FCDO has welfare or human rights concerns in relation to British nationals detained overseas, consular staff seek the consent of individuals before raising concerns with the relevant authorities. The FCDO does not hold statistics on the number of British nationals who have provided the FCDO with their consent to raise welfare or human rights concerns.