Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with GPs on booking appointments online.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In February 2025, as part of the annual contract negotiations, the Department consulted with the General Practitioners Committee England, the representative body for general practitioners (GPs). During these discussions, the General Practitioners Committee England agreed to make online booking a contractual obligation for all practices.
From 1 October 2025, all general practices have been contractually required to offer contact online with their GP during core hours, from 08:00 to 18:30, including to request appointments, bringing online access in line with walk-in and telephone services.
In support of practices working to meet this requirement, NHS England and integrated care boards have provided assistance where required. The Department is committed to engaging with GPs and other stakeholders to make sure these targets are both achievable and reflective of local population needs, as well as to address any barriers to delivery
We are reversing decades of plummeting patient satisfaction. Over 73% of patients now say that it is easy to contact their practice, which is up 13 percentage points since the election.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2025 to written question 79819, what estimate he has made of the cost of establishing a new Neighbourhood Health Centre.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to deliver 250 neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. This will deliver NHCs through a mixture of refurbishments, to expand and improve sites over the next three years, and new-build sites opening in the medium term.
The first 120 NHCs are due to be operational by 2030 and will be delivered through public private partnerships and public capital. This includes refurbishments to the Alfred Barrow Health Centre in Barrow-in-Furness, the Stockland Green and Summerfield Primary Care Centres in Birmingham, the Jubilee Gardens Centre in Ealing.
Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, targeting places where healthy life expectancy is lowest and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.
Integrated care boards and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for the 250 NHCs to be delivered through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. They have been commissioned to produce five-year strategy and delivery plans, including plans for neighbourhood health.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the locations are of the NHS Neighbourhood Health Centres announced at the Autumn Budget 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to deliver 250 neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. This will deliver NHCs through a mixture of refurbishments, to expand and improve sites over the next three years, and new-build sites opening in the medium term.
The first 120 NHCs are due to be operational by 2030 and will be delivered through public private partnerships and public capital. This includes refurbishments to the Alfred Barrow Health Centre in Barrow-in-Furness, the Stockland Green and Summerfield Primary Care Centres in Birmingham, the Jubilee Gardens Centre in Ealing.
Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, targeting places where healthy life expectancy is lowest and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.
Integrated care boards and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for the 250 NHCs to be delivered through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. They have been commissioned to produce five-year strategy and delivery plans, including plans for neighbourhood health.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 11 September 2025 to Written Question 73770, how many neighbourhoods he expects each ICB to designate.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neighbourhoods are natural communities that are recognisable by local residents. Typically, neighbourhoods will have populations of approximately 50,000 people, but coherent geography is more important for defining neighbourhoods than the population size. The numbers of neighbourhoods designated in each integrated care board (ICB) geography will be defined locally by ICBs and their system partners. We will share further guidance to provide greater clarity and consistency for systems in developing and scaling neighbourhood health.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of routine blood tests in England administered in a GP surgery.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data regarding the proportion of routine blood tests administered in England in a general practice.
Local enhanced services, such as blood tests, are negotiated and agreed locally, and are commissioned by integrated care boards to fit the needs of the local population. General practices can choose whether or not they would like to participate in directly providing these services. These services can vary in scope and funding across the country.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2025 to written question 79819, how many Neighbourhood Health Centres each ICB will be able to allocate.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to deliver 250 neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. This will deliver NHCs through a mixture of refurbishments, to expand and improve sites over the next three years, and new-build sites opening in the medium term.
The first 120 NHCs are due to be operational by 2030 and will be delivered through public private partnerships and public capital. This includes refurbishments to the Alfred Barrow Health Centre in Barrow-in-Furness, the Stockland Green and Summerfield Primary Care Centres in Birmingham, the Jubilee Gardens Centre in Ealing.
Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, targeting places where healthy life expectancy is lowest and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.
Integrated care boards and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for the 250 NHCs to be delivered through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. They have been commissioned to produce five-year strategy and delivery plans, including plans for neighbourhood health.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the creation of fake Digital IDs.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK’s digital ID scheme will be built to the highest security standards, following National Cyber Security Centre guidance.
To help guard against fake digital IDs, we propose that any checking of such IDs will be done via a robust digital process. For example, we do not think people should be able to ‘flash’ their digital ID on their phone screen.
This will help ensure a digital ID has not been faked, tampered with or revoked.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make additional funding available to open GP surgeries in areas designated for New Towns.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In May, we announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (UMF) to deliver upgrades to a thousand general practice (GP) surgeries across England this financial year. Building on this, the Government has committed £426 million of UMF funding over the next four years to continue upgrading the GP estate and to support refurbishing the existing estate to deliver neighbourhood health centres over this Parliament as part of the 10-Year Health Plan commitment.
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning, including planning, securing, and monitoring GP services, within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. The National Health Service has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient medical services, including GPs, in each local area. It should take account of population growth and demographic changes.
Whilst we have big ambitions to further boost house building, we recognise the challenges that significant housing and population growth can place on primary care infrastructure. The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government to determine how developer contributions from new housing developments can be better used towards local health services and infrastructure, including for new towns.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2025 to written question 79814, if he will publish minimum service expectations for rural communities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As noted in the answer of 16 October 2025 to Question 79814, we expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. We will share further guidance to support systems, including those in rural areas, to shift to a Neighbourhood Health Service.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide a list of new GP surgeries which have opened in the last decade in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data provided shows the number of general practices (GPs) that opened, at 74, and that closed, at 15, between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2026 in England.
If a practice ceases to be a main practice and becomes a branch practice of another, this will count as a “closure” in this data, while in reality GP provision at the site may well have continued under the new head practice.
Practices close for a variety of reasons, including mergers or retirement, and so closure does not necessarily indicate a reduction in the provision of services. When a practice does close, patients are informed of the closure and advised to register at another local practice of their choice within their area. Commissioners are accountable for ensuring that patients have access to a GP. In the event of a closure, commissioners will assess the need for a replacement provider before transferring patients to alternative practices.
The table attached shows a list of new GP surgeries which have opened in the last decade in England.