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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the readiness of businesses in the hospitality industry for the implementation of the mandatory separation of food waste from recycling from 31 March 2025.

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

We are working closely with industry partners such as UK Hospitality, the Hospitality Sector Council, and Food and Drink Federation to raise awareness of the requirements and understand the sector’s readiness, which has included hosting a sector specific webinar with the hospitality sector. Our understanding of readiness of the sector is also informed by ongoing discussions with the waste collection industry.

Furthermore, we are actively responding to queries and publishing guidance in partnership with WRAP to further support the sector’s readiness.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using grass pasture for carbon storage.

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

Defra is informed by work in its advisory bodies on this topic.

Natural England produced an assessment of carbon storage by different habitats in 2021 and found that old species-rich grasslands with minimal inputs can store significant amounts of carbon. There are many factors that influence the amount of carbon storage including historical management, grassland types, soil types and climate. In view of ongoing uncertainties, Defra is funding ongoing research on carbon in grasslands within the Nature Returns programme (https://www.kew.org/science/nature-returns).

The role of grazing and fertiliser inputs also needs to be taken into account in assessing the value of pasture as carbon stores. The most recent report of the Climate Change Committee (The Seventh Carbon Budget Advice for the UK Government, 2025) addressed this. It reports that ‘nearly two-thirds (63%) of agricultural emissions (and all agricultural methane emissions) in 2022 were directly emitted from livestock, with 49% from the digestive process (enteric fermentation) of cattle and sheep and 14% from the management of livestock waste and manure. Agricultural soils, mainly from the application of organic and chemical fertiliser onto grassland and cropland, accounted for a further 24%’.

References & Reports

Natural England (2021) Carbon Storage and Sequestration by Habitat 2021 (NERR094)

https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5419124441481216

Climate Change Committee (2025). The Seventh Carbon Budget. Advice for the UK Government

https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/The-Seventh-Carbon-Budget.pdf

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to provide additional urgent dental appointments on (a) patients and (b) dental surgeries.

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

National Health Service planning guidance has now been published for 2025/26 and sets out the funding available to integrated care boards (ICBs). Planning guidance also confirms that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority.

We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and have asked that ICBs start making extra appointments available for patients from April 2025.

Whilst NHS England is not mandating an approach to the purchasing of these additional appointments, ICBs could consider options such as buying more appointments through new or recommissioned contracts, through modification of existing contracts, or by using flexible commissioning.

For the remainder of 2024/25, ICBs should continue to secure additional urgent care capacity and offer contractors providing mandatory services additional funded activity up to 110% where feasible.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press notice entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, if he will list the number of additional urgent dental appointments that will be made available in each Integrated Care Board area.

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

We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and have already requested that integrated care boards (ICBs) start making extra appointments available from April 2025. NHS England issued a letter to the ICBs to start the rollout of the 700,000 urgent dental appointments. The letter provides specific targets for each ICB and the number of additional appointments they are expected to deliver, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/arrangements-for-nhs-urgent-primary-dental-care-during-2025-26-and-confirmation-of-the-closure-of-the-new-patient-premium-scheme/#annex-a-distribution-of-700k-additional-appointments

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) reduce potential disparities between waiting times for mental health services and physical health services and (b) ensure mental health is given equal priority to physical health.

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

We recognise that people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health. This includes recruiting 8,500 more mental health workers, introducing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, rolling out Young Futures hubs in every community, and modernising the Mental Health Act.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press release entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, if he will instruct NHS England to make further changes to the commissioning of NHS dentistry in 2025.

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

To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.

There are no perfect payment models and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver genuine improvements for patients and the profession.

We are continuing to work with the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to deliver our shared ambition to improve access to treatments for NHS dental patients. At the same time, we will not wait to make improvements to the current system, where they can increase access and incentivise the workforce to deliver more NHS care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press release entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, what methodology his Department used for determining the geographical distribution of the proposed additional urgent dental appointments.

