theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Dan Carden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the US Surgeon General’s recommendations to include health warnings on alcohol labels; and whether he has plans to re-visit his Department's closed consultation entitled Updating labelling guidance for no and low-alcohol alternatives, published on 28 September 2023. \p Andrew Gwynne: The Government is committed to building a National Health Service fit for the future, with a greater emphasis on the prevention of avoidable health harms, supporting people to live well for longer.

We have noted the United States Surgeon General’s recommendations, and will continue to consider how alcohol labelling can be improved to support consumers in making informed decisions about the products they are purchasing, whilst also promoting low risk consumption.
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Anneliese Midgley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve care for people living with arthritis. \p Andrew Gwynne: Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). The Department expects MSK services to be fully incorporated into integrated care system planning and decision-making.

As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, the Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. With a £3.5 million funding boost, the GIRFT teams will deploy their proven Further Faster model to work with ICB leaders to further reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with arthritis, and improve data and metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services.

We will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments per week during our first year in Government, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks. The Government announced £1.5 billion of new capital investment in the Autumn Budget, including investment for new diagnostic scanners and surgical hubs. This investment in scanners will build capacity for over 30,000 additional procedures and 1.25 million diagnostic tests as they come online.

To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, and in the provision of services for people living with arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, which are available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng226

The Department funds research into MSK conditions, including arthritis, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Through that route, the Department spent approximately £26.3 million on MSK research in 2023/24 and £79.2 million since 2019/20. In particular, the Leeds Biomedical Research Centre aims to improve treatment for osteoarthritis. The NIHR, in collaboration with Versus Arthritis, also funds a dedicated UK Musculoskeletal Translational Research Collaboration, aligning investment in MSK translational research and creating a United Kingdom-wide ambition and focus to drive cutting edge research and improve outcomes for patients.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations to implement a national strategy for treating neurological conditions. \p Andrew Gwynne: There are no current plans to implement a national strategy for neurological conditions. We have, however, announced that we are setting up a new United Kingdom-wide neuro forum, facilitating formal, biannual meetings across the Department, NHS England, the devolved administrations and health services, and the Neurological Alliances of all four nations in the UK.

The new forum will bring key stakeholders together to share learning across the UK, discuss important neurology services’ transformation and workforce challenges, as well as best practice examples and potential solutions that will add to both the existing programmes of work and wider health plans.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) times blood donors have been advised in advance of delays to their NHS Blood and Transplant donor session and (b) the number of donors that have been turned away by NHS Blood and Transplant after arriving later than their scheduled appointment time after having been advised about delays to their donor session in the last twelve months. \p Andrew Gwynne: NHS Blood and Transplant does not advise donors in advance of delays to blood donation sessions. Delays are generally only known on the day of the session, and are usually the result of sessions running over, staff shortages, for instance from sickness absence, or logistics, for instance from vehicle failure or venue issues.
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Paulette Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of cancer symptoms in teenagers and young adults to improve early detection rates. \p Andrew Gwynne: We will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier, and treating it faster, so that more patients survive. This includes teenagers and young adults. We are committed to improving outcomes for all children and young people with cancer, and are considering the next steps to take forward work in this area through the relaunch of Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce in 2025.

To raise awareness of cancer symptoms in teenagers and young adults, NHS England and other NHS organisations, both nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in children. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.

To support early diagnosis, the Department is taking steps to improve waiting times for cancer diagnosis across all cancer patient groups in England. This includes offering an additional 40,000 appointments each week so that patients can be seen as quickly as possible. To support the use of rapid diagnostic centres, non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways have been rolled out across England for patients who present with vague symptoms which could indicate multiple different types of cancer, for example unexplained weight-loss and fatigue. NHS England’s guidance on NSS services does not set a national age range for NSS pathways, and pathways aimed at children or young adults can be developed if considered locally appropriate.

