theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_194
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_194

Jess Asato:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to take steps to help minimise the potential impact of prosecutions for child truancy from school on mothers. \p Stephen Morgan: Absence is one of the biggest barriers to success for children and young people. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, limiting their opportunity to succeed. This government is committed to improving school attendance through our ‘support-first’ approach which seeks to foster strong relationships between families, schools, local authorities and other relevant local services. This ensures that support is made available at an early stage to help children to improve their school attendance. This approach is set out in our statutory attendance guidance, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.

Schools, local authorities and other partners should always work together to understand and remove the barriers to attendance. The guidance, which came into effect last August, specifically underlines the importance of working in partnership with families. It also details when Notices to Improve should be issued as a final opportunity for a parent to engage in support and improve attendance before legal intervention is pursued.

The decision to prosecute rests solely with the local authority, but paragraph 164 of the guidance sets out factors for their consideration, including public interest tests and equalities considerations.

The department’s attendance guidance is based on best practice and was introduced following full public consultation.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_195
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_195

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of schools that were affected by flooding in each of the last five academic years. \p Stephen Morgan: The department cannot provide the information requested for all schools. However, our Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) collects details of claims to its service. The table below shows the number of flooding related claims made to the RPA in each of the last five academic years as at 31 December 2024.

Academic Year

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25*

Total

RPA Member Schools

6,387

7,716

9,098

10,008

11,144

12,538

Members who experienced a weather-related event

317

267

203

427

427

258

1899

*Partial year up to and including December 2024.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_196
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_196

Mary Glindon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the merits of Education, Health and Care Plans on (a) academic attainment and (b) mental health in mainstream schools. \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.

There is a growing number of children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans due to their social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs. Currently, 15.5% of those with an EHC plan who are attending school have SEMH recorded as their primary need.

While no recent assessment has been made specifically on the impact of EHC plans on mental health, we are responding to this increase by significantly expanding access to specialist mental health professionals and early support. This includes the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools, the recruitment of 8,500 additional mental health professionals, and the launch of Young Futures hubs to provide accessible, community-based mental health services.

Improving the SEND system is a key priority for this government. We are working with families, schools, local authorities and wider partners to deliver reforms that improve support for children and parents and provide consistency across the country.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_197
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_197

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish a national carers strategy. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support that they need. The Government has heard the calls for a National Carers Strategy. This must be addressed in the wider context of the urgent need for a renewed vision for adult social care.

We have launched 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 care and support 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.

I also chair a cross-Government meeting, made up of ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education, to consider how we can provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_198
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_198

Carla Denyer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with his (a) Welsh and (b) Scottish counterpart on the removal of the requirement for a pre-visit notification for eye care. \p Stephen Kinnock: National Health Service funded domiciliary, mobile sight tests are available for patients who are eligible for free NHS sight tests and who are unable to leave home unaccompanied because of physical or mental illness or disability, which includes individuals in residential care homes and nursing homes.

Domiciliary eye care providers are required to give advance notification to the integrated care board of their intention to provide an NHS domiciliary sight test to a patient. This is referred to as a pre-visit notification and includes the details of the contractor, where the visit will take place, and the names and dates of birth of the patients booked to have a sight test.

No discussions have taken place with the Welsh or Scottish administrations on removing the requirement for pre-visit notifications for domiciliary eye care services in England.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_199
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_199

John Glen:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the Treasury on (a) the Hughes Report and the recommendations for valproate, (b) redress for those harmed by sodium valproate. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different Government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report in due course.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_200
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_200

Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of targeted screening for chronic kidney disease high-risk populations. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) previously examined the evidence for a population screening programme for kidney disease in 2011 and recommended that a national screening programme should not be introduced. This was because, amongst other things, there was no evidence that screening would be effective at improving outcomes for those with a positive result, and programmes in other countries have not been found to be clinically or cost effective.

