theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of levels of access to adult social care services in England on unpaid carers’ ability to participate in paid employment. \p Stephen Kinnock: Adult social care has a role to play in helping unpaid carers to participate and stay in paid employment. The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

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

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

I recently met with employers and the Department for Business and Trade to discuss how employers are driving best practice in supporting working carers. The Government is committed to reviewing the implementation of Carer’s Leave and examining the benefits of introducing paid Carer’s Leave.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the document by NHS England entitled 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance, published on 30 January 2025, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the removal of the NHS target for completion of annual health checks for people with a learning disability on health inequalities for people with learning disabilities in Herefordshire. \p Stephen Kinnock: The NHS Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance for 2025-26 addresses the urgent challenges facing the NHS, as highlighted by the Darzi investigation. My Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, recently announced a series of reforms to the NHS operating model to move power from the centre to local leaders. In keeping with these reforms, we are giving systems greater control and flexibility over how funding is deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.

NHS England recognises the importance of the learning disability annual health check. The NHS Operational Planning Guidance for 2025/26 still requires integrated care boards to report on the number of people on the quality outcome framework learning disability register aged 14 years old or over who receive an annual health check during the quarter. The planning guidance is not a catalogue of everything the NHS does, nor is it the sole evidence of our priorities. It remains important that people with a learning disability and autistic people have the right, tailored support in place.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the number of registered GPs not in employment; and whether he is taking steps to reduce the number of unemployed GPs. \p Stephen Kinnock: We hugely value the critical role that general practitioners (GPs) play and are determined to address the issues they face by shifting the focus of the National Health Service beyond hospitals and into the community. The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment and secure the future pipeline of GPs.

We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP contract to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.

Under recently announced changes to the GP contract in 2025/26, the ARRS will become more flexible to allow primary care networks (PCNs) to respond better to local workforce needs. The two ARRS pots will be combined to create a single pot for reimbursement of patient facing staff costs. There will be no restrictions on the number or type of staff covered, including GPs and practice nurses.

In a drive to recruit GPs via the ARRS and to bring back the family doctor, the salary element of the maximum reimbursement amount that PCNs can claim for GPs will be increased from £73,113 in 2024/25, the bottom of the salaried GP pay range, to £82,418, an uplift of £9,305 representing the lower quartile of the salaried GP pay range, as some GPs will be entering their second year in the scheme. Proportionate employer on-costs will also be included within the overall maximum reimbursement amount which PCNs will be able to claim.

Data on the number of unemployed GPs is not held centrally.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the final report from the Funding Flows task and finish group. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Building the Right Support Delivery Board, including the Funding Flows Task and Finish Group, was commissioned under the previous Government and has been paused. We do not plan to take decisions on the delivery board, including publishing the final report of the Funding Flows Task and Finish Group, whilst the Mental Health Bill is before Parliament. However, we recognise this is an important area and we are considering how to ensure that more people with a learning disability and autistic people are supported well in the community.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Harpreet Uppal:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to announce the allocation of funding to hospices through the (a) adult and children hospices grant and (b) the Children Hospice Grant. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are pleased to confirm that the Government has released the first £25 million tranche of that funding, with Hospice UK allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England. An additional £75 million will be available from April 2025.

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. NHS England will set out the details of the 2025/26 funding allocation and dissemination to individual hospices shortly.

In early February 2025, I met with key palliative and end of life care, including hospice, stakeholders to discuss the long-term sustainability of palliative and end of life care, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase (a) the number of people seeing an NHS dentist and (b) access to NHS dentistry beyond the 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, with integrated care boards (ICBs) asked to start making extra appointments available from April 2025. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

ICBs have started to advertise 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.

The most common reason children aged between five and nine years old are admitted to hospital is for tooth decay. We will work with local authorities and the NHS to introduce supervised tooth brushing for children aged between three and five years old in the most deprived communities. These programmes are proven to reduce tooth decay and to boost good practices at home.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of GPs recruited through the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme in (a) 2024 and (b) 2023 (i) in total and (ii) per integrated care board. \p Stephen Kinnock: 731 places were available on the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme in 2023, while 777 places were available in 2024. The data is not available at integrated care board level.

