Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if guidance is being updated to mandate the use of technology systems to support the delivery of Jess’s Rule across the NHS.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Jess’s Rule was published in September 2024 and rolled out across England as formal clinical guidance, developed with the Royal College of General Practitioners and NHS England. It supports and strengthens general practitioners’ clinical judgement when a patient returns three or more times with worsening symptoms or without a substantiated diagnosis.

Through the Frontline Digitisation programme, NHS England has provided £2 billion to National Health Service trusts to ensure trusts meet a core level of digitisation and have electronic patient records (EPRs) in place. EPR systems allow clinicians access to critical, real-time health related information, which supports the frontline to better treat and support patients. Following Cambridge University Hospitals' deployment of its EPR, automatic EPR alerts in 2018/19 saved at least 64 lives due to sepsis alerts improving the time it took to administer antibiotics.

We will not be updating Jess’s Rule to mandate the use of technology systems, as any supporting tools are for local services to decide, in line with existing governance arrangements. We will continue to keep Jess’s Rule under review, including the case for any future updates to national guidance.

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 rollout of Jess’s Rule across the NHS; and if he will set out how technology is being used to make sure problems in care are being spotted and acted upon immediately.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Jess’s Rule was published in September 2024 and rolled out across England as formal clinical guidance, developed with the Royal College of General Practitioners and NHS England. It supports and strengthens general practitioners’ clinical judgement when a patient returns three or more times with worsening symptoms or without a substantiated diagnosis.

Through the Frontline Digitisation programme, NHS England has provided £2 billion to National Health Service trusts to ensure trusts meet a core level of digitisation and have electronic patient records (EPRs) in place. EPR systems allow clinicians access to critical, real-time health related information, which supports the frontline to better treat and support patients. Following Cambridge University Hospitals' deployment of its EPR, automatic EPR alerts in 2018/19 saved at least 64 lives due to sepsis alerts improving the time it took to administer antibiotics.

We will not be updating Jess’s Rule to mandate the use of technology systems, as any supporting tools are for local services to decide, in line with existing governance arrangements. We will continue to keep Jess’s Rule under review, including the case for any future updates to national guidance.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding is being allocated to upgrade legacy IT systems in a) the NHS b) individual integrated care boards and c) local authorities responsible for delivering adult social care services.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England invests approximately £1 billion per year centrally to operate, support, and upgrade nationally managed technology systems, including the NHS App and core data services.

In addition, over the current Spending Review period, NHS England plans to invest approximately £2 billion with care provider organisations through the Frontline Productivity Programme, supporting the use of technology to improve productivity and make better use of existing digital infrastructure. This includes targeted investment where providers choose to converge on common platforms to support local system working and the priorities of the 10‑Year Health Plan.

Funding allocations for technology investment by individual integrated care boards and local systems will be determined by NHS England regions and systems in due course, in line with local priorities and national guidance.

We have no funding allocated specifically to local authorities to update their legacy social care systems, and responsibility for procuring and updating their own systems lies with them.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Plastic Packaging Tax on small and medium sized businesses.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Plastic Packaging Tax was introduced in April 2022 under the previous government and provides an incentive for businesses to use recycled plastic in packaging, thereby supporting increased recycling and reducing plastic waste.

The tax applies to businesses that manufacture or import 10 tonnes or more of plastic packaging within a 12-month period, meaning only businesses above this threshold are within scope.

HMRC are currently undertaking an evaluation of the tax which aims to assess the tax’s effectiveness, including impacts on businesses, and is set to conclude in 2026. The government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will consider the potential merits of more closely linking the Extended Producer Responsibility system to business profitability instead of packaging volume.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government has no plans to link Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) fees to business profitability. Turnover and packaging weight together determine whether a business has pEPR responsibilities, with a de-minimis threshold to reduce the burden on smaller businesses.

pEPR is based on the principle that producers meet the cost of managing the household packaging they place on the UK market when it becomes waste, creating a direct incentive to reduce unnecessary packaging and use packaging that is easier to recycle. Business profitability does not reflect the amount, type, or recyclability of the packaging supplied, or the costs that the packaging creates for local authority waste management services.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what further her engagement her Department will have with the campaigning group, Excluded UK.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

This government is committed to learning lessons from the Covid-19 schemes. Formal evaluations of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) have been published. HM Treasury has participated in Module 9 hearings of the Covid-19 Inquiry, which examined the economic response to the pandemic.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the context of financial support for businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, what evidence her Department used to classify small limited company directors as a fraud risk.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Decisions on eligibility for COVID-19 financial support schemes were taken by the previous government. The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) supported self-employed individuals whose incomes were adversely affected by COVID-19. The scheme was based on HMRC's Income Tax Self-Assessment system, through which people submit their tax returns, to target support as much as possible on those who needed it most, but also to minimise the risk of error and fraud.

Found: Shaun Davies (Labour, Telford) (added 21 Oct 2024; removed 27 Oct 2025) 19 of 31 (61.3%) Mr Connor Rand

Found: Bradley, in the Chair Paul Kohler Ben Maguire Robbie Moore Margaret Mullane Chris Murray Connor Rand