theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to support adults with debt difficulties in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Lucy Rigby: The Government is committed to supporting people who are experiencing financial difficulties and to helping them manage and reduce their debts.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) average annual earnings and (b) prices on household disposable income in 2024-25. \p Lucy Rigby: Real Household Disposable Income (RHDI) per capita is a measure of UK living standards, representing the total disposable income per person in the UK, net of taxes and inflation. RHDI per capita grew by 3.1% over 2024. This is the largest calendar year increase since 2015.

Average whole economy total pay growth in 2024 was 5.3%. Inflation, as measured by CPI, fell to 2.5% in 2024, which supported RHDI growth in 2024.

HM Treasury does not prepare forecasts for the UK economy. Forecasts, including for real household disposable income, are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). These forecasts are published by the OBR as part of its Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO). In the March 2025 EFO, the OBR forecasted that RHDI per capita would grow by 1.7% in 2025, supported by strong annual earnings growth outweighing the impact from prices.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the application of Vehicle Excise Duty on (a) new and (b) existing electric vehicles from 1 April 2025 on the (i) affordability and (ii) trends in the level of ownership of (A) electric and (B) zero emission vehicles. \p Dan Tomlinson: Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a tax on vehicles used or kept on public roads. As announced by the Government at Autumn Statement 2022, from April 2025, zero emission and hybrid cars, vans and motorcycles now pay VED in a similar way to petrol and diesel vehicles. Revenue from motoring taxes helps ensure we can continue to fund the vital public services and infrastructure that people and families across the UK expect.

The Tax Information and Impact Note published alongside Autumn Finance Bill 2022 estimated the impact on zero emission vehicle take-up of the measure to be ‘minimal’. It can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025

The Government is committed to supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles. On 15 July the Government announced a major boost to the electric vehicle transition with the introduction of the £650m Electric Car Grant, supporting drivers purchasing zero emission vehicles with grants of up to £3,750.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employment tribunal claims have been lodged against her Department by (a) unfair dismissal and (b) claims under the Equality Act 2010 in each of the last five years. \p Dan Tomlinson: HM Treasury collects data on the overall number of employment tribunal claims but this data is not categorised, so it is not possible to provide data on how many claims were brought in respect of unfair dismissal or under the Equality Act (2010) in each of the last five years.
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Llinos Medi:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions on levels of business (a) investment and (b) closures in Wales. \p Dan Tomlinson: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) announced at Autumn Budget 2024. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.
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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Digital Services Tax; and whether she plans to review the rate at which it is set. \p Dan Tomlinson: Decisions on tax are a matter for the Chancellor and any changes will be announced at the budget in the usual way.

The Digital Services Tax is an interim solution to widely held concerns with the international corporate tax framework, and the UK remains committed to remove it once a global solution on the reallocation of taxing rights is in place.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to support grassroots music venues which will have higher business rates under the new multiplier. \p Dan Tomlinson: The Government is creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century.

As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000 from 2026/27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that eligible grassroots music venues benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government is sustainably funding this by introducing a higher tax rate on properties with RVs of £500,000 and above.

The final design, including the rates, for the new business rates multipliers will be announced at Budget 2025, so that the Government can factor the revaluation outcomes and broader economic and fiscal context into decision-making. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
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Dame Harriett Baldwin:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the increase to the Energy Profits Levy announced in the Autumn Statement 2024 on (a) investment, (b) employment and (c) operations in the oil and gas sector. \p Dan Tomlinson: At Autumn Budget 2024 the government confirmed that from 1 November 2024, the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) rate would increase by 3 percentage points to 38%, the EPL investment allowance would be abolished, and the EPL decarbonisation allowance rate would be adjusted to 66%. The government also confirmed an extension to the period the levy applies from 31 March 2029 until 31 March 2030. To support jobs in future and existing industries, including in the supply chain, the government decided to make no additional changes to the availability of capital allowances in the EPL. Following these changes the overall level of tax relief available to the oil and gas sector for capital investments is £84.25 for every £100 of investment, with additional relief available for decarbonisation expenditure.

At the time of the announcements the government carefully considered the impact of these EPL changes. The summary of impacts for these changes can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-profits-levy-reforms-2024.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of HMRC mileage rates. \p Dan Tomlinson: The Approved Mileage Allowance Payment rates are used by employers to reimburse an employee's expenses, tax free, for business mileage in their private vehicle. These rates are also used by self-employed drivers to claim tax relief on business mileage (when using simplified motoring expenses), and can be used by organisations to reimburse volunteers who use their own vehicle for voluntary purposes.

