Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role he intends for optometry practices to play in delivering the 10 Year Plan.

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

The 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future by delivering three important shifts: from hospital to community; from sickness to prevention; and from analogue to digital. This includes expanding eye care in community settings and strengthening joint working between primary and secondary eye care services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to mitigate the impact of upcoming living wage, national insurance and business rates changes on community pharmacies.

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

The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.

In 2025/26 funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework has been increased to £3.073 billion. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. Additional funding is also available, for example for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Department will shortly consult with Community Pharmacy England on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors for 2026/27. As part of this we will consider financial pressures on the sector.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to help ensure that all patients in England have access to Minor Eye Conditions Services (MECS) and Community Urgent Eyecare Services (CUES).

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

Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning the primary and secondary eye care services required to meet them. Local systems may take different approaches to meeting the needs of their local population, including commissioning minor and urgent eye care services in the community.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has assessed the potential impact on farm businesses and the sheep industry of the withdrawal of visa concessions allowing for temporary employment of sheep shearers.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra recognises the good work that British Wool does in training domestic sheep shearers and the continued challenges the industry faces with a national sheep flock of around 30m sheep in sourcing sufficient numbers of trained shearers. We are also aware of the role that shearers and sheep farmers from countries such as Australia and New Zealand have provided in recent years in sharing skills and expertise with UK sheep farmers and in supporting the health and welfare of the UK flock.

Defra continues to work with the industry in supporting the training of UK resident shearers. Visa concessions are a matter for the Home Office.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to issue guidance to NHS commissioners to help ensure community eyecare services are commissioned across England to help improve equality in access to care.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet the needs of their local population. National Health Service sight tests are widely available across the country, with no known access issues. ICBs can also commission enhanced eye care services in the community.

ICBs are required to work with local authorities to assess the current and future health, care, and wellbeing needs of their local population. They will then set out in joint local health and wellbeing strategies how they will meet those needs, which could include addressing any identified inequalities in accessing services.

The Department worked with the eye care sector to develop a standard clinical specification for the commissioning of Community Minor and Urgent Eye Care Services, and this was published in February 2024. The specification can be found at the following link:

https://locsu.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/1.-CUES-Service-specification-vs-1.43-Feb-2024.pdf

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure equitable access to community eye care services across England.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet the needs of their local population. National Health Service sight tests are widely available across the country, with no known access issues. ICBs can also commission enhanced eye care services in the community.

ICBs are required to work with local authorities to assess the current and future health, care, and wellbeing needs of their local population. They will then set out in joint local health and wellbeing strategies how they will meet those needs, which could include addressing any identified inequalities in accessing services.

The Department worked with the eye care sector to develop a standard clinical specification for the commissioning of Community Minor and Urgent Eye Care Services, and this was published in February 2024. The specification can be found at the following link:

https://locsu.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/1.-CUES-Service-specification-vs-1.43-Feb-2024.pdf

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of the visa concession for temporary employment as sheep shearers on the sheep industry.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Immigration Rules concessionary arrangements are temporary and subject to regular Ministerial review. The sheep shearing concession had been operating for 14 years and closed after the 2025 shearing season as it reasonable to expect that over this period a long-term sustainable solution had been found to fill this workforce gap. To provide plenty of time to plan and transition to new arrangements DEFRA officials were informed last year that the concession would not be renewed again.

Ministers regularly meet with their DEFRA counterparts to discuss a wide range of issues, including the closure of this concession.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation the her Department has had with counterparts at the Department of Envronment, Food and Rurual Affairs on the potential impact on the UK sheep industry of withdrawing the visa concession for temporary employment as sheep shearers.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Immigration Rules concessionary arrangements are temporary and subject to regular Ministerial review. The sheep shearing concession had been operating for 14 years and closed after the 2025 shearing season as it reasonable to expect that over this period a long-term sustainable solution had been found to fill this workforce gap. To provide plenty of time to plan and transition to new arrangements DEFRA officials were informed last year that the concession would not be renewed again.

Ministers regularly meet with their DEFRA counterparts to discuss a wide range of issues, including the closure of this concession.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation her Department has had with counterparts at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the withdrawal of the visa concession for temporary employment as sheep shearers.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Immigration Rules concessionary arrangements are temporary and subject to regular Ministerial review. The sheep shearing concession had been operating for 14 years and closed after the 2025 shearing season as it reasonable to expect that over this period a long-term sustainable solution had been found to fill this workforce gap. To provide plenty of time to plan and transition to new arrangements DEFRA officials were informed last year that the concession would not be renewed again.

