Found: Letter from Lord Carlile of Berriew to Baroness Merron (Dept of Health and Social Care) re: Tobacco and

Found: Correspondence from Baroness Merron to NI Scrutiny Committee Correspondence

Found: Chaired by Wes Streeting MP, with Baroness Merron serving as Deputy Chair, the Taskforce comprises seventeen

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 10 March (HL14740), how the Cass Review recommendations will be implemented and monitored across NHS children and young people gender services.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

On 1 April 2026, NHS England published a final service specification for National Health Service children and young people's gender services, which incorporates the findings and recommendations of the final report of the Cass Review, including adoption of the new Holistic Assessment Framework.

NHS England continues to have oversight of implementation of the various Cass Review recommendations in 2026/27, in line with the implementation plan published in August 2024. NHS England chairs a National Portfolio Board for NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Services, which is the vehicle for monitoring progress for implementing recommendations from the Cass Review. Membership of the board includes officials from the Department of Health and Social Care, Baroness Cass, the independent Chair of the National Provider Network, representatives of the royal colleges of medicine, senior clinicians, the NHS National Medical Director for Specialised Services, and the NHS National Director for Specialised Services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 11 March (HL15021), how many patients are treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma by the NHS each year.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Health Service provides a range of treatments for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including chemotherapy as a first treatment, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapies, and stem cell transplantation for eligible patients.

Effectiveness of treatments is assessed by clinicians for individual patients using data on measures such as the responsiveness of the cancer to treatment, remission, overall survival, and quality of life. The most appropriate treatment depends on the type and stage of lymphoma and the patient’s individual circumstances, and decisions are made by specialist multidisciplinary teams.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has evaluated and recommended several Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell (CAR-T) Therapy treatments for use within the Cancer Drugs Fund for the treatment of various cancers, including for large B-cell lymphoma a sub type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which are now available to NHS patients in line with NICE’s recommendations. In November 2025, NHS England published commissioning guidance to support the implementation of CAR-T therapies for blood cancer.

Furthermore, the National Cancer Plan commits to ensuring rare cancer patients, including blood cancer, have improved access to targeted and personalised treatments where genomics identifies suitable options. The plan aims is to improve survival rates for rare cancers, including blood cancers by exploring novel procurement routes for diagnostics and treatments. Genomics will support the development of new treatments to improve outcomes for those with cancer.

The following table shows, from latest data available, the number of patients treated for non-Hodkin lymphoma receiving radiotherapy, systemic anti-cancer treatment (SACT), and tumour resections for their tumour, each year from 2019 to 2022:

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Merron on 24 November 2025 (HL Deb col 1107), when they intend to launch the consultation on emergency police powers of detention.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

On 24 November, the Department announced its commitment to consult on the powers available to different professionals in different situations and settings, in particular, but not limited to, the operation of the emergency powers in sections 135 and 136. The consultation will seek views on powers and joint working approaches to ensure that health and social care professionals and police have the appropriate powers to act in order to prevent people harming themselves and others when in a mental health crisis.

The Department also set out plans to work closely with a range of stakeholders to shape the scope of that consultation. Officials at the Department of Health and Social Care have started engagement with Home Office officials and stakeholders from the police, health, and social care to consider the options to consult on that support better outcomes for patients and services, and we will set out further detail on the timing of the consultation in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 4 March (HL14721) indicating a substantial underspend in the Innovative Medicines Fund, what steps they are taking to expand managed access pathways for innovative medicines, including disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s disease such as Lecanemab and Donanemab.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England cannot comment on the proportion of the Innovative Medicines Fund’s budget that has been spent on medicines made available through managed access agreements. Due to the low numbers of patients who receive these highly specialised treatments, publishing this information risks confidentiality of pricing.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is able to recommend any medicine, including for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, for a period of managed access through the Innovative Medicines Fund where it concludes that it is plausibly cost effective and the collection of real-world evidence may resolve clinical uncertainty. NICE concluded in its draft guidance on lecanemab and donanemab that neither treatment was suitable for a period of managed access but has not yet published its final guidance. There are no current plans to expand the circumstances in which NICE is able recommend medicines for managed access.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 4 March (HL14721), what proportion of the Innovative Medicines Fund budget has been spent on medicines made available through managed access agreements.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England cannot comment on the proportion of the Innovative Medicines Fund’s budget that has been spent on medicines made available through managed access agreements. Due to the low numbers of patients who receive these highly specialised treatments, publishing this information risks confidentiality of pricing.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is able to recommend any medicine, including for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, for a period of managed access through the Innovative Medicines Fund where it concludes that it is plausibly cost effective and the collection of real-world evidence may resolve clinical uncertainty. NICE concluded in its draft guidance on lecanemab and donanemab that neither treatment was suitable for a period of managed access but has not yet published its final guidance. There are no current plans to expand the circumstances in which NICE is able recommend medicines for managed access.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 3 February (HL14030), whether they have made a decision on whether the increased cost-effectiveness threshold will apply to medical technologies that are evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellent through its HealthTech programme.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Pursuant to the to the answer of 3 February, the Government is actively considering whether the increased cost-effectiveness threshold will apply to medical technologies that are evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence through its HealthTech programme and will set out its position in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 24 March (HL15339), whether they have plans to discuss with the charity Anthony Nolan the potential for children and young people with non-malignant conditions, who travel long distances to receive stem cell transplants and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, to be included in the new travel cost scheme.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Through the National Cancer Plan for England, the Government is committing up to £10 million a year to a new fund open to all children and young people in England with cancer and their families regardless of income, to support them with the cost of travelling to and from their treatment. This commitment sits alongside wider action to transform cancer care for children and young people.

The Department is currently working with its partners to define the scope and parameters of the scheme and further detail will be announced in due course.

Currently, the National Health Service runs schemes in England to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist treatment or diagnostics tests, following referral from a primary healthcare professional. The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme provides financial assistance to patients in England who do not have a medical need for transport, but who require assistance with the costs of travelling to receive certain NHS services. The Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services provide funded transport where it is considered essential to ensuring an individual’s safety, safe mobilisation, condition management, or recovery.

Found: Letter dated 23/04/2026 from Baroness Merron to Baroness Coffey regarding issues raised during the Committee