Written questions by Collins.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle the disparities in educational outcomes for children in care.

Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in life they deserve.We are committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. Every local authority must appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care, wherever they live or are educated. All maintained schools and academies must appoint a designated teacher to act as a source of advice and expertise about the needs of the looked-after children on the school’s roll.Looked-after children have highest priority in school admissions and attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,630 per child, up to age 16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head, who works with the child’s education setting to deliver objectives in the child’s Personal Education Plan (PEP). The PEP should set out the support needed to help realise the short and long-term academic outcomes for each child, and should focus on the child’s strengths, weaknesses, and outcomes they want to achieve, including attaining a higher education (HE) placement.The government recognises the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s allocated social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any necessary transitions well planned and supported. Where a change to a looked-after child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their PEP should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education and training, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.The government is committed to ensuring that looked-after children and care leavers are given the skills they need to succeed in life and recognises the important role that HE has in this. To ensure care experienced students are supported to gain the qualifications needed to access HE, the department provided £14 million of funding in 2024/25 to extend Pupil Premium Plus nationally to children in care and care leavers at post-16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head and can be used on a range of measures to raise attainment and engagement in education, employment, and training such as mentoring, tuition, and targeted careers advice. We will be continuing this funding to local authorities in 2025/26. We are also making the Virtual School Head role for children with a social worker statutory through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, enabling earlier intervention to address the educational barriers these children can face.Care leavers who enter HE are entitled to a statutory bursary of £2,000 from their local authority and many universities offer additional support within their access and participation regimes. This includes things like additional financial support, pastoral support and 365 days per year housing whilst they are at university.

What steps her Department is taking to encourage (a) children in care and (b) care leavers to (i) progress into higher education and (ii) complete their course or placement.

Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in life they deserve.We are committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. Every local authority must appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care, wherever they live or are educated. All maintained schools and academies must appoint a designated teacher to act as a source of advice and expertise about the needs of the looked-after children on the school’s roll.Looked-after children have highest priority in school admissions and attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,630 per child, up to age 16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head, who works with the child’s education setting to deliver objectives in the child’s Personal Education Plan (PEP). The PEP should set out the support needed to help realise the short and long-term academic outcomes for each child, and should focus on the child’s strengths, weaknesses, and outcomes they want to achieve, including attaining a higher education (HE) placement.The government recognises the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s allocated social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any necessary transitions well planned and supported. Where a change to a looked-after child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their PEP should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education and training, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.The government is committed to ensuring that looked-after children and care leavers are given the skills they need to succeed in life and recognises the important role that HE has in this. To ensure care experienced students are supported to gain the qualifications needed to access HE, the department provided £14 million of funding in 2024/25 to extend Pupil Premium Plus nationally to children in care and care leavers at post-16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head and can be used on a range of measures to raise attainment and engagement in education, employment, and training such as mentoring, tuition, and targeted careers advice. We will be continuing this funding to local authorities in 2025/26. We are also making the Virtual School Head role for children with a social worker statutory through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, enabling earlier intervention to address the educational barriers these children can face.Care leavers who enter HE are entitled to a statutory bursary of £2,000 from their local authority and many universities offer additional support within their access and participation regimes. This includes things like additional financial support, pastoral support and 365 days per year housing whilst they are at university.

What plans his Department have to extend the Start for Life programme beyond the 75 upper-tier local authorities that currently receive funding.

In 2025/26, £57 million will be made available to 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation to provide a range of Start for Life services. Funding for future years is being considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle gender-specific religious persecution.

The UK remains strongly committed to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. Working with the Special Envoy for FoRB, David Smith MP, we are championing the right to FoRB and promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral fora, our bilateral work, and our programme funding.We recognise that women and girls from religious or belief minority communities can suffer disproportionally because of both their gender and faith. That is why we continue to ensure our human rights policy work considers the multiple ways in which human rights interact. For example, the importance of addressing specific issues experienced by women and girls from religious or belief minority communities. We are clear, too, that we will work to advance gender equality and empower women and girls through our international action. We focus on those with intersecting forms of disadvantage where the risks are extreme.

