Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when will he announce the next phase of Modern Service Frameworks, and what consideration has been given to including musculoskeletal conditions in the next phase of the Modern Service Frameworks.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board will oversee the development of a new series of service frameworks. These modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and will then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery.
Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, sepsis, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. As advised by the National Quality Board, the Government will consider other conditions for future phases of modern service frameworks, and has recently announced a Modern Service Framework on Palliative and End of Life Care.
We are advancing modern service frameworks for those conditions where we can swiftly and significantly raise the quality of care and productivity. Future phases will address conditions that carry substantial health and economic consequences.
To support people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, we are working to deliver the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, which are the highest of all community waits, and improve data and metrics and referral pathways to wider support services.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures are being taken to manage pressure on NHS services by improving outcomes for patients with chronic musculoskeletal conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving the health and work outcomes for people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions will help deliver the Government's mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future.
To manage pressure on NHS services, we are working to deliver the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to further reduce MSK community waiting times, which are the highest of all community waits, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services.
Patients with MSK conditions will also soon be able to bypass their general practitioners (GPs) and directly access community services, including physiotherapy, pain management, and orthopaedics, in the NHS App. The landmark change will deliver faster treatment for the flare up of existing conditions including arthritis, backpain, and joint pain, while enabling GPs to focus on more complex cases, reducing pressure on hospitals and freeing up GPs.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to ensure the effectiveness of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders; and how this will be monitored.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) are currently live in Greater Manchester, three London boroughs (Croydon, Bromley and Sutton), Cleveland, North Wales, and with the British Transport Police. These orders combine the strongest elements of the existing protective order regime into a single comprehensive, flexible tool. DAPOs can impose notification requirements, electronic monitoring and attendance to a behaviour change programme. Breach of a DAPO is a criminal offence punishable by up to 5 years’ imprisonment.
To assess their effectiveness, we have commissioned an independent evaluation of DAPOs to assess how they are working in practice. During this pilot phase, we are closely monitoring the police and courts’ performance as part of the ongoing evaluation. We will use the evaluation findings to help inform the wider rollout of DAPOs and help ensure DAPOs provide effective protection for victims.
Since their launch, more than 1,000 DAPOs have been issued across England and Wales, strengthening protections for victims of all forms of domestic abuse. As set out in the government’s new VAWG Strategy, we are committed to rolling out DAPOs nationally across England and Wales.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions on (a) access to employment, (b) levels of economic inactivity and (c) levels of workplace absence.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP publishes annual official statistics to monitor employment outcomes for disabled people including those with ‘Musculoskeletal conditions’. These statistics show that working age (16 to 64) disabled people with ‘Musculoskeletal conditions’ are less likely to be in employment compared to the working age population as a whole. The employment rate for working age disabled people with a ‘Musculoskeletal condition’ was 52.3% in 2024/25 compared to 75.4% for all people aged 16 to 64.
Source: The employment of disabled people 2025 (Table LMS004) - GOV.UK and Nomis - Query Tool - annual population survey
In 2024/25 2.0 million people aged 16 to 64 who reported a ‘Musculoskeletal condition’ were economically inactive. This represents 39.9% of all people with a ‘Musculoskeletal condition’ compared to 19.1% of people without a ‘Musculoskeletal condition’ who were economically inactive.
Source: The employment of disabled people 2025 (Table EIA009) - GOV.UK
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also publishes statistics on Sickness absence in the UK labour market from the same source – the Labour Force Survey. The latest statistics show that in 2024 26.5 million working days were lost in the UK due to a ‘Musculoskeletal condition' which equates to 17.8% of all working days lost.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the main source of data for people with ‘Musculoskeletal conditions’ in the UK labour market. This includes people with arthritis, back pain, neck and upper limb problems. However, it is not possible to specifically identify those with arthritis from the LFS therefore this data is not readily available from published sources.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the contamination of rivers with insecticides applied as flea and tick treatments to dogs and cats.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises concerns about the environmental impacts of spot‑on parasiticide treatments for companion animals. Research funded by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has improved understanding of how key active substances enter the environment, but further evidence is needed to address gaps relating to contamination pathways, behavioural influences and effective monitoring. To strengthen the evidence base, the VMD has launched a national survey to gather information on pet owners’ behaviours, while exposure modelling is also being explored to inform potential future regulatory decisions. In addition, the VMD will undertake a regulatory review of the AVM‑GSL (‘general sales list’) status of companion animal parasiticide products containing fipronil and imidacloprid, with details expected in early 2026. These actions aim to protect animal health while reducing environmental harm.
