Written questions by Morrison.

What assessment he has made of the impact of corridor care in Emergency Departments on patient safety, dignity, and clinical outcomes; and what actions are being taken to address the routine treatment of acutely ill patients in corridor settings.

The provision of clinical care in corridors is unacceptable, and we are committed to ending its practice in the National Health Service. Furthermore, our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 commits to publishing data on the prevalence of corridor care for the first time.We recently published a clear definition of corridor care and based on this, will begin collecting data on its use across the NHS imminently. Subject to data quality, this information will be published monthly on NHS England’s website from May 2026. In parallel, NHS England is also working with trusts to introduce new reporting arrangements on corridor care to improve transparency and support system-wide improvement.We have also introduced new clinical operational standards for the first 72 hours of care, setting clear expectations for timely reviews and specialist input, further supporting our efforts to eliminate corridor care and improve patient experience.Where corridor care cannot be avoided, we have published updated guidance to support trusts to deliver it safely, ensuring dignity and privacy is maintained to reduce impacts on patients and staff. This means that corridor care areas must uphold the same high standards of care for patients as those in planned clinical settings, with patients prioritised by clinical urgency. All patients should be risk‑assessed by senior clinicians at triage and monitored by named nurses.

Whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the Valuation Office Agency's responses to Member's correspondence, including on matters of confidentiality.

The Valuation Office Agency is committed to protecting taxpayer confidentiality in line with its duty under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.

What steps he is taking to expand access to women's health hubs.

The Government is supporting integrated care boards (ICBs) to use the learning from the women’s health hub pilots to improve local delivery of services to women and girls.ICBs should take a neighbourhood approach to women’s healthcare, ensuring women can get the care they need regardless of whether they speak first to a general practice (GP), hospital, or other healthcare provider.We are supporting ICBs to continue improving their delivery of neighbourhood women’s healthcare, in line with their responsibility to commission services that meet the needs of their local populations.Neighbourhood women’s healthcare is delivered both by a range of providers and digitally, giving women access not just to GPs and community specialists in women’s health, but to other services include pelvic physiotherapists, pharmacies, and psychological support services. This builds on the successful pilot of women’s health hubs.Outcomes in women’s health will be soon be shared with ICBs through a data dashboard so they can see how well they are meeting the needs of women in their population.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of easing taxes for elderly residents who are privately funding their care home place.

There are a wide range of factors to take into consideration when introducing a tax relief. These include how effective the relief would be at achieving the policy intent, how targeted support would be, whether it adds complexity to the tax system, and the cost.Tax reliefs are typically of greatest benefit to those paying higher rates of tax. Furthermore, new reliefs also add complexity to the tax system and are likely to result in similar calls for reliefs on other forms of personal expenditure or income, which others may argue are equally deserving.To support social care authorities to deliver key services, in light of pressures, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. This is part of an overall increase to local Government spending power of 6.8% in cash terms.Moreover, the Government is making available around £4.6 billion of additional funding for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector to improve adult social care.The Government recognises the significant challenges facing the adult social care system and is committed to transforming the sector and supporting the care workforce. Baroness Louise Casey is leading an independent commission to build consensus on reform. The first phase will report in 2026 and will focus on how to make the most of existing resources.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing legally-binding targets for reducing child poverty.

The Monitoring and Evaluation framework published alongside the Strategy set out that a baseline report will be published in Summer 2026 with annual reporting on progress thereafter and Government already has a statutory duty to publish poverty statistics annually. We have put these clear reporting arrangements in place so that the progress we make is transparent for all.

Communities and Local Government, if his Department will guarantee that all local authorities within the most deprived decile will see an above average increase in Core Spending Power in each year of the multi-year settlement.

This Settlement strengthens the relationship between deprivation and funding need. By 2028-29, the top 10% most deprived areas will receive 45% more funding per head than the least deprived. We recognised that maintaining the Recovery Grant would not be enough for some councils to deliver visible service improvements over the next three years. The government announced an additional £440 million uplift to the Recovery Grant over the multi-year Settlement, specifically aimed at upper tier councils that would otherwise receive less than a 17% funding increase over the period. This will take the total funding allocated via the Recovery Grant and Recovery Grant Guarantee to £2.6 billion over the multi-year Settlement.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the Recovery Grant Guarantee to match the national average core spending power increase.

