Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time taken by his Department to respond to a freedom of information request was in each of the last five years; how many and what proportion of such requests his Department did not answer within the target time in each of those years; and how many such requests to his Department had not been answered within the target time as of 1 May 2024.

Answered by Anthony Browne

The department does not record the time spent in answering individual Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and is therefore unable to calculate an average time for answering such requests in any of the last five years.

Statistical information on the Department’s performance in answering FOI requests over the last five years is published by the Cabinet Office at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.

These statistics, which cover all Government departments, include the number that were not answered within the target time. They are published by calendar year, with the latest year being 2023. The annual statistics for 2024 will be published in April 2025 but quarterly statistics may be available sooner.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2024 to Question 20454 on Mental Health Services: Stockport, how the £4.7 billion of increased funding for mental health has been spent; and how much and what proportion of that funding has been spent by (a) local authority and (b) constituency area.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

Whilst a definitive answer is not possible, most of this additional funding was allocated to local health systems to be spent on expanding and transforming mental health services across the country. This is evidenced by:

- an increase in the number of adults accessing NHS Talking Therapies, with nearly 6 million people being supported over this five year period; an increase in the number of children and young people accessing mental health support, with over 750,000 children and young people under 18 years old supported through National Health Service funded mental health services, those with at least one contact, over the 12 months to January 2024;

- the roll out of approximately 400 mental health support teams in schools and colleges; the transformation of community mental health services for adults with approximately 288,000 adults and older adults with severe mental illness able to access improved physical health care, employment support, personalised and trauma informed care, medicines management and support for self-harm, and coexisting substance use over 2022/23, the latest full financial year for which figures are available;

- the establishment of around the clock and all-age urgent mental health helplines in every part of England;

- the investment of £30 million to meet the health needs of people sleeping rough, allowing for the establishment of 37 sites with new mental health provision for rough sleepers;

- the opening, or planned opening, of 15 specialist gambling treatment clinics, achieving representation across every region of England and including specialist provision for children and young people;

- the provision of £57 million of funding up to the end of March 2024, to embed local suicide and self-harm prevention activity, and to provide suicide bereavement support services in every local area.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide a timescale of when she expects (a) NHS England to conclude its commercial negotiations with Vertex Pharmaceuticals and (b) NICE to issue final guidance on NHS availability of Kaftrio for new patients.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

Commercial negotiations between NHS England and Vertex remain on track and are being undertaken constructively, and within a confidential environment, to best enable progress. NHS England remains committed to ensuring patients, and the wider community of family, carers, and friends, are provided with regular updates as negotiations continue.

Notwithstanding the ongoing commercial negotiations, the existing agreement contains a flexible commercial mechanism that will ensure continued access for patients already receiving any of the licensed treatments, whatever the outcome of the final National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluation. Eligible children and adults with cystic fibrosis are continuing to receive ongoing treatment, and will be initiated onto treatment with these drugs as clinically appropriate. An update on the anticipated date of final guidance publication will be provided by the NICE once the commercial negotiations have concluded.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Avanti West Coast’s management of Euston railway station.

Answered by Huw Merriman

No assessment has been made. Euston railway station is managed by Network Rail, not Avanti West Coast.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April to Question 20456 on Special Educational Needs: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Counci, what estimate her Department has made of the number of local authorities that are not delivering their education, health and care function as a result of constraints upon the general fund.

Answered by David Johnston

Responsibility for local authority funding lies with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to assess whether children and young people have special educational needs that require an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. EHC plans must be issued within twenty weeks of the needs assessment commencing so that children and young people can access the support they need.

In 2022, 49.2% of EHC plans were issued within the twenty week time limit. Where local authorities are failing to deliver, the department works with them using a range of improvement programmes and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) specialist advisers to address weaknesses. The department is also putting in place measures such as developing new national standards and a standardised EHC plan process to improve the SEND system so that, where an EHC plan is needed, they can be issued as quickly as possible to ensure children and young people can access the support they need.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the number of electric vehicle charging points in Stockport constituency.

Answered by Anthony Browne

As of 1st April 2024, there were 34 total public electric vehicle charging devices in the Stockport constituency, 18 of which were rated 50kW or above, according to the electric vehicle charging platform Zapmap.

The £381 million Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund will support local authorities such as Stockport Council in England to work with industry and transform the availability of EV charging for drivers without off-street parking.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will (a) undertake a review of maternity leave entitlement for Police Officers and (b) update police regulations to reflect the outcome of that review.

Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) and Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) consider and make recommendations to the Government on the pay, allowances, hours of duty and leave for police officers.

