Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve (a) levels of access to and (b) the quality of palliative and end of life care across England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations
NHS England has also developed a palliative care and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.
The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.
We will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.
Additionally, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department is investing £3 million in a Policy Research Unit in Palliative and End of Life Care. This unit, launched in January 2024, is building the evidence base on palliative care and end of life care, with a specific focus on inequalities.
Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part charitable hospices play as well. This is why we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.
We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. I am pleased to confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the next three financial years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on improving (a) access to, (b) the quality of and (c) the sustainability of palliative care and end of life care for people of all ages through the 10 Year Health Plan, published on 3 July 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations.
NHS England has also developed a palliative care and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.
The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.
We will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.
Additionally, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department is investing £3 million in a Policy Research Unit in Palliative and End of Life Care. This unit, launched in January 2024, is building the evidence base on palliative care and end of life care, with a specific focus on inequalities.
Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part charitable hospices play as well. This is why we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.
We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. I am pleased to confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the next three financial years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the potential merits of a national public awareness campaign on the health impacts of air pollution and (b) the capacity of his Department to implement such a campaign.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Earlier this year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), supported by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), published a report and recommendations following a comprehensive Air Quality Information System review to explore ways of improving the provision of air quality information to the public.
The review made recommendations for the development of a communications strategy to raise public awareness of air pollution, including the actions that the Government and other public bodies are taking, and the actions that individuals can take to protect their health and reduce their personal contributions to poor air quality.
The Department for Health and Social Care is working closely with DEFRA and UKHSA to address the recommendations from the review to help make air quality part of everyday conversations.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the health costs associated with air pollution in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published a tool to allow local authorities to estimate the health benefits and cost effectiveness of improved air quality, at a local authority level.
The information is not held in the format requested. However, the cost of air pollution tool quantifies the potential costs to the National Health Service and social care due to the health impacts of particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in England and separately for each local authority. The tool and the estimated costs are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-a-tool-to-estimate-healthcare-costs
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to incorporate research on (a) masking and (b) internalised behaviours into (i) autism diagnostic pathways and (ii) training for healthcare professionals.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) and health professionals should have due regard to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines when commissioning and providing health care services, including autism assessment services. NICE guidelines are developed by experts based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and through extensive engagement with stakeholders. In June 2024, NICE’s prioritisation board decided to prioritise updating the current NICE guidelines on autism assessment and diagnosis, namely Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management, and Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: recognition, referral and diagnosis. Both guidelines are available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg142
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg128
Although NICE has committed to updating these guidelines, this work has not yet been scheduled into NICE’s work programme.
Under the Health and Care Act 2022, providers registered with the Care Quality Commission are required to ensure their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism, appropriate to their role. To support this, we have been rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism to the health and adult social care workforce. The first part of this training has now been completed by over three million people. Staff with responsibility for providing care, support, or healthcare, including social care and other professionals with a high degree of autonomy, are expected to complete Tier 2 of Oliver’s Training, which includes content on avoiding diagnostic overshadowing. Oliver's Training has been developed with reference to the Core Capabilities Frameworks on Learning Disability and Autism, co-produced alongside people with a learning disability and autistic people, and based on learning from the independently evaluated trials of the training in 2021. A long-term evaluation is now underway.
In addition, 5,000 trainers have been trained as part of the National Autism Trainer Programme, which covers autism presentation in women and girls. These trainers will cascade their training to teams across mental health services. NHS England has also published guidance on meeting the needs of autistic adults in mental health services, which makes specific references to the possible role of masking.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commit to increasing the value of the Healthy Start scheme to match the cost of (a) fresh fruit, (b) fresh vegetables, (c) infant formula and (d) other essential items.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Healthy Start is a demand-led, statutory scheme which aims to support those in greatest need. We recently announced in Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan that we will uplift the value of weekly payments by 10%, boosting the ability to buy healthy food for those families who need it most. From April 2026, pregnant women and children aged over one years old and under four years old will each receive £4.65 per week, up from £4.25, and children under one years old will receive £9.30 per week, up from £8.50.
The funding for Healthy Start can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fresh, frozen, or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried, and tinned pulses, milk, and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries are also eligible for free Healthy Start Vitamins.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Nutrition North’s report entitled Food, Health and Nutrition in the North of England: Inequalities and opportunities published on 22 July 2025, what steps the Department is taking to help tackle (a) poverty and (b) childhood obesity in the North of England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to supporting people to stay healthier for longer. This includes tackling the determinants that underpin stark health inequalities to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions.
