Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
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 implications for his policies of recent findings by UCL, City St George’s and Carers Trust that young adult carers are more than twice as likely as non-carers to be 'Persistently NEET' for two years or more.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
The Government recognises the valuable contribution of unpaid carers, including young adult carers, and the challenges that caring responsibilities can present for education, training, and employment.
The Department has noted the recent research by University College London City St George’s and the Carers Trust, which contributes to the evidence base and will inform policy development. The Government continues to work across departments to support unpaid carers, including young adult carers, to access the support they need to balance caring responsibilities with education, employment, and their own health and wellbeing.
On 14 July 2026, the Government published the Cross-Government Action Plan for Unpaid Carers, setting out measures to improve recognition of unpaid carers, connect them with the right support, and help them balance caring with work, education, health, and everyday life.
The Government is also committed to improving opportunities for young people to access education, training, and employment. Through the Youth Guarantee and wider skills and employment reforms, the Government is investing £2.5 billion over the next three years to support young people into opportunities to learn and earn.
The Government will continue to review the evidence, including this research, as it develops policies to improve outcomes for unpaid carers and young people.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were recruited into National Institute for Health and Care Research supported (i) phase 1, (ii) phase 2, and (iii) phase 3 trials for (a) dementia, (b) cancer, (c) stroke and (d) coronary heart disease for each year from 2020/21 to 2024/25.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The UK Clinical Research Delivery key performance indicators (UKCRD KPI) report monitors the United Kingdom’s delivery of globally competitive clinical research. The table attached provides the requested figures for phase 1, phase 2, and phase 3 interventional clinical trials, by disease type.
They are an unpublished subset of statistics under indicator six of the UKCRD KPI report, which measures the number of participants recruited to clinical studies. The information is taken from studies recorded on the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Delivery Network’s (RDN) Central Portfolio Management System.
The data was processed and assured by the NIHR RDN’s data, analytics, and specialty teams using the same established checks applied to data provided to the Department for publication in the UKCRD KPI report.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
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 ensure a.) patients with pancreatic cancer can easily access information about relevant clinical trials and b.) they are automatically linked onto clinical trials where eligible.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with pancreatic cancer, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.
The Department funded National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research. The NIHR provides an online service called Be Part of Research which promotes participation in health and care research, by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest.
The National Cancer Plan for England sets out the Government’s ambition to deliver world class cancer care through world class research, including delivering breakthroughs for rare and less survivable cancers. Throughout the lifetime of this plan, we will ensure that every cancer patient gets the opportunity to access relevant clinical trials quickly, fairly, and easily.
As set out in this plan, the Government will implement the Rare Cancers Act 2026, including Section 3 of the act which will involve developing a service to ensure rare cancer patients, including those with pancreatic cancer, can be automatically contacted about clinical trials. This will allow data sharing from the National Disease Registration Service to the NIHR Be Part of Research registry tool.
The United Kingdom continues to see pioneering pancreatic cancer studies, including research led by the University of Birmingham into personalised mRNA cancer vaccines, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2026/can-mrna-vaccines-fight-pancreatic-cancer
A specific example is the CRISTAL-APC trial to improve treatment for people living with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, supported by NIHR's Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and Clinical Research Facility.
Implementing the provisions of the Rare Cancers Act will make it easier for clinical trials on pancreatic cancer to take place in England.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his department will work with the NIHR National Speciality Lead for research into rare cancers to develop a national strategy focused on unlocking greater investment in pancreatic cancer research.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
As set out in the National Cancer Plan, the Government will implement the Rare Cancers Act 2026 by ensuring that a National Specialty Lead for Rare Cancers is appointed by summer 2026.
The National Specialty Lead will be based in the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Delivery Network (RDN) and will support the delivery of research for rare cancers, including pancreatic cancer, rather than developing national strategies. The NIHR National Specialty Lead will provide strategic oversight of rare cancer research studies on the NIHR RDN portfolio and address specific challenges with the delivery of research in this specialty.
The National Cancer Plan for England sets out the Government’s ambition to deliver world class cancer care through world class research, including delivering breakthroughs for rare and less survivable cancers, including pancreatic cancer. Rare and less common cancers are a priority for the Government, and the National Cancer Plan is the first ever cancer plan to include a dedicated chapter on rare cancers.
The United Kingdom continues to see pioneering pancreatic cancer studies, including research led by the University of Birmingham into personalised mRNA cancer vaccines, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2026/can-mrna-vaccines-fight-pancreatic-cancer
A specific example is the CRISTAL-APC trial to improve treatment for people living with stage four pancreatic cancer, supported by the NIHR's Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and Clinical Research Facility.
As set out in the plan, the Government recognises the crucial need for research into pancreatic cancer and is committed to supporting high-quality research through the NIHR. The NIHR welcomes high-quality funding applications for research into pancreatic cancer and rare cancers. Funding is awarded through open competition and expert peer review to support the highest-quality research proposals.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue national guidance to reduce variation in children’s hospice funding between ICBs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative care and end-of-life care services, including children and young people’s hospice services, to meet the needs of their local populations. NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications to support ICBs in carrying out these duties. We will be refreshing the statutory guidance and service specifications later this year.
The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.