The Department is also dedicated to ensuring teenagers and young adults with cancer have access to psychological support to help them through their diagnosis and treatment. In accordance with NHS England’s service specifications, all providers of young people's cancer services must ensure that every patient has access to specialist care and must reduce the physical, emotional, and psychological morbidity arising from treatment. Each Principal Treatment Centre, where care is managed, will also have a multi-disciplinary team which meets at least weekly, and includes a specific focus on the psychosocial needs of patients. Further information on NHS England’s service specification is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-b/b05/

On 21 October 2024, the Department launched a national engagement exercise to inform the 10-Year Health Plan. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, there will be a national cancer plan. We are now in discussions about what form it should take, including how we will account for children and young people, and will provide updates in due course.
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Sir Christopher Chope:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme relating to Covid-19 vaccinations have been (a) made and (b) successful for (i) Vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis, (ii) Guillain-Barré syndrome and (iii) other conditions. \p Andrew Gwynne: As of 3 January 2025, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) had received 183 assessed claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) relating to COVID-19 for vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis. These 183 claims reflect 1.9% of the total number of claims which have undergone a completed medical assessment. Of these 183 claims, 92, or 50.3%, have been successful. The NHS BSA also received 224 assessed claims to the VDPS relating to COVID-19 for Guillain-Barré syndrome. These 224 claims reflect 2.3% of the total number of claims which have undergone a completed medical assessment. Of these 224 claims, 63, or 28.1%, have been successful. Finally, the NHS BSA also received 9,480 assessed claims to the VDPS relating to COVID-19 for other conditions. These 9,480 claims reflect 95.9% of the total number of claims which have undergone a completed medical assessment. Of these 9,480 claims, 199, or 2.1%, have been successful.

These figures reflect conditions which have been identified from the medical records of claimants. Claims may relate to a combination of these conditions and other conditions from the medical records of claimants.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set targets to reduce memory clinic waiting times in (a) South Holland and The Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire. \p Stephen Kinnock: The national target for dementia diagnosis is 66.7%, with Lincolnshire at 67.8%. Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has received funding to introduce a specific pathway for memory assessments, which will help tackle local waiting times for assessment and diagnosis of conditions such as dementia, and work is underway to finalise the model of care and launch towards the end of the financial year.

There is a review of current Memory Assessment Service waiting lists to identify referrals from 24-hour care settings that can be targeted via Diagnosing Advanced Dementia Mandate (DiADeM). The trust will train selected staff in DiADeM to undertake assessment of these identified cohorts from waiting lists in the fourth quarter of 2023/24, including staff in primary care, namely Enhanced Health in Care Homes teams.

The South Holland and The Deepings constituency is split across two Older People Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT), Stamford and Spalding CMHTs. The average wait to first appointment across the two CMHTs is 10 weeks. From January 2025, there will be two Memory Assessment Practitioners aligned to Spalding and one aligned to Stamford. This allocation is reviewed every eight weeks to ensure areas with the longest waits are targeted.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to allocate the £100m of capital funding to upgrade 200 GP practices; and how GP practices will be able to apply for that funding. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department and NHS England are working with integrated care boards, including primary care representatives, to identify and prioritise high-impact projects where investment can unlock significant productivity gains and additional usable space from existing buildings. Further detail on this process will be published in forthcoming capital guidance, which is due to be published later this month.
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Dr Allison Gardner:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase recruitment of (a) healthcare and (b) dentistry professionals in rural areas. \p Stephen Kinnock: We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service. A central part of the plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.

In summer 2025, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to ensure the NHS has the right people across healthcare and dentistry, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.

To tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care, the Government has launched a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most.

Integrated care boards have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
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Dr Allison Gardner:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of trainee GPs who undertake specialist training in mental health. \p Stephen Kinnock: The standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. The GMC has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for professional practice.     The curriculum for general practitioner (GP) specialty training is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners and must meet the standards set by the GMC and be formally approved by them.  Whilst the curriculum may not necessarily highlight a specific condition, it instead emphasises the skills and approaches a GP must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. This is assessed by the MRCGP Examination.     Health Education England, now part of NHS England, published a reform of GP Specialty Training, and this includes enhancing mental health training for all.
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Alicia Kearns:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the new Neffy treatment for severe allergic reactions will be available on the NHS. \p Karin Smyth: It is critical that medicines used in the United Kingdom are safe and effective. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) assesses all medicines before they can be used in the UK. Neffy (epinephrine nasal spray) has not been licenced by the MHRA. Should an application for it be received, the MHRA will consider the benefit-risk of the product accordingly in regards to its quality, safety and effectiveness. It is the responsibility of the company to apply to the MHRA for a marketing authorisation.

