theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department is taking steps to support women impacted by changes to the State Pension age with top-up contributions. \p Torsten Bell: The Government seeks to support people to help them to retain, return to or progress in work. That is why the Government is reforming employment support to ensure it supports people of all ages.

For those people who are unable to work but who are not eligible for pensioner benefits because of their age, financial support is available through the welfare system.

The new State Pension, introduced in 2016, addresses historically poorer outcomes for women. Since the introduction of the new State Pension, National Insurance Contributions and National Insurance Credits have equal value, providing access to the same level of entitlement for all. In addition, there is a comprehensive framework of National Insurance credits available when people are out of the workforce, maybe caring for children or elderly relatives.

For people with gaps in their National Insurance record, they may want to consider voluntary contributions. Many can now use the Check your State Pension forecast service to buy voluntary National Insurance contributions online.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an estimate of the number of women in Lincolnshire who have been financially impacted by the changes to increase their retirement age in line with men. \p Torsten Bell: The number of people in Lincolnshire who have been financially impacted by the decision taken by the Conservative Government in the 1990’s to equalise men and women’s State Pension age has not been estimated.
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Apsana Begum:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2024 to Question 20272 on Social Security Benefits, whether she plans to conduct a statutory public inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 into (a) deaths and (b) serious harm linked to the social security system. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The department is fully supportive of the Work and Pensions Select Committee’s ‘safeguarding vulnerable claimants’ inquiry, which is examining how the department supports vulnerable benefit claimants and whether its approach to safeguarding needs to change. I look forward to reading the Committee’s report and recommendations when this inquiry concludes.

We are reviewing the approach we take as a department to safeguard our most vulnerable customers – we are working to introduce and publish a DWP ‘safeguarding approach’. This will tell customers what support is available, how they access it and the level of service they can expect.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of interviews for the access to work scheme took place (a) remotely and (b) in person in 2024. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Customers applying for support from Access to Work can submit an online or written application. Interviews are only conducted for those customers requiring an assessment of their needs through one of our Holistic Assessment Providers. Customers are offered the choice of a virtual or face-to-face interview. In 2024, around 16,180 workplace assessments were held remotely and around 2,380 were held in person.

Please note:
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of conducting a cost-benefit analysis of the Access to Work scheme. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department has not assessed the potential merits of conducting a cost-benefit analysis of the Access to Work scheme and currently does not have plans to do so.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of under 16's who vape. \p Ashley Dalton: NHS England publishes estimates of the prevalence of vaping in children from the Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England Survey. The latest figures are from the 2023 survey, and showed that 5% of children aged between 11 and 15 years old were regular vapers, 4% vaped occasionally, and 25% had ever vaped. The report is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/smoking-drinking-and-drug-use-among-young-people-in-england/2023
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS trusts on the rollout of (a) HIV and (b) hepatitis opt-out testing in A&E departments in (i) Slough constituency and (ii) Berkshire . \p Ashley Dalton: Two hospitals within Berkshire, namely the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, and the Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, are involved in the second wave of the highly successful National Health Service emergency department blood borne viruses opt-out testing programme, and are planning to go live on 12 March 2025. Both will be testing for HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C.

We have extended the HIV opt-out testing scheme to approximately 90 hospitals based in extremely high and high prevalence areas to March 2026, with an additional £27 million investment. Decisions for offering opt-out HIV testing in emergency departments are based on HIV prevalence levels in local areas, in accordance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s recommendations on HIV testing.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken with Cabinet colleagues to assess (a) the social determinants of ill health and (b) the measures necessary to address any causes. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government’s Health Mission commits to building a National Health Service fit for the future, including through a shift from treatment to prevention. To support the mission, we are taking a range of action which will address the underlying causes of ill health.

Relevant cross-Government activity includes work to develop a new fuel poverty strategy, beginning with a consultation which runs until 4 April, publication in December 2024 of a revised National Planning Policy Framework, giving local authorities stronger, clearer powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools and where young people congregate, the establishment of a cross-Government child poverty taskforce, and commitment we made in the English Devolution White Paper, published in December 2024, to introduce a new statutory health and health inequalities duty for strategic authorities.

The Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health and Social Care operate a Joint Work and Health Directorate, in recognition of the significant link between work and health, and to improve employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions.
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Tessa Munt:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2025 to Question 23294 on Radiotherapy Medical Equipment, what (a) guidelines, (b) regulations and (c) restrictions have been issued to trusts on the use of NHS England funding to purchase new radiotherapy machines; and whether NHS England has a database of radiotherapy machines including (i) installation and (ii) renewal dates. \p Ashley Dalton: Trusts were given a range of potential machines to purchase, and the use of these machines is the responsibility of the trust which houses the machine. Providers of National Health Service-funded radiotherapy services are required to submit a monthly return on their delivery of radiotherapy treatments, and this data is held in the Radiotherapy Data Set.

The National Equipment Tracking and Inventory System highlights radiotherapy cancer treatment machines within the NHS, as well as their associated ages.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Northern Ireland on using AI technology for prostate cancer screening. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government follows the advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). The UK NSC currently does not recommend screening for prostate cancer because the current best test is not accurate enough for use in asymptomatic men.

We are aware of very early-stage trials into artificial intelligence in prostate cancer detection and we look forward to these trials reporting formally so that the evidence can be carefully considered.

In the meantime, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not had any conversations with his counterparts in Northern Ireland on this issue. Implementation of any UK NSC screening recommendation is a devolved matter.
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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's publication entitled JCVI statement on COVID-19 vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026, updated on 14 November 2024, what the evidential basis was for accepting the JCVI’s advice on spring 2025. \p Ashley Dalton: The independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises the Department on the approach to vaccination and immunisation programmes. The aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme is to prevent serious disease, leading to hospitalisation and/or mortality, arising from COVID-19.

For spring 2025, as in spring 2024, the JCVI advises that a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered to: adults aged 75 years old and over; residents in a care home for older adults; and the immunosuppressed aged six months old and over.

As in previous COVID-19 spring campaigns, the only clinical risk group included in the campaign are those aged six months or over with immunosuppression. The JCVI has advised that the available national data continues to demonstrate that older people and those who are immunosuppressed are at greatest risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19. The data available to the JCVI is national data, and they therefore made no assessment specific to Gosport.

The Government accepted the independent JCVI advice for spring 2025 on 12 December 2024. The Government is considering the advice on autumn 2025 and spring 2026 carefully, and will respond in due course.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many illegal (a) cigarettes and (b) vapes have been seized from retail outlets in England in (i) 2022, (ii) 2023 and (ii) 2024. \p Ashley Dalton: HM Revenue and Customs, Border Force, and Trading Standards are responsible for detaining and seizing illicit tobacco and vapes, including at ports and in-land from retailers. Information about seizures of illicit tobacco and vapes is collated in reports published by HM Revenue and Customs and National Trading Standards.

The latest figures show that 1.36 billion cigarettes, with a revenue value of £678.5 million, were seized by HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force in the United Kingdom in 2023/24, and 19.1 million cigarettes, worth £9.5 million, were seized by Trading Standards in England and Wales in 2023/24. 92.4 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco, worth £41.9 million, was seized by HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force in the UK in 2023/24, and 5.2 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco, worth over £2.3 million, was seized by Trading Standards in England and Wales in 2023/24.

1.2 million illicit vapes, worth £13.2 million, were seized inland by Trading Standards in England in 2023/24, and 1.1 million illicit vapes, worth £12.4 million, were detained at ports by Trading Standards in England, in the first half of 2024/25
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many closure orders were issued to retail outlets in England for the selling of illegal cigarettes in the last three years. \p Ashley Dalton: Where a retailer is found to be engaged in serious criminal behaviour, local authorities can apply to the courts for a closure order, which can close the business for up to three months. The number of closure orders issued against businesses, including those in which the sale of illicit cigarettes is a factor, is not held centrally by the Department. Local authorities and National Trading Standards collate information regarding the enforcement action taken against retailers in relation to illicit tobacco.
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James MacCleary:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase access to NHS dentistry for (a) pensioners and (b) people who are unable to afford private treatment. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. Sussex Integrated Care Board, which includes Lewes constituency, is expected to deliver 26,546 additional urgent dental appointments.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England.

Free NHS dental care is available to people who meet the following criteria: aged under 18 years old, or under 19 years old and in full-time education; pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months; being treated in an NHS hospital and the treatment is carried out by the hospital dentist, with patients possibly having to pay for any dentures or bridges; or receiving low-income benefits, or under 20 years old and a dependant of someone receiving low-income benefits.

Support is also available through the NHS Low Income Scheme for those patients who are not eligible for exemption or full remission of dental patient charges. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-free-nhs-dental-treatment-in-england/
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to help increase the number of GP appointments in Ashfield. \p Stephen Kinnock: We recognise that patients are finding it difficult to see a general practitioner (GP), and we are committed to fixing the front door to the National Health Service.