As set out on the NHS England website, a decision has been taken not to fund Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme places for their recruitment year, which is due to very high competition ratios and the need to prioritise budgets. Record numbers of applicants have applied to general practitioner specialty training in recent years, including in those areas where take up has been historically low, meaning that there is not currently a need to financially incentivise trainees to train in those areas.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help increase access to dentists in areas with fewer dentists than the national average. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural and coastal areas. The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

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

The additional 700,000 appointments will be available across the country, with specific targets for each region. These targets are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. The methodology is set out in Annex A of a letter issued by NHS England to ICBs. The letter and Annex can be found here: NHS England » Arrangements for NHS urgent primary dental care during 2025/26 and confirmation of the closure of the New Patient Premium scheme”

ICBs have started to advertise 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. As of 10 February 2025, in England, 35 dentists have commenced in post and a further 33 dentists have been recruited but are yet to start in post. A further 249 posts are currently advertised.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the shortage of quetiapine modified-release tablets on Bipolar patients. \p Karin Smyth: The Department has made no such assessment. We are aware of supply issues affecting several brands and tablet strengths of quetiapine modified release tablets. Following the Department working with suppliers, there have been improvements in supply through February and early March 2025, with improvements in supply expected to continue through to May 2025, and full resolution expected in October 2025. The Department continues to work with the suppliers of quetiapine modified -release tablets to bring forward these future deliveries. Working with National Health Service specialists we have provided comprehensive management advice for this supply issue, advising healthcare professionals on how to manage patients during this time. Any patient who is worried about their condition, or access to these medications, should speak to their clinician in the first instance.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Sir Geoffrey Cox:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral statement of 20 January 2025 on New Hospital Programme Review, Official Report, columns 748-750, whether he considered (a) the remoteness of and (b) recent trends of deprivation in Torridge and Tavistock constituency when deciding which hospital redevelopment projects would be included in Waves (i), (ii) and (iii) of the new hospitals development programme. \p Karin Smyth: I refer the Rt. Hon. member to the answers I gave to Questions 34236 and 34237 on 7 March 2025.

Additionally, as set out in the Plan for Implementation, the New Hospital Programme (NHP) review used a range of data to assess in scope schemes including the North Devon District Hospital scheme. This included assessing each scheme under criteria for mitigated risk, including health deprivation, deliverability and transformation opportunity.

As part of this process, the review also used professional expertise and judgment of clinical, programme, construction and finance colleagues from within the NHP, the Department and NHS England to identify and overlay other factors of concern before the schemes were prioritised.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the adequacy of waiting time for talking therapies in Lincolnshire. \p Stephen Kinnock: Nationally, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child 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.

Despite the challenging fiscal environment, the Government has chosen to prioritise the funding to deliver expansions of NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support schemes, demonstrating our commitment to addressing the root cause of mental health issues and providing support for people with severe mental illness to contribute to the economy by remaining in or returning to work.

We have committed £26 million in capital investment to open new mental health crisis centres, reducing the pressure on busy emergency mental health and accident and emergency services, and ensuring that people have the support they need when they need it. Waiting times statistics for talking therapies in Lincolnshire are available on the mental health dashboard, at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-mental-health-dashboard/
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Juliet Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long service users in (a) Broxtowe, (b) Nottingham and (c) the East Midlands are waiting for ADHD assessments. \p Stephen Kinnock: There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for assessment and diagnosis for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nationally or for individual organisations or geographies in England.  Although the data requested is not held centrally, relevant information may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or commissioners.

We are supportive of a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD including timely access to services and support.

In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop a data improvement plan, understand the provider and commissioning landscape and capture examples from integrated care boards who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to invest in integrated models of palliative care. \p Stephen Kinnock: Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. We have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.

In February 2025, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, and sustainable integrated models of palliative and end of life care, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, were discussed at length.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of NHS dentist capacity in Saint Columb Major. \p Stephen Kinnock: Data on dental activity is available at integrated care board (ICB) level, with statistics available from the NHS Business Services Authority. These are available at the following link, with the most recent statistics for 2023/24 having been published on 22 August 2024:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324

The data for NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB, which includes Bodmin, Bude, Camelford, Launceston, Padstow, Wadebridge, Tintagel, Delabole, Port Isaac and Saint Columb Major, shows that 34% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2024, compared to 40% in England; and 48% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2024, compared to 56% in England.

