Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, from the allocations of gambling levy funds already announced, how many allocations have been given to projects targeted at prisoners or people on probation; and what is the total amount of those allocations.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In April 2025, the statutory levy on gambling operators came into effect to fund the research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harm in Great Britain. As part of the transition to the new levy system, commissioners are working collaboratively on the development of their programmes, drawing on expertise from across the system.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) and NHS England ran separate voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) prevention and treatment grants, commissioning various projects to support people at risk of, or experiencing, gambling-related harms, and affected others.
On 7 April, OHID published a list of 33 organisations provisionally awarded over £25.4 million of funding for 2026 to 2028 through the prevention grant. Funding has been provided to organisations supporting a range of population groups, including those working with prisoners and people on probation. This will support OHID’s 'test and learn' approach to better understanding which interventions are most effective in preventing gambling harm.
NHS England has also made provisional grant funding offers to 19 VCSE organisations providing a range of treatment and support services across England.
Whilst work to finalise grant agreements is underway, it is not possible to confirm the number of levy allocations or a total funding amount targeting specific groups, including prisoners or people on probation.
The Government remains committed to tackling gambling-related harms and will continue to work with partners across the Government, including the Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service, and the sector to identify priority populations and settings where levy-funded action may have the greatest impact. OHID is also separately distributing £12 million to upper-tier local councils for 2026 to 2027 to help them prevent and reduce gambling-related harms.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to commission non-NHS community-based programmes or peer support programmes to reduce gambling and gambling-related harms among prisoners and those on probation using gambling levy funds.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In April 2025, the statutory levy on gambling operators came into effect to fund the research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harm in Great Britain. As part of the transition to the new levy system, commissioners are working collaboratively on the development of their programmes, drawing on expertise from across the system.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) and NHS England ran separate voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) prevention and treatment grants, commissioning various projects to support people at risk of, or experiencing, gambling-related harms, and affected others.
On 7 April, OHID published a list of 33 organisations provisionally awarded over £25.4 million of funding for 2026 to 2028 through the prevention grant. Funding has been provided to organisations supporting a range of population groups, including those working with prisoners and people on probation. This will support OHID’s 'test and learn' approach to better understanding which interventions are most effective in preventing gambling harm.
NHS England has also made provisional grant funding offers to 19 VCSE organisations providing a range of treatment and support services across England.
Whilst work to finalise grant agreements is underway, it is not possible to confirm the number of levy allocations or a total funding amount targeting specific groups, including prisoners or people on probation.
The Government remains committed to tackling gambling-related harms and will continue to work with partners across the Government, including the Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service, and the sector to identify priority populations and settings where levy-funded action may have the greatest impact. OHID is also separately distributing £12 million to upper-tier local councils for 2026 to 2027 to help them prevent and reduce gambling-related harms.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to use funds from the gambling levy for interventions for gambling disorders for prisoners and people on probation.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In April 2025, the statutory levy on gambling operators came into effect to fund the research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harm in Great Britain. As part of the transition to the new levy system, commissioners are working collaboratively on the development of their programmes, drawing on expertise from across the system.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) and NHS England ran separate voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) prevention and treatment grants, commissioning various projects to support people at risk of, or experiencing, gambling-related harms, and affected others.
On 7 April, OHID published a list of 33 organisations provisionally awarded over £25.4 million of funding for 2026 to 2028 through the prevention grant. Funding has been provided to organisations supporting a range of population groups, including those working with prisoners and people on probation. This will support OHID’s 'test and learn' approach to better understanding which interventions are most effective in preventing gambling harm.
NHS England has also made provisional grant funding offers to 19 VCSE organisations providing a range of treatment and support services across England.
Whilst work to finalise grant agreements is underway, it is not possible to confirm the number of levy allocations or a total funding amount targeting specific groups, including prisoners or people on probation.
The Government remains committed to tackling gambling-related harms and will continue to work with partners across the Government, including the Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service, and the sector to identify priority populations and settings where levy-funded action may have the greatest impact. OHID is also separately distributing £12 million to upper-tier local councils for 2026 to 2027 to help them prevent and reduce gambling-related harms.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
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 October (HL10891), whether the father's NHS number, email address and telephone number will be added to a baby's Patient Demographic Service records through linking with the father's health record; and if so, who will add those details, how those details will be added, and when those details will be added relative to the baby's birth.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A father’s, and second parent’s, National Health Service number, emails, and telephone numbers will become available via a look up rather than via an actual field population, if parents have shared their data on the General Registry Office. Information added to the baby’s Personal Demographics Service Record in England will be through an automated process, completed after the birth registration.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve the financial sustainability of independent adult hospices in England in the light of plans to legalise assisted dying.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England are currently working at pace to develop plans on how best to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care, including that provided by adult hospices, in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.
