theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the first Type 32 frigate will be commissioned. \p Luke Pollard: The Ministry of Defence is continuously evaluating its capabilities, including potential enhancements to the Royal Navy's fleet. As stated in the Strategic Defence Review, the Royal Navy is transitioning towards a Hybrid Navy, delivering a mixed fleet of crewed and uncrewed vessels. These will be delivered through faster, smarter procurement and enabled by modular, reconfigurable technology and scalable platforms to increase mass and effect.

Future capability plans for the Royal Navy are being considered as part of the Defence Investment Plan (DIP). It would be inappropriate to provide further detail at this time.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of an increase in the use of satellites on GPS disruption. \p Luke Pollard: Defence continually assesses the potential impacts of disruption to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), including the US Global Positioning System (GPS), on Defence activities.

Defence is taking steps to bolster the resilience of our positioning, navigation and timing capabilities through technology fusion and increasing co-operation with relevant partners. This includes close engagement with the Department of Science Innovation and Technology and our allies to examine mitigations and alternatives across this field.
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Siân Berry:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Public Bodies Review recommended the abolition of the Science Advisory Committee on the Medical Implications of Less-Lethal Weapons. \p Luke Pollard: The Defence Reform programme is establishing robust and streamlined governance, clearer accountabilities, and faster decision-making processes across the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Armed Forces. The Prime Minister’s Productive and Agile State initiative to reduce duplication and inefficiency, including through Arm’s length Body (ALB) reform, is an integral part of Defence’s approach to reform.

The closure of the Scientific Advisory Committee on the Medical Implications of Less Lethal Weapons (SACMILL) is an important step in Defence’s ALB reform journey. The MOD reviewed and recommended the abolition of the SACMILL – an advisory Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) – as the function is no longer required by MOD and the focus of advice from SACMILL in recent years has been in relation to Police equipment.

The ALB review recognised an enduring requirement for expert advice on the medical implications of less-lethal weapons by the Home Office (HO). MOD has worked with HO to enable the establishment of an alternative mechanism to provide independent, evidence-based advice. SACMILL will close on 30 November 2025.

The Medical Implications of Less-Lethal Weapons Expert Committee (MILLWEC), an expert committee sponsored by the HO, will provide independent, scientific advice to the HO and other government departments. This will focus on the medical implications, including risk of injury, of less-lethal weapons (for example, TASERs™).

Further details about MILLWEC can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/medical-implications-of-less-lethal-weapons-expert-committee
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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how his Department plans to measure the impact of the UK Offset Policy proposed in the Defence Industrial Strategy. \p Luke Pollard: As part of the Defence Industrial Strategy's commitment to backing British businesses, we launched a public consultation on a possible UK offset policy on 23 October. The consultation seeks input on key principles for implementation. It is essential that any offset policy is explored and developed in partnership with the defence sector so we should not pre-empt the outcome of this consultation. The Defence Industrial Strategy sets out the metrics for 'Backing UK Based Business' policies, effective monitoring and evaluation will be essential to our implementation plan.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what vehicles are in scope to be procured under the Common Armoured Vehicle System programme. \p Luke Pollard: The Army has joined the Technical Agreement for Common Armoured Vehicle System joining several European partners in early scoping of a modular single platform which can be adapted for different roles. The vehicle roles in scope are General Purpose, Utility, Communications, Maintenance, Medical, Troop Carrying, Protected Patrol, Tactical Mobility and Air Defence.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 79398 on NATO Countries: Armoured Fighting Vehicles, what recent progress he has made in appointing a new Director General International Collaboration and Exports. \p Luke Pollard: Avril Joliffe is the Director General for International Collaboration and Exports. This is a permanent position with no current plans for recruitment.
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Sarah Bool:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many appointments to ministerial private office have been made by exceptions to the civil service recruitment principles since July 2024; and how many transfers of civil servants from other departments by exceptions there have been since that date. \p Louise Sandher-Jones: Between July 2024 and 03 November 2025 there were no appointments made by exception to Ministerial Private Offices among the delegated grades (below Senior Civil Servant (SCS) level). However, during this period there was one direct Ministerial appointment at SCS level, this was the Strategic Advisor to the Secretary of State and Head of Review and Challenge.
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Will Stone:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on the establishment of Independent Advisory Panels (IAPs); at which barracks have IAPs been created; and when was the last time his Department reviewed the effectiveness of the IAPs. \p Louise Sandher-Jones: The Ministry of Defence has made significant progress in establishing Independent Advisory Panels (IAPs) for the Army. All Army Basic Training and Initial Trade Training units now have IAPs.

