Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they provided any advice or recommendations to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) regarding visits or technical assistance support to Bahrain in the past 12 months; and if so, on what dates.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not provided any advice or recommendations to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) regarding visits or technical assistance support to Bahrain in the past 12 months.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to continue maintaining and publishing the list of human rights priority countries in the Human Rights and Democracy Reports.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

This Government is firmly committed to furthering human rights around the world. We do this by investing in building partnerships, including with civil society, and by drawing on our diplomatic and development levers to deliver meaningful change on the ground. In December 2024, I, as the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister for Human Rights, set out our five priorities for promoting and protecting human rights.

They are: 1) defending civic space; 2) upholding the rule of law; 3) championing equal rights for all; 4) supporting accountable, effective, inclusive institutions; and 5) responding to global challenges, including climate, conflict and technology by prioritising human rights and governance principles.

Our focus will be how we address these priorities and themes across all countries rather than single out an individual country in our published annual report.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to the visit to Bahrain by the Director of the Gulf Strategic Fund Programme, how many meetings he held with non-governmental organisations during that visit, including civil society actors and human rights defenders; what was the source of funding of the trip; and how many officials accompanied him.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Gulf Strategy Fund (GSF) Manager visited Bahrain from 1-2 June. This visit aimed to help the GSF Manager familiarise himself with the Bahrain GSF Programme, understand its local impact, and review outcomes to inform future programme strategy. During his visit, he met Bahraini governmental and non-governmental actors, as well as Embassy staff. Only Embassy officials accompanied the Fund Manager to the meetings. The visit was funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that NHS England has categorised £1.5 billion worth of local trust and commissioner financial plans as “high risk” and what estimate have they made, by NHS trust and integrated care board, of spending which is “high risk” when calculating this total figure.

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

The Department is working closely with NHS England to manage financial risk in 2025/26, and to assure the delivery of agreed financial plans. We recognise the aggregate £1.5 billion of risk in plans, which is a top-down estimate. The Department has not made an estimate of that risk by individual trust and integrated care board. Work to manage and mitigate the risk includes derisking efficiency plans, and robust performance management, including a Financial Performance Improvement Programme. We are confident that overall financial balance of the National Health Service budget will be achieved.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the redundancy costs as a result of job cuts in NHS England and integrated care boards (ICB) this financial year; and whether ICB redundancy payments will come from existing ICB budgets.

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

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 reducing integrated care board running costs and National Health Service provider corporate costs, in order to deliver value for money for the public and empower our health system to improve health and care for patients. Good progress is being made, with the Department and NHS England having announced voluntary exit or redundancy schemes.

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. Ahead of asking the NHS to commence a multi-year planning round we are now carefully reviewing how the settlement is prioritised, including making provision for redundancy costs. At this stage it is too early to say what the upfront costs of integration are, including any redundancy, while transition planning is ongoing.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England (CP 1350), how they assessed and evaluated that "By 2035, we anticipate half of all healthcare interactions will be informed by genomic insights and other predictive analytics".

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

The 10-Year Health Plan for England sets out how the National Health Service will continue leading the world in genomics as it increasingly becomes part of routine care over the next 10 years. The statement that “by 2035, we anticipate half of all healthcare interactions will be informed by genomic insights and other predictive analytics” is part of Genomics England’s shared vision with the NHS on the potential of genomics in healthcare. Routine use of pharmacogenomics in the NHS could achieve this vision, as over 98% of people carry at least one relevant pharmacogenomic variant, and in a recent study, 80% of patients in an acute setting were exposed to a medicine for which there is pharmacogenetic prescribing guidance available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what financial spend is planned on posts in the very senior managers category in the NHS in (1) this financial year, and (2) the following three years.

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

This information is not held centrally. Spend on very senior managers (VSM) pay is locally determined by individual National Health Service organisations within their local budget positions. VSM pay arrangements are subject to the decisions of local remuneration committees, which are ordinarily based on the provisions in the VSM pay framework and the independent recommendations of the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB). Future spending on VSM pay will depend on the outcomes of SSRB recommendations, and individual NHS trusts’ decisions are dependent on their financial position at a local level.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to bring forward legislation or guidance for non-therapeutic male circumcision.

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

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates surgical procedures, including male circumcision for therapeutic and non-therapeutic reasons, where the procedure is carried out by a health care professional.

The CQC has developed guidance with other professional organisations entitled Additional guidance and prompts: non-therapeutic male circumcision, a copy of which is attached.