Ministers regularly meet with their DEFRA counterparts to discuss a wide range of issues, including the closure of this concession.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her letter to the Environmental Audit Committee dated 30 January 2026, what steps she is taking to increase funding for flood risk management in local authority areas in instances where revenue funding from the Local Government Finance Settlement is being reduced.

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

Delivering on the Plan for Change, this Government is investing at least £10.5 billion until 2036 to construct new flood schemes and repair existing defences.

In October 2025 the Government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy – optimising funding between building new defences and maintaining existing ones. Deprived communities will continue to receive vital investment - at least 20% of future investment will help protect the most deprived communities over the next ten years. New projects will be prioritised based on value for money. The list of projects to receive Government funding will be agreed in the usual way, on an annual basis, through Regional Flood and Coastal Committees, with local representation. The final list of schemes to benefit in 2026/27 will be published in March 2026.

Alongside our £10.5 billion investment, the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion, a 6.8% cash terms increase on 2024-2025. The majority of local Government funding is not ringfenced, recognising that local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the rising service pressures in their local areas, including on flood risk management.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will be providing guidance to local authorities on the floods funding criteria that will be in place for the 2026-27 financial year.

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

As part of the Environment Agency's wider programme of improvements to implement the new Defra flood funding policy, the Environment Agency will publish updated project funding guidance for practitioners before 1^st April 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has provided to community pharmacies through the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework in real terms in each year since 2016.

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

The following table shows the nominal and real terms funding provided through the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework each year since 2015/16:

In 2025/26, the funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework was increased to £3.1 billion. This represented the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service at the time, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. Additional funding was also made available, for example, for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of foundation pharmacists beginning their training in 2025 had been assigned a Designated Prescribing Practitioner.

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

Foundation trainee pharmacists who have graduated against the 2021 standards for the initial education and training of pharmacists are required to have a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP), a healthcare professional with independent prescribing rights, such as a doctor, pharmacist, or nurse, to support the supervision and assessment of prescribing activities during their foundation year.

Under the Foundation Trainee Pharmacists National Recruitment Scheme, training providers are required to ensure that trainees have access to a DPP and to submit DPP details to NHS England once the trainee pharmacist is in post.

Of the 2,894 graduates in England who began foundation pharmacist training in 2025/26, 2,417 trained against the 2021 standards and therefore require a DPP. As of February 2026, 2,013 of these trainees, approximately 83%, had submitted details of an assigned DPP to NHS England.

By training window, 1,814 of 2,119 summer starters, or 85.6%, and 199 of 318 autumn starters, or 62.5%, had submitted DPP details. Autumn starters typically undertake prescribing later in the training year, and some may not yet have been required to submit DPP information. NHS England continues to monitor this.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has shared a definition of corridor care to (a) NHS trusts and (b) ICBs.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish data on the numbers of patients receiving corridor care in NHS hospitals before the end of the financial year.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (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.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to Questions 112298 and 112296, what steps her Department is taking with the British sheep industry to help address workforce availability of sheep shearers.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

With a national flock of around 30m sheep, Defra recognises the importance that shearing sheep plays in managing the health and welfare of the UK flock. We acknowledge that industry faces continued challenges each year in sourcing sufficient numbers of trained and highly proficient shearers, particularly when individuals can often only utilise these skills for a few months of the year during the short early summer shearing period.

The department is also aware of the role that shearers and sheep farmers from countries such as Australia and New Zealand have provided in sharing skills and expertise with UK sheep farmers as well as in supporting the health and welfare of the UK flock.

Defra continues to work closely with the industry in addressing the challenges they face and to encourage the continued promotion, take up, and delivery of British Wool’s programme to deliver training for domestic sheep shearers. In each of the last five years (2021-2025) British Wool has invested an average of £134,000 net costs in providing shearing training for between 798 and 898 people at skill levels ranging from beginners through to highly proficient commercial shearers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what conversations she has had with the British wool industry about addressing challenges in sourcing sufficient numbers of trained shearers each year.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

With a national flock of around 30m sheep, Defra recognises the importance that shearing sheep plays in managing the health and welfare of the UK flock. We acknowledge that industry faces continued challenges each year in sourcing sufficient numbers of trained and highly proficient shearers, particularly when individuals can often only utilise these skills for a few months of the year during the short early summer shearing period.

The department is also aware of the role that shearers and sheep farmers from countries such as Australia and New Zealand have provided in sharing skills and expertise with UK sheep farmers as well as in supporting the health and welfare of the UK flock.

