Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of banning smartphones in secondary schools.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Mobile phones have no place in our schools. Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance, published in 2024.

The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.

New research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.

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 guarantee the inclusion of (a) Admiral Nurses and (b) other dementia specialist nurses as core members of the Neighbourhood Health Service.

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

The Neighbourhood Health Service will bring together teams of professionals closer to people’s homes to work together to provide comprehensive care in the community. We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations, and so they could include dementia specialist nurses. While we will be clear on the outcomes we expect, we will give significant licence to tailor the approach to local need. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, that will mean the service will look different in rural communities, coastal towns, or deprived inner cities.

Provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We would expect ICBs to commission services, which may include dementia specialist nurses/admiral nurses, based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. NICE recommends providing people living with dementia with a single named health or social care professional who is responsible for coordinating their care.

Under the 10-Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.  We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.

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 10-year dementia plan leads to a consistent standard of care and support for dementia patients across communities.

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

Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.

We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.

The Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.

Those with dementia will also benefit from more joined up care through co-created care plans, and by 2027, 95% of those with complex needs will have an agreed care plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to commission an independent review of how severity is defined in NICE appraisals and its effect on access to new cancer drugs.

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

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its recommendations. The severity modifier was introduced in January 2022 as part of a number of changes intended to make NICE’s methods fairer, faster, and more consistent.

NICE carried out a review of the implementation of the severity modifier in September 2024 and found that it is operating as intended. This showed that the proportion of positive cancer recommendations is higher, at 84.8%, than with the end-of-life modifier it replaced, at 75%, and the proportion of positive recommendations for advanced cancer treatments is also higher, 81.1% compared to 69%.

NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future method reviews.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to review the severity threshold used by NICE for appraising treatments for incurable cancers.

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

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its recommendations. The severity modifier was introduced in January 2022 as part of a number of changes intended to make NICE’s methods fairer, faster, and more consistent.

NICE carried out a review of the implementation of the severity modifier in September 2024 and found that it is operating as intended. This showed that the proportion of positive cancer recommendations is higher, at 84.8%, than with the end-of-life modifier it replaced, at 75%, and the proportion of positive recommendations for advanced cancer treatments is also higher, 81.1% compared to 69%.

NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future method reviews.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increased National Insurance contributions on voluntary sector health organisations.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

To support social care authorities to deliver key services, in light of pressures, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. This is part of an overall increase to local government spending power of 6.8% in cash terms.

More widely, the Government provides support for charities, including hospices, via our tax regime, which is among the most generous of anywhere in the world. Tax reliefs for charities and their donors was worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of pavement parking on people with (a) sight loss, (b) mobility impairments and (c) other disabilities.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with local authorities on these matters. The Government fully understands the serious problems that vehicles parked on the pavement, and other obstacles on the pavement, can cause for pedestrians, especially for people with mobility or sight impairments and those with wheelchairs, prams or pushchairs. The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible.  In the meantime, local authorities can make use of existing powers to manage pavement parking, and it is up to them to decide where to restrict pavement parking and what enforcement is appropriate. Recent reforms by my Department to the process by which Traffic Regulation Orders are made will make it easier for them to do so.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with local authorities on ensuring the safety of (a) wheelchair users, (b) people with visual impairments and (c) parents with prams when pavements are obstructed by parked vehicles.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with local authorities on these matters. The Government fully understands the serious problems that vehicles parked on the pavement, and other obstacles on the pavement, can cause for pedestrians, especially for people with mobility or sight impairments and those with wheelchairs, prams or pushchairs. The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible.  In the meantime, local authorities can make use of existing powers to manage pavement parking, and it is up to them to decide where to restrict pavement parking and what enforcement is appropriate. Recent reforms by my Department to the process by which Traffic Regulation Orders are made will make it easier for them to do so.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with care and support charities on proposed VAT rule changes.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government recognises the significant challenges facing the adult social care system and is committed to transforming the sector and supporting the care workforce. At the Spending Review the Government announced an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector to improve adult social care. This includes an increase to the NHS’s minimum contribution to adult social care via the Better Care Fund, in line with DHSC's Spending Review settlement.

Supplies of welfare services, including the provision of care, are exempt from VAT if they are supplied by eligible bodies, such as public bodies or charities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to support (a) social and (b) cultural assimilation of legal immigrants arriving in the UK.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Immigration White Paper, published on Monday 12 May, announced proposals on a wide range of reforms, including in the areas of community cohesion, integration and English language requirements, further details of which will be set out in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the pupil premium at reducing attainment gaps in (a) England and (b) in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools receive pupil premium, worth over £3 billion in 2025/26, to support disadvantaged pupils’ educational outcomes. South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency’s pupil premium allocation this financial year is £5.59 million.

The department published an evaluation of pupil and recovery premia in March 2025: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67dd5b7f0114b0b86e59f42b/Pupil_premium_and_recovery_premium_evaluation.pdf.

This contained positive findings, for example 85% of schools and 91% of trusts agreed that having pupil premium meant they had a better strategy for meeting disadvantaged pupils’ needs.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education,with reference to the Education Policy Institute's Annual Report 2025, what plans she has to review the (a) adequacy and (b) targeting of disadvantage funding across all education phases in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

In the 2025/26 financial year, 10.6%, representing £5.1 billion of the schools national funding formula (NFF), has been allocated through deprivation factors, as part of the 17.8%, representing £8.6 billion, allocated for additional needs overall. Schools with more pupils with additional needs therefore receive extra funding to help them to close attainment gaps. In 2025/26, the most deprived schools have, on average, attracted the largest per pupil funding amounts. The per pupil funding rates provided in respect of all NFF additional needs factors can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/674f2609d7e2693e0e47d02a/NFF_Policy_document.pdf.