IAPs are aligned to units, rather than locations, and some training units are located across split sites. The following locations however are where IAPs are present:

Their effectiveness is reviewed through annual reports, internal reviews by unit commanders, and during 2nd Line of Defence Assurance (2LoDA) visits, which occur at least every four years. Some IAPs are still developing as skilled volunteers are recruited and trained.

Regarding the department’s progress on its welfare provisions, in January 2025, JSP 770 – Armed Forces Welfare Support Policy – was fully reviewed and updated to ensure welfare structures meet the needs of Service personnel and their families. Each Service has tailored its policies to address unique requirements, supported by the new Welfare HARDFACTS Annex, which provides comprehensive guidance on addressing emotional, medical, housing, financial, and legal concerns. The Tri-Service Welfare Support Agreement ensures collaboration across the Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force to deliver consistent and specialist support, including for Reservists.

For deployed and overseas personnel, the Deployed Welfare Package provides tailored support, infrastructure, and facilities, while overseas initiatives address the unique challenges faced by Service families abroad. Additionally, Defence has refreshed its mental fitness platform, HeadFIT, and offers a 24-hour support line and access to HeadSpace to promote mental resilience and wellbeing for personnel, families, and veterans.
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Will Stone:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the Army does not offer GCSE retakes. \p Louise Sandher-Jones: The Army is an equal opportunities employer, with its literacy and numeracy policy centred on nationally recognised Functional Skills (FS) qualifications, which are the standard for career and service progression within the Army.

While GCSEs are recognised as equivalent qualifications, the Army avoids duplicating education already available in the civilian sector, as this does not align with its training model. Instead, the Army provides English and Maths teaching assessed through FS exams, which focus on practical, real-world skills better suited to workplace needs.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years. \p Louise Sandher-Jones: A full Departmental response could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The majority of Departmental advertising expenditure is undertaken by the three branches of the Armed Forces to aid recruitment. Generic advertising expenditure outside of this remit is not held centrally. The most recent available information on tri service recruitment advertising can be found here: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament and here Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with (a) private and (b) allied training providers on increasing pilot training capacity. \p Louise Sandher-Jones: The Royal Air Force (RAF) Directorate of Flying Training continues to engage on a regular basis with private and allied training providers regarding pilot training capacity.

There have been recent discussions with private training providers, in line with the Strategic Defence Review 2025, recommendation 48d. These discussions have been focused on assessing the cost-effectiveness and viability of private training providers for elements of multi-engine pilot training to meet a short-term increase in front-line demand for multi-engine pilots due to the introduction of new Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) platforms within the RAF.

For allied training providers, military engagement is conducted through the NATO Flight Training Europe (NFTE) high visibility project, as well as Air Staff talks with strategic partner nations, Due to the commercial tender process and pending defence engagement technical agreements, it is not possible to disclose more specific details of discussions with specified private and allied training providers.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of recruitment levels of pilot trainees for meeting the RAF’s future operational requirements. \p Louise Sandher-Jones: A full and ongoing assessment has been made by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to ensure that there are adequate pilot recruits entering the Service to meet future operational requirements.

The RAF has sufficient pilots to meet its current front line operational requirements.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many serving (a) General Officers in the British Army, (b) Admirals and Flag Officers in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, (c) Air Officers of Air Rank in the Royal Air Force, (d) Commanding Officers of commissioned Royal Navy submarines and (e) Royal Air Force pilots holding frontline squadron command there are. \p Louise Sandher-Jones: Parts a,b and c of the hon. Member's question are answered in the table below.