Employees can claim up to 45p/mile for the first 10,000 miles annually, followed by up to 25p/mile thereafter. An additional 5p/mile can be claimed for each passenger transported.

The AMAP rates are not mandatory, and employers can choose to pay more or less than the AMAP rate. It is therefore ultimately up to employers to determine the rate at which they reimburse their employees.

The Government keeps all taxes under review and the Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events.
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Julia Lopez:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of introducing VAT to to medicines provided free under Early Access Medicines Scheme programmes on pharmaceutical companies. \p Dan Tomlinson: I refer the honourable member to the answer that I gave to PQ UIN: 87051.
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Mark Garnier:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is her policy to protect accrued pension rights when changing the tax treatment of pensions. \p Torsten Bell: The Government does not comment on media speculation ahead of Budgets nor collect real-time data on the number of individuals accessing their pensions.

Taking unplanned steps in respect of an individual’s pension may not be in their long-term financial interest. Individuals should get suitable professional advice, including from a regulated financial adviser.
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Bob Blackman:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of fuel duty increases on (a) the cost of living and (b) consumer prices in London. \p Dan Tomlinson: At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned increase in line with inflation for 2025/26. The temporary 5p cut is scheduled to expire in March 2026. The Government carefully considers the impact of fuel duty on households and businesses across the country, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.

Responsibility for policy decisions as regards Clean Air Zones (CAZs) lie with Local Authorities, who have the autonomy to decide whether to impose measures to address air quality in their local area. In London this power lies with the Mayor. This Government believes that decisions of this sort are for local authorities to make and that it is not for central government to dictate what is, or isn’t, right for their areas.

Local Authorities are required by statute to promote road safety, including undertaking collision/casualty data analysis and devising programmes, training and publicity that will improve road safety. Measures such as TfL's 'Direct Vision Standards' and other local road safety programmes are a matter devolved to the Mayor of London who is responsible for the safety of London's roads.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increasing fuel duty on (a) consumer price inflation and (b) household living costs. \p Dan Tomlinson: At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned increase in line with inflation for 2025/26. The temporary 5p cut is scheduled to expire in March 2026. The Government carefully considers the impact of fuel duty on households and businesses, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
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Harriet Cross:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when her Department plans to publish its response to proposals submitted by the fuels sector on the inclusion of refined oil products in the scope of the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. \p Dan Tomlinson: From 2027, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will apply to imported goods from the aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, and iron & steel sectors. When considering which sectors should be included in the scope of the CBAM, the government looked primarily at three factors: inclusion in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), carbon leakage risk, and feasibility and effectiveness of applying the CBAM.

Whilst the refining of fuel is within scope of the UK ETS and is considered at risk of carbon leakage, there are concerns about the sector’s ability to ascertain the carbon content of imported goods at a product level due to high levels of co-production in the sector. Therefore, refined oil products will not be included in the scope of the CBAM from January 2027.

The sectoral scope of the CBAM will be kept under review beyond 2027 as new evidence comes to light to reflect methodological and technological advances.
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Gareth Snell:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what percentage of small cider producers produce less than five hectolitres of pure alcohol and are exempt from alcohol duty payments. \p Dan Tomlinson: Alcohol duty on all products collectively raises over £12bn a year, helping to fund vital public services as well as reduce harmful drinking.

The 2023 alcohol duty reforms brought much greater consistency of treatment between different types of alcohol. The reforms also increased duty on cider above 4.5% ABV, particularly targeting high-strength white ciders that have been linked to harmful drinking.

HMRC plans to evaluate the impact of these reforms three years after the changes took effect on 1 August 2023, and the Government welcomes evidence from industry on the impact of the changes so far.

HMRC does not collect data on cidermakers producing less than 5 hectolitres of pure alcohol in a year. This is because, as per Section 5.2 of the Alcoholic products technical guide, producers are not required to submit a return if they produced 5 hectolitres or less of alcohol in the previous year and have estimated that they will produce 5 hectolitres or less of alcohol in the current year, across all premises. More information on the Alcoholic products technical guide can be found here: Alcoholic products technical guide - Section 5 — returns and payments - Guidance - GOV.UK
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has had to ensure the neonatal services are fully incorporated into the scope of the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation. \p Karin Smyth: Both maternity and neonatal services are fully encompassed within the remit of the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation. The terms of reference state that the investigation will examine the quality and safety of the care provided across the entire maternal and neonatal pathway. This includes the care provided to mothers before and throughout pregnancy, labour and delivery, as well as the care and support offered to newborns within neonatal services. The terms of reference can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-maternity-and-neonatal-investigation-terms-of-reference/national-maternity-and-neonatal-investigation-terms-of-reference
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that NHS bank shifts are paid at the same rate as contracted overtime. \p Karin Smyth: National Health Service bank contracts are local contracts, the terms of which the employer has discretion over. The expectation is that the terms offered via a bank contract are agreed in partnership between employers and trade unions via local negotiating committees.

