Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of guidance issued by District Valuer Services on the availability of city centre GP premises.

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

GP premises costs are reimbursed by the NHS. Any increase in charges by the landlord impacts the cost of providing primary care in that locality. The District Valuer Service offers independent advice on appropriate level of market rent, considering the building’s nature, age and condition.

ICBs can make supplementary payments on top of the District Valuer Service’s assessment of new schemes, if appropriate and affordable.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing NHS Pension Scheme members in receipt of pension benefits to choose to revert to legacy scheme benefits if they can evidence financial difficulty.

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

The NHS Pension Scheme is delivered by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). NHSBSA is prioritising the issuance of remediable service statements to cohorts of NHS Pension Scheme members affected by the public service pensions remedy (‘McCloud’) who are most likely to receive higher pension benefits following their benefit choice. A fast-track process to enable members who meet certain criteria to apply to receive a remediable service statement sooner has been in place since late 2023.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what basis the NHS Business Services Authority decided that expected eligibility to make a choice to revert to legacy scheme benefits under the McCloud remedy should not be considered a disclosure event as defined by The Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013.

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

All members of the NHS Pension Scheme who are affected by the McCloud remedy were contacted by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in January 2024 to inform them that they are eligible to make a benefit choice. Further information to enable this choice to be made will be provided to NHS Pension Scheme members by the NHSBSA at the earliest opportunity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made any recent assessment of the security of the supply chain of titanium salicylate.

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

The Department works in partnership with industry, the National Health Service, and the wider health system to assess any potential issues across the medical supply chain. The Department was notified of the discontinuation of metanium nappy rash ointment, which contains titanium salicylate, from September 2024. The supplier has also communicated the discontinuation of this product to healthcare professionals and wholesalers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether retired members of the NHS Pension Scheme who are eligible to make a choice to revert to legacy benefits can present evidence to the NHS Business Services Authority of financial difficulty for the purposes of making a choice to revert to legacy scheme benefits sooner.

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

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) is prioritising the provision of remediable service statements to those cohorts of NHS Pension Scheme members affected by the public service pensions remedy, the McCloud remedy, who are most likely to receive higher pension benefits following their benefit choice.

Affected members do not need to present evidence either to receive a breakdown of information about their choice or to apply to receive a remediable service statement. A fast-track process is in place to which members meeting certain criteria can apply to receive a remediable service statement sooner.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, by what process the NHS Business Services Authority identifies retired members of the NHS Pension Scheme who are in the greatest financial difficulty for the purposes of inviting them to make an immediate choice on whether to revert to legacy scheme benefits sooner.

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

The NHS Business Services Authority has identified NHS Pension Scheme members whose records indicate that they are more likely to have been affected by age discrimination during the McCloud remedy period. Factors considered in making this assessment include members’ transitional protection status and whether they have only claimed 1995 Scheme benefits. These members will be offered their choice as a priority. Other affected groups are being prioritised according to complexity and the likely risk of detriment. Revised delivery timelines will be communicated with affected members at the earliest date possible.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether funding has been allocated for the enabling works for Watford General Hospital.

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

As announced following the review of the New Hospital Programme, Watford General Hospital will be delivered in Wave 2. Enabling works, including the Outline Business Case for the Watford General Hospital scheme, will be taken forward by West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust from 2028/29, or sooner if possible.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making tutoring available to children who are temporarily out of school as a result of moving out of area to seek refuge from domestic violence.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, local authorities must arrange suitable full-time education for children of compulsory school age who would not receive suitable education without such provision. This applies whether the child is on the admission register of a school or not and to whatever type of school they attend.

It is for the local authority, as commissioner, to determine the type of educational provision that is put in place. However, all placements should be suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude, and any special educational needs they may have. Provision should be of good quality and delivered by high quality staff with suitable training, experience and safeguarding checks.

Remote education should not be viewed as an equal alternative to face-to-face learning, and as such the department would only expect it to be used as a last resort when the alternative would be no education. In such cases, remote education can have the benefit of allowing children without a school place to keep on track with their education.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions The Gardens Trust has (a) not provided a timely response to a request for feedback and (b) provided feedback that was in conflict with matters settled in the relevant local plan as a statutory planning consultee in the last three years.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Garden Trust publish data on their work as a statutory consultee as part of their annual general meeting reports. Their 2023/24 Conservation Committee Report, which can be found here, makes clear that in the year to April 2024, they received 1733 statutory consultations. The Department does not collect data on whether feedback from the Garden Trust is in conflict with matters settled in the local plan.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, whether she plans to publish guidance for parish and town councils on how to engage with her Department on shaping the parish council role in local government devolution.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Town and parish councils are the first tier of local government and play a crucial role in community engagement and provide key local services.

The English Devolution White Paper emphasises the value of governance on a community scale and that the government wants to see stronger community arrangements during reorganisation, enhancing how councils engage at a neighbourhood level. At present, there are no plans to publish specific guidance for parish and town councils on how to engage with the Department on shaping their role in local government devolution.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to prophylactics for immunocompromised people for whom vaccines are not effective.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions about what medicines to prescribe are made by the doctor or healthcare professional responsible for that part of the patient’s care, working with their patient to decide on the best course of treatment with the provision of the most clinically appropriate care for the patient always being the primary consideration. Prescribers must always satisfy themselves that the medicines they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed and that they take account of appropriate national guidance on clinical effectiveness, as well as the local commissioning decisions of their respective integrated care boards.

The UK Health Security Agency provides guidance on alternative treatments that are recommended to be available to those that cannot be vaccinated and information regarding prophylactics that should be used for immunosuppressed individuals who are exposed to infections. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has also issued guidance for the National Health Service on the clinical and cost effectiveness of some medicines used for prophylaxis.

Decisions on whether licensed medicines, including those for prophylaxis, should be recommended for routine NHS funding are made independently by NICE, based on the evidence of costs and benefits.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has received notification from the NHS Business Services Authority that they will not be able to meet the 31 March 2025 deadline to provide eligible retired members of the NHS Pension Scheme with remediable service statements.

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

The answer I gave on 31 December 2024 to the Hon. Member for Lewes to Question 20389 set out that the Department does not expect that the majority of affected retired members will receive their remediable service statement until after April 2025. It also confirmed that the NHS Business Services Authority will communicate revised delivery timelines for remediable service statements once these are confirmed.

The Department has robust governance arrangements in place to oversee the NHS Business Services Authority’s implementation of the remedy for affected NHS Pension Scheme members. The NHS Business Services Authority regularly reports on remediable service statement delivery plans and progress as part of these arrangements.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has received representations about extending the Adoption and special guardianship support fund to ensure it covers 12 months of therapeutic support.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

No representations have been received on this issue. Under the current guidelines for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund, applications for therapeutic support can already be submitted for up to a 12 month period. This has allowed children who start therapy at different points within the financial year to continue to receive it for 12 months. Although business planning decisions for next financial year have not yet been finalised, applications for the fund with therapy starting in this financial year are still being accepted and processed under business as usual.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much his Department spent on redesigning the logo for Great British Energy in 2025.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Great British Energy’s branding and logo were developed in-house with government resources.

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