Written questions by Whittome.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the UN in relation to comments by the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council on 22 May 2025 on the (a) Supreme Court judgement in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers and (b) interim guidance issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the practical implications of the UK Supreme Court judgment, published on 25 April 2025.

There have been no discussions with the UN in relation to the Human Rights Council Special Procedures news release on 22 May 2025.

With reference to the paper entitled Understanding asylum seeker and asylum-route refugee vulnerabilities, needs, and support (2022), published on 22 May 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential implication for her policies of the statement in that paper's Executive Summary that there is widespread evidence that the asylum system exacerbates and creates, rather than alleviates, vulnerabilities for people seeking asylum.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under review, taking into account a wide range of research and evidence, as well as consultation with relevant experts and stakeholders.

With reference to her Department’s research entitled Understanding asylum seeker and refugee vulnerabilities and needs (2022), published on 22 May 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential implications of its findings for her policies on (a) asylum seeker safeguarding and (b) enforcement culture in her Department.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under review, taking into account a wide range of research and evidence, as well as consultation with relevant experts and stakeholders.

What steps her Department is taking to improve safety for (a) pedestrians, (b) cyclists, and (c) other road users, in the context of the increase in the use of electric bikes and scooters.

The Government understands that perceived safety can be a barrier to more people choosing to walk, wheel or cycle. This is why the Department has recently announced almost £300 million of funding for active travel in 2024/5 and 2025/6. While it is for local authorities to make decisions on investment in their active travel networks, Active Travel England works with officers to help support compliance with best practice when delivering walking, wheeling and cycling schemes. Additionally, The Highway Code was updated in 2022 to improve the safety of all road users, particularly the most vulnerable. Key changes included the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, along with the strengthening of guidance on safe passing distances and speeds when overtaking cyclists and horse-riders. No policy decisions on micromobility or e-scooter regulations have yet been made. The Department will consult on any new proposed regulations before they come into force. Until changes are made, private e-scooters remain illegal to use on public roads, cycle lanes and pavements and rental e-scooters can only be used as part of the Government’s rental e-scooter trials. Enforcement is a matter for the police. The government is making our streets safer, by introducing new cycling offences to tackle those rare instances where victims have been killed or seriously injured by irresponsible cyclist behaviour. This will ensure that all road users, whose behaviour results in the death or serious injury of another road user will face the same penalties.

What assessment he has made of the merits of continuing opt-out testing of Hepatitis (a) B and (b) C in Nottingham University Hospitals’ Emergency Department.

The emergency department opt-out testing programme will continue to test individuals for bloodborne viruses, including HIV and viral hepatitis, in line with committed funding plans. The Government is committed to reducing the incidence of viral hepatitis, including by reducing the number of people living with the condition without a diagnosis. NHS England is currently reviewing its budgetary position, with a view to determining whether funding can be made available to extend the provision of opt out testing for viral hepatitis, particularly for those sites whose committed funding will end during 2025. This includes the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, and therefore NHS England is engaged in discussions with the trust on this important programme.

What progress his Department has made in implementing the NHS Accessible Information Standard.

Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which details the recommended approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, including deaf people.NHS England has been undertaking a review of the AIS to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss are met in health and care provision. A self-assessment framework has been developed to support providers of NHS and social care services to measure their performance against the AIS, and to develop improvement action plans to address gaps in implementation.A revised AIS will be published in due course. In the meantime, the current AIS remains in force, and therefore there should be no gap in provision for people using services. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication, and engagement, and with a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using services.

With reference to the White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, whether the proposed increase in the standard qualifying period for permanent residence from five to ten years will apply only to newly-arrived migrants.

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at that time.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund on children.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Nottingham East to the answer of 13 May 2025 to Question 49523.

What steps she is taking to ensure that (a) creditors and (b) debt collection agencies (i) respond to customer enquiries and (ii) amend credit files in a timely manner.

Consumer credit lenders and debt collection agencies are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and must comply with its rules. Under the FCA’s Consumer Duty, providing effective customer support is a key requirement. Regulated firms must provide customer support that is prompt, accessible, and easy to understand. The FCA also expects firms to regularly review and improve their customer support processes. In accordance with data protection laws, a person’s credit file must accurately reflect their credit history. If a consumer thinks their credit record is inaccurate, then they should first contact their lender or the relevant reference agency (CRA) and ask them to update their details. If a consumer believes these organisations have not corrected the inaccurate information they have reported, they can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO enforces data protection laws and may take action if it finds the CRA has failed to make necessary corrections.

With reference to the Written Statement of 5 December 2024 on Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led government, HCWS285 and the Chapter on An NHs Fit for the Future, if he will publish plans to reduce waiting times for mental health services.

Our 10-Year Health Plan will inform the future vision and delivery plan for mental health services in England. Earlier intervention remains a key focus of the plan, with the aim of reducing pressure on mental health services.The Government is delivering new and innovative models of care in the community. We have launched six neighbourhood adult mental health centres that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to bring together community, crisis, and inpatient care.NHS England’s Planning Guidance for 2025/26 makes clear that for this year, to support reform and improvements, we expect all providers to reduce the variation in children and young people accessing services and improve productivity.We are also improving data quality so we can support providers in understanding demand across their areas. Since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting time metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication, to help services target the longest waits.

What steps he is taking to ensure that people living in Nottingham East constituency have access to NHS dentistry when they need it.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Nottingham East constituency, this is the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB. ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB is expected to deliver 24,360 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.ICBs have started to advertise posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years. As of 10 April 2025, in England, there are 53 dentists in post with a further 44 dentists who have been recruited but are yet to start in post. Another 256 posts are currently advertised.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease have access to (a) appropriate information, (b) treatment options and (c) a multidisciplinary care team.

There are 27 specialised neurological treatment centres across the National Health Service in England, which provide access to neurological multidisciplinary teams to ensure that patients with Parkinson’s disease can receive specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.Most services for long-term conditions are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), including for Parkinson’s. It is the responsibility of ICBs, working with clinicians, service users, and patient groups, to develop local services and care pathways that are convenient and that meet patients’ needs.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of long-term conditions for use by healthcare professionals and commissioners. The NICE published Parkinson’s disease in adults guidance in July 2017, which is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71/chapter/recommendationsThe NICE guidance includes that communication with people with Parkinson's disease should aim towards empowering them to participate in judgements and choices about their own care, and individually tailored and consistent communication from the professionals involved.We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and improve care for people with long-term conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease. A central and core part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to make it more accessible, proactive, and tailored for patients.

What steps he is taking to ensure that patients referred for a potential diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease are seen by a neurologist within 18 weeks.

The Government is committed to delivering the National Health Service constitutional standard for 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. This includes patients waiting for elective treatment on neurological pathways.We have taken our first step towards delivering this commitment goal by exceeding our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments in our first year in office, having now delivered over three million more appointments.The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard.The Getting It Right First Time programme, which provides tailored regional and national support to providers, also has a neurology specific Further Faster workstream. This is a clinically led initiative supporting peer to peer learning and improvement. A neurology 'handbook' and checklist with benchmarked data and case studies has been published and there are regular neurology online sessions for clinical and operational leads.

What steps she is taking to ensure that creditors and debt collection agencies respond to customer enquiries and amend credit files in a timely manner.

Under data protection laws, the information on a person’s credit file must accurately reflect their credit history. If an individual believes that an organisation, such as a creditor or a debt collection agency, has not corrected inaccurate information reported to credit reference agencies, they can submit a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is responsible for upholding information rights and enforcing data protection legislation. If the ICO finds that the organisation has indeed failed to make the necessary corrections, it may take enforcement action.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of her proposed changes to disability benefits on (a) people who receive social care support and (b) social care support providers.

This Government has already started to bring about change to address health-related economic inactivity. We are injecting almost £26 billion of extra funding next year to get the health and social care system back on its feet and bring down waiting lists. The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out our plans to reform the health and disability and employment support system. As we bring forward changes, we will ensure that the most vulnerable and severely disabled people are protected, so that they can live with dignity and security. For those affected by the changes to PIP eligibility, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. For new claimants on the Universal Credit health element after April 2026, we are proposing that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected. As we develop detailed proposals for change, we will continue to consider the potential impacts of reforms.

What steps she is taking to help improve (a) early intervention and (b) post-adoption support for (i) adoptive parents and (ii) local authorities.

The government’s goal is to ensure all adoptive families receive ongoing support from the moment the child is placed with them and throughout their childhood, delivering on the government’s mission to provide all children with the best start in life and breaking down barriers to opportunity.The department has recently announced funding of £8.8 million for Adoption England to improve adoption services, including adoption support. This includes supporting regional adoption agencies (RAAs) to provide an early support core offer for all families in the first 12 to 18 months after an adoption placement, as well as providing families with a new adoption support plan to give them information and guidance, including how they can access help.Adoption England will be supporting RAAs to develop and make sustainable Centres of Excellence with local health partners, so families receive holistic assessment and packages of support.They will also be supporting RAAs to put in place services that can respond quickly and more effectively to adoptive families in crisis.The government will be providing therapeutic support to adoptive children via the £50 million adoption and special guardianship support fund. Local authorities and RAAs can apply for funding of up to £3,000 per child.Adoptive families can also receive help from local authority Family Help services. The government is doubling investment in these services to over £500 million in the 2025/26 financial year.

Whether she has had discussions with the Metropolitan Police on the policing at the Quaker meeting house in Westminster on 27 March 2025.

The Metropolitan Police are operationally independent of the government. It is for the police to make decisions about how to respond to specific incidents based on their professional judgement and the circumstances at hand.

If she will make caste-based discrimination illegal.

No one should suffer prejudice or discrimination on any grounds, including any perception of their caste. The judgment of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Tirkey v. Chandhok shows that someone claiming caste discrimination may rely on existing statutory remedies in the Equality Act 2010 where they can show that their ‘caste’ is related to their ethnic origin, which is itself an aspect of 'race' under the 2010 Act.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Nicaraguan counterpart on the detention of (a) Carmen María Sáenz Martinez and (b) Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda.

We share widespread international concern about the relentless suppression of human rights in Nicaragua. We continue to urge the Nicaraguan authorities to re-establish democratic freedoms in our engagements with the Nicaraguan Embassy and in Managua, as well as through our public statements in international fora. Most recently, on 28 February at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, we raised our grave human rights concerns, including relating to freedom of religion and belief, and arbitrary detentions. Nicaragua's declaration on 27 February that it is leaving the UN Human Rights Council does not change the need to hold the authorities accountable for the suppression of human rights in Nicaragua.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the (a) recruitment of nurses and (b) availability of jobs for newly qualified nurses.

Decisions about the employment of newly qualified nurses are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.We will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need.