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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available for traditional boat building skills' educational programmes in coastal communities. \p Janet Daby: The department supports all learners in coastal areas who wish to have a career in boatbuilding through its technical education offer, with a range of high-quality qualifications and apprenticeship opportunities available.

This includes specific qualifications and apprenticeships in boatbuilding together with apprenticeships and qualifications, including T levels, in such subjects as marine engineering, carpentry, design, construction and welding, all of which provide knowledge and skills that support careers in boatmaking.
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Dr Roz Savage:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase access to accredited online schools for pupils with (a) special educational needs and (b) mental health conditions who are unable to attend mainstream education. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department introduced the Online Education Accreditation Scheme (OEAS) in April 2023 to ensure high standards of education and protect pupils receiving a full-time education online. Providers must meet online education standards to become accredited. The scheme is non-statutory. The department encourages all eligible providers to engage with the scheme and for commissioners to use accredited providers only.

Online education should not be viewed as an equal alternative to attendance in school. The department expects schools to consider online education only as a last resort where the alternative would be no education and only after it has been established that the pupil is, or will be, absent from school. In such cases, remote education can have the benefit of allowing absent pupils to keep on track with their education and stay connected to their teachers and peers.

Local authority commissioners, often in conjunction with a child’s school, can use online provision as a form of alternative provision for children with a medical condition or school refusal, where necessary adjustments have not been appropriate. Local authorities can also, as a last resort, provide online education for children who are new to an area and are awaiting a school place.

Where it would not be appropriate for special educational provision to be delivered in a school, college or early years setting, a local authority may put in place education otherwise than at a school or college under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014. If a local authority chooses to specify education otherwise than at a school or college in an education, health and care plan, it will be statutorily responsible for securing the provision and funding it.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of the Education and Skills Funding Agency on (a) academy trusts and (b) their capability to provide effective pastoral support. \p Catherine McKinnell: The Education and Skills Funding Agency closed on 31 March 2025 and its functions transferred to the department. The chief executive officer of the Agency, at its closure, issued an accounting officer letter to the sector on 19 March 2025 confirming the transfer of functions to the department. This letter is available on GOV.UK at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67d95fceb1857deda3da016d/Letter_to_accounting_officers_-_19_March_2025.pdf.

Moving the agency functions into the department allows for more joined-up delivery, both in the regulatory space and in the services it provides to the sector. It enables a single, joined-up approach to funding and regulation to improve accountability, provides a unified voice to schools and ensures that financial improvement is central to school improvement.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to raise awareness of the impact of migraines on children’s education. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people receive the right support to succeed and thrive in their education and as they move into adult life.

Pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education. In 2014, the government introduced a duty on schools to support pupils with all medical conditions and has published statutory guidance intended to help governing bodies meet their legal responsibilities. This guidance sets out the arrangements they will be expected to make, based on good practice. Schools should ensure they are aware of any pupils with medical conditions and should have policies and processes in place to ensure these can be well managed.

​The government recognises that migraines can impact a child or young person’s concentration and school attendance. As a result, schools must use their best endeavours to make sure a child or young person gets the special educational provision they need. This includes monitoring the progress of pupils regularly and putting support in place where needed, including arranging diagnostic tests where appropriate.
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Harpreet Uppal:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what accountability mechanisms are in place for local authorities that miss statutory deadlines for Education, Health and Care plans processes after being required to produce a Written Statement of Action. \p Catherine McKinnell: As set out in the current Area SEND Inspection Framework, local areas with a Written Statement of Action that were not revisited by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission under the previous framework will have a full inspection within the first three years of the new inspection cycle, meaning that they should receive a full inspection under the current framework by the end of 2025.

