Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to ensure that children from low-income households can access healthy food and regular exercise opportunities.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan for England, we are taking decisive action on the obesity crisis and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. We are restricting junk food advertising targeted at children on television and online and have given councils stronger powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools. We have announced changes to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy and consulted on our proposals to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children. We will go further by introducing mandatory reporting on the healthiness of sales for all large food businesses and strengthening the existing advertising and promotions restrictions by applying an updated definition of ‘less healthy food and drink’.
We recognise that obesity is highly unequal and we are taking appropriate steps to support people to access healthier food. Through the Healthy Start Scheme, we are encouraging a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households and, in April 2026, we will be uplifting the value of weekly payments by 10%. The Government is committed to reviewing the School Food Standards so that these reflect the most recent dietary recommendations, free school meals will be extended to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, and phase 1 of the free breakfast clubs programme will commence from April 2026, which will see a further 2,000 new schools delivering free breakfast clubs.
We are also committed to breaking down barriers and getting more people moving, especially those living in more deprived areas. We will do this through delivering the new Physical Education and School Sport Partnerships network, continued investment in grassroots sport, and cycling and walking infrastructure. We have already teamed up with Joe Wicks and launched 'Activate’, a series of animated, fun five-minute workouts to help families and schools tackle inactivity among children.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
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 the distinct health needs of children and young people are considered in the rollout of the neighbourhood health service.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and to ensuring that all children can access the right support at the right time. The shift to neighbourhood health, set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, will help deliver this ambition by strengthening and joining up support around the needs of babies, children, and young people.
Neighbourhood health services will work together with Best Start Family Hubs, schools, and colleges, so that children get support quickly.
On 17 March 2026, we published a Neighbourhood Health Framework, designed to provide clarity and consistency to integrated care boards, local authorities, and their partners, in developing and scaling neighbourhood health.
The framework identifies children and young people as a high-priority cohort for improving health outcomes and recognises this as a joint endeavour between the National Health Service, local authorities, and wider partners. The framework is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/neighbourhood-health-framework
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made in expanding the supervised tooth-brushing schemes for young children in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
The supervised toothbrushing programme will reach up to 600,000 children living in the most deprived areas of England, supported by £11 million in 2025/26, with a further £10.5 million consolidated into the Public Health Grant in 2026/27. In the first year of the programme, four million free toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste have been donated to local authorities through our partnership between the Government and Colgate-Palmolive.
An early phase evaluation is underway to understand how the programme is being delivered, including the number of schools and nurseries participating and the number of children attending these settings. Further information is available at the following link:
https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/evaluations/national_supervised_toothbrushing_programme/
The National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Public Health Research Programme will also evaluate effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding has been allocated to local authorities for programmes aimed at preventing childhood obesity.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Core funding for local authorities’ public health responsibilities is provided through the ring-fenced Public Health Grant which funds a range of preventative and treatment health services, including childhood obesity programmes. Local authorities are responsible for deciding how best to allocate their Public Health Grant to improve the health of their population and to fulfil their public health responsibilities.
For 2025/26, the Government increased the Public Health Grant by £224 million. The Government will continue to invest in local authorities' vital public health work, providing more than £13.4 billion over the next three years through a consolidated Public Health Grant, giving local authorities greater certainty to support long term prevention planning to make the best decisions to promote better population health, including on childhood obesity.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the funding required to ensure equitable access to tissue-freezing services for cancer patients across England; and whether his Department is taking steps to reduce regional disparities.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Pathology services in England are delivered through 27 regional pathology networks, and offer a comprehensive range of tests, including the analysis of brain tissues. Individual pathology services maintain their own standard operating procedures (SOPs) for fresh, or snap-freezing, of tissue samples. These SOPs outline local capabilities and practices.
It is important that everyone, regardless of where they live, can access the latest innovations in the health and care system through research. The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year in research through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR’s investments for capital equipment, technology, and modular buildings support National Health Service trusts across England to deliver high-quality research to improve the health of the population. This investment includes cutting edge research equipment and fixed assets such as ultra-low and cryogenic freezers, to strengthen research capacity and improve access to samples for research.
