theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what proportion of the £75 million allocated to Great British Energy solar panels will be spent on (a) administrative and (b) consultancy costs. \p Michael Shanks: The GBE Solar Scheme is a jointly funded scheme between GBE and the UK government. £75 million capital spending was allocated to the scheme earlier this month boosting the £180 million joint capital funding by HM Government and GBE, initially launched in March 2025.

For the Department for Education detailed costing information is not yet available but there is expected to be very little if any administrative and consultancy costs within the budget. For the Department for Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Defence all funding will be spent on procurement and installation of solar photovoltaic systems and any complementary technologies where appropriate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the number of clean energy jobs created by the Great British Energy solar programme to date. \p Michael Shanks: The Great British Energy Solar scheme is part of a wider initiative to deliver affordable, homegrown power and support clean energy job creation across the UK.

Backed by £255 million in government investment, GBE Solar is delivering rooftop solar to hundreds of schools, NHS trusts, and military sites, reducing energy bills and supporting public services, especially in deprived areas. While we are currently unable to estimate the number of jobs attributable to the scheme, GBE Solar is directly contributing to workforce growth in renewables and construction, including skilled roles in installation and maintenance, and is working with further education colleges to promote careers in clean energy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what criteria were used by his Department to select the chosen sites for the Great British Energy solar scheme. \p Michael Shanks: Schools were selected by the Department for Education (DfE), primarily clustered in three areas of deprivation, with at least ten schools in each region to ensure geographical spread. Selection was based on criteria including levels of deprivation, available roof space, and location. Each cluster includes a further education college working with appointed contractors to promote careers in renewables and support workforce growth.

NHS sites were selected following an open invitation from NHS England for Trusts to submit expressions of interest. Projects were prioritised based on delivery confidence and expected economic and environmental impact. These are being managed through the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Sarah Hall:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help protect at-risk heritage assets. \p Ian Murray: The Government is committed to protecting heritage at risk and supporting communities to care for their local heritage assets.

This year we announced almost £20 million new funding for local heritage. The £15m Heritage at Risk Capital Fund enables individuals and organisations in the most deprived neighbourhoods in England to rescue and repair at-risk historic sites and buildings that bring people together, like shops, pubs, parks and town halls. In August 2025, funding was announced for 37 much-loved historic buildings and sites, many of which are located on high streets and in town centres.

Alongside this, the £4.85m Heritage Revival Fund has a particular emphasis on town centres and helps to rescue and repurpose neglected historic buildings in England, enabling community organisations, charities and social enterprises to take ownership and repurpose sites such as theatres, department stores and former banks.

We have also continued the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, with a budget of £23 million, providing grants of up to £25,000 towards VAT on eligible repairs.

This is in addition to the £330 million distributed each year through the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

In October, we announced the 75 museum groups across the country who will receive a share of our new, £20 million Museum Renewal Fund, with outcomes for our £25 million Museum Estate and Development Fund due in the New Year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Education to ensure that her proposals for curriculum reform align with the needs of the creative industries. \p Ian Murray: The Creative Industries Sector Plan sets out this Government’s 10-year plan to tackle barriers to growth and maximise opportunities across the sector, with the aim of making the UK the number one destination for creativity and innovation by 2035. The plan sets out how Government and industry are working together to grow a creative workforce that supports job creation and drives economic growth in this high-potential sector, through an education and skills system aligned with business needs. The Plan has been designed in collaboration with business, Devolved Governments, and regions, with the Creative Industries Taskforce also playing a crucial role in gathering wider views from across industry.

The Plan includes delivering a curriculum in England that readies young people for life and work, including in creative subjects and relevant skills. The Independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is one of the ways that Government will deliver on the commitment to reform the system for the benefit of the creative talent pipeline. The Review has a focus on all subjects in the national curriculum and is being informed by evidence, data and in close consultation with education professionals and other experts. This includes over 7,000 responses to the public call for evidence, including from the creative industries. The Review final report and Government response will be published in the autumn.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Connor Naismith:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help support male voice choirs. \p Ian Murray: His Majesty’s Government has a strong commitment to all forms of music, including choral music. Local choirs are an important part of many people’s lives across the UK, providing a creative outlet and strong sense of community, as well as an accessible, enjoyable cultural experience enjoyed by people of all ages.

