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:
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 he is taking 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 he is taking to ensure that the health service meets children and young people’s distinct 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 he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to grow the children’s health workforce.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. A child health workforce that is fit for the future will be critical to delivering on this ambition.
In spring, we will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan, to create a workforce ready to deliver a transformed service. The plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, including children, when they need it. We will also be publishing a new strategy to set the long-term professional direction for nurses, midwives, and nursing associates, which all form an important part of the children’s health workforce.
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 he is taking to grow the children’s health workforce.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. A child health workforce that is fit for the future will be critical to delivering on this ambition.
In spring, we will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan, to create a workforce ready to deliver a transformed service. The plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, including children, when they need it. We will also be publishing a new strategy to set the long-term professional direction for nurses, midwives, and nursing associates, which all form an important part of the children’s health workforce.
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, with reference to the document entitled Fair pay agreement consultation impact assessment, published in October 2025, if he will award an interim uplift to the pay of frontline care workers in the 2026-27 and 2027-28 financial years to address the immediate workforce recruitment and retention challenges before a negotiated fair pay agreement is implemented in the 2028-29 financial year.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Employment Rights Bill, the Government will set up the Fair Pay Agreement, establishing a form of sectoral collective bargaining which will empower employers, worker representatives, and others in partnership to negotiate fair pay, and terms and conditions.
The Government is taking steps to establish Fair Pay Agreements. These steps are essential to getting this right and ensuring meaningful reform for the adult social care sector. This includes our public consultation, which closes on 16 January.
This will support the delivery of our Plan to Make Work Pay, which is already delivering for care workers through changes to the minimum wage, putting more money into their pockets. The Employment Rights Bill will also end exploitative zero-hours contracts, with one in five carers on a zero-hour contract, and give workers rights to statutory sick pay from day one of absence due to illness.
Currently, most workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and terms and conditions, independent of the Government.
We know this is an issue now, and in the meantime the Government is making available approximately £4.6 billion of funding for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector in making improvements. This includes £500 million for the Fair Pay Agreement, the most significant investment in improving pay and conditions for adult social care staff to date.
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, how much funding has been allocated to Integrated Care Boards to support the delivery of children’s community health services in each of the last three years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Children’s community health services are part of integrated care board (ICB) core commissioning responsibilities. ICBs are given a non-ring-fenced allocation from which to commission services to meet these responsibilities and therefore there is no separate allocation.