Written questions by Thomas.

If she will encourage partnerships between (a) Barclays Bank, (b) Santander, (c) HSBC, (d) NatWest and (e) Lloyds Bank with community development finance institutions serving areas of highest deprivation.

The Government recognises the vital role Community Development Finance Institutions play in providing affordable credit to underserved consumers and businesses. To support this, in November 2024, the British Business Bank launched the Community ENABLE Funding (CEF) Programme, which aims to deploy £150 million over the next two years to ‘not for profit’ lenders, including CDFIs. This will enable these organisations to provide enhanced support to consumers and businesses by broadening access to finance. In 2024, CDFIs and social banks lent £96.7 million to 364 social enterprises, with 67% of this lending directed to the UK’s most disadvantaged areas. In July, my predecessor co-chaired a roundtable in July with Responsible Finance which was an important opportunity to discuss how banks and CDFIs can work together to improve access to affordable credit. Several banks have already shown tangible support for CDFIs. For example, in 2023 NatWest provided £900,000 to the sector, with half distributed directly to households to help meet immediate needs during the cost-of-living crisis, and the remainder used to strengthen the sector’s capacity for future support. Similarly, Lloyds was announced as the lead investor in a new £62 million Community Investment Enterprise Fund, designed to help small businesses across England and Wales access finance through CDFIs, supporting local jobs and economic activity. Furthermore, in recognition of the important role responsible credit can play for consumers, the Government’s forthcoming Financial Inclusion Strategy includes a focus on access to credit, among other priority issues, and will seek to ensure people have access to useful products and services for their needs.

Whether she has had discussions with the Prudential Regulation Authority on the potential merits of a central finance facility for credit unions.

The Government has made clear its strong support for the credit union sector, recognising the value that credit unions bring to their members in local communities across the country in providing savings products and affordable credit. HM Treasury is delivering on measures announced by the Chancellor in last year’s Mansion House speech, including: concluding a call for evidence on potential reforms to credit union common bonds, supporting the industry-led Mutual and Co-operative Sector Business Council, and commissioning the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to publish a report on the mutuals landscape by the end of 2025. The Government currently has no plans to develop a central finance facility for credit unions but continues to engage with the sector and the regulators, and will keep all issues, like central finance functions, under review.

If she will require the Bank of England or Prudential Regulation Authority to monitor personal lending and lending to businesses in left behind communities.

The Government welcomes the work of the Bank of England to assess and monitor credit provision in the UK for households and businesses, through its bankstats releases and regular business surveys. The Government has no further plans in this area. The Government is, however, committed to ensuring that access to finance is available across the UK and to tackle barriers where these exist. In recognition of this, in November 2024, the British Business Bank launched the Community ENABLE Funding (CEF) Programme, which aims to deploy £150 million over the next two years to ‘not for profit’ lenders, including Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). In 2024, CDFIs and social banks lent £96.7 million to 364 social enterprises, with 67% of this lending directed to the UK’s most disadvantaged areas.Furthermore, in recognition of the important role responsible credit can play for consumers, the Government’s forthcoming Financial Inclusion Strategy includes a focus on access to credit, among other priority issues, and will seek to ensure people have access to useful products and services for their needs.

How many patients were waiting for more than 18 weeks for treatment at the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust at the end of (a) June 2004 and (b) June 2025.

Monthly referral to treatment waiting times data has been published by NHS England since March 2007. The requested data for June 2004 is therefore unavailable. As of the end of June 2025, there were 38,284 pathways over 18 weeks at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. This data is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/rtt-data-2025-26/#Jun25The standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18-weeks from referral to treatment came into effect in April 2012. Prior to this, national standards related to admitted or non-admitted completed pathways only. From 2015, trusts have solely been assessed on performance against the standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18-weeks from referral to treatment. Any data comparisons across these periods should therefore be treated with caution.

How many extra GP appointments have been created in Harrow West since the end of June 2024; and at which GP surgery locations.

Harrow West sits within the NHS North West London Integrated Care Board (ICB). Across the ICB, there were 661,209 more appointments in the 14-months to August 2025 than the 14-months to August 2024 across 343 individual practices. There were 1,617 fewer appointments in the 14-months to August 2025 than the 14-months to August 2024 in the Harrow West constituency, across 16 practices.