Overtime payments for substantive staff on national contracts in England can only be paid to individuals once they have worked more than 37.5 hours per week, for Agenda for Change staff, or 40 hours per week for medical staff.

Where an additional agreement exists between staff and their employing organisation on the payment of any additional hours, including hours worked in excess of 37.5 or 40 hours per week, for example via a bank contract, then this is considered a local matter.
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Daisy Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment as part of the New Hospital Programme of the adequacy of the number of helipads available for air ambulance use. \p Karin Smyth: The clinical need and business cases for helipads at New Hospital Programme schemes will continue to be reviewed as schemes’ business plans progress through the usual assurance processes. As part of the Hospital 2.0 standardisation work, we are continuing to assess the advantages and disadvantages of both rooftop and ground-level helipads for inclusion in new hospital designs.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support the (a) development and (b) expansion of Women’s Health Hubs; and what steps he is taking to work with Integrated Care Boards to encourage this. \p Karin Smyth: We are supporting integrated care boards (ICBs) to continue improving their delivery of women’s health hubs, in line with their responsibility to commission services that meet the needs of their local populations.

We have heard from ICBs on the positive impacts that women’s health hubs have on both women's access to care in the community and their experience. The Government is committed to encouraging ICBs to further expand the coverage of women’s health hubs and to support ICBs to use the learning from the women’s health hub pilots to improve local delivery of services to women and girls. NHS England have therefore asked ICBs to include them in their plans for 2025/26.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are committed to moving towards a neighbourhood health service, with more care delivered in local communities, to identify and address problems earlier and closer to home. Women’s health hubs are an example of this approach and can play a key role in delivering the Government’s manifesto commitments on tackling long NHS waiting lists, as well as shifting care into the community.

The 2022 Women’s Health Strategy identified many important issues which remain valid, so we now need to align the strategy with the 10-Year Health Plan and identify areas where we need to go further.

We know that women deserve better, which is why we are updating the Women’s Health Strategy, to assess the progress that has been made so far and to continue progressing delivery.
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Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent representations he has received from ENT UK on the decision by NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board to refuse all future referrals for (a) septoplasty and (b) other septal surgery, apart from exceptional cases; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of this decision on the quality of life of people living with a structural nasal obstruction. \p Karin Smyth: The Department has received correspondence about the NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board’s (ICB) recent decision from ENT UK along with the British Rhinological Society, the Association of Otolaryngologists in Training, the British Society for Facial Plastic Surgery, and the patient charities SmellTaste and Sinus UK.

ICBs commission local services as part of their role in managing and improving healthcare for their populations. ICBs commission services to meet identified local needs and are responsible for planning how services will be delivered in their area. This includes making decisions about the routine procedures that are offered, based on evidence for how clinically effective they are. This means that nine clinical procedures, which have been available only in specific circumstances, will no longer be routinely funded.

Given this is an ICB policy, it would be their responsibility to undertake any impact assessments. The Clinical Professional Leadership Group leading on this clinical policy used expert guidance provided by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and a national evidence-based interventions programme. This decision reflects the group’s commitment to prioritising interventions that deliver the greatest equity and overall benefit to the health needs of the entire population. All patients with a nasal blockage and/or deformity will be offered alternative advice and treatment, and only in exceptional cases can clinicians apply for funding for these procedures if the treatment is felt to be appropriate.
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Jenny Riddell-Carpenter:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available to physician associate students approaching qualification (a) in general and (b) who have self-funded training to help them enter employment in the NHS. \p Karin Smyth: In response to the Independent Review of Physician Associates and Anaesthesia Associates (the Leng Review), NHS England wrote to the individuals most affected by the recommendations, setting out where they can find support if required. Further information on NHS England’s response to the Leng Review is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/response-to-the-recommendations-of-the-independent-review-of-physician-associates-and-anaesthesia-associates-the-leng-review/

NHS England is working closely with partners and listening to stakeholders to design the implementation plan by the end of the year, to deliver the recommendations of the Leng Review, starting with those focused on patient safety, as requested by the Government.

