Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS Pensions on the increase in the length of processing time when pensioners are able to start receiving their award.

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

The Department regularly meets with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), which administers the NHS Pension Scheme, to discuss performance levels in the scheme. These talks include the current increase in processing times for first pension payments.

To address the delays, the NHSBSA is re-allocating resources, recruiting and training new staff, and updating communications to members and employers to allow them to plan accordingly. The Department is supporting the NHSBSA to take all steps necessary to recover performance so that applications can be processed within the 30-day target.

The NHSBSA is committed to providing the best service possible to retiring and retired National Health Service staff, and will keep members updated.

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 the total staff remuneration paid through NHS Professionals Bank staff contracts in the last 12 months.

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

Bank staffing allows the National Health Service to meet workforce demand fluctuations without the need to increase capacity above that which is required on a sustained basis. NHS Professionals pay bank members in accordance with rates set by its NHS clients. The total staff remuneration paid through NHS Professionals’ bank staff contracts for 2024/25, the year ending March 2025, was approximately £1.1 billion.

This information is publicly available as part of NHS Professionals’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ending 31 March 2025, at the following link:

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06704614/filing-history

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that victims of high value Authorised Push Payment fraud are adequately protected under the mandatory reimbursement scheme.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this appalling crime. To protect consumers, under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has introduced a mandatory reimbursement regime for Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams taking place over the Faster Payment system. This came into force on 7 October 2024.

The PSR’s rules require in scope Payment Service Providers (PSP’s) to reimburse victims of APP scams which take place over the Faster Payments System up to the value of £85,000, with responsibility split equally between the sending and receiving firms. The PSR has stated that it expects the £85,000 limit will cover 99% of claims. APP scams which take place over the CHAPS payment system are also in scope of reimbursement.

The PSR operates independently of the Government and has statutory responsibility for payment systems regulation. The PSR monitors compliance closely and has powers to take action where firms fall short of their obligations.

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 the availability of pharmacy provision in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight area.

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

Local authorities are required, by statute, to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served by local pharmacies and must keep these assessments under review. Integrated care boards (ICBs) give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from the new contractors. Contractors can also apply to open a new pharmacy to offer benefits to patients that were not foreseen by the PNA.

If there is a need for a new local pharmacy to open and no contractors apply to open a pharmacy and fill the gap, an ICB can commission a new pharmacy to open outside of the market entry processes and fund the contract from the ICB’s budgets. In some rural areas where a pharmacy may not be viable, local GP practices are permitted to dispense medicines to their patients. In addition, patients can choose to access medicines through any of the distance selling pharmacies that are required to deliver medicines they dispense free of charge and also provide other pharmaceutical services remotely.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the guaranteed-hours provisions in the Employment Rights Bill on (a) levels of self-employment (b) the ratio of fixed-term contracts to permanent contracts.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government has published its Impact Assessment and Economic Analysis for the Employment Rights Bill.

As stated, the guaranteed hours provisions aim to reduce the risk of workers being pushed into casual employment, increase predictability for workers with variable hours, and still allow those who prefer zero-hours contracts to keep them.

The Bill contains provisions to tackle avoidance mechanisms that might be used by employers to avoid the new rights, for example use of fixed-term contracts where work is ongoing. Whether an individual is self-employed or a worker is not a choice but depends on the reality of the relationship.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the differences are in the (a) remit and (b) functions of the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit and its predecessor body the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As set out to Parliament in the AI White Paper consultation response published by the previous government, the remit of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) did not change as a result of its rebrand into the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA).

However, the functions of CDEI did evolve over time in response to changes in the data and AI landscape between its establishment in 2018 and its role being split across different parts of DSIT in January 2025.