As part of Area SEND inspections, inspectors assess the extent to which the local area partners are complying with relevant legal duties relating to arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

For any local area that has an active Written Statement of Action, the department works to monitor, support and challenge local authorities as needed, working closely with NHS England to tackle any weaknesses that sit with health partners. Where a council does not meet its duties, including around timeliness of education, health and care plans, we offer a range of universal, targeted and intensive support through departmentally-managed programmes, such as our sector led improvement partners, which provides peer-to-peer tailored support. Councils identified as having issues with 20 week timeliness specifically are subject to additional monitoring by the department. Where we have concerns about their capacity to make the required improvements, we secure specialist SEND advisor support to help identify barriers and improve the service.
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Brian Mathew:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools are able to offer children high quality music education through (a) the national curriculum and (b) in music education hubs. \p Catherine McKinnell: Music is an essential part of supporting children and young people to develop creativity and find their voice. Music is in the national curriculum and is compulsory in all maintained schools in England from the age of 5 to 14 years. The national curriculum sets out the content of what the department expects schools to cover in each subject. The aims of the national curriculum for music include ensuring that all pupils perform music, learn to sing and to use their voices, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument and understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, which is looking at all subjects, including music. Any subject-specific findings and recommendations will be included in the Review’s final report in autumn. The government will consider any changes it wishes to make to the curriculum whilst the Review is conducted and respond to its recommendations when they are published. Following the review, all schools, including academies, will be required to teach the revised national curriculum.

On 18 March 2025, the department announced its intention to launch a National Centre for Arts and Music Education to promote opportunities for children and young people to pursue their artistic and creative interests in school, including through the government’s network of Music Hubs. Our intention is to launch in September 2026, with a delivery lead appointed through an open procurement.

To support the delivery of music education, the government has committed £79 million per year for the Music Hubs programme, including the 2024/25 academic year. The 43 Music Hubs partnerships across England offer a range of services, including musical instrument tuition, instrument loaning and whole-class ensemble teaching. To widen access to musical instruments, the government is investing £25 million in capital funding for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year.

The government is also investing £2 million to support the Music Opportunities Pilot over a 4-year period across the 2024/25 to 2027/28 academic years, backed by a further £3.85 million funding from Arts Council England and Youth Music. This pilot aims to help disadvantaged children and young people, as well as those with special educational needs and disabilities, to learn how to play an instrument of their choice or learn to sing to a high standard.
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Alison Hume:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department is providing for targeted mainstream provision for SEND education in each of the financial years (a) 2025-26, (b) 2026-27 and (c) 2027-28. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

Overall schools funding is increasing by £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year and will total over £64.8 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25. Most schools’ funding is not allocated or ring-fenced for specific purposes. Schools decide how to spend their budgets to meet their legal duties and other responsibilities, including support for their pupils with SEND.

Of the increase in total schools funding, £1 billion will be for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. High needs funding is allocated by local authorities to schools for the costs of special educational needs support in excess of £6,000 per pupil per annum.

Decisions on future schools funding beyond 2025/26 will be taken following the forthcoming spending review.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to promote transparency between teachers and parents on politically sensitive topics in schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.

The guidance is clear that all schools should take full responsibility for ensuring lessons and materials are age appropriate, suitable and politically impartial, particularly when using materials produced by external organisations. The guidance also highlights that legal duties on political impartiality are unlikely to be relevant when teaching about political events from previous historical periods. However, the guidance is clear that, when teaching about more recent historical events, it is important to ensure that political issues that remain contentious today are presented to pupils in a balanced manner.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of university fees on students. \p Janet Daby: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The government has published an equality impact assessment of changes to fees on students with protected characteristics and students from disadvantaged groups for the 2025/26 academic year. This can be accessed at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/263/impacts/2025/41.

The department needs to put our world-leading higher education (HE) sector on a secure footing, in order to face the challenges of the next decade, and to ensure that all students have confidence that they will receive the world-class HE experiences they deserve.

This is why, after seven years of frozen fee caps under the previous government, this government took the difficult decision to increase maximum tuition fees for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%, in line with the forecast rate of inflation based on the Retail Prices Index excluding mortgage interest payments inflation index. Eligible students will continue to be able to apply for up-front fee loans to meet the full cost of their tuition in 2025/26.

This government will set out its plan for HE reform this summer.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the application process will open for the Technical Excellence College scheme. \p Janet Daby: At the Spring Statement 2025, this government committed £100 million to establish ten new Technical Excellence Colleges specialised in construction across every region in England and to further build capacity to boost the provision of skills in construction. Boosting skills in construction is a crucial part of delivering on this government’s plans to build 1.5 million homes in England this Parliament and progress vital infrastructure projects. The department will set out further details on Technical Excellence Colleges in due course.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of Level 7 Apprenticeships on social mobility. \p Janet Daby: The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth supported by a strong skills system.