The Government supports the arts financially, including choirs and singing, through its arm’s-length body Arts Council England. The Arts Council does not have a specific category for identifying investment in ‘male choirs’, however, for the financial year 2024/25 Arts Council England funded activity with a choral focus or element by nearly £44 million. This funding has supported the development, touring and promotion of choral music throughout England. Organisations supported by this funding include Ex Cathedra, a nationally recognised choir with a repertoire that reaches from the 12th to the 21st centuries.

Within the Music and Dance Scheme, the Department for Education continues to fund bursaries for training choristers through the Choir Schools’ Association.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Tristan Osborne:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Education to ensure that her proposals for curriculum reform align with the needs of the creative industries. \p Ian Murray: The Creative Industries Sector Plan sets out this Government’s 10-year plan to tackle barriers to growth and maximise opportunities across the sector, with the aim of making the UK the number one destination for creativity and innovation by 2035. The plan sets out how Government and industry are working together to grow a creative workforce that supports job creation and drives economic growth in this high-potential sector, through an education and skills system aligned with business needs. The Plan has been designed in collaboration with business, Devolved Governments, and regions, with the Creative Industries Taskforce also playing a crucial role in gathering wider views from across industry.

The Plan includes delivering a curriculum in England that readies young people for life and work, including in creative subjects and relevant skills. The Independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is one of the ways that Government will deliver on the commitment to reform the system for the benefit of the creative talent pipeline. The Review has a focus on all subjects in the national curriculum and is being informed by evidence, data and in close consultation with education professionals and other experts. This includes over 7,000 responses to the public call for evidence, including from the creative industries. The Review final report and Government response will be published in the autumn.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure transparency for consumers in the use of AI-generated music on streaming platforms; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of AI-generated music on artists. \p Ian Murray: AI presents both significant opportunities and challenges for the creative industries, including music. We recognise concerns regarding AI-generated content on streaming platforms and are engaging with relevant music industry stakeholders to better understand the implications. On AI and copyright specifically, the Secretaries of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have jointly chaired three meetings with representatives of the creative and AI sectors. We are also establishing industry-expert working groups and a parliamentary working group to give Members the opportunity to share their views on AI. Our goal is to put in place measures and funding that will help create the conditions for our UK artists to remain globally competitive.

This government is dedicated to supporting UK artists, including emerging talent, to thrive and achieve their full potential. As part of this Government’s Industrial Strategy, the Creative Industries Sector Plan published in June set out our ambition to unlock new opportunities for innovation across the creative sector and wider economy while ensuring a trusted copyright regime that values and protects human creativity.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Maya Ellis:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) museums and (b) local arts and cultural organisations have received funding from Arts Council England in (i) Ribble Valley constituency and (ii) Lancashire. \p Ian Murray: Between 2023/24 and 2024/25 four arts and cultural organisations in the Ribble Valley constituency received Arts Council England funding totalling £81,281. For the same period, three museums and 114 arts and cultural organisations received Arts Council England Funding in Lancashire, with awards totalling £11,721,145.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the obstacles working class people face to working in the film and television sectors. \p Ian Murray: A creative career should never be the preserve of a privileged few. The sector’s skilled and dynamic workforce is one of its key strengths, but more work still needs to be done so that, regardless of their background, people feel that a creative career is an option for them.

Making creative careers accessible for everyone is a key priority for the Government. That is why we are supporting creative apprenticeships and providing funding for partners including Screenskills and the BFI Film Academy to open pathways for young people, in particular those from underrepresented backgrounds.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) is working with industry to deliver a UK-wide £9 million Creative Careers Service, which aims to build awareness of creative careers and provide specialist advice with a particular focus on priority areas where children face the greatest barriers to accessing creative opportunities.

In film and TV specifically, we announced in the Creative Industries Sector Plan that we will be investing £75 million in the UK’s film and TV industry over the next three years. This includes support for the next generation of filmmakers.

The Government is pleased to see industry initiatives to monitor and improve diversity in the creative industries such as Project Diamond and the TV Access Project. However, there clearly remains work to do and we want to see stronger efforts from industry to improve socio-economic diversity and representation in the creative industries.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making Scottish Gàidhlig an official language of the United Kingdom. \p Ian Murray: DCMS has made no such assessment.
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Jess Brown-Fuller:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has to help increase (a) participation in and (b) access to dance in local communities. \p Ian Murray: Improving access to the arts is a priority for this Government. Dance plays a central role in our country’s cultural ecology, from organisations like the English National Ballet and Rambert through to the community clubs across the country that ensure the talent pipeline for dancing of all styles continues to thrive.

