theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Anneliese Dodds:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Competition and Markets Authority's report on Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Market Study, publish on 14 February 2025, what steps his Department is taking to improve the regulation of the powdered baby milk industry. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government remains committed to giving every child the best start in life. Whilst breastfeeding has significant health benefits, we recognise that for those families that cannot or choose not to breastfeed, it is vital that they have access to infant formula that is affordable and high quality.

The infant formula regulations set robust nutritional and compositional standards which mean that all infant formula for sale in the United Kingdom are suitable for meeting the nutritional requirements of babies regardless of the price or brand. The regulations restrict the inappropriate marketing and promotion of infant formula that can mislead consumers and may discourage breastfeeding.

The Government welcomes the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study into the UK’s infant formula and follow-on formula market. We have been working closely with the devolved administrations to consider its recommendations. We will respond in due course.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the mandatory displaying of food hygiene ratings on (a) shop fronts and (b) online food ordering platforms. \p Ashley Dalton: The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Evidence from Wales and Northern Ireland demonstrates that mandatory display has improved transparency, which encourages businesses to achieve better levels of compliance with hygiene requirements.

Introducing a statutory scheme in England, with a mandatory display of ratings at premises and online, would require primary legislation and the securing of a suitable legislative vehicle and parliamentary time. Ministers will consider the options in due course, supported by the FSA.

In the meantime, the FSA is working with its local authority partners to maintain and improve the impact and benefits of this highly successful public health scheme.
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Mike Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of mandating restaurants in England to display their food hygiene rating. \p Ashley Dalton: The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Evidence from Wales and Northern Ireland demonstrates that mandatory display has improved transparency, which encourages businesses to achieve better levels of compliance with hygiene requirements.

Introducing a statutory scheme in England with mandatory display of ratings at premises and online, would require primary legislation and the securing of a suitable legislative vehicle and parliamentary time. Ministers will consider the options in due course supported by the FSA.

In the meantime, the FSA is continuing to work with its local authority partners to deliver an excellent Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of offering free flu vaccines to (a) charity and (b) voluntary workers on the health of vulnerable people. \p Ashley Dalton: Eligibility for a free National Health Service flu vaccine is guided, each year, by advice and recommendations from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and is kept under regular review. The aim of the flu vaccination programme is to protect those most at risk from serious illness and hospitalisation.

Those eligible to receive a free flu vaccine on the NHS this autumn are:

The NHS website contains further information on eligibility, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/flu-vaccine/

Anyone who feels unsure about their eligibility (including those who work with vulnerable people in a voluntary capacity) can consult their general practitioner, practice nurse, or pharmacist. Pregnant women can also consult their midwife.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of the health impact of the long term use of marijuana. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is committed to reducing the harm from all illicit drugs. Any illegal drug use, including cannabis, can be harmful, due to both the immediate side-effects and long-term physical and mental health problems. Cannabis use can contribute to and exacerbate existing mental health problems or can accelerate their development in people predisposed to mental health problems.

Taking cannabis in any form is risky. For instance, vaping supposed tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may increase the risk of users unwittingly consuming more dangerous substances like synthetic cannabinoids. Where there are incidents of synthetic cannabinoids in THC vapes, the local authority public health team and the police force should take action with partners to warn and protect their communities. The Department is tracking reports nationally and its regional teams are providing localised warnings and support.

The Department has recently launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the risks posed by new drug trends and products, including the adulteration of ‘THC’ vapes with other drugs like synthetic cannabinoids.

Furthermore, statutory guidance on relationships, sex, and health education requires all primary and secondary schools to ensure that pupils know the key facts and risks associated with alcohol and drug use, as well as how to manage influences and pressure, and keep themselves healthy and safe. The Department has worked with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to develop lesson plans on alcohol and drugs and has commissioned an update of the resources to be published later this year.