The Home Secretary’s remit letters, published on 20 December, do not ask the PRRB and SSRB to review maternity leave entitlements. However, the Government will give very careful consideration to any commentary or recommendations the Review Bodies may make on the current entitlements.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help improve specialist services for patients diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning specialist myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), services that meet the needs of their population, subject to local prioritisation and funding. The process of commissioning services should take into account best practice guidance, such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance on ME and CFS diagnosis and management, published in October 2021.

In October 2023, the British Association of Clinicians in ME/CFS published the ME/CFS National Services Survey. This report provides insight into the services being delivered for adults, children, and young people with ME and CFS. The Department published My full reality: an interim delivery plan for ME/CFS in August 2023, which sets out a number of actions to improve the experiences and outcomes for people living with the condition, including better education of professionals and improvements to service provision.

Alongside the publication of the interim delivery plan, we ran a public consultation to build a picture of how well the interim plan meets the needs of the ME and CFS community, and to understand if there are any gaps where further action may be necessary. The Department is currently analysing over 3,000 responses to the consultation, and will publish a summary of the consultation responses in due course. Those consultation responses, along with continued close engagement with key stakeholders, will drive the development of the final cross-Government ME/CFS Delivery Plan, which will be published later this year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people his Department has identified for deportation to Rwanda in (a) Stockport and (b) Greater Manchester.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson

The Home Office does not routinely publish information on detention activity at a regional level.

The first illegal migrants set to be removed to Rwanda have now been detained, following a series of nationwide operations. We will not be providing a running commentary on operational activity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21865 on Bowel Cancer: Greater Manchester, what is the average waiting time to receive (a) an appointment for a coloscopy and (b) the results from a colonoscopy in (i) England, (ii) Greater Manchester and (iii) Stepping Hill Hospital.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

Statistics on diagnostics waiting times via modality for England, and at commissioner and provider levels, is publicly available and can be accessed via the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/monthly-diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/monthly-diagnostics-data-2023-24/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2024 to Question 20454 on Mental Health Services: Stockport, what the average financial spend was per child and young person supported; and what the average number of contacts was per child and young person supported.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

Data from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 shows the average cost per contact is £333, and that then Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust received over 8,000 referrals, with a 96% acceptance rate. This is only for the children and young people’s mental health service provided by Pennine Care in Stockport. There may be other services and support, but to collate this would exceed the appropriate limit.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2024 to Question 17003 on River Mersey: Water, when he expects the Environment Agency's national programmes report on its investigation into chemical failures and historic sources of chemicals across the Mersey catchment to be published.

Answered by Robbie Moore

I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given on 4 March 2024, UIN 17003. The Environment Agency’s national programmes investigating persistent chemical failures and historic sources of chemicals across England are on-going, and there are therefore no plans to publish a specific report on the Mersey.

In 2025, the Water Framework Directive classifications for the water bodies in the Mersey catchment will be subject to a new assessment and published. Data informing the current classifications is available on Gov.uk at https://environment.data.gov.uk/water-quality/view/landing.

As stated in the original response, the Environment Agency has national programmes investigating persistent chemical failures and historic sources of chemicals across England. These programmes are on-going, and there are therefore no plans to publish a specific report on the Mersey. In 2025, the Water Framework Directive classifications for the water bodies in the Mersey catchment will be subject to a new assessment and published. Data informing the current classifications is available on Gov.uk.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21490 on Prosthetics, how many prosthetic limbs are produced by the 35 NHS commissioned prosthetic centres; whether the prostheses produced are of the highest market standard; who the NHS commissioned prosthetic centre providers are; and how many patients are waiting for prosthetic limbs from the NHS.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

The prosthetic centres do not produce limbs. Limbs, and the components thereof, are supplied through the NHS Supply Chain, directly from the manufacturers. The NHS Supply Chain ensures that all regulatory quality assurance requirements are met.

National Health Service prosthetic providers do not hold a waiting list for the provision of limbs. Patients will be assessed and prescribed an appropriate limb, when clinically appropriate, following amputation. This will depend on the time required for the residual limb to heal to allow a prosthesis to be fitted, and will vary between patients. NHS England commissions 35 prosthetic centres, which are listed below:

- Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust;

- University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust;

- Sussex Community NHS Trust;

- North Bristol NHS Foundation Trust;

- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;

- North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust;

- South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;

- East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust;

- University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust;

- Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust;

- Kent and Medway NHS Social Care Partnership Trust;

- North East London NHS Foundation Trust;

- Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;

- Isle of Wight NHS Trust;

- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust;

- Leicester Specialist Mobility Centre;

- Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;

- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust;

- Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust;

- St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust;

- Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust;

- Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;

- Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust;

- Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;

- Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust;

- Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust;

- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust;

- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;

- Livewell Plymouth;

- Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust;

- Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;

- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;

- Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust;

- Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; and

- The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to require railway (a) ticket offices and (b) electronic vending machines to accept cash payments.

