Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the £1 billion reduction in the Department of Health and Social Care's capital departmental expenditure limit for 2026–27 to 2029–30 on the delivery timetable of each scheme in the New Hospital Programme, announced in the Budget on 28 October; and whether any scheme will now be delayed or cancelled.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The uneven profile of the multi-year capital settlement agreed for the Department at the 2025 Spending Review was always intended to produce a lower Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit in 2027/28 before increasing again in subsequent years, and reaching record levels by 2029/30. This profile is typical of capital budgets with multiple programmes at different stages of their investment cycle.
On the question of defence spending, I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 3 November in response to Question 39074, which, for ease of reference, has been reproduced below:
“The Department’s contribution to the Defence Investment Plan will avoid any impact on the delivery of frontline NHS services, patient safety, investment in technology, or the New Hospital Programme (NHP). We remain fully committed to delivering all 46 hospitals in the NHP, including the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete replacement hospitals, and no projects within the programme will be delayed as a result of the Budget announcements.
“Large capital programmes are designed to be flexible because projects develop at different speeds and funding needs change over time. That flexibility means that we can redeploy some funding from NHS capital projects to the Defence Investment Plan without affecting their overall delivery. The NHS continues to benefit from record levels of capital investment, and we are reforming how these projects are delivered by cutting red tape, speeding up approvals and giving local leaders more freedom to initiate their own plans.”
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the projected real-terms reduction of more than 4 per cent in the Department of Health and Social Care's capital budget in 2027–28 on (1) NHS backlog maintenance, (2) high-risk estate safety issues, and (3) investment in diagnostic and digital capacity.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The uneven profile of the multi-year capital settlement agreed for the Department at the 2025 Spending Review was always intended to produce a lower Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit in 2027/28 before increasing again in subsequent years, and reaching record levels by 2029/30. This profile is typical of capital budgets with multiple programmes at different stages of their investment cycle.
On the question of defence spending, I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 3 November in response to Question 39074, which, for ease of reference, has been reproduced below:
“The Department’s contribution to the Defence Investment Plan will avoid any impact on the delivery of frontline NHS services, patient safety, investment in technology, or the New Hospital Programme (NHP). We remain fully committed to delivering all 46 hospitals in the NHP, including the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete replacement hospitals, and no projects within the programme will be delayed as a result of the Budget announcements.
“Large capital programmes are designed to be flexible because projects develop at different speeds and funding needs change over time. That flexibility means that we can redeploy some funding from NHS capital projects to the Defence Investment Plan without affecting their overall delivery. The NHS continues to benefit from record levels of capital investment, and we are reforming how these projects are delivered by cutting red tape, speeding up approvals and giving local leaders more freedom to initiate their own plans.”
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the care and discharge planning provided to Mr Ravi Mehta by NHS South East London Integrated Care Board; and what steps they are taking to ensure that, since September 2025, individuals who are medically fit for discharge are not subjected to prolonged hospital stays due to the withdrawal of Personal Health Budgets.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our statutory hospital discharge and community support guidance, published jointly with NHS England, sets out that integrated care boards (ICBs), and local authorities (LAs) are responsible for planning and delivering local hospital discharge services. Working together, it is for ICBs and LAs to deliver an appropriate support package, based on an individual’s assessed needs, to enable safe discharge. In Mr Mehta’s case, NHS England and NHS South East London ICB continue to work with him, his family, and relevant professionals to support his safe discharge from hospital. All decisions are informed by clinical oversight and governance, in order to arrange safe, effective and appropriate care.
On the wider issue of personal health budgets, the Department and NHS England remain committed to maximising personalisation and choice for all individuals in receipt of NHS continuing healthcare, including through personal health budgets, where appropriate. NHS England’s personal health budget programme focusses on working with ICBs to reduce unwarranted variation in the delivery of personal health budgets, where there is a legal right to have one. A revised personal health budget quality framework is expected to be published by March 2027, to provide greater clarity for ICBs on how to strengthen operational delivery and meet the expectations set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps NHS England has taken to ensure that the headline messages in Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) press materials and ministerial statements reflected the full range of findings, including those showing no improvement or a deterioration.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the usual process for producing the independent Learning Disabilities Mortality Review annual report, officials provide comments and suggestions for the academic team to consider in order to support accurate presentation and accessibility for the public, as discussed in the response provided on 13 August in response to Question HL9449, which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below.
NHS England works with Kings College London, the academic partner for LeDeR, to produce the LeDeR annual report. Since they submitted their draft report, NHS England has collaborated with them on further iterations with the aim to finalise as soon as possible.
The Department has provided feedback on later iterations of the report on practical data issues with the aim to ensure findings were accurately presented and could be clearly interpreted by the public. Feedback related to definition of technical language, additional context for demographic statistics, and apparent inconsistencies. A final version of the report addressing feedback was shared with the Department on 25 June 2025.
We are committed to publishing the latest report soon after Parliament returns alongside a Written Ministerial Statement.
King’s College London retain full academic independence and editorial responsibility for the analysis, interpretation and final wording of the reports, and are also responsible for issuing the press release summarising the key findings of each report. The Written Ministerial Statement HLWS229 accompanying publication of the 2024 report reinforced a number of those findings, and explicitly recognised that inequalities remained unacceptable.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the independence of the reformed national cancer board when nearly two-thirds of the members are NHS England or Department of Health and Social Care officials.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In order to provide accurate updates and advice on the progress of the National Cancer Plan, it is essential that the board brings together those responsible for delivering commitments across all six key themes. Cross-departmental and cross-directorate membership ensures the appropriate accountability and expertise, including across areas such as workforce, research, cancer performance and delivery.