What eligibility criteria her Department is using to choose successful schools for Great British Energy's rooftop solar panels project.

The department recently announced, in partnership with Great British (GB) Energy, an £80 million (£40 million from the department and £40 million from GB Energy) initiative to install solar and other technologies such as electric vehicle chargers in 200 schools and colleges, prioritising those in areas of deprivation, to start in 2025/26.This programme is targeting 200 schools and colleges in this first year 2025/26, so the department is not proposing a bidding round to select the schools and colleges to avoid burden on the system.There will be a cluster of about 45 schools in each of the North West, North East and West Midlands, selected based on deprivation levels and other factors such as roof capacity. These schools have not yet been selected. Each cluster will also include a further education college which will work with the contractors appointed to promote careers in renewables to support growth in the construction and clean energy workforce. There will also be a minimum of 10 schools in each of the 9 government office regions to ensure regional spread.Once we have appointed delivery partners, they will work through a department-supplied list of possible schools. The list will be based on specific criteria including deprivation, roof condition and location and this data set, combined with local data sets, will ultimately determine a long list of possible projects. Only once feasibility studies have been undertaken on each of the possible schools, will we be able to confirm which schools have been selected and what interventions have been determined as appropriate.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support Nigeria in implementing the Universal Periodic Review recommendations relating to the Freedom of Religion or Belief.

The UK Government is committed to upholding the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) and was an active participant in Nigeria's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in January 2024. Our dialogue on human rights, including FoRB, remains an important part of the UK's partnership with Nigeria. Through the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership (SDP), the UK is working with Nigeria's security forces to tackle violence against civilian communities, including those of different religious backgrounds and belief systems. Additionally, through our Strengthening Peace and Resilience programme (SPRiNG) the UK is providing £38 million to help tackle the root causes of intercommunal conflict, including security, justice, and natural resource management challenges.

What steps her Department is taking to help support (a) unpaid and (b) disabled carers in the context of her proposed changes to Personal Independence Payments.

Our recent Pathways to Work Green Paper announced a broad package of reforms which included changes to Personal Independence Payment. We will focus PIP more on those with the greatest needs, ensuring that those who are unable to complete activities at all, or who require more help from others to complete them, still get support. For those who are affected by the new eligibility changes to disability benefits, including for linked entitlements such as Carer’s Allowance, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure local planning authorities can independently verify network capacity claims where there is evidence of (a) repeated sewage discharges, (b) flooding and (c) infrastructure failure.

