Written questions by Snowden.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support councils to improve the availability of activities for young people during (a) evenings, (b) weekends and (c) school holidays.

In 2025/26, DCMS is investing £28 million to increase young people’s access to more and better enriching activities. This includes programmes such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Uniformed Youth Fund. As part of the Uniformed Youth Fund, DCMS funded the Volunteer Police Cadets to increase its capacity and reach a greater number of young people in Fylde.DCMS is also investing £8 million to support local authorities through the Local Youth Transformation Pilot, which aims to rebuild a high-quality offer for young people across England.Additionally, the Department for Education has confirmed over £600 million for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme for the next three financial years (from 2026/27), delivered by local authorities to provide healthy meals, enriching activities, and free childcare places to children from low-income families during school holiday periods.In Autumn, we will publish the National Youth Strategy, which we have co-produced with young people and the sector. The Strategy will outline a long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

What procedures are in place to ensure that known IT failures affecting evidence handling are promptly disclosed to judges and legal professionals.

Given the important and sensitive work undertaken across the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions, and the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal in particular, it is entirely understandable that there will be concern at reports of an IT bug. It is important to reaffirm the Ministry of Justice’s commitment to a fair, open, and transparent justice system. Public trust in our courts is paramount, and any suggestion that this trust may have been compromised is taken extremely seriously.There is no evidence of any impact on case outcomes to date. However, actions are underway by HMCTS and the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the technical error has not resulted in adverse outcomes or materially influenced judicial decisions. Recognising the importance of the effective running of HMCTS’s digital case managements systems, a technical fix was applied as a priority within the relevant jurisdictions with the final fix applied in January 2025.In 2023, under the previous Government, HMCTS identified that a technical issue in the Civil, Family and Tribunals case management system was having an impact on some services because of the way that services were interacting with the Core Case Data (CCD) database. This technical issue had the potential to cause some documents and data fields to be hidden from view in certain cases across Civil, Family, and Tribunal jurisdictions.Following a risk-based assessment, HMCTS initially undertook targeted investigations, which have since been significantly expanded. In Tribunals, the area affected was SSCS cases. In recent weeks, HMCTS has carried out additional work which has continued to assure that the technical issue was indeed of very low incidence and confirmed that there is no evidence of any impact on case outcomes to date. Further assurance work is ongoing.In Civil and Family jurisdictions, no impact on judicial decisions has been identified to date. In Family Public Law, operational mitigations – such as local authorities supplying full bundles directly to the court – reduce the risk of missing documents on the CCD system affecting case outcomes.Due to the sensitivity of these matters, further re-assurance work is still under way. Any further steps will be determined and communicated to parties should this work identify any cases of concern.HMCTS follows established escalation protocols to ensure that technical issues are assessed and, where appropriate, disclosed to judges and legal professionals. In light of this episode, Ministers have asked that these processes are strengthened, including improvements to incident management and governance structures to update the risk assessment criteria on which HMCTS considers communication about technical problems to relevant affected partners or users, and strengthening the systematic handling of cross-cutting or architectural risks.HMCTS staff can raise concerns through internal whistleblowing channels, which are managed independently and in line with departmental policy. All concerns are investigated and escalated appropriately.The internal report referenced in media coverage was part of a whistleblowing investigation conducted in line with Ministry of Justice policies. In line with standard practice, we do not publish internal HR and whistleblowing reports. Likewise, it would not be appropriate to comment on questions about specific internal disciplinary investigations, other than to confirm that departmental policy and process are followed as required.There are no plans to pause court digitisation. While technical challenges are an inevitable part of digital transformation, they are investigated and triaged according to risk. We are continuing to digitise and improve our services to support swift access to justice.Over the span of the HMCTS Reform Programme there will have been many organisations involved in the development of the HMCTS case management systems, of which there are several. Major delivery partners are listed in Reform Programme documentation and procurement records, which are publicly available. The main suppliers which have worked on the development of the Civil, Family and Tribunals Platform (that includes Core Case Data) during the period of 2016 to present are:AtosCapgeminiCGICognizantMethodsPA ConsultingScrumconnectTransform UKSolirius ConsultingVersion 1This includes the provision of any services in the development of the case management system, such as: development, quality assurance testing, architecture, user-centred design, data architecture, delivery management amongst others.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of data corruption on judicial decisions made in (a) civil, (b) family and (c) tribunal courts following the HMCTS IT bug.