Following the expansion of the UK NSC’s remit in 2022 to consider targeted and risk-stratified screening alongside population screening, the committee has not received a request to examine the evidence for a targeted screening programme for chronic kidney disease in high-risk populations. The UK NSC does however run an annual call whereby members of the public and stakeholders are encouraged to submit proposals to the UK NSC to consider either new screening programmes, modifications to existing screening programmes, request for an early update or consider stopping a screening programme. More information is available on the UK NSC website at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-national-screening-committee

The NHS Health Check is a free check-up of one’s overall health for people aged between 40 and 74 years old. As part of the health check, kidney disease is one of the conditions that is looked at to inform the individual as to whether they may be at a higher risk of getting certain health problems such as:

- heart disease;

- diabetes;

- kidney disease; and

- stroke.

During the check-up, there is a discussion about how to reduce one’s risk of these conditions.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_201
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_201

James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his department has had with HM Treasury on funding for the delivery of the recommendations in the Hughes Report, published on 7 February 2024. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different Government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report in due course.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_202
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_202

James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has set a timetable to ensure that people harmed by Valproate receive their Interim Payment, as recommended by the Patient Safety Commissioner in the report entitled The Hughes Report: Options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, published on 7 February 2024. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different Government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report in due course.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_203
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_203

Kim Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce a public health campaign on allergy awareness in children. \p Ashley Dalton: To help promote awareness of allergies, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance on a range of allergy conditions, including food allergy in people under the age of 19 years old, anaphylaxis and drug allergy. NICE promotes its guidance via its website, newsletters and other media.

In June 2023, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), with the support of allergy awareness advocates, launched a safety campaign to raise awareness of anaphylaxis and provide advice on the use of adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs). MHRA produced a toolkit of resources for health and social care professionals to support the safe and effective use of AAIs.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) encourages food businesses to complete the FSA’s allergen e-learning course and recommends that it is retaken annually to refresh knowledge and ensure that businesses are up to date on any changes which may have occurred. The FSA online training is free and offers practical advice to anyone wanting to learn more about food allergy.

Section 100 of The Children and Families Act 2014 places a legal duty on schools to make arrangements for supporting pupils at their school with medical conditions, including allergies. The Department for Education recently reminded schools of their legal duties in their regular schools’ email bulletin, and also alerted schools to the newly created Schools Allergy Code, developed by The Allergy Team, the Independent Schools' Bursars Association and the Benedict Blythe Foundation. The Department for Education has now also added a link to the Code to their online allergy guidance on GOV.UK, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools/allergy-guidance-for-schools
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_204
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_204

Anna Dixon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of mental health staff that will be placed in schools; and what assessment he has made of the level of qualification that will be required by those staff members; and how those staff members will be funded. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are working closely with local commissioners to deliver mental health support teams in schools in England so they cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30. NHSE have estimated that around 2,400 Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHP) are placed throughout the 600 current operational Mental Health Support Teams. Actual numbers will vary slightly at a local level, according to need. The average coverage of schools per team can change from year to year and an extensive independent evaluation is due to publish in 2026 that will inform future roll-out.

EMHP undertake a year-long training course to qualify. They can train for a postgraduate or graduate diploma, depending on whether they already have a degree qualification.

Annual National Health Service day-to-day spending will increase by £29 billion in real terms, via a £53 billion cash uplift, by 2028/29, compared to 2023/24. This will take the NHS resource budget to £226 billion by 2028/29, the equivalent to a 3% average annual real terms growth rate over the Spending Review period.

In the Spending Review announcement, we have confirmed that we will fulfil the Government’s commitments to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health staff by the end of the Parliament.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_205
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_205

Dan Norris:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made on reducing waiting times for mental health treatment services in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: Waiting times for those referred to mental health services are too high all across England, including in the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency. Too many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.

We are committed to improving mental health care for people with a range of mental health conditions, and to shifting the focus from treatment to prevention as we make the National Health Service fit for the future.

In the Spending Review announcement, we have confirmed that we will fulfil the Government’s commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health staff, to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, by the end of the Parliament, and will expand mental health support teams in schools in England to cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30.