The RTA's key areas are now embedded across DSIT, including in the newly expanded Government Digital Service, the AI Opportunities Unit and the Digital Inclusion team.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, which functions of the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit have transferred to (a) the Government Digital Service, (b) other parts of his Department and (c) any other government department.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As announced in January 2025, the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit's key areas are now embedded across DSIT as follows:

• Public sector facing work on responsible use of AI & data, algorithmic transparency and privacy-enhancing technologies joined the expanded Government Digital Service, sitting alongside closely related work from the former Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) data ethics team.
• Broader economy-facing initiatives on the AI Assurance ecosystem and the Manchester Prize moved to form part of the AI Opportunities Unit.
• Public attitudes and insights team moved to the Digital Inclusion team within DSIT.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timetable is for (a) reviewing and (b) publishing her assessment of Southern Water’s Water Resources Management Plan 24.

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

We are currently reviewing Southern Water’s draft Water Resources Management Plan with water regulators. The Secretary of State will make a decision on the next steps is due course.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of varying the reference period for the guaranteed-hours provisions in the Employment Rights Bill for sectors with particularly high degrees of seasonality.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

We expect the initial reference period to be 12 weeks long. The frequency and length of subsequent reference periods will be subject to consultation and set out in regulations.

We are conscious of the importance of seasonal workers and industries. There will be several ways for employers to maintain seasonal flexibility in line with the Bill. One is that the Bill allows employers to use fixed-term contracts to manage their workforce around the demand they expect.

We will consult publicly on the detail of the guaranteed hours measures.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of claimants who receive payments (a) monthly, (b) weekly, (c) fortnightly and (d) at any other frequency for each benefit administered by his Department.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to funding levels on the language hubs programme.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government is continuing to fund the National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE). NCLE is delivering a new model of support for schools that can potentially reach a greater number of schools nationally. The new programme, which replaces Language Hubs, has national reach as it is not constrained by geography or limited by the number of schools it can support.

NCLE launched Language Educators Online (LEO) on 16 September 2025. LEO provides free continuous professional development to all language teachers in England. This is supported by 14 Strategic Learning Networks and locally responsive National Priority Projects. It is research-informed, helping teachers collaborate and tackle key challenges in language education. Language teachers can join the NCLE Language Network in their area and sign up to LEO to keep up to date with current and evolving teaching practice in language education.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason his Department has reduced funding for the language hubs programme.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government is continuing to fund the National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE). NCLE is delivering a new model of support for schools that can potentially reach a greater number of schools nationally. The new programme, which replaces Language Hubs, has national reach as it is not constrained by geography or limited by the number of schools it can support.

NCLE launched Language Educators Online (LEO) on 16 September 2025. LEO provides free continuous professional development to all language teachers in England. This is supported by 14 Strategic Learning Networks and locally responsive National Priority Projects. It is research-informed, helping teachers collaborate and tackle key challenges in language education. Language teachers can join the NCLE Language Network in their area and sign up to LEO to keep up to date with current and evolving teaching practice in language education.

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 the provision of step-down care in East Hampshire constituency.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

This Government is committed to tackling delayed discharges to free up hospital beds, ensure people do not spend longer than necessary in hospital and, where safe and supported to do so, can recover well at home. To support this, we have provided around £9billion through the Better Care Fund, including £179million in Hampshire.

In September, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust reported step-down intermediate care capacity as the primary reason of delay for 6% of patients with delayed discharge and at least a 7-day length of stay. For Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust this was 13%, both lower than the England average of 14%.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many full time equivalent staff there were at each grade (a) in the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation at the end of the 2022-23 financial year, (b) in the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit at the end of the 2023-24 financial year, (c) in the Government Digital Service in functions equivalent to those of the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit, at the most recent date for which data is available and (d) elsewhere in her Department in functions equivalent to those of the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit, at the most recent date for which data is available.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

1. Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI)
   At the end of the 2022–23 financial year, the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation was still part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). As such, staffing data for this period falls outside the remit of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
2. Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTAU)
   At the end of the 2023–24 financial year, the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit had approximately 32.9 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff.
3. Government Digital Service (GDS)
   The Responsible Technology Adoption Unit does not sit within the Government Digital Service. There is no direct equivalence between RTAU functions and those currently delivered by GDS.
4. Elsewhere in DSIT – Equivalent Functions
   Following a departmental restructure, the RTAU was disbanded as a distinct directorate. Its functions were integrated into other DSIT policy teams.

