I refer the Hon. Member to the responses provided in the Urgent Question debate on the Conflict in Sudan on 5 November 2025.

Everyone who has been harmed from sodium valproate has our deepest sympathies.

Early diagnosis and the effective monitoring of foetal valproate syndrome is being considered as part of NHS England’s commissioned Fetal Exposure to Medicine Pilot project. The pilot project is being led by the Newcastle Upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust and the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. The pilot project started in December 2024 and will run for 18 months, and provides assessment, expert advice, and treatment planning for people impacted by sodium valproate and other anti-seizure medications. The pilot project will be presenting initial learning and key themes, including any additional investment requirements identified, to NHS England at the end of September to inform discussions about future service delivery models and options for wider coverage across England.

Commissioners will consider additional funding requests, alongside the need to maintain all existing services and other statutory funding duties.

Guidance for integrated care boards (ICBs) on this issue is yet to be developed. NHS England will develop guidance on this issue at the time of any delegation and in consultation with the Department. ICBs would still be expected to meet and consistently report on national performance standards for uptake and coverage, and national data for uptake and coverage of vaccinations will continue to be published following any delegation.

Following any delegation, integrated care boards (ICBs) would still be expected to meet and report on national performance standards for uptake and coverage, and national data for uptake and coverage of vaccinations will continue to be published. The national vaccination strategy also suggests that this is enhanced by introducing additional requirements for understanding performance in communities that are currently underserved by vaccination services, and NHS England will be working with the UK Health Security Agency, ICBs and other partners to develop this further.

The adequacy of a local authorities children’s social care is officially assessed by Ofsted’s inspecting local authority children’s services (ILACS) framework. Children’s social care services in Tameside were judged as Requires Improvement in the 2019 ILACS inspection, which was an improvement from the inspection in 2016 where services were found to be Inadequate. Focused Visits were carried out by Ofsted in May 2021 and April 2022 to monitor services, as per Ofsted’s inspection framework. The Focused Visit in April 2022 identified two Areas of Priority Action (APAs).

Following this, in line with the department’s early intervention policy, the department placed Tameside into intervention and issued an Improvement Notice. The department has continued to work closely with Tameside, carrying out formal 6 monthly reviews and tailoring effective support to target the APAs. An Improvement Adviser is in place to provide ongoing support and challenge to the service including early support to the Council in establishing an Improvement Board to provide the mechanism for corporate and political leadership to scrutinise and challenge the improvement journey.

In addition, the department has provided Tameside with targeted improvement funding and brokered support from Sector Led Improvement Partners as well as co-ordinating the Local Government Association to provide a package of leadership support for the senior leadership team and wider Council, including politicians.

The priority for the department’s intervention has been to oversee progress of the two APAs identified in Ofsted’s 2022 Focused Visit. Progress of improvement has relied on stability of senior leadership and capacity within the Council. The imminent Ofsted ILACS inspection will result in a graded judgement for Tameside’s children’s services and will clearly set out what is working well and where further improvements can be made, including what further steps are needed to achieve Good or Outstanding, if appropriate. The inspection will also determine the effectiveness of the Council’s response to the department’s intervention and support.

The department continues to monitor progress and provide support via the intervention policy and regular interactions with the Council. Should assessments indicate the Council is making insufficient progress, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, may choose to invoke her statutory powers of intervention (under s497A of the Education Act 1996) by issuing a Statutory Direction.

The adequacy of a local authorities children’s social care is officially assessed by Ofsted’s inspecting local authority children’s services (ILACS) framework. Children’s social care services in Tameside were judged as Requires Improvement in the 2019 ILACS inspection, which was an improvement from the inspection in 2016 where services were found to be Inadequate. Focused Visits were carried out by Ofsted in May 2021 and April 2022 to monitor services, as per Ofsted’s inspection framework. The Focused Visit in April 2022 identified two Areas of Priority Action (APAs).

Following this, in line with the department’s early intervention policy, the department placed Tameside into intervention and issued an Improvement Notice. The department has continued to work closely with Tameside, carrying out formal 6 monthly reviews and tailoring effective support to target the APAs. An Improvement Adviser is in place to provide ongoing support and challenge to the service including early support to the Council in establishing an Improvement Board to provide the mechanism for corporate and political leadership to scrutinise and challenge the improvement journey.

In addition, the department has provided Tameside with targeted improvement funding and brokered support from Sector Led Improvement Partners as well as co-ordinating the Local Government Association to provide a package of leadership support for the senior leadership team and wider Council, including politicians.

The priority for the department’s intervention has been to oversee progress of the two APAs identified in Ofsted’s 2022 Focused Visit. Progress of improvement has relied on stability of senior leadership and capacity within the Council. The imminent Ofsted ILACS inspection will result in a graded judgement for Tameside’s children’s services and will clearly set out what is working well and where further improvements can be made, including what further steps are needed to achieve Good or Outstanding, if appropriate. The inspection will also determine the effectiveness of the Council’s response to the department’s intervention and support.

The department continues to monitor progress and provide support via the intervention policy and regular interactions with the Council. Should assessments indicate the Council is making insufficient progress, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, may choose to invoke her statutory powers of intervention (under s497A of the Education Act 1996) by issuing a Statutory Direction.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works with sexual health services in England to improve the quality of data on eligibility and uptake of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Any changes in the previously published number of clients assessed as eligible for or using PrEP will be assessed with each quarterly submission of data to the UKHSA and where necessary, previously published data will be updated with the next HIV official statistics release in 2023.

The Department is currently gathering evidence to understand why some population groups who would benefit from PrEP are under-represented and to identify potential barriers to access. This evidence will be considered by the PrEP Access and Equity Task and Finish Group.

Requests made under the Access to Health Records Act 1990 are made directly by individuals to the holder of that record. The 1990 Act does not confer any oversight powers or duties on the Secretary of State and no statistics are published or held.

The Department does not therefore hold information on the number of instances there have been where an individual and family have put in a request to access the health records of individuals to whom they are related or how many of those requests were rejected.

The Access to Health Records Act 1990 covers access to deceased patient health records by specified persons.

Most requests for access to medical records are made as subject access requests under the Data Protection Act 1998, which covers the records of living individuals. We are working as part of the Personalised Health And Care 2020 programme to enable more people to access their medical records online.

The requirements for the pharmacovigilance functions of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are set out in European legislation through Directive 2010/84/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1235/2010 and in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. MHRA is required to carry out independent audits of these pharmacovigilance functions and report to the European Commission every two years. This is in addition to routine reporting to the Commission on Human Medicines.

The requirements on private companies in the pharmaceutical industry that hold Marketing Authorisations for medicinal products are also set out in the same legislation and the MHRA carry out inspections to ensure these companies are compliant with the requirements. The MHRA has contact with pharmaceutical companies in its day to day business as necessary to fulfil the requirements of its pharmacovigilance functions.

Defra has eight fixed air quality monitoring sites located in Greater Manchester - at Bury Whitefield Roadside, Glazebury, Manchester Law Courts, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester South, Salford Eccles, Shaw Crompton Way, Wigan Centre - and one hundred and seventy eight fixed monitoring sites in total across England.

Many of these sites (seven in Manchester and 111 across England) provide near real-time data on one or more of the following pollutants: nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5), ozone, and sulphur dioxide. Data is made available on our website.

Full details of the sites, including locations, pollutants measured and concentrations observed at each, are available on Defra’s UK Air Website: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/.

Data from these sites is reported alongside modelling data as part of the UK’s annual national compliance reporting.