Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his department has taken to roll-out the Men-B vaccination to vulnerable people.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what actions have been delivered under the Final Delivery Plan on ME/CFS to improve access to healthcare and support for people with severe and very severe ME.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently developing a template service specification for mild and moderate myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which also references severe ME/CFS. Further work will need to be undertaken to strengthen support for people with severe ME/CFS, reflecting that people may move between moderate and severe. Future iterations of this document will build on ongoing considerations and emerging insights of severe and very severe ME/CFS.
Departmental and NHS England officials have been working carefully through the steps needed to make a decision on the prescription of a specialised service for very severe ME/CFS. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is responsible for a decision on the prescribing of specialised services, which requires consultation with NHS England.
To support healthcare professionals in the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS, the Department has worked with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals. The final module of this e-learning programme is focussed on managing severe ME/CFS.
Additionally, as set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. We delivered 5.2 million additional appointments between July 2024 and June 2025. This will help people with severe ME/CFS to get support sooner. The Plan for Change is available at the following link:
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out a transformed vision for elective care by 2035, where most interactions no longer take place in a hospital building, instead happening virtually or via neighbourhood services. This will enable patients with severe or very severe ME/CFS who are housebound or bedbound to access support more easily.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he is ensuring accountability for delivery of commitments made in the Final Delivery Plan on ME/CFS affecting people with severe and very severe ME; and what timelines and funding have been set for specialist provision.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Each action in the final delivery plan on myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), has a designated lead department or organisation, with the Department of Health and Social Care being ultimately responsible for overseeing the delivery of the plan as a whole, including holding other organisations to account for delivering actions.
At this stage, Department and NHS England officials have been working carefully through the steps needed to make a decision on the prescription of a specialised service for very severe ME/CFS. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is responsible for a decision on the prescribing of specialised services, which requires consultation with NHS England.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 feasibility and cost implications of introducing rotating health warnings on alcohol products, including for long‑lifecycle products such as wine.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The recently published National Cancer Plan reiterated the commitment made in Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, to strengthen and expand on existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
Department officials are currently exploring and assessing the potential options for and impacts of delivering this policy commitment, which includes reviewing all available and emerging evidence, and considering stakeholder feedback, having just completed a round of stakeholder engagement.
The Department is working towards opening a consultation in late 2026, setting out the options under consideration, for the public and business to respond to.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of using QR codes or digital labelling to supplement mandatory on‑label health warnings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The recently published National Cancer Plan reiterated the commitment made in Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, to strengthen and expand on existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
Department officials are currently exploring and assessing the potential options for and impacts of delivering this policy commitment, which includes reviewing all available and emerging evidence, and considering stakeholder feedback, having just completed a round of stakeholder engagement.
The Department is working towards opening a consultation in late 2026, setting out the options under consideration, for the public and business to respond to.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether mandatory alcohol labelling requirements will apply to both on‑trade and off‑trade settings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The recently published National Cancer Plan reiterated the commitment made in Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, to strengthen and expand on existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
Department officials are currently exploring and assessing the potential options for and impacts of delivering this policy commitment, which includes reviewing all available and emerging evidence, and considering stakeholder feedback, having just completed a round of stakeholder engagement.
The Department is working towards opening a consultation in late 2026, setting out the options under consideration, for the public and business to respond to.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to develop a definition of health warning for the purposes of alcohol labelling reforms.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The recently published National Cancer Plan reiterated the commitment made in Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, to strengthen and expand on existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
Department officials are currently exploring and assessing the potential options for and impacts of delivering this policy commitment, which includes reviewing all available and emerging evidence, and considering stakeholder feedback, having just completed a round of stakeholder engagement.
The Department is working towards opening a consultation in late 2026, setting out the options under consideration, for the public and business to respond to.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the National Cancer Plan for England, if he will set out the formats for mandatory health warnings on alcohol labels that his Department is considering, including whether these include text‑only warnings, cancer‑specific messaging, imagery, rotating labels, and pictograms.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The recently published National Cancer Plan reiterated the commitment made in Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, to strengthen and expand on existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
Department officials are currently exploring and assessing the potential options for and impacts of delivering this policy commitment, which includes reviewing all available and emerging evidence, and considering stakeholder feedback, having just completed a round of stakeholder engagement.
The Department is working towards opening a consultation in late 2026, setting out the options under consideration, for the public and business to respond to.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of mandatory alcohol health warnings for regulatory alignment with the EU, Ireland, and other trading partners.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
In both the Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England and the National Cancer Plan for England, the Government committed to strengthen and expand on existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
Department officials have recently completed a round of stakeholder engagement regarding the policy. We are working at pace to review all available and emerging evidence.
This work will inform the development assessment of policy options that will be set out in formal consultation which we are working towards opening in late 2026. International alignment will be considered as part of the process, taking into account the outcome of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (Agri-Food) Agreement negotiations with the European Union.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the National Cancer Plan for England, what empirical evidence his Department is reviewing to inform the design of mandatory alcohol health warnings, including those used in South Korea and Ireland.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The recently published National Cancer Plan reiterated the commitment made in Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, to strengthen and expand on existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
Department officials are working at pace to review all available and emerging evidence. This includes data from a broad range of countries and engaging with a wide range of national and international stakeholders, including stakeholder feedback provided at and after the recent roundtables.