We are supporting hospices in England with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.
Irrespective of whether the law changes on assisted dying, we must continue to work towards creating a society where every person who needs it receives high-quality, compassionate palliative and end of life care.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the health implications for young people of smoking high-strength cannabis, including psychotic episodes; and what steps they are taking to raise awareness of those implications.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the clear medical and scientific evidence of the harms of cannabis and is committed to reducing the harm from all illicit drugs. Any illegal drug use, including cannabis, can be harmful, due to both the immediate side-effects and long-term physical and mental health problems. Cannabis use can contribute to and exacerbate existing mental health problems or can accelerate their development in people predisposed to mental health problems
Taking cannabis in any form has risks. For instance, vaping supposed tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may increase the risk of users unwittingly consuming more dangerous substances like synthetic cannabinoids. Where there are incidents of synthetic cannabinoids in THC vapes, the local authority public health team and the Police should take action with partners to warn and protect their communities. The Department is tracking reports nationally and its regional teams are providing localised warnings and support.
The Department has recently launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the risks posed by new drug trends and products, including the adulteration of THC vapes with other drugs like synthetic cannabinoids.
The Government will continue to work with our partners to discourage drug use and to alert people, particularly young people, to the potential dangers of cannabis. The Government has a drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce drug misuse and its harms by increasing awareness, particularly for young people and parents. Talk to FRANK offers easy to read information on the risks of using cannabis and basic harm reduction advice. Information on cannabis is available at the Talk to FRANK website, in an online only format.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer on by Baroness Merron on 10 September (HL9969), whether the father’s name, NHS number, date of birth and current address will be routinely added to child NHS records so that this information is accessible to medical practitioners for the purposes of child safeguarding and well-being.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The national Patient Demographic Service (PDS) holds records of demographic information for each person with a National Health Service number. When a baby’s PDS record is created at birth, the mother’s details are included.
NHS England is currently working to integrate additional data from the General Register Office, which will also add fathers and second parents to a child’s record, after the child has been registered. A health professional will then be able to look up the NHS number of any parent on a child’s record, to access more details about the parent. This work is expected to start delivering in December 2025.
The aim is to improve the existing infrastructure to facilitate better coordination between existing records. This will support health professionals to offer more informed, joined-up care.
NHS England is working on making it easier for parents to digitally manage their children's health. Improvements which will roll out through 2026 include proxy access to book appointments, order prescriptions, and access medical records.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Health and Social Care on 31 March (HC38280), what progress they have made in linking fathers' health and contact information to their children's NHS records via birth notification as they currently do with mothers' data.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Once a child is registered with the General Registry Office of Births and Deaths (GRO), the National Health Service receives information showing the parents listed on the birth certificate. Due to a period where not all GRO relationships were added to the NHS record, the NHS is currently working to ensure this happens in the future. This work should be complete by the end of 2025.
Following this, NHS England will be integrating the data into a new service, to make it easier for fathers to access their child's health record and tasks. This will be delivered through 2026.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government following their announcement on 10 January that approximately £57 million will be made available to local authorities for the continuation of Start for Life services, what plans they have, if any, (1) to produce guidance for local authorities on Start for Life services, and (2) to introduce a duty on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to report annually on the level of support available in England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2025/26, £57 million will be made available to 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation to provide a range of Start for Life services. An updated programme guide will be published, setting out delivery expectations and guidance for local authorities providing Start for Life services.
The Government has no plans at this stage to introduce a duty on my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to report annually on the level of support available in England. Two national, independent evaluations are underway to understand the implementation and impact of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement on 10 January that approximately £57 million will be made available to local authorities for the continuation of Start for Life services, what plans they have to require local authorities to publish details of the Start for Life support services available in their area on their websites.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As a minimum, all local authorities on the programme are expected to publish their Start for Life offer digitally in a single online space, and provide a hard-copy of the local offer to parents-to-be. We can confirm that all 75 local authorities have published details of their Start for Life offer online.
In 2025/26, £57 million will be made available to 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation to provide a range of Start for Life services. This will include £2 million to ensure that families can access and understand their local Start for Life services, and to support parents and carers in bringing their valuable insight into the service design.