Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of capacity pressures in secondary care, particularly at hospital front doors, including staffing levels and bed availability.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We continue to monitor the impact of winter pressures on the National Health Service over the winter months. The NHS has been preparing for winter this year with the development and thorough testing of winter plans. This includes the surge capacity and escalation plans in place across all NHS and urgent care services.
While pressure has remained high on acute hospitals, performance has been better than in previous years. Accident and emergency four-hour performance was 73.8% in December 2025, an improvement of 2.7% from 71.1%. Provisional data for December 2025 indicates that there were 101,200 General and Acute beds open for all acute trusts, 93,177 of which were occupied, a 92.1% occupancy rate.
There were 431,000 more accident and emergency attendances in year-to-date to December in 2025/26 compared to the same period in 2024/25, a growth rate of 2.1%. This is lower than the average annual growth rate of 3.9% seen between 2021/22 and 2024/25 but still represents an increase in pressure on accident and emergency departments. Growth in attendances at consultant-led type 1 accident and emergency departments was 1.8% in the year to date to December in 2025/26, greater than the average annual growth rate of 1.3% between 2021/22 and 2024/25.
The 10-Year Health Plan aims to expand urgent care capacity through Neighbourhood Health Services and virtual wards, enabling patients to receive care closer to home where clinically appropriate and easing pressure on hospitals.
The responsibility for staffing levels should remain with clinical and other leaders at a local level, responding to local needs, supported by guidelines by national and professional bodies, and overseen and regulated in England by the Care Quality Commission.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much additional funding has been allocated in the current financial year to expand secondary care capacity, including staffing and bed numbers.
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: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NICE positive recommendations in each year since 2023 were issued as optimised decisions; and what proportion of the eligible patient population was able to access those medicines on the NHS.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommendations since 2023 that have been issued as optimised decisions:
Year | Number | Percentage of all publications excluding terminations |
2023/24 | 37 | 48% |
2024/25 | 33 | 43% |
2025/26 | 21 | 44% |
Source: NICE
Notes:
The Government does not hold data on the proportion of the eligible patient population able to access those medicines on the National Health Service. Some data may be available via the innovation scorecard and estimates report, avaiable at the following link:
This is a publication which reports on the use of medicines and medicine groupings in the NHS in England which have been positively appraised by NICE, including some NICE optimised decisions.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the efficiency savings attributed to regulated settlements arise from regulatory funding constraints imposed by the Office of Rail and Road.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Office of Rail and Road has a key role in providing assurance to Government on the regulated settlements for National Highways and Network Rail, this includes assuring what is to be delivered against the available funding as well as what is an appropriate efficiency target.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the efficiency savings attributed to executive agency reform will be permanent.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport efficiencies quoted in the Departmental Efficiency Plan are in line with the Government Efficiency Framework. In particular, the Government Efficiency Framework states that efficiencies “… should be sustainable (recurring)” and “exist in the year they are realised and remain in all subsequent years at equal or greater value.”
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to extend business rates relief to retail businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. RVs are re-assessed every three years. The most recent revaluation took effect from 1 April 2023 and was based on values as of 1 April 2021. The next revaluation will take effect from 1 April 2026 based on values of 1 April 2024.
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties, including those in the hospitality sector as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of the up-front technology and systems investment costs required for Network Rail and National Highways to deliver the efficiency gains assumed in the regulated settlements.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Technology and systems investments are integral to delivering efficiencies within Network Rail’s plan for Control Period 7. Significant investments have been made in specific technology and systems programmes, for example £930 million on Digital Signalling, £215 million on Electrical Safety and Delivery, and £185 million on Project Reach which aims to secure external investment to upgrade Network Rail’s telecoms infrastructure through utilising private sector funding. These investments are made to drive Network Rail's delivery against its overall strategic objectives, one of which is efficiency.
For National Highways, the upfront technology and system costs required to support efficiency delivery and performance outcomes will form part of the overall investment plan to be confirmed when RIS3 is published in March 2026.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the implementation costs are for the DVSA, DVLA and VCA reform programmes underpinning the projected £39 million per year efficiency saving by 2028–29.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The forecast efficiencies of £39m in 28/29 set out in the Departmental Efficiency Plan from reform of the Executive Agencies is the net position and were based on forecasted efficiencies of £52m and forecasted costs of £13m.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the annual efficiency savings projected for 2028–29 depends on efficiencies from National Highways’ Road Investment Strategy 3 which have not yet been finalised.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The forecasted efficiencies for 28/29 set out in the Departmental Efficiency Plan do not currently assume any efficiency savings from National Highways. National Highways’ efficiency target for the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS) will be confirmed when the RIS is published in March 2026.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commit to publishing regular, local authority–level data on asylum accommodation in HMOs, including numbers, capacity and duration of use.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
For the safety and security of those we accommodate and staff, it is our longstanding policy not to disclose information about sites which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office.
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area. These statistics can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.