Whilst this work takes place, we recognise the challenges for the current cohort of physician associate students, and NHS England is actively consulting employers regionally and at the national level to understand the employment issues. This will inform how we steward and guide the system to support employers to resolve barriers to employment. In the meantime, we expect universities to provide support to physician associate students as part of their pastoral care policies.

As a starting point, NHS England has published frequently asked questions document (FAQs), a copy of which is attached, reflecting queries received to date, to provide further information and guidance. The FAQs document will be updated as the work of implementation progresses across the relevant organisations.

Additional Document (pdf, 142.1KB)
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's response to recommendation 6 included in the Government response to the House of Lords inquiry into preterm birth: reducing risks and improving lives, published on 14 January 2025, what his Department's timetable is for publishing the findings of the NHS maternity and neonatal estates survey on the requirements of neonatal parental accommodation. \p Karin Smyth: The findings from the Maternity and Neonatal Infrastructure Review were published on 11 September 2025. The full report is available to read at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/maternity-and-neonatal-infrastructure-review-findings/
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce mandatory reporting on productivity improvements linked to capital investment. \p Karin Smyth: The Department is committed to ensuring that capital investment in the National Health Service delivers measurable improvements in productivity and patient outcomes. While there is currently no mandatory reporting framework specifically linking capital investment to productivity gains, NHS organisations are expected to demonstrate value for money and the impact through business case processes and post-project evaluations. The Department is exploring options to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of capital investments, including how productivity gains can be more systematically captured and reported in future.

More broadly, the NHS plans to begin regularly publishing assessments of productivity performance against the 2% year-on-year improvement target we set in our 10-Year Health Plan. Data published in September 2025 showed an estimated 2.7% year-on-year improvement in acute productivity in the NHS over the 2024/25 financial year, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/patients-treated-more-quickly-as-nhs-productivity-rises-over-year

Early data for the first quarter of 2025/26 suggests this trend is continuing with a further 2.4% improvement in acute productivity, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nhs-recovery-continues-with-above-target-productivity-growth
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on abortion rates for (a) male and (b) female babies after 20 weeks by ethnicity. \p Karin Smyth: In accordance with the Abortion Act 1967, registered medical practitioners must notify the Chief Medical Officer of abortions within 14 days. The Department collects information on abortions via the HSA4 abortion notification form. The form does not capture information on abortion rates by sex of the foetus, and so the Department does not hold this information.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has undertaken analysis of productivity variation across integrated care systems. \p Karin Smyth: The Department recognises the importance of understanding productivity variation across integrated care systems (ICSs) to support improvement and to ensure value for money. NHS England routinely collects and analyses data on performance outcomes across ICSs, which is used to provide insight into relative performance at a trust level.

For acute providers, this is included in the NHS Oversight Framework and trusts are segmented based on the latest estimates of a range of metrics, including productivity performance, and ranked in the NHS league tables, which are available at the following link:

https://data.england.nhs.uk/dashboard/nofacute
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of low-cost, unregulated online beauty courses on (a) public safety and (b) professional standards. \p Karin Smyth: Nail and beauty salons are already required to comply with various legislation depending on the services they offer. This includes the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and other legislation such as the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. This legislation requires that operators ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety, and welfare of their employees and that their clients are not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

The Government is committed to addressing longstanding concerns around the safety of the cosmetics sector. On 7 August we announced our plans to introduce further regulation in this space. As part of this work the Government has committed to legislating to introduce a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures through powers granted through the Health and Care Act 2022. Under this scheme, which will be operated by local authorities, practitioners will be required to obtain a licence to perform specified cosmetic procedures, and the premises from which they operate will also need to be licensed.

The consultation response sets out that, in the first instance, the Government will prioritise the introduction of legal restrictions to ensure that cosmetic procedures that are deemed to pose the highest level of risk to the public, such as the liquid Brazilian butt lift, are classed as Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated activities. This will mean that these procedures will only be performed by suitably qualified regulated healthcare professionals, working for providers who are registered with the CQC.

