Written questions by Davies.

What recent progress his Department has made on the Small Business Command Paper.

We launched ‘Backing Your Business – our plan for small and medium-sized enterprises’ on 31 July. It is a long-term strategy focussing on five areas:Fixing the Fundamentals by tackling late payments and cutting regulatory burdensUnlocking Access to FinanceBacking the Everyday Economy by revitalising our high streetsFuture-Proofing SMEs with support for digital adoptionOpening Up Opportunities through export support, public procurement reform, and a new Business Growth ServiceThis strategy, together with the Industrial Strategy, is just the start of our commitment to work hand-in-hand with SMEs to drive growth.

What steps she is taking to ensure adequate (a) training and (b) guidance for PIP assessors on (i) arthritis and (ii) other chronic, fluctuating health conditions.

The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment evaluates how an individual’s condition affects their ability to live independently, rather than focusing solely on the nature or severity of their condition. The assessment considers whether a person can carry out specific activities safely, reliably, repeatedly, and within a reasonable time frame. The process should not assess individuals based on their ‘best days’; instead, it is intended to consider the overall impact of a condition over time, specifically considering functional limitations that occur on more than 50% of days within a given period All health professionals (HPs) are fully qualified in their health discipline and have passed strict recruitment and experience criteria. They are also required to be registered with the appropriate regulatory body. The department authorises HPs to conduct assessments only after suppliers demonstrate that the HP has successfully completed a department approved training and appraisal programme. This process confirms that HPs possess a sound understanding of the clinical aspects and likely functional effects of a broad range of health conditions. As of September 2024, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) took over responsibility for the Core Training and Guidance Material (CTGM) used within the Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS). This material is provided by DWP to HAAS assessment suppliers, who are required to incorporate all relevant CTGM content related to specific conditions and assessment policies into their final training products. DWP has provided suppliers with specific CTGM on rheumatoid arthritis, alongside a broader suite of training materials covering a range of long-term, fluctuating health conditions. These contain clinical and functional information relevant to the condition and is quality assured to ensure its accuracy from both a clinical and policy perspective.

What steps she is taking to support people with musculoskeletal conditions to (a) find and (b) remain in work.

Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. In our March Green Paper, we set out our Pathways to Work Guarantee, backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by 2030 and a total of £2.2 billion by over four years. Our £2.2bn Pathways to Work investment brings our total investment in employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions to £3.8 billion over this Parliament. We will build towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits.Disabled people and 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. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals, including people with musculoskeletal conditions, to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care, and WorkWell.We also recognise that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the DWP and DHSC Joint Work & Health Directorate (JWHD) is facilitating “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025. Additionally, the JWHD has developed a digital information service for employers, continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care have worked together on the 10 Year Health Plan, ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. The Plan sets out the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs, including for disabled people. We will further pilot the integration of employment advisers and work coaches into the neighbourhood health service, so that working age people with long term health conditions have an integrated public service offer. A patient’s employment goals will be part of care plans, to support more joined up service provision.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to take a decision on the UK’s contribution to the Global Fund’s 8th replenishment.

The UK's pledge to the Global Fund's Eighth Replenishment will be determined later in the year following the conclusion of the process to set multi-year Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding allocations.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 31 July 2025 to Question 69165 on Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: Finance, if he will publish a timeframe for an announcement on the UK’s contribution to the Global Fund’s 8th Replenishment.

The UK's pledge to the Global Fund's Eighth Replenishment will be determined later in the year following the conclusion of the process to set multi-year Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding allocations.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to page 270 of his Department’s report entitled FCDO annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025, published on 22 July 2025, whether the increase in spending on multilateral subscriptions to international organisations includes contributions to global health multilaterals.

No, spending on global health multilaterals is captured within the health section of the report, alongside bilateral health programmes.The UK is committed to our work on global health, including boosting global health security and investing in multilateral funds like Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Global Fund to fight disease and help save millions of lives.From 2026 to 2030, the UK will invest £1.25 billion in support of Gavi's mission. This will support the immunisation of 62.5m children, saving around 1.25m lives.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to have discussions with international partners at the 2025 G20 Summit on the UK and South Africa’s role as co-hosts of the Global Fund’s 8th Replenishment.

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.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether Heads of Mission are taking steps to generate support for the Global Fund’s 8th replenishment.

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.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to use the UK’s role as a co-host of the Global Fund’s 8th Replenishment to encourage contributions from international partners.

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.