Number of UK Regular Forces, OF-6 to OF-10 by Service as at 1 July 2025

Service

Number

Royal Navy/ Royal Marines

135

Army

211

Royal Air Force

126

The Ministry of Defence does not routinely disclose the trained strength of individual branches or specialisations as to do so could, or would be likely to, prejudice the security of the Armed Forces. For this reason, I am withholding the answer to parts D and E of this question.
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Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October to Question 84015 on Legal Aid Scheme: Ely and East Cambridgeshire, when the Legal Aid Agency last assessed the adequacy of legal aid provision in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency; and if they will undertake a new assessment in that constituency. \p Sarah Sackman: The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) continually assesses supply across all procurement areas. The LAA’s network of regional contract managers located throughout England and Wales provide intelligence-led information based on contact with legal aid service providers. In addition, the LAA regularly reviews available supply to make sure there is adequate provision for legal aid, in all categories of law, and takes operational action where it can, to respond to market pressures that may arise.

For civil contracts the LAA commissions and monitors the supply of legal aid services across larger geographic areas called procurement areas, rather than by local authority or parliamentary constituency. These areas vary depending on the type of civil law.

Ely and East Cambridgeshire fall within several procurement areas, which cover all civil categories of law for which legal aid is available. All of these procurement areas exceed the minimum required number of legal aid providers. In addition to local providers, national services are also available to your constituents. These include early legal advice through the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service, and telephone-based support for housing, debt, education, and discrimination issues via Civil Legal Advice.

Criminal legal aid contracts are commissioned nationally. The LAA monitors and take measures within its control to ensure there is sufficient coverage for local duty solicitor schemes, in this case the Cambridge and Ely scheme. These schemes are based on demand, so the number of solicitors may vary between areas.

As set out in the response to PQ 84015, the LAA is satisfied there is currently adequate provision of legal aid services in Ely and East Cambridgeshire.

Details about legal aid providers are published in the LAA’s official statistics (Tables 9.1–9.9). These figures help the LAA monitor the availability of services across different legal categories and regions in England and Wales.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the level of jury service expenses on jury members’ finances. \p Sarah Sackman: Jury service is an important civic duty, and the Government is committed to ensuring jurors feel supported throughout their service. Jurors can claim subsistence and travel expenses, as well as a loss of earnings allowance from the court. The jury summoning process provides for applications for deferral or excusal from service based upon financial hardship. All support for jurors is kept under review to ensure it remains appropriate and accessible.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years. \p Hilary Benn: The Northern Ireland Office has spent the following on social media advertising in the last five years:

2024/25 (to date): £0

2023/24: £0

2022/23: £29,395.01

2021/22: £10,500.00

Please note there was no spend on influencer marketing during this period.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether funding from local budgets will be used to pay redundancy packages, in the context of the abolition of NHS England. \p Karin Smyth: Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre, as well as scaling back integrated care board running costs and NHS provider corporate cost reductions in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy.

£860 million of planned resource funding has been re-profiled from later to earlier years of the Department’s Spending Review settlement. This will enable the Department to continue making progress towards halving headcount across the Department and NHS England. This will unlock savings of £1 billion a year by the end of the Parliament, equivalent to the cost of over 115,000 extra hip and knee operations.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve the speed and efficiency of vaccine rollout when new vaccines receive NHS approval. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to supporting the timely delivery of new vaccination programmes to fully protect the public from vaccine preventable diseases. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation meets regularly to consider both current and future vaccine products and to advise ministers accordingly.

The Department works with NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to secure supply deals with manufacturers, stockpile doses, and coordinate logistics to ensure fast deployment, working at pace to update guidelines and training documents so that the workforce providing vaccines is ready to go.