We are also keen to learn from models like Open Mental Health in Somerset, that bring together different organisations to offer access to mental health support.

Our reforms to the Mental Health Act will give patients a greater say in their care and will ensure that people get the appropriate and compassionate mental health support they need.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_206
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_206

Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce permanent patient registration with NHS dental practices. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government has no current plans to introduce a system of patient registration for National Health Service dental practices.

Patients in England are not registered with an NHS dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly, and some dental practices may operate local waiting list arrangements. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend. NHS dentists are required to update their NHS website profiles at least every 90 days to ensure patients have up-to-date information on where they can access care.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments per year. Integrated care boards have been making the extra appointments available from 1 April 2025. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_207
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_207

Andrew Gwynne:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to implement the compensation recommendations in the Hughes Report, published on 7 February 2024. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different Government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report in due course.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_208
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_208

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to (a) optician and (b) eye health provision in Ashfield constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.

Free National Health Service sight tests are widely available across the country, from any optical practice with a contract to provide NHS sight testing services. We are not aware of patients facing undue delay in accessing these services.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_209
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_209

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of demand for adult ADHD assessments in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire. \p Stephen Kinnock: Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service, published September 2024, highlighted that demand for assessments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown significantly in recent years and that there are severe delays for accessing ADHD assessments.

For the first time, NHS England published management information on ADHD waits at a national level on 29 May 2025 as part of its ADHD data improvement plan, which has also released technical guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) to improve the recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data and publishing more localised data in future. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June, with the final report expected in the summer.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_210
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_210

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve glaucoma care through the forthcoming NHS 10-Year Plan. \p Stephen Kinnock: The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future, from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to preventing and managing conditions such as glaucoma in all parts of the country.

More tests and scans delivered in the community and better joint working between services, will support the management of conditions including glaucoma, closer to home.

The plan will draw directly from the extensive engagement we have undertaken with the public, patients, and staff, including in the eye care sector. We are in the final stages of working on the plan and will publish it shortly.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_211
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_211

Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of people on waiting lists for mental health services who had been waiting for first contact for (a) five years and over, (b) between three and five years, (c) between two and three years, (d) between one year and two years, (e) between six months and one year, (f) between three and six months and (g) less than three months on 31 January 2025, broken down by NHS region. \p Stephen Kinnock: The information requested for secondary mental health services, including learning disability and autism services) is in the attached table. NHS Talking Therapies data is not included, and is published separately at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-mental-health-dashboard/

Since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to increase transparency and drive improvements in the quality of data and help services to target the longest waits. The data in the table will not align with these published statistics. For adult community mental health, the waiting list is defined as someone still waiting for a second contact whereas the data in the table are for people waiting for a first contact. However, for children and young people, the waiting list is defined as someone still waiting for a first contact.

Additional Document (docx, 23.2KB)
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_212
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_212

Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of people on waiting lists for mental health services who had been waiting for first contact for (a) five years and over, (b) between three and five years, (c) between two and three years, (d) between one year and two years, (e) between six months and one year, (f) between three and six months and (g) less than three months on 31 January 2025, broken down by NHS trust. \p Stephen Kinnock: The information requested for secondary mental health services, including learning disability and autism services, is in the attached table. The data presented is a count of people. However, some people may have multiple referrals waiting for treatment and may fall into multiple waiting time categories. The data also includes people who failed to attend their appointment.

NHS Talking Therapies data is not included, and is available separately at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-mental-health-dashboard/

Since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to increase transparency and drive improvements in the quality of data and help services to target the longest waits. The data in the table will not align with these published statistics. For adult community mental health, the waiting list is defined as someone still waiting for a second contact whereas the data in the table is for people waiting for a first contact. However, for children and young people, the waiting list is defined as someone still waiting for a first contact.

