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 9 April 2025 to Question 43516: Maternity Services, whether he has set a deadline for (a) outcome and (b) progress measures in the three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal care.

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

NHS England’s three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal care services was published on 31 March 2023 and implementation of the objectives is due to run for three years until March 2026. Progress is monitored through the plan’s technical guidance, which sets out how progress will be tracked at a national level against the four key themes of the plan.

Due to the complexity of maternity and neonatal care and the need for robust validation, some of the outcome data is significantly lagged and will not be fully available within the lifetime of the plan. Much of this data is published by external organisations beyond NHS England.

Although the delivery plan spans three years, its objectives are intended to enable services to deliver improvements in care that will lead to sustained, long-term improvements in outcomes and experiences for women, babies, and families.

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 9 April 2025 to Question 43516: Maternity Services, if he will update the three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal care to include specific numerical targets.

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

NHS England’s three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, ending in March 2026, will not be updated to include specific numerical targets. The focus remains on delivering actions to drive the necessary improvements on the ground to ensure that all women, babies and families receive the high-quality care that they deserve. This includes both the actions set out in the current plan, as well as the further actions needed to tackle the key issues in maternity and neonatal services. It is essential that any targets set are evidence-based and women and baby-centred.

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 9 April 2025 to Question 43516: Maternity Services and with reference to the Final report of the Ockenden Review, published on 30 March 2022, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal care in implementing the findings of the Ockenden review.

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

NHS England’s Three-Year Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services, from 2023 to 2026, pulled together the majority of existing commitments, including the Ockenden recommendations, into a single package. The technical guidance outlines how progress towards the objectives of the plan is being tracked at a national level.

The vast majority of recommendations in the second Ockenden report were aimed at trusts. Following this, NHS England wrote to all National Health Service trusts asking them to consider and act upon the report’s findings, and asked trust boards to have oversight of the progress. Integrated care boards are responsible for overseeing local progress.

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 repurpose spending on hospital care and emergency admissions for people at the end of life into improving community care services.

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

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.

The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and community palliative and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.

Funding provision for hospital care and community care services is subject to the forthcoming Spending Review.

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 26 March 2025 to Question 38394 on Integrated Care Boards: Operating Costs, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment on the decision to reduce ICB running costs.

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

NHS England has asked the integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health and care services and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within their structure to achieve a 50% cost reduction in their running cost allowance. NHS England provided additional guidance to ICBs, National Health Service trusts, and NHS foundation trusts on 1 April 2025, with ICBs being tasked to develop plans by the end of May setting out how they will manage their resources to deliver across their priorities.

NHS England will be working closely with ICBs to support the development of these plans, ensuring that their implementation reduces duplication and supports patient care. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/

In his letter to ICBs, Sir Jim Mackey committed to greater transparency and moving back to a fair shares allocation policy over time.

The Department has not conducted an impact assessment of the NHS decision to reduce ICB running costs.

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 26 March 2025 to Question 38394 on Integrated Care Boards: Operating Costs, what proportion of running costs integrated care boards are being asked to reduce; and what guidance he has issued on which services should be reduced.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) have been asked to make 50% cuts to running costs. Further detail on the future of ICBs was provided in a letter issued to all ICBs and National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts on 1 April 2025. This letter is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/

The letter details that in order to meet the expectations, ICBs should look carefully at functions where there is duplication.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent estimate of the number of people that will have palliative care needs in the next 10 years.

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

Currently, approximately 600,000 people die per year in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that up to 90% of deaths could benefit from palliative and end of life care.

The Office for National Statistics has projected that, by 2040, approximately 800,000 people a year will die in the UK. Also, current trends point to a growing proportion of people dying from chronic disease, particularly cancer and dementia. Taking these considerations together, it has been estimated that the number of people needing palliative and end of life care could increase by 42% by 2040.

We have committed to develop a 10-Year Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered, from hospital to community, from treatment to prevention, and from analogue to digital. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking through the 10 Year Health Plan to address (a) quality of care, (b) inadequate access and (c) rising demand in palliative and end of life care.

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

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and families receive the care they need when and where they need it, including those who need palliative and end of life care.

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we have been carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including the hospice sector.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to increase VAT to 20% for private hire passenger fares outside of London.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Private hire vehicle services provided by VAT-registered businesses are, and always have been, subject to the standard rate of VAT (20%).

The Government is carefully considering the wide range of views shared through last year's consultation on the VAT Treatment of Private Hire Vehicles.

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 9 April 2025 to Question 43516: Maternity Services, and with reference to the Final report of the Ockenden Review, published on 30 March 2022, which (a) Trusts and (b) systems have implemented (i) immediate and (ii) essential actions.

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

It is for integrated care boards to oversee local progress in implementing the immediate and essential actions from the Ockenden Review.

Restless legs syndrome

Overseas-qualified dentists

Public Hearts defibrillator campaign

NHS parking charges

Securing habitat for endangered swifts and other cavity nesting birds

Ensuring stability for Ukrainian refugees in the UK

West Bank

UK parliamentarians sanctioned by the Russian Federation

Future of children’s palliative care

Sanctioning of UK Parliamentarians by Russia

Rural bus services

Abduction of Ukrainian children

Protecting children from data exploitation

British companies and the transportation of Russian liquefied natural gas

Found: Not called_NC1 Wera Hobhouse Steve Darling Ian Sollom Caroline Voaden Daisy Cooper Helen Morgan