We are investing an additional £889 million in general practice to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade. The changes to the contract will improve services for patients and make progress towards the Government’s health mission, supporting the three key shifts the Government wants to achieve, namely from analogue to digital, sickness to prevention, and from hospital to community care).

In addition, in October 2024, we provided an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme enabling the recruitment of 1,000 newly qualified GPs across England. This will increase the number of appointments delivered in general practice, which will benefit thousands of patients that are struggling to get the care they need.
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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 adequacy of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) is subject to annual review as part of the consultation on the GP contract with professional representatives.

The consultation on the 2025/26 GP contract has now concluded and the General Practitioners Committee England has voted in support of the proposed changes for 25/26. Several changes have been confirmed to increase the flexibility of the ARRS. This includes general practitioners (GPs) and practice nurses included in the main ARRS funding pot, an uplift of the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme, and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.
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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the level of support that unpaid carers can access once they have undertaken a Carer’s Assessment in England. \p Stephen Kinnock: All unpaid carers are entitled to a carer’s assessment. Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake carer’s assessments to support people caring for their family and friends who appear to have a need for support, and to meet their eligible needs upon request from them.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to unpaid carers. This means that the CQC is looking at how local authorities are supporting carers in their area, including the provision of services following a carers assessment.

The Government also recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

We have already taken steps to support unpaid carers to balance work and care, including by increasing the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, from April 2025. This means carers can earn up to £10,000 a year whilst still retaining their Carer's Allowance, which is approximately an additional £2,000 a year.

The Government is also committed to reviewing the implementation of Carer’s Leave and examining the benefits of introducing paid Carer’s Leave.

Further, the Accelerating Reform Fund's second tranche of funding worth £22.6 million for 2024/25 has now been released. More than half of the projects are focused on identifying, recognizing, and supporting unpaid carers.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the use of weight loss drugs by celebrities on the public's (a) mental and (b) physical health. \p Stephen Kinnock: No such specific assessments have been made. We recognise that poor body image is a common problem for both men and women, and that body image dissatisfaction is a factor in disordered eating. However, eating disorders are complicated mental health conditions caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and environmental factors and it is still unclear exactly why someone develops an eating disorder.
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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of funding for local authorities to support unpaid carers who have requested a Carer's Assessment in the last 12 months. \p Stephen Kinnock: Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake carer’s assessments to support people caring for their family and friends who appear to have a need for support, and to meet their eligible needs upon request from them.

To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. Local authorities are responsible for how they use the available funding to fulfil their duties under the Care Act 2014.

The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.
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Juliet Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the right to choose an ADHD practitioner is still active in Nottinghamshire. \p Stephen Kinnock: Patients, including those in Nottinghamshire, have the right to choose their provider when referred to consultant-led treatment, or to a mental health professional, for their first appointment as an outpatient. Further information on the choices available for patients can be found on the NHS Choice framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-choice-framework
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Sarah Green:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of (a) psychiatrists, (b) psychologists and (c) dietitians on the quality of eating disorder support provided by the NHS. \p Stephen Kinnock: This information is not held centrally.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to improve (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of dyspraxia in adults. \p Stephen Kinnock: It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including diagnosis and support for dyspraxia. Further information on dyspraxia assessments and treatment is available on the NHS.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/developmental-coordination-disorder-dyspraxia-in-adults/
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Juliet Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long service users in (a) Broxtowe, (b) Nottingham and (c) the East Midlands are waiting for (i) Autism assessments and (ii) overall SEND assessments. \p Stephen Kinnock: Information on autism assessments is not held centrally in the format requested, but may be held by individual providers or integrated care boards (ICBs). Some relevant information is available on autism assessment waiting times for the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB and the Midlands commissioning region.

In the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB, the Autism Waiting Time Statistics published by NHS England show that there were a total of 6,120 patients of all-ages with an open suspected autism referral in December 2024, the latest available data. The median waiting time of all patients in this ICB with an open suspected autism referral, where their first care contact was in the quarter, was 244 days in December 2024.

In the Midlands commissioning region, the Autism Waiting Time Statistics show that there were a total of 58,445 patients of all-ages with an open suspected autism referral in December 2024. The median waiting time of all patients in the Midlands commissioning region with an open suspected autism referral, where their first care contact was in the quarter, was 352 days in December 2024.

