The Government considers that everyone seeking to make a permanent home in the UK should be equipped to integrate successfully in UK society, with an appropriate level of English and an understanding of life in the UK.

Applicants for settlement and citizenship are required to pass the Life in the UK test. The aim of the test is to ensure that those who intend to settle in the UK have an understanding of life here and society’s expectations.

The Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper, published on 12 May 2025, sets out the government's plans to create an immigration system which promotes growth but is controlled and managed. This includes proposed plans to conduct a refresh of the Life in the UK test and how it operates.

We are reviewing the test and will update it so that it better reflects the knowledge people need to live, work and take part in everyday life in the UK today. Our aim is to make the test clearer and more relevant.

The current Life in the UK contract expires in 2027. We will announce any changes in due course, ensuring transitional arrangements are in place so that applicants have sufficient notice.

The Government considers that everyone seeking to make a permanent home in the UK should be equipped to integrate successfully in UK society, with an appropriate level of English and an understanding of life in the UK.

Applicants for settlement and citizenship are required to pass the Life in the UK test. The aim of the test is to ensure that those who intend to settle in the UK have an understanding of life here and society’s expectations.

The Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper, published on 12 May 2025, sets out the government's plans to create an immigration system which promotes growth but is controlled and managed. This includes proposed plans to conduct a refresh of the Life in the UK test and how it operates.

We are reviewing the test and will update it so that it better reflects the knowledge people need to live, work and take part in everyday life in the UK today. Our aim is to make the test clearer and more relevant.

The current Life in the UK contract expires in 2027. We will announce any changes in due course, ensuring transitional arrangements are in place so that applicants have sufficient notice.

Applications for administrative review have increased and intake has doubled within the last five years. Resource for the Administrative Review Unit is now more than double the equivalent 2021 staffing levels in response to this continuing high demand.

Administrative Review are continuing to take steps to improve the time taken to reach a decision and resourcing planning is continuing alongside reforms to front-end processes, case management and data systems. These measures which are already underway will restore the system to its original purpose as a fast, effective remedy.

Interfaith relations are vital for strong, cohesive communities. Learning about different faiths and beliefs builds mutual understanding and contributes to community cohesion.

The government’s support for cross-community interfaith work is demonstrated by our continued support for the annual Inter Faith Week. We are working closely with the organisers of Inter Faith Week 2026 to ensure new audiences are engaged and grassroots cross-community initiatives are supported.

Our continued support for programmes such as Near Neighbours and Schools Linking means we are ensuring that local communities and young people continue to have opportunities to meet across differences, build understanding, and develop lasting relationships and friendships.

The Government has decided not to adjust individual compensation awards to account for interest a person could have received, or investments that someone could have made or could make in the future. The compensation scheme does not pay interest on awards for historic losses as the awards have been designed according to 2023/24 rates. For example, care awards are calculated using 2024 UK commercial care rates. Using historic rates would have made these awards considerably lower.

In some circumstances the Courts adjust compensation awards to account for interest and investment, including accounting for the lost interest that someone may have earned if they received their compensation earlier.

The Government has chosen not to adjust individual compensation awards in this way. This is to make sure that applicants have certainty about the total amount of compensation they will receive through the Scheme, regardless of when their application is processed, and to make sure Scheme is not made unduly operationally complex.

The National Health Service is committed to reducing waste, whilst also delivering cost savings and minimising environmental impact, as set out in the Delivering a Net Zero NHS report. Since the publication of the report in 2020, there have been substantial improvements in the number of locally managed walking aid refurbishment and reuse schemes. A range of resources and communications tools is available to support NHS trusts and patients with returns. This includes the Recycle Now website, where patients can check their nearest drop off location by postcode. As well as hospitals, NHS England has also established systems for walking aid return at waste and recycling centres in collaboration with local authority partners. Some trusts have offered home collection services for reusable walking aids in partnership with local authorities; however such services are less prevalent compared to schemes that utilise drop-off sites.

Additionally, the Design for Life Roadmap sets out the Government’s plan to tackle NHS medical technology waste through a circular economy. The ambition is that by 2045, the NHS will have transitioned away from all avoidable single-use medical products to a system that preserves the value of products for as long as possible. This will drive cost savings, resilience, economic growth and sustainability by maximising reuse, remanufacture and recycling of medical technology, which includes walking aids. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/design-for-life-roadmap

We are aware that reuse schemes will not currently be easily accessible to all patients. We are exploring how NHS infrastructure can be improved in future to promote better reuse, remanufacture and recycling of medical products through our commitments in the Design for Life Programme.

The Government has no such plans for reforming the Penalty Charge Notice system.