This Settlement strengthens the relationship between deprivation and funding need. By 2028-29, the top 10% most deprived areas will receive 45% more funding per head than the least deprived. We recognised that maintaining the Recovery Grant would not be enough for some councils to deliver visible service improvements over the next three years. The government announced an additional £440 million uplift to the Recovery Grant over the multi-year Settlement, specifically aimed at upper tier councils that would otherwise receive less than a 17% funding increase over the period. This will take the total funding allocated via the Recovery Grant and Recovery Grant Guarantee to £2.6 billion over the multi-year Settlement.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Question 86003, if his Department will commission a specific comparative review, in collaboration with the Medical Research Council, into the relative level of National Institute for Health and Care Research funding for research into myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome compared with other long-term conditions.

The Department does not intend to commission a specific comparative review into the relative level of National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) or Medical Research Council funding for research into myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), compared with other long-term conditions. We recognise that ME/CFS is an under-researched area, and we are committed to working with the ME/CFS community to identify and address barriers to research, with the ambition of supporting and funding more research and capacity-building programmes.As outlined in the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan, there has historically been a relatively low amount of biomedical research funded on ME/CFS, compared with disease burden. Our efforts are focussed on delivering the actions outlined in the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan to support and increase research in this area. Since our answer to Question 86003, we have hosted a showcase on post‑acute infection conditions, bringing together people with lived experience, researchers, clinicians, and funders to stimulate further research. A summary of this showcase has been published on NIHR Open Research. We have also made progress with our new funding opportunity for development awards focussed on the feasibility of a phase 2 platform clinical trial. This would test multiple repurposed pharmaceutical interventions and/or non-pharmacological interventions for the treatment of post-viral conditions including ME/CFS. The committee will now consider the applications, and shortlisting decisions will be shared with the researchers in March.

What steps he is taking to improve access to, and the effectiveness of, palliative and end of life care.

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and will enable integrated care boards (ICBs) to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in last year’s 10-Year Health Plan.Through our MSF, we will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end-of-life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality.The MSF will put in place a clear and effective mechanism to deliver a fundamental improvement to the care provided. This will enable the adoption of evidence-based interventions that are proven to make a difference to patients and their families. Examples include earlier identification of need, care delivered closer to home by integrated generalist and specialist teams, and strengthened out-of-hours community health support, including dedicated telephone advice.Last year’s Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium-Term Planning Guidance for the National Health Service also make clear the expectations that ICBs should understand current and projected total service utilisation and costs for those at the end of life, creating an overall plan to more effectively meet these needs through neighbourhood health.

How many (a) neurologists, (b) geriatricians and (c) nurses there are working in the NHS who have specialist training in Parkinson’s.

The Department does not hold data on the number of neurologists or geriatricians with specialist training in Parkinson’s disease working in the National Health Service in England. National workforce datasets do not record condition‑specific sub‑specialisms, and responsibility for determining local specialist workforce configurations rests with individual employers and integrated care boards (ICBs).As of December 2025, there were 2,002 full‑time equivalent doctors in neurology and 6,318 in geriatric medicine working in NHS trusts and other organisations in England. These specialties include clinicians who provide care to people with Parkinson’s.The Department does not hold a central count of the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses employed across the NHS in England. Workforce planning, including decisions about the number and type of specialist nurses needed locally, is the responsibility of individual employers and their ICBs, which are best placed to assess the needs of their populations.We continue to work with NHS England through programmes like Getting It Right First Time to support improvements in access to specialist care. The Department has also established a United Kingdom‑wide Neuro Forum, which brings together governments, the NHS, the devolved administrations, and neurological alliances across the four nations to share best practice and address system-wide challenges, including workforce needs for conditions such as Parkinson’s.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of schools’ mobile phone policies in preventing disruption in learning.

