theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Mike Wood:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Mauritian counterpart on flying the (a) Mauritius Flag and (b) United Kingdom Union flag on the Chagos Archipelago after the UK/Mauritius treaty on the Chagos Archipelago comes into force. \p Stephen Doughty: A British flag will continue to be flown at the UK-US Base on Diego Garcia, alongside the US flag, as it has always done.

After the treaty enters into force, Mauritius will be free to resettle on the outer islands. It will be for Mauritius to decide what flag they fly over these islands.

Mauritius will be free to fly the Mauritian flag on the Chagos Archipelago other than on the Diego Garcia base.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2025 to Question 58713 on Chagos Islands: Sovereignty, what proportion of the annual cost of the deal each year between 2025-2050 will be paid by (a) his department and (b) the Ministry of Defence. \p Stephen Doughty: The payments to Mauritius will be split between the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Ministry of Defence. They will be published in the normal manner alongside other departmental spend in the annual accounts.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to implement the recommendations of the report by the Eminent Persons Group entitled A Commonwealth of the People – Time for Urgent Reform, published in October 2011. \p Stephen Doughty: The 2011 Eminent Persons' report made a valuable contribution to the debate on Commonwealth reform. A number of recommendations were adopted, including the establishment of the Commonwealth Charter, which was signed by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 11 March 2013 and reaffirmed by His Majesty the King on 13 March 2023. The role of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group was also strengthened as a consequence of the Eminent Persons' report recommendations. Further reforms were adopted at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali in 2022. The UK remains a strong proponent of Commonwealth reform and fully supports the reform agenda of the Commonwealth Secretary-General.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the Commonwealth’s role in advancing the UK’s Global Britain strategy post-Brexit. \p Stephen Doughty: The Commonwealth will continue to be an ever-important network for the UK, particularly in these challenging geopolitical times. The UK will work with Commonwealth members to boost economic growth, tackle the climate and nature crisis and create opportunities for future generations. The Commonwealth presents a particularly significant opportunity for future UK economic growth, as it is home to some of our biggest trading partners, such as India, Canada and South Africa, as well as six of the world's ten fastest-growing economies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 36405 on International Day of Education, how much funding his Department will provide for global education in 2025-26 and subsequent financial years in the spending review period. \p Stephen Doughty: The transition to spending 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) on Official Development Assistance (ODA) demands significant shifts in the scale and shape of our ODA spending, in line with the shifts underway as we modernise our approach to development. Our 2025/26 ODA allocations will play an important role in laying the foundations for the pivot in our approach to development and sharpening of our priorities to help smooth the transition to 0.3 per cent.