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 and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
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Chris Hinchliff:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled Better Care Fund policy framework 2025 to 2026, published on 30 January 2025, what plans he has to consult on changes to the maximum Disabled Facilities Grant limit. \p Stephen Kinnock: In England, we continue to fund the locally administered Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), which helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes. We are providing an immediate in-year uplift of £86 million in 2024/25. This is on top of the £625 million paid to local authorities in May 2024. The Government also announced an £86 million additional investment in the DFG for the 2025/26 financial year at the Budget, bringing the total funding for 2025/26 to £711 million.

To ensure the DFG is as effective as possible, we will continue to keep different aspects of the grant under consideration. As part of this, we are reviewing the suitability of the current upper limit and will set out further detail in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring large pharmacies to hold several months of reserve stock of medication. \p Stephen Kinnock: Pharmacies are independent businesses and are expected to maintain a reasonable stock holding to meet their legal obligations to dispense all prescriptions with reasonable promptness, recognising that it is not feasible for a pharmacy to maintain stock of every medicine.

Most pharmacies do not have space to hold several months of stock and such stock holding would come with a financial risk to the pharmacy as stock may expire. There are therefore no plans to require pharmacies to hold reserve stock of medication.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increased National Insurance costs on GP practices in (a) Essex and (b) South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: We have made necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. Resource spending for the Department will be £22.6 billion more in 2025/26 than in 2023/24, as part of the Spending Review settlement. The employers’ National Insurance rise will be implemented in April 2025.

Primary care providers, including general practices (GPs), are valued independent contractors who provide almost £20 billion worth of services in the National Health Service. Every year, we consult with each sector both about what services they provide, and the money that providers are entitled to in return under their contract.

We are investing an additional £889 million in GPs to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade. We are pleased that the England general practitioners committee of the British Medical Association is supportive of the contract changes.
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John Whitby:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £645 million allocated for Pharmacy First had been used as of 3 December 2024. \p Stephen Kinnock: Verified data to the end of November 2024 shows that £82 million has been spent in the 2024/25 financial year on the seven common clinical pathways and the associated incentive payments on expanding blood pressure and contraception services. A comprehensive view of all spending against the Pharmacy First budget will be available after the end of the financial year.
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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase funding for social care providers; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of social care funding levels. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government took the cost pressures facing adult social care into account as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the Spending Review process.

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

The additional funding available to West Berkshire in 2025/26 means that they will see an increase to their core spending power of up to 5.7% in cash terms.

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to provide additional financial support to GP practices with increased costs to ensure they can maintain (a) staffing levels and (b) high-quality service provision. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are investing an additional £889 million in the general practice contract to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade. We are pleased that the England general practitioner committee of the British Medical Association is supportive of the contract changes.

The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified general practitioners (GPs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment and secure the future pipeline of GPs.

The 2025/26 GP contract will make ARRS more flexible to better address local workforce needs. The two ARRS pots will be combined into a single pot for reimbursement of patient facing staff costs, with no restrictions on the number or type of staff covered, including GPs and practice nurses.

To boost GP recruitment and bring back the family doctor, the maximum reimbursement for GPs salaries will rise from £73,113 in 2024/25 to £82,418, reflecting the lower quartile of the salaried GP pay range. This increase includes proportional employer on-costs within the total reimbursement amount primary care networks can claim.

The changes to the contract will improve services for patients and make progress towards the Government’s health mission, supporting the three key shifts the Government wants to achieve, namely from analogue to digital, sickness to prevention, and from hospital to community care.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the causes of reductions in the percentage of adults attending NHS dental appointments in West Dorset constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. 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.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the West Dorset constituency, this is the NHS Dorset ICB.
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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) support services, (b) treatment access and (c) care pathways for people diagnosed with ADHD. \p Stephen Kinnock: It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including assessments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

We are supportive of a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.

In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop an ADHD data improvement plan to inform future service planning.
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Jess Asato:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of counsellors trained to support children who have experienced or witnessed domestic abuse. \p Stephen Kinnock: As commissioners of National Health Services, integrated care boards are responsible for making available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population. Service delivery models are determined by service providers at a local level, in response to commissioners’ requirements.

The Ministry of Justice provides funding for vital victim and witness support services. This includes community-based domestic abuse and sexual violence services, in addition to the core funding the Ministry of Justice provides to Police and Crime Commissioners to allocate at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need. This includes support for children and young people.

