Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 the Secretary of State for Defence on (a) medical and (b) dental healthcare provision for serving military personnel.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt. Hon. friends, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Secretary of State for Defence, are united in their commitment to ensuring serving military personnel receive excellent health services through the Defence Medical Service working in partnership with the National Health Service.
The Defence Medical Services provide primary healthcare for serving personnel. Secondary care for Armed Forces personnel is provided by the NHS in England or by the devolved administrations outside of England, working with the Defence Medical Services to ensure that specific defence requirements are met.
All serving personnel will have a Defence Health Record which records their healthcare through their military service, whether provided by the Defence Medical Services or the NHS. The principles that underpin the handling of such sensitive records are patient privacy, confidentiality, integrity, and availability. There is an existing process for the transfer of healthcare information to the NHS when people leave the Armed Forces. Serving personnel are provided with a medical care summary and a patient’s full Defence Health Record can be provided upon request from their NHS general practitioner.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Written Ministerial Statement of 22 May 2025 on NHS Workforce, HCWS663, which areas of spending have been reduced in order to fund these pay uplifts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As the Written Ministerial Statement sets out, the Government has had to make difficult decisions to afford the pay award.
Areas of spending where we have made, or plan to make, reductions include administration budgets, bank and agency spend, and the Department and NHS England’s central programmes, including communications and campaigns. Additionally, a change to the personal injury discount rate has also led to a reduction in the forecast for clinical negligence.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2025 to Question 51904 on Prisoners: Gender Recognition, how many of the prisoners with a Gender Recognition Certificate are housed in the correct prison facility for their biological sex.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The latest published data (a snapshot from 31 March 2024) shows that there were 10 prisoners known to have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). The full data report can be viewed here: HMPPS Offender Equalities Report 2023/24 - GOV.UK.
Because the number of prisoners who hold a GRC is so low, we are unable to provide further information beyond the total figure (including other personal characteristics and location) as this risks disclosing which individuals hold a GRC, which is an offence under Section 22 of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2025 to Question 51904 on Prisoners: Gender Recognition, how many of the prisoners with a Gender Recognition Certificate are biological (a) males and (b) females.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The latest published data (a snapshot from 31 March 2024) shows that there were 10 prisoners known to have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). The full data report can be viewed here: HMPPS Offender Equalities Report 2023/24 - GOV.UK.
Because the number of prisoners who hold a GRC is so low, we are unable to provide further information beyond the total figure (including other personal characteristics and location) as this risks disclosing which individuals hold a GRC, which is an offence under Section 22 of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support access to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in (a) schools and (b) healthcare facilities in low and middle-income countries.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain committed to work in partnership with governments to strengthen the systems to improve water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools and health care facilities in low and lower-middle income countries. Our WASH Systems for Health Programme works with five district health teams in Sierra Leone to maintain WASH services in health care facilities, to prevent infection and protect health workers. Globally, we work with partners including the World Bank, UNICEF and WHO to provide data on WASH services in schools and health care facilities to support governments prioritising, planning and mobilising finance to close the service gaps.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has plans to increase the level of funding available for water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to action on Global Health, including water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as part of our development partnerships. Current UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend on WASH totalled £37 million in 2023, and we continue to support WASH through our multilateral spend, estimated to have been approximately £79 million in 2022.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2025 to Question 56305 on the Strategic Defence Review, if he will provide the names of the (a) industry, (b) media, (c) trade associations and (d) think tanks who were offered access to the Strategic Defence Review before 5pm on 2 June 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
For the launch of the Strategic Defence Review, the Government offered embargoed briefings to our people and senior defence leaders, plus certain Parliamentarians, trade unions, businesses, allies and media. This was broadly consistent with the approach for previous defence reviews.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2025 to Question 56305 on the Strategic Defence Review, if he will publish the names of people offered access to the Strategic Defence Review before 5pm on 2 June 2025; and when that access was for each person.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
For the launch of the Strategic Defence Review, the Government offered embargoed briefings to our people and senior defence leaders, plus certain Parliamentarians, trade unions, businesses, allies and media. This was broadly consistent with the approach for previous defence reviews.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of average cost per activity under the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders service, in the context of value-for-money references during the Urgent Question on the NHS Volunteer and Care service on 19 May 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme was first established as part of the COVID-19 response and then adapted to respond to other organisational pressures. However, a model that worked well in a national crisis is no longer the most cost-effective way of facilitating the important contribution of our much-valued volunteers, and NHS England has recently taken the decision to close the programme.
The following table shows the cost to the public purse of the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme, for 2023/24 and 2024/25:
Financial year | Total |
2023/24 | £6,360,598 |
2024/25 | £4,330,652 |
Note: NHS England is awaiting final invoices for 2024/25 so this figure may change, although the total cost for 2024/25 is expected to be no more than £4,330,652, excluding VAT.
The monthly and quarterly breakdown of costs varies based on invoicing schedules rather than by use of the programme, and therefore only annual figures have been provided. The average cost per task for 2024/25 was £40.74, based on the estimated programme cost of £4,330,652 in 2024/25 and delivery of 106,297 completed tasks, as per figures provided by the Royal Voluntary Service.
Providing a volunteer-based programme will always incur costs as there is a need to provide a supportive infrastructure including recruitment and management of volunteers, appropriate safeguarding support, the digital infrastructure and overall management of the scheme, as well as practical support for volunteers such as payment of expenses. However, the current cost per task is not considered value for money.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse was of the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders service in each (a) month, (b) quarter and (c) year since January 2023.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme was first established as part of the COVID-19 response and then adapted to respond to other organisational pressures. However, a model that worked well in a national crisis is no longer the most cost-effective way of facilitating the important contribution of our much-valued volunteers, and NHS England has recently taken the decision to close the programme.
The following table shows the cost to the public purse of the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme, for 2023/24 and 2024/25:
Financial year | Total |
2023/24 | £6,360,598 |
2024/25 | £4,330,652 |
Note: NHS England is awaiting final invoices for 2024/25 so this figure may change, although the total cost for 2024/25 is expected to be no more than £4,330,652, excluding VAT.
The monthly and quarterly breakdown of costs varies based on invoicing schedules rather than by use of the programme, and therefore only annual figures have been provided. The average cost per task for 2024/25 was £40.74, based on the estimated programme cost of £4,330,652 in 2024/25 and delivery of 106,297 completed tasks, as per figures provided by the Royal Voluntary Service.
Providing a volunteer-based programme will always incur costs as there is a need to provide a supportive infrastructure including recruitment and management of volunteers, appropriate safeguarding support, the digital infrastructure and overall management of the scheme, as well as practical support for volunteers such as payment of expenses. However, the current cost per task is not considered value for money.