Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) one off costs and (b) net change in annual running costs will there be from moving Healthwatch into ICBs, local authorities and her department.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

During the third reading debate on the Health Bill in the House of Commons, the Minister of State for Secondary Care committed to work closely with colleagues in both Houses in order to review the Healthwatch provisions and ensure that our approach sufficiently empowers and devolves to local populations. We will provide further updates in due course once that work is complete, and any changes to the plans are made.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an estimate of the financial impact of moving the Health Services Safety Investigation Body functions into the Care Quality Commission, beyond the recurrent pay savings and the transition costs for digital, data and technology identified in the ‘Health Bill: patient safety measures - impact assessments’.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the impact assessment published alongside the Health Bill, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-bill-patient-safety-measures-impact-assessments

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many FTE positions at each grade are budgeted for (a) this and (b) next year in the Patient Experience Directorate.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is establishing a Patient Experience Directorate as part of its commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan to give patient voice a greater profile within a reformed Department. The directorate's detailed organisational design, including staffing numbers and grading, is still being developed. Consequently, information on the number of full-time equivalent posts at each grade for this year and next year is not currently available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her statement of 15 September on the Thirlwall Inquiry and the “recommendation hub to properly track our implementation progress internally, not just for this inquiry but for others right across the NHS”, if she will publish her assessment of progress against the set of recommendations (a) to date and (b) periodically.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department of Health and Social Care’s intention is certainly to make the recommendations hub publicly available and update it on a regular basis. We will keep Parliament updated on the publication of the hub in the normal way in due course. In the meantime, once the Government has published its response to the Thirlwall Inquiry recommendations, progress will be published through the Cabinet Office on GOV.UK at the Public Inquiries: Recommendations and the Government Response page, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-inquiries-recommendations-and-the-government-response

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Neighbourhood Health Centres will be (a) new builds, (b) re-purposed existing healthcare premises and (c) other.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the statements we made when announcing the Neighbourhood Health Framework in March and to further guidance published in April with regard to neighbourhood health centres, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/neighbourhood-health-centres/

NHS England received 1,027 responses via the Citizen Space platform to the consultation on proposed multi-neighbourhood provider and single neighbourhood provider contracting models to support neighbourhood health services. NHS England also received additional written responses which it regarded as responses to the consultation.

We will provide further information to Parliament in due course as the detail of our plans is set out, including on the outcome of our consultation activities in this area.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many responses she received to the consultation on proposed Multi-Neighbourhood Provider and Single Neighbourhood Provider contracting models to support neighbourhood health services; and when she plans to respond.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the statements we made when announcing the Neighbourhood Health Framework in March and to further guidance published in April with regard to neighbourhood health centres, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/neighbourhood-health-centres/

NHS England received 1,027 responses via the Citizen Space platform to the consultation on proposed multi-neighbourhood provider and single neighbourhood provider contracting models to support neighbourhood health services. NHS England also received additional written responses which it regarded as responses to the consultation.

We will provide further information to Parliament in due course as the detail of our plans is set out, including on the outcome of our consultation activities in this area.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate she has made of the cost of establishing Neighbourhood Health Centres.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the statements we made when announcing the Neighbourhood Health Framework in March and to further guidance published in April with regard to neighbourhood health centres, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/neighbourhood-health-centres/

NHS England received 1,027 responses via the Citizen Space platform to the consultation on proposed multi-neighbourhood provider and single neighbourhood provider contracting models to support neighbourhood health services. NHS England also received additional written responses which it regarded as responses to the consultation.

We will provide further information to Parliament in due course as the detail of our plans is set out, including on the outcome of our consultation activities in this area.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on potential use of NHS numbers as the “consistent identifier" envisaged in the Children’s Well-being and Schools Act 2026.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, we are working with the Department for Education to implement a single unique identifier for every child. Pilots are underway and subject to their success, the NHS number will indeed become the single unique identifier for children.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the answer to UIN 70396, tabled on 29 August 2025 and UIN 81279, tabled on 13 October 2025, whether there is any update on plans in relation to the future Children and Young People Mental Health studies.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Following a review commissioned by the Department and undertaken by the Office for National Statistics to explore future delivery options for the Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) survey, involving both a literature review and stakeholder engagement, it was concluded in March 2026 that the next MHCYP survey will aim to provide data which is comparable to 2017 in terms of robust prevalence estimates. That conclusion was supported by the recently published Independent review into prevalence and support for mental health conditions, ADHD and autism, which recommended improving data collection for those conditions, including through regular population prevalence studies.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he has made on his Department's workstreams arising from the Mayfield Keep Britain Working Review.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

After the publication of the Keep Britain Working review, the Department for Health and Social Care, Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology, and Department for Work and Pensions launched a “Vanguard phase” co-chaired by Sir Charlie Mayfield and the three Department’s Secretaries of State. During this phase, the programme has been working with volunteer employers, providers and regions across the UK to develop and test the ideas and initiatives in the review, proving what works and building the evidence to support scaling towards general adoption.

The programme has made rapid progress; Vanguard numbers have tripled from 60 to around 220 employers & providers and from 5 to 11 regions. Over the last ten months, Keep Britain Working has run employer led sprints and feedback groups involving a total of 110 Vanguard organisations, alongside delivering workshops, testing, and feedback sessions with over 400 SMEs across England and the devolved nations.

This testing and consultation have led Keep Britain Working to begin developing the UK’s first Workplace Health System that brings together better workplaces, better support and better intelligence to improve outcomes, improve lives and drive growth.