Where does he expect a neighbourhood health centre to be established in the London Borough of Harrow; and when this will be.

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and we recognise that delivering high quality NHS healthcare requires the right infrastructure in the right places.That is why, over the course of our 10-Year Health Plan, we aim to establish a Neighbourhood Health Centre in every community, transforming healthcare access by bringing historically hospital-based services into communities and addressing wider determinants of health through services like debt advice, employment support, and obesity management programmes.We recently announced the places that will form wave 1 of the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP), after a rigorous assessment of applications against the core criteria. The first wave of the NNHIP covers 43 sites across England, from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in the south-west to Sunderland in the north-east, ensuring that communities nationwide benefit from this new model of care.Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning, planning, securing, and monitoring general practice services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. Both ICBs and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for Neighbourhood Health Centres.Nationwide coverage will take time, but we are starting in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, using public capital to update and refurbish existing, under-used buildings.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she plans to take to help ensure that there is an effective replenishment conference for the Global Fund to fight HIVAids, TB and Malaria.

The UK is proud to be co-hosting the Global Fund's Eighth Replenishment with South Africa and looks forward to working with an expanded range of partners to help end AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for good.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is working with South Africa and the Global Fund on a range of international engagements and events to help generate international support for the Replenishment. For example, Heads of Mission have recently hosted events in support of the Global Fund at our High Commission in Canberra, our Embassy in Addis Ababa and our High Commission in Pretoria, in addition to bilateral discussions in other key countries.

What steps he plans to take to support growth in the no and low alcohol market.

In Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England, the Government has committed to tackling harmful levels of alcohol consumption by exploring options to encourage consumers to reduce their alcohol intake by substituting standard strength drinks with no- and low-alcohol (NoLo) alternatives. One of the first steps to support further growth of the NoLo sector, and potentially increase the range of NoLo products, will be to explore raising the upper alcohol limit for drinks labelled as alcohol-free to 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) from 0.05% ABV, whilst providing clarity to consumers and producers. At the same time, we will explore measures to regulate access to NoLo products in line with other alcoholic beverages, including prohibiting sales to individuals under the age of 18 years old. Alongside the plan, a large, multi-year National Institute for Health and Care Research study is underway to examine the public health impacts of NoLo products, and we look forward to the findings of that study being available in the coming year.

Communities and Local Government, what further steps he plans take to help tackle (a) Islamophobic and (b) antisemitic hate crime in London.

In response to the concerning rise in both antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred, the Government is absolutely committed to rooting out these forms of hatred. We continue to work across government on security, education and working alongside local government, including via the following.An Antisemitism Working Group has been established to advise the Government on effective strategies to tackle hate against Jewish communities and will explore how the Government should engage with Jewish communities in relation to international, national, and local events that impact British Jews. In addition, the Government continues to work with the independent advisor Lord Mann in combating antisemitism through meaningful engagement with diverse communities.The Government established an independent working group to advise on a non-statutory definition of anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia. The working group have engaged widely to ensure their proposed definition accounts for the variety of backgrounds and experiences of communities across the United Kingdom.The government also funds the British Muslim Trust to deliver a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hatred and provide support to victims, and True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report to the police.In response to the Manchester terror attack, Home Office, DfE and DHSC have increased funding to support policing, security and education to tackle antisemitism. Jewish communities will receive up to £10 million in an emergency cash injection to scale up security at synagogues and schools, taking funding to protect faith communities to record levels. As part of the DfE’s committed £7 million to tackling antisemitism in schools, universities and colleges, a £4 million innovation fund will be launched in late November to provide an opportunity for organisations to come up with innovative means to tackle antisemitism in education. NHS England will also roll out updated mandatory antisemitism and anti-racism training for all 1.5 million NHS staff.

If she will provide the Financial Ombudsman Service with additional powers to monitor the use of personal guarantees by financial services companies for lending to small and medium sized businesses.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) was set up to resolve complaints between consumers and small businesses, and their financial services providers. While the Treasury sets the legal framework in which the FOS operates, the rules on how the FOS should handle complaints, including the jurisdiction of the FOS and what complaints it can deal with, are determined by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and set out in the FCA Handbook. As set out in the government’s small business strategy, which my Honourable Friend contributed so much to, we are committed to working with lenders on the appropriate use of personal guarantees. This includes a mandatory Code of Conduct for accredited lenders that use the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme to ensure the use of personal guarantees under the Scheme is fair and transparent. Recognising the necessary role that personal guarantees play in business lending, the government will work with UK Finance to build on their existing lender commitments to use personal guarantees responsibly, and with the business finance community as a whole to build businesses’ understanding of how to access the right finance on the right terms to meet their needs and to help businesses better understand the role of personal guarantees.