Additional Document (xlsx, 38.9KB)
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_213
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_213

Derek Twigg:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP vacancies there were in GP practices' in the Cheshire and Merseyside ICB as of 1 June 2025. \p Stephen Kinnock: The data requested is not held centrally. The Government is committed to increasing the general practice workforce. By cutting red tape and investing more into the National Health Service, we have recruited over 1,700 general practitioners into general practice to deliver more appointments since October.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_214
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_214

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 43598 on Mental Health Services: Out of Area Treatment, what his planned timetable is for the reduction of at least 580 out-of-area placements. \p Stephen Kinnock: NHS England has advised that it expects the reduction of at least 580 placements which are out of area, far from home, or outside of natural clinical flow for adult forensic, and children and young people’s mental health inpatient services to be achieved over the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_215
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_215

Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase care home capacity. \p Stephen Kinnock: Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care.

Care Quality Commission registration data, showing the number of care homes and number of total beds, remains stable and in line with historic trends. The latest data for June 2025 is available via the Care Directory with Filters at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/transparency/using-cqc-data

To support local authorities, the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF) will provide over £1 billion to local authorities in England for adult social care over 2025/26. The MSIF can be used flexibly by local authorities, based on their areas’ needs, to target increasing fee rates paid to adult social care providers, increasing adult social care workforce recruitment and retention, and/or reducing waiting times for care.

The 2025 Spending Review also allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26. This includes additional grant funding, growth in other sources of income available to support adult social care, and an increase to the National Health Service contribution to adult social care via the Better Care Fund, compared to 2025/26.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_216
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_216

Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of awarding Dental Schools status to the University of Portsmouth Dental Academy. \p Stephen Kinnock: All United Kingdom dental education providers must have Dental Authority Status (DAS) before they can award degrees in dentistry. DAS is a legal status described in the Dentists Act 1984 and awarded to organisations by the Privy Council.

The Portsmouth Dental Academy has submitted an application to the Privy Council for DAS. This is currently going through the Privy Council’s approval process.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_217
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_217

Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS Trusts on ensuring that community rehabilitation is offered as a viable alternative to (a) medicine and (b) surgery. \p Stephen Kinnock: NHS England has published guidance setting out five core perioperative requirements relating to the care of adult patients awaiting planned inpatient surgery. As part of the core requirements, patients must be involved in shared decision-making conversations to discuss the benefits, risks, alternatives, and likely outcomes of the surgery. This could involve discussing whether community rehabilitation is offered as a viable alternative to surgery. This allows patients to confirm their decision to proceed with the surgery, seek further specialist advice if required, or make the informed choice to pursue alternative options.

Local providers are best placed to decide how to embed and maintain perioperative care approaches into their organisations, to reflect local needs and circumstances. The national elective recovery and outpatients programme is working with NHS England’s regional teams to help oversee and support compliance, and will continue to do so throughout 2024/25.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_218
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_218

Sarah Hall:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to establish the National Care Service; and what his planned timeline is for (a) consultation with stakeholders and (b) implementation. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government has taken a critical first step towards a National Care Service by launching an independent commission into adult social care.

The commission will build national consensus to create a National Care Service that is productive, preventative, and gives people who draw on care, and their families and carers, more power in the system.

It will be for the independent commission to determine their approach, but we expect it will include engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including people with lived experience and unpaid carers, as well as building cross-party consensus. Further details will be set out by the commission in due course.

In the short-term, we are laying the foundations for a National Care Service by introducing legislation for the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for the care workforce, expanding the first-ever national career structure for the adult social care workforce, digitising care providers, and setting new standards for care technologies.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_219
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_219

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 55130 on Farmers: Mental Health Services, will the national network of Young Futures hubs include rural-focused outreach to help tackle the challenges faced by young people growing up in farming families. \p Stephen Kinnock: National Health Service metrics and evaluation frameworks set up to measure effectiveness in mental health services do not specifically assess interventions in farming communities. NHS England currently publishes access and waiting time metrics in line with national standards for NHS Talking Therapies, children and young people with an eating disorder and Early Intervention in Psychosis. In addition, since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to increase transparency and drive improvements in the quality of data and help services to target the longest waits.