To drive this forward, the programme is in the process of creating of a robust, recognised employer standard with the British Standards Institution (BSI), it has developed a first draft specification for an employer-facing Workplace Health Provision offer, and begun to initiate tests of elements of the workplace health system in regions across England.

Alongside this, the Keeping Britain Working is developing a new approach to gathering Workplace Health Intelligence, to help employers better understand workforce health outcomes. It continues to work with Vanguard employers and providers, Disabled People's Organisations and people with lived experience to test and refine the programme’s approaches to disability inclusion and has begun to clarify its model of shared responsibility. This model recognises that successful work and health outcomes depend on all parties working together to create positive change.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Whether she benchmarks national data opt-out rates against comparator countries’ opt-out rates from health systems datasets.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We do not benchmark the national data opt-out against opt-out rates for other public data sets, either in the Unted Kingdom or abroad.

Following a national cohort of public engagement, we have been reviewing the national Data Opt-Out and are aiming to make changes to ensure that it operates in line with public recommendations.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Whether she benchmarks national data opt-out rates against opt-out rates from other UK public sector datasets.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We do not benchmark the national data opt-out against opt-out rates for other public data sets, either in the Unted Kingdom or abroad.

Following a national cohort of public engagement, we have been reviewing the national Data Opt-Out and are aiming to make changes to ensure that it operates in line with public recommendations.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish any and all changes made to guidance on practice, recording or statistical methodology since 4th July 2024 that may affect waiting times time series data comparability over time, along with any estimate she has made of the impact of each such change on the data.

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

The monthly data published by NHS England on waiting times and other performance metrics are accredited as official statistics. Any material changes in the methodology used to produce them must be made and announced in line with the guidance set out by the Office for Statistics Regulation. Information on methodological changes is published alongside the relevant statistical releases where appropriate. Further information is available at the following link:

https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-for-producers-when-making-changes-to-statistical-methods/pages/2/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the total amount of (a) rent and (b) service charge income received by NHS Property Services from (i) GP practices and (ii) pharmacies, for each of the last three years for which data are available.

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

NHS Property Services routinely publishes details of its income from rent and service charges in its annual reports, which are publicly available on the organisation’s website.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the total costs of ICBs including capital and revenue spend, one-off items and recurring items in (a) 2024/5 (b) 2025/6 (c) 2026/7.

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

Prior to the announcement of the running costs cap, there was significant and unwarranted variation in the running costs of different integrated care boards (ICBs). It is NHS England’s continued assessment that all ICBs can successfully discharge all of their statutory functions within the cap, which represented a reduction in running costs of approximately 25 per cent for the most efficient ICB.

The progress of ICBs in reducing their running costs will vary according to the complexity of the change they have needed to undertake, but all ICBs are required to be operating within the running costs cap from 1 April 2027. Significant redundancies were not made before 31 December 2025 due to the necessity of ensuring that nationally approved redundancy schemes appropriately protected public funds.

Available information on ICB finances will continue to be reported through NHS England's annual accounts, planning guidance, and financial reporting processes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, by what analysis did her department reach the benchmark figure of £18.76 per capita running costs for ICBs.

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

Prior to the announcement of the running costs cap, there was significant and unwarranted variation in the running costs of different integrated care boards (ICBs). It is NHS England’s continued assessment that all ICBs can successfully discharge all of their statutory functions within the cap, which represented a reduction in running costs of approximately 25 per cent for the most efficient ICB.

The progress of ICBs in reducing their running costs will vary according to the complexity of the change they have needed to undertake, but all ICBs are required to be operating within the running costs cap from 1 April 2027. Significant redundancies were not made before 31 December 2025 due to the necessity of ensuring that nationally approved redundancy schemes appropriately protected public funds.

Available information on ICB finances will continue to be reported through NHS England's annual accounts, planning guidance, and financial reporting processes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the 50% cost reduction required of ICBs was achieved by 31 December 2025.

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

Prior to the announcement of the running costs cap, there was significant and unwarranted variation in the running costs of different integrated care boards (ICBs). It is NHS England’s continued assessment that all ICBs can successfully discharge all of their statutory functions within the cap, which represented a reduction in running costs of approximately 25 per cent for the most efficient ICB.

The progress of ICBs in reducing their running costs will vary according to the complexity of the change they have needed to undertake, but all ICBs are required to be operating within the running costs cap from 1 April 2027. Significant redundancies were not made before 31 December 2025 due to the necessity of ensuring that nationally approved redundancy schemes appropriately protected public funds.

Available information on ICB finances will continue to be reported through NHS England's annual accounts, planning guidance, and financial reporting processes.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that the risk of groundwater flooding is taken into account by a local planning authority for planning applications in areas with high concentrations of chalk geology.

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

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to policies P3(2)(f), N1(1)(a-b), and Chapter F of the new National Planning Policy Framework published on 17 August.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward proposals to ensure that groundwater flood risk (in areas with high concentrations of chalk geology) is given statutory consideration in the planning process.

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

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to policies P3(2)(f), N1(1)(a-b), and Chapter F of the new National Planning Policy Framework published on 17 August.

Found: Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage, in the Chair Bayo Alaba Vicky Foxcroft Rt Hon Damian Hinds

Found: Damian Hinds MPLondonSW1A 0AAPublic sectorCommittedLondonCotswold District CouncilGloucestershireGL7

Found: Damian Hinds MP London SW1A 0AA Public sector Committed London Cotswold District Council Gloucestershire