The government supports the arts financially, including dance, through its arm’s-length body Arts Council England. Arts Council England has provided over £58 million to 153 organisations across England over 2024/25 to support dance. For instance, the Royal Ballet and Opera’s initiative “The Bridge” provides funding for working with schools and community groups nationwide to involve individuals in opera and ballet.

ACE also provides £450,000 in funding to the National Youth Dance Company, which offers high-quality training and performance opportunities through outreach to communities with higher proportions of young people from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Greg Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to encourage foreign investment. \p Ian Murray: This Government is committed to encouraging international investment to drive economic growth. DCMS’s work to promote investment into the culture and creative industries, media and sport sectors is an important part of this.

Most recently, through the Creative Industries Sector Plan we committed to provide £10 million to expand the National Film and Television School which will unlock £11 million of private investment, including from major overseas companies. We have also recently brought together sporting stakeholders and investors in the third annual One Goal Investment Symposium to highlight opportunities for foreign investment into the sport sector.

The whole Government uses its international engagements to encourage investment from overseas, India being a prime example. On her visit to India earlier this year, the Secretary of State signed a cultural cooperation agreement that will boost cultural exchange and encourage long-term institutional partnerships. On the Prime Minister’s recent visit to India, with a large business and cultural delegation, we secured a commitment from Yash Raj Films to bring new productions to the UK, attracted to the UK by our skillsbase and competitive tax system. This will create over 3,000 jobs and boost the economy by millions of pounds. On the same visit, the Government announced that the Science Museum has received an unprecedented eight-figure donation from the Serum Institute of India to support the transformation of one of the museum’s most iconic spaces.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Jonathan Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 65111 on Tickets: Sales Methods, when her Department plans to publish its response to the consultation entitled Putting Fans First: consultation on the resale of live events tickets, published on 10 January 2025; and for what reason the response has been delayed. \p Ian Murray: This Government is committed to introducing new protections for consumers on ticket resales, which is why we launched the Putting Fans First consultation on the resale of live events tickets.

We are considering the evidence provided in response to our consultation earlier this year and will set out our plans soon.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with Ofcom on the effectiveness of the regulatory principles used to determine if an investigation should be carried out into comments made by media outlets. \p Ian Murray: Ofcom, by law, carries out its investigations independently of the Government. Ofcom is accountable to Parliament, and the standards and objectives which underpin Ofcom’s rules and procedures are set out in legislation. Decisions over whether or not to investigate particular media outlets, and how they do that, are rightly a matter for Ofcom.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Maya Ellis:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to support updating the legal definition of a newspaper to allow local councils to place public notices with eligible online news outlets. \p Ian Murray: The Government is concerned about the sustainability of local journalism and DCMS is developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. We also recognise that local press continues to play a vital role in informing local communities, and that public notices play an important role in helping inform the public of decisions made by their council which may affect their quality of life, local services or amenities, or their property.

However, we are also aware of concerns from some sectors about the audience reach of these notices and the desire for greater digitalisation. In this context, the sector’s Public Notice Portal is a welcome innovation, taking advantage of print publishers’ growing digital audiences and providing a centralised resource for all types of public notice. We also welcome the Portal's current expansion to include archive and consultation functions to help public bodies and commercial entities engage with the public more effectively.

DCMS is monitoring the progress of the Portal, and the effect that it has on the audience reach of public notices. This type of industry innovation and collaboration is integral to securing the sector’s future. It will be taken into account in our planned review of public notices as part of the Local Media Strategy, which will more broadly consider the merits of making changes to existing requirements to place public notices in print local newspapers. More will be announced on the Strategy in the coming months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of awarding European football viewing rights to streaming platforms for free on access to sport. \p Ian Murray: The Secretary of State has not made any assessment on the potential impact of awarding European Football viewing rights to streaming platforms for free on access to sport.

The Government does not own or have the ability to award the streaming rights for competitions run by private entities, such as FIFA or UEFA.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring access to a number of sporting events, including European football, so that they can be enjoyed by a wide audience. However, this must also be balanced with the ability of sports national governing bodies and rights holders to generate revenue to invest in their sports at all levels. Broadcasting rights provide essential income for these organisations.

