Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress each NHS Trust providing maternity services has made on implementing each of the immediate and essential actions set out in the Final report of the Ockenden review, published on 30 March 2022.
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.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 potential merits of publishing year-round data on the number of patients treated in temporary care environments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We continue to keep the data available and published to support improvements to urgent and emergency care services under review.
NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements related to the use of temporary escalation spaces, to drive improvement. Subject to a review of data quality, this information will be published later this year, and we will consider how this data could be published on a more regular basis.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 reduce the use of temporary care environments in patient care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that long waits in accident and emergency are unacceptable and lead to worse patient outcomes. Patients should expect and receive the highest standards of service, and we are determined to tackle the issue of corridor care.
NHS England published guidance in September 2024 regarding the use of temporary escalation spaces, which is available at the following link:
In January, we published the National Health Service’s mandate and planning guidance for 2025/26, which set out the priorities and actions to be taken to reform and improve urgent and emergency care services. This includes increasing the proportion of patients admitted, discharged, and transferred from an emergency department within 12 hours across 2025/26 compared to 2024/25.
We will shortly set out the further improvements and actions to be taken to support urgent and emergency care services this year.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 estimate of the average cost to the public purse of one band 5 nursing hour supplied by (a) On-framework staffing agencies and (b) Off-framework staffing agencies at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust in each year since 2019.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the data requested.
The Government is committed to reducing off-framework agency use, the cost of which is at a premium, above the agreed framework rates. Additionally, staff hired through off-framework agencies are not subject to the same pre-employment checks as those carried out by on-framework agencies. Off-framework use is actively monitored through NHS England’s governance mechanisms, with additional oversight applied to trusts with recurring non-compliance.
The NHS Planning Guidance 2025/26 states that trusts should reduce their agency spend by a minimum of 30%, and the accompanying Revenue Finance and Contracting Guidance sets the ambition that agency spend should be eliminated in the coming years.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost to the public purse is of one band 5 nursing hour supplied by (a) On-framework staffing agencies and (b) Off-framework staffing agencies to the NHS in each year since 2019.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the data requested.
The Government is committed to reducing off-framework agency use, the cost of which is at a premium, above the agreed framework rates. Additionally, staff hired through off-framework agencies are not subject to the same pre-employment checks as those carried out by on-framework agencies. Off-framework use is actively monitored through NHS England’s governance mechanisms, with additional oversight applied to trusts with recurring non-compliance.
The NHS Planning Guidance 2025/26 states that trusts should reduce their agency spend by a minimum of 30%, and the accompanying Revenue Finance and Contracting Guidance sets the ambition that agency spend should be eliminated in the coming years.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that outdoor hospitality areas remain outside the scope of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will put us on track towards a smoke-free UK, was introduced to Parliament on 5 November 2024. On 26 March 2025, MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of advancing the Bill to the next Parliamentary stage and it has now entered the House of Lords.
The Bill allows us to expand current indoor smoking restrictions to outdoor public places and workplaces. However, we have been very clear that in England, we intend to consult on extending smoke-free places to outside schools, children’s playgrounds and hospitals but not outdoor hospitality settings or wider open spaces like beaches. Private outdoor spaces are out of scope of the powers in the Bill.
We do not intend to extend these powers further than this at this time and recognise that now would not be the right time to consult on making outdoor hospitality settings smoke-free in England.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill does not lead to (a) restrictions and (b) bans on smoking in outside areas of hospitality businesses.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will put us on track towards a smoke-free UK, was introduced to Parliament on 5 November 2024. On 26 March 2025, MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of advancing the Bill to the next Parliamentary stage and it has now entered the House of Lords.
The Bill allows us to expand current indoor smoking restrictions to outdoor public places and workplaces. However, we have been very clear that in England, we intend to consult on extending smoke-free places to outside schools, children’s playgrounds and hospitals but not outdoor hospitality settings or wider open spaces like beaches. Private outdoor spaces are out of scope of the powers in the Bill.
We do not intend to extend these powers further than this at this time and recognise that now would not be the right time to consult on making outdoor hospitality settings smoke-free in England.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Office of National Statistics will publish the quarterly England and Wales and Local Authority under-18 conception data for 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Office for National Statistics will make the (a) 2022 and (b) 2023 under-18 conception data ward level data available for local authorities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 potential merits of banning the use of off-framework staffing agencies by the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The planning guidance for 2024/25 set out the expectation that trusts should end off-framework agency use. The National Health Service is now operating at the lowest levels of off-framework use on record.
The planning guidance for 2025/26 sets out, for the first time, in its Revenue Finance and Contracting Guidance, the ambition of eliminating agency spend altogether, and the expectation that trusts should reduce their agency spend by a minimum of 30% in 2025/26.
The merits of eliminating off-framework agencies would be to increase procurement compliance, value for money, safeguarding measures, workforce productivity, and to provide a ring fence of governance to improve patient safety. A list of approved framework agreements can be found on NHS England’s website, at the following link: