Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the financial viability of community pharmacies in England.

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

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. This work was published on the Frontier Economics website on 28 March 2025.

The findings of this analysis were considered as part of the consultation with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) on the changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors in 2025/26. Following this most recent consultation, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework was increased to £3.1 billion for 2025/26. This represented the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS at the time, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

As is custom and practice, the Department will consult CPE on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors in due course. Indicators of financial viability are regularly reviewed by the Department ahead of any such consultation, in addition to the representations of CPE.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of public service response to support for missing from home dementia patients.

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

Tackling this issue requires a multi-agency response and co-ordination across a range of policies and operational partners including the health care sector, local authorities and the police.

The provision of specific dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

Many police forces are now participating in the Herbert Protocol, with partner agencies, to assist in locating missing vulnerable people living with dementia. The Herbert Protocol is a national scheme by police forces in partnership with other agencies which encourages carers to compile useful information which could be used in the event of a vulnerable person, living with dementia, going missing. Carers, family members and friends can complete in advance, a form recording vital details, such as medication required, mobile numbers, places previously located, a photograph etc. In the event of a person going missing this information can then easily be provided to the police to assist them in searching for the person, saving valuable time.

The Government is harnessing digital technology to transform adult social care, helping people to stay independent in their homes, joining up services and improving the quality of care provided.

In January, ministers announced immediate steps the Department is taking to improve adult social care. These reforms build upon progress over the last four years to drive adoption of digital social care records by registered care providers to 80%, from a start point of 41% in December 2021, and to test, scale and evaluate innovative care technologies.

In the next year, the Government will set new national standards for care technologies and produce trusted guidance, so that people can confidently buy and use technology which supports them or the people they care for.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of youth autism advocacy programmes in local authorities in England.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

As part of our Plan for Change, the department is determined to fix the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system and restore the trust in it. To help us deliver this, we are having a further period of co-creation with families, teachers, children and young people and experts from across the sector to test our proposals further. We will bring forward a full Schools White Paper soon.

Through our Participation programme, we fund support and training to local authorities to strengthen and grow children and young people’s participation at a local level.

The department continues to strengthen co-production with children and young people via monthly meetings with our national SEND young people’s group and regional SEND young people’s groups across England, who share their views and experiences with us.

Local authorities should use existing organisations and young people forums to enable engagement with children, young people and their parents. The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information and Support Services offer information, advice and support for parents, carers children and young people with SEND.

Found: English Devolution Jim McMahon MP, Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, Ministry of

Found: of Commons on 5 February 2025, the then Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, Jim McMahon