When he plans to introduce the New Business Growth Service.

The Department for Business and Trade launched the Business Growth Service (BGS) in July alongside our Plan for Small Business. We will continue iterating the business.gov.uk online offer through continued engagement with SMEs from across all sectors and regions in the UK making BGS the front door to all government business support.The Department engages routinely with retailers of all types, including independent retailers, through key trade associations. The service will regularly review user feedback to ensure it delivers what businesses need to support their growth and productivity. We continue to engage widely with stakeholders, especially entrepreneurs and small business owners, on the design and implementation of the service with a series of roundtables and consultation events across the country.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to page 269 of his Department’s report entitled FCDO annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025, published on 22 July 2025, how the reduction in the spend of the Health Institutions and Health Security Department was calculated.

The reduction in spend by the Health Institutions and Health Security Department between 2024/25 and 2025/26 is calculated by comparing Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme allocations in 2025/26 with ODA programme outturn in 2024/25. Some of the payments made in 2024/25, including key contributions to Gavi and WHO, had originally been planned for 2025/26 and were brought forward to 2024/25 to ease future budget pressures. The reduction in spend largely reflects this re-profiling. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will meet all multilateral commitments in 2025/26 and continues to prioritise high impact global health institutions through strategic, multi-year funding.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to page 269 of his Department’s report entitled FCDO annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025, published on 22 July 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reduction in the spend of the Health Institutions and Health Security Department on the contribution to global health multilaterals.

The reduction in spend by the Health Institutions and Health Security Department between 2024/25 and 2025/26 is calculated by comparing Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme allocations in 2025/26 with ODA programme outturn in 2024/25. Some of the payments made in 2024/25, including key contributions to Gavi and WHO, had originally been planned for 2025/26 and were brought forward to 2024/25 to ease future budget pressures. The reduction in spend largely reflects this re-profiling. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will meet all multilateral commitments in 2025/26 and continues to prioritise high impact global health institutions through strategic, multi-year funding.

Whether he has had discussions with independent retailers on the development of the New Business Growth Service.

The Department for Business and Trade launched the Business Growth Service (BGS) in July alongside our Plan for Small Business. We will continue iterating the business.gov.uk online offer through continued engagement with SMEs from across all sectors and regions in the UK making BGS the front door to all government business support.The Department engages routinely with retailers of all types, including independent retailers, through key trade associations. The service will regularly review user feedback to ensure it delivers what businesses need to support their growth and productivity. We continue to engage widely with stakeholders, especially entrepreneurs and small business owners, on the design and implementation of the service with a series of roundtables and consultation events across the country.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding his Department plans to provide for global health programmes in each of the next three years.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) published 2025/26 Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme allocations in the Annual Report & Accounts on 22 July 2025. The Department is working through how to programme this spend. The FCDO publishes programme information in DevTracker and reports on ODA spend in the Statistics on International Development publication.Over the coming months, we will work through detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used from 2026/27 to 2028/29, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments, ahead of publishing indicative multi-year allocations in the autumn.Reducing the overall size of our ODA budget will necessarily have an impact on the scale and shape of the work we do. We will sharpen our focus on humanitarian, health and climate and nature.At the Gavi Summit on 25 June the Foreign Secretary announced an additional £1.25 billion investment in Gavi. This will support the immunisation of 62.5 million children, saving around 1.25 million lives.

What steps his Department is taking to help tackle inequalities in early diagnosis of bowel cancer caused by late presentation by patients to health services.

Reducing unwarranted variation in cancer treatment and diagnosing cancer, including bowel cancer, earlier are high priorities for the National Health Service. The National Cancer Plan will include further details on what will be done to improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, and ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, including for bowel cancer patients.The bowel cancer screening standards have recently been reviewed by NHS England with representatives from the Department included, with changes taking effect from 1 April 2025. This will update the achievable and acceptable thresholds for both uptake and coverage. To further increase coverage across the population in England, NHS England is delivering new approaches to communicating with people about screening through the NHS App. NHS England is also working on improvements to the way eligible people are identified and invited for screening through the transformation of screening programme digital services.NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns run across England and are publicly accessible. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point. Previous phases of the campaigns have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of bowel cancer. It is the responsibility of local National Health Service organisations to consider whether they wish to run additional campaigns tailored to the needs of their local population and aligned to their service provision.Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer care, including for bowel cancer, is a priority for the Government. The NHS England Cancer Programme commissions clinical cancer audits, which provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. Rather than a single audit, NHS England commissions ten audits, by tumour type, including for bowel cancer. On 31 December 2024, the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre published its State of the Nation Report on Bowel Cancer, and the initial recommendations are informing improvements in treatment and care.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the rates of early diagnosis of bowel cancer.

