Caroline Johnson

The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage are hourly rates. Pensioners do not receive their income at an hourly rate. As such, the requested information is not available.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for the collection, manufacture, and supply of blood and blood products to National Health Service hospitals.

The Department provided seed funding in 2023 to support NHSBT to increase its collection capacity. New donor centres will open in Brixton and Brighton in 2025 to increase and diversify the donor base.

Since July 2024, NHSBT has been responding to an Amber Alert for O group blood. NHSBT is now meeting the demand for blood and blood products, thanks to increased donations and better management of stock.

With respect to blood products, the Department, in conjunction with NHSBT and NHS England, has led a programme to increase self-sufficiency and resilience in life-saving plasma-based medicines, in response to the lifting of the ban on United Kingdom donor plasma in 2021. The first of these medicines will be given to NHS patients in early 2025.

NHSBT runs campaigns throughout the year, partners with trusted brands, and funds community groups to promote both donation of blood and blood products, stem cells, and organs.

The following table shows the total number and rate of tuberculosis (TB) notifications in England, each year from 2012 to 2024:

Notes:

1. for 2023, the provisional data rate is awaited; and
2. for 2024, data is only available up to September.

Data on rates of TB in adults alone is not published. In line with the reporting to the World Health Organisation, children are defined as those aged under 15 years old. The following table shows the number and rate of TB notifications in children in England from 2012 to 2022:

Provisional data is not subdivided by age, hence the data in the tables is presented up to 2022, where age specific rates are available. TB rates in children have been declining since 2012 and remained stable at 1.3 per 100,000 in 2021 and 2022.

TB data for England is published by the UK Health Security Agency, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tuberculosis-in-england-2023-report-data-up-to-end-of-2022

Provisional TB data for England is published quarterly, with the latest quarterly reports available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tuberculosis-in-england-national-quarterly-reports

Detailed data for 2023 will be published in the TB in England 2023 annual report.

As of 17 November 2024, 68.7% of those aged 65 years old and over had been vaccinated for influenza, whist 54.2% had been vaccinated for COVID-19.

The respiratory syncytial virus adult vaccination programme in England began on 1 September 2024, however only data for the catch-up cohort, adults aged 75 to 79 years old before the programme start date, has been published. As of 30 September, 22.6% of the catch-up cohort had been vaccinated. Further data will be published in due course.

The most recent data from the Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study, a joint study carried out by the Office for National Statistics and the UK Health Security Agency, shows that, for the period between 6 February 2024 and 7 March 2024, an estimated 1.8 million people across all ages, or 3.3% of the population, in private households in England, reported experiencing long COVID symptoms more than four weeks after a COVID-19 infection.

The data shows that for the same period, an estimated 111,816 or 1% of those aged between three and 17 years old, in private households in England and Scotland, reported experiencing long COVID symptoms more than four weeks after a COVID-19 infection.

The data is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/datasets/

This Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the NHS has strong and effective leadership in place, and we are committed to introducing professional standards for, and regulation of NHS managers. On 26 November 2024 we published a consultation seeking views from stakeholders on options for regulating NHS managers. The consultation will close on 18 February 2025. We will carefully consider responses to the consultation and set out next steps in due course.

Integrated care boards are rolling out the Perinatal Pelvic Health Services (PPHS) across England, to reduce the rates of perineal tears and improve outcomes for women.

A national service specification was published in October 2023 that set out the expected standards of care for prevention, identification, and access to physiotherapy for pelvic health issues during pregnancy and at least one year after birth. This includes the implementation of the Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injuries (OASI) care bundle to reduce perineal injury in childbirth, which is a significant factor for pelvic health problems. This included perineal training and a new best practice framework for healthcare professionals, covering prevention and care under the OASI pathway. Further information on the service specification is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/PRN00147-Service-specification-perinatal-pelvic-health-services.pdf

PPHS’ also work with maternity and physiotherapy services to provide quality information about the risk of developing pelvic health problems, key signs of pelvic floor dysfunction, and preventative measures like pelvic floor exercises.

The Department does not hold the information requested.

Ensuring the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a top priority for the Government, and the Department continuously reviews and updates our pandemic preparedness to reflect the latest scientific information, lessons learned from exercises, and our response to previous emergencies.