We have confirmed our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 additional mental health staff by the end of the Parliament. We continue to work with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment alongside a refreshed workforce plan, to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade. There are a wide range of factors that will affect this future growth of the NHS mental health workforce, and we will provide an update in due course.

With regard to the roll out Young Futures hubs in communities in England, these will be designed with local areas, leveraging local understanding of services in each area. Young Futures Hubs will develop from existing buildings and provision, identified by local areas. This will make best use of existing local assets and the successes of existing provision, partnerships and support.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_220
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_220

Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to announce the (a) personnel requirements and (b) organisational design for (i) Op Courage and (ii) Op Restore. \p Stephen Kinnock: Op RESTORE and Op COURAGE are established bespoke National Health Service commissioned services for veterans. There are currently no plans for announcements to be made about personnel requirements and organisational design for Op COURAGE and Op RESTORE.

The new joint centre will take forward the Government’s ambitious reform agenda as set out in the Health Mission and Plan for Change, with more details to come when the 10-Year Health Plan is published.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_221
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_221

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reading on the mental health of young people. \p Stephen Kinnock: No such assessment has been made. We know that according to research reading helps to reduce stress levels and could be beneficial to mental health and well-being.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_222
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_222

Anna Dixon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, (a) which stakeholders he has consulted and (b) what data sources he has used to develop the basis of the adult social care resource formula. \p Stephen Kinnock: It is important that the Adult Social Care Relative Needs Formula accurately reflects the relative need for services to ensure funding is allocated to the places that need it most and to enable all local authorities to focus on improving adult social care outcomes.

The Department commissioned independent academics at the Adult Social Care Research Unit to develop an update to the current Adult Social Care Relative Needs Formula. This update reflects a more up to date assessment of relative adult social care need in England and is being consulted on as part of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Local Government Funding Reform consultation. The Adult Social Care Research Unit’s research report is available at the following link:

https://ascru.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025_06_16_Revision-of-ASC-RNF-2024.pdf
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_223
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_223

Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase awareness of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. \p Ashley Dalton: At a national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with epilepsy, including the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit, the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, and the Neurology Transformation Programme.

One of the key focuses of the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit is reducing epilepsy-related deaths, including Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). The toolkit includes several recommendations regarding identifying those who are most at risk of an epilepsy-related death and preventing SUDEP.

In addition, the Royal College of General Practitioners aims to raise awareness of SUDEP amongst general practitioners and other primary care professionals, through its e-learning modules on SUDEP and seizure safety, which were developed in collaboration with SUDEP Action and last updated in December 2024.

Health Education England, now part of NHS England, has also developed an Epilepsy Programme in collaboration with SUDEP Action, which is designed to enable healthcare professionals, particularly those who are not specialists in epilepsy, to better understand SUDEP and how the risk of SUDEP can be reduced.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on epilepsy recommends that clinicians should discuss the risk of SUDEP with patients newly diagnosed with epilepsy and ensure their understanding of the risk.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_224
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_224

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help raise awareness of the symptoms of mini stroke. \p Ashley Dalton: Information on mini strokes, also known as transient ischaemic attacks, is available on the NHS.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/transient-ischaemic-attack-tia/#:~:text=A%20transient%20ischaemic%20attack%20(TIA,of%20oxygen%20to%20the%20brain

The main symptoms of a mini stroke are the same as those of stroke, and the National Health Service encourages people to use the FAST acronym for assessing if a mini stroke is occurring.

On 4 November, NHS England is launched a new Act FAST campaign to increase knowledge of the main signs of a stroke and to encourage people to dial 999 immediately in response to any sign, with the phrase ‘Face or Arm or Speech, at the first sign, it’s Time to call 999’.

The campaign ran in England across television, television on demand, radio, social media, national press, and ethnic minority television and radio stations. The campaign also included specific communications for multicultural and disabled audiences.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_225
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_225

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in the UK currently suffer with Lyme disease. \p Ashley Dalton: In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland there are approximately 1,000 to 1,500 laboratory confirmed cases every year, and in Scotland there are approximately 500 laboratory diagnosed cases.