We will publish the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's final 2025/26 ODA programme allocations in the Annual Report & Accounts in July.
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Mr Mark Francois:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to answer Question (a) 58924, (b) 58928, (c) 58929 and (d) 58932, tabled on 11 June 2025. \p Stephen Doughty: A response has been provided for each of these parliamentary questions on Friday 20 June.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2025 to Question 28555 on Nutrition for Growth Summit, how much funding his Department has allocated in relation to the Nutrition For Growth Summit 2025 following the Spending Review 2025. \p Stephen Doughty: At the 2025 Nutrition for Growth summit, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) launched the Global Compact on Nutrition Integration. 86 organisations and countries have endorsed the Compact. This commits us to integrating nutrition actions and objectives into the policies, programmes and investments of other sectors, including health, agriculture, humanitarian, and climate, to improve nutrition outcomes. Over the coming months, the FCDO will work through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments, ahead of publishing indicative multi-year allocations in the autumn.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Gareth Snell:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether it is his Department's policy that the people of Kashmir should have the right to a referendum to determine their future. \p Catherine West: India and Pakistan are important friends of the UK.   We encourage both to engage in dialogue and find lasting, diplomatic solutions to maintain regional stability.       The UK Government’s longstanding position on Kashmir that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution on Kashmir, considering the wishes of Kashmiri people.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Gurinder Singh Josan:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK's relationship with India. \p Catherine West: First, let me express again how deeply shocked and saddened I was by the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad.   The Foreign Secretary visited India in his first month in office. Since then, we have agreed the groundbreaking Technology and Security Initiative, concluded negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement and made big strides towards agreeing a new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.   The Foreign Secretary also visited Delhi earlier this month to discuss our ambitions to further strengthen and deepen our relationship in trade, security, technology, climate and education.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Shockat Adam:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on trends in the level of political violence in that country. \p Stephen Doughty: I condemn all forms of political violence in the strongest terms. Our thoughts are with all those affected. The Foreign Secretary speaks often to Secretary Rubio, who knows he has our full support on this issue.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Priti Patel:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54740 on British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty, whether measures have been put in place to (a) protect equipment on the Chagos Archipelago outside of Diego Garcia from interference, (b) ensure that the government of Mauritius maintains the confidentiality of the locations of that equipment and (c) respond to any breaches of the agreement by Mauritius. \p Stephen Doughty: The Treaty explicitly grants all rights and authorities that the United Kingdom requires for the long-term, secure and effective operation of the Base. Furthermore, Mauritius has committed to not undermine, prejudice or otherwise interfere with the long-term, secure and effective operation of the Base, and shall cooperate to that end. It is expected that the majority of security concerns that arise during the implementation of the Agreement will be resolved via the Joint Commission. If an issue arises that relates to the essential security interests of either the United Kingdom or Mauritius, which cannot be settled through the Joint Commission, Clause 3 of Article 14 provides the ability for direct Prime Ministerial consultation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Anneliese Dodds:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of allegations of (a) femicide and (b) forced disappearances of women in Sudan. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: Women and girls in Sudan are exposed to a range of human rights abuses including conflict related sexual violence and femicide as well as the risk of forced disappearance. The recent press release by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on this subject is especially harrowing. The UK has a comprehensive approach to atrocity monitoring and support through humanitarian partners such as Sudan Free of Genital Mutilation programme that allows us to fund support work on protection, prevention and care services for survivors of sexual violence. Those responsible must be held accountable and the most effective mechanism to support accountability in Sudan is the UN Human Rights Council Fact-Finding Mission (FFM). It was established following a UK-led resolution and its mandate was extended in October 2024 with an increased majority as a direct result of UK-led advocacy. On 24 April, the Foreign Secretary issued a statement calling for the warring parties to adhere to their commitments under the Jeddah Declaration to protect civilians. This followed the UN Security Council statement, released on 16 April, condemning the escalation of violence and calling for the parties to urgently implement UN Security Council Resolution 2736.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Sarah Champion:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to uphold International Humanitarian Law. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The UK is a champion of International Humanitarian Law and committed to promoting compliance. Where the UK is involved in military action, this is conducted in full accordance with UK and international law. If we see signs that violations of International Humanitarian Law may occur, we raise the alarm – directly with the countries involved, with nearby nations, and through international organisations. It is the UK government’s long-standing position that determinations of breaches of International Humanitarian Law are a matter for courts, and not for governments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Chi Onwurah:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support a just energy transition in Africa. \p Catherine West: Promoting access to clean energy in Africa is vital for supporting growth and reducing poverty across the continent. Through British International Investment, the UK has provided access to clean energy for over 26 million people. We support multilateral initiatives like Mission 300, which aims to connect 300 million people in Africa by 2030.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the need for minor eye care surgery services in Yeovil constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population, and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Sarah Hall:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve access to NHS dentistry in Warrington South constituency; and what plans he has to increase the number of NHS dentists practising in Warrington. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Warrington South constituency, this is the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.

ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB is expected to deliver 46,617 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.

ICBs have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Sir Mark Hendrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services. \p Stephen Kinnock: We know children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need and that waits for mental health services are too long across England. We are determined to change that as part of our shift to prevention and earlier intervention, and in line with our Plan for Change.

