Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include diabetes (a) care and (b) prevention in the NHS 10-year plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving diabetes care in all parts of the country.
More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their long-term conditions, including diabetes, closer to home. Moving from sickness to prevention will help us reduce the causes of the biggest killers, and provide treatment earlier, rather than only intervening when conditions deteriorate.
As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we have launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in diabetes services to take part in that process so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should, and what the potential solutions are. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to change food-labelling regulations to make sugar levels in in food products clearer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The level of sugar in food and drink is already shown on food and drink packaging, in the majority of cases, which enables consumers to make informed choices. There are no plans at this time to change food labelling regulations regarding sugar levels in food. However, we continue to monitor the evidence on how food labelling impacts the choices and consumption habits of consumers.
General food labelling legislation sets out requirements for food labelling. It is mandatory for food and drink packaging to include a nutrition declaration, which shows the quantities of nutrients contained within them, including sugar. The legislation also allows for the inclusion of voluntary additional information on the packaging, which may help to inform consumers.
The United Kingdom has implemented the multiple traffic lights (MTL) label, which is a voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labelling system. It provides nutritional information for products at a glance in a simple and easy way that consumers can understand. The MTL label shows the quantity of energy, fat, saturates, sugar, and salt contained in the food or drink. The UK was one of the first countries to introduce a national front-of-pack labelling system and it continues to be widely used by consumers and some businesses.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to announce the allocation of funding to hospices through the (a) adult and children hospices grant and (b) the Children Hospice Grant.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are pleased to confirm that the Government has released the first £25 million tranche of that funding, with Hospice UK allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England. An additional £75 million will be available from April 2025.
We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. NHS England will set out the details of the 2025/26 funding allocation and dissemination to individual hospices shortly.
In early February 2025, I met with key palliative and end of life care, including hospice, stakeholders to discuss the long-term sustainability of palliative and end of life care, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 31682 on Hospices: Children, what steps his Department and NHS England have taken to ensure that funding for children's hospices is received in a timely manner.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has developed an assurance system with specific steps and deadlines to ensure the timely dissemination of the £26 million revenue funding to children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. These steps include regular oversight sessions with integrated care boards (ICBs), regions and hospices, giving ICBs a hard deadline within quarter one of the financial year of when they are expected to disseminate the funding to hospices, including escalating to NHS England if any ICB is unable to meet the deadline. If the deadline is missed, NHS England has put steps in place to ensure all hospices receive the funding within the timescales outlined.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy that decisions on the allocation of funding through the Children Hospices Grant are made by his Department.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices. It will once again be transacted by integrated care boards on behalf of NHS England. This is in line with National Health Service devolution and promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care.
NHS England will set out the details of the 2025/26 funding allocation and dissemination to individual hospices shortly.
In February 2025, I met with key palliative and end of life care, including hospice, stakeholders to discuss the long-term sustainability of palliative and end of life care, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
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 impact of youth services on public health outcomes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Youth services play a vital role in achieving positive outcomes for public health, by promoting healthy behaviours, building resilience, and improving mental and physical wellbeing among young people. These services provide early intervention and support that can prevent the development of more serious health and social issues, including mental health challenges, substance misuse, and physical health problems.
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. Through the Young Futures Hubs we will provide open access mental health support for children and young people in every community in England.
In 2024/25, the Department is running a Shared Outcomes Fund project, backed by £8 million, to boost and evaluate the impact of 24 existing early support hubs. These drop-in centres offer mental health support and advice to young people without a referral by a doctor or school.
On 12 November 2024, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced the co-production of a National Youth Strategy which will aim to provide more opportunities to young people, bring power back to young people and their communities, and rebuild a thriving and sustainable youth sector. The physical and mental health and wellbeing of young people will be considered when developing the strategy.