This government has an extremely challenging fiscal inheritance. There are tough choices that need to be taken on how funding should be prioritised in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers, and the department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund a significant number of level 7 apprenticeships themselves outside of the levy-funded growth and skills offer.
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Daisy Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including postgraduate students in the eligibility criteria for the (a) Childcare Grant and (b) Parent Learners Allowance. \p Janet Daby: Postgraduate master’s and doctoral loans are intended as a contribution to the cost of study. They can be used by students according to their personal circumstances to cover the costs of fees and living costs, including for childcare. The Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learner Allowance form part of the undergraduate support package and there are no plans to extend access to those in receipt of a postgraduate loan.

Students are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education which is available to all three and four-year-olds regardless of family circumstances.
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Grahame Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which (a) Departments, (b) agencies and (c) public bodies employ staff on graduate visas. \p Janet Daby: The department employs people on graduate visas.

Of our executive non-departmental public bodies, the following employ people on graduate visas:
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the flexibility of the apprenticeship levy for small businesses. \p Janet Daby: The government is reforming the Apprenticeship Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy that will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers of all sizes to develop the skills they need to thrive.

As a first step, the department is introducing new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships. The minimum duration of an apprenticeship will be reduced to eight months from August 2025, down from the current minimum of 12 months. This change means apprentices will be able to achieve occupational competence more quickly, where appropriate, such as, where apprentices have significant prior learning. Employers of all sizes will be able to benefit from these flexibilities.
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Stuart Andrew:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Spring Statement of 26 March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to her Department's planned budget for the 2025-26 financial year on listed places of worship. \p Chris Bryant: There have been no changes to the budget for this Scheme for financial year 2025-26 as a result of the Spring Statement. As announced in January, the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme has been extended for one year with an overall budget of £23 million, until 31 March 2026.
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Richard Tice:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on charitable organisations; and what steps she plans to take to fiscally support those organisations. \p Stephanie Peacock: DCMS Ministers have met with representatives from the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector and are aware of their concerns about the National Insurance contributions (NICs) changes. We recognise the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning that more than half of businesses (including charities) with NICs liabilities will either gain or see no change next year.

We are expanding eligibility of the Employment Allowance by removing the £100,000 eligibility threshold, to simplify and reform employer NICs so that all eligible employers now benefit. Employers will also continue to benefit from employer NICs reliefs including for hiring those under 21 and apprentices under 25, where eligible.

The government has taken a number of difficult decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability. The need to raise income required the government to make this tough financial choice; the Chancellor was clear in her open letter to the voluntary sector that raising the rate of employer NICs was one of the most difficult decisions in the budget.

Within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving. The tax reliefs available to charities are a vital element in supporting charitable causes across the UK, with more than £6 billion in charitable reliefs provided to charities and their donors. The biggest individual reliefs provided are Gift Aid at £1.6 billion and business rates relief at nearly £2.4 billion.
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Rachel Blake:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of by-laws in the Royal Parks on the operations of policing services. \p Chris Bryant: The Royal Parks are Crown Land managed on behalf of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by The Royal Parks Charity (TRP). The current principal regulations relating to the parks are The Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces Regulations 1997. These help balance the needs of all park users and support the maintenance and conservation of the parks’ natural and built environments.

The operation of policing services in the Royal Parks and enforcement of by-laws and regulations, was undertaken by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), through a dedicated Parks Operational Command Unit (OCU). As part of wider changes to MPS operations, an option to close the OCU is being considered. TRP are working directly with the MPS to understand any implications arising from the potential closure of the OCU, on the enforcement of by-laws within the Royal Parks.
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Andy MacNae:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the listed events regime on levels of participation in grassroots sport. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government recognises the importance of ensuring free-to-air access to sporting events of national interest so that they can be enjoyed by a wide audience and can inspire more people to be active and participate in grassroots sport.

