The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme is administered by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). Over the last four years, data from NHSBSA shows that it has incurred the following costs to administer the scheme:

• in the financial year 2022/23, the total cost of staff to administer the scheme was £3,618,483.60, the total non-staff cost to administer the scheme was £942,569.98, and the total cost of medical assessment and payments made to healthcare providers was £4,300,912.26;

• in the financial year 2023/24, the total cost of staff to administer the scheme was £5,362,750.33, the total non-staff cost to administer the scheme was £234,710.23, and the total cost of medical assessment and payments made to healthcare providers was £10,573,102.97;

• in the financial year 2024/25, the total cost of staff to administer the scheme was £7,058,435.21, the total non-staff cost to administer the scheme was £523,161.86, the total cost of medical assessment and payments made to healthcare providers was £21,222,364.49; and

• in the financial year 2025/26, the total cost of staff to administer the scheme was £8,970,109.30, the total non-staff cost to administer the scheme was £859,542.21, and the total cost of medical assessment and payments made to healthcare providers was £19,361,669.73.

I can confirm the case you have referred to will be listed within August 2026 to be heard in September 2026. A notice of the hearing will be issued on the day of listing which will be approximately three weeks ahead of the hearing date.

The correction was made in the House on 22 June 2026 and is available on parliament.uk.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has checked the application referred to. The application cannot currently be granted as further enquiries need to be made before a grant can be issued.

HMCTS apologises for the delay in progressing this application. The applicant is being updated and, once the relevant enquiries have been completed, the application will be processed as quickly as possible.

The total number of ANPR images read between July 2025 and June 2026 was 95.6 million, of which 1.3 million were potential unlicensed vehicles. After the removal of those vehicles sighted more than once, 511,801 were reviewed by staff who identified 45,427 images which contained misread number plates. The DVLA routinely checks for misreads before taking action regarding non-payment of Vehicle Excise Duty.

This particular letter was sent to the inbox of ex-Secretary of State, Jonathan Reynolds on 10 June 2026, which is why was not seen by officials until 13 July 2026. The Department will respond to the usual timeline. The measure was announced through a Written Ministerial Statement and Oral Statement to both Houses and has since been discussed through Oral Questions and an Urgent Question. Ministers and officials also hosted a dedicated two-hour MP drop-in session to hear directly from Members and discuss concerns raised by their constituents and local businesses.

The Department and NHS England considered the potential impacts of expanding Advice and Guidance (A&G) as part of the policy development process, including through clinical input, established governance arrangements, and equalities considerations. A&G is intended to support timely clinical decision‑making and ensure patients are directed to the most appropriate care. National guidance is in place to support its safe and consistent use, and the use of A&G does not change existing clinical accountability or patient safety arrangements.

The contract does not change the clinical threshold for referral to specialist care. General practitioner (GPs) should continue to make a clinical decision to refer for specialist care where that is in the patient’s best interests, and to request specialist advice where it is needed. GPs retain responsibility for referral decisions, and this model supports, and does not replace, clinical judgement.

The 2026/27 GP Contract embeds the previous A&G enhanced service funding into core practice funding. Following near universal uptake of the A&G Enhanced Service in 2025/26, the focus for 2026/27 is on stability and simplicity. Embedding the specialist advice model within the core contract recognises its role in routine clinical practice, removes annual signups, and provides more predictable funding while supporting consistent patient pathways.

The Department does not hold a routinely reported average time between a Universal Credit enquiry being referred to the Agents Contact Team and resolution of that enquiry.

Enquiries referred to the Agents Contact Team can vary significantly in complexity and may require input from different parts of the Department before they can be resolved. As a result, journey times are not directly comparable and are not currently measured as a single average resolution time.

The Department remains focused on ensuring Universal Credit enquiries are handled as quickly and effectively as possible, with priority given to cases where there is evidence of vulnerability, hardship or urgent need.

We are unable to answer your enquiry because the reference number provided appears to be incorrect.

HMCTS manages a range of different services, and the case reference is used to identify the service as well as the case. Reference numbers for HM Courts and Tribunal digital services should contain 16 digits. Please verify the number and resubmit your enquiry.

In April 2026, for ophthalmology, performance against the standard for 92% of patients to start first treatment within 18 weeks of referral was 73.1%, 5.3% higher than a year earlier.

In most cases, contracts will have to comply with National Health Service unit prices, a set of prices and rules used by providers of NHS care and commissioners to deliver the most efficient, cost-effective care to patients. These unit prices are consistent across independent sector providers and NHS providers. Productivity rate information is not held centrally by the Department. Integrated care boards are the primary bodies responsible for commissioning care from healthcare providers and ensuring value for money is achieved.

The Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity dataset, published by NHS England, can be used to identify procedure types, including those undertaken as part of cataract operations. Data for the 2025/26 financial year is not yet currently published. This is currently due for publication in September 2026.

The following table shows a count of cataract operations in 2025, both those in an admitted setting, or Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs), and outpatient settings, split by NHS and non-NHS providers where there was any cataract procedure:

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics.

A FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are typically counted against the year in which they end, which is the approach we have taken here. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. Admitted outpatient appointments include first and follow-up attendances and telephone consultations, and excludes did not attends and cancellations. The below procedure codes are those which are considered under cataract operations:

• C71: Extracapsular extraction of lens;

• C72: Intracapsular extraction of lens;

• C73: Incision of capsule of lens;

• C74: Other extraction of lens;

• C75: Prosthesis of lens; and

• C77: Other operations on lens.

As at 19 May 2026, there were 658 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff engaged in delivering the Access to Work scheme. This represents an increase of 32.29 FTE compared with 625.71 FTE staff at the end of May 2025.

The Department keeps staffing levels under review and recognises that resourcing levels can affect processing times. To address this, recruitment is underway to increase capacity, which will support the clearance of outstanding applications, and improve processing times.

Huge recruitment boost to tackle backlog in vital disability work scheme - GOV.UK.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council is an operationally independent body with its own governance structure and chair. They work closely with policing partners, including the College of Policing and with the Home Office on a range of matters. This includes guidance and standards, and any required handling with Parliament, as is appropriate.

I would like to apologise for not being able to provide a substantive response to Question 119822 in the previous parliamentary session, which asked what the cost had been of assessing claims under the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme (VDPS) in each of the last four years for which information is available.

The VDPS is administered by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). In the last four years, data from NHSBSA shows that it has incurred the following costs to administer the scheme:

• in the financial year 2022/23, the total cost of administering the scheme was £8,861,965.84;

• in the financial year 2023/24, the total cost of administering the scheme was £16,170,563.53;

• in the financial year 2024/25, the total cost of administering the scheme was £28,803,961.56; and

• in the financial year 2025/26, the total cost of administering the scheme was £29,191,321.71.

These costs include assessment costs, and wider staff and non-staff costs. The primary reason for the increase in costs in the administration of the scheme is as a result of the increase in volume of VDPS applications received and the associated assessments required.

I would like to apologise for not being able to provide a substantive response to Question 119822 in the previous parliamentary session, which asked what the cost had been of assessing claims under the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme (VDPS) in each of the last four years for which information is available.

The VDPS is administered by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). In the last four years, data from NHSBSA shows that it has incurred the following costs to administer the scheme:

• in the financial year 2022/23, the total cost of administering the scheme was £8,861,965.84;

• in the financial year 2023/24, the total cost of administering the scheme was £16,170,563.53;

• in the financial year 2024/25, the total cost of administering the scheme was £28,803,961.56; and

• in the financial year 2025/26, the total cost of administering the scheme was £29,191,321.71.

These costs include assessment costs, and wider staff and non-staff costs. The primary reason for the increase in costs in the administration of the scheme is as a result of the increase in volume of VDPS applications received and the associated assessments required.

Delays in allocating Access to Work applications for self‑employed customers are due to high demand and the additional complexity of these cases, which often require further evidence such as tax and income details.

The Department recognises the impact of these delays, particularly for disabled applicants without employer support. To address this, steps have been taken to recruit additional staff to clear the backlog and improve processing times: Huge recruitment boost to tackle backlog in vital disability work scheme - GOV.UK.

Priority is given to customers starting work within four weeks and to those renewing awards, to minimise disruption to employment.

As set out by the Prime Minister in his Written Ministerial Statement of 16 April responding to the publication of Module 4 of the COVID-19 Inquiry, the Government is carefully considering the findings of the inquiry, including the recommendations on reform of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), and will respond within six months of publication.

The Government is actively considering the recommendations of the inquiry on reform of the VDPS.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, including service standards for processing visa applications.

All family visa applications are carefully considered in line with the published family visa processing times available here: Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK. Where applicants require their application to be expedited owing to their individual compelling and compassionate circumstances, we will consider each case on its own merit.

Applicants on certain family routes may choose to use optional priority or super priority services, where available, for an additional fee to receive a faster decision on their application. Applicants using the priority service will usually receive a decision within five working days.

Further information on the priority service is available here: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying for a faster decision - GOV.UK.

Over the last 12 months, a total of 40 tasks has been carried out by the Licensed Asbestos Removal Contractor within the Palace of Westminster to seal, encapsulate, or remove asbestos containing materials.

Asbestos removal will take place as part of maintenance and project works:

1. Where asbestos presents safety risks to delivery of project works.

2. Where asbestos is likely to result in risks in relation to ongoing maintenance and business as usual activities.

3. Where asbestos has been identified by a risk assessment to require removal due to the level of risk to building occupants.

The House Administration employs an Asbestos Compliance Manager who oversees asbestos surveys and removal activities and provides specialist advice to maintenance and project teams across the Estate.

The House Administration also holds contracts with an asbestos consultancy, which maintains three permanent site‑based staff to undertake surveys and inspections, and with a Licensed Asbestos Removal Contractor, which provides two permanent site‑based staff to manage asbestos removal and remediation works required for maintenance and construction projects.

Where a section of the Estate is temporarily handed over to a contractor as a controlled construction zone with restricted access, they may use their own licensed asbestos teams. They are required to liaise with the Asbestos Compliance Manager and, once the area is handed back, ensure all asbestos removal activity is fully logged.

The number of staff deployed by these contractors varies according to operational requirements, including during recess periods when asbestos removal works are more frequently scheduled.

The table below outlines the twelve asbestos related incidents since 2016 which have occurred in the Palace, as outlined on page 25 of the R&R Costed Proposals Report.