Local National Health Service organisations are expected to make decisions on the availability of medicines based on an assessment of the available evidence and taking into account any relevant national guidance.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the diagnosis and recognition of Lyme Disease. \p Andrew Gwynne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire on 12 November 2024 to Question 13156.
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Carla Denyer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his plans to provide mental health professionals in schools include access to children and young people’s counsellors trained to Level 4 Diploma of Higher Education in counselling with clinical experience of working with children and young people. \p Stephen Kinnock: We know that waits for mental health services are far too long, including for children and young people.   That is why we will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across children and adult mental health services, and introduce a specialist mental health professional in every school

We are not considering counsellors trained to Level 4 Diploma of Higher Education in counselling for these roles, however children and young people can be referred to higher qualified professionals if needs identified.
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Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to mental health services for young people in London. \p Stephen Kinnock: Too many young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, including in London and we know that waits for mental health services are too long. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Young Futures Hubs in every community.

There are currently approximately 65 locally-funded early support hubs in England offering early easy access mental health interventions to thousands of children and young people aged between 11 and 25 years old including those from low-income families.

The Department is running an £8 million Shared Outcomes Fund project throughout 2024/25 to boost and evaluate the impact of 24 of these existing early support hubs, including two in London.
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Bradley Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the terms of reference for the independent commission into adult social care to be led by Baroness Casey; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including in the terms of reference local authority funding for adult social care. \p Stephen Kinnock: We expect to publish terms of reference when the commission formally starts in April 2025. The commission will set out a vision for adult social care, with recommended measures and a roadmap for delivery. This will include setting out the plan for how to implement a National Care Service that is able to meet the needs of older and disabled people over the coming decades.
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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether hubs that provide open access mental health services for children and young people in every community will be delivered only through the Young Futures programme. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to improving mental health support for children and young people, as demonstrated by our pledge to roll out a network of Young Futures Hubs in every community to provide open access mental health support. We are currently working across Government to deliver Young Futures Hubs, to bring together services, including mental health support, to improve how young people access opportunities and support at community level.

We will also improve mental health support for children and young people by providing access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and recruiting 8,500 additional mental health workers to help cut waiting lists across the country.
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Matt Bishop:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that mental health services in rural communities are adequately (a) staffed and (b) supported. \p Stephen Kinnock: Waiting lists for those referred for support are too high including those in rural communities.

People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they deserve and need, which is why we will fix the system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health and that people can be confident of accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.

Nationally, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Young Futures hubs in every community.

In addition, people of all ages who are in crisis or who are concerned about a family or loved one can now call 111, select the mental health option, and speak to a trained mental health professional. National Health Service staff can guide callers with next steps such as organising face-to-face community support or facilitating access to alternative services, like crisis cafés or safe havens, which provide a place for people to stay as an alternative to accident and emergency or a hospital admission. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICB) to commission care to meet the needs of their local population.
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Dr Allison Gardner:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to improve mental health provision for young people in Stoke-on-Trent South constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: Too many young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, including in Stoke-on-Trent South constituency, and we know that waits for mental health services are too long. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Young Futures Hubs in every community.

There are currently approximately 65 locally funded early support hubs in England offering early easy access mental health interventions to thousands of children and young people aged between 11 and 25 years old including those from low-income families.
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James Asser:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of GP provision in (a) England, (b) London and (c) West Ham and Beckton constituency; and what steps he is taking to improve patient access. \p Stephen Kinnock: We know that patients are struggling to see a general practitioner (GP) and we are committed to improving GP provision and access to appointments across the country, including in the West Ham and Beckton constituency.   In October 2024, we provided an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, enabling the recruitment of 1,000 newly qualified GPs across England. This will both increase the number of GPs employed and the number of appointments delivered in general practice, benefitting thousands of patients that are struggling to receive the care they desperately deserve. This will also secure the future supply of GPs and take pressure off the existing workforce. Additionally, we have announced a proposed £889 million uplift to the GP contract for 2025/26, the largest uplift in years, with a rising share of total National Health Service resources going to general practice. We are currently consulting the profession on key proposals to improve access, continuity of care and GP recruitment.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of walk-in centres. \p Karin Smyth: Integrated commissioning boards, in their commissioning of unscheduled and urgent care services, are responsible for determining where services will be most effective, and this may be co-located with the local emergency department or be a standalone service either on or off a hospital site.
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Bambos Charalambous:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure patients that rely on medicines for (a) epilepsy, (b) ADHD and (c) Parkinson's are not impacted by supply shortages. \p Karin Smyth: The Department is working hard with industry to help resolve intermittent supply issues with some epilepsy medications. As a result of ongoing activity and intensive work, including directing suppliers to expedite deliveries, some issues, including with some carbamazepine, lamotrigine, and oxcarbazepine presentations, have been resolved.