Caution should be used when interpreting these statistics since they are experimental rather than official statistics.

Schools decide whether a pupil has additional needs that warrant them being on the school's Special Educational Needs and Disabilities register. Some relevant information on waiting times for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities is available from the GOV.UK website, from Education, health and care plans: England 2024, with the latest data available being from 2023. In Nottingham,

TARGET DATE 05/03/2025

67.1% of EHCPs, including exceptions, were issued within 20 weeks and in the East Midlands 40.4% of EHCPs, including exceptions, were issued within 20 weeks.
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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report, England, 2023-24, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential implications for its policies of the decrease of 6.1% between 2022-23 and 2023-24 in local authority expenditure on support for unpaid carers. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support they need. Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers.

To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.

The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

We have already taken steps to support unpaid carers. From April 2025 we are increasing the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196. This means carers can earn up to £10,000 a year whilst still retaining Carer's Allowance, which is approximately an additional £2,000 a year.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure adequate funding of hospices in Northern Ireland. \p Stephen Kinnock: Healthcare, including hospice care, in Northern Ireland is devolved and, therefore, a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive, although we are always happy to learn from experiences in other countries, including within the United Kingdom, and share our own experiences with countries like Northern Ireland.

In England, palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission as per the Health and Care Act 2022. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on the demand in that ICB area, but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both National Health Service and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.

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 the £100 million of capital funding, with Hospice UK kindly allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England. An additional £75 million will be available from April.

We, alongside key partners NHS England, will continue to proactively engage with our stakeholders, including the voluntary sector and independent hospices, on an ongoing basis, in order to understand the issues they face.

Last month, I met the major palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, including Marie Curie, which have a hospice in Belfast, and long-term sector sustainability, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, was discussed at length.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of mental health workers in England. \p Stephen Kinnock: The National Health Service workforce has been overworked for years, leading to staff becoming burnt out and demoralised and, while there has been growth in the mental health workforce over recent years, more is needed. That is why, as part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment. We recognise that bringing in the staff needed will take time. We are working with NHS England on options to deliver this commitment.

More broadly, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. This plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed, to move healthcare from the hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. A central part of this will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.

This summer we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need, when they need it.
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Juliet Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to undertake a review of NHS service users' right to choose a provider for ADHD. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to patients having the right to choose their provider when referred to consultant-led treatment, or to a mental health professional, for their first appointment as an outpatient. This is a legal right for patients set out in legislation.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will encourage the adoption of the Mental Wellbeing Impact Assessment toolkit across (a) Government Departments and (b) local authorities. \p Stephen Kinnock: We would like the mental health impacts on adults, children, and young people to be considered in all policymaking across Government. We are considering how to support the relevant departments to do this.

Mental health cannot just be the responsibility of the health system. As part of the 10 Year Plan shift to prevention, we will work across Whitehall, and the wider public and voluntary sector, to address the socioeconomic determinants of mental health.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_75

Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that ADHD patients' Right to Choose is protected. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to patients having the right to choose their provider when referred to consultant-led treatment, or to a mental health professional, for their first appointment as an outpatient. A patients right to choose is set out in legislation. Further information on the choices available for patients can be found on the NHS Choice framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-choice-framework
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_76

Will Stone:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an exemption from the increase in employer's National Insurance contributions for care homes in which more than half of residents are funded by the local authority. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance costs only. This does not include support for the private sector, including private sector firms contracted by central or local government.

This is the usual approach the Government takes to supporting the public sector with additional employer National Insurance contribution costs, as was the case with the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.

The Government considered the cost pressures facing adult social care and wider local government spending as part of the Spending Review process.

The Government is providing a 6.8% cash terms increase in core council spending power in 2025/26. To support social care authorities to deliver key services in light of pressures, at the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement we announced a further £200 million for adult and children’s social care. This will be allocated via the Social Care Grant, bringing the total increase of this grant in 2025/26 to £880 million, meaning that up to £3.7 billion of additional funding will be provided to social care authorities in 2025/26.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_77

Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Carr-Hill formula in allocating funding for GP practices in areas with high levels of deprivation. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Carr-Hill formula aims to ensure that resources are directed to general practices (GPs) based on an estimate of their patient workload. It takes into account many factors under two groups, namely 'drivers of workload' and 'unavoidable costs', including additional needs related to morbidity and mortality, but it does not specifically address deprivation. Plans to review this funding formula may be revisited in future. However, any changes would need careful planning to ensure they do not threaten stability or cause financial uncertainty for GPs.