We will subsequently take forward work to determine which procedures will be included within the scheme and what requirements will have to be met in order to be granted a licence. This includes requirements relating to training and qualification standards and infection prevention and control measures. We are working with a range of stakeholders to better understand the risks posed by unsafe practice and to ensure the design of the licensing scheme addresses these safety concerns. To help inform this work, we will consider what relevant systems and standards are already in place, both in the United Kingdom and overseas.
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Helen Grant:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that additional NHS funding leads to pay rises for (a) nurses and (b) other frontline staff. \p Karin Smyth: The Department has remitted the independent pay review bodies (PRBs) to begin their work on pay recommendations for 2026/27 for nurses and other frontline National Health Service staff. The Government will carefully consider the PRB recommendations, which is the usual process to determine pay uplifts for NHS workers. As part of this process, the PRBs consider the evidence submitted, including a range of factors such as the economic context and the available funding.

We hugely appreciate the work of the many talented staff across the NHS, which is why on 22 May 2025, we accepted the headline pay recommendations for 2025/26 made by the PRBs giving them a much deserved, above-inflation, pay rise.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has assessed the potential effectiveness of digital scheduling tools in improving outpatient capacity. \p Karin Smyth: As set out in the Elective Reform Plan, the Department is committed to ensuring that outpatient capacity is planned and used effectively, and that processes are streamlined to free up capacity where possible. This includes ensuring that all appointments are necessary and reducing missed appointments.

Digital scheduling tools like the NHS e-Referral Service (NHS e-RS), the NHS App, and the Manage Your Referral service are key enablers of this. The NHS e-RS is a digital platform used for referring patients from primary care into elective services. Manage Your Referral is the patient facing side of the NHS e-RS, allowing a patient to book, check, change, or cancel their first outpatient appointment online through its website or through the NHS App.

The 10-Year Health Plan builds on this vision. It introduces tools like My NHS GP, My Choices, and My Specialist for personalised scheduling. By 2028, the NHS App will become the primary gateway for patients to book appointments and manage their appointments. The Medium Term Planning Framework, published in October 2025, sets out the initial phase of this work starting this year, to bring forward a roadmap for the delivery of the NHS App’s functions as described in the 10-Year Health Plan. This will help deliver a technology-enabled model of planned care which gives patients one place to manage all their appointments, referrals, and interactions, while bringing efficiencies that reduce referral-to-treatment times.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England to ensure the procurement of suitable (a) prosthetics and (b) wigs suitable for ethnic minority patients meets diverse patient needs. \p Karin Smyth: The current NHS Supply Chain Wigs Framework Agreement was awarded to 42 suppliers and provides a range of wigs, both real and synthetic, and headwear products to provide alternative choices to patients, as well as maintenance, styling, alteration, and repair services.

Whilst there is availability of Afro Caribbean wigs through the currently awarded suppliers, NHS Supply Chain is aware that due to the regionality of suppliers and the nature of them being predominantly micro and small to medium enterprises in many instances, patient choice and access across the United Kingdom can be subject to regional variation.

NHS Supply Chain acknowledges that there is a need to develop the framework offering to support an increase in accessibility to patients for Afro Caribbean products and services, and NHS Supply Chain is preparing to introduce enhanced specifications and a specific category for Afro Caribbean for the successor framework agreement due to launch on 1 February 2027.

NHS Supply Chain’s new Prosthetics, Components and Associated products Framework Agreement is due to launch on 24 November 2025, to replace the current Artificial Limbs framework. The new framework will offer over 95,000 products delivered by 12 suppliers to provide clinical choice to meet patient need. Ensuring that a patient has a prosthetic limb which blends with their actual skin tone is part of the routine standard of care. NHS Supply Chain works closely with the leading national charities and has not had any issues raised concerning accessing appropriate skin tone.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust in addressing the long waits for ambulances and emergency care at the acute hospital in Cornwall. \p Karin Smyth: We are committed to improving urgent and emergency care and returning to the waiting time standards set out in the National Health Service constitution through actions set out in Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 and the Medium Term Planning Framework for 2026/27 to 2028/29.

On the 6 June 2025, we published our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, backed by a total of nearly £450 million of funding. The plan focuses on improvements that will see the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care performance next winter and on making urgent and emergency care better every day, including reducing ambulance handovers to a maximum of 45 minutes and actions to support at least 78% of patients in accident and emergency being seen within four hours.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has been focusing on its ‘clinical vision of flow’, alongside whole system work which is delivering improvement in urgent and emergency care performance.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to (a) identify and (b) allocate capital funding to bring neonatal accommodation for parents in line with the standards outlined in the Health Building Note 09-03: Neonatal Units, published 20 March 2013. \p Karin Smyth: Repairing and rebuilding our healthcare estate is a vital part of the Government's ambition to create a National Health Service that is fit for the future.