We are aware of an ongoing supply issue with all strengths of topiramate tablets, with the resupply date to be confirmed. Other manufacturers of topiramate tablets can meet the increased demand during this time.

The Department is aware of supply constraints with one supplier of amantadine 100 milligram capsules used in the management of Parkinson’s Disease, however stocks remain available from alternative suppliers to cover demand. The Department have also been notified of a discontinuation of apomorphine (APO-go PFS) 50 milligram/10 milligram pre-filled syringes from April 2025, used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease patients. Alternative formulations of apomorphine remain available for patients, and management guidance has been issued to the National Health Service.

The Department has also been working hard with industry and NHS England to help resolve the supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved and all strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.

We are continuing to work to resolve the remaining issues for methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets. We are engaging with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to assess the challenges faced and their actions to address them. We are also directing suppliers to secure additional stocks, expedite deliveries where possible, and review plans to further build capacity to support continued growth in demand for the short and long-term. To improve supply and resilience, we are working with prospective new suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to expand the UK’s supplier base.

In collaboration with NHS England’s national ADHD data improvement plan, we plan to combine modelling for future growth forecasts, which will be shared with industry to improve demand forecasting for ADHD medicines.
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Mike Amesbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what step he plans to take to increase access to rehabilitation health services in the (a) community and (b) acute health sectors. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government understands the importance of having effective rehabilitation services available to help people recover from an injury or illness and regain the skills and confidence they need to live independently.

Improvements in intermediate care and reablement support services will be part of a wider approach to transforming community-based services and will link to the Government’s vision of building an integrated neighbourhood health service.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase the availability of spirometry testing in primary care. \p Stephen Kinnock: NHS England is continuing to support the restoration of local spirometry services and is enhancing capacity through community diagnostic centres (CDCs). These initiatives provide structured pathways for general practitioners (GPs) to refer patients for essential respiratory diagnostic tests such as spirometry, ensuring faster access to these services for individuals with suspected respiratory conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). By equipping primary care with the tools and pathways for earlier and more accurate diagnosis, this effort addresses the significant issue of undiagnosed COPD, which is estimated to affect 2.1 million people in England. These measures are designed to strengthen the collaboration between primary and secondary care, increasing capacity to meet diagnostic demands effectively.

As part of Phase 2 of the GP Direct Access scheme, launched in December 2023, the National Health Service aims to achieve earlier detection and diagnosis of COPD so that patients access timely interventions and optimal treatment, improving patient management and outcomes. The guidance recommends that general practice teams refer patients for spirometry for the diagnosis of COPD.
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Ruth Cadbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether applications for the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance payment received after 30 September 2023 are eligible. \p Karin Smyth: The NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme was launched on 20 May 2020 to recognise the increased risks that National Health Service and social care staff faced in carrying out their duties during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Scheme closed to new deaths on 31 March 2022. Under the rules of the scheme, claimants were required to submit claims for deaths that occurred while the Scheme was open before 30 September 2023.
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Zarah Sultana:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the additional £880 million allocated to the Social Care Grant. \p Stephen Kinnock: The £880 million uplift in the Social Care Grant is in recognition of the important role local authorities have in commissioning and delivering social care services. This funding will support social care delivery and will take the total funding in the Social Care Grant to £5.9 billion in 2025/26.

This additional funding forms one part of a wider increase in local government funding, with up to £3.7 billion of additional funding being made available for social care authorities in 2025-26. Overall, the Government is providing an increase to core local government spending power in 2025/26 of 6% in cash terms.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is responsible for ensuring the adequacy of local government budgets. The Department of Health and Social Care will continue working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, local authorities, and the adult social care sector to understand what the impact of cost and demand pressures will be on service delivery and budgets.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in levels of people diagnosed with dementia over the last five years. \p Stephen Kinnock: The national target is for 66.7% of people estimated to be living with dementia to receive a formal diagnosis. The latest dementia diagnosis rate reported by NHS England for the end of November 2024 was 65.8%.