Defra continues to work closely with the industry in addressing the challenges they face and to encourage the continued promotion, take up, and delivery of British Wool’s programme to deliver training for domestic sheep shearers. In each of the last five years (2021-2025) British Wool has invested an average of £134,000 net costs in providing shearing training for between 798 and 898 people at skill levels ranging from beginners through to highly proficient commercial shearers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the report from Liverpool and Sheffield Hallam Universities on the impact of a change in the maximum park home sale commission, published in June 2022.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 97962 on 15 December 2025.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the impact of the commission charge on the sale of park homes on park home owners.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 97962 on 15 December 2025.

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 moving data controller responsibilities from GPs to (a) NHS and (b) government bodies.

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

As set out in the Life Sciences Sector Plan, we will build on our programme of national public engagement on the use of health data and work with the system, including clinical staff, to move towards national and regional models of decision making for access to all National Health Service data for secondary uses, for instance data used for purposes beyond an individual’s care, for example planning NHS services and research. We will use a combination of policy and legislative change to implement this and speed up secure access to this data. This may result in changes to data controllership responsibilities for secondary uses of data.

General practices (GPs) would remain data controllers for data in GP records for an individual’s care.

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 potential cost to (a) GP practices (b) integrated care boards and (c) NHS trusts of participating in the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (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.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve co-ordination between court staff, prison staff and policing staff.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government recognises the importance of different Departments working collaboratively. The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice chairs the Criminal Justice Board to facilitate collaboration between all criminal justice system partners, including the police, HM Courts & Tribunals Service and HM Prison & Probation Service.

The Ministry of Justice also provides guidance to and opportunities for engagement between Local Criminal Justice Boards.

In tandem, the Government is considering the recommendations in Part II of Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts relating to the co-ordination between CJS partners and will respond to them in the coming months.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of covid vaccinations were administered by community pharmacies in the winter 2025-26 programme.

Answered by Ashley Dalton

NHS England collected, but does not currently publish, data on the proportion of COVID-19 vaccinations that were administered by community pharmacies in the autumn 2025 vaccination programme. This unpublished data indicates that during the autumn campaign, which ran from 1 October 2025 to 31 January 2026, approximately 45% of COVID-19 vaccinations were administered by community pharmacies.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress has been made on the implementation of the remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Government remains committed to implementing the remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 as soon as possible. On 15 December 2025, we published the response to the technical consultation on regulations commencing sections 61 – 64 of the Act and laid the regulations implementing these provisions on the same date. These regulations will come into force on 7 April 2026.

The remaining provisions are complex and technical, and we are working closely with other departments and Ofcom on implementing these as soon as possible

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) minimise disruption caused by delays to the supply of bone cement and (b) ensure the availability of adequate supplies of bone cement in the future.

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

The Department is working closely with NHS England, professional bodies and industry partners and have implemented a range of measures to resolve the shortage of bone cement.

The National Health Service has secured stock of an alternative bone cement product, which is now in the United Kingdom for onward distribution. There is sufficient supply to confidently resume elective procedures, and further deliveries are planned in the coming weeks.

The NHS also issued immediate guidance to hospitals to ensure that trauma and urgent care could continue safely.

We will keep our horizon-scanning processes under review and work specifically to identify future potential risks and safeguard continuity of future bone cement supplies.

The Department has held regular discussions with NHS England on the supply position, operational impact, and plans to secure alternative products, including through established incident coordination structures.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what dedicated funding he is providing to (a) primary care networks and (b) integrated care boards for the development of integrated neighbourhood teams.

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

Both integrated care boards (ICBs) and local health systems will design Neighbourhood Health Services that reflect the needs of their local populations as part of their wider responsibilities within their funding allocations. Nationally, we are developing guidance to provide greater clarity and consistency for systems in developing and scaling Neighbourhood Health.

Funding for primary care networks and integrated neighbourhood teams is included within ICBs overall allocations. Additional funding has also been provided to support the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme, which was launched in 2025 in 43 places. Work is underway to consider the future direction of the programme, informed by the learning and feedback from wave 1.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme will be continuing beyond March 2026.

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

Both integrated care boards (ICBs) and local health systems will design Neighbourhood Health Services that reflect the needs of their local populations as part of their wider responsibilities within their funding allocations. Nationally, we are developing guidance to provide greater clarity and consistency for systems in developing and scaling Neighbourhood Health.

Funding for primary care networks and integrated neighbourhood teams is included within ICBs overall allocations. Additional funding has also been provided to support the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme, which was launched in 2025 in 43 places. Work is underway to consider the future direction of the programme, informed by the learning and feedback from wave 1.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help facilitate compliant data sharing between organisations involved in the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme.

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

In September 2025, we launched the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) in 43 places across England.