We are committed to ensuring that primary care medical services receive appropriate support and resources. We recently announced a proposed funding uplift for GPs for 2025/26 of £889 million. This is the largest uplift to GP funding since the beginning of the five-year framework and means a rising share of total National Health Service resources being directed towards GPs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_78

Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme consultation to enable Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to set financial limits for each independent provider delivering services under patient right of choice regulations where the level of activity is greater than  £0.1 million per year on ADHD waiting times. \p Stephen Kinnock: A patients’ right to choose is set out in legislation. The proposed 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme (NHSPS) makes no changes to this right. As required by the Health and Care Act 2022, NHS England has conducted an assessment of the impact of the proposed NHSPS. This is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/25-26-NHSPS-Consultation-notice-C-impact-assessment.pdf

This impact assessment includes consideration of the impact on patient choice, as well as an assessment of the impact on patients, in line with NHS England’s public sector equality duty.

Local integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for planning service provision in their local area, including for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessments. In doing so, ICBs should take account of waiting lists, and should consider how local funding can be deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_79

Sarah Champion:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the term child practitioner is used exclusively to refer to Children and Young People's Wellbeing Practitioners. \p Stephen Kinnock: Children and Young People’s Wellbeing Practitioners assess and support children and young people with mental health problems, improving their access to therapies. They play a key role in signposting children and young people to appropriate mental health and community services and referring those with more complex problems to the right mental health support.

The term child practitioner is an education term, used for support within education services. It is not recognised by the central NHS Workforce Team as a National Health Service job title, although it may be used colloquially in some local situations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_80

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 23859 on General Practitioners: Recruitment, what his planned timetable is for collecting that data. \p Stephen Kinnock: Data on numbers of general practitioners (GPs) employed through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme is not currently published. Information on the number of recently qualified GPs for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme is currently being collated. We are working to verify the data and establish its reliability, which is necessary before any dataset can be published.
wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_81
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_81

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase the number of vision rehabilitation specialists in (a) Slough constituency and (b) Berkshire. \p Stephen Kinnock: It is the responsibility of local authorities and the integrated care boards to commission therapy-led rehabilitation, reablement, and recovery services, including vision rehabilitation specialists, based on their assessment of local capacity and demand.

The Government understands the importance of having effective rehabilitation services available for people who need them, to assist in recovery and to return to their day-to-day activities. Intermediate care and reablement support services, including vision rehabilitation, can play a key role in providing alternatives to hospital admission, and improve patient outcomes by providing appropriate rehabilitation and reablement options following a hospital discharge.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_82

Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she expects to publish the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice on statutory learning disability and autism training. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_83

Tessa Munt:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which trusts have been granted linear particle accelerator renewal funds from the additional funding in the Autumn Budget 2024; what criteria was used by NHS England to make those awards; and whether trusts awarded those funds have to fund bunker modifications from their own budgets. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_84

Gareth Snell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of hospitalisations due to allergies that have occurred by (a) age and (b) type of allergy in the last 10 years. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department does not hold data on the number of 999 emergency calls that mention anaphylaxis. Neither does the Department hold data on the number of paediatric allergists employed in the National Health Service.

The Department has not made an estimate of the number of adults or children under the age of 18 years old that are currently diagnosed with an allergy. The table attached shows the number of hospitalisations due to allergies in the last ten years, broken down by ages and type of allergy.

PQ32113 - Table (xlsx, 79.1KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_85

Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the BBC Board on the broadcasting of public information films to promote public health. \p Ashley Dalton: Ministers engage regularly with a variety of stakeholders to discuss a range of topics, including but not limited to the promotion of public health. A partnership between the Department and the BBC promotes physical activity through the Couch to 5K app. Since its launch in 2016, it has been downloaded over 7 million times, with over 9 million runs completed last year alone.

The Department promotes public health through the Better Health range of websites, apps and support tools which were visited over 20 million times in the last year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-05 conversation_86

Peter Dowd:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support research into Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease and (b) ensure that UK research does not fall behind well-funded programmes in other countries. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department funds research through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). Since 2002, the Department has made over £43 million of funding available for research and surveillance of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and prion diseases.

The Department is working closely with NHS England on future funding for CJD diagnostic services. The Department also works closely with the Medical Research Council (MRC) to align funding for priority research, and has met specifically with the MRC Prion Unit recently.

Both the NIHR and the MRC welcome research proposals on all aspects of human health, including CJD and prion disease. Research applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.