Written questions by Ellis.

If he will request that NHS England and NICE evaluate the use of Tirzepatide, currently prescribed for weight loss on the NHS, as a potential treatment for Bile Acid Malabsorption.

Awaiting answer.

Whether her Department plans to increase staffing in specialist probate teams to reduce waiting times.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to improve transparency and reduce delays in the probate service.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to improve transparency and communication in the probate service; and whether the Government plans to increase staffing in specialist probate teams to reduce delays in straightforward applications.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to sections 38 and 39 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 on local authorities visiting home educated children, whether she plans to sanction parents if they cancel an arranged visit.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to sections 38 and 39 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 on local authorities visiting home educated children, whether she plans for parents to receive a draft report of the home visit for comment.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to sections 38 and 39 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 on local authorities visiting home educated children, whether she plans that visits must be pre-booked; and what systems will be in place for parents to verify the identity of visitors.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to sections 38 and 39 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 on local authorities visiting home educated children, whether she plans for local authorities to send advance notification of appointment times or if the visit must be arranged at a mutually convenient time.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to sections 38 and 39 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 on local authorities visiting home educated children, what methods will be used to contact parents and to ensure that the request to visit or the notification of a visit has been received.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to sections 38 and 39 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 on local authorities visiting home educated children, whether parents will be sanctioned if they do not respond to requests for home visits.

Awaiting answer.

Whether he plans to review the prescription payment penalty charge system.

There are no plans for such a review. NHS Penalty Charge Notices are issued in accordance with the National Health Service (Penalty Charge) Regulations 1999.

What data collection exists on the outcomes of people with a dementia diagnosis in care home settings.

NHS England collects and publishes data about people with dementia registered at each general practice (GP) in England. Dementia diagnosis counts are published with ethnicity and age breakdowns, prescriptions of anti-psychotic medications, and record of receiving a care plan review. Diagnosis rates are calculated by comparing recorded diagnoses to estimated dementia prevalence.From April 2023 data has also been collected on counts of patients on the GP’s dementia register which are aggregated into the following residential types:- residential care home;- nursing home;- private residence;- no permanent address;- other residential type; and- inconclusive residential type.

What steps he is taking to ensure that workers in Ribble Valley constituency have the right to a guaranteed hours contract.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 will ensure people can have the security they need by giving eligible workers the right to guaranteed hours.The next stage in implementation is a full public consultation on how the measures are implemented. Consultation will be key to ensure that the regulations deliver the benefits envisaged.Ahead of implementation, the government will publish clear guidance for employers and workers on the new right to guaranteed hours, ensuring that everyone understands their responsibilities and entitlements.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the growth of agricultural co-operatives.

The Good Food Cycle recognises the key role that co-operatives and community initiatives can play in supporting delivery of the growth, health, sustainability, and food security / resilience outcomes. As Defra develops a food strategy, the department will be considering how better to support local and place-based initiatives, to deliver the changes needed to deliver our outcomes.

What steps he is taking to ensure the validity of online evidence submitted to the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation Call for Evidence, including the verification methods for submissions.

The call for evidence only collects personal category data that is necessary to support its analysis and further our understanding of the experiences of different groups of women and families, in line with United Kingdom data protection proportionality principles. Individuals’ names or other identifiable information are not collected because they were not deemed necessary for analysis.Surveys are hosted by SurveyOptic, who are monitoring their network for unusual spikes in activity and will flag anything unusual to the investigation team to prevent bots. Throughout the analysis process, responses that appear to be duplicative, whether identical or near identical, will be removed.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the performance, environmental impact, and scalability of peat-free alternatives within horticulture.

Using the Responsible Sourcing Scheme for Growing Media methodology to assess the environmental impact of different types of growing media, it has been shown that all materials have an environmental impact, but for the most part, peat-alternatives have a lower environmental impact. We have funded research which has demonstrated that peat-alternatives can perform the same or better than peat-based growing media in commercial horticulture and we are continuing to fund the Royal Horticulture Society Transition to Peat-free Fellowship, which has already demonstrated successful peat replacement in commercial horticulture for some of the previously believed more challenging plants, e.g. ericaceous. We will continue to work with the industry to understand barriers to scale up.

Whether her Department has plans to implement mandatory trauma-informed training and accreditation for all professionals working with adopted children.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Ribble Valley to the answer of 13 January 2026 to Question 102909.

(i) whether Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) claims are matched to assessors with condition-specific expertise, (ii) whether the Department for Health and Social Care holds audits or quality assurance exercises on the accuracy and consistency of medical determinations under the VDPS since 2021, and (iii) what steps are being taken to ensure the transparency and accountability of the VDPS medical assessment process.

Each claim to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) is assessed on a case-by-case basis by a medical assessor. All medical assessors are General Medical Council registered doctors, who have undertaken specialised training in vaccine damage and disability assessment.The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), as the administrator of the VDPS, is responsible for managing quality assurance with the medical assessment supplier. Medical assessors write a comprehensive medical assessment report for each claim, explaining how they reached their decision and what evidence they considered. NHSBSA shares this report with the claimant.If a claim is rejected, the claimant can challenge the medical assessor’s decision by submitting a mandatory reversal request. The original decision will then be reviewed.

What powers other than additional funding she has to ensure Lancashire County Council fills potholes in Ribble Valley in a timely and thorough way.

In addition to providing funding, the Department uses a range of non-financial levers to drive improvement. These include requiring local highway authorities to publish annual highway maintenance transparency reports and to demonstrate compliance with best practice in asset management, including a greater focus on preventative maintenance.In January 2026, the Department also introduced a new traffic light rating system which assesses local highway authorities in England based on the condition of their roads, how much they spend to maintain their roads, and whether they do so using best practice. Lancashire County Council received an overall amber rating, with individual scorecards showing amber for condition, green for spend and amber for best practice.These ratings will be updated annually, providing an incentive to authorities to adopt best practice, and enabling the Department to identify where to target support to ensure road condition improves nationwide. The Department is also updating the Code of Practice this year, the first update since 2017, to ensure the Code reflects the latest developments in relation to the effective management of highways maintenance works.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of measures taken to raise public awareness of The Countryside Code.

The Department has not conducted a formal effectiveness assessment of action to raise awareness of the Countryside Code. However, through Natural England, we continue to promote the Code via public information campaigns, including educational outreach with schools and wider public campaigns on responsible behaviour such as keeping dogs on leads. Natural England also partnered with Shaun the Sheep as part of a 2023–25 campaign to engage children, young people, and families in learning about the Countryside Code and promoting responsible behaviour around livestock. These initiatives demonstrate our continued efforts to raise awareness of the Countryside Code and communicate its messages to the public, helping to ensure that people enjoy the countryside safely and responsibly.