In December 2024, the Ministry of Justice confirmed grant awards for the provision of domestic abuse and sexual violence services in 2025/26. Grant recipients provide services, including trauma-informed counselling, based on their local assessment of need.
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Harpreet Uppal:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 31682 on Hospices: Children, what steps his Department and NHS England have taken to ensure that funding for children's hospices is received in a timely manner. \p Stephen Kinnock: NHS England has developed an assurance system with specific steps and deadlines to ensure the timely dissemination of the £26 million revenue funding to children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. These steps include regular oversight sessions with integrated care boards (ICBs), regions and hospices, giving ICBs a hard deadline within quarter one of the financial year of when they are expected to disseminate the funding to hospices, including escalating to NHS England if any ICB is unable to meet the deadline. If the deadline is missed, NHS England has put steps in place to ensure all hospices receive the funding within the timescales outlined.
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Michael Wheeler:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been waiting over six months to access CAMHS support in (a) Salford and (b) Wigan. \p Stephen Kinnock: A copy of two tables breaking down the number of people waiting over six months to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service support in Salford and Wigan since 2020 is attached.

PQ33737 Additional Table (docx, 24.8KB)
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to cut ophthalmology waiting lists in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) England. \p Stephen Kinnock: Too many people are waiting too long for National Health Service treatment, with their personal and professional lives being put on hold. The current national waiting list for ophthalmology stands at 589,508, with 66.8% of those having waited 18 weeks or less. We have committed to ensuring that 92% of all patients, across specialties, wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment (RTT) by March 2029. As a first step, we have delivered a reduction in the waiting list of 160,000 pathways and provided over two million extra appointments, across all specialities, including ophthalmology.

We are tackling waits nationally and in Lincolnshire. The Elective Reform Plan sets out actions to reform outpatient care which will significantly benefit ophthalmology, the largest outpatient specialty, with over 8.8 million outpatient attendances across 2023/24. We will improve the referral, triage, and management of patients between primary and secondary eyecare services to free up hospital appointments for those requiring specialist input. This includes delivering more care in the community.

At the main hospital trust in Lincolnshire, the current wait in ophthalmology for a first appointment is 18 weeks, with the wait to first treatment at 19 weeks. This can be found on the national My Planned Care Portal, which is available at the following link:

https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/mids/united-lincs/specialty/?sname=Ophthalmology
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Jess Asato:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that counselling for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence includes culturally competent and specialist support for diverse communities. \p Stephen Kinnock: NHS England cannot comment specifically on services which are commissioned by local providers, however work is continuing to address mental health inequalities and attract more professionals from other backgrounds.

The Ministry of Justice and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners published the Victim Services Commissioning Guidance in December 2024, which includes a chapter focused on commissioning appropriate and tailored support for marginalized victims. This includes ensuring that ‘by and for’ services are invited and encouraged to apply for funding opportunities.

We recognise that Police and Crime Commissioners and specialist support organisations are best placed to make local decisions on the services that are required locally. However, it is our expectation that providers adhere to standards, including ensuring services adhere to the Equality Act 2010 and are accessible, inclusive, and address the needs of the community. These expectations are outlined in Grant Funding Agreements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of conducting a public consultation on the proposed changes to ADHD assessment procedures. \p Stephen Kinnock: The proposed 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme makes no changes to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessment procedures.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Mary Kelly Foy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to distribute the second tranche of hospice funding based on (a) levels of need and (b) areas of deprivation. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are pleased to confirm that the Government has released the first £25 million tranche of the £100 million of capital funding, with Hospice UK kindly allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England. For this first tranche, individual hospice allocations were calculated based on the care expenditure of each hospice.

The second tranche of £75 million of funding will be available from April. We will carefully consider whether the allocation model needs to be amended for this second tranche of funding, and will set out further details as soon as possible.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Chris Ward:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support community pharmacists. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral part of the fabric of our communities, as an easily accessible ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.

The Government is committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists. To support contractors in delivering a quality NHS service, NHS England is providing fully funded national training opportunities.