We have supported the hospice sector in England with a £125 million capital funding boost for adult and children and young people’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are also providing approximately £80 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices over three financial years, 2026/27 to 2028/29, giving them the stability they need to plan ahead.
The Government is developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care in England, and we have recently published an interim update at the following link:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-06-04/hcws88
The MSF will embed palliative care and end-of-life care within a strategic commissioning model that is centred on clear and transparent contractual arrangements for commissioned palliative care activity across all providers, including hospices, to meet population health needs, with explicit regard to reducing inequalities and improving outcomes for underserved and disadvantaged groups. We expect all ICBs to complete an integrated needs assessment, to gain a detailed understanding of their current and future population, including people of all ages with palliative care and end-of-life care needs. This is vital in order to commission the services to best meet that need, whilst providing the best value for money.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what accountability mechanisms are in place to ensure that Integrated Care Boards meet national service specifications for neurological conditions; and what steps he is taking where ICBs do not meet service specifications.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
NHS England’s Neurology Transformation Programme, which ended in March 2026, was a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care to support integrated care boards (ICBs) to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients. This focuses on providing access equitably across the country, care as close to home as possible, and early intervention to prevent illness and deterioration in patients with long-term neurological conditions. A toolkit was developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model, which includes components on delivering acute neurology services, improving health equity in neurology, and improving community neurology services.
ICBs are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their local population, including for patients with neurological conditions. NHS England continues to set national standards, service specifications, and clinical access policies, which ICBs are expected to apply. Additionally, ICBs are also expected to take National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance into account when considering appropriate care, including for patients with neurological conditions, although these guidelines are not mandatory.
Decisions about how services are prioritised and funded remain a matter for local discretion, and there is no mechanism for the Department to mandate or require specific provision.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
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 the potential merits of providing breast cancer screening for women under 40 with Neurofibromatosis type 1.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Government is committed to improving cancer screening services in line with the National Cancer Plan and as part of the 10-Year Health Plan’s shift from treatment to prevention.
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) affects individuals differently. An individual’s risk of breast cancer is based on a number of factors. These factors may vary throughout a lifetime which is why individuals are advised to seek advice from their health professionals.
Most individuals with NF1 would be considered at moderate risk of breast cancer, which would mean they could be referred to local cancer surveillance programme commissioned via the integrated care boards.
The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence’s guidance does not address NF1 specifically but does state that people with certain genetic conditions should be referred through to a geneticist to consider their risk and may qualify for annual breast screening between the ages of 40 and 50 years old.
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which advises the Government on all screening matters, has never been asked to look at creating a separate programme for women with NF1. Any individual or organisation can submit a proposal during the committee’s three-month open call for topics.
The UK NSC will consider whether the proposal is within the UK NSC remit and, if so, how the topic should be explored further.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to grant local authorities powers to apply local means-testing policies to the Disabled Facilities Grant budget.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
In England, we continue to fund the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which is administered by local authorities. This grant helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes to make them safe and suitable for their needs. Practical changes include installing stairlifts, level-access showers, and ramps.
Local authorities already have a significant amount of flexibility in how they deliver the DFG, including removing means testing for grants costing under a certain amount. Local authorities have flexibility on determining the level below which they wish to remove the means test.
We have provided an additional £172 million over two years to uplift the DFG, which could fund approximately 15,000 extra home adaptations. This brings total funding for the DFG to £711 million in each of 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
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 the potential impact of the Food Standard Agency’s official control charges on the viability of small and medium sized abattoirs.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Information on the 2025/26 charge rates for official controls, or inspections, conducted in meat premises is available on the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) website at the following link:
https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/charges-for-controls-in-meat-premises
As in previous years, the impact of charges will be offset by a discount which provides the greatest proportional support to smaller businesses. The impact of the discount on different sized food businesses in England and Wales for 2025/26 is set out in the Cost Data Slides the FSA has published.
The FSA has conducted an evaluation of the current discount scheme which began with a Call for Evidence in autumn 2024. Extensive stakeholder engagement and consideration by the FSA Board in its public meetings has followed which has informed proposals for a revised scheme. At its public meeting on 10 December, the FSA Board agreed to a full public consultation on proposals for a scheme that would direct more targeted support towards smaller abattoirs. The consultation is planned for spring 2026 and will be accompanied by an assessment of impact.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will include a target in a future Rare Disease Action Plan on proportionate access to multi-indication medicines for (a) rare and (b) ultra-rare disease patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs is a priority under the UK Rare Diseases Framework. The 2025 England Rare Diseases Action Plan was published in February 2025 and reports on progress against existing actions under this priority. This included reviewing the effectiveness of the Early Access to Medicines Scheme, the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway, and the Innovative Medicines Fund, which are key access initiatives aimed at facilitating earlier availability of innovative treatments. Our review specifically assessed how effective these pathways are in supporting timely access to therapies for individuals living with rare diseases.
As set out in the Life Sciences Sector plan, we will be introducing a new and proportionate approach to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) appraisals and NHS indication-specific based pricing agreements for medicines with large numbers of indications, strong long-term outcome data, and low affordability risk. This will support treatments for rare diseases. There are currently no plans to introduce an access target, as it is essential to review the available evidence on a case-by-case basis. However, the Government remains committed to improving access to medicines for rare and ultra-rare diseases.