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.
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, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing national guidance for autism diagnosis to reflect differences in how males and females (a) experience and (b) present neurodivergence.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline, Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: recognition, referral and diagnosis, sets out considerations for clinicians when assessing for autism, including highlighting that this condition may be under-recognised in women and girls. The guidelines are available at the following links:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg142
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg128
NICE has committed to updating these guidelines; however, this work has not yet been scheduled into NICE’s work programme. NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services in April 2023.
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 ensure that the needs and wellbeing of (a) infants, (b) children and (c) young people are central to the priorities in the NHS 10-Year Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and the 10-Year Health Plan is central to achieving this ambition. The three strategic shifts in the Plan set out how we are prioritising them.
Hospital to community will mean parents and children will have better access to care and treatment in their local areas, meaning less time taken out of school to make appointments and fewer hospital visits.
Analogue to digital will see delivery of My Children function on the NHS App. This will enable parents to have access to their child/children’s complete medical history. It will also enable parents to book appointments for their children and be signposted through artificial intelligence to advice for urgent and non-urgent medical questions.
Sickness to prevention will see a greater emphasis on ensuring children develop and maintain healthy habits throughout their childhood and into adulthood. Children turning 16 years old or younger this year will never legally be sold tobacco, and we intend to strengthen the existing ban on smoking in public places to reduce the harms of passive smoking to children. All children will see less junk food advertising and will be given healthy nutritious food in schools.
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 implement benchmarking measures to ensure access to care for people with (a) respiratory conditions and (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England continues to focus on ensuring that respiratory data is readily available to all regions and systems and to ensuring that there is consistency of data, definitions, and metrics to enable meaningful comparison, monitoring of progress, and to identify population needs.
Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) works with professional bodies, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and clinicians to define and co-produce evidence-informed, best-practice clinical pathways and uses data to identify unwarranted operational or clinical variation. It provides data for continuous improvement via the Model Health System and bespoke data packs. Further information on GIRFT’s respiratory best practice guidance is available at the following link:
https://gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/medical_specialties/respiratory/
NHS England has established a national respiratory dashboard on the new Federated Data Platform which provides analysis and insight for the National Health Service on a growing range of treatment and outcome measures for respiratory disease. This includes bringing in data from the National Respiratory Audit Programme, a continuous audit of respiratory care co-funded by NHS England which aims to improve the quality of the care, services, and clinical outcomes for patients with respiratory disease across England and Wales. The audit is provided by the Royal College of Physicians and further information can be found on its website, at the following link:
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, whether his Department has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the industrial strategy on increasing the availability of clinical trials for young people with cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including young people with cancer, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.
The Department is working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of the medicines and therapies of the future, including for cancer.
Through the Life Sciences Sector Plan, the Government has committed to improving the speed and capacity of commercial clinical research, including trials for young people with cancer. This is supported by commitments to invest at scale in discovery science and maximise the United Kingdom’s translational research capacities, accelerating the development of new medicines and technologies, and getting innovative treatments to patients more efficiently.
Each action in the Life Sciences Sector Plan includes metrics through which performance can be measured. An annual Implementation Update will transparently summarise progress against both the overarching targets as well as on an action-by-action basis.
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 make it his policy to increase the amount of money available to people using the Healthy Start scheme, in the context of increases in the cost of (a) fruit, (b) 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 and 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.