The Government will continue to work with our partners to discourage drug use and to alert people, particularly young people, to the potential dangers of cannabis. The Government has a drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce drug misuse and its harms by increasing awareness, particularly for young people and parents. FRANK offers easy to read information on the risks of using cannabis and basic harm reduction advice. Information on cannabis is available at the following link:

https://www.talktofrank.com/drug/cannabis(opens%20in%20a%20new%20tab)
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2025 to Question 66478 on Innovation: Beer and Public Houses, whether 16 and 17 year olds will be permitted to consume non-alcoholic products with substantive meals accompanied by an adult. \p Ashley Dalton: In Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, the Government has committed to exploring measures to regulate access to no- and low-alcohol (NoLo) products in line with other alcoholic beverages. This policy is being pursued as alcohol substitute drinks are only intended for consumption by adults.

Department officials are progressing work to take forward this commitment and are in the process of scoping out the full details. We will update stakeholders in due course.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78182 on Retail Trade: Planning Permission, whether the proposing licensing regime for the retail sale of vaping products will regulate the (a) number and (b) cumulative impact of vaping shops that are permitted to operate in a locality. \p Ashley Dalton: On 8 October 2025, we launched a Call for Evidence to gather views on a range of topics related to tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products, including the implementation of the proposed licensing scheme for the retail sale of these products. The Call for Evidence asks detailed questions, including on factors that should be taken into consideration when making decisions on the granting of a premises licence, such as the location and density of retailers. We welcome feedback on the questions in the Call for Evidence.

The evidence gathered will be used to inform the development of the licensing scheme, and we will launch a subsequent consultation on our policy proposals before bringing forward secondary legislation. The Call for Evidence is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/tobacco-and-vapes-evidence-to-support-legislation/tobacco-and-vapes-evidence-to-support-legislation
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out how the proposed modern service frameworks will interact with (a) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, (b) the proposed National Cancer Plan and (c) other health plans. \p Ashley Dalton: Everyone in the National Health Service is responsible for delivering high-quality care. As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board will oversee the development of a new series of service frameworks.

Between 1997 and 2010, national service frameworks were a clinically led approach to developing guidance that supported sustained improvement in major condition outcomes, including by narrowing inequality and reducing unwarranted variation. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will reintroduce and modernise this approach. These modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery.

Modern service frameworks will work with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and others to identify the best evidenced interventions that would support progress towards the outcome goal and set standards on how those interventions should be used.

Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.

Plans to introduce a modern service framework for cancer will be considered as part of the development of the National Cancer Plan.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to reduce the potential impact of (a) Pharmacy First and (b) pricing of NHS drug tariffs on community pharmacies. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral part of the fabric of our communities, as an easily accessible ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.

In 2025/26, the funding for the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework was increased to £3.1 billion. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. There is also additional funding available, for example, for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations, supporting pharmacies to continue to deliver a full range of services and support for their community.

As is custom and practice, the Department will consult Community Pharmacy England on any proposed changes to future reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors shortly.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of (a) NHS and (b) hospice funding allocations in (i) Greater Cambridge and (ii) other high-growth areas. \p Stephen Kinnock: NHS England is responsible for determining allocations of financial resources to integrated care boards (ICBs). This process is independent of the Government, and NHS England takes advice on the underlying formula from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation.

ICB allocations for 2025/26 were published on 30 January 2025, and allocations for 2026/27 to 2028/29 will be published in due course. Further information on allocations in 2025/26 is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/allocation-of-resources-2025-26/

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an ICB must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.  The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of palliative care and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services available within the ICB catchment.

The Department and NHS England are currently working at pace to develop plans on how best to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care, including that provided by hospices, in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.

We are supporting hospices in England with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge is receiving £941,496 from this funding.
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Damien Egan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 September 2025 to Question 69695, what are the timescales for improving access to palliative care at home for children nearing the end of life; and what assessment he has made of the (a) provision and (b) commissioning of such services in Bristol. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department and NHS England are currently working at pace to develop plans on how best to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan. I will be able to say more about our timelines for that work in the near future.

We will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.

Children’s palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and a service specification for children and young people.  The statutory guidance states that ICBs, including the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB, must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of palliative care and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations.