Nationally, the Government is providing £7 million of funding to extend support for 24 Early Support Hubs that have a track record of helping thousands of young people in their community. We will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England, and roll out Young Futures Hubs to provide open access mental health support for children and young people.

In addition, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services in England, to ease the pressure on the busy mental health services.
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Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals were made to mental health services, by patient age in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) 2023-24. \p Stephen Kinnock: The tables attached show the number of referrals received for Mental Health Services and for NHS Talking Therapy services, by age at referral and financial year, for 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24.

It should be noted that the majority of NHS Talking Therapy services are for those aged over 18 years old, with some including support for 16 to 17 year olds. In addition, these counts include rejected referrals and will be impacted by data quality issues, particularly where there are changes of system suppliers and transfers of caseloads between providers.

Additional Document (xlsx, 19.5KB)
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Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals were made to mental health services, by ethnicity in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) 2023-24. \p Stephen Kinnock: The tables attached show the number of referrals made to Mental Health Services and to NHS Talking Therapy services by ethnicity, in 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24.

Please note that these counts include rejected referrals and will be impacted by data quality issues, particularly where there are changes to the system suppliers and transfers of caseloads between providers.

Additional Document (xlsx, 21.4KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the merits of reforming GP licensing; and whether he will make it his policy to protect GPs from unaffordable costs when a practice fails financially. \p Stephen Kinnock: Most general practices (GPs) are run by general, unlimited liability partnerships. Limited liability partnerships are currently not permitted as business vehicles for General Medical Services or Personal Medical Services contractors. However, limited companies can be used to manage financial risks in a partnership. GP partnerships may also manage liabilities through indemnities and different forms of insurance. As independent contractors and small business owners, these are decisions for GP partners to make, with legal and accounting advice.

We have committed to substantive GP Contract reform within this Parliament following acceptance of the 2025/26 contract by the General Practitioners Committee England. As part of this, we expect to consider a breadth of topics, which may include updates to the partnership model.

We are investing an additional £889 million in GPs, to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service and to bring back the family doctor, bringing the total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and means we are reversing the recent trend by allocating a rising share of total NHS resources to GPs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Oliver Ryan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote the importance of regular eye tests and vision screening for children; and what further steps he plans to take to increase the uptake of eye tests among children. \p Stephen Kinnock: Free National Health Service sight tests are widely available for children under 16 years old, and under 19 years old in full time education. The NHS.UK website sets out the importance of regular sight tests whilst also providing information about who is entitled to free NHS sight tests. The Department also looks for opportunities to promote the importance of NHS sight tests, such as through National Eye Health Week.

All babies should receive a routine eye screening within 72 hours of birth as part of the newborn physical examination, and again at around six weeks of age. The UK National Screening Committee also recommends vision screening in school for children aged four to five years old to look for reduced vision in one or both eyes. Providers of this service will send information to parents, carers, or guardians, setting out why vision screening is important to encourage uptake.
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Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals made to mental health services in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) 2023-24 waited longer than 12 months between referral and second contact. \p Stephen Kinnock: The following table shows the number of referrals received by Mental Health services that waited longer than 12 months between referral and second contact for the years 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24:

Year

Number of referrals

2021/22

322,075

2022/23

394,179

2023/24

448,154

Source: Mental Health Services Data Set.

In addition, the following table shows the number of referrals received by NHS Talking Therapies that waited longer than 12 months between referral and second contact for the years 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24:

Year

Number of referrals

2021/22

22,874

2022/23

20,520

2023/24

21,981

Source: NHS Talking Therapies.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase funding for hospice care. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The funding will help hospices to provide the best end of life care to patients and their families in a supportive and dignified physical environment.

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.

Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding from integrated care boards (ICBs) for providing National Health Services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area, but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative care and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.