The Department is working with NHS England, the UK Health Security Agency, and its partners across the health and care system to maintain a flexible and scalable set of capabilities which can be adapted to respond to any future threats, across all routes of infectious disease transmission. The Department’s approach to pandemic preparedness also takes into account the underlying resilience of the health and care system.

NHS England is an active participant in this work and has made several improvements that will help resilience in a future pandemic, including on the coordination and escalation of a national healthcare response, high consequence infectious disease and infectious disease capacity, and critical care capacity, surge and transfer plans.

In England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with NHS England, the Department, and wider health system partners at the national, regional, and local levels to improve uptake of the routine childhood immunisations and catch-up children who missed out.

The first UKHSA Childhood Immunisation communication campaign, encouraging parents to ensure their child’s vaccinations were up to date, ran from 4 March until mid-April 2024. The most recent campaign ran from 26 August until 4 October 2024.

To raise awareness of potential vaccination benefits and increase awareness of the programmes the UKHSA also provides a comprehensive suite of public facing resources, including information leaflets in multiple languages and accessible formats, for instance easy read, British Sign Language, and braille, and provides comprehensive clinical guidance, including e-learning programmes and training, for healthcare professionals.

Official vaccine coverage estimates for the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine are measured for eligible children at three months and 12 months old, and are published quarterly by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and annually by NHS England. The UKHSA’s quarterly figures and NHS England’s annual figures are available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cover-of-vaccination-evaluated-rapidly-cover-programme-2024-to-2025-quarterly-data

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-immunisation-statistics/england-2023-24

The latest data captures BCG coverage at the age of three months old for children born 1 January to 31 March 2024, and at 12 months old for children born 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023. Measured at three months, coverage in England was 77.4%, and measured at 12 months, it was 84.5%.

It is for individual universities to decide whether they wish to establish a dental school. Before a university, such as the University of Lincoln, can apply to receive Government-funded dental school places, it needs to have met the requirements of the General Dental Council, the Office for Students and obtained “dental authority status” from the Privy Council. The Office for Students has statutory responsibility for allocating dental school places.

We will be working with NHS England to assess the need for more dental trainees in areas such as Lincolnshire, where we know that many people are struggling to find a National Health Service dentist.

Supply of radioisotopes that were in short supply in recent weeks has now returned to normal levels and a Written Ministerial Statement was laid on 26 November 2024 to update Parliament. During the disruption to supply, the Department worked with industry, devolved Governments, the National Health Service, members of the radiopharmaceutical community and regulators to secure fair and equal access across the United Kingdom and ensure that patients with critical needs were given priority.

The following table shows the national mean average ambulance service response times in England, in minutes and broken down by category, in each of the last 24 months:

Source: the data is published by NHS England, and is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/

The National Disease Registration Service in NHS England collects and quality assures data about people with congenital anomalies and rare diseases across the whole of England. The service does not hold data in the relevant form for children.

The following table shows the requested information for fetuses and infants between 2018 and 2021, the period for which complete data is available:

Source: NCARDRS Congenital Anomaly Official Statistics Report, 2021

Notes:

1. Born alive means a baby showing signs of life at birth as recorded by the Office for National Statistics.
2. Stillbirths are pregnancy outcomes after 24 complete weeks’ gestation which result in the baby's death by the time of birth.
3. Terminations are terminations of pregnancy regardless of gestation or civil registration status. Some of the babies shown in this table may have more than one condition, so may not have had a termination for the condition shown.
4. Late miscarriages are pregnancy outcomes between 20 and just under 24 weeks’ gestation which result in the death of the baby.

We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at Autumn Budget. This has enabled a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The Government is also providing at least £600 million of new grant funding for social care in 2025/26, as part of the broader estimated real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of around 3.2%.

The rise will be implemented from April 2025, and the Department will set out further details on allocation of funding for next year in due course, taking employer National Insurance contributions into account. The information requested is not available centrally, as the range of organisations and individuals being asked about have very different contractual relationships with the Department, NHS England, local integrated care boards and National Health Service providers.

The Autumn Budget Statement announced by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 30 October set out that we would continue to deliver the New Hospital Programme by placing it on a more sustainable and deliverable footing.

We expect that the potential impact of Employer National Insurance Contributions to individual schemes in the New Hospital Programme will be covered through the individual Full Business Cases submitted by the trusts, where the final costs will be reviewed through the business case process.