On 14 August 2025, the cross‑government Pharmaceuticals in the Environment Group held its first stakeholder workshop, focusing on educational guidance for pet owners. This guidance is being refined for launch in spring 2026, alongside further measures to promote responsible use.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Adult Oral Health Survey 2023, published 9 December 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Adult Oral Health Survey 2023 provides the first picture of adult oral health in England for more than a decade. It provides further evidence of the need for dental contract reform.
We are taking forward significant changes to the National Health Service dental contract. The reforms will prioritise patients with urgent dental needs and those requiring complex treatments and will come in from April 2026. More information is available at the following link:
We are committed to fundamental reform of the NHS dental contract by the end of this Parliament, with a focus on improving access, promoting prevention and rewarding dentists fairly.
The Government is also focussed on prevention of poor dental health through our supervised toothbrushing programme to reach up to 600,000 children in the 20% most deprived areas of England, and by expanding community water fluoridation to the North East of England. This intervention will reach an additional 1.6 million people and will reduce tooth decay and inequalities in dental health, particularly in children and vulnerable adults.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Freedom From Violence and Abuse Strategy, what plans her Department has to ensure the incidence of online abuse is captured in the monitoring of achieving the aim to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We will monitor progress of the Freedom From Violence and Abuse Strategy through a performance framework, details of which are included on pages 69-70 of the Strategy.
The performance framework includes a sub-metric on the prevalence of online harms.
We will report on the development and latest trends in our measures as part of our annual progress reports.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many game farms are operational in England and Wales; and how many of them are registered with the Poultry Register.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is no official definition of a game farm in the UK, and the England and Wales Kept Bird Register only details keepers of bird species that might be released for shooting. The following data was extracted from the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s database:
| ENGLAND | WALES | ||
Flock Size | Premises* | Birds | Premises* | Birds |
0-49** | 1,430 | 9,632 | 107 | 854 |
50-999 | 1,795 | 765,701 | 86 | 36,960 |
1,000-9,999 | 1,879 | 5,671,620 | 77 | 259,840 |
10,000-99,999 | 665 | 18,074,681 | 54 | 1,704,480 |
100,000 | 70 | 15,628,895 | 2 | 240,750 |
TOTAL | 5,839 | 40,150,529 | 326 | 2,242,884 |
* Indicates the presence of at least one flock of pheasants, partridges or ducks reared for shooting were kept. It will also include ornamental species and keepers that buy in and rear birds.
** Flocks where no usual stock number has also been recorded.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many outbreaks of Avian Influenza occurred on game farms in 2024.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There were no outbreaks of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) on game farms in England during 2024.
There were 17 outbreaks of HPAI in England during 2024 but none of them were on game farms.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the number of a) pheasants and b) partridges that were released for recreational shooting in (i) 2023, (ii) 2024 and (iii) 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The release of pheasant and red legged partridge on or within 500 metres of a European site must be authorised under licence. It is a requirement of such licences to report releases made under their authorisation. Our records show that the following numbers of birds were reported released during the relevant years.
| Pheasant | Red-legged partridge |
2023 | 221,283 reported | 180,868 reported |
2024 | 361,053 reported | 209,030 reported |
2025 | 108,231 reported so far | 46,705 reported so far |
Releases undertaken beyond 500 metres of a European site, do not need to be reported and my Department therefore does not hold the information requested.
The number of birds being released has been increasing, and it is currently estimated that between 39 and 57 million pheasants and 8.1 and 13 million partridges are released in the UK, with 85% of these in England. It is thought that releases on or within 500 metres of a European site in England, represent less than 1% of total release activity in the UK.