Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of Integrated Care Boards in England have a Fracture Liaison Service.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) are a globally recognised care model and can reduce the risk of refracture for people at risk of osteoporosis by up to 40%.
Data for integrated care systems (ICS) is available from the FLS Database, a national audit of secondary fracture prevention services in England and Wales, for which services must have an existing FLS to be eligible to participate. This dashboard suggests that at least 32 ICSs had at least one trust that offered FLS in 2024.
We remain committed to rolling out FLS across every part of the country by 2030. In the meantime, we are investing in 14 high-tech DEXA scanners, which are expected to provide an extra 29,000 scans to ensure that people with bone conditions get diagnosed earlier.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of VAT on school fees on the shared provision of (a) SEND support, (b) sporting facilities and (c) SEND school transport between the independent and state school sectors.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced a £1 billion uplift in high needs funding in the 2025/26 financial year, providing additional support and improving outcomes for the more than a million children in the state sector with SEND.
Most children with special educational needs, including most with education, health and care (EHC) plans, are already educated in mainstream state-funded schools. All state-funded schools support children with SEND. All children of compulsory age are entitled to a state-funded school place that is free for parents. Where a private school place is necessary to support a child with SEND, the local authority will fund it through an EHC plan.
Local authorities have a statutory duty for ensuring sufficient state school places in their area. Local authorities routinely support children who need a state-funded school place, including where private schools have closed or where pupils move between schools. The department does not collect data on in-year school applications or admissions, but where local authorities are experiencing difficulties in ensuring there are enough school places for children who need them, the department will offer support and advice.
The department expects all schools admitting new pupils in-year to provide them with appropriate support, including where they have SEND. Schools will need to work with their local authority where pupils have additional needs that cannot be met within the school.
Schools with charitable status are required to demonstrate public benefit to retain their charitable status and engaging in partnership activities with state-funded schools is one such way to do that. This may in some cases include the sharing of private school facilities, such as sporting facilities. The government does not expect the introduction of VAT to reduce a school's obligations to show public benefit or for partnership activity to decrease.
The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education due to a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for eligible children of compulsory school age, who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. Schools are not required to arrange home-to-school travel for their pupils, but some choose to do so. We do not expect the removal of the VAT exemption on independent school fees to have an impact on the provision of home-to-school travel for children with SEND.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 number of Integrated Care Boards in England which have a Fracture Liaison Service.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) are a globally recognised care model and can reduce the risk of refracture for people at risk of osteoporosis by up to 40%.
Data for integrated care systems (ICS) is available from the FLS Database, a national audit of secondary fracture prevention services in England and Wales, for which services must have an existing FLS to be eligible to participate. This dashboard suggests that at least 32 ICSs had at least one trust that offered FLS in 2024.
We remain committed to rolling out FLS across every part of the country by 2030. In the meantime, we are investing in 14 high-tech DEXA scanners, which are expected to provide an extra 29,000 scans to ensure that people with bone conditions get diagnosed earlier.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure sufficient recruitment of retained firefighters in Shropshire.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Firefighters play a vital role in keeping the public safe and I am grateful for the work undertaken by fire and rescue services across the country in support of their local communities.
The Government is committed to ensuring fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work. Overall, fire and rescue authorities are receiving around £2.87 billion during 2024/25. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities have seen an increase in core spending power of £95.4m during 2024/25. This is an increase of 5.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2023/24.
Recruitment practice and processes are the responsibility of individual fire and rescue authorities who must ensure that fire and rescue services are meeting the needs of their local communities.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if her Department will take steps to promote positive male role models.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We recognise that strong role models can be key in inspiring others, and in challenging harmful stereotypes.
My officials work closely with male business leaders and campaigners to help make the case that steps to improve equality benefit everyone. They also support work going on across government aimed at tackling gendered stereotypes.
In addition to this work, the Department of Health and Social Care is developing a Men's Health Strategy to address the leading health issues that affect men. The strategy will be part of the government's 10 Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to help West Mercia Police recruit more special constables in rural communities.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises and values the professionalism, dedication and sacrifice shown by special constables in their work. Special constables, along with the full range of volunteers in policing, make a vital contribution to keeping our communities safe.
As we announced in the Police Funding Settlement in January, the Government is doubling the funding available in 2025/26 to support the first steps in delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel, including special constables. This £200 million investment underlines our commitment to the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee as part of the Safer Streets mission.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing performance-related pay for Chief Constables based on (a) rates of crime reduction and (b) crime outcomes including (i) charges and (ii) summonses.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
PCCs and Mayors with PCC functions, as the locally elected representative for policing, are responsible for holding Chief Constables to account for their performance and that of their force. This government will continue to work with PCCs and chief constables to set clear expectations for policing on performance and standards to ensure that our communities have an effective and efficient police service within their force area.
The Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) makes recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for chief police officers. This government values their independent and expert advice.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps with NHS England to review the (a) volume and (b) type of antidepressants prescribed on the NHS and their (i) side effects, (ii) long-term effectiveness and (iii) addictiveness.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute of Care and Excellence (NICE) and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are the relevant regulatory bodies in this area. While antidepressants can be helpful for some patients, NICE guidance recommends a range of non-drug options that should be considered first for people who present with less severe mental health conditions.
For patients diagnosed with depression, antidepressants are an effective treatment method. NICE has produced guidelines on antidepressants, which are available at the following link:
To ensure antidepressant drugs are made available to patients only where the benefits outweigh the potential harms, NHS England is encouraging integrated care boards to address inappropriate antidepressant prescribing and to consider commissioning services for patients wishing to reduce or stop antidepressants.
MHRA is leading a project to improve the information supplied with dependency-forming medicines. The project aims to improve risk minimisation measures and better inform and educate healthcare professionals and patients about the risk of dependence, addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal related to a wide range of medicines, including antidepressants in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce rates of self-harm by people who work in (a) farming and (b) other agricultural industries.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has set up a dedicated team to look at the particular set of issues driving poor mental health outcomes in the farming and agricultural sector. We will be working in consultation with communities, farming support organisations and experts across the Government to review how we can best support those experiencing poor mental health.
Furthermore, the Government is building a national network of Young Futures hubs, which will be present in every community and will deliver support for young people facing mental health challenges.
Finally, the Government is giving mental health the same attention and focus as physical health through measures such as employing 8,500 new mental health support workers. This will reduce delays and provide faster treatment closer to people’s homes.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the time taken for medical examiners to issue death certificates.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is monitoring the impact of the death certification reforms, including the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death Regulations 2024, which came into legal effect on 9 September 2024. Early data indicates the median time taken to register a death appears to have risen by one day, from seven days to eight days. This figure is for all deaths, as it includes those certified by a doctor and those investigated by a coroner. The average time taken to register has increased further over the recent Christmas weeks, but this was expected given increases are observed during this period every year; the average is expected to decrease again as more data becomes available for January and February 2025. The median time taken to register a death varies depending on the type of certification. Deaths certified by a doctor, that comprise approximately 80% of deaths registered each week, have typically had a median time to registration of seven days. We note that the medical examiner system was active on a non-statutory basis before the introduction of the statutory system on 9 September 2024, and this makes direct ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparisons challenging to draw conclusions from.
The core purposes of the death certification reforms are to introduce scrutiny of the cause of death to detect and deter malpractice, to improve reporting, and crucially to put the bereaved at the centre of the process by offering a conversation with the medical examiner about the cause of death. The expectation on doctors and medical examiners is clear, that they should complete certification as quickly and efficiently as possible, and the Government is working with all stakeholders to make sure this is the case.