We fully intend that independent and voluntary sector providers can be part of the Single Patient Record. The Health Bill provides powers to make regulations that can enable or require relevant providers involved in an individual’s direct health and social care to contribute to, and access, the patient information that they need via the Single Patient Record. We will need to explore carefully how the flows of information should work. Existing legislation allows for mandatory information standards to set technical requirements for all providers to ensure interoperability.

This Government is committed to returning by March 2029 to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment across all specialties, including in ophthalmology services. As of May 2026, the proportion of waits below 18 weeks has increased from 65.7% in July 2024 to 74.1% in May 2026, an 8.4 percentage point improvement. This data is published on the NHS.UK website.

We are taking specific steps to improve services like ophthalmology. NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in the 10-Year Health Plan.

In May 2026, NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme released a best practice guidance for the care of patients with glaucoma, and this will be the first in a series of best practice documents for ophthalmology conditions. The aim of this series is to standardise the patient pathways in use across England in line with best practice, which will enable the most complex and most at risk to be seen more quickly by specialist ophthalmology teams.

Specific measures to address regional variations and inconsistent commissioning in ophthalmology include the Public Health Outcomes Framework eye health indicator, which continues to track the rate of sight loss for age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. This information is available to commissioners and can be used to drive improved local outcomes and interventions. In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended a number of medicines for eye conditions such as age-related macular degeneration. Integrated care boards are legally required to fund NICE-recommended medicines in line with NICE’s recommendations.

From next year, we are also introducing NHS Online, which will help reduce patient waiting times across England by giving people on glaucoma pathways the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. NHS Online will deliver the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointment and assessments in its first three years across all specialities. We are also committed to expanding the number of surgical hubs, which provide dedicated and protected elective capacity to drive improvement in six specialities, including ophthalmology.

Sustainable Farming Initiative 2026 (SFI26) Window 1 opened last month for small farms with between three and 50 hectares and also farms without an existing Environmental Land Management agreement.

This Government is specifically targeting these two groups because it wants to bring more of them into SFI.

Defra is publishing updates on how much of each application window’s budget has been allocated on the department’s Farming Blog, so farmers can follow the rate of applications.

Window 2 is planned to open from September 2026 for all farms.

This department will announce the timing of the SFI27 offer in due course.

The Government is introducing a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from 1 January 2027 to ensure imported carbon-intensive goods face a carbon price comparable to that paid by UK producers under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme. The CBAM will apply to imports of iron and steel and is designed to address carbon leakage. Alongside this, the UK ETS Authority has consulted on the treatment of free allocations for CBAM-covered sectors to ensure a managed transition while maintaining carbon leakage protection for UK manufacturers.

The Department for Business and Trade intends to conduct a review of the British Industry Supercharger this year, which will include a review of eligibility criteria. However, any changes to eligibility criteria, or other parts of the policy, are subject to public consultation and ministerial approval. All stakeholders, including those in the steel and scrap metal sectors, are encouraged to engage with this review when the opportunity arises and present all relevant evidence.

This Government is committed to creating the right conditions in the UK for a competitive and sustainable steel industry. The sector provides vital support to the UK’s defence capabilities, including specialist cast and forged steel components for a range of defence programmes. The department publishes its future pipeline for steel requirements, enabling UK steel manufacturers to better plan and bid for upcoming contracts.

The National Security Strategy, Strategic Defence Review, and Defence Industrial Strategy set out how a strong industrial base is critical for maintaining our national security infrastructure. While steel used in our major Defence programmes is generally sourced by our prime contractors from a range of UK and international suppliers, Ministry of Defence (MOD) procurement activity will continue to apply PPN 022, a policy aimed at increasing the use of British-produced steel in public contracts. The MOD also supports the recently published UK Steel Strategy which sets out a long-term plan to revitalise the UK steel sector and restore domestic production to sustainable levels.

This Government has recently laid legislation that will replace the light-touch waste carriers, brokers and dealers registration system with a new waste controllers and transporters system under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. This new regime will mean that operators will need to undergo stricter background checks and demonstrate technical competence to be granted a permit.

The Joint Unit for Waste Crime brings together law enforcement partners to tackle serious and organised waste crime and has already developed an enhanced intelligence sharing approach to enable this. Under the Waste Crime Action Plan, Defra is working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office to undertake a review of the end-to-end multi-agency response to waste crime, including areas such as information sharing. The review will identify opportunities to strengthen how agencies work together and will aim to strengthen existing intelligence sharing structures.

The EA has commissioned a waste crime reporting Crimestoppers campaign which launched on 20 May 2026 and is set to finish in July/August. This radio and social media campaign aims to increase public awareness, understanding, and reporting of waste crime. The Crimestoppers campaign is featured on the Environment Agency website, and any communications on social media are amplified by Defra. The public should report any information regarding individuals or organised networks anonymously by visiting the Crimestoppers Illegal Waste Dumping page or by calling their 24/7 hotline at 0800 555 111.

The Government is committed to the National Health Service meeting all cancer waiting time standards by the end of this Parliament. NHS England continues to work towards its March 2027 cancer performance ambitions, including improvements in diagnostic and treatment waiting times.

Recruitment decisions are matters for individual NHS trusts, which are responsible for ensuring they have the workforce required to deliver safe and effective services.

The Government continues to support workforce growth across cancer services and there were more clinical oncology and radiology doctors working in NHS England in April 2026 than in April 2025.