We are providing £26 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. Jessie May Children’s Hospice in Bristol has received £182,000 from this funding. We are also committing £80 million for children’s and young people’s hospices over the next three financial years, giving them stability to plan ahead and focus on what matters most, caring for their patients.
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Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that pay awards for NHS staff are reflected in general practice settings. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government looks to the independent pay review bodies for a pay recommendation for NHS staff, including both contractor and salaried general practitioners (GPs). They consider a range of evidence from organisations, including the Government, the National Health Service and trade unions to reach their recommendations.

The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) has recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay. As with last year, we accepted the DDRB’s pay recommendation. We have provided an increase to core funding for practices to allow this 4% pay uplift, on top of the provisional 2.8% uplift already provided, to be passed on to salaried and contractor GPs. The additional funding will also allow for pay uplifts for other salaried general practice staff. Information on the funding increase was communicated to practices on 31 July 2025. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/implementing-the-2025-26-gp-contract/

The Government has written to GP Committee England to set out its expectations regarding the extra funding being used to fund uplifts for all staff and a letter to ICBs was published on 31 July, available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/financial-implications-and-actions-for-integrated-care-boards-icbs-following-the-mid-year-updates-to-the-2025-26-gp-contract/

We expect GP contractors to implement pay rises to other practice staff in line with the uplift in funding they have received. As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is up to general practices how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of GPs qualifying in summer 2025 have secured employment in the UK. \p Stephen Kinnock: Doctors complete general practice (GP) training on a rolling basis throughout the year. Over 1,600 doctors completed the GP Specialty Training programme between June and August 2025. As general practices are independent businesses, data on the proportion of these GPs who have secured employment in the National Health Service in England is not available.

To improve understanding of movement of doctors from GP training to the substantive workforce over time, NHS England publishes quarterly analysis of the last time doctors in their final year of GP specialty training can be identified in a general practice placement and the first time they can be identified in a substantive role recorded by a practice or Primary Care Networks in the National Workforce Reporting Service. This information is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/supplementary-information/2025/gpwf_st3_tracking_202509
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve access to palliative care in rural areas. \p Stephen Kinnock: We know that there are inequalities in access to palliative care and end of life care in rural areas and the Government is looking at how best to reduce these.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care 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 outlines areas for consideration when commissioning services, which makes reference to improving equity of access and reducing inequity in outcomes and experience.

NHS England has also developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.

The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.
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Rachel Gilmour:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that NHS contracts with hospices reflect the (a) cost of the services provided and (b) the needs of local populations. \p Stephen Kinnock: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care 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. NHS England has also developed a palliative care and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place.

Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations also play.

The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by ICB area, and will, in part, be dependent on the breadth of palliative care, including specialist palliative care, and end of life care provision within each ICB catchment area.
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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a national strategy for palliative and end of life care. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.

Additionally, we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.

We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. I am pleased to confirm the continuation of circa £26 million, adjusted for inflation, for the next three financial years, 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive, to be distributed again via integrated care boards. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to change the Pharmacy First payment threshold. \p Stephen Kinnock: As part of delivering Pharmacy First, pharmacy contractors receive a monthly fixed payment if they deliver a minimum level of activity. This level increased at set intervals between February 2024 and March 2025, as agreed with Community Pharmacy England and announced ahead of the start of the service, and as set out in the Drug Tariff. This balanced giving time for the service to embed and for public awareness to grow with ensuring that the service offers value for money.

There has been a steady increase in the delivery of the service. In 2024/25, the number of Pharmacy First consultations grew by an average of 5% per month.

Service delivery has been carefully monitored. In July, we changed the activity requirement by introducing a lower fixed payment of £500 to support those pharmacies with lower potential for delivery. Pharmacies delivering between 20 to 29 consultations now receive the lower fixed payment. The monthly payment of £1,000 for contractors delivering at least 30 consultations was maintained.

There are currently no plans to change the minimum activity requirement.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September to Question 68833 on General Practitioners: Recruitment, where the underspend in the additional roles reimbursement scheme was reallocated. \p Stephen Kinnock: In 2019/20, commissioners were asked to reinvest underspend in wider general practice services. In 2020/21, underspend was invested in supporting the delivery of the COVID vaccination programme. In 2021/22, underspend was reinvested in providing allocations for the Winter Access Fund. In 2022/23, underspend was reinvested in Acute Respiratory Infection Hubs and Pharmacy First.