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 the average cost per night of care (a) in an acute hospital, (b) in a community hospital and (c) at home with visiting nursing support (i) for NHS England, (ii) in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB area and (iii) in the Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust area.

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

NHS England don’t routinely collect expenditure data against the categories requested but we do for the following categories in the table below.

For (a) and (b) rather than share data by acute or community ‘hospital’, we have broken this down by acute or community ‘trust’ for the national and integrated care board (ICB) level requests, except for Portsmouth Hospital University NHS Trust which is acute only.

We are not able to provide the costs of (c), at home with visiting nurse support as we don’t collect this level of cost information.

The costs we have provided are fully absorbed, i.e. they include not only the medical care of the patients but also all other costs incurred in the trusts. The costs are taken from the National Cost Collection for 2023/24, the latest year for which data is currently available. This is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2023-24-national-cost-collection-data-publication/

To derive the average cost per bed day we have divided the total cost by the total length of stay for all Admitted Patient Care delivered in:

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the role of SIM farms in facilitating authorised push payment fraud; and what steps her Department is taking to help tackle their misuse.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Home Office recognises the serious role SIM farms play in enabling authorised push payment (APP) fraud, allowing criminals to send mass scam messages and impersonate trusted organisations.

Following extensive consultation, the Government is introducing a new offence in the Crime and Policing Bill to ban the possession and supply of SIM farms without a legitimate reason. This will disrupt fraud operations and protect the public, while safeguarding lawful uses such as broadcasting and network maintenance.

This measure is aimed at reducing fraud and strengthening enforcement against those who exploit technology to target victims.

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 trends of mental health disorders in children and young people in England compared to other comparator countries.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Whilst there has not been a formal assessment of the trends in children and young people’s mental health problems in England compared to other countries, work continues with partners across the United Kingdom and internationally on a range of issues relating to mental health, including mental health disorders in children and young people.

Through resources such as the Global Burden of Disease study, we closely monitor international policy developments in mental health to harness insights. For example, the six new 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres being piloted across England are inspired by the community model of mental health care originally pioneered in Trieste, Italy.

Estimates of the rates and trends in the prevalence of adults’ and children and young people’s mental health problems are reported in the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey series and the Mental Health of Children and Young People Survey series.

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 assessment of the potential merits of working with comparator countries to understand causal factors in trends of mental health disorders in children and young people.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Whilst there has not been a formal assessment of the trends in children and young people’s mental health problems in England compared to other countries, work continues with partners across the United Kingdom and internationally on a range of issues relating to mental health, including mental health disorders in children and young people.

Through resources such as the Global Burden of Disease study, we closely monitor international policy developments in mental health to harness insights. For example, the six new 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres being piloted across England are inspired by the community model of mental health care originally pioneered in Trieste, Italy.

Estimates of the rates and trends in the prevalence of adults’ and children and young people’s mental health problems are reported in the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey series and the Mental Health of Children and Young People Survey series.

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 trend of mental health disorders in children and young people in England in relation to the trend in poor mental health in adults.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Whilst there has not been a formal assessment of the trends in children and young people’s mental health problems in England compared to other countries, work continues with partners across the United Kingdom and internationally on a range of issues relating to mental health, including mental health disorders in children and young people.

Through resources such as the Global Burden of Disease study, we closely monitor international policy developments in mental health to harness insights. For example, the six new 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres being piloted across England are inspired by the community model of mental health care originally pioneered in Trieste, Italy.

Estimates of the rates and trends in the prevalence of adults’ and children and young people’s mental health problems are reported in the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey series and the Mental Health of Children and Young People Survey series.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Mr Bayo Alaba; Damian Hinds; Dr Rupa

Found: served by HSDC, to inform them of the FE Commissioner’s findings: • Alan Mak MP – Havant • Damian Hinds