Given the important and sensitive work undertaken across the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions, and the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal in particular, it is entirely understandable that there will be concern at reports of an IT bug. It is important to reaffirm the Ministry of Justice’s commitment to a fair, open, and transparent justice system. Public trust in our courts is paramount, and any suggestion that this trust may have been compromised is taken extremely seriously.There is no evidence of any impact on case outcomes to date. However, actions are underway by HMCTS and the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the technical error has not resulted in adverse outcomes or materially influenced judicial decisions. Recognising the importance of the effective running of HMCTS’s digital case managements systems, a technical fix was applied as a priority within the relevant jurisdictions with the final fix applied in January 2025.In 2023, under the previous Government, HMCTS identified that a technical issue in the Civil, Family and Tribunals case management system was having an impact on some services because of the way that services were interacting with the Core Case Data (CCD) database. This technical issue had the potential to cause some documents and data fields to be hidden from view in certain cases across Civil, Family, and Tribunal jurisdictions.Following a risk-based assessment, HMCTS initially undertook targeted investigations, which have since been significantly expanded. In Tribunals, the area affected was SSCS cases. In recent weeks, HMCTS has carried out additional work which has continued to assure that the technical issue was indeed of very low incidence and confirmed that there is no evidence of any impact on case outcomes to date. Further assurance work is ongoing.In Civil and Family jurisdictions, no impact on judicial decisions has been identified to date. In Family Public Law, operational mitigations – such as local authorities supplying full bundles directly to the court – reduce the risk of missing documents on the CCD system affecting case outcomes.Due to the sensitivity of these matters, further re-assurance work is still under way. Any further steps will be determined and communicated to parties should this work identify any cases of concern.HMCTS follows established escalation protocols to ensure that technical issues are assessed and, where appropriate, disclosed to judges and legal professionals. In light of this episode, Ministers have asked that these processes are strengthened, including improvements to incident management and governance structures to update the risk assessment criteria on which HMCTS considers communication about technical problems to relevant affected partners or users, and strengthening the systematic handling of cross-cutting or architectural risks.HMCTS staff can raise concerns through internal whistleblowing channels, which are managed independently and in line with departmental policy. All concerns are investigated and escalated appropriately.The internal report referenced in media coverage was part of a whistleblowing investigation conducted in line with Ministry of Justice policies. In line with standard practice, we do not publish internal HR and whistleblowing reports. Likewise, it would not be appropriate to comment on questions about specific internal disciplinary investigations, other than to confirm that departmental policy and process are followed as required.There are no plans to pause court digitisation. While technical challenges are an inevitable part of digital transformation, they are investigated and triaged according to risk. We are continuing to digitise and improve our services to support swift access to justice.Over the span of the HMCTS Reform Programme there will have been many organisations involved in the development of the HMCTS case management systems, of which there are several. Major delivery partners are listed in Reform Programme documentation and procurement records, which are publicly available. The main suppliers which have worked on the development of the Civil, Family and Tribunals Platform (that includes Core Case Data) during the period of 2016 to present are:AtosCapgeminiCGICognizantMethodsPA ConsultingScrumconnectTransform UKSolirius ConsultingVersion 1This includes the provision of any services in the development of the case management system, such as: development, quality assurance testing, architecture, user-centred design, data architecture, delivery management amongst others.

If she will publish the internal HMCTS report leaked to the BBC regarding the case management software failures.