To boost capacity, the Department is exploring new ways of delivering vaccinations including health visits and community pharmacy, with pilots for administering vaccinations as part of health visits standing-up from January 2026. Digital tools also ensure speedy and efficient rollout, for instance: online booking via the NHS app; automated reminders; and data dashboards to track uptake and tweak priorities in real-time. Finally, the Department works with NHS England and the UKHSA to develop targeted communications campaigns, advertising, and social media to build trust and drive appointments, aiming for high coverage from day one. Programme planning by the UKHSA and NHS England occurs simultaneously to ensure delivery of safe, clinically effective, stable, and accessible programmes that commence at the right time and are rolled out in a timely manner after a policy decision has been made.
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Bob Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of hospitals delivering specialist multi-disciplinary teams for patients experiencing homelessness. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department published guidance in 2024 called Discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness to support the care transfer hub, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness

This guidance recognises the necessity for multi-disciplinary teams. It recommends that dedicated housing options officers are embedded within the care transfer hub and advises hospitals treating over 200 homeless patients a year to offer access to a specialist multi-disciplinary homeless discharge team.

Some areas of the country have introduced High Intensity Use Services to proactively meet the needs of the most frequent attenders of the local accident and emergency, a significant portion of whom are experiencing homelessness. These services include multi-disciplinary teams that are helping to address health inequalities faced by this cohort while alleviating pressure on urgent and emergency care pathway,
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of patients in (1) Lincolnshire and (2) England have waited for (a) 90 and (b) 150 days for brain tumour test results in each of the last three years. \p Ashley Dalton: NHS England publishes waiting time data from referral to being informed of a cancer diagnosis or having it ruled out for brain and central nervous system. This is the 28-day Faster Diagnosis Standard. This includes the waiting time data for patients in Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board and in England.

This data is publicly available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s recommendation to narrow eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccination programme in 2025–26 on public health and the economy. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, resulting in hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19.

The JCVI has advised that population immunity to COVID-19 has been increasing due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity following recovery from infection and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 having reduced significantly since COVID-19 first emerged.

The focus of the JCVI advised programme has therefore moved towards targeted vaccination of the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality. These are the oldest adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed. The Government has accepted the JCVI’s advice for autumn 2025 and in line with this, a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to the following groups:

- adults aged 75 years old and over;

- residents in care homes for older adults; and

- individuals aged six months and over who are immunosuppressed.

Under their standard cost-effectiveness approach, the JCVI considers a vaccination programme cost effective if the health benefits are greater than the opportunity costs. The Department does not ask the JCVI to complete an assessment of the wider economic benefits of a vaccination programme.

As for all vaccines, the JCVI keeps the evidence under regular review.
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of community diagnostic hubs in South Shropshire constituency. \p Ashley Dalton: Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are delivering additional, digitally connected, diagnostic capacity in England, providing patients with a co-ordinated set of tests in the community in as few visits as possible, to enable fast and accurate diagnoses

CDCs help to separate urgent and elective care, providing additional capacity in the community and relieving pressure on hospitals.

As of September 2025, CDCs are now delivering additional tests and checks on 170 sites across the country and have delivered over 9.4 million tests, checks and scans, including large, standard, and hub and spoke models, since July 2024.

The Elective Reform Plan sets out that the Government will deliver additional CDC capacity in 2025/26 by expanding a number of existing CDCs and building up to five new CDCs. The locations of both new and expanded CDC schemes will be confirmed in due course. This is funded as part of the £600 million of capital investment for diagnostics in 2025/26, which my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in the June 2025 statement.

There are no CDCs in the South Shropshire constituency. However, there is a CDC in Telford, the Shropshire CDC. Constituents may also have access to diagnostic services at the Royal Shrewsbury and Robert and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospitals. Diagnostic services are also available in the community hospitals run by the Shrewsbury Community Health NHS Trust in Bridgnorth, Ludlow, and Whitchurch, as well as the health centre in Oswestry.