All UK broadcasters are operationally and editorially independent of the Government. Therefore decisions relating to coverage of particular sporting events, including European football are ultimately a commercial decision for the relevant broadcaster and/or the rights holder of the specific sporting event.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she last met with her preferred candidate for the Chair of the Independent Football Regulator; and when she next plans to meet with him. \p Stephanie Peacock: David Kogan has now been appointed as Chair of the Independent Football Regulator and the Secretary of State and I had a formal introductory meeting with him on 14 October.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will list the energy performance certificate ratings recorded for each building within the Parliamentary estate in each of the last five years. \p Nick Smith: The House of Commons retains copies of Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) where we acquire new buildings or undertake major refurbishments. It also holds EPCs for buildings or spaces that we lease. These EPCs are the responsibility of our landlords.

The buildings and EPC ratings for buildings in these categories are detailed in the table below. Data for Derby Gate is not available for the period of refurbishment running to 2022. We do not currently hold the data for 14 Tothill Street for 2021–22

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

1 Derby Gate

D82

D82

D82

Richmond House

C66

C66

C66

C66

C66

21 Dartmouth Street

A22

A22

A22

A22

A22

64 Victoria Street

B46

B46

B46

B46

B46

7 Wootton Street

C74

C74

C74

C74

C74

Education Centre

B28

B28

B28

B28

B28

14 Tothill Street (lease)

B35

B35

B35

50 Broadway (lease)

B37

B37

B37

B37

B37

The areas of the Parliamentary Estate used by the House of Commons includes a number of freehold buildings that have not been subject to major refurbishment and where EPCs are not therefore required. The House of Commons also holds several properties in Bridge Street which are rented out for non-Parliamentary uses.

We also hold Display Energy Certificates (DECs) for several buildings across the Parliamentary Estate. DECs are designed to show the energy performance of public buildings. As part of our commitment to sustainability and compliance, we commission annual DECs for many of our buildings. These certificates are publicly accessible via the Find an energy certificate service on GOV.UK. DECs are also displayed at the Palace of Westminster and Portcullis House.

Pages 39–46 of the House of Commons Administration Annual Report and Accounts 2024–25 provide an Environmental Review detailing the steps the Administration is taking to increase sustainability as well as data on emissions and energy consumption for the Estate (House of Commons: Annual Report & Accounts 2024-25).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 34655 on Department of Health and Social Care: Workplace Pensions, by what date all affected individuals will be contacted under the revised delivery plan for remedial service statements. \p Karin Smyth: I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS566 which I gave on 31 March 2025.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing financial support for nurse-led arts and crafts groups for patients (a) with and (b) recovering from cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: We are committed to ensuring that all cancer patients are offered a Holistic Needs Assessment and Personalised Care and Support Planning, ensuring care is focused on what matters most to each person. This is being delivered in line with the NHS Comprehensive Model for Personalised Care, empowering people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer, and maximise the potential of digital and community-based support.

We are supporting those experiencing cancer with access to psychosocial support, which can include NHS Talking Therapy services and evidence-based psychological therapies for people with anxiety disorders and depression. In addition, NHS England has published service specifications for providers of children and young people’s cancer services, including reducing physical, emotional, and psychological morbidity arising from treatment.

We recognise the importance of using the voluntary and community sector to provide a range of holistic support offers for patients’ wellbeing and mental health. Social prescribing is a key component of the National Health Service’s Universal Personalised Care and is a way for general practices or local agencies to refer people to a Social Prescribing Link Worker. Social prescribing link workers focus on ‘what matters to me’ and connect people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support, including arts-based activities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Greg Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Prostate Cancer Research report, Socio-economic Impact of Prostate Cancer Screening, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the macroeconomic modelling on the benefits of prostate cancer screening. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK National Screening Committee currently does not recommend prostate cancer screening because the evidence suggests that it does more harm than good. The committee is currently reviewing the evidence for both population wide screening and targeted prostate cancer screening. If the UK National Screening Committee makes a positive recommendation regarding screening for prostate cancer, an impact assessment will be produced using the HM Treasury Green Book methodology, which considers wider social and economic impacts.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost of redundancy payments to staff in (a) the Department of Health and Social Care, (b) NHS England and (c) Integrated Care Boards. \p Karin Smyth: We recognise there may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake the integration of NHS England and the Department, but these costs and more will be recouped in future years as a result of a smaller, leaner centre. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of publishing year-round data on the number of patients treated in temporary care environments. \p Karin Smyth: We continue to keep the data which is available and published to support improvements to urgent and emergency care services under review.