Given the important and sensitive work undertaken across the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions, and the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal in particular, it is entirely understandable that there will be concern at reports of an IT bug. It is important to reaffirm the Ministry of Justice’s commitment to a fair, open, and transparent justice system. Public trust in our courts is paramount, and any suggestion that this trust may have been compromised is taken extremely seriously.There is no evidence of any impact on case outcomes to date. However, actions are underway by HMCTS and the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the technical error has not resulted in adverse outcomes or materially influenced judicial decisions. Recognising the importance of the effective running of HMCTS’s digital case managements systems, a technical fix was applied as a priority within the relevant jurisdictions with the final fix applied in January 2025.In 2023, under the previous Government, HMCTS identified that a technical issue in the Civil, Family and Tribunals case management system was having an impact on some services because of the way that services were interacting with the Core Case Data (CCD) database. This technical issue had the potential to cause some documents and data fields to be hidden from view in certain cases across Civil, Family, and Tribunal jurisdictions.Following a risk-based assessment, HMCTS initially undertook targeted investigations, which have since been significantly expanded. In Tribunals, the area affected was SSCS cases. In recent weeks, HMCTS has carried out additional work which has continued to assure that the technical issue was indeed of very low incidence and confirmed that there is no evidence of any impact on case outcomes to date. Further assurance work is ongoing.In Civil and Family jurisdictions, no impact on judicial decisions has been identified to date. In Family Public Law, operational mitigations – such as local authorities supplying full bundles directly to the court – reduce the risk of missing documents on the CCD system affecting case outcomes.Due to the sensitivity of these matters, further re-assurance work is still under way. Any further steps will be determined and communicated to parties should this work identify any cases of concern.HMCTS follows established escalation protocols to ensure that technical issues are assessed and, where appropriate, disclosed to judges and legal professionals. In light of this episode, Ministers have asked that these processes are strengthened, including improvements to incident management and governance structures to update the risk assessment criteria on which HMCTS considers communication about technical problems to relevant affected partners or users, and strengthening the systematic handling of cross-cutting or architectural risks.HMCTS staff can raise concerns through internal whistleblowing channels, which are managed independently and in line with departmental policy. All concerns are investigated and escalated appropriately.The internal report referenced in media coverage was part of a whistleblowing investigation conducted in line with Ministry of Justice policies. In line with standard practice, we do not publish internal HR and whistleblowing reports. Likewise, it would not be appropriate to comment on questions about specific internal disciplinary investigations, other than to confirm that departmental policy and process are followed as required.There are no plans to pause court digitisation. While technical challenges are an inevitable part of digital transformation, they are investigated and triaged according to risk. We are continuing to digitise and improve our services to support swift access to justice.Over the span of the HMCTS Reform Programme there will have been many organisations involved in the development of the HMCTS case management systems, of which there are several. Major delivery partners are listed in Reform Programme documentation and procurement records, which are publicly available. The main suppliers which have worked on the development of the Civil, Family and Tribunals Platform (that includes Core Case Data) during the period of 2016 to present are:AtosCapgeminiCGICognizantMethodsPA ConsultingScrumconnectTransform UKSolirius ConsultingVersion 1This includes the provision of any services in the development of the case management system, such as: development, quality assurance testing, architecture, user-centred design, data architecture, delivery management amongst others.

What funding has been allocated to support (a) GP surgeries and (b) health visitors in delivering the chickenpox vaccine as part of the MMRV jab.

From January 2026, the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccination programme will form part of the routine childhood immunisations offered in England. The MMRV vaccine will be offered at general practices (GPs) as part of routine infant vaccination appointments.GPs are funded for vaccines through a mix of national contracts and service-based payments from NHS England. They receive a base fee per patient on their list, plus payment of an Item of Service (IoS) fee for specific vaccines.From 1 April 2025, following negotiations for the 2025/26 GP contract, GPs have received an IoS fee of £12.06 for the delivery of MMR vaccines, in line with other routine childhood immunisations. The IoS of £12.06 will also apply to the delivery of MMRV vaccinations from January 2026.NHS England is working with local systems to establish a pilot scheme in some areas across England which will explore delivery of the Government’s manifesto commitment to enable vaccinations to babies and young children as part of health visits. Pilots are currently in the development stage, but funding has been allocated in 2025/26 to support delivery of this programme.

How the UK Emergency Alert System integrates with (a) local authority and (b) regional emergency response plans.

The emergency services, whose role is to warn, inform and advise the public in the event of an emergency have the Emergency Alerting capability available to them 24/7/365 upon request. The established procedures have been closely designed alongside both national and regional emergency response plans. Regular training is undertaken with local authorities, local resilience forums, and emergency services to familiarise them with the Emergency Alert capability and requesting processes. Emergency Alerts are just one of many capabilities available to first responders on the ground to assist them in disseminating vital information and guidance, complementing a wide range of tools at the disposal of emergency services for communicating risks to life for example local news, radio, television, social media, or door knocking.

What steps she has taken to notify people whose cases may have been impacted by missing or corrupted evidence due to the IT failures.