We are working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have available is used to support community pharmacy in the best way possible. We will announce the outcome in the normal manner, by letter to contractors, when the consultation has concluded.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Leigh Ingham:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of open NHS Dentists (a) on the most recent date for which figures are held and (b) in 2010 in Stafford Constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: As of 4 February 2025, in the Stafford constituency, there were 13 National Health Service dentist practices, with five showing as ‘accepting new child patients when availability allows’ and two showing as ‘accepting new adult patients when availability allows’. Data is not held on the number of open NHS dentists in the Stafford constituency for 2010.

This data is sourced from the Find a Dentist website and is matched to constituencies based on the postcode data shown on the website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist/
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many additional dentistry appointments have been created since 4 July 2024. \p Stephen Kinnock: Data on the number of additional urgent dental appointments created since 4 July 2024 is not yet available. We are working with NHS England, the NHS Business Services Authority, and the integrated care boards to define what data will need to be collected in order to set baselines, as well as for ongoing reporting and monitoring.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the Carr-Hill formula is used to calculate GP surgery funding. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Carr-Hill formula determines how global sum funding is distributed among practices. The global sum is a capitated payment, calculated based on the size of a practice’s registered list of patients. It accounts for 50% to 60% of general practice funding and is allocated through the core contract.

It is a workload-based formula, introduced in 2004, that is designed to ensure that practices are reimbursed for their expected workload. Practices are paid more if their registered patients are expected to use services more, based on past usage patterns of patients with similar characteristics. It takes into account the following factors, whose weight is calculated via an assessment of historical activity rather than need:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the physical shape of fashion models on the (a) mental and (b) physical health of women and girls. \p Stephen Kinnock: Poor body image can be a common problem for women and girls, and that body image dissatisfaction is a factor in disordered eating. However, eating disorders are complicated mental health conditions caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and environmental factors, and it is still unclear exactly why someone develops an eating disorder.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to improve (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of dyslexia in adults. \p Stephen Kinnock: Dyslexia is a life-long condition, and there is therefore no treatment for dyslexia. Adults who wish to be assessed for dyslexia are advised to contact a local or national dyslexia association for advice. Further information on dyslexia assessments can be found on the NHS.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dyslexia/diagnosis/

The Department for Education has invested £1.34 billion in the 2024/25 academic year in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF). The Education and Skills Funding Agency funded ASF includes funds for learning support, which helps providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, including the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.

Learning support can cover a range of needs, including an assessment for dyslexia, funding to pay for specialist equipment or helpers, and/or arranging signers or note takers. The Mayoral Strategic Authorities and the Greater London Authority have a devolved ASF, and decide how to make best use of the ASF, beyond the ASF’s statutory entitlements, to meet their local needs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to review the dental contract. \p Stephen Kinnock: To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.

There are no perfect payment systems and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.

We are continuing to meet the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to discuss how we can best deliver our shared ambition to improve access for NHS dental patients.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of issues with the reconciliation of pension contributions by Capita on GPs. \p Stephen Kinnock: General practitioners (GPs) are required to submit either a type one or type two annual certificate each year to Primary Care Support England (PCSE). Each certificate received by PCSE is reconciled on an individual basis, and the GP’s record is updated accordingly. Where the information cannot be reconciled, or the information is incomplete, PCSE will return the certificate to the GP outlining what information is required.

NHS England regularly monitors the number of outstanding certificates and missing data, working closely with PCSE to resolve issues. In addition, NHS England works closely with the British Medical Association and NHS Pensions to manage complaints and proactively resolve issues. NHS England also monitors PCSE’s performance on a monthly basis against contractual performance targets.

Supporting GPs to accurately submit current and historic type one or type two annual certificates remains a priority for NHS England and PCSE. Since the PCSE Online solution for submitting type one and type two certificates electronically went live in 2021, PCSE has developed user guides and held webinars to educate GPs on how to complete forms accurately.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many additional GP appointments have been created since 3 July 2024. \p Stephen Kinnock: Between 1 July 2024 and 31 January 2025, there were 228,814,993 appointments across general practices and primary care networks in England, including for COVID-19 vaccinations. Between 1 July 2023 and 31 January 2024, there were 222,098,986 appointments across general practices and primary care networks in England, again including for COVID-19 vaccinations. Therefore, there were an additional 6,716,007 appointments between July 2024 and January 2025 compared to the same time period the year before.

We are working with NHS England to increase the general practice workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.

We have committed to training thousands more general practitioners across the country and to recruiting over 1,000 newly qualified general practitioners through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme over 2024/25.