The information requested is shown in the attached table.

The NHS England Specialised Commissioning, via the Bone Marrow Transplant Clinical Reference Group (CRG), is undertaking an assessment of the available apheresis capacity across England, working with NHS Blood and Transplant. The first phase of this assessment is complete and the CRG will define the next phase of this assessment at its meeting in November.

NHS Blood and Transplant is the largest provider of apheresis services and has been increasing capacity significantly over a number of years, averaging an increase of about 10% per annum. There are a number of projects expected in the next 12 months to both increase nursing capacity and the physical space in which apheresis occurs.

Horizon scanning within the advanced therapy area suggests that a significant increase in cell collection will be required within the next three to five years. The MedTech Funding Mandate for Spectra Optia in sickle cell disease has assisted in funding the expansion of services. NHS England is working in partnership with the Health Innovation Network to deliver the requirements of the MedTech Funding Mandate Policy which mandates the delivery of the Spectra Optia Apheresis System for the automation of red cell exchange for sickle cell patients. Funding has been provided to increase access to this technology across the country.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically- and cost-effective use of NHS resources. The NHS in England is legally required to make funding available in line with NICE’s recommendations within 90 days of a NICE decision, ensuring consistent access for all NHS patients in England to NICE recommended treatments.

NICE works closely with NHS England and pharmaceutical companies throughout the guidance development process to ensure that companies can put forward as strong a value proposition as possible. NICE can recommend most new medicines for use in the NHS in England. Health is a devolved matter and decisions on access to medicines in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales are a matter for the devolved administrations.

NICE is currently evaluating the medicine belumosudil for treating chronic graft versus host disease after two or more lines of systemic therapy. NICE’s draft guidance does not recommend belumosudil but is subject to a public consultation and is not final guidance. NICE’s committee will carefully consider all evidence as well as comments received during the consultation in developing its final guidance.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically- and cost-effective use of NHS resources. The NHS in England is legally required to make funding available in line with NICE’s recommendations within 90 days of a NICE decision, ensuring consistent access for all NHS patients in England to NICE recommended treatments.

NICE works closely with NHS England and pharmaceutical companies throughout the guidance development process to ensure that companies can put forward as strong a value proposition as possible. NICE can recommend most new medicines for use in the NHS in England. Health is a devolved matter and decisions on access to medicines in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales are a matter for the devolved administrations.

NICE is currently evaluating the medicine belumosudil for treating chronic graft versus host disease after two or more lines of systemic therapy. NICE’s draft guidance does not recommend belumosudil but is subject to a public consultation and is not final guidance. NICE’s committee will carefully consider all evidence as well as comments received during the consultation in developing its final guidance.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) have received funding from the Department to set up a process for manufacturing and supplying mesenchymal stromal cells for the treatment of Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). This process has been set up and the first batches of cells will be available for supply from NHSBT in 2024. These will be issued upon request from hospitals under the Specials program but is not routinely commissioned.

NHSBT funded the IMPACT clinical trials network and subsequently Advancing Clinical Trials Ltd (ACT). The network is currently running two trials in the area of GvHD. NHSBT with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) fund research into transplantation and cellular therapy via the Blood and Transplant Research Unit based in Oxford. While at an early stage, some of the projects leading from this aim to reduce and/or treat GvHD. The NIHR has further supported the delivery of the AGAVE clinical trial via the NIHR infrastructure.

No assessment has been made of the number of adults and children living in destitution in North Wales.

This government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families and has overseen significant falls in absolute poverty since 2009/10.

In 2021/22 there were 1.7 million fewer people in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10, including 400,000 fewer children, 1 million fewer working age adults and 200,000 fewer pensioners. Rates of absolute poverty after housing costs for individuals in families in receipt of Universal Credit have also fallen by 12ppt since 2019/20.

In Wales, in the three years to 2021/22 there were an average of 500,000 individuals (or 16%) in absolute poverty after housing costs, including 100,000 children. This is 200,000 fewer than in 2009/10, or a 6 percentage point decrease.

Poverty statistics for all individuals are not available at the constituency level. The numbers of children living in low income families before housing costs by constituency are published in the Children in Low Income Families Publication, available here.

The UK Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. We are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising bills.

We are providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact for the devolved administrations, to enable a further extension to the Household Support Fund (HSF) in England over the 2023/24 financial year. As with all government spending in England, the HSF has led to consequential increases in Barnett funding, which the DAs spend at their discretion. As a result of the Household Support Fund extension, Wales has been allocated £50m.

With almost one million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting people, including parents, to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. The latest statistics show that in 2021/22 children living in workless households were 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty, after housing costs, than those where all adults work.

To help people into work, our core Jobcentre offer provides a range of options, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance. In addition, there is specific support targeted towards young people, people aged 50 plus and job seekers with disabilities or health issues.

To support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW. In addition, the voluntary in-work progression offer started to roll-out in April 2022. It is now available in all Jobcentres across Great Britain. We estimate that around 1.4m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid work.

To further support parents into work, on 28th June 2023, the maximum monthly amounts that a parent can be reimbursed for their childcare increased by 47%, from £646.35 for one child and £1,108.04 for two or more children to £950.92 and £1,630.15 respectively. Importantly, we can now also provide even more help with upfront childcare costs when parents move into work or increase their hours. This means that a parent who needs this additional financial help can now be provided with funding towards both their first and second set of costs (or increased costs), upfront, thereby easing them into the UC childcare costs cycle.