Given the important and sensitive work undertaken across the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions, and the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal in particular, it is entirely understandable that there will be concern at reports of an IT bug. It is important to reaffirm the Ministry of Justice’s commitment to a fair, open, and transparent justice system. Public trust in our courts is paramount, and any suggestion that this trust may have been compromised is taken extremely seriously.There is no evidence of any impact on case outcomes to date. However, actions are underway by HMCTS and the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the technical error has not resulted in adverse outcomes or materially influenced judicial decisions. Recognising the importance of the effective running of HMCTS’s digital case managements systems, a technical fix was applied as a priority within the relevant jurisdictions with the final fix applied in January 2025.In 2023, under the previous Government, HMCTS identified that a technical issue in the Civil, Family and Tribunals case management system was having an impact on some services because of the way that services were interacting with the Core Case Data (CCD) database. This technical issue had the potential to cause some documents and data fields to be hidden from view in certain cases across Civil, Family, and Tribunal jurisdictions.Following a risk-based assessment, HMCTS initially undertook targeted investigations, which have since been significantly expanded. In Tribunals, the area affected was SSCS cases. In recent weeks, HMCTS has carried out additional work which has continued to assure that the technical issue was indeed of very low incidence and confirmed that there is no evidence of any impact on case outcomes to date. Further assurance work is ongoing.In Civil and Family jurisdictions, no impact on judicial decisions has been identified to date. In Family Public Law, operational mitigations – such as local authorities supplying full bundles directly to the court – reduce the risk of missing documents on the CCD system affecting case outcomes.Due to the sensitivity of these matters, further re-assurance work is still under way. Any further steps will be determined and communicated to parties should this work identify any cases of concern.HMCTS follows established escalation protocols to ensure that technical issues are assessed and, where appropriate, disclosed to judges and legal professionals. In light of this episode, Ministers have asked that these processes are strengthened, including improvements to incident management and governance structures to update the risk assessment criteria on which HMCTS considers communication about technical problems to relevant affected partners or users, and strengthening the systematic handling of cross-cutting or architectural risks.HMCTS staff can raise concerns through internal whistleblowing channels, which are managed independently and in line with departmental policy. All concerns are investigated and escalated appropriately.The internal report referenced in media coverage was part of a whistleblowing investigation conducted in line with Ministry of Justice policies. In line with standard practice, we do not publish internal HR and whistleblowing reports. Likewise, it would not be appropriate to comment on questions about specific internal disciplinary investigations, other than to confirm that departmental policy and process are followed as required.There are no plans to pause court digitisation. While technical challenges are an inevitable part of digital transformation, they are investigated and triaged according to risk. We are continuing to digitise and improve our services to support swift access to justice.Over the span of the HMCTS Reform Programme there will have been many organisations involved in the development of the HMCTS case management systems, of which there are several. Major delivery partners are listed in Reform Programme documentation and procurement records, which are publicly available. The main suppliers which have worked on the development of the Civil, Family and Tribunals Platform (that includes Core Case Data) during the period of 2016 to present are:AtosCapgeminiCGICognizantMethodsPA ConsultingScrumconnectTransform UKSolirius ConsultingVersion 1This includes the provision of any services in the development of the case management system, such as: development, quality assurance testing, architecture, user-centred design, data architecture, delivery management amongst others.

What mechanisms exist for whistleblowers within HMCTS to report concerns about IT system flaws and their impact on justice.

Given the important and sensitive work undertaken across the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions, and the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal in particular, it is entirely understandable that there will be concern at reports of an IT bug. It is important to reaffirm the Ministry of Justice’s commitment to a fair, open, and transparent justice system. Public trust in our courts is paramount, and any suggestion that this trust may have been compromised is taken extremely seriously.There is no evidence of any impact on case outcomes to date. However, actions are underway by HMCTS and the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the technical error has not resulted in adverse outcomes or materially influenced judicial decisions. Recognising the importance of the effective running of HMCTS’s digital case managements systems, a technical fix was applied as a priority within the relevant jurisdictions with the final fix applied in January 2025.In 2023, under the previous Government, HMCTS identified that a technical issue in the Civil, Family and Tribunals case management system was having an impact on some services because of the way that services were interacting with the Core Case Data (CCD) database. This technical issue had the potential to cause some documents and data fields to be hidden from view in certain cases across Civil, Family, and Tribunal jurisdictions.Following a risk-based assessment, HMCTS initially undertook targeted investigations, which have since been significantly expanded. In Tribunals, the area affected was SSCS cases. In recent weeks, HMCTS has carried out additional work which has continued to assure that the technical issue was indeed of very low incidence and confirmed that there is no evidence of any impact on case outcomes to date. Further assurance work is ongoing.In Civil and Family jurisdictions, no impact on judicial decisions has been identified to date. In Family Public Law, operational mitigations – such as local authorities supplying full bundles directly to the court – reduce the risk of missing documents on the CCD system affecting case outcomes.Due to the sensitivity of these matters, further re-assurance work is still under way. Any further steps will be determined and communicated to parties should this work identify any cases of concern.HMCTS follows established escalation protocols to ensure that technical issues are assessed and, where appropriate, disclosed to judges and legal professionals. In light of this episode, Ministers have asked that these processes are strengthened, including improvements to incident management and governance structures to update the risk assessment criteria on which HMCTS considers communication about technical problems to relevant affected partners or users, and strengthening the systematic handling of cross-cutting or architectural risks.HMCTS staff can raise concerns through internal whistleblowing channels, which are managed independently and in line with departmental policy. All concerns are investigated and escalated appropriately.The internal report referenced in media coverage was part of a whistleblowing investigation conducted in line with Ministry of Justice policies. In line with standard practice, we do not publish internal HR and whistleblowing reports. Likewise, it would not be appropriate to comment on questions about specific internal disciplinary investigations, other than to confirm that departmental policy and process are followed as required.There are no plans to pause court digitisation. While technical challenges are an inevitable part of digital transformation, they are investigated and triaged according to risk. We are continuing to digitise and improve our services to support swift access to justice.Over the span of the HMCTS Reform Programme there will have been many organisations involved in the development of the HMCTS case management systems, of which there are several. Major delivery partners are listed in Reform Programme documentation and procurement records, which are publicly available. The main suppliers which have worked on the development of the Civil, Family and Tribunals Platform (that includes Core Case Data) during the period of 2016 to present are:AtosCapgeminiCGICognizantMethodsPA ConsultingScrumconnectTransform UKSolirius ConsultingVersion 1This includes the provision of any services in the development of the case management system, such as: development, quality assurance testing, architecture, user-centred design, data architecture, delivery management amongst others.