The Government believes that the current list of events works well and that it strikes an appropriate balance between access to sporting events and allowing sports to maximise broadcasting revenue.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to sports facilities for disabled people in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone. The Government has announced a further £100 million in funding to deliver new and improved multi-sport grassroots facilities and pitches across the whole of the UK. The Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme’s aims include regular, weekly use by under-represented groups, including disabled people, so that everyone has the opportunity to participate. In 2024/25 the programme invested £3,389 in South Holland and the Deepings, and £12,931 in Lincolnshire.

Sport England, the Government’s Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, is committed to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for disabled people and improving their access to sport facilities. Sport England runs specific initiatives like the 'We are Undefeatable' campaign, impacting directly on disabled people, and those with a long-term health condition. Sport England also has partnerships with organisations such as Disability Rights UK, Activity Alliance, Aspire, and Sense, to help more disabled people get active.
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Tonia Antoniazzi:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 40390 on Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender Independent Review, what steps her Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the Sullivan Review. \p Stephanie Peacock: The government has now published the independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender commissioned by the previous government. We are considering the findings in light of ongoing policy work in this area.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce a magistral phage model to allow UK phages to be produced without requiring GMP licensing. \p Ashley Dalton: In its March 2024 response to the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee’s report on bacteriophages, the Government acknowledged the challenges in manufacturing phage materials in the United Kingdom, including the requirement to meet Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards. The principles of GMP are considered necessary to ensure the medicines are of the appropriate quality, safety, and efficacy. The Government committed to considering the case for the development of a UK-based GMP facility to support phage innovators.

In parallel, the Government is engaging with professional regulators and the specialist pharmacy service to clarify how existing regulations address liability for the use of non-GMP produced phages. Unlicensed phages can currently be used in the UK for compassionate cases with appropriate controls. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will be publishing regulatory considerations for therapeutic use of bacteriophages in the UK in the second quarter of 2025, which will offer guidance on these matters.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to simplify the process for clinicians seeking approval to use phage therapy. \p Ashley Dalton: In March 2024, the Government’s response to the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee’s report on bacteriophages highlighted the potential role of phage therapy as one of a range of tools to tackle antimicrobial resistance.

To support clinical use, the Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency plans to publish non-mandatory guidance on the quality, safety, and efficacy data required to license phage products for both proactive and reactive National Health Service use to treat common infections, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will assess new phage-based treatments alongside other medicines.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of phage therapy regulatory frameworks in (a) Belgium, (b) Canada, (c) France, (d) the US and (e) Australia; whether he plans to adopt similar measures in the UK; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on patient access. \p Ashley Dalton: The United Kingdom’s regulatory framework supports patient access to phage therapy and is in line with many other national regulatory authorities. We continue to keep the regulatory framework for phage therapies under review, aligning where necessary with regulatory frameworks internationally, in order to support continued patient access via phage sharing between countries.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is planning to publish draft guidance on phage product licensing, developed with researchers and industry, to clarify regulatory and manufacturing requirements.
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Jessica Toale:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on ending new HIV transmissions by 2030. \p Ashley Dalton: The HIV Action Plan was published in 2022 and sets out steps to reduce HIV transmission between 2019 and 2025, including the importance of HIV testing, access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, and for those who test positive, rapid access to treatment. The HIV Action Plan is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/towards-zero-the-hiv-action-plan-for-england-2022-to-2025

Between 2019 and 2023, the number of new HIV diagnoses increased slightly from 2,801 to 2,810, an increase of 0.3%. However, there was a 35% fall in new diagnoses in gay and bisexual men, from 1,242 in 2019 to 811 in 2023.

A monitoring and evaluation framework was published on 1 December 2024 to summarise progress, and this framework is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hiv-monitoring-and-evaluation-framework/hiv-action-plan-monitoring-and-evaluation-framework-2024-report#progress-towards-the-hiv-action-plan-ambitions-1

A new HIV Action plan will be published by the end of 2025.
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Chi Onwurah:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the repayment rate for newer medicines under the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth on the UK life sciences sector. \p Ashley Dalton: The voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access, and growth (VPAG) is a unique partnership between the Government and the pharmaceutical industry and includes a range of commitments to support innovation and improve National Health Service access and uptake of newer medicines. This also includes the novel £400 million investment programme which aims to boost the global competitiveness of the United Kingdom, stimulate economic growth, and support patient access to medicines through targeted investment.