The NNHIP is a large-scale change programme for all partners involved in delivering neighbourhood health: the National Health Service; local government; social care providers; other statutory and non-statutory organisations; and the voluntary sector.

We are working closely with the relevant transformation teams to strengthen data‑sharing arrangements across the programme. Sites are already exchanging learning on effective local approaches, and we are jointly developing practical guidance to support safe and consistent data sharing while wider national solutions are progressed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has provided to community pharmacies through retained margin in the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework in real terms accounting for inflation in each year since 2016.

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

The following table shows the nominal and real terms funding through retained margin as part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) each year since 2015/16:

Notes:

1. for 2022/23 and 2023/24, an additional £50 million in funding was provided via writing off over-delivery; and
2. for 2025/26, an additional £193 million in funding was provided via writing off over-delivery.

The Department, along with Community Pharmacy England, assess the medicines margin retained through a quarterly ‘medicines margin survey’. Where the medicine margin survey shows under or over delivery against the funding provided, then adjustments are made to reimbursement prices to bring it line with the allowed medicine margin as per CPCF.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance he has issued to (a) public (b) private and (c) voluntary organisations involved in the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme on best practice data sharing.

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

In September 2025, we launched the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) in 43 places across England.

The NNHIP is a large-scale change programme for all partners involved in delivering neighbourhood health: the National Health Service; local government; social care providers; other statutory and non-statutory organisations; and the voluntary sector.

We are working closely with the relevant transformation teams to strengthen data‑sharing arrangements across the programme. Sites are already exchanging learning on effective local approaches, and we are jointly developing practical guidance to support safe and consistent data sharing while wider national solutions are progressed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the timely delivery of cataract surgery for patients in Shropshire.

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

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and modernisation efforts needed to reach the 92% standard by March 2029. We have set a national ambition that by March 2026, 65% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum five percentage point improvement on current performance over that period.

In December 2025, 70.2% of patients on the elective waiting list nationally, and 79% of patients in the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board, were waiting under 18 weeks for ophthalmology services. Since the Government came into office, the elective waiting list in England has now been cut by 330,417. This is despite 31.7 million referrals onto the waiting list.

We know further progress is needed to return to the constitutional standard. In September 2025, we announced an “online hospital”, via NHS Online, which will give people on certain pathways the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. It will connect patients with clinicians across the country through secure, online appointments accessed through the NHS App.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has issued guidance to integrated care boards regarding the management of waiting lists for private providers of NHS procedures.

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

The Department has not issued specific guidance to integrated care boards regarding the management of waiting lists for private providers of National Health Service procedures. The Department has published rules on referral to treatment consultant-led pathways which applies to all providers of NHS care, and which can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-start-consultant-led-treatment-within-18-weeks/referral-to-treatment-consultant-led-waiting-times-rules-suite-october-2022

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish data relating to the number of surgeries affected by delays to the supply of Heraeus bone cement.

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

Joined up working between the Department and the National Health Service has successfully secured an alternative bone cement product for the coming weeks following the issues with Heraeus Medical’s production process. During this period, NHS providers were supported to prioritise remaining stock based on clinical guidance.

The Department has not collected data on the specific number of procedures delayed due to this supply issue centrally. Due to the speed by which alternative products have been identified the number of procedures postponed has been limited and where this has happened, trusts are seeking to reschedule affected procedures quickly.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many planned cataract surgeries have been delayed in each of the past 12 months due to integrated care boards not having enough money in their financial-year budget to pay the private providers delivering the procedures.

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

The Department does not hold this data.

Integrated care boards have existing contractual powers to manage activity by providers, which were enhanced in 2025/26 with central support for setting and managing activity. Commissioners’ use of these powers support systems to live within their means and deploy better financial discipline than previous years where systems have overspent. As these powers are exercised by local systems, no national assessment has been made.

We expect the use of activity management provisions by local systems to support efforts achieving the goal of at least 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment by March 2026 whilst living within financial budgets set for 2025/26.

Association of Colleges Award for Derwen College

Palantir and the NHS

Conduct of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Right to peaceful protest and freedom of assembly

Heating oil prices

Energy prices for households and businesses

Royal Mail postal delivery services

Royal Mail delivery standards

NHS dentistry

Dolphin hunting in the Faroe Islands

Curlew populations

Covid Day of Reflection 2026

Cardiac risk in the young

Dual nationals without British passports

Securing the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme

Child protection from illicit vapes

High street bank closures

President Trump’s 20-point peace plan

Repair Cafés

Community sport spaces and Sport England

Community spaces

International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2026

Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank

River Meon

Review of the student loan system