In the last five years there have confirmed cases of both low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on premises containing pheasants. Some premises confirmed with HPAI and LPAI have also had red-legged partridges. There have also been findings in both species in found dead wild birds tested as part of wild bird surveillance.

Epidemiological investigations at infected premises did not find any evidence to support likely transmission from farmed gamebirds to wild birds on these premises.

We recognise the value of clinically‑led improvement programmes such as Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) in identifying and addressing unwarranted variation in care, including in gastroenterology. Rather than being incorporated into the National Quality Strategy, which will set out overarching principles and priorities for improving quality, GIRFT recommendations are developed through detailed clinical engagement, analysis of national data, and close working with professional bodies, providers, and systems. Specialty‑specific recommendations from programmes such as GIRFT are used to inform delivery at national, regional, and local levels, rather than being incorporated as prescriptive elements of the strategy itself.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

A cancer diagnosis is distressing at any stage of life, and especially for mothers on maternity leave, at a time that should be focused on recovery, bonding and family life.

The Department of Health and Social Care’s National Cancer Plan sets out how people with cancer, including pregnant and postnatal women, are supported before, during and after treatment, including supporting mothers to stay in work.

Alongside this, the Parental Leave and Pay Review is examining how maternity leave and the wider parental leave and pay system can better support working families. The Review will report in early 2027.

Through our National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), we are actively committed to ensuring there is more research into women’s health, and that women’s voices and priorities are placed at the heart of this research.

We know that women have been under-represented in some research areas, particularly women in ethnic minority groups, older women, women of reproductive age, disabled women and LGBT+ women. This has implications for the health and care they receive, their options and awareness of treatments, the support they can access afterwards, and their health outcomes. To address this gap, applicants are now required to build inclusion into their research design as a condition of NIHR funding.

As highlighted in the newly published Renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England, the Department has strengthened NIHR conditions of funding by making it mandatory for researchers to account for sex and gender in their research applications. This move aims to tackle significant and persistent gaps in health and care research.

Alongside this, the NIHR’s Research Inclusion Strategy 2022-2027 sets out how NIHR will become a more inclusive funder of research and widen access to participation in clinical trials. The strategy has been designed to address inequalities associated with the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010.

Through the ongoing systematic collection of data on sex, ethnicity and age of participants taking part in NIHR research, we can monitor progress and continue to champion the inclusion of under-represented groups.

As part of the blood borne virus (BBV) emergency department opt-out testing programme, NHS England currently promotes and funds HIV peer support services in partnership with voluntary and community sector organisations, recognising the role of lived-experience facilitators in reducing isolation and stigma.

NHS England is in the process of commissioning new HIV anti‑stigma training as part of delivery of the HIV Action Plan, for trusts participating in the BBV emergency department opt‑out testing programme. NHS England strongly expects a voluntary and community sector partner with lived experience expertise to lead this work, recognising the critical role such organisations play in tackling stigma and discrimination effectively. Delivery of the programme will be overseen by the national BBV emergency department opt‑out team. Progress will be monitored through quarterly meetings and update reports, aligned to the agreed deliverables, including trust engagement and risk management.

The UK National Security Strategy is clear that we need to increase our preparations for potential threats, from future pandemics to energy and supply chain disruption.

The UK's alliances and partnerships are critical to our safety and our collective security is a source of significant strength. But it must be delivered in the right way, mitigating against areas of over-dependence and moving instead towards interdependence.

We are embedding lessons from COVID-19, including those of the COVID-19 Inquiry. The largest ever national pandemic response exercise was conducted last year, testing coordination efforts across all regions and nations of the UK and we published the new Pandemic Preparedness Strategy in March 2026, alongside £1 billion of investment in health protection.

The resilience of United Kingdom supply chains is a key priority, and the Department and NHS England are committed to helping to build long term supply chain resilience for medicines. We are continually learning and seeking to improve the way we work to both manage and help prevent supply issues and avoid shortages.

The Department, working closely with NHS England, is taking forward a range of actions to further improve our ability to mitigate and manage shortages and strengthen our resilience. As part of that work, we continue to engage with industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and other colleagues across the supply chain as we progress work to co-design and deliver solutions. However, medicine shortages are a complex and global issue and everyone in the supply chain has a role to play in addressing them, and any action will require a collaborative approach.

The Department also undertakes significant proactive risk evaluation to assess readiness against threats that could lead to potential disruption of medical supply chains. As part of this, the Department has participated in and led on a number of preparedness exercises, spanning across nationwide loss of power, cyber-attacks, and global pandemics, to test and improve our ability to respond to supply disruption.

In early August, the Department published a policy paper, Managing a robust and resilience supply of medicines, which provides greater transparency of the supply chains we rely on, the actions we take to protect patients from medicines shortages when they occur, and the steps we are taking to enhance resilience in our supply chains. This paper is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-a-robust-and-resilient-supply-of-medicines/managing-a-robust-and-resilient-supply-of-medicines

From February 2026, the percentage of histopathology cases reported within ten days will be published at national, regional, integrated care board, and National Health Service trust levels. These histopathology cases will include biopsies in the overall figures, but data is not collected by test type.

The Public Health Grant supports local authorities to deliver vital public health services that focus on reducing preventable illnesses through services such as smoking cessation, drug and alcohol addiction treatment and recovery, health visiting, and sexual health clinics. Public Health Grant allocations are weighted heavily towards deprivation, with per capita funding for the most deprived local authority more than two times greater than that for the least deprived.

More than £13.4 billion will be consolidated into the Public Health Grant to local authorities, and a retained business rates arrangement with Greater Manchester local authorities, over the next three years beginning in 2026/27. This is a 5.6% total cash increase over the period, on top of 5.5% cash growth in 2025/26.

The National Health Service also funds important public health services, including national screening and immunisation programmes. In doing so, NHS England has regard to the need to reduce inequalities both in access to services and in health outcomes.

Defra’s disease control measures seek to contain the number of animals that need to be culled, either for disease control purposes or to safeguard animal welfare. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) are responsible for the delivery of aquatic animal health controls in England and Wales. The FHI maintains a comprehensive programme of inspections to assess farmed fish health, designed to prevent the introduction and spread of the most serious listed and emerging diseases, and ensure that all aquaculture production businesses operate under approved biosecurity plans. These plans must take account of the potential for infectious disease transmission to wild aquatic animals and set out measures to minimise that risk.

The recently published Animal Welfare Strategy for England set out that we will commission the Animal Welfare Committee’s advice on the welfare of farmed fish prior to slaughter. Amongst other things this project will consider the effects of stocking densities. The Animal Welfare Strategy also commits to introduce humane slaughter requirements for farmed fish into legislation, subject to consultation.

The department has published the Warm Homes Plan which will tackle fuel poverty, lower bills, and deliver warmer, more comfortable homes. A new Fuel Poverty Strategy has been published alongside the Warm Homes Plan, which specifically considers the needs of low-income households most at risk from the impact of living in a cold home.

Additionally, the Warm Home Discount will be expanded to support a further 2.7 million households. From this winter, around 6 million low-income households will receive the £150 support off their energy bill.