As set out in Paragraph 7 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of homes, commercial development and supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner. Sustainable development should be pursued both through the preparation and implementation of local development plans, and the application of policies in the framework. The government is clear that housing must come with appropriate infrastructure, including appropriate water infrastructure. We believe that strategic issues such as water capacity are best dealt with at a strategic level through the plan-making process, rather than through individual planning applications. A key function of local development plans is to guide development to the most suitable and sustainable locations and to ensure that the associated infrastructure requirements are addressed. Effective co-operation early in the plan-making process is essential to ensuring not only that housing and infrastructure need is appropriately planned for, but that they are aligned with each other. The NPPF makes it clear that local planning authorities should collaborate with each other and with other public bodies, including infrastructure providers, to identify relevant strategic matters to be addressed, including providing for sustainable water supplies. Water companies are under a statutory duty to provide new water and sewerage connections to residential properties, as well as planning to meet the needs of growth as part of water resource management plans, and drainage and wastewater management plans. The water resources planning guidance published by the government set out how those companies should forecast demand for water based on existing customers and planned levels of household and non-household growth, with the number of planned developments being based on published local plans. Planning applications may require information from developers on how the proposed development will be drained and wastewater dealt with, especially where a connection to a public sewage treatment plant is not feasible. Local planning authorities are encouraged to phase developments so they are not occupied until any necessary improvements to the public sewage system have been carried out, ensuring sustainable infrastructure management. Strategic Flood Risk Assessments are the primary source of flood risk information and should be used to manage flood risk from all sources. In addition, local planning authorities are encouraged to collaborate with water companies, utilise Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans, and draw on independent technical expertise where necessary to verify network capacity claims. This approach ensures that evidence of repeated sewage discharges, flooding, and infrastructure failures is robustly assessed and addressed during the planning process. Relevant planning practice guidance sets out that good design and mitigation measures should be secured during development, both through site-specific and non-site-specific policies on water infrastructure. The revised NPPF published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that developments of all sizes should use sustainable drainage techniques when the development could have drainage impacts and should have appropriate maintenance arrangements in place. We continue to explore whether more needs to be done to ensure sustainable drainage technologies are taken up more widely in new development, either through planning policy or by commencing schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, and a decision on the best way forward will be made in the coming months. Ensuring that we take a strategic spatial planning approach to the management of water, including tackling pollution and managing pressures on the water environment at a catchment, regional and national scale, is a core objective of the ongoing independent review into the regulatory system of the water sector, launched in October 2024 by the UK and Welsh Governments. The review is expected to report next year, and we will carefully consider its findings.

What steps his Department is taking to help prevent (a) staff shortages in and (b) the closure of local pharmacies.

The Government recognises that pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Employers clearly have a key role in retaining staff and making jobs in community pharmacy attractive. To support employers, NHS England has provided a number of fully funded national training opportunities for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to help support private contractors to deliver quality National Health Services, including Pharmacy First.We have now concluded the consultation on funding for 2024/25 and 2025/26, and have agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a commitment to rebuilding the sector.

What steps his Department is taking to provide additional support for families affected by members with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Under the England Rare Diseases Action Plan 2025, we remain focused on delivering against the four key priorities set out in the UK Rare Diseases Framework. The 2025 England Rare Diseases Action Plan was published on 28 February 2025 and is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/england-rare-diseases-action-plan-2025We know that people living with rare conditions, and their families and carers, often struggle to access mental health and psychological support. Mental health services should be offered based on need and should not exclude anyone because of a particular physical health or neurological diagnosis. The NHS Genomics Education Programme has this year published new resources on rare diseases and mental health, aimed at healthcare professionals. It has also developed a communications tool to help healthcare professionals with sensitive conversations, to ensure that patients and families feel supported throughout the diagnosis of a rare condition.Many people struggle to access reliable information on rare diseases, and we recognise the important role patient support groups can play in developing reliable and easy to access information. In this year’s action plan we have set out the steps we are taking to support organisations to get the information they produce accredited under the Patient Information Forum’s trusted information creator scheme.To enhance specialist care, NHS England is supporting multi-system disorder clinics to reduce appointments and ease care coordination for families.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that unpaid carers are adequately supported during the transition to the new disability benefits system.

Our recent Pathways to Work Green Paper announced a broad package of reforms which included changes to Personal Independence Payment. We will focus PIP more on those with the greatest needs, ensuring that those who are unable to complete activities at all, or who require more help from others to complete them, still get support. For those who are affected by the new eligibility changes to disability benefits, including for linked entitlements such as Carer’s Allowance, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.

What steps his Department is taking to help tackle shortages of medication for (a) Parkinson's and (b) epilepsy.