The Government is backing the NHS with over £4 billion in operational capital in 2025/26, enabling systems to allocate funding to maternity and neonatal services, where this is a local priority. This is delivering improvements, as our enquiries suggest that current NHS capital programmes progressing maternity new builds will be Health Building Note compliant.

In addition, the Government is investing £131 million through the 2025/26 Estates Safety Fund into the maternity and neonatal estate. This funding will address critical safety risks on the maternity estate, enabling better care for mothers and their newborns.
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Suella Braverman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve training for General Practitioners and junior doctors in recognising and managing cardiac and respiratory vulnerabilities in paediatric patients. \p Karin Smyth: The steps taken include the production of the Paediatric and child health advanced practice area specific capability and curriculum framework, which was co-produced by NHS England and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The framework is available at the following link:

https://advanced-practice.hee.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/01/Paediatric-and-child-Health-advanced-practice-area-specific-capability-and-curriculum-framework-NHSE.pdf

The framework outlines area specific capabilities and a curriculum addressing the full spectrum of paediatric health needs, including recognising and managing cardiac and respiratory conditions.
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Gill Furniss:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of delayed access to specialist heart valve treatment on (a) avoidable unscheduled hospitalisations, (b) deaths on the waiting lists, and (c) other patient outcomes. \p Karin Smyth: The Department has not made any specific assessment of the impact of delayed heart valve treatment on avoidable unscheduled hospitalisations, deaths on the waiting lists, and other patient outcomes.

It is unacceptable that so many patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. We have wasted no time in getting to work cutting National Health Service waiting lists and ensuring people have the best possible experience during their care. We promised change, and we’ve delivered early with a reduction in the list of over 206,000 since the Government came into office. Specifically, the waiting list for cardiology services has reduced by over 25,000 in that time.

Between July 2024 and June 2025, we delivered 5.2 million additional appointments compared to the previous year, more than double our pledge of two million. This marks a vital first step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department provides to NHS trusts on ensuring that (a) reception and (b) administrative staff are proficient in English. \p Karin Smyth: National Health Service trusts are independent bodies and as such have responsibility for their own recruitment policies and for ensuring their appointment procedures are aligned with employment law and good human resources practice.

Employers have responsibility for assuring that individuals have the necessary written and verbal linguistic skills in line with the English language requirement for public sector workers: code of practice, in addition to any necessary professional skills and qualifications, when recruiting to NHS roles. The English language requirement for public sector workers: code of practice is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-language-requirement-for-public-sector-workers-code-of-practice
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were admitted to A&E in England after 5pm in (a) 2021-2022, (b) 2022-2023, (c) 2023-2024 and (d) 2024-2025. \p Karin Smyth: The data is not available in the format requested. NHS England does not publish data on patients who were admitted to accident and emergency in England on weekends or after 5:00pm. The only data available is for patients seen within four hours and 12 hours.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

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Anna Gelderd:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help support the (a) health and (b) wellbeing of the NHS workforce. \p Karin Smyth: The health and wellbeing of National Health Service staff is a top priority. Local employers across the NHS have arrangements in place for supporting staff including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and a focus on healthy working environments. At a national level, NHS England has made available additional emotional and psychological health and wellbeing support.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out staff treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health. To further support this ambition, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace.
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Edward Argar:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with the Mayor of Leicester on local government reorganisation; and on what dates since 1 January 2025. \p Karin Smyth: No discussions have been held between ministers of the Department of Health and Social Care and the Mayor of Leicester on local government reorganisation since 1 January 2025.

Local government reorganisation is led by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The Department of Health and Social Care engages with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the implications of local government reorganisation for health and care services.
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James Wild:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral answer on 21 October 2025, Official Report, col 789, what proportion of the increase in NHS budget was provided to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn Trust. \p Karin Smyth: All National Health Service organisations will benefit from the record funding growth agreed for the NHS this year. Revenue funding is provided to integrated care boards (ICBs) and is informed by a calculation of what would constitute a ‘fair share’ for that system. NHS trusts and foundation trusts are not directly funded in the same way. They finance their spending through income generated from the provision of healthcare services, paid via contracts agreed with their commissioning ICBs. Whilst national funding growth is defined by Spending Review settlements, the level of funding in individual trusts is not set by the Government and income levels are dependent on the level of healthcare activity they undertake for their local communities.