We are also working to make sure the palliative and end of life care sector is sustainable in the long term and are determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community through our 10-Year Health Plan.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 21470 on Hospices: Charitable Donations, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the proposed funding increase for hospice care. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The funding will help hospices to provide the best end of life care to patients and their families in a supportive and dignified physical environment.

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.

Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding from integrated care boards (ICBs) for providing National Health Services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area, but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative care and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.

We are also working to make sure the palliative and end of life care sector is sustainable in the long term and are determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community through our 10-Year Health Plan.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies on community mental health services of the Trieste Model of mental health care. \p Stephen Kinnock: We recognise the important role that community-based mental health systems play. As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, we are aiming to shift more care into community settings.

Building on international best practice, including those in the Trieste model, NHS England is already piloting new models of care in the community for those with severe mental illness. These new open access mental health centres are being piloted in six neighbourhood areas, including in York. These centres will provide 24/7 support to individuals and their families during times of crisis, without needing to book an appointment. Additionally, centres will provide advice around housing or employment to support individuals to stay well.
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Clive Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated to the NHS under the Better Care Fund in each integrated care board area; and where monitoring of that spending is publicly reported. \p Stephen Kinnock: For 2025/26, approximately £9 billion is committed to the Better Care Fund (BCF). This includes approximately £3.3 billion provided to local authorities through the local authority BCF Grant, as well as the £5.6 billion NHS Minimum Contribution.

2025/26 allocations for the NHS Minimum Contribution by integrated care board and upper tier local authority are available on the NHS England website, at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/better-care-fund-minimum-nhs-contributions-from-integrated-care-boards/.

Data from the monitoring of BCF spending is also available on the NHS England website, at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/part-rel/transformation-fund/better-care-fund/better-care-fund-reporting-and-insight/

The planned expenditure data for 2025/26 will be published on the same website in due course.
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Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of people on waiting lists for mental health services who had been waiting for first contact for (a) five years and over, (b) between three and five years, (c) between two and three years, (d) between one year and two years, (e) between six months and one year, (f) between three and six months and (g) less than three months on 31 January 2025, broken down by Integrated Care Board. \p Stephen Kinnock: The information requested for secondary mental health services, including learning disability and autism services, is in the attached table. The data presented is a count of people. However, some people may have multiple referrals waiting for treatment and may fall into multiple waiting time categories. The data also includes people who failed to attend their appointment.

NHS Talking Therapies data is not included, and is available separately at:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-mental-health-dashboard/

Since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to increase transparency and drive improvements in the quality of data and help services to target the longest waits. The data in the table will not align with these published statistics. For adult community mental health, the waiting list is defined as someone still waiting for a second contact whereas the data in the table is for people waiting for a first contact. However, for children and young people, the waiting list is defined as someone still waiting for a first contact.

PQ56584 - Supplementary table (xlsx, 19.8KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential link between oral health and diabetes. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government recognises that patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of developing severe gum disease.

Patients with diabetes need to access effective dental care and local pathways should be developed to support this. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the needs of their population and for ensuring that the relevant dental services are available. The NHS England commissioning standard on dental care for people with diabetes provides guidance to ICBs on how to ensure these patients can access the care they need. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-standard-dental-care-for-people-with-diabetes/
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to effective (a) treatment and (b) support for people experiencing chronic insomnia in (i) Fylde and (ii) Lancashire. \p Stephen Kinnock: It is for the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board to decide what treatments and support for insomnia are offered to its local population, including people living in Fylde.

NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression offers low-intensity therapy, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which may include interventions around sleep hygiene. Individuals who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depression can be referred by their general practitioner, or can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies via the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/nhs-talking-therapies/

Individuals can also access helpful resources on sleep problems on the Every Mind Matters website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-health-issues/sleep/

In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Prioritisation Board has agreed to prioritise digital technologies that deliver CBT interventions for insomnia and insomnia symptoms as a topic for the development of HealthTech guidance.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2025 to Question 52268 on Independent Commission into Adult Social Care, whether the financial expenditure report will include the chair's salary. \p Stephen Kinnock: As the Commission is independent, it will be responsible for reporting on its financial expenditure and is responsible for what it includes in the report.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the quality of dementia diagnosis data. \p Stephen Kinnock: To support recovery of the dementia diagnosis rates and implementation of the Dementia Care Pathway, we have developed a memory service dashboard for management information purposes. The aim is to support commissioners and providers with appropriate data and enable targeted support where needed.

Commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership and funded by NHS England and the Welsh administration, the National Audit of Dementia Memory Service Spotlight reports include data on aspects of the diagnostic process, including waiting times and variation in service delivery in terms of diagnosis speed, neuroimaging use, and post-diagnostic support. The aim is to aid commissioners and providers in planning and targeting improvement where appropriate.

To enhance dementia diagnosis rate data further, dementia sub types have been included in the Core GP Contract data collection from April 2023 onwards. This plays an important role in improving diagnosis accuracy and care planning, enabling clinicians to refine diagnostic criteria and tailor treatments more effectively.

To help address and reduce variation in dementia diagnosis rates, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network developed a data tool for local systems, which includes an assessment of population characteristics such as rurality and socio-economic deprivation. This enables systems to investigate local variation in diagnosis and take informed action to enhance their diagnosis rates.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Susan Murray:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing care support packages for households, rather than people requiring care. \p Stephen Kinnock: We have not made a direct assessment of the potential merits of implementing care support packages for households rather than for individuals requiring care. However, we recognise the importance of people’s wider support networks for those drawing on care and support.

Section 2 of the Care and Support Statutory Guidance requires local authorities in England to take a holistic view of a person’s needs and circumstances when undertaking a needs assessment. This includes considering how family or friends may support the individual to meet their goals and live as independently as possible for as long as possible, without placing or creating additional caring responsibilities.

Local authorities in England further have specific duties to support people who care for family members and friends. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities in England must provide a broad range of high-quality, sustainable care and support services for carers, and are required to carry out Carer’s Assessments where a carer appears to have need for support and may be eligible for help.

We also welcome the use of models such as Family Group Conferencing in places like Camden, which puts both individuals and their families and friends at the heart of decision making.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many civil servants in his Department are working on the (a) findings and (b) implementation of recommendations from the 2023 Learning from Lives and Deaths – People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People annual report. \p Stephen Kinnock: We recognise that the Learning from Lives and Deaths (LeDeR) programme as a crucial source of evidence that helps to identify the key improvements needed to tackle health disparities and to prevent the avoidable deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people. There is no fixed number of people working on LeDeR within the Department, as the programme is run by NHS England, and the Department’s involvement varies depending on the programme’s requirements and findings from each year’s report.

Alongside the forthcoming publication of the next LeDeR report, NHS England will publish an Action from Learning report. This highlights the work across the country by integrated care boards to improve services for people with a learning disability and autism. The learning disability and autism programme within NHS England is responsible for commissioning the LeDeR report and continues to work with other NHS England programmes to ensure that they consider the needs of people with a learning disability and autistic people when looking at pathways of care and needs assessments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps has he taken to help reduce waiting times for mental health treatment in the South East. \p Stephen Kinnock: Waiting times for those referred to mental health services are too high all across England, including in the South East.

Too many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.

We are committed to improving mental health care for people with a range of mental health conditions, and to shifting the focus from treatment to prevention, as we make the National Health Service fit for the future.

In the Spending Review announcement, we have confirmed that we will fulfil the Government’s commitments to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health staff, to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, by the end of the Parliament, and we will expand mental health support teams in schools in England to cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30.

Our reforms to the Mental Health Act will give patients a greater say in their care and will ensure that people get the appropriate and compassionate mental health support they need.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of GP registrations made by people not born in the UK in the last five years, broken down by region. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department does not hold data regarding the number and proportion of National Health Service general practice registrations that were for people not born in the United Kingdom.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Mary Glindon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department considered the legal opinion by Tom Cross KC and Ruth Kennedy entitled In the Matter of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, published on 28 April 2025, during the development of the document entitled Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: ECHR memorandum, published on 2 May 2025. \p Stephen Kinnock: It was not possible to consider the legal opinion entitled In the Matter of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill during the development of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: ECHR memorandum, as the legal opinion was published after the European Convention on Human Rights Memorandum (ECHR) memorandum was finalised for publication.

The ECHR memorandum sets out the Government’s position on the bill’s compatibility with the Human Rights Act 1998.

The Government will keep the bill’s compatibility with the Human Rights Act 1998 under review as it progresses through Parliament, and issue a further ECHR memorandum if appropriate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Dr Ben Spencer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on the operation of the Mental Health Act 1983. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is neutral on the matter of assisted dying and the passage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

The Government also has a duty to the statute book and to ensure that the legislation, if passed, is effective, robust, and workable. This includes analysing the bill’s workability in relation to existing legislation, such as the Mental Health Act 1983. The bill also provides powers to issue guidance and codes of practice which could be used to ensure that there are no unintended effects on other legislation.

The Government has made a renewed focus on suicide prevention, and mental health is a key priority in its health mission within the Suicide Prevention Strategy for England.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Richard Tice:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) availability and (b) timeliness of end-of-life palliative care support in Boston and Skegness constituency; and what steps he is taking to ensure that terminally ill patients fast-tracked due to a prognosis of fewer than 12 weeks to live receive appropriate physical and social care at home without having to wait until their final four weeks of life. \p Stephen Kinnock: Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission, including Lincolnshire ICB, which covers the Boston and Skegness constituency. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations.

To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance requires ICBs to work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of palliative and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations.

Additionally, the Lincolnshire ICB area benefits from a single palliative point of access that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week: a single phone number, facilitated by specialist palliative nurses and the urgent and emergency care clinical assessment service, through which patients, families, carers and professionals can access care that is co-ordinated and delivered locally.

NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is a package of National Health Service-funded ongoing health and social care for adults with the highest levels of complex, intense or unpredictable needs that have arisen as a result of disability, accident or illness.

Lincolnshire ICB’s policy for fast-track CHC funding does not set out a timeframe for applications based on the number of weeks of prognosis, but it is based on the narrative within the National Framework for NHS CHC of “rapidly deteriorating and entering end phase of life”. The CHC team works seven days a week to ensure fast-track applications are processed in a timely manner.

There is a dedicated CHC End of Life Case Manager for Boston and Skegness, who ensures people’s packages of care are appropriate and meeting the needs of the individual throughout their time they are in receipt of fast-track funding. Lincolnshire ICB has a contract in place with a single provider for Boston and Skegness, which ensures packages of care are arranged and delivered in a timely manner.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 56537 on Long Covid, how many long COVID clinics are operational in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire; and he plans to open further clinics in 2025. \p Ashley Dalton: Since April 2024, the commissioning of long COVID services has been the responsibility of local integrated care boards, following the closure of the national long COVID programme. For the Fylde constituency and Lancashire more widely, this is the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB).

From 1 May 2025, the long COVID services in Lancashire and South Cumbria will no longer be commissioned as stand-alone services. These services have now closed to new referrals, and the way in which patients with long COVID access support will change.

This decision was taken by the ICB on 26 March 2025 due to a significant drop in referrals, and a change to the national funding from 1 April 2025.

The average number of referrals per month over the last 12 months across Lancashire and South Cumbria was 47. This is in comparison to an average of 72 referrals per month in 2023, 146 per month in 2022 and 172 per month in 2021.

Anyone currently accessing the long COVID service in Lancashire and South Cumbria will be contacted directly by their provider to let them know what will happen next and how they can continue to be supported.

People with long COVID symptoms should see their general practitioner, who will be able to refer them to alternative existing services depending on their clinical needs.