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR invests in expertise, specialist facilities, a research delivery workforce and support services to support recruitment to clinical trials. The NIHR Clinical Research Facilities support the delivery of early phase trials and the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) and Patient Recruitment Centres support delivery and participation in later phase clinical trials.

The NIHR also provides the online platform 'Be Part of Research' which allow users to search for and register interest in clinical trials, matching people to trials of relevance to them.

The Department is engaging with several stakeholders in the development of the Major Conditions Strategy including organisations that represent babies, children and young people.

The department does not hold the information in the format requested to answer question 201322, and it could only be provided at disproportionate cost. HMLR publishes information each month about its latest processing times on GOV.UK here

Applications to HM Land Registry (HMLR) are protected with priority from their date of receipt. Provided they contain the information required for registration, they are guaranteed to be processed. I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 187953 on 14 June 2023 for information about the steps HMLR is taking to improve its speed of service.

The department does not hold the information in the format requested to answer question 201322, and it could only be provided at disproportionate cost. HMLR publishes information each month about its latest processing times on GOV.UK here

Applications to HM Land Registry (HMLR) are protected with priority from their date of receipt. Provided they contain the information required for registration, they are guaranteed to be processed. I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 187953 on 14 June 2023 for information about the steps HMLR is taking to improve its speed of service.

The Government will publish a full response to the Lord O’Shaughnessy independent review into commercial clinical trials in autumn 2023. The response will include an update on progress and implementation of the initial five headline commitments and foundational actions that the Government made in May 2023.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on the clinical and cost effectiveness of all new medicines and aims to publish guidance close to the point of licensing wherever possible. The NHS in England is legally required to make funding available for medicines in line with NICE’s recommendations. NICE works closely with pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders in the development of its recommendations on individual treatments.

NICE is developing technology appraisal guidance on belumosudil for treating chronic graft versus host disease after two or more lines of systemic therapy and expects to publish final guidance in November 2023.

The voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access (VPAS) includes strong commercial incentives to launch new products in the form of freedom of list pricing and exemptions from payments for innovative medicines containing a new active substance. At the mid-scheme review for the 2019 VPAS, the Department and NHS England concluded that the scheme had been effective in supporting patient access to innovative medicines.

The terms of the successor to VPAS are subject to ongoing confidential negotiations. Supporting patient access to innovative medicines will continue to be one of the scheme’s objectives, alongside ensuring the affordability of National Health Service spend on medicines and supporting the life sciences sector and the wider economy.

The Renters (Reform) Bill will ensure that private landlords cannot unreasonably refuse a request from their tenant to keep a pet. The Bill provides added flexibility where they need to obtain consent of a superior landlord when considering a request.

The Renters (Reform) Bill will ensure that private landlords cannot unreasonably refuse a request from their tenant to keep a pet. The Bill provides added flexibility where they need to obtain consent of a superior landlord when considering a request.

No specific assessment has been made. Independent providers are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment. This includes the pay scales that they use and any non-consolidated pay awards they choose to make. It is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate, and how to recoup any additional costs they face if they choose to utilise the terms and conditions of National Health Service staff on the Agenda for Change contract.

All eligible staff should receive the payments agreed as part of the Agenda for Change deal. The pay offer to Agenda for Change staff, approved by a majority on the NHS Staff Council on 2 May, applied to staff directly employed by a National Health Service organisation as set out in Annex 1 of the NHS Employers handbook.

Staff employed at independent providers or other organisations who utilise the Agenda for Change terms and conditions may also be entitled to both the non-consolidated pay award for 2022/23 and the consolidated pay award for 2023/24 that staff working for eligible NHS organisations will receive. These organisations should consider their contractual obligations and review their commissioning contracts to consider whether and how to recover any additional cost pressures they now face. Funding to non-centrally funded organisations will be uplifted through their usual funding routes to reflect the 2023/24 pay award.

The Major Conditions Strategy will take a life-course approach to tackling major conditions which will include ways to prevent ill-health from individuals' early years. We are taking an evidence-based approach to decide where and how interventions are made to achieve this and we are engaging with stakeholders representing children and young people to ensure their views are considered in the development of the strategy.

The Department has made no assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is responsible for appointing members to its technology appraisal committees. Members reflect the spread of interests and expertise required for the business of the committee and are drawn from the National Health Service, patient and carer organisations, academia, and pharmaceutical and medical devices industries.

Additional experts may be invited to attend to advise the committee on a topic by topic basis to assist in considering and interpreting the evidence.

The Government would like all National Health Service patients in England to benefit from innovative and effective new treatments in a way that represents value to taxpayers. All new medicines, including cell and gene therapies, are appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which makes recommendations for the NHS on whether they should be funded by the NHS, considering clinical and cost effectiveness. NICE aims to publish guidance on new medicines around the time of licensing wherever possible and the NHS is legally required to make funding available for NICE recommended treatments.

The NHS has struck commercial deals with the manufacturers of several cell and gene therapies enabling NICE to recommend them for NHS patients, including through the Government’s £340 million Cancer Drugs Fund. NHS patients in England were among the first in the world to benefit from access to CAR-T cancer therapy and, NHS England has also negotiated deals to secure lifesaving gene therapies Zolgensma® and Libmeldy® for patients with spinal muscular atrophy and metachromatic leukodystophy, respectively.