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

We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and have asked that integrated care boards (ICBs) start making extra appointments available from April 2025. Appointments will be available across the country. Patients will be able to access these additional appointments either through NHS 111, or via helplines set up by their ICB, where these arrangements are in place.

NHS England issued a letter to the ICBs to start the rollout of the 700,000 urgent dental appointments. The letter provides the methodology used to determine the allocation of the 700,000 appointments across the ICBs in Annex A, considering factors including unmet need, population size, and projected contract delivery at an ICB level for 2024/25. The letter and annex are available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/arrangements-for-nhs-urgent-primary-dental-care-during-2025-26-and-confirmation-of-the-closure-of-the-new-patient-premium-scheme/#annex-a-distribution-of-700k-additional-appointments

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pharmacies his Department expect to close in the next financial year if the pharmacy contract remains unchanged.

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

Community pharmacies are private businesses, and the Department does not have sight of their individual financial positions. We are now working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have secured for 2024/25 and 2025/26 is used to support community pharmacy in the best way possible. We will announce the outcome of the consultation in the normal manner, by letter to contractors, when the consultation has concluded.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she expects to publish the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice on statutory learning disability and autism training.

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

Under the Health and Care Act 2022, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is required to issue a Code of Practice to guide providers registered with the Care Quality Commission on how to meet their statutory requirement on learning disability and autism training, under the same act. The code must be laid before Parliament for 40 sitting days before it can be issued. We will set out further information on our plans for the Code of Practice in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost increase of (a) delivering Pharmacy First services, (b) dispensing costs and (c) employment of pharmacy staff between 2023-24 and 2025-26.

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

The funding agreed seeks to address inflation and activity increases in the sector. We are now working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have available is used to support community pharmacy in the best way possible. We will announce the outcome of the consultation in the normal manner, by letter to contractors, when the consultation has concluded.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the 2024-25 pharmacy contract.

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

The funding agreed seeks to address inflation and activity increases in the sector. We are now working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have available is used to support community pharmacy in the best way possible. We will announce the outcome of the consultation in the normal manner, by letter to contractors, when the consultation has concluded.

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 (a) improve the quality of administrative tasks within the NHS and (b) reduce the number of people receiving an invitation to an appointment after the date it is supposed to have taken place.

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

The Government is putting patients first, making sure they are seen as quickly as possible and have the best possible experience, which includes receiving timely communication and experiencing high quality administration.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025 as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, sets out the reform we will deliver to reduce waiting times and improve experience of care. This will be patient-led and co-developed with people that use the National Health Service. We will work with patients, carers, and their representatives to target the things that matter most and will publish minimum standards patients should expect to experience.

We are reforming the digital landscape to improve productivity, communication, and offer greater convenience for NHS service users, including changing the NHS App to make it easier and more helpful for patients to access information about their appointments. By the end of March 2025, 85% of acute trusts will allow patients to view appointment information via the NHS App if they wish, reducing reliance on physical letters. We will also provide high quality, non-digital options for those who want and need them.

The Government is also reducing the burden of administrative tasks in the NHS. On Friday 4 October 2024, the Government and NHS England launched a Red Tape Challenge to address bureaucracy between primary and secondary care and give our health professionals back time to do what they do best. The challenge is being led by NHS England leaders, Medical Director for Primary Care, Dr Claire Fuller, and Medical Director for Secondary Care and Quality, Stella Vig.

Community pharmacies

Postural Tachycardia Syndrome

Changes to Overseas Development Assistance

Chronic urinary tract infections and women's health

Building consensus on a pathway to spending 3% of GDP on defence

Future of the adoption and special guardianship support fund

Convoy of Hope partnership for Ukraine

50th anniversary of Solace Women's Aid

Covid-19 Day of Reflection 2025

Ending the sale of tickets to captive orca and dolphin shows

Mobile phone usage in schools

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

Recognition of Milngavie in Bloom

Cumbria farmers

Shortages of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy

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Found: _1 Helen Morgan Dr Danny Chambers Liz Jarvis Alison Bennett Jess Brown-Fuller .