The Government is committed to upholding and strengthening UK democracy by protecting against foreign interference, improving political transparency, adding tougher checks for donations and closing loopholes by reinforcing electoral legislation against foreign interference.

The Joint Election Security and Preparedness (JESP) Unit is a permanent function which sits jointly between Cabinet Office and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), dedicated to protecting UK elections and referendums and coordinating work across government to respond to issues including protective security, cyber threats and mis and disinformation, as they emerge.

Through the Representation of the People Bill we are introducing tougher rules on political donations to protect UK elections, striking the right balance between safeguarding against foreign interference whilst making sure that legitimate donors can continue to fund electoral campaigns. These changes will effectively meet an evolving and sophisticated threat to ensure the UK is not vulnerable to illicit political donations from abroad.

Additionally, the Government welcomes Philip Rycroft’s comprehensive, thoughtful and well-reasoned report on foreign financial interference in our democracy. We are taking immediate steps to implement his recommendations for a cap on donations made by overseas electors and for a moratorium on donations made via crypto currency, which we will implement through amendments to the Representation of the People Bill, currently before the House of Commons. The Government supports the wider conclusions drawn by Mr Rycroft on the risks in our system and will reflect swiftly on how best to take these forward, given their more technical nature. We will respond, formally and in full, in due course.

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which supports clinical, public health, social care and global health research in partnership with the National Health Service, academia and wider stakeholders. The NIHR has not funded work on the anti-USAG-1 antibody therapy, but it does fund research into dental health through a range of projects and programmes and is committed to ensuring patients, including those with tooth loss or damage, can benefit from innovative treatments and access cutting edge clinical trials. The Department is also taking steps to accelerate clinical research, improve patient outcomes and strengthen the United Kingdom’s position as a global leader in life sciences.

To increase access to clinical research, the NIHR welcomes funding applications on all aspects of human health and care, including dental health, with proposals assessed through open, competitive peer review. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/suggest-a-research-topic

The NIHR funds research and research infrastructure which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research. The NIHR provides an online service called 'Be Part of Research' which promotes participation in health and care research, by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest. More information is available at the following link:

https://bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk/

NHS England commissions prison health care services into every prison in England to the equivalence of the community, to include range, access and quality of service. Access to specialist consultants and referrals into specialised support is available in all prisons; this includes access to allied health professionals and speech and language services as well as physiotherapy.

HM Prison and Probation Service enables access to all healthcare appointments, internal and external to the prison. The responsibility for social care support which this patient cohort may require due to the progressive nature of neuromuscular conditions is the responsibility of local authorities. The responsibility for reasonable adjustments lies with HM Prison and Probation Service rather than NHS England, and the Ministry of Justice recognises that the age of the prison estate presents challenges. In addition to making reasonable adjustments in older prisons, new-build prisons include accessible cells, low mobility cells, and lift access in all buildings.

As has been made clear in documents that were published in the Government's response to the Humble Address, on 1 June 2026, measures were put in place to manage Peter Mandelson's declared conflicts of interest. As was also made clear in the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister's statement to the House on the same day, some documents relevant to the Humble Address have been withheld at the request of the police.

I refer the Hon Member to the Government’s statement and release of information on 1st June, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The documents published in the first and second tranches contain the entirety of the documents the Government has available for disclosure, except those being withheld at the request of the Metropolitan police.

I refer the Hon Member to the Government’s statement and release of information on 1st June, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The documents published in the first and second tranches contain the entirety of the documents the Government has available for disclosure, except those being withheld at the request of the Metropolitan police.

This Government are rebuilding England’s broken NHS dentistry system. The dental recruitment incentive scheme encourages dentists to work in underserved areas. Data on the scheme’s effectiveness will be published later this year. We are taking steps to increase the supply of dentists. For example, last week I was very proud to announce the first sustained expansion of dental school places since 2007, backed by £11 million a year. A total of 50 dental school places a year have been allocated.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service has invested in more staff in 2026, alongside system and process improvements and a programme of upskilling in order to improve the processing time for applications and to ensure outstanding caseload does not increase.

Service users can indicate that their application is urgent either at submission or at a later stage and operational teams have processes in place promptly to review such applications.

The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in our quarterly Family Court statistics bulletin: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK

The model proforma was last reviewed in 2019 following the changes to the eligibility criteria.

The Department works with the Blue Badge Digital Service supplier and with local authorities to help improve the service for all applications from people with non-visible and hidden disabilities.

The model proforma was last reviewed in 2019 following the changes to the eligibility criteria.

The Department works with the Blue Badge Digital Service supplier and with local authorities to help improve the service for all applications from people with non-visible and hidden disabilities.