The board is co-chaired by Anita Charlesworth, who is responsible for providing independent leadership, challenge and oversight of delivery of the National Cancer Plan, working jointly with the lead official co-chair.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether NHS England or the Department of Health and Social Care requested or made any changes to the content, structure, headline findings, or wording of the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) annual reports prepared by King's College London before publication; and if so, whether they intend to publish a record of those changes.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the usual process for producing the independent Learning Disabilities Mortality Review annual report, officials provide comments and suggestions for the academic team to consider in order to support accurate presentation and accessibility for the public, as discussed in the response provided on 13 August in response to Question HL9449, which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below.
NHS England works with Kings College London, the academic partner for LeDeR, to produce the LeDeR annual report. Since they submitted their draft report, NHS England has collaborated with them on further iterations with the aim to finalise as soon as possible.
The Department has provided feedback on later iterations of the report on practical data issues with the aim to ensure findings were accurately presented and could be clearly interpreted by the public. Feedback related to definition of technical language, additional context for demographic statistics, and apparent inconsistencies. A final version of the report addressing feedback was shared with the Department on 25 June 2025.
We are committed to publishing the latest report soon after Parliament returns alongside a Written Ministerial Statement.
King’s College London retain full academic independence and editorial responsibility for the analysis, interpretation and final wording of the reports, and are also responsible for issuing the press release summarising the key findings of each report. The Written Ministerial Statement HLWS229 accompanying publication of the 2024 report reinforced a number of those findings, and explicitly recognised that inequalities remained unacceptable.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance NHS England gave to the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) research team on how findings, trends, and avoidable deaths should be presented in the 2023 and 2024 annual reports and their accompanying summaries.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the usual process for producing the independent Learning Disabilities Mortality Review annual report, officials provide comments and suggestions for the academic team to consider in order to support accurate presentation and accessibility for the public, as discussed in the response provided on 13 August in response to Question HL9449, which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below.
NHS England works with Kings College London, the academic partner for LeDeR, to produce the LeDeR annual report. Since they submitted their draft report, NHS England has collaborated with them on further iterations with the aim to finalise as soon as possible.
The Department has provided feedback on later iterations of the report on practical data issues with the aim to ensure findings were accurately presented and could be clearly interpreted by the public. Feedback related to definition of technical language, additional context for demographic statistics, and apparent inconsistencies. A final version of the report addressing feedback was shared with the Department on 25 June 2025.
We are committed to publishing the latest report soon after Parliament returns alongside a Written Ministerial Statement.
King’s College London retain full academic independence and editorial responsibility for the analysis, interpretation and final wording of the reports, and are also responsible for issuing the press release summarising the key findings of each report. The Written Ministerial Statement HLWS229 accompanying publication of the 2024 report reinforced a number of those findings, and explicitly recognised that inequalities remained unacceptable.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to consider the inclusion of adults with learning disabilities who receive social care outside residential care homes in national pandemic and emergency planning as a priority in their response to the report by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Module 6: Care sector, published on 20 October; and, if so, when they will publish a plan for delivering the response.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is grateful to Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough work on these serious issues. We will consider their findings and recommendations in detail and respond in due course, and they will inform the ongoing development of our Adult Social Care Pandemic Action Plan, as well as Baroness Casey’s commission on adult social care.
Public Health England published Deaths of people identified as having learning disabilities with COVID-19 in England in the spring of 2020 on 12 November 2020. A copy of the report is attached. The report found that deaths were spread more widely across the age spectrum among people with a learning disability, with far greater mortality rates in younger adults, compared to the general population.
On 25 March 2026, the Government published Pandemic Preparedness Strategy: building our capabilities. A copy of the strategy is attached. The strategy builds on the lessons identified from the COVID-19 pandemic and is shaped by the findings of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and indicative findings from Exercise Pegasus. A core principle of the strategy is to protect those most at risk, and tailor capabilities to protect all communities.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis they have carried out of why people with learning disabilities were more likely to die of Covid-19 at younger ages and less likely to receive health treatment; and what lessons from that analysis they have built into NHS pandemic preparedness.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is grateful to Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough work on these serious issues. We will consider their findings and recommendations in detail and respond in due course, and they will inform the ongoing development of our Adult Social Care Pandemic Action Plan, as well as Baroness Casey’s commission on adult social care.
Public Health England published Deaths of people identified as having learning disabilities with COVID-19 in England in the spring of 2020 on 12 November 2020. A copy of the report is attached. The report found that deaths were spread more widely across the age spectrum among people with a learning disability, with far greater mortality rates in younger adults, compared to the general population.
On 25 March 2026, the Government published Pandemic Preparedness Strategy: building our capabilities. A copy of the strategy is attached. The strategy builds on the lessons identified from the COVID-19 pandemic and is shaped by the findings of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and indicative findings from Exercise Pegasus. A core principle of the strategy is to protect those most at risk, and tailor capabilities to protect all communities.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which financially challenged NHS trusts are failing to meet the Better Payment Practice Code requirement to pay 95 per cent of suppliers within 30 days; and what new support or guidance NHS England is providing to these trusts to ensure critical cash flow constraints do not impact the local supply chain.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2025/26, 90% of invoices in all National Health Service trusts were paid within 30 days. NHS England monitors the financial performance of all NHS trusts through its National Oversight Framework, which helps to identify where additional support or intervention is needed. Trusts that forecast cashflow shortfalls may apply for revenue support in line with NHS England’s revenue finance and contracting guidance, enabling them to continue meeting their short-term financial obligations, while longer-term recovery plans are implemented.