Mobile phones have no place in schools. Research from the Children’s Commissioner, published in April 2025, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day. The department’s recently strengthened guidance on mobile phones in schools is clear that all schools should be mobile phone-free by default. Pupils should not have access to their devices during lessons, break times, lunch times, or between lessons. The guidance will be implemented through behaviour management in schools, and by setting out clear expectations for teachers and school staff. Our attendance and behaviour hub lead schools will support other schools to implement and enforce a mobile phone policy where needed. From April, Ofsted will also check school mobile phone policy on every inspection, with schools expected to be mobile phone-free by default. Ofsted will examine both schools' mobile phone policies and how effectively they are implemented when judging behaviour during inspections.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the healthcare system in Gaza.

I refer the Hon Member to my statements in the Westminster Hall debate on the healthcare system in Gaza on 24 February.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with international partners to anticipate and pre-emptively mitigate humanitarian crises around the world.

The UK is working with partner governments to improve early warning for disasters, including through the Met Office. We are also pushing the humanitarian system, including the UN, to better anticipate and act ahead of crises to reduce humanitarian need, including through our contributions to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, the largest global funder of anticipatory action. The UK is a global leader on pre-arranged finance (PAF) and insurance which pay out in advance or after a disaster to help pre-empt damage. For example, Jamaica received $242 million from a catastrophe bond and insurance after Hurricane Melissa and, in the past month, UK-supported PAF has paid out over $22 million to fund anticipatory and emergency responses to drought in Somalia and cyclones in Madagascar.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how she is ensuring that UK-supported humanitarian programmes provide timely and effective support to survivors of gender-based violence.

As part of the Foreign Secretary's focus on preventing violence against women and girls, we continue to prioritise support to survivors of gender-based violence in humanitarian settings. From April 2023 to March 2024, 3.21 million people were reached with gender-based violence prevention or response services through bilateral Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office support. More information can be found on GOV.UK at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68af15d3969253904d1558dd/FCDO_gender_based_violence_results_factsheet_2023_to_2024.pdf.Another recent example is the UK's effort to step up support and improving frontline services for survivors of sexual violence in Sudan. In February 2026, the Foreign Secretary announced a new £20 million multi-year programme to support survivors of rape and sexual violence in Sudan.

If he will provide an analysis of trends relating to the distribution of take home naloxone kits between 2022 and 2025.

Access to naloxone is vital to respond to the threat of synthetic opioids and to prevent drug related deaths. The Government has long supported expanded provision of naloxone, with guidance and funding, and this has contributed to a significant growth in the amount of naloxone available in the community to reverse opioid overdoses.In England, take-home naloxone supply is recorded by the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, which drug and alcohol treatment services complete. It only records supply of take-home naloxone to people in registered treatment and does not record other people who may also be supplied with naloxone, like friends or family of people in treatment. Local authorities may also distribute naloxone via other routes besides substance misuse services.We have recently published statistics on the distribution of naloxone to those in registered treatment from 2024 to 2025. The statistics can be found in the data tables in Table 1.7: naloxone distribution and use to reverse overdose, namely in Table 1.7a: naloxone issued, at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/substance-misuse-treatment-for-adults-statistics-2024-to-2025This is the first time that figures on the distribution of naloxone have been published and, therefore, trends in its distribution over time cannot yet be assessed. We intend to continue publishing statistics on naloxone distribution each year.The Department launched a public consultation in December 2025 on further legislative options to expand access to take-home and emergency use naloxone. As part of this consultation, we are proposing specific data reporting requirements to enable more consistent reporting across the United Kingdom on the supply of take-home naloxone. The consultation closes on the 9 March 2026.

How many take-home naloxone kits were distributed by local authorities in England in 2022/2023.