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and its commitment to raising the healthiest generation of children in history. The Department is working closely with the Child Poverty Taskforce to develop and deliver an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life. An important part of this will be alleviating the negative experience of living in poverty through supporting families and enhancing public services.
The 10-Year Health Plan outlines a range of actions to address childhood obesity. This includes restricting junk food advertising targeted at children, banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16-year-olds, and using our revised National Planning Policy Framework to give local councils stronger powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools. We will work with the Department for Education to update school food standards. To support families, we are expanding free school meals to all children with a parent in receipt of universal credit. By the end of the Parliament, we will introduce mandatory healthy food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector.
Healthy Start is a demand-led, statutory scheme and aims to support those in greatest need. As part of the 10-Year Health Plan we announced that we will uplift the value of weekly payments by 10%, boosting the ability to buy healthy food for those families who need it most. From April 2026, pregnant women and children aged over one and under four years old will each receive £4.65 per week, up from £4.25, and children under one years old will receive £9.30 per week, up from £8.50.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ regional teams support and work towards the Government’s Opportunity and Health Missions to give children the best start in life. The teams recognise the Food, Health and Nutrition in the North of England report and strive to address the challenges and inequalities our children and young people face in the region. Regional teams work closely with local partners, including local authorities and the National Health Service, to support them with local initiatives to promote a healthy lifestyle and tackle obesity.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle childhood obesity rates in the North of England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to supporting people to stay healthier for longer. This includes tackling the determinants that underpin stark health inequalities to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions.
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and its commitment to raising the healthiest generation of children in history. The Department is working closely with the Child Poverty Taskforce to develop and deliver an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life. An important part of this will be alleviating the negative experience of living in poverty through supporting families and enhancing public services.
The 10-Year Health Plan outlines a range of actions to address childhood obesity. This includes restricting junk food advertising targeted at children, banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16-year-olds, and using our revised National Planning Policy Framework to give local councils stronger powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools. We will work with the Department for Education to update school food standards. To support families, we are expanding free school meals to all children with a parent in receipt of universal credit. By the end of the Parliament, we will introduce mandatory healthy food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector.
Healthy Start is a demand-led, statutory scheme and aims to support those in greatest need. As part of the 10-Year Health Plan we announced that we will uplift the value of weekly payments by 10%, boosting the ability to buy healthy food for those families who need it most. From April 2026, pregnant women and children aged over one and under four years old will each receive £4.65 per week, up from £4.25, and children under one years old will receive £9.30 per week, up from £8.50.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ regional teams support and work towards the Government’s Opportunity and Health Missions to give children the best start in life. The teams recognise the Food, Health and Nutrition in the North of England report and strive to address the challenges and inequalities our children and young people face in the region. Regional teams work closely with local partners, including local authorities and the National Health Service, to support them with local initiatives to promote a healthy lifestyle and tackle obesity.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) tackle health inequalities and (b) help increase life expectancy in Manchester Rusholme constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that the United Kingdom faces significant health inequalities which is why, in the 10-Year Health Plan, we have set out the goal to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions. Through prioritising prevention, expanding community care, and improving access in underserved areas, we will create a fairer Britain where everyone can access quality care, regardless of background, income, or postcode.
One example of how we are tackling health inequalities in Manchester is, as announced in January 2025, Manchester City Council receiving approximately £2.12 million in Family Hubs and Start for Life programme funding as part of a £126 million boost for families. This will support our aim of reducing inequalities in health and education outcomes as well as our commitment to giving every child the best start in life.
In addition to this, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ North West Regional Team provides system leadership for population health and for reducing health inequalities across the North West. This includes working with local authorities and integrated care systems to develop and deliver population health programmes at a local level, supporting regional NHS England priorities, and long-term planning on prevention and health inequalities.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of practising (a) dentists and (b) dental (i) hygienists, (ii) therapists and (iii) nurses.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry and deliver a dentistry service fit for the future.
No recent assessment has been made. The 10-Year Health Plan has set out a new service model for the NHS. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will assess what this means for the workforce, and will ensure we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it.
We are regularly engaging with the sector on a range of issues, including workforce recruitment and retention. For instance, the Department has held two roundtables in the last month with dentists, dental nurses, dental therapists and dental hygienists sharing their views on the changes we are making to NHS dentistry.