NHS England has been working with trusts since last year to put in place new reporting arrangements related to the use of temporary escalation spaces, like corridors, in order to drive improvement. Subject to a review of data quality, this information will be published later this year, and we will consider how this data could be published on a more regular basis.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to decrease waiting times for (a) urgent and (b) routine cardiology appointments in Surrey and Hampshire. \p Karin Smyth: Too many people have been left in limbo waiting for National Health Service appointments. The Government has committed to returning to the constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment. Performance is currently at 58.9% for cardiology services in the Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board (ICB), and 59.3% for cardiology services in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB. As a first step, we have already delivered on our pledge of an additional two million operations, scans, and appointments across elective services, nationally, between July and November 2024, compared to the same period in 2023, seven months ahead of schedule.

Cardiology has been identified as one of five national priority specialties which will undergo clinically driven pathway transformation in the Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025. Planned reforms to cardiology care will include increasing specialist input earlier in care pathways, in turn reducing the number of unnecessary diagnostics undertaken, by developing standard pathways for common outpatient presentations, such as palpitations, and increasing timely access to cardiac diagnostic tests.

In addition to national efforts, the Department and NHS England are supporting a range of local actions in the South East region to reduce the time patients spend waiting for specialist cardiology care, both for urgent and routine appointments. For example, delays for echocardiography (ECG) are a key challenge in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB. Local action is focussed on improving ECG access by standardising pathways, to remove unwarranted variation for patients, and rolling out wider direct access to diagnostic tests through community diagnostic centre provision, rather than in hospitals. We are also supporting local general practices and trusts, through their ICBs, to increase volumes of Advice and Guidance for cardiology, which significantly reduces the time patients spend waiting for care.
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects a new Chief Digital Officer to be appointed in NHS England. \p Karin Smyth: Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to determine the structure and requirements of the team required to support the creation of a new centre for health and care.
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse has been of the 11 working groups supporting the development of the 10-Year Health Plan to date. \p Karin Smyth: Most members of working groups, including the chairs, were not compensated for their participation in the groups, and took on group membership as part of, or alongside, their usual role. In a small number of cases, where members of the groups brought their lived experience as a patient or carer to the group, they were compensated for their time in line with usual NHS England practice. Many of the working group meetings took place virtually. Some in-person working group meetings incurred minimal catering costs. Travel and accommodation costs were reimbursed in a small number of cases by exception, and with the prior agreement of the Department or NHS England.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of speech and language therapists. \p Karin Smyth: Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service employers. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

NHS England is leading the National Retention Programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the use of temporary care environments in patient care. \p Karin Smyth: The Government recognises that long waits in accident and emergency departments are unacceptable and lead to worse patient outcomes. Patients should expect and receive the highest standard of service, and we are determined to tackle the issue of corridor care.

NHS England published guidance in September 2024 regarding the use of temporary escalation spaces, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/principles-for-providing-safe-and-good-quality-care-in-temporary-escalation-spaces/

In January 2025, the NHS England mandate and operational planning guidance for 2025/26 were published. These set out the priorities and actions to be taken to reform and improve urgent and emergency care services. This includes increasing the proportion of patients admitted, discharged, and transferred from emergency departments within 12 hours across 2025/26 compared to 2024/25.