In 2023/24 and 2024/25, where underspends occurred in national programmes for general practice such as this, any funding that couldn’t be reinvested in general practice contributed to supporting the overall National Health Service financial position.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, How many (a) GP practices and (b) Primary Care Networks providing NHS care are currently registered as Limited Liability Partnerships. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department does not hold comprehensive data on the types of organisations delivering general practice services.

However, we expect that a large majority of GP practices operate as traditional GP partnerships, rather than Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs). Approximately 95 percent of practices hold General Medical Services or Personal Medical Services contracts, which cannot be held by LLPs.

Alternative Provider Medical Service (APMS) contracts, which offer greater flexibility, can be held by LLPs. However, only around 5 percent of GP practices hold APMS contracts, and not all of these operate as LLPs.

Primary Care Networks do not hold GP contracts in their own right and are not required to form legal entities. Therefore, we expect very few operate as LLPs.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues to general practice staff on triaging (a) online consultation submissions and (b) reports of life-threatening symptoms shortly before the online tool closes each day. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department updates the General Medical Services and Personal Medical Services regulations that govern general practice. NHS England issues contractual variations and provides supplementary resources to support practices in implementing these changes.

The change to online access requirements was deferred by six months to 1 October 2025 so practices could prepare and get support for this transition if needed. Practices were encouraged to consider what changes they have needed to implement to ensure they were ready to meet this requirement from 1 October 2025. This approach was intended to facilitate a smooth transition and minimise any disruption to patient care. Practices are permitted to display guidance on their websites and premises that states patient should not submit an online consultation request if their issue is urgent and should instead call the practice or attend in person.

There is a range of support on offer for practices including guidance, joint webinars from NHS Confederation and NHS England to showcase best practice and case studies where this is working well.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of foundation pharmacists beginning their training in 2025 have been assigned a Designated Practicing Practitioner. \p Stephen Kinnock: To support the development of Designated Practicing Practitioner (DPP) capacity, NHS England has and continues to engage with training sites and invest in training for independent prescribers, as well as initiatives to support the development and safe practice of DPPs.

From the 20205/26 Foundation Trainee Pharmacist Programme, trainee pharmacists in England start their foundation training in the 2025/26 year in two windows: 14 July 2025 - 4 August 2025 (Summer) and 20 October 2025 - 10 November 2025 (Autumn).

Every foundation trainee pharmacist that has graduated against the 2021 General Pharmaceutical Council Learning Outcomes for the Initial Education and Training of Pharmacists will require a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) during their foundation training period to support supervision and assessment of prescribing training activities.

All prospective training sites for 2025/26 were required to make a declaration that they meet the National Recruitment Scheme (NRS) Terms of Participation at the point that the training sites were entered into the NRS. This includes the declaration that they would provide a DPP for the trainee. Training sites are required to provide details of the DPP to NHS England after the trainee pharmacist commences in post.

NHS England is currently collating details of supervisors. Data will be available for the 2025 cohort by the end of the 2025 calendar year.
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Jess Brown-Fuller:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) help reduce delays in continuing healthcare reviews for previously unassessed periods of care and (b) reduce the associated administration. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department and NHS England published guidance in 2023 for assessing requests for Previously Unassessed Periods of Care (PUPoC). This guidance sets out how integrated care boards (ICBs) should approach and address PUPoC assessment requests. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/continuing-healthcare-previously-unassessed-periods-of-care/dealing-with-requests-for-assessments-of-previously-unassessed-periods-of-care-from-1-april-2012

The guidance states that ICBs should set their own reasonable and proportionate timeframes for responding to requests. It provides best practice examples for how ICBs should complete PUPoC requests, based on the timeframe for the unassessed period of care and the completion of the required application and consent forms.