CDCs, even if not local to a constituent, will add capacity to the wider integrated care system. They, therefore, benefit more than just those patients immediately close to them.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the full modelling and cost-effectiveness analyses underpinning the JCVI’s advice on COVID-19 vaccination eligibility for winter 2025–26, including the assumptions used on transmission, hospitalisation, mortality, and productivity losses. \p Ashley Dalton: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI) advice on COVID-19 vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026 was published on 13 November 2024. The JCVI met in September and October 2024 to formulate this advice, carefully considering the evidence on risk of illness, hospitalisation, or death as a consequence of infection, vaccine effectiveness and safety, and modelling and cost-effectiveness analysis. The minutes of these meetings, including a summary of the evidence considered, were made publicly available on the GOV.UK website in November 2024, and are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation

The cost-effectiveness analysis of COVID-19 vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026 was carried out by the University of Warwick. This was published in the peer-reviewed academic journal ‘Vaccine’ in April 2025 by Keeling et al, including with a detailed description of the methodology and assumptions used, and is available at the following link:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X25002452

As per the JCVI Code of Practice, productivity losses were not included in this cost-effectiveness analysis.
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Mr Joshua Reynolds:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of regional variations in the proportion of NHS Continuing Healthcare applications that are approved; and what steps he is taking to ensure consistency in decision making across Integrated Care Boards. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department works closely with NHS England to monitor levels of regional variation in eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). This includes NHS England implementing an operational assurance regime across regions which promotes accurate assessment, equal access, standardisation, and consistency within CHC funding.

This assurance regime has a specific focus on reducing unwarranted variation in CHC across the country. To support this further during 2025/26, NHS England has increased their regional assurance meetings from every three months to every two months.

To support improved patient experience in relation to CHC, the NHS Performance and Assessment Framework for 2025/26 also includes an assurance standard for Integrated Care Boards to monitor the percentage of Standard CHC referrals completed within 28 days.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the cost to (a) the NHS and (b) the public purse of the resident doctor strikes in 2025. \p Karin Smyth: The five-day resident doctor strike in July 2025 had an estimated cost to the National Health Service of approximately £240 million and this was a starting estimate for the planned November strike. The costs were lower than in July 2024 as a result of lower turnout. We continue to update estimates as new data becomes available, in line with receiving business as usual financial data from NHS systems.

The NHS has tried and tested plans in place to minimise disruption and will work with partners to ensure safe care for patients continues to be available and emergency services continue to operate.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 August 2025 to Question 67474 on NHS England: Redundancy, when his Department will provide an update on the cost impact of integrating NHS England with the DHSC. \p Karin Smyth: Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre. Reducing the size of the Department and NHS England will ultimately deliver hundreds of millions of pounds of savings that can be recycled into front line care. There will be no direct reduction in frontline staff as a result of these changes.

As part of the transition to the new structure, on Tuesday 11 November, NHS England announced a voluntary redundancy scheme, to allow staff to leave before the merger takes place. The scheme will run from Monday 1 December until 11:59pm on Sunday 14 December.

In making these reductions, we will not be cutting any investment into the NHS or frontline services; the savings made will more than offset the cost of redundancy payments.

We have recently announced the Spending Review settlement which provides an additional £29 billion of annual day-to-day spending in real terms by 2028/29 compared to 2023/24. We are now carefully reviewing how the settlement is prioritised, including making provision for redundancy costs.

The Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure that the public and parliamentarians are appropriately informed of the relevant information, at the appropriate time. Any publication requirements that become applicable will be complied with as a minimum.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representations his Department has received from Integrated Care Boards on (a) the abolition of NHS England and (b) subsequent planned redundancies. \p Karin Smyth: The Department has not received any formal representations from the integrated care boards regarding the abolition of NHS England or any subsequent planned redundancies. This includes anything in relation to NHS England’s announced voluntary redundancy scheme, which will be open to applications from Monday 1 December until 11:59pm on Sunday 14 December.

Communications between the Department and the integrated care boards regarding workforce planning are managed within existing operational processes.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital wards are not in active use in England; and what the patient capacity is of those wards. \p Karin Smyth: Data for the occupancy and utilisation rates of clinical rooms in the NHS Estate for the latest period, which was 2023/24, published in December 2024, is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection/summary-page-and-dataset-for-eric-2023-24
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse has been of redundancy packages for staff following the abolition of NHS England. \p Karin Smyth: Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre, as well as scaling back integrated care board running costs and NHS provider corporate cost reductions in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy.