Whether she is taking steps to ensure the Highway Code is taught in schools.

The revised relationships, sex and health education guidance was published on 15 July and includes a new personal safety section. Curriculum content includes how to identify risk and manage personal safety in increasingly independent situations, including around roads, railways, including level crossings, and water.The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, chaired by Becky Francis CBE.The Review aims to ensure a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work. The Review Group published its Interim Report in March 2025 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821d69eced319d02c9060e3/Curriculum_and_Assessment_Review_interim_report.pdf.The group will publish its final report with recommendations this autumn.​

How long pastoral support is available to young people after leaving state schools.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is co-producing a National Youth Strategy in partnership with young people and cross-sector experts to set out a new long term vision for young people, which will cover young people aged 10 to 21 (up to 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities). This will include plans for the introduction of Young Futures Hubs. These will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive.High quality careers advice is an essential part of our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity and drive economic growth. The National Careers Service offers advice to support young people (and their parents/carers) to understand their career options. Youth Hubs provide vital links in the community, bringing together employment support from a Jobcentre Plus work coach and place-based support from local partnerships to help young people into work when they leave school.We recognise that care leavers have poorer outcomes than their peers across all aspects of their lives and are taking action to address this. All care leavers up to the age of 25 are entitled to support from a Personal Adviser to help them prepare for and cope with the challenges of living independently.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in reducing dog-related injuries and fatalities.

Defra is continuing to engage closely with the Police, local authorities, and rescue and rehoming organisations to monitor the impacts of the XL Bully dog ban. We are also working with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to explore measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. We have reconvened the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce and look forward to receiving their findings and recommendations in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2025 to Question 67577 on Dangerous Dogs: Lancashire, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce instances of dog attacks.

Defra is working with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to encourage responsible dog ownership, to ensure dog control issues are addressed before they escalate and to make sure the full force of the law is applied. As part of this work, we have reconvened the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce to explore measures to promote responsible ownership across all breeds of dog. We look forward to receiving the findings and recommendations from the taskforce in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2025 to Question 66321 on Schools: Electronic Cigarettes, whether she has had recent discussions with education providers on the potential impact of the ban on single use vapes on the prevalence of vaping in schools.

The sale of vapes to under 18s is illegal, and the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will ban the sale of all consumer nicotine products to anyone under 18. Since 1 June 2025, it is illegal for businesses to sell or supply all single use vapes.My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, engages consistently with school leaders and education providers on a range of topics, including pupil behaviour, and will continue to do so.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to regulate second home ownership in coastal communities with housing shortages.