The Department has been engaging closely with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) to understand the potential impact of the higher-than-expected VPAG headline payment percentage in 2025. In recognition of the pressure that the increased headline payment percentage is putting on industry we have committed to bringing forward the mid-scheme review of the VPAG from Autumn 2025 to June 2025.

As part of this review, the ABPI and their member organisations have been invited to put forward their proposals for discussion, as well as suggestions for how the pharmaceutical sector can actively work alongside the Government to increase the UK’s overall share of global research and development activity, and drive economic growth.
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Rachel Blake:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve paediatric continence services for disabled children. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. This involves ensuring that children receive the appropriate care and support whenever they need it.

NHS England published Excellence in Continence Care on 23 July 2018, bringing together evidence-based resources and research for guidance for commissioners, providers, and health and social care staff. This guidance covers both urinary and bowel, also known as faecal, incontinence, and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/excellence-in-continence-care/

In 2023, NHS England published the guidance, National clinical constipation pathway for primary care for children, for clinicians for the prevention and management of constipation in children and young people. This work involved developing the national constipation pathway alongside ERIC, The Children’s Bowel and Bladder Charity, with the final guidance available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-clinical-constipation-pathway-for-primary-care-for-children/

To make children’s services better, we are changing the National Health Service through our 10-Year Health Plan to make it fit for the future. The plan will be published in June.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support people with Sickle Cell Anaemia. \p Ashley Dalton: Working under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as sickle cell anaemia.

The National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme seeks to improve outcomes and the quality of life for those with sickle cell disorder. This programme has launched two-year emergency department bypass pilots to provide services for people requiring emergency care for an uncomplicated vaso-occlusive crisis. It also includes work to provide digital care plans across London and Manchester, to improve the safety of blood transfusions, as well as educational programmes, which include information on genetic counselling.

In February 2025, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved exagamglogene autotemcel (Casgevy) for use in the National Health Service in England through the Innovative Medicines Fund, and it is now available for eligible patients.
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Ian Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to provide redress to patients affected by pelvic mesh implants. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex area of work, involving several Government departments, and it is important that we get this right. We will be providing an update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s Report at the earliest opportunity.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-09)

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Sir Christopher Chope:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon died from hospital acquired pneumonia in (a) December 2024, (b) January 2025 and (c) February 2025. \p Ashley Dalton: 10 patients died from hospital acquired pneumonia at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon in December 2024. Figures for January 2025 and February 2025 cannot be provided until May 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-09 conversation_167

Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to provide additional funding for fracture liaison services to help increase the (a) coverage and (b) quality of those services. \p Ashley Dalton: Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) are a globally recognised care model and can reduce the risk of refracture for people at risk of osteoporosis by up to 40%. They can play a vital role in improving quality of life and increasing the number of years that can be lived in good health.

We remain committed to rolling out FLS across every part of the country by 2030.

In the meantime, we are investing in high-tech DEXA scanners, which are expected to provide an extra 29,000 scans to ensure that people with bone conditions get diagnosed earlier.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-09 conversation_168

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide additional resources to Birmingham City Council to help support public health. \p Ashley Dalton: Birmingham City Council’s Public Health Grant for 2025/26 will be £109,102,134. This is an increase of 5.9% relative to 2024/25, and equates to £92.98 per capita against a per capita average across all English upper tier local authorities of £66.64.

Birmingham will also receive targeted investment in 2025/26 of £1,647,900 to improve its Start for Life offer, £1,596,854 to support stop smoking services, and £11,741,333 to support drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. Future funding decisions will be subject to the upcoming Spending Review.

The Government continues to support Birmingham City Council’s recovery, and action to protect and improve public health.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-09 conversation_169

Dr Simon Opher: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 being treated in temporary care environments. \p Karin Smyth: We continue to keep the data 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, to drive improvement. Subject to a review of data quality this information will be published later in 2025 and we will consider how this data could be published on a more regular basis.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-09 conversation_170

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of (a) redundancies and (b) all other costs arising from the proposed abolition of NHS England. \p Karin Smyth: We recognise that 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 because of a smaller and 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.