Access to naloxone is vital to respond to the threat of synthetic opioids and to prevent drug related deaths. The Government has long supported expanded provision of naloxone, with guidance and funding, and this has contributed to a significant growth in the amount of naloxone available in the community to reverse opioid overdoses.In England, take-home naloxone supply is recorded by the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, which drug and alcohol treatment services complete. It only records supply of take-home naloxone to people in registered treatment and does not record other people who may also be supplied with naloxone, like friends or family of people in treatment. Local authorities may also distribute naloxone via other routes besides substance misuse services.We have recently published statistics on the distribution of naloxone to those in registered treatment from 2024 to 2025. The statistics can be found in the data tables in Table 1.7: naloxone distribution and use to reverse overdose, namely in Table 1.7a: naloxone issued, at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/substance-misuse-treatment-for-adults-statistics-2024-to-2025This is the first time that figures on the distribution of naloxone have been published and, therefore, trends in its distribution over time cannot yet be assessed. We intend to continue publishing statistics on naloxone distribution each year.The Department launched a public consultation in December 2025 on further legislative options to expand access to take-home and emergency use naloxone. As part of this consultation, we are proposing specific data reporting requirements to enable more consistent reporting across the United Kingdom on the supply of take-home naloxone. The consultation closes on the 9 March 2026.

How many take-home naloxone kits were distributed by local authorities in England in 2023/2024.

Access to naloxone is vital to respond to the threat of synthetic opioids and to prevent drug related deaths. The Government has long supported expanded provision of naloxone, with guidance and funding, and this has contributed to a significant growth in the amount of naloxone available in the community to reverse opioid overdoses.In England, take-home naloxone supply is recorded by the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, which drug and alcohol treatment services complete. It only records supply of take-home naloxone to people in registered treatment and does not record other people who may also be supplied with naloxone, like friends or family of people in treatment. Local authorities may also distribute naloxone via other routes besides substance misuse services.We have recently published statistics on the distribution of naloxone to those in registered treatment from 2024 to 2025. The statistics can be found in the data tables in Table 1.7: naloxone distribution and use to reverse overdose, namely in Table 1.7a: naloxone issued, at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/substance-misuse-treatment-for-adults-statistics-2024-to-2025This is the first time that figures on the distribution of naloxone have been published and, therefore, trends in its distribution over time cannot yet be assessed. We intend to continue publishing statistics on naloxone distribution each year.The Department launched a public consultation in December 2025 on further legislative options to expand access to take-home and emergency use naloxone. As part of this consultation, we are proposing specific data reporting requirements to enable more consistent reporting across the United Kingdom on the supply of take-home naloxone. The consultation closes on the 9 March 2026.

How many take-home naloxone kits were distributed by local authorities in England in 2024/2025.

Access to naloxone is vital to respond to the threat of synthetic opioids and to prevent drug related deaths. The Government has long supported expanded provision of naloxone, with guidance and funding, and this has contributed to a significant growth in the amount of naloxone available in the community to reverse opioid overdoses.In England, take-home naloxone supply is recorded by the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, which drug and alcohol treatment services complete. It only records supply of take-home naloxone to people in registered treatment and does not record other people who may also be supplied with naloxone, like friends or family of people in treatment. Local authorities may also distribute naloxone via other routes besides substance misuse services.We have recently published statistics on the distribution of naloxone to those in registered treatment from 2024 to 2025. The statistics can be found in the data tables in Table 1.7: naloxone distribution and use to reverse overdose, namely in Table 1.7a: naloxone issued, at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/substance-misuse-treatment-for-adults-statistics-2024-to-2025This is the first time that figures on the distribution of naloxone have been published and, therefore, trends in its distribution over time cannot yet be assessed. We intend to continue publishing statistics on naloxone distribution each year.The Department launched a public consultation in December 2025 on further legislative options to expand access to take-home and emergency use naloxone. As part of this consultation, we are proposing specific data reporting requirements to enable more consistent reporting across the United Kingdom on the supply of take-home naloxone. The consultation closes on the 9 March 2026.

With reference to the answer to question 42 at the Liaison Committee on 15th December 2025, whether the Prime Minister’s office has agreed a date to meet with the victims of press abuse.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 02 February, Official Report, PQ 107285.

If he will take steps to ensure that a message is included prior to starting the benefits claim process (a) online, (b) in print and (c) by phone to make it clear that (i) free and (ii) independent support is available.

Free help and support in applying for Universal Credit is available from Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland. Free help and support for claiming other DWP benefits is widely available, including on GOV.UK, from the Department itself, and from organisations such as Age UK. There is no need for claimants to pay for advice and support with benefit applications.