The government recognise that excessive concentrations of second homes impact on the availability and affordability of homes for local residents to buy and rent, as well as local services.Local authorities are now able to apply a premium of up to 100% extra on the council tax bills of second homes. The premium will provide additional funding for councils and help local leaders to address the impacts of second homes and improve the sustainability of communities where they consider it necessary.From 31 October 2024, the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on additional dwellings were increased from three percentage points above standard rates to five percentage points above standard rates. This is to ensure that those looking to move home, or purchase their first property, have a greater advantage over second home buyers, landlords, and businesses purchasing residential property.We are considering what additional powers we might give local authorities to enable them to respond to the pressures created by second homes and short-term lets.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of labour shortages on the (a) tourism and (b) hospitality sectors in coastal areas.

The Government recognises that labour market pressures, particularly in seasonal roles, can affect tourism and hospitality businesses in coastal areas.We work closely with industry bodies, local partners and other Government departments to monitor workforce trends and to understand regional impacts, including through the Visitor Economy Advisory Council and Hospitality Sector Council.The Government remains committed to ongoing collaboration across Government and industry, helping to mitigate impacts and build a more sustainable, skilled workforce to support the long‑term success of tourism and hospitality in our coastal areas.

What recent estimate he has made of the number of buildings owned by his Department that have asbestos.

We take the health and safety of our Service personnel and defence employees extremely seriously and have robust procedures around managing asbestos which comply with Health and Safety regulations. We are responsible for circa 1,967 sites and each building with confirmed asbestos is listed on the relevant site asbestos register. This data is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many vehicles were seized in relation to waste crime offences in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire in each of the last five years.

0 vehicles have been seized in relation to waste crime offences by the Environment Agency (EA) within the Fylde region over the last five years. Within Lancashire a total of 12 vehicles were seized within the last five years. This included 7 vehicles seized and crushed in 2022, with an additional 1 vehicle seized and returned to its owner in 2022. In 2023 a further 3 vehicles were seized, followed by another 1 vehicle in 2024. Please note this response is based on EA data and does not include local authority data on vehicles crushed

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making it a mandatory requirement for defibrillators to be fitted in patient transport vehicles.

Many non-emergency patient transport service (NEPTS) ambulances operated by National Health Service trusts already carry a defibrillator.However, the contractual requirements for the provision of NEPTS services are determined by each integrated care board (ICB), based on their assessment of the needs of the local population. Therefore, each ICB can determine whether they wish to specify the carrying of a defibrillator on non-emergency ambulances as a contractual requirement, along with the cost and crew training implications.Patients undergo regular assessment for patient transport service (PTS) journeys. If significant clinical issues are identified as part of that assessment, then the PTS provider could allocate additional measures for that patient. This might include having particular equipment, including a defibrillator, on board, and/or having crews with a higher training level.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2025 to Question 67568 on Obesity: Drugs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of adverse health incidents associated with weight loss medications obtained through online private providers in the last 12 months.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from their independent advisory committee, the Commission on Human Medicines, where appropriate to inform regulatory decisions.Information collected via the Yellow Card scheme in relation to where the medicine was obtained cannot differentiate private providers specifically. A question regarding where the patient obtained their medicine is included on a Yellow Card report, however this is not mandatory and is a free text field. This free text information is therefore available to support signal detection and assessment, but cannot be extracted or analysed in an aggregated format.The MHRA publishes data received via the Yellow Card scheme in the form of interactive Drug Analysis Profiles (iDAPs). These interactive profiles display a complete listing of all suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) that have been reported to the MHRA via the Yellow Card scheme for particular drug substances. This includes all reports received from healthcare professionals, members of the public, and pharmaceutical companies. On iDAPS it’s possible to find information for several different data points such as the number of ADR reports by year, age, and sex, as well as information on the types of reactions included in the reports. Guidance concerning the interpretation of the information included is provided at the bottom of each iDAP page. It is particularly important to note that reports are not confirmed side effects to a medication, and that incidence cannot be derived since a number of factors influence the reporting of ADRs. Further information on iDAPs is available at the following link:https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/idaps

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of introducing votes at 16 on costs to (a) the Exchequer and (b) local authorities.

As outlined in the recently published ‘Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections’, the Government believes that enabling 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in all UK elections will foster early and sustained participation in civic life and enhance engagement in our democratic processes. By delivering this manifesto commitment, we want young people to find their voice and exercise their right to vote.In June 2025, the House of Commons Library published constituency-level estimates of the number of 16- and 17-year-olds across the UK, based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) data from 2022 for Great Britain and 2023 for Northern Ireland. These figures provide indicative estimates of the population and should be treated as approximations rather than precise counts.The government recognises the importance of understanding the implications of this policy change. Accordingly, an Impact Assessment will be published alongside forthcoming legislation in due course.