We will shortly set out the further improvements and actions to be taken to support urgent and emergency care services this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on (a) consultation and (b) all forms of engagement for the 10-Year Health Plan since 4 July 2024. \p Karin Smyth: Following an invitation to tender a competition process, we appointed Thinks Insight, Kaleidoscope Health and Care, and the Institute For Public Policy Research to support us to run this engagement exercise. The awarded value of the contract is up to £2,961,595.50, with an option to vary to £3,500,000 in the event that the scope of the contract evolves. This includes running the regional deliberative events with members of the public and health and care staff, further online and in-person engagement activities, the Change NHS online portal, and analysis of the insight received.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to use external consultants to support the transfer of NHS England responsibilities to his Department. \p Karin Smyth: Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to determine the structure and requirements of the team required to support the creation of a new centre for health and care.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the median age is of computers issued to officials in their Department. \p Karin Smyth: The median age of laptops issued to officials in the Department is four years.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the suitability of the EQ-5D questionnaire as tool for measuring caregiver quality of life improvements. \p Karin Smyth: I regularly meet with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues. The NICE is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in its health technology evaluations. The NICE’s health technology evaluations manual, which was last updated in 2022 following extensive stakeholder engagement, states that its preferred measure for capturing health-related quality of life data in its health technology evaluations, whether for patients or caregivers, is the EQ-5D. The NICE can accept data using other measures, if evidence is provided that the EQ-5D is inappropriate. The NICE is aware of external work exploring how to better account for caregiver effects in health economic evaluations, for example through the work of the SHEER Task Force, and will continue to monitor and actively encourage further work in this area to potentially inform its methods in the future.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the (a) number and proportion of maternity services that use tailored interventions to address the specific needs of ethnic minority groups and (b) effectiveness of tailored interventions in reducing racial disparities in maternal health outcomes. \p Karin Smyth: No national data is collected on the number, proportion, and effectiveness of maternity services that use tailored interventions to address the specific needs of ethnic minority groups. It is, however, expected that all local areas fully implement their Equity and Equality Action Plans, which set out tailored interventions for tackling inequalities for women and babies from ethnic backgrounds and for those living in the most deprived areas.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of racial disparities in maternity care on the mental health and wellbeing of women from ethnic minority communities. \p Karin Smyth: The Government recognises that women from ethnic minority backgrounds may face unique challenges when it comes to maternal mental health, and that perinatal mental health difficulties commonly affect both women and men, and can adversely impact parent-infant relationships.

Significant progress has been made to ensure that women experiencing moderate to severe and complex perinatal mental health problems can access specialist perinatal mental health services. For example, mental health services are now available for women who have pre-existing mental health needs prior to their pregnancy, as well as for those who experience mental health difficulties during or as a result of their pregnancy or labour. This is delivered through specialist perinatal mental health services, maternal mental health services, and Mother and Baby Units. Work is also ongoing to modernise the Mental Health Act so that it is fit for the 21st century, redressing the balance of power from the system to the patient, and ensuring that people with the most severe mental health conditions get better, more personalised care.

No overall assessment has been made on the potential impact of racial disparities in maternity care on the mental health and wellbeing of women from ethnic minority communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the (a) adequacy of the entry criteria for the Innovative Medicines Fund and (b) whether these present barriers to patients accessing medicines in areas of high unmet need. \p Karin Smyth: The Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) was launched in June 2022, building on the successful Cancer Drugs Fund and supporting patient access to the most promising new medicines while further evidence is collected on their use to address clinical uncertainty.

The IMF’s principles ensure that patients can access promising but still clinically uncertain medicines while supplementary data is collected over a time limited period, to allow for more informed decision making about patient access and long-term National Health Service funding.

Since the IMF was established in June 2022, over 1,050 patients have been registered to receive treatment with 16 products, treating 16 different conditions. NHS England has made interim funding available via the IMF for 14 products, and two products have been recommended for managed access across three indications in the IMF.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Gregor Poynton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that NHS services (a) engage with new fathers and (b) record their details alongside mothers in their baby's health records. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service’s three-year plan for maternity and neonatal services recognises that listening and responding to all women and families, including fathers, is an essential part of safe and high-quality care.

Maternity and neonatal voices partnerships are forums that are in place to ensure that service user voices, including fathers, are at the heart of decision-making in maternity and neonatal services. They bring together the staff who commission and provide maternity services with those who use those services. All members of the partnership take responsibility for the development and delivery of agreed workplans.

Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services also offer mental health assessments and signposting to support as required for fathers/partners of women accessing services. Many NHS trusts have also implemented Family Integrated Care, a model of neonatal care which encourages the involvement of parents, including fathers, which in turn can benefit infant health outcomes.

Once a child is registered with the General Registry Office of Births and Deaths (GRO), the NHS receives information showing the parents listed on the birth certificate. Due to a period where not all GRO relationships were added to the NHS record, the NHS is currently working to ensure this happens going forward, and this work should be complete by Autumn 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the upcoming increase to employers National Insurance contributions on hospices. \p Stephen Kinnock: We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, enabling the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.

The employer National Insurance contribution rise will be implemented in April 2025, and planning guidance published on 30 January 2025 sets out the funding available to integrated care boards, and the overall approach to funding providers in the next financial year. It takes into account a variety of pay and non-pay factors and pressures on providers of secondary healthcare, including charitable hospices. Further information on the planning guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2025-26-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance/  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. We are pleased to confirm that the Government has released the first £25 million tranche of that funding, with Hospice UK kindly allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England. An additional £75 million will be available from April 2025.

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26.