Alongside the NFF, the department is providing over £3 billion in pupil premium funding in 2025/26 to improve the attainment and wider outcomes of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Pupil premium funding allocations can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2025-to-2026.

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 reduce the time taken to diagnose brain tumours.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Improving diagnosis rates is a key priority for the Government for all cancer types, including brain cancers. To achieve this, we are improving public awareness of cancer signs and symptoms, streamlining referral routes, and increasing the availability of diagnostic capacity through the roll-out of more community diagnostic centres.

In addition, the Government has now exceeded its pledge to deliver two million extra operations, scans, and appointments, having delivered 4.5 million additional appointments as a first step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the National Health Service constitutional standard, by March 2029.

Furthermore, NHS England is delivering a range of interventions to support general practices in diagnosing brain cancer earlier, for example through the early cancer diagnosis service specification for primary care networks. This specification is designed to support improvements in rates of early cancer diagnosis by requiring primary care networks to review the quality of their general practices’ referrals for suspected cancer and take steps to improve this, where appropriate.

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 that the UK does not fall behind other countries in access to innovative treatments for secondary breast cancer.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. To enable rapid access for NHS patients to new and effective life-extending treatments, NICE aims, wherever possible, to issue recommendations on new medicines close to the point of licensing. The NHS in England is legally required to fund the use of NICE approved cancer medicines. NICE has recommended 24 out of the 25 breast cancer treatments it has assessed since April 2018. These medicines are now available to NHS patients in England.

The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention and research. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. Research and innovation are key focuses of the National Cancer Plan. The plan will look to build on the success of our life sciences sector and projects such as the NHS cancer vaccine launch pad, and will also consider the ways that we can accelerate the uptake of innovative, life-saving treatments so all NHS patients can benefit.

The plan is due to be published later this year and will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately driving up this country’s cancer survival rates.

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 impact of third-sector providers on NHS pressures related to drug and alcohol treatment.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need, and we recognise the need for evidence-based, high-quality treatment.

No assessment has been made on the impact of third-sector providers on National Health Service pressures related to drug and alcohol treatment. Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need for alcohol and drug prevention and treatment in their area, and for commissioning services to meet those needs. The majority of drug and alcohol treatment services are delivered by charities, with a smaller proportion delivered by the NHS or companies.

Dame Carol Black’s independent review of evidence related to drugs, published in February 2020, found that the harms associated with wholly drug-related hospital admissions are estimated at £37 million. This cost includes admissions for mental and behavioural disorders, overdoses and poisonings, and drug-related neonatal disorders. The total cost of all harms associated with partially drug-related hospital admissions is estimated at £156 million. Research shows treatment for drug users can reduce the cost of drug related hospital attendances by 31%.

Effective community alcohol treatment can reduce costs to the NHS. The institute of Alcohol Studies estimates that alcohol costs the NHS and healthcare services £4.9 billion a year, based on 2021/22 prices. Accessible specialist treatment services can help people with alcohol dependence access healthcare at an earlier stage for the high levels of comorbidity they experience.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to support partnerships between local pharmacies and drug and alcohol support charities to deliver harm reduction services.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In addition to the Public Health Grant, in 2025/26 the Department is providing a total of £310 million in additional targeted grants to improve alcohol and drug treatment services and recovery support, including housing and employment, in England. This funding can be used by local authorities to support community pharmacies to deliver harm reduction services.

Many community pharmacies provide locally commissioned services aimed at reducing harm from the misuse of alcohol and drugs, such as supervised consumption of methadone alongside support for self-care, which is an essential service all pharmacies provide. This includes free healthcare advice, public health interventions, and signposting to relevant organisations and services.

The Department is aware of the challenges in the ability of some community pharmacies to provide some substance misuse services such as dispensing, supervised consumption of methadone, and needle and syringe programmes.

The Department has been supporting drug and alcohol treatment services to identify local solutions, including increased payment and some alternative models of provision of these services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to NHS trusts to support mental health inpatient wards operating above safe occupancy levels.

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

Individual mental health trusts and local health systems are expected to effectively assess and manage their bed capacity. NHS England’s mental health, learning disability, and autism inpatient quality transformation programme is supporting cultural change and a new model of care across all National Health Service-funded mental health inpatient services, so that people can access timely, high-quality community support, closer to their families and loved ones. Local health systems have now published their three-year plans for localising and realigning inpatient care, in line with this vision.

As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, we are focussing on treatment that is away from hospital and inpatient care and are making sure that more mental health crisis care is delivered in the community through new models of care and support, so that fewer people need to go into hospital.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate has he made of the average length of stay in mental health inpatient units; and how this compares with the average length of stay for physical health inpatient admissions.

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

The following table shows the median average length of stay for adults and children who were discharged from mental health inpatient units in England between 1 March and 31 May 2025:

Source: Mental Health Services Dataset, NHS England.

No comparison can be made with the average length of stay for physical health inpatient admissions. NHS England has advised that data is not collected under the description of ‘physical health’ as the term is too broad.

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 improve recruitment and retention in the mental health workforce.

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

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and is there when people need it, we are over halfway towards our target to recruit an extra 8,500 mental health staff. NHS England is also working to improve retention within the mental health workforce through clearer career progression pathways.