The target had been met consistently at the national level from July 2016 until end of March 2020, when it dropped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as memory services were reduced in capacity and general practitioner referrals into these services decreased significantly. At a national level, the dementia diagnosis rate is now gradually recovering due to sustained efforts.

NHS England continue to monitor the monthly dementia diagnosis rate and analyse trends at national, regional, and integrated commissioning board (ICB) level.  This provides a clear direction for ICBs to support delivery of timely diagnoses within local systems and enable access to appropriate post diagnostic support.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of ambulance waiting times over the 2024-25 Christmas and new year period. \p Karin Smyth: Ambulance response times have been below the high standards that patients should expect in recent years. The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution, including ambulance response times.

The following table shows the national ambulance response time performance in December 2024 for Category 1, 2, 3 and 4 incidents, in hours, minutes and seconds:

Category of incident

December 2024 national average

NHS constitution standard

Category 1 – average response time

00:08:40

00:07:00

Category 1 – 90th centile response time

00:15:25

00:15:00

Category 2 – average response time

00:47:26

00:18:00

Category 2 – 90th centile response time

01:41:40

00:40:00

Category 3 – 90th centile response time

07:21:03

02:00:00

Category 4 – 90th centile response time

08:15:44

03:00:00

Source: NHS England Ambulance Quality Indicators (https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/)
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_86
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_86

Pam Cox:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) his Department and (b) the Cabinet Office is required to sign off procurement of services over £20m by the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust. \p Karin Smyth: The Department is not involved in the approval of the procurement of services by National Health Service trusts. Cabinet Office Commercial Spend Controls require that organisations in scope must provide a pipeline of all future commercial activity that is £20 million or more excluding VAT over the contract life before they publish a procurement or enter into a contract. The Cabinet Office reviews this pipeline and will determine whether activity requires full Cabinet Office review at outline business case and contract award stages.

The Cabinet Office Commercial Spend Controls have operated across Government for some time, but NHS trusts received a healthcare exemption until 2022. This exemption was removed in October 2022, and in agreement with the Cabinet Office, the controls have been rolled out to all NHS trusts over a two-year programme, phased by region. Currently the controls operate across all NHS trusts in six of the seven regions and were rolled out to all NHS trusts in the East of England region, which includes the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, in February 2024. Procurements that are live or in development at the point of rollout are deemed out of scope.
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_87
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_87

Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking the reduce the time taken for people to receive urgent mental health care. \p Stephen Kinnock: It is unacceptable that too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long. We are determined to change that.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment which will also help ease pressure on busy mental health services.

We are also committing £26 million in capital investment to open new mental health crisis centres, reducing pressure on busy emergency mental health and accident and emergency services and ensuring people have the support they need when they need it.

Additionally, anyone in England experiencing a mental health crisis can now to speak to a trained NHS professional at any time of the day through a new mental health option on NHS 111.
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_88
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_88

Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with (a) charitable organisations and (b) community groups on helping to (i) reduce pressure on mental health services and (ii) ensure comprehensive mental health support. \p Stephen Kinnock: Ministers and departmental officials hold discussions regularly with stakeholders in the mental health sector on a range of mental health issues.
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_89
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_89

Carla Denyer:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with representatives of the Five Eyes on the potential implications for that community of President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to appoint Tulsi Gabbard as US Director of National Intelligence. \p Luke Pollard: The US is our closest security ally and, as you would expect, we maintain an open and ongoing dialogue on a range of defence issues. The intelligence we share bilaterally and through alliances such as the Five Eyes is fundamental to our own national security.
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_90
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_90

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussion he has had with representatives of the United States administration on the cost to US armed forces of the leaseback of the Diego Garcia military base as part of the Chagos settlement. \p Luke Pollard: The Defence Secretary is in regular contact with Secretary Austin on a range of issues, including the British Indian Ocean Territory / Chagos Archipelago. The Diego Garcia military base is a joint UK-US facility and is an essential part of the UK-US defence relationship.
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_91
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_91