The Government is committed to the National Health Service meeting all cancer waiting time standards by the end of this Parliament. NHS England continues to work towards its March 2027 cancer performance ambitions, including improvements in diagnostic and treatment waiting times.

Recruitment decisions are matters for individual NHS trusts, which are responsible for ensuring they have the workforce required to deliver safe and effective services.

The Government continues to support workforce growth across cancer services and there were more clinical oncology and radiology doctors working in NHS England in April 2026 than in April 2025.

The Government is committed to the National Health Service meeting all cancer waiting time standards by the end of this Parliament. NHS England continues to work towards its March 2027 cancer performance ambitions, including improvements in diagnostic and treatment waiting times.

Recruitment decisions are matters for individual NHS trusts, which are responsible for ensuring they have the workforce required to deliver safe and effective services.

The Government continues to support workforce growth across cancer services and there were more clinical oncology and radiology doctors working in NHS England in April 2026 than in April 2025.

Defra is currently undertaking research across the public sector to improve understanding of current procurement practices, including local and sustainable sourcing. The research is expected to conclude in summer 2027 and its findings will inform future policy development. Further, Government has already published a new national procurement policy statement, which sets expectations for government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that British producers are well-placed to meet.

We do not currently have access to sufficient data on the proportion of UK-produced food that is purchased across the public sector to produce reliable sector-specific estimates. However, we are carrying out further research to improve the quality, coverage, and understanding of this data and expect to conclude in summer 2027. The findings will inform future policy development, including how we might improve data collection and monitoring arrangements for public sector food procurement, increasing transparency and supporting opportunities for British farmers to benefit from public sector contracts.

The Government is committed to supporting UK industry to decarbonise while ensuring that this does not mean deindustrialisation.

Last year, the government set out the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, which will drive forward ambition for UK business operating in the clean energy space. Clean energy is one of our fastest growing sectors, bringing jobs in areas like nuclear, offshore wind, and electricity networks.

Free allowances in the UK Emission Trading Scheme and the forthcoming UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism protect UK industry from being undercut as it decarbonises. In addition, this year, 500 of our most energy intensive businesses will see a cut to their bills, with thousands more getting discounts in 2027.

A cross-economy delivery plan setting out how Carbon Budget 7 will be met will be published as soon as is reasonably practicable, in line with the Climate Change Act 2008.

Defra is taking steps to move towards a more flexible abstraction licensing system. The white paper: A new vision for water, includes the proposal to move the legislative framework for regulating abstraction, to the Environmental Permitting Regulations. This will provide a modern flexible framework to support growth and access to water when it is available. The Environment Agency is upgrading its digital platforms and undertaking smart farming trials. These trials are designed to understand what is required to support a modern approach to managing abstraction.

Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service (NHS GMS) and delivered by a national genomic testing network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs). The NHS GLHs deliver testing as directed by the National Genomic Test Directory (NGTD), which includes tests for over 7,000 rare diseases and over 200 cancer clinical indications, including both whole genome sequencing (WGS) and non-WGS testing.

Genomic testing is available for all eligible patients across the whole of England. The NGTD sets out the eligibility criteria for patients to access testing as well as the genomic targets to be tested and the method that should be used. Genomic testing for pancreatic cancer is available under the M219 clinical indication code and delivered by all seven NHS GLHs.

NHS England captures Patient Level Contract Monitoring data across the NHS GMS to facilitate a national approach to reporting and validating activity data and turnaround times for the genomics element of the pathway. This national approach enables NHS England to understand activity volumes, detect any backlogs, and work with the NHS GLHs to implement improvement activities.

NHS England has been undertaking a procurement of NHS GMS Lead Providers to embed a new operating model for delivery of the NHS GMS from 2026. This includes a cancer genomics clinical function, which will bring together multi profession leadership to work with partners to embed and develop cancer genomics pathways.

The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with pancreatic cancer, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.

As set out in our National Cancer Plan, the Government will implement the Rare Cancers Act 2026, including Section 3 of the act, which will involve developing a service to ensure rare cancer patients, including those with pancreatic cancer, can be automatically contacted about clinical trials.

The Government is currently scoping the technical requirements for this service and identifying a suitable route for delivery, before a development project is commenced. This will allow data sharing from the National Disease Registration Service to the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Be Part of Research registry tool.

Implementing the provisions of the Rare Cancers Act will make it easier for clinical trials on pancreatic cancer to take place in England.

The Department has not explored developing a national wound care framework.

Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR) 2 is currently a live round. We are working hard across government to start the Invite to Offer stage of HAR2 as soon as possible and will be in touch with projects when this commences. We understand that many projects are at critical stages, and that certainty is important to support business planning, resource management and engagement with third parties.

We understand the importance of providing clarity to businesses across the hydrogen sector, including those in the supply chain. Hydrogen is backed in the Industrial Strategy Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan as a frontier technology, with a public finance offer designed to crowd private investment into UK supply chains.

We plan to publish the Hydrogen Strategy, alongside a package of other hydrogen policy documents, as soon as possible this year. The renewed strategy will set out Government’s vision and objectives for hydrogen, and how we intend to work with industry to continue to transform ambition into action.

In the meantime, we remain focused on delivery, with projects that were successful in HAR1 now moving to the final investment decision and our recent investment in UK electrolyser manufacturing with ITM Power in South Yorkshire.