NHS England publishes quarterly statistics relating to the activity of NHS Continuing Healthcare and National Health Service-funded Nursing Care which includes PUPoC data, reporting on the number of cases agreed eligible, both total and per 50,000. This is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/nhs-chc-fnc/
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to NHS dental care for people with clefts in Yeovil constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: We recognise that certain groups of patients may be more vulnerable to oral health problems, including patients with clefts.

NHS England commissions services for children, young people, and adults with a cleft lip and/or palate. The patient pathway can start from pre-birth and continues into adulthood. Cleft services provide care through multi-disciplinary teams, and the comprehensive care pathway will include elements such as paediatric dentistry, restorative dentistry, and orthodontics. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d07-cleft-lip.pdf

Regarding access to general primary care National Health Service dentistry, 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. We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from 1 April 2025.

ICBs are also recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
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Mr Clive Betts:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Adult Social Care Digital Transformation Fund; and what plans he has for the future of the fund. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Digitising Social Care programme, which ended in April 2025, aimed to improve the digitisation of the adult social care sector. As part of this programme, the Digital Transformation fund enabled integrated care boards to support care providers to adopt digital social care records (DSCRs) and other care technologies.

80% of Care Quality Commission registered adult social care providers now use a DSCR, up from 41% in December 2021, benefitting 89% of people who draw on care. DSCRs have been shown to deliver significant productivity benefits, releasing at least 20 minutes of admin time per care worker, per shift. The widespread rollout of DSCRs also provides the foundation for more joined up and better-informed care. An independent report evaluating the impact of the Digitising Social Care programme is planned for publication in Spring 2026.

Building on the work of the Digitising Social Care programme, we are investing in the development of national data infrastructure for social care to lay the foundations for improved integration with National Health Service systems. We are also working to set new national standards for care technologies so that people can confidently buy and use technology which supports them or the people they care for.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_132

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of his Department's requirement to keep online consultation tools open from 8am to 6:30pm from Monday to Friday on (a) patient safety and (b) GP surgeries' workload. \p Stephen Kinnock: The change regarding online access means parity for walk-in, phone and online access. Implementation was deferred by six months to 1 October 2025 so practices could prepare and get support for this transition if needed. The requirement builds on policies that have been in place for several years to encourage the shift to modern general practice. Practices that consistently use online access report improvements in services for both patients and staff. We agreed that safeguards would be in place for patient safety. Practices are permitted to display guidance on their websites and premises advising patients not to submit an online consultation request if their issue is urgent, and to instead call the practice directly or attend in person.

Further, in 2024/25, 85% of primary care networks said all of their practices already had online consultations available for patients to make administrative and clinical requests at least for the duration of core hours, with no patient safety issues raised, and claimed incentive funding for this. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are working to identify practices who are struggling with the requirements, so that they can offer more focussed support.

Last summer, we took action to address general practitioner (GP) unemployment. By investing £160 million in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme in the last year, we have recruited over 2,500 GPs into general practice since October 2024. This will help patients access appointments.
wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_133
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_133

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that deaf people are not wrongly identified as lacking mental capacity due to communication barriers. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 already provides a legislative basis for providing interpreters, including British Sign Language interpreters, for people with specific communication needs. One of the foundational principles of the MCA is that individuals must be given all possible support to make, or participate in making, their own decisions. This includes taking "all practicable steps" to help them understand, weigh up information, and communicate their choice. Section 3.11 of the MCA Code of Practice provides detailed guidance on this.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will also launch a joint consultation with the Ministry of Justice on the Liberty Protection Safeguards in the first half of next year. This consultation will seek the views of those affected, including members of the deaf community and experts who work with deaf individuals. The responses from this consultation will be used to inform a final MCA Code of Practice which will be laid in Parliament.
wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_134
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_134

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many deaf individuals have been wrongly assessed under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 as a result of communication barriers in the last 12 months. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department does not hold the requested data.
wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_135
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_135

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve the (a) autonomy and (b) wellbeing of deaf residents in care homes. \p Stephen Kinnock: Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population. That is why, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market and to commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes encouraging a wide range of service provision to ensure that people have a choice of appropriate services that put the wellbeing of the people who draw on care at the centre of decisions.

Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are also expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard, which details the approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.
wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_136
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_136

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) due diligence and (b) risk management measures his Department undertook when it became aware of the likely winding up of NRS Healthcare Limited. \p Stephen Kinnock: The principal responsibility for ensuring the provision of disability aids and community equipment lies with local authorities (LAs), as does the responsibility to maintain continuity of care for those who are eligible.

Nonetheless, the Department has played a significant role in supporting LAs and the National Health Service in the period leading up to and following the insolvency of NRS Healthcare (NRS).

Working closely with NHS England and the Department-funded Partners in Care and Health programme, the Department ensured that information was shared across LAs and local NHS partners and enabled co-ordinated discussions with NRS and alternative providers to ensure the continuity of care and to minimise disruption as alternative arrangements were finalised.

The Department also made funding available to enable the Official Receiver to continue trading NRS for a limited period, once it became insolvent, in order to enable LAs to arrange alternative provision, to minimise the potential impacts on vulnerable individuals.

The Department continues to monitor the situation closely and will support LAs to learn lessons and consider the implications for future resilience in this market.
wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_137
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_137

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to train more GPs in Lincolnshire. \p Stephen Kinnock: As of 30 September 2025, there were 115 full-time equivalent general practitioners (GPs) in training grade in practices in Lincolnshire county. The Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) reports that it has a very good track record of training GPs. This includes:

The Lincolnshire Training Hub, working alongside the ICB’s primary care team, has developed a comprehensive recruitment and retention programme, which has delivered projects including the Future Doctor Programme, an entry level pipeline schools’ initiative across Lincolnshire.
wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_138
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_138

Neil Coyle:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing mandatory training for opticians and GPs to recognise Charles Bonnet Syndrome. \p Stephen Kinnock: There are no plans to implement mandatory training for opticians and general practitioners to recognise Charles Bonnet Syndrome. Healthcare professionals are responsible for ensuring their clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. The College of Optometrists has also published a number of resources providing information about Charles Bonnet Syndrome for optometrists and patients.
wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_139
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_139

Alex Baker:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he has made an assessment of the (a) value and (b) contribution of the not-for-profit adult social care sector to adult social care delivery. \p Stephen Kinnock: We recognise the vital role and value of not-for-profit providers in delivering adult social care. As of November 2025, 8.1% of Care Quality Commission regulated social care organisation locations are registered as charities.

Local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people under the Care Act 2014. Local authorities are encouraged to commission a range of different approaches to services to ensure people have a genuine choice. This includes supporting and commissioning different types of service provider organisations, including third sector, voluntary, and community-based organisations.
wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_140
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_140

Alex Baker:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the performance of the not-for-profit adult social care sector in (a) ratings achieved through CQC inspections and (b) workforce (i) pay and (ii) turnover reported by the Skills for Care adult social care workforce dataset. \p Stephen Kinnock: We recognise the role and value that not-for-profit providers play in delivering adult social care (ASC). As of November 2025, 8.1% of Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated social care organisation locations are providers with a charity number. Of these locations, 89.1% are rated “Good” or “Outstanding” compared with 83.8% of other providers, of which the vast majority are for-profit. Overall, 84.3% of ASC providers are rated “Good” or “Outstanding”.

Filled posts working for independent sector employers cannot be accurately split into “private” and “voluntary”, as this information is not reported by the CQC. Estimates from the ASC workforce dataset suggests that approximately 74%, or 1,000,000, of the filled posts working for independent sector employers were in private sector establishments, which is approximately 63% of all posts, and 26%, or 345,000, were filled posts in voluntary/charity sector establishments, which is approximately 22% of all posts.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research funded Adult Social Care Research Unit is researching the impact of provider ownership type, including not-for-profit status, on care outcomes and workforce outcomes, including pay and turnover. The project will conclude in June 2026.
wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_141
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_141

Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commission a Neighbourhood Health Centre for Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service. Neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of health and care services in each community and on people’s doorsteps, joining up National Health Service, local authority, and voluntary services in one building to help create a holistic offer that meets the needs of local populations.

We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, that will mean the service will look different in rural communities, coastal towns, and deprived inner cities.