Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure his department’s contribution to the Fair Pay Agreement in adult social care will be passed on to independent adult social care employers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in 2028, backed by £500 million of funding to improve pay and conditions for the adult social care workforce.
This £500 million of funding will be given to local authorities to support providers to improve pay, and terms and conditions through the Fair Pay Agreement. It represents the most significant investment in improving pay and conditions for adult social care staff to date.
Negotiations between employee and employer representatives, including those from all types of providers, such as independent providers, will shape how this funding will be used to enhance pay, terms and conditions. The Government is committed to supporting commissioners to enable the successful delivery of the Fair Pay Agreement and we are exploring options for engagement to best inform our understanding of this.
We also recognise that, in preparation for the first Fair Pay Agreement, commissioners and providers, will need time, support and guidance. We are committed to publishing guidance to support these groups, and our consultation seeks views from all providers, including independent providers, to ensure their perspectives are fully considered.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he is supporting public understanding of what general practice can safely deliver.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the 2025/26 GP Contract, NHS England published You and Your General Practice (YYGP) guidance. YYGP has been developed to help patients understand what to expect from their general practice (GP) and how they can get the best from their GP team. The guidance is based on the contractual requirements that all contractors providing essential GP services must meet and is intended to make patients more informed and to increase practice accountability to patients, with the aim of improving services and patient engagement.
GPs are required to provide a link on their website to the NHS England YYGP document, which can also be found on the NHS England website, at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/you-and-your-general-practice/
The guidance will remain under review and will continue to be updated to reflect changes made to GP contracts.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of routine blood tests in England administered in a GP surgery.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data regarding the proportion of routine blood tests administered in England in a general practice.
Local enhanced services, such as blood tests, are negotiated and agreed locally, and are commissioned by integrated care boards to fit the needs of the local population. General practices can choose whether or not they would like to participate in directly providing these services. These services can vary in scope and funding across the country.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how practices will be supported with increases in levels of workload arising from private sector activity, including ADHD, gender affirming care and weight management prescribing.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in general practice (GP) to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, which is the biggest cash increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.
Since October 2024, we have funded primary care networks with an additional £160 million to recruit recently qualified GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. Over 2,600 individual GPs have now been recruited, preventing them from graduating into unemployment. We have committed to training thousands more GPs across the country which will increase capacity and take the pressure off those currently working in the system.
The Government is committed to ensuring the GP workforce is sustainable, supported, and valued for the work they do. Good staff experience is crucial in ensuring the NHS is able to recruit and retain staff and its importance is recognised and illustrated in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan. In the spring we will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan, which will set out how we will deliver change to ensure that staff will be better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future, so they can achieve more.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence produces evidence-based guidance for health and care practitioners on best practice for a variety of conditions including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. NHS England has also published service specifications that describe how clinical and medical care is offered to people with gender dysphoria.
GPs have access to a range of support from their integrated care boards and NHS England has developed a suite of implementation materials, delivery guidance and protocols, and has provided access to training resources to help GPs with weight management prescribing.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2025 to written question 79819, what estimate he has made of the cost of establishing a new Neighbourhood Health Centre.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to deliver 250 neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. This will deliver NHCs through a mixture of refurbishments, to expand and improve sites over the next three years, and new-build sites opening in the medium term.
The first 120 NHCs are due to be operational by 2030 and will be delivered through public private partnerships and public capital. This includes refurbishments to the Alfred Barrow Health Centre in Barrow-in-Furness, the Stockland Green and Summerfield Primary Care Centres in Birmingham, the Jubilee Gardens Centre in Ealing.
Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, targeting places where healthy life expectancy is lowest and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.
Integrated care boards and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for the 250 NHCs to be delivered through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. They have been commissioned to produce five-year strategy and delivery plans, including plans for neighbourhood health.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2025 to written question 79819, how many Neighbourhood Health Centres each ICB will be able to allocate.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to deliver 250 neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. This will deliver NHCs through a mixture of refurbishments, to expand and improve sites over the next three years, and new-build sites opening in the medium term.
The first 120 NHCs are due to be operational by 2030 and will be delivered through public private partnerships and public capital. This includes refurbishments to the Alfred Barrow Health Centre in Barrow-in-Furness, the Stockland Green and Summerfield Primary Care Centres in Birmingham, the Jubilee Gardens Centre in Ealing.
Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, targeting places where healthy life expectancy is lowest and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.
Integrated care boards and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for the 250 NHCs to be delivered through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. They have been commissioned to produce five-year strategy and delivery plans, including plans for neighbourhood health.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to stabilise drug pricing for community pharmacies.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pharmacies are an integral part of our communities. They are an easily accessible ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly skilled healthcare professionals. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we want pharmacies to play a bigger role as we shift more care out of hospitals and into the community.
The community pharmacy contractual framework was increased to £3.073 billion for 2025/26. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. There is also additional funding available, for example for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations, and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.
The Pharmacy First clinical pathways have been informed by guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and were designed with input from an expert panel of clinicians. NHS England is keeping the clinical scope of this service under review.
The Department will consult Community Pharmacy England on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors for 2026/27 shortly.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the timely delivery of NHS mail to patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospital trust chief executives are on multi-year contracts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the adequacy of the GP contract at funding increases in levels of demand, inflationary pressures, and additional responsibilities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the sector both about what services they provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking into account the cost of delivering services.
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, which is the biggest cash increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.
We have started the 2026/27 GP Contract consultation, and we look forward to listening to a range of stakeholders to help strengthen policy making, ensuring that GPs work for staff and patients. Further details will be announced in due course.