The UK Health Security Agency measures the coverage of vaccines against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The RSV adult vaccination programme in England began on 1 September 2024. Only data for the catch-up cohort, those adults aged 75 to 79 years old before the programme start date, has been published. This publication covers the first full month of the programme, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-protection-report-volume-18-2024/hpr-volume-18-issue-9-news-31-october

During the reporting period, from 1 to 30 September 2024, the total vaccination uptake among the catch-up cohort was 22.6%. Data for the routine cohort, those adults turning 75 years old from the programme start date, will be published in an annual RSV report in due course. NHS England publishes weekly data by region on the RSV vaccines administered, which offers further insight into the progress of the vaccination programme. The weekly data on vaccines administered is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/vaccinations

We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at Autumn Budget, this enabled the SR settlement of £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department of Health and Social Care from 2023-24 outturn to 2025-26.

The Employer National Insurance rise will be implemented April 2025, the Department of health and Social Care will set out further details on allocation of funding for next year in due course.

We do not comment on speculation around hypothetical situations. Any decisions that could be taken on National Health Service budgets for future years will be announced at fiscal events, including the Spending Review.

There is currently no advice on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination for those aged over 80 years old to discuss with stakeholders. The Department accepted the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI is not a stakeholder but the independent expert committee that advises the Government on matters to do with immunisation.

In June 2023, the JCVI advised an RSV immunisation programme for older adults aged 75 years old and above. The committee suggested an initial programme to potentially vaccinate a cohort aged from 75 to 80 years old, and then for those turning 75 years old in subsequent years, and this is the current policy for the programme. In the JCVI’s statement summarising the advice for the RSV programme, the committee stated that an extension to the initial programme would be considered when there is more certainty about protection in the very elderly and the real-world impact of the programme in 75 to 80 year olds.

In line with JCVI advice, RSV vaccination programmes to protect older adults and newborn babies, via maternal vaccination, began on 1 September 2024 in England. The Department will consider any further JCVI advice on who should be offered an RSV immunisation as the committee continues to keep the evidence under review.

As my rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out in the House, papers were shared with my rt. Hon. friend, Alan Milburn, on Privy Council terms. Nothing commercially sensitive was shared during these interactions. We have no plans to share such documentation with other Privy Councillors or hon. Members on Privy Council terms.

It is not unusual to share official documentation when appropriate based on the business need; for example with other Government Departments, NHS England, and other external experts.

As my rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out in the House, papers were shared with my rt. Hon. friend, Alan Milburn, on Privy Council terms. Nothing commercially sensitive was shared during these interactions. We have no plans to share such documentation with other Privy Councillors or hon. Members on Privy Council terms.

It is not unusual to share official documentation when appropriate based on the business need; for example with other Government Departments, NHS England, and other external experts.

As my rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out in the House, papers were shared with my rt. Hon. friend, Alan Milburn, on Privy Council terms. Nothing commercially sensitive was shared during these interactions. We have no plans to share such documentation with other Privy Councillors or hon. Members on Privy Council terms.

It is not unusual to share official documentation when appropriate based on the business need; for example with other Government Departments, NHS England, and other external experts.

The Government is committed to a preventative approach to the public’s health. Keeping people warm and well at home, and improving the quality of new and existing homes, will play an essential part in enabling people to live longer, healthier lives, and reducing pressures on the National Health Service.

In deciding on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the Government had regard to the equality analysis, in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements. The equality analysis was published on 13 September 2024, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/responses-to-freedom-of-information-requests-on-equality-impact-assessments-produced-for-targeting-winter-fuel-payment/dwp-freedom-of-information-response

The NHS is preparing for coming winter pressures as it does each year, and there will be an absolute focus on minimising long waiting times in accident and emergency and supporting patient safety.

We will continue to stand behind vulnerable households this winter. Support includes delivering the £150 Warm Home Discount for low-income households from October, extending the Household Support Fund with £421 million, to ensure local authorities can support vulnerable people and families, and ensuring around 1.3 million households in England and Wales will continue to receive up to £300 in Winter Fuel Payments. Through our commitment to protect the triple lock, over 12 million pensioners will benefit, with many expected to see their State Pension increase by more than £1,000 over the next five years.

The fuel poverty strategy for England, Sustainable warmth: protecting vulnerable households in England, was published in February 2021. The 2021 strategy is currently under review. The Department of Health and Social Care works closely with the Department for Energy and Net Zero to ensure that fuel poor and health vulnerable households are supported.