Communities and Local Government, if he will encourage Councils to offer payroll deduction to employees wishing to save money with a credit union.

Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management of their own workforces including setting their own terms and conditions and employment packages in compliance with all relevant employment legislation.

If he will allow London North West University Healthcare Trust to become an NHS Foundation Trust.

As outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan, our ambition is that by 2035 all provider trusts will be foundation trusts, using their freedoms to work with others and improve population health.

If he will ask the British Business Bank to support credit unions to offer loans to small businesses.

The British Business Bank is backing Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) with £150 million of capital through the Community ENABLE Funding programme, to support small businesses that are under-served by commercial lenders.Credit unions play a valuable role in providing both loans and savings, with 2.2 million members across the UK. Unlike CDFIs, which are not authorised to offer bank accounts, credit unions are able to attract customer deposits and are not reliant on wholesale finance. For this reason, the British Business Bank has no current plans to support credit unions to offer loans to small businesses.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps her Department plans to take to support the rebuilding of the Palestinian economy.

On 13 October, alongside representatives from the Egyptian Government and the Palestinian Authority, I co-hosted a summit at Wilton Park focused on how we can leverage in private finance to support the reconstruction of Gaza and the recovery of the Palestinian economy, attended by business leaders from the region, international partners, and financial experts from here in the UK.Both through short-term humanitarian relief, and long-term support, we are determined to help the Palestinian people as they rebuild their homes and livelihoods, and we will continue to drive international support for that effort as a crucial component of Phase Two of the US-led peace plan.

If she will take steps to ensure that young people are taught about co-operatives as part of the national curriculum.

​​A high quality citizenship education helps to provide pupils with the knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to play a full and active part in society. The citizenship curriculum is compulsory within the national curriculum at secondary and primary schools can choose to teach citizenship at key stages 1 and 2, following the non-statutory framework for citizenship.​Pupils should be taught about the roles played by public institutions and voluntary groups in society, which could include co-operatives, and the ways in which citizens work together to improve their communities.​The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is seeking to deliver a curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive. The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published shortly with the government’s response.

When sixth form colleges will be able to access the £375m of capital expansion funding earmarked in the Industrial Strategy.

We know that the 16 to 19 population has been increasing in some parts of England and that extra capacity has been needed in post-16 places in some areas.The post-16 Capacity Fund has already invested £282 million between 2021 to 2025 for additional capacity and we will be investing a further £375 million between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to provide additional places.We will make announcements in due course and provide further information about the delivery of the £375 million capital funding secured for the post-16 sector.

What steps her Department plans to take to encourage the growth of (a) building societies and (b) mutual insurers.

The government is committed to supporting the growth of financial mutuals in line with the manifesto commitment to double the size of the mutual and co-operative sector. HM Treasury has already announced measures to support financial mutuals and is currently progressing these. For building societies, HM Treasury has committed to progressing further amendments to the Building Societies Act 1986 following two statutory instruments being laid in October 2024. This will create a more supportive legislative environment for building societies. For friendly societies and mutual insurers, HM Treasury is funding the Law Commission’s independent review of Friendly Societies Acts 1974 and 1992, which will put forward recommendations to develop a more modern and supportive legislative environment for relevant societies. The government will carefully consider the findings of the review to understand whether legislative reform is needed. To support all financial mutuals, HM Treasury has also asked the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority to produce a report on the current landscape of the sector. This is expected to be published before the end of 2025. The government also welcomed the establishment of the Mutual and Co-operative Sector Business Council to provide a voice for the mutuals sector to support government policy. Representatives from major building societies, mutual insurers, and relevant trade bodies sit on the Council. The government also published the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, which will support all organisations in the financial services sector and encourages the sector to continue to work in partnership with government to deliver growth. The government welcomes its regular engagement with financial mutuals, including through the Council, to understand how best to support growth. This includes ministerial meetings and roundtables. For example, representatives from building societies, mutual insurers, and credit unions recently contributed their views at roundtables on the Growth & Competitiveness Strategy. Additionally, from November 2024 to March 2025 HM Treasury ran a call for evidence to collect formal responses on potential reform of the credit union common bond in Great Britain. Responses to this are now being considered and next steps will be communicated in due course.