Previous studies have shown that there are approximately 2,000 additional cases of Lyme disease per year that are not laboratory confirmed in England and Wales. Lyme disease is more common in Scotland, and Southeast and Southwest England, compared to other parts of the United Kingdom such as Northern Ireland, and cases peak in the spring and summer months.

Lyme disease is not a notifiable disease in the UK so the exact number in the community is unclear, as many patients are diagnosed with Lyme disease clinically, without sending samples for testing. Further details on Lyme disease are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/lyme-disease-guidance-data-and-analysis
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_226
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_226

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to increase funding for cancer research in UK universities. \p Ashley Dalton: Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR spent £133 million on cancer research in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.

The overall budget for research investment is agreed with the Treasury at the outset of each Spending Review period. Our investments in cancer are pivotal to informing efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment and care.

As well as funding cancer research itself, the Department also invests in centres of excellence, services and facilities to enable and delivery of cancer research in England. This includes NIHR funding for the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres, a United Kingdom-wide network for delivery of early phase cancer trials, and NIHR’s Biomedical Research Centres, collaborations between world-leading universities and National Health Service organisations, bringing together academics and clinicians to do translational research, including on all cancer types. NIHR also works closely with industry to bring innovative research to the UK. This creates a strong portfolio of work reflecting the need to research early detection and diagnostics to reduce the impact of cancer on the population.

NIHR is the UK’s largest funder of health and care research training, working with universities and the wider health and care system to deliver a comprehensive research career pathway for researchers from the full range of professions. NIHR welcomes applications for training awards from the clinical and non-clinical academic workforce conducting research into any aspect of human health, including cancer. In addition to training applications, NIHR also continue to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into health and care.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_227
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_227

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children have been vaccinated against whooping cough in the last 12 months. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors trends in the level of childhood vaccination rates by upper tier local authority, region, and country. From April 2023 to March 2024, 91.2% of children in England who turned 12 months had been fully vaccinated with all three doses against pertussis, also known as whooping cough. Data on coverage of all routine childhood immunisations is published quarterly by UKHSA, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cover-of-vaccination-evaluated-rapidly-cover-programme-2024-to-2025-quarterly-data

Data on coverage of all routine childhood immunisations is also published annually by NHS England, and is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-immunisation-statistics/england-2023-24
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_228
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_228

Sir John Whittingdale:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether chemostat can be prescribed by the NHS for the treatment of patients with ocular melanoma. \p Ashley Dalton: Chemosaturation therapy, often referred to as chemostat, is used to treat cancer that has spread to the liver arising from ocular melanoma. It is not used to treat ocular melanoma alone.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidance in 2021, through its interventional procedures programme, that recommends that chemosaturation can be used for patients with secondary liver metastases resulting from a primary ocular melanoma.

NHS England considered the case for the commissioning of chemosaturation for liver metastases from ocular melanoma in 2016. At that time, NHS England concluded that there was insufficient clinical evidence to support the proposal to make the treatment available for patients with ocular melanoma in the National Health Service.

In December 2024, NHS England announced the roll out of a new treatment across England called tebentafusp, which is now available for patients with uveal melanoma, which is the most common form of ocular melanoma.
wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_229
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-25)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-25 conversation_229

Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will designate a Minister in his Department to (a) have responsibility for the field of cell and gene therapies and (b) chair his Department's Advanced Therapies Medicinal Products Coordination Group. \p Ashley Dalton: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health, Baroness Merron, is the Minister with responsibility for life sciences and innovation, and cell and gene therapies are included in this remit.

In September 2024, the Department stood up an advanced therapies co-ordination group which aims to create a joined-up ecosystem that will support the development, regulation, and delivery of advanced therapy medicinal products in the United Kingdom. This group is chaired at the Senior Civil Service Grade 1 level. We note the recent report from the Cell and Gene Collective, titled Tomorrow’s Science, Today’s NHS, including the ask for a Minister to chair the group, and we will consider the report’s recommendations in due course.