Answered by Huw Merriman

Ticket offices already accept multiple forms of payments including cash and some Ticket Vending Machines also accept cash. We will ensure that all passengers are able to continue to use cash to purchase tickets as work to modernise the retail and passenger experience at stations continues.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) staffing levels and (b) staff training on the time taken to process probate applications in each of the last 12 months.

Answered by Mike Freer

HM Courts & Tribunals Service recruited 100 full time equivalent (FTE) staff between June 2022 and June 2023 for the probate service. HMCTS are now holding staffing levels at around 280 FTE compared to 153 FTE in March 2020. This is to maintain the increased volume of grants being issued and providing capacity for a rolling training programme to build the capability of the workforce.

More recent Management Information published by HMCTS shows the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate (following receipt of the documents required) reduced by 3 weeks in March 2024 compared to February 2024. The average timeliness for cases completing in March was 9 weeks.

Official statistics show that the average time (median) from application submission to grant issue for all grant types was 11.0 weeks in 2023 (mean average time was 13.9 weeks). From the document receipt to grant issue the median average time was 8.7 weeks (mean average time 12.0).

Despite the probate service receiving record levels of applications during 2023 the open workable caseload (cases not waiting for more information from the applicant) has reduced by 30,500 cases since August 2023 and currently stands at 37,406 in March 2024.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of audiology services in England that have been outsourced to private providers by NHS (a) trusts and (b) integrated care boards.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport

Audiology services are directly commissioned via integrated care boards (ICBs), which have responsibility for overseeing the quality and effectiveness of these services. Waiting times are recorded for audiology assessments through the national diagnostic activity and waiting times collection. This data is reviewed and monitored monthly across ICBs and NHS England. The data is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/community-health-services-waiting-lists/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on the number of hydrotherapy centres (a) due to be closed and (b) under consideration for closure by NHS (i) trusts and (ii) integrated care boards.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

Health services are commissioned locally by integrated care boards, which are best placed to make decisions regarding the provision of health services, including hydrotherapy, to their local population, subject to local prioritisation and funding.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the cost to the NHS of providing (a) treatment and (b) other support to patients with mental health conditions in each year since 1 January 2022; and if she will commission research on the potential impact of (i) social and (ii) economic factors on the prevalence of mental health conditions.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

Forecast expenditure on the provision of National Health Service mental health services and support was £12.6 billion in 2022/23, £13.9 billion in 2023/24, and £14.8 billion in 2024/25. The equivalent information for 2021/22 is not available.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR supports a wide range of research studies in mental health, and launched a Mental Health Research Initiative in 2021, which included a £30 million investment to target acute regional and community mental health needs, and strengthen the nation’s capacity for high impact research. Further activity is underway to establish up to 10 Mental Health Research Groups in areas across England which experience a high mental health burden, but which currently have limited or absent research capacity. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including the factors influencing mental health.

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 the adequacy of processing times for (a) applications for and (b) appeals relating to NHS Continuing Healthcare.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport

Operational delivery of NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs), with oversight from NHS England. The National Framework makes clear that ICBs are expected to reach a decision in most cases within 28 days of being notified of an individual’s potentially eligibility. Further information on the National Framework is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-framework-for-nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care

All ICBs must have a CHC local resolution process in place, in order to support individuals who may wish to challenge a decision. NHS England has provided best practice guidance to ICBs, outlining how local resolution should operate. This includes a recommendation that ICBs should complete a request for a local review within three months of receipt. Where it has not been possible to resolve the matter, the individual may apply to NHS England for an independent review of the decision.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting a permanent seat for the Republic of India on the United Nations Security Council.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan

The UK Government supports reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), to make it more representative of the world today. This includes our longstanding support for a permanent seat on the UNSC for India, as well as permanent African representation, and permanent seats for Germany, Japan and Brazil. We support an expansion of the non-permanent category of membership, taking the Security Council's total membership to somewhere in the mid-twenties. The UK Government regularly reiterates its support for India's permanent membership of the Security Council, including earlier this year in the UN General Assembly's recent round of intergovernmental negotiations on UNSC reform.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2024 to Question 23057 on Dentistry: Mental Health Services, what her Department's expected timetable is for publishing the findings of its review into its mental health and wellbeing offer.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson

NHS England is in the process of reviewing its mental health and wellbeing offer for National Health Service staff, and has committed to completing this review in 2024/25.

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