What steps her Department plans to take to enable credit unions to offer mortgages.

The Government has made clear its strong support for the credit union sector, recognising the value that credit unions bring to their members in local communities across the country in providing savings products and affordable credit. Credit unions in Great Britain are already permitted to offer mortgages. It is the choice of individual credit unions whether they choose to offer mortgages, and some have chosen to do so. Credit unions who offer mortgages may be subject to additional regulatory requirements from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to account for the increased risk in providing such services.

What steps her Department has taken with (a) building societies, (b) friendly societies and (c) mutual insurers to grow the size of the mutual sector.

The government is committed to supporting the growth of financial mutuals in line with the manifesto commitment to double the size of the mutual and co-operative sector. HM Treasury has already announced measures to support financial mutuals and is currently progressing these. For building societies, HM Treasury has committed to progressing further amendments to the Building Societies Act 1986 following two statutory instruments being laid in October 2024. This will create a more supportive legislative environment for building societies. For friendly societies and mutual insurers, HM Treasury is funding the Law Commission’s independent review of Friendly Societies Acts 1974 and 1992, which will put forward recommendations to develop a more modern and supportive legislative environment for relevant societies. The government will carefully consider the findings of the review to understand whether legislative reform is needed. To support all financial mutuals, HM Treasury has also asked the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority to produce a report on the current landscape of the sector. This is expected to be published before the end of 2025. The government also welcomed the establishment of the Mutual and Co-operative Sector Business Council to provide a voice for the mutuals sector to support government policy. Representatives from major building societies, mutual insurers, and relevant trade bodies sit on the Council. The government also published the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, which will support all organisations in the financial services sector and encourages the sector to continue to work in partnership with government to deliver growth. The government welcomes its regular engagement with financial mutuals, including through the Council, to understand how best to support growth. This includes ministerial meetings and roundtables. For example, representatives from building societies, mutual insurers, and credit unions recently contributed their views at roundtables on the Growth & Competitiveness Strategy. Additionally, from November 2024 to March 2025 HM Treasury ran a call for evidence to collect formal responses on potential reform of the credit union common bond in Great Britain. Responses to this are now being considered and next steps will be communicated in due course.

Whether her Department plans to formally consult with financial mutual businesses on doubling the size of the mutual sector.

The government is committed to supporting the growth of financial mutuals in line with the manifesto commitment to double the size of the mutual and co-operative sector. HM Treasury has already announced measures to support financial mutuals and is currently progressing these. For building societies, HM Treasury has committed to progressing further amendments to the Building Societies Act 1986 following two statutory instruments being laid in October 2024. This will create a more supportive legislative environment for building societies. For friendly societies and mutual insurers, HM Treasury is funding the Law Commission’s independent review of Friendly Societies Acts 1974 and 1992, which will put forward recommendations to develop a more modern and supportive legislative environment for relevant societies. The government will carefully consider the findings of the review to understand whether legislative reform is needed. To support all financial mutuals, HM Treasury has also asked the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority to produce a report on the current landscape of the sector. This is expected to be published before the end of 2025. The government also welcomed the establishment of the Mutual and Co-operative Sector Business Council to provide a voice for the mutuals sector to support government policy. Representatives from major building societies, mutual insurers, and relevant trade bodies sit on the Council. The government also published the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, which will support all organisations in the financial services sector and encourages the sector to continue to work in partnership with government to deliver growth. The government welcomes its regular engagement with financial mutuals, including through the Council, to understand how best to support growth. This includes ministerial meetings and roundtables. For example, representatives from building societies, mutual insurers, and credit unions recently contributed their views at roundtables on the Growth & Competitiveness Strategy. Additionally, from November 2024 to March 2025 HM Treasury ran a call for evidence to collect formal responses on potential reform of the credit union common bond in Great Britain. Responses to this are now being considered and next steps will be communicated in due course.