The Department is working hard with industry to help resolve intermittent supply issues with some epilepsy medications. As a result of ongoing activity and intensive work, including directing suppliers to expedite deliveries, most issues, including with carbamazepine, lamotrigine, and oxcarbazepine presentations, have been resolved.We are currently aware of an ongoing supply issue with all strengths of topiramate tablets from one manufacturer. This supply issue is expected to resolve by the end of May 2025. We are also aware of a shortage of phenobarbital 15 milligram tablets from one manufacturer with the resupply date to be confirmed. In both cases, alternative suppliers are in stock with sufficient supply to support patients. These issues have been communicated to the National Health Service.The Department is aware of supply constraints with one supplier of amantadine 100 milligram capsules used in the management of Parkinson’s disease, however stocks remain available from alternative suppliers to cover demand. The Department has also been notified of a discontinuation of apomorphine (APO-go PFS) 50 milligram/10 millilitre pre-filled syringes from April 2025. Alternative formulations of apomorphine remain available for patients, and management guidance has been issued to the NHS.

What steps his Department is taking to improve early diagnosis of endometriosis.

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, and we are making progress to ensure that women with endometriosis receive a timely diagnosis and effective treatment.Clinical guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated its guideline on the diagnosis and management of endometriosis. This includes updated recommendations that for women with symptoms of endometriosis, initial pharmacological treatment should take place in primary care, and that this can take place in parallel with additional investigations and referral to secondary care if needed. This will help women receive more timely treatment. The guideline is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73We have taken urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan. In gynaecology, the plan supports innovative models offering patients care closer to home, and piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres. Alongside the plan we published a new partnership agreement between the National Health Service and the independent sector, which will help cut gynaecology waiting lists faster.Additionally, to provide quicker access for patients to common surgical hub procedures such as a laparoscopy, which can be used to diagnose and treat endometriosis, we have committed to opening 17 new and expanded surgical hubs by June 2025 and ramping up the number of hubs over the next three years.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the training of healthcare employees in recognising symptoms of endometriosis.

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health and improving the diagnosis, treatment and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions including endometriosis.National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024, NICE published updated recommendations on the diagnosis, management and treatment of endometriosis. This can be accessed through the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73Endometriosis is included in the core curriculum for general practitioners, and for obstetricians and gynaecologists. The General Medical Council has introduced the Medical Licensing Assessment for most incoming doctors, including all medical students graduating from academic year 2024/25 and onwards. Within this assessment are several topics relating to women’s health, including endometriosis. This will encourage a better understanding of endometriosis among doctors as they start their careers in the United Kingdom.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department is providing to local planning authorities for major development applications in areas where water and sewage infrastructure is operating at or beyond capacity.

As set out in Paragraph 7 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of homes, commercial development and supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner. Sustainable development should be pursued both through the preparation and implementation of local development plans, and the application of policies in the framework. The government is clear that housing must come with appropriate infrastructure, including appropriate water infrastructure. We believe that strategic issues such as water capacity are best dealt with at a strategic level through the plan-making process, rather than through individual planning applications. A key function of local development plans is to guide development to the most suitable and sustainable locations and to ensure that the associated infrastructure requirements are addressed. Effective co-operation early in the plan-making process is essential to ensuring not only that housing and infrastructure need is appropriately planned for, but that they are aligned with each other. The NPPF makes it clear that local planning authorities should collaborate with each other and with other public bodies, including infrastructure providers, to identify relevant strategic matters to be addressed, including providing for sustainable water supplies. Water companies are under a statutory duty to provide new water and sewerage connections to residential properties, as well as planning to meet the needs of growth as part of water resource management plans, and drainage and wastewater management plans. The water resources planning guidance published by the government set out how those companies should forecast demand for water based on existing customers and planned levels of household and non-household growth, with the number of planned developments being based on published local plans. Planning applications may require information from developers on how the proposed development will be drained and wastewater dealt with, especially where a connection to a public sewage treatment plant is not feasible. Local planning authorities are encouraged to phase developments so they are not occupied until any necessary improvements to the public sewage system have been carried out, ensuring sustainable infrastructure management. Strategic Flood Risk Assessments are the primary source of flood risk information and should be used to manage flood risk from all sources. In addition, local planning authorities are encouraged to collaborate with water companies, utilise Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans, and draw on independent technical expertise where necessary to verify network capacity claims. This approach ensures that evidence of repeated sewage discharges, flooding, and infrastructure failures is robustly assessed and addressed during the planning process. Relevant planning practice guidance sets out that good design and mitigation measures should be secured during development, both through site-specific and non-site-specific policies on water infrastructure. The revised NPPF published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that developments of all sizes should use sustainable drainage techniques when the development could have drainage impacts and should have appropriate maintenance arrangements in place. We continue to explore whether more needs to be done to ensure sustainable drainage technologies are taken up more widely in new development, either through planning policy or by commencing schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, and a decision on the best way forward will be made in the coming months. Ensuring that we take a strategic spatial planning approach to the management of water, including tackling pollution and managing pressures on the water environment at a catchment, regional and national scale, is a core objective of the ongoing independent review into the regulatory system of the water sector, launched in October 2024 by the UK and Welsh Governments. The review is expected to report next year, and we will carefully consider its findings.