The Government has no current plans to bring forward legislation or further guidance on non-therapeutic male circumcision.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many meeting requests they have received from the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy over the past two years, including requests to Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials, the UK Mission in Geneva, and other relevant diplomatic posts; and on how many occasions such meetings were granted.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) does not retain information on the specific number of meeting requests they receive from the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, although we are aware that they have met FCDO officials during this period.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to the NHS Oversight Framework 2025/26, published on 26 June, what is the specific purpose and intended use of contextual metrics for integrated care boards.

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

The NHS Oversight Framework 2025/26 will not be used to score integrated care boards’ (ICBs) performance or to assign them to performance categories or segments. This is to allow them to focus on the substantial changes to their organisational function and form, alongside efforts to meet their running cost reduction plans.

However, ICB data will continue to be collected, monitored, and reported against the full suite of metrics. These will be used during NHS England’s regular performance conversations with ICBs and to inform the use of intervention powers, should NHS England deem this necessary to support improvement.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much they will allocate to the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme (1) next year, and (2) for each year of the Spending Review 2025 (CP 1336).

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

The 10-Year Health Plan confirmed that we will expand the Graduate Management Trainee Scheme by 50%, to ensure we attract the best and brightest talent. Alongside that, we will increase its diversity and reform it to focus on the three shifts and system working. National Health Service employers and contractors will be required to facilitate the scheme as part of their core business.

Funding has been allocated for an expansion of the Graduate Management Training Scheme as part of the Spending Review. Further detail will be set out in the forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what targets have been set for the first year of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan.

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

The 10-Year Health Plan is a plan to make the National Health Service fit for the future.

It sets out a wide range of commitments to be delivered over both the short and long term, the implementation of which is already underway, supported by the financial framework set out in the recent Spending Review. The plan will deliver the three shifts from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. The first year will include immediate actions to, for example, develop neighbourhood health services and the app, a workforce plan, and a suite of actions on prevention as well as actions which lay the foundation for future commitments.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 30 May 2025 (HL6904), on what date they last raised the cases of Abduljalil al-Singace and Hasan Mushaima with the government of Bahrain.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK regularly engages with the Government of Bahrain and, where appropriate, the independent oversight bodies on a range of human rights and governance matters - those with broader societal impact and individual cases. This has included the cases of Abduljalil al-Singace and Hasan Mushaima. The UK remains committed to supporting reforms in Bahrain.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 7 July (HL8984), why Hertfordshire and West Essex integrated care board's planned elective hub at St Albans City Hospital will now only provide extra funding and capacity for two acute trusts, instead of three as originally intended.

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

The Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care System was allocated funding from the national Elective Recovery Fund in 2025/26. Hertfordshire and West Essex’s Surgical Centre Programme Board undertook a full options appraisal to consider how to get the best use out of the new surgical centre facilities within their financial envelope for 2025/26.

The programme board agreed that when it first opens in November, the surgical centre will be used primarily by the West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals Trust for treating patients. The Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust is also planning to use the facility to operate over the winter months.

The availability of the surgical centre for patients across Hertfordshire will continue to be reviewed alongside future funding announcements. Subject to future funding, the system will look to accelerate full opening in 2026/27.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to the collection DHSC: workforce management information, why the total paybill and staffing costs have increased by more than £20 million since July 2024.

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

The Department’s total paybill and staffing costs have not risen by £20 million since July 2024; rather, they have risen, but by £2.5 million in that time.

Since the General Election, the Department’s staff numbers have needed to increase to ensure the right skills and capability to deliver several of the Government’s major priorities. These include the 10-Year Health Plan, the Assisted Dying Bill, ending the longest-running pay dispute with resident doctors, publishing an elective reform plan, and publishing a new NHS Mandate, as well as ensuring we can continue to deliver vital services across the health system. During this period, payroll costs have also increased because of annual pay increases.

Given the scale of the challenges facing the health and social care system, as part of the Spending Review, the Department is working on reducing its headcount down to pre-election levels during 2025/26. This is a key step towards a streamlined centre, to support continued prioritisation towards front-line services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what urgent assessment they have made of patient safety at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary's Accident and Emergency considering reported data showing that only approximately 10 per cent of the sickest patients are being seen within the four-hour waiting time standard.

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

No such assessment has been made. The latest available data for June shows that 83.5% of patients in the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust were discharged, admitted, or transferred within four hours of arrival.

The Government is clear that patients should expect and receive the highest standard of service and care from the National Health Service, and that people should be treated with compassion, dignity, and respect. Patients attending emergency departments will always be prioritised based on clinical need.

We are committed to reducing long waits in accident and emergency. Our urgent and emergency care plan for 2025/26, sets out action across the system to deliver improvements for patients this year, backed by nearly £450 million of capital investment.