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the cost of leasing the Diego Garcia military base will be covered by the United States. \p Luke Pollard: The Diego Garcia military base is a joint UK-US facility and is an essential part of the UK-US defence relationship. It is not normal practice for the UK to reveal the value of its payments for military bases anywhere across the globe.
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_92
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_92

Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which Army Reserve Centres are envisaged to require armed guarding in Northern Ireland after 2028. \p Luke Pollard: Following a review of the guarding of Army Reserve Centres (ARCs) in Northern Ireland, we have concluded that an armed guard for 13 of the 15 ARCs is no longer appropriate to the current threat and does not align with the normalisation of the Army’s presence in Northern Ireland. As such, the Army is working to implement a change, via consultation, to the guarding levels of the identified 13 ARCs from armed guarding to enhanced physical security measures.

The safety of personnel remains the top priority, and no sites will transition from armed guarding to physical security measures unless deemed safe to do so and with the necessary infrastructure in place. The initial phase of this work will see the first sites set to transition to the physical security guarding level by September 2025, once infrastructure enhancements are complete, with an intent to complete all sites by 2028. The two sites set to continue with armed guarding are Caw Camp and Dunmore.

A briefing to interested parliamentarians will be scheduled shortly to provide further details and to answer any questions about these changes.
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_93
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_93

Suella Braverman:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to protect national security in the context of the AQUIND interconnector project. \p Maria Eagle: Aquind's application for a development consent order in respect of their proposed project is subject to an ongoing re-determination process led by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to which the Ministry of Defence is contributing.
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_94
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_94

Mr Mark Francois:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of alleged reports that Russia has used chemical weapons in Ukraine . \p Luke Pollard: The Ministry of Defence continues to assess and monitor the evolving threat picture in Ukraine, including illegal Russian use of chemicals as a method of warfare. Russia has publicly admitted to the use of Riot Control Agents (RCAs) on the battlefield against Ukraine, and there are multiple reports of the use of the toxic choking agent chloropicrin. In December last year, a Technical Report confirming the use of Riot Control Agents in Ukraine was published by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

The UK has been at the forefront of international support and assistance to Ukraine and has previously provided respirators and decontamination kits to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as other protective measures to enhance Ukraine’s protective capabilities against chemical weapons. In December 2024, following a direct request for UK Assistance by Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence announced a further assistance package including funding for the procurement of respirators and other equipment to protect Ukraine's forces. This is being procured jointly with international partners through the G7 led Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Our commitment to Ukraine is unwavering and we continue to work closely with our international partners, both bilaterally and in multilateral forums, to coordinate counter-CBRN support and assistance to Ukraine.
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_95
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_95

David Reed:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2024 to Question 17476 on Amphibious Vehicles, whether his Department has identified reductions in amphibious capability from the use of Bay Class Landing Ship Docks in place of HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark. \p Luke Pollard: The previous administration had no plans for either HMS Albion or HMS Bulwark to return to sea ahead of their leaving service in the 2030s, therefore there has been no reduction in capability.

The Bay Class are highly capable ships and, alongside RFA Argus, will continue to support Royal Marine operations until the introduction of Multi-Role Support Ships in the early 2030s.
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_96
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_96

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution by the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry of 6 January 2025, Official Report, column 586, what the disposal plan is for (a) HMS Albion and (b) HMS Bulwark. \p Maria Eagle: HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark are currently laid up awaiting disposal. Both ships require costly and time-consuming refits, and as such, were not considered a cost-effective use of taxpayers' money.

The Royal Navy is exploring options to sell both HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark in a government-to-government sale. These vessels had, in effect, been retired by the previous Government. Their sale will save £9M a year in maintenance costs in addition to the receipt from the sale, unlocking as much funding as possible to invest in modernisation, as well as reinforcing relationships with international partners.
wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_97
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-14 conversation_97

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential impact of protest-related activity on university campuses on the ability of defence companies to participate in careers fairs. \p Maria Eagle: This Government recognises the critical importance of attracting new entrants into the defence sector, in order to ensure we have the skilled workforce needed to sustain a vibrant, innovation and competitive UK defence industrial base.

The Ministry of Defence is working closely with the Department for Education and Skills England to address the skills landscape in the defence sector. The Defence Industrial Strategy will further progress the Government’s commitment to ensuring the UK defence sector has the right people and skills to meet the challenges of the future.