The Department is exploring options to expand brain tissue freezing capacity.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
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 trends in the level of geographic variation in access to tissue-freezing services; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure equitable access to advanced treatments, accurate genome sequencing and research participation.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Pathology services in England are delivered through 27 regional pathology networks, and offer a comprehensive range of tests, including the analysis of brain tissues.
Individual pathology services maintain their own standard operating procedures (SOPs) for fresh, or the snap-freezing of, tissue samples. These SOPs outline local capabilities and practices.
It is important that everyone, regardless of where they live, can access the latest innovations in the health and care system through research. The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year in research through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR's investments for capital equipment, technology, and modular buildings supports NHS trusts across England to deliver high-quality research to improve the health of the population. This investment includes cutting edge research equipment and fixed assets such as ultra-low and cryogenic freezers, to strengthen research capacity and improve access to samples for research.
The Government also supports the Rare Cancers Private Members Bill. The bill will make it easier for clinical trials to take place in England, by ensuring the patient population can be more easily contacted by researchers.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the share of NHS expenditure directed towards children and young people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and ensuring that all children can access timely support that meets their health needs.
We are delivering on the vision for neighbourhood health set out in the 10-Year Health Plan to bring care closer to babies, children, and young people. Neighbourhood health services will work together with Best Start Family Hubs, schools, and colleges so that children get support quickly, including those with special educational needs and disabilities.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the diverse needs of their local populations, including children. All ICBs in England are required to have an Executive Lead for Children and Young People, to ensure the interests of children are reflected in decision-making.
ICB funding allocations were issued alongside the NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework, which set out targets to improve children’s experiences of the health system. The framework also states that National Health Service organisations should explicitly consider the needs of children and young people in integrated plans. The priorities set out in the framework should be reflected in ICBs’ spending plans for coming financial years. The framework can be accessed at the following link:
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
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 health services meet children and young people’s specific health needs.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and ensuring that all children can access timely support that meets their health needs.
We are delivering on the vision for neighbourhood health set out in the 10-Year Health Plan to bring care closer to babies, children, and young people. Neighbourhood health services will work together with Best Start Family Hubs, schools, and colleges so that children get support quickly, including those with special educational needs and disabilities.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the diverse needs of their local populations, including children. All ICBs in England are required to have an Executive Lead for Children and Young People, to ensure the interests of children are reflected in decision-making.
ICB funding allocations were issued alongside the NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework, which set out targets to improve children’s experiences of the health system. The framework also states that National Health Service organisations should explicitly consider the needs of children and young people in integrated plans. The priorities set out in the framework should be reflected in ICBs’ spending plans for coming financial years. The framework can be accessed at the following link:
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the his Department is taking to ensure ICBs prioritise the health needs of children and young people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and ensuring that all children can access timely support that meets their health needs.
We are delivering on the vision for neighbourhood health set out in the 10-Year Health Plan to bring care closer to babies, children, and young people. Neighbourhood health services will work together with Best Start Family Hubs, schools, and colleges so that children get support quickly, including those with special educational needs and disabilities.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the diverse needs of their local populations, including children. All ICBs in England are required to have an Executive Lead for Children and Young People, to ensure the interests of children are reflected in decision-making.
ICB funding allocations were issued alongside the NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework, which set out targets to improve children’s experiences of the health system. The framework also states that National Health Service organisations should explicitly consider the needs of children and young people in integrated plans. The priorities set out in the framework should be reflected in ICBs’ spending plans for coming financial years. The framework can be accessed at the following link:
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that ICBs prioritise the health needs of children and young people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and ensuring that all children can access timely support that meets their health needs.
We are delivering on the vision for neighbourhood health set out in the 10-Year Health Plan to bring care closer to babies, children, and young people. Neighbourhood health services will work together with Best Start Family Hubs, schools, and colleges so that children get support quickly, including those with special educational needs and disabilities.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the diverse needs of their local populations, including children. All ICBs in England are required to have an Executive Lead for Children and Young People, to ensure the interests of children are reflected in decision-making.
ICB funding allocations were issued alongside the NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework, which set out targets to improve children’s experiences of the health system. The framework also states that National Health Service organisations should explicitly consider the needs of children and young people in integrated plans. The priorities set out in the framework should be reflected in ICBs’ spending plans for coming financial years. The framework can be accessed at the following link: