Written questions by Blake.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to amend the definition of statutory overcrowding to prevent living and dining rooms being defined as bedrooms.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the impact of the shortage of consultant cardiologists on NHS waiting lists (i) nationally and (ii) in South Yorkshire.

Awaiting answer.

What support is being provided to GPs to enable them to participate in shared‑care arrangements for ADHD.

Awaiting answer.

What discussions his Department has had with Integrated Care Boards on the potential impact of women who are on waiting lists for medical treatment on their decision-making for when they have children.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department plans to take to recruit NHS cardiologists (a) nationally and (b) in regions suffering from shortages.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to reduce cardiology waiting lists (a) nationally and (b) in South Yorkshire.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment they have made of the consistency and adequacy of shared‑care protocols for adults with ADHD across integrated care boards.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, if he will introduce recall petition powers for communities in relation to their elected council representatives.

Awaiting answer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what coordination has taken place between her Department and international partners regarding the ongoing issues in Jammu and Kashmir.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made in implementing the Animal Welfare Committee's recommendations on lamb castration and tail docking.

Awaiting answer.

Whether an equality impact assessment has been undertaken for the raised 'standard of proof' for asylum claims, as amended following the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.

Awaiting answer.

If she will review the national standards that utility companies are required to follow for roads and pavements, including reviewing section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 to reduce the requirement for a resurfaced area to be 30m long before protections apply, and for protections to apply where works have been undertaken by private companies.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the causes of delays in issuing Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry results within NHS trusts in England.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of current eligibility criteria for long-service medallic recognition for former Volunteer Reserve personnel who completed service prior to 1 April 1999; an

Prior to the introduction of the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal in April 1999, service in the Reserve Forces was appropriately recognised by the separate decorations and medals that were awarded respectively to officers and other ranks in each of the Se...

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of delayed Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry scan results on timely diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis.

NHS England guidance sets out that imaging reports must be provided within four weeks, or 28 days, of image acquisition. All National Health Service providers and imaging networks are expected to meet this. Guidance can be found at the following link:http...

What assessment his Department has made of the implications for the rights of disabled people of the recent Supreme Court ruling concerning the assessment of deprivation of liberty.

The Department’s priority is to safeguard vulnerable people and ensure their rights are protected. We are considering the Supreme Court’s judgment carefully, which sets out the factors to be applied when determining whether a person is deprived of their l...

What assessment her department has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to indefinite leave to remain for survivors of domestic abuse.

Proposals for introducing an earned settlement model, as set out in the Command Paper “A Fairer Pathway to Settlement” (CP1448), were subject to a public consultation, which opened on 20 November 2025 and closed on 12 February 2026.As part of this consultation, we sought views on the potential impact of the proposed changes on vulnerable groups, including how an earned settlement system may be tailored for victims of domestic abuse.We are now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model, including consideration of any potential exemptions or transitional measures for those already on a pathway to settlement.Once the final model has been decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly.  As with all significant policy changes, the proposals will be subject to both economic impact assessments and equality impact assessments, which we will make available when the full response to the consultation is published.

What consideration has the Government made of the potential impact of shareholder digitisation on a) cooperatives, b) small businesses and c) social enterprises.

The Digitisation Taskforce, chaired by Sir Douglas Flint, published a report in July 2025 with its recommendations on how to modernise the UK’s shareholding framework, including removing paper shares. The report focused on companies whose securities are traded publicly, and did not cover private, unlisted companies or other entities. The government has accepted his recommendations. The Dematerialisation Market Action Taskforce (DEMAT), chaired by Mark Austin, is now taking forward work to implement the recommendations from the report.

What measures he is taking to support long-term sick people to gain paid and accessible employment.

Long-term sickness continues to be the most common reason for economic inactivity among the working age population. We know that good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade.People with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. The Government is committed to supporting people with health conditions with their employment journey. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants. Through Pathways to Work we are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits, building on and bringing together initiatives such as Connect to Work, WorkWell and Employment Advisers in Talking Therapies. Additionally, we have developed a digital information service for employers and continue to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme. In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published the Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to help employers create healthier, more inclusive workplaces and to reshape how Government works with employers to improve work and health outcomes. We are now working with volunteer employers, providers and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches that support disabled people and people with long‑term physical and mental health conditions to thrive in work. This includes developing effective stay‑in‑work and return‑to‑work practices, strengthening prevention, and building the evidence needed to spread good practice so that disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions receive the support they need to remain in employment successfully. The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan states our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.

Whether she plans to take steps to prevent childcare providers from asking parents of children who are receiving publicly-funded care to pay extra charges.

It is important that government childcare entitlements are accessible and affordable for families. Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high-quality, flexible childcare. The 15 or 30 hours must be able to be accessed free of charge to parents. There must not be any mandatory charges for parents in relation to the entitlement hours. The statutory guidance makes clear that government funding for the entitlements does not cover consumables like meals, nappies or sun cream or additional activities, such as trips. Providers are able to offer and ask parents to pay for these things, provided they are not mandatory or a condition of accessing an entitlements place.We advise parents to discuss with their childcare provider in the first instance if they have any queries around their childcare costs. They should then contact their local council if they remain concerned with how they are receiving their entitlement offer or if they need help finding an entitlements place.