Whether he plans to review the Women’s Health Strategy.

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we build a National Health Service fit for the future.Our focus is on turning the commitments in the Women's Health Strategy into tangible actions, for instance by providing emergency hormonal contraception free of charge at pharmacies on the NHS from October 2025, taking urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan, and setting out how we will eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 through the new cervical cancer plan.

Whether her Department plans to raise the retirement age for commercial pilots.

Age limits for commercial pilots are set out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in standards and recommended practices, which the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) apply. These are under review by ICAO and the CAA remain engaged with them on reviewing the evidence base for future changes to age limits and making progress in this area when we can safely do so.

If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of (a) commissioning funding of integrated care boards and (b) other funding provided to hospice services.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. ICBs are responsible for commissioning palliative and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance which outlines areas for consideration when commissioning.Additionally, although not statutory, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidance on the service delivery of end of life care. There is an expectation that commissioners and service providers take the guidelines into account when making decisions about how to best meet the needs of their local communities.Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing National Health Services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.NHS England has a legal duty to annually assess the performance of each ICB in respect of each financial year and to publish a summary of its findings. This assessment must assess how well the ICB has discharged its functions.We are, at a national level, also supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The Government has released the first £25 million tranche of the £100 million of capital funding, with Hospice UK kindly allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England. An additional £75 million will be allocated in the coming weeks for use in 2025/26.Additionally, we are providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant. NHS England has now communicated the details of the 2025/26 funding allocation and dissemination to individual hospices.In February, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.

What steps his Department is taking to support GPs in diagnosing ovarian cancer.

The Government is committed to supporting the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, earlier and faster.We are improving public awareness of cancer signs and symptoms, streamlining referral routes, and increasing the availability of diagnostic capacity through the roll-out of more community diagnostic centres. We are also investing an additional £889 million in general practice (GP) to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26.In October 2024, we invested £82 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, which has enabled the recruitment of over 1,500 recently qualified GPs across England, which will increase the number of appointments delivered and care for thousands of patients.We are committed to ensuring that GPs have the right training and systems to identify cancer. The Department will continue to look at opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence to transform diagnostic performance and ultimately bring down waiting times. The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including for rare and less common cancers. It will aim to speed up diagnosis and treatment and will ensure that all patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.

How much his Department spent on ovarian cancer research in the latest period for which data is available.

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with cancer being one of the largest areas of spend, at over £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. The NIHR has funded 17 research projects into ovarian cancer for the period 2019/20 to 2023/24, with a combined total funding value of £6.4 million, and enabled 109 clinical research studies into ovarian cancer to take place in the National Health Service in 2023/24.Examples of NIHR investments in ovarian cancer research include the ROCkeTS study, which aims to identify the best diagnostic tests for ovarian cancer. The NIHR has also funded the MR in Ovarian Cancer, or MROC, study, which studies the impact of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging on the staging and management of patients with ovarian cancer.The NIHR continues to welcome high quality funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including ovarian cancer research.