Redundancies are anticipated to cost approximately £1 billion in total, with most exit activity concentrated in 2025/26 and 2026/27, to release savings as soon as possible and to align to the available funding. The precise split between financial years and organisations is being worked through as operational delivery planning progresses.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the proportion of written parliamentary questions which receive answers within the usual time period. \p Karin Smyth: The Department takes seriously its parliamentary obligations. I am grateful to my colleagues for their patience as we respond to a very high number of written parliamentary questions (PQs).

The Department of Health and Social Care is the busiest Department in Whitehall in terms of the volume of PQs that we receive, routinely receiving in excess of 1,400 PQs each month. In the most recent period for which the Table Office has provided data on PQ performance, from 24 March to 30 June 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care received nearly double the number of PQs as the next highest volume departments, and received 15% of all PQs tabled across Whitehall.

We are taking action to improve PQ performance. This includes enhancing the data available to policy teams on outstanding casework and ensuring that the joint leadership of the Department is championing the importance of PQs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_15

Andrew George:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a formal impact assessment on the abolition of NHS England to include assessment of (a) patient safety risks during the transition, (b) impact on delivery of (i) the 10-year plan and (ii) ongoing programmes and (c) (A) redundancy costs, (B) projected savings and (C) other financial implications. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to transparency and evidence-based policy making. In line with established best practice for impact assessments, we will publish proportionate assessments to support these reforms. Where appropriate, assessments will be published alongside relevant consultations or decisions to enable scrutiny by Parliament and the public. These will be proportionate to the scale of the reform, and will support decision-making with clear evidence, analysis of options, and consideration of affected groups.

Financial information, including any redundancy costs, projected savings, and other material implications, will be disclosed in line with Government reporting requirements and transparency commitments.
wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_16
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_16

Andrew George:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for publication of a formal impact assessment on the abolition of NHS England. \p Karin Smyth: We will publish an impact assessment as part of the material to accompany the required primary legislation which will be brought forward when parliamentary time allows.

Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities. It is only right that with such significant reform, we commit to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, as is due process. These ongoing assessments will inform our programme as appropriate.

The Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure that the public and parliamentarians are informed of the outcomes.
wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_17
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_17

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support patients with pulmonary fibrosis in Lincolnshire. \p Karin Smyth: It is for the Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board, working closely with National Health Service providers and other stakeholders, to commission services to meet the needs to their population and deliver value for the taxpayer.

I understand that a range of services, across primary and secondary care, are in place in Lincolnshire to support the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with pulmonary fibrosis, including at the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_18

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to improve the quality of stay for fathers in the maternity ward. \p Karin Smyth: When a mother chooses to have support from the father or partner during labour, birth, and in the postnatal period, the father or partner should feel welcome to stay with her. Where possible, fathers or partners are offered a chair or fold up bed to enable them to stay with the birth mother. These temporary items are to ensure the flexibility of the space in the room. Many maternity units also have 24-hour access for fathers and partners.

Not all maternity units are currently able to offer accommodation for birth partners. This is due to the size of the inherited estate and historic undercapitalisation across the National Health Service, as highlighted by the Darzi Report. 11 out of the 16 new hospitals to be built as part of the New Hospitals Programme will have maternity and neonatal units, which include parental accommodation.
wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_19
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_19

Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consideration his Department has given to the potential merits of introducing further (a) professional or (b) regulatory requirements for those undertaking ultrasound scans. \p Karin Smyth: The Government has no plans to introduce further professional or regulatory requirements for those undertaking ultrasound scans. While there are no legal requirements for those carrying out ultrasound in the United Kingdom to hold specific professional qualifications or registration, all providers in England who provide ultrasound scans must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and meet its fundamental standards, which includes ensuring that anyone carrying out such activity has the appropriate skills, knowledge, and experience.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_20

Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that neonatal services are fully incorporated into the scope of the National maternity and neonatal investigation. \p Karin Smyth: Baroness Amos has published the terms of reference for the national maternity and neonatal investigation. The terms of reference fully incorporate neonatal care into its aims. The full terms of reference are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-maternity-and-neonatal-investigation-terms-of-reference/national-maternity-and-neonatal-investigation-terms-of-reference
wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_21
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_21

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with families who have experienced baby loss on their experience of (a) maternity services and (b) other healthcare provision. \p Karin Smyth: The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has held a series of meetings with harmed and bereaved families from across the country to hear about their experiences of maternity care and the wider healthcare system, most recently meeting with families failed by maternity care at Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust. He has also twice visited Nottingham to meet with families involved in the ongoing independent review of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The Hon. Member and other local constituency MPs were invited to a meeting. However, the Hon. Member was unable to attend.

The Secretary of State has committed to ensuring the voices of women and families are at the heart of improving standards.
wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_22
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_22

Clive Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many of the community diagnostic centres and surgical hubs set up since July 2024 are run by private contractors. \p Karin Smyth: Since July 2024, five new community diagnostic centres (CDCs) have started reporting activity for the very first time. None of these five will be run by the independent sector (IS) once they are fully operational. Of these five CDCs, the Thanet CDC is temporarily using magnetic resonance imaging services leased from an IS provider to ensure temporary capacity while the main facility is built. Upon completion of the permanent site, the Thanet CDC site will be National Health Service owned and use only NHS owned assets.

Since July 2024, 23 new surgical hubs have opened. None of these surgical hubs are run by IS providers.
wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_23
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_23

Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff in his Department are recorded as having a (a) mental health condition and (b) physical disability by grade. \p Karin Smyth: The following data reflects employees’ self-declared disability information as of the end of September 2025. The following table shows the number of Department staff who declared as having a mental health condition by grade, as of September 2025:

Grade

Headcount

Administrative Officer/Executive Officer

10

Higher Executive Officer/Fast Stream/Senior Executive Officer

60

Grade 7/6

50

Senior Civil Servant

[c]

Total

120

Note: [c] means the figure is confidential and has been suppressed due to small numbers of less than five

In addition, the following table shows the number of Department staff who declared as having a physical disability by grade, as of September 2025:

Grade

Headcount

Administrative Officer/Executive Officer

20

Higher Executive Officer/Fast Stream/Senior Executive Officer

70

Grade 7/6

60

Senior Civil Servant

10

Total

160
wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_24
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_24

Yasmin Qureshi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for joint replacement surgery in South Bolton and Walkden constituency. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to putting patients first, nationally and in the South Bolton and Walkden Constituency. This means making sure that patients, including those waiting for joint replacement surgery, are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.

The South Bolton area is predominantly served by the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust (FT), whilst the wider region including Walkden is served by the Manchester University NHS FT.

At the Bolton NHS FT, over half, or 55.6%, of waits on the trauma and orthopaedics (T&O) waiting list, which includes joint replacement surgery, were waiting within 18 weeks, an improvement of 8.8% since the start of July 2024. The number of long waits of more than 52 weeks has also reduced by 67% over the same period, down to 83.

At the Manchester University NHS FT, 45% of T&O waits were within 18 weeks, an improvement of 3.7%. The number of long waits of over 52 weeks has also reduced by 6% over the same period, down to 893.

We set out in the 2025 Elective Reform Plan, the productivity and modernisation efforts needed to reach the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. The plan outlines actions that will help to ensure care is delivered in the right place. This includes £1.65 billion of capital funding in 2025/26 to increase capacity for elective and emergency care, partly through new surgical hubs. Hubs deliver quicker access to common surgical procedures, including T&O services. In October 2025, capacity in one of two surgical hubs that are part of the Manchester University FT was expanded, namely the Trafford Hospital Elective Surgical Hub. This means more patients can receive treatment faster and begin recovery sooner.

The Government remains committed to continuing to expand the number of hubs over the next three years to increase surgical capacity and deliver faster access to common procedures including T&O procedures.