Written questions by Davies.

If he will take steps to use the Healthy Food Standard to help ensure that supermarkets provide a range of affordable, healthy products in smaller convenience stores.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he plans to take to improve the level of consultant staffing in pathology departments to meed the target of 98% of histopathology tests to be reported within 10 days by March 2029, as sp

Awaiting answer.

What progress his Department has made on improving support for carers via the carer allowance system.

We have accepted or partially accepted 38 of the 40 recommendations in Liz Sayce’s independent review of Carer’s Allowance overpayments. We are working on plans to improve and modernise Carer’s Allowance (CA), making it easier for unpaid carers to combine...

For an update on the progress of the Palliative and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework.

The Government is developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care in England. The MSF is a clinically-led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvements in outcomes for patients and carers, including by re...

What assessment he has made of the potential contribution of community-owned renewable energy to energy security.

Community owned renewable energy will strengthen our energy security by increasing local clean power, reducing exposure to fossil fuel markets and improving the resilience of our energy system.Government is driving a major expansion of community-owned ene...

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help UK robotics and autonomous systems manufacturers to scale up their operations.

Government measures to support British technology companies, including robotics firms, to scale up in the UK comprises crowding-in private sector investment via the British Business Bank and National Wealth Fund, both with expanded capitalisations and a m...

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the proportion of Phase II and Phrase III in commercial oncology clinical trials.

The Department holds data on commercial clinical trials by phase and therapeutic area, including oncology. However, we do not routinely assess trends in specific segments such as Phase II and Phase III oncology clinical trials.We use this information alon...

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of setting up a database of genomic-enabled trials.

No specific assessment has been made. As set out in our Life Sciences Sector Plan, the Government will design and create a single searchable database of United Kingdom clinical trials by June 2026.As we implement the UK clinical trials database, we will c...

What estimate his Department has made of the number of people in England with epilepsy who experience tonic-clonic seizures and are not seizure-free despite treatment.

The Department does not hold data the number of people in England with epilepsy who continue to experience tonic‑clonic seizures despite treatment. Detailed national data on seizure type, seizure frequency, and individual treatment response are not routinely collected centrally.However, independent prevalence studies indicate that approximately one‑third of people with epilepsy have drug‑resistant epilepsy, meaning their seizures are not fully controlled despite appropriate treatment. For some of these individuals, seizures may include ongoing tonic‑clonic seizures, although the specific proportion varies depending on factors such as epilepsy type, underlying cause, and access to specialist care.

What steps his Department is taking to develop the UK’s renewable energy sector in response to the current international oil crisis.

We are accelerating investment in homegrown clean power to boost energy security and cut exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets. We are bringing forward the next renewables auction to July, introducing low cost ‘plug-in solar’ for households, and applying the lessons of the Fingleton Review to speed up delivery of critical infrastructure, including renewables.

What assessment he has made of the role of Legal Aid in enabling consumers to hold water companies to account for overcharging and environmental damage.

The scope of legal aid is set out under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and applicants are subject to relevant means and merits tests. Legal aid is available in relation to injunctions for nuisance arising from prescribed types of pollution of the environment, and for public law challenges, such as judicial reviews of decisions concerning water regulation. This would cover challenges that would benefit the environment. Proceedings related to private consumer law are generally not in scope.Where an issue falls outside the scope of legal aid, individuals can apply for Exceptional Case Funding (ECF), which will be granted where they can show that without legal aid, there is a risk that their human rights may be breached. ECF applications are considered by the Legal Aid Agency on an individual basis.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the provision of data on employee health benefits to SME decision makers on levels of employee ill health.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is working with the Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health and Social Care on the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase, focused on tackling health-related economic inactivity and promoting healthy and inclusive workplaces. We are partnering with employers of all sectors and sizes, including SMEs, alongside employee health benefit providers, to test and identify what interventions are most effective in preventing and managing employee ill health. This will include exploring what support SMEs need to make informed decisions about accessing suitable health benefit provision.

What data her Department holds on the Holiday Activities and Food Programme from returns submitted by local authorities following the end of each holiday period.

For the holiday, activities and food (HAF) programme, the department collects data from local authorities after each delivery period, to support performance monitoring, inform policy development and support evaluation.Data collection includes the number of children attending HAF provision, broken down by characteristics such as free school meal (FSM) eligibility, as well as the number of places available and how well providers meet the HAF framework of standards.Since 2022, the HAF programme has provided 20.4 million HAF days to children and young people in this country, providing nutritious meals and enriching activities during school holidays, benefitting their health, wellbeing and readiness to learn. Over the three most recent winter, Easter and summer delivery periods, almost five million HAF days were provided. Over summer 2025, local authorities reported that over 624,000 children and young people attended the programme, of whom more than 513,000 were funded directly through HAF and over 434,000 were receiving benefits-related FSMs.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his department is taking to expand leaseholder right of first refusal.

The government is committed to implementing measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 to make enfranchisement cheaper and easier. The Act sets the method for calculating the price of a statutory lease extension or freehold acquisition, known as the valuation process. It removes the requirement for marriage value to be paid, caps the treatment of ground rents in the valuation calculation at 0.1% of the freehold value, and allows government to prescribe the rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium. Valuation rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium will be set by the Secretary of State in secondary legislation. We will consult on valuation rates and commence the relevant provisions as soon as possible. As per my Written Ministerial Statement of 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), primary legislation will be required to rectify a small number of specific flaws in the 2024 Act before the Act’s enfranchisement provisions are commenced. Once brought into force, these measures, together with the already implemented removal of the two-year qualifying rule for enfranchisement, will mean leaseholders will be able to buy their freehold at any time, at a fair price.

Whether the forthcoming National Cancer Plan will contain measures to ensure patients with blood cancer can access lifesaving and cutting-edge new therapies via the NHS.

The National Cancer Plan, to be published in the coming weeks, will set out in more detail how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology. The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention, and research and innovation. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including improving access to lifesaving and cutting-edge new treatment.Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Government invests over £1.6 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Cancer is a major area of NIHR spending at £141.6 million in 2024/25, reflecting its high priority. For example, the NIHR supported the development of an immunotherapy for patients with an aggressive form of leukaemia, which was approved for routine use in the National Health Service by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in November 2025.

If he will take steps to ensure NHS patients with Mantle Cell Lymphoma will continue to be able to receive the CAR-T treatment Tecartus after it has exited the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the basis of an evaluation of their costs and benefits. NICE is currently re-evaluating brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus) to determine whether it can be recommended for routine NHS use, taking into account real-world evidence generated through its use in the Cancer Drugs Fund. NICE has been unable to recommend the treatment in final draft guidance, which is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ta11545/documentsThis is because the available evidence does not suggest that brexucabtagene autoleucel is value for money in this population. Final guidance has not yet been published, and consultees have until 19 January to appeal NICE’s final draft recommendations.In line with an arrangement between NHS England and the company, if NICE’s final guidance does not recommend use, patients who started treatment during the managed access period can continue their treatment.

What specific clinical, economic, or operational thresholds (e.g., prevalence shifts, new NICE guidance, excess out of pocket costs) would need to be met to trigger a formal review of the medical exemption list.

There are no current plans to review the list of prescription charge exemptions or the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate. There are no specific conditions that need to be met to trigger a formal review.

Whether he plans to review the medical exemption list, in the context of their being no formal review since 1968.

There are no current plans to review the list of prescription charge exemptions or the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate. There are no specific conditions that need to be met to trigger a formal review.

What discussions he has had with energy suppliers on the adequacy of support for consumers with power outages.

The National Energy System Operator has assured me of its assessment that industry have suitable arrangements in place this winter. Network operators have established customer support measures for power outages, including communications, welfare provision and tailored support for vulnerable customers.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the strategy Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, whether she plans to publish the UK alternative method priorities by January 2026.

The Government’s strategy to support replacing animals in science commits to publish biennially a list of alternative-methods research and development priorities, coalescing UK scientists around these areas and incentivising partnerships between research organisations, CROs and industry. These will be published during 2026 following development with stakeholders as part of the implementation of the strategy.