As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-09 conversation_171

Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the ringfenced £340 million budget for the Innovative Medicines Fund has been spent in each year since its launch in June 2022. \p Karin Smyth: The Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) was established to provide a funding mechanism for promising non-cancer medicines recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for a period of managed access to address uncertainties in the evidence base. Up to £340 million has been available each financial year to support funding of medicines through the IMF. Expenditure in 2023/24 was £2 million.

The relatively low level of expenditure within the IMF for 2023/24 reflects the high proportion of topics assessed by NICE as having potential for managed access which have gone on to secure a positive recommendation for routine commissioning, therefore bypassing the need for further data collection and reappraisal through the IMF.

The remainder of the IMF budget is used to support pressures in the overall specialised commissioning budget and is reported as part of the overall financial position.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-09 conversation_172

Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Prime Minister in response to the Leader of the Opposition on 2 April 2025, how 1,000 new GPs were recruited. \p Stephen Kinnock: Previously, primary care networks were limited in how they could use their funding, but now they can hire recently qualified doctors through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), a practical solution which is boosting general practitioner (GP) numbers across the country.

Data on the number of recently qualified GPs for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the ARRS was published by NHS England on 7 April 2025. Since 1 October 2024, 1,503 GPs were recruited through the scheme.

The recruitment boost, part of the Government’s Plan for Change, will help to ease pressure on GPs and cut waiting times. Alongside changes to the GP Contract for 2025/26, these additional GPs will help end the 8.00am scramble for appointments which so many patients currently endure every day.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-09 conversation_173

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to speech and language therapy. \p Stephen Kinnock: We inherited a broken National Health Service with waiting times across all areas unacceptably high. In his investigation into the NHS in England, Lord Darzi highlighted the crisis in children’s community services with too many children waiting too long for services, including speech and language therapy, impacting their wellbeing, education and life chances. Lord Darzi also made clear we need to need to focus on community services. Too many adults are waiting too long to receive speech and language therapy, negatively impacting their communication or swallowing abilities.

Through our 10-Year Health Plan, we will shift healthcare from hospitals to community. This shift to community services, like speech and language therapy, helps to prevent costly and intensive support later. Through the 10-Year Health Plan, we will revisit the Long Term Workforce Plan to ensure we have the right staff delivering the right services in the right place.

We continue to improve access to speech and language therapy, including though the Early Language and Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme, with the Department of Education and NHS England. The ELSEC programme provides training and support to education settings, to increase their ability to support speech, language, and communication development.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-09 conversation_174

John Whitby:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 35591 on Pharmacy: Finance, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of pharmacies using Pharmacy First. \p Stephen Kinnock: As of November 2024, 9,308 contractors were delivering at least one Pharmacy First clinical pathway consultation with good coverage across the country, equivalent almost 90% of active pharmacies.

We have recently announced the funding arrangements for 2025/26, which will see increased fees for this service as well as a new fixed fee of £500 for pharmacies delivering between 20 and 29 consultations per month as well as the existing fixed fee of £1,000 for 30 consultations and over.

NHS England is keeping the Pharmacy First service under close review. In addition, a National Institute for Health and Care Research evaluation of Pharmacy First will assess how the service has been implemented across England, including impacts on prescribing in the general practice setting, use of hospitals and how the service has impacted access to care and cost for different patient groups.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-09 conversation_175

Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made representations to the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology to encourage increased funding for research into preterm birth (a) prevention, b) treatment and (c) long-term outcomes. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and over the last five years, NIHR research programmes invested in 77 research awards focusing on preterm birth which, across their full duration, totalled £93 million of funding.

In addition, in March 2024 the NIHR launched a £50 million research challenge with an explicit focus on maternity inequalities, including those observed in preterm birth rates. This initiative will increase the evidence base, to drive actions to reduce maternity inequalities and lead to better outcomes for women and their babies.

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of maternal health, including research into the prevention, treatment, and longer-term outcomes of preterm birth.