Reducing unwarranted variation in cancer treatment and diagnosing cancer, including bowel cancer, earlier are high priorities for the National Health Service. The National Cancer Plan will include further details on what will be done to improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, and ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, including for bowel cancer patients.The bowel cancer screening standards have recently been reviewed by NHS England with representatives from the Department included, with changes taking effect from 1 April 2025. This will update the achievable and acceptable thresholds for both uptake and coverage. To further increase coverage across the population in England, NHS England is delivering new approaches to communicating with people about screening through the NHS App. NHS England is also working on improvements to the way eligible people are identified and invited for screening through the transformation of screening programme digital services.NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns run across England and are publicly accessible. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point. Previous phases of the campaigns have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of bowel cancer. It is the responsibility of local National Health Service organisations to consider whether they wish to run additional campaigns tailored to the needs of their local population and aligned to their service provision.Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer care, including for bowel cancer, is a priority for the Government. The NHS England Cancer Programme commissions clinical cancer audits, which provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. Rather than a single audit, NHS England commissions ten audits, by tumour type, including for bowel cancer. On 31 December 2024, the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre published its State of the Nation Report on Bowel Cancer, and the initial recommendations are informing improvements in treatment and care.

What steps his Department is taking to help improve outcomes for bowel cancer.

Reducing unwarranted variation in cancer treatment and diagnosing cancer, including bowel cancer, earlier are high priorities for the National Health Service. The National Cancer Plan will include further details on what will be done to improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, and ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, including for bowel cancer patients.The bowel cancer screening standards have recently been reviewed by NHS England with representatives from the Department included, with changes taking effect from 1 April 2025. This will update the achievable and acceptable thresholds for both uptake and coverage. To further increase coverage across the population in England, NHS England is delivering new approaches to communicating with people about screening through the NHS App. NHS England is also working on improvements to the way eligible people are identified and invited for screening through the transformation of screening programme digital services.NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns run across England and are publicly accessible. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point. Previous phases of the campaigns have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of bowel cancer. It is the responsibility of local National Health Service organisations to consider whether they wish to run additional campaigns tailored to the needs of their local population and aligned to their service provision.Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer care, including for bowel cancer, is a priority for the Government. The NHS England Cancer Programme commissions clinical cancer audits, which provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. Rather than a single audit, NHS England commissions ten audits, by tumour type, including for bowel cancer. On 31 December 2024, the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre published its State of the Nation Report on Bowel Cancer, and the initial recommendations are informing improvements in treatment and care.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase the number of trees planted for the purpose of improving carbon capture.

Trees and forests are essential to our climate and nature goals. Tree planting rates in England are at their highest in 20 years and in March we launched the Western Forest, the first new national forest in 30 years. Working together with forest countries, the UK is also playing a leading role in driving international efforts to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030 for people, nature and climate.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) global health and (b) related international funding will be discussed at the UK-France summit.

As part of the UK-France Summit, the Foreign Secretary agreed with his counterpart that the UK and France should specifically collaborate on issues such as global health security; Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR); One Health, including Antimicrobial Resistance; reform of global health architecture; universal health coverage and equitable health policies; and nutrition. These reflect shared priorities in global health.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of social prescribing on (a) reducing GP appointments and (b) improving patient wellbeing in (i) mental health and (ii) social isolation.

The Government has underlined its commitment to taking a preventive approach to address health inequalities. We are determined to improve people’s physical and mental health, to support them to live longer and healthier lives, and we recognise the role that social prescribing can play in this.  The Department funds the workforce through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, including social prescribing link workers in primary care. In March 2025, the Department agreed to a further year of grant funding for the National Academy for Social Prescribing, securing £1.5 million to advance and expand social prescribing.The Health Mission specifically cites social prescribing as one of the services that can form part of the multi-disciplinary teams in neighbourhood health centres. The Neighbourhood Health Service has six initial core components, and social prescribing directly relates to both population health management and neighbourhood multidisciplinary teams.We will soon launch the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme, which will support systems across the country to test new ways of working, share learning, and scale what works, making neighbourhood health the norm, not the exception. The Department has commissioned national research into different workstreams for social prescribing.