Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
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 average time taken for deaths to be reviewed under the national medical examiner system since 9 September 2024; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken for deaths to be reviewed on the time taken to arrange funerals.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is monitoring the impact of the death certification reforms, which came into legal effect on 9 September 2024. The median time taken to register a death since the introduction of the statutory medical examiner system in England and Wales is eight days. This figure is for all deaths, as it includes those certified by a doctor and those investigated by a coroner. 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, had a median time to registration of seven days. The Department has not conducted a separate review of the time taken to arrange funerals, which can depend on a number of external factors.
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 Department is working with all stakeholders to make sure this is the case.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the work his Department commissioned from the Adult Social Care Research Unit on updating the 2013 Adult Social Care Relative Needs Formula.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care funds independent research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). This project is funded through the NIHR Adult Social Care Policy Research Unit.
The publication of research is led by the research team and in line with NIHR commitments to the transparent and independent publication of high-quality research will be made available on the Adult Social Care Policy Research Unit Website. The views expressed in outputs of the research are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
The Department of Health and Social Care is still considering this research as part of its ongoing policy work. We are working closely the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the role of a specific Adult Social Care funding formula is considered within the consultation ‘Local authority funding reform: objectives and principles’, published on 18 December 2024. We will update further in due course.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average height was for state school pupils in (a) reception and (b) year six in each academic year since 2005-06; what the average height was for state school pupils in each ethnic group in those academic years in that period; and how many state school pupils were in each ethnic group in those academic years in that period.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The height of state school pupils in Reception and Year 6 is measured in the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). The following table shows the average height in centimetres of boys and girls aged five and 11 years old, in the academic years from 2008 to 2024:
Age | Academic year | Mean height for girls | Mean height for boys |
5 | 2008 to 2009 | 109.2cm | 110.0cm |
5 | 2009 to 2010 | 109.2cm | 110.1cm |
5 | 2010 to 2011 | 109.2cm | 110.1cm |
5 | 2011 to 2012 | 109.3cm | 110.2cm |
5 | 2012 to 2013 | 109.2cm | 110.1cm |
5 | 2013 to 2014 | 109.3cm | 110.2cm |
5 | 2014 to 2015 | 109.3cm | 110.2cm |
5 | 2015 to 2016 | 109.3cm | 110.2cm |
5 | 2016 to 2017 | 109.3cm | 110.3cm |
5 | 2017 to 2018 | 109.3cm | 110.3cm |
5 | 2018 to 2019 | 109.3cm | 110.3cm |
5 | 2019 to 2020 | 109.4cm | 110.4cm |
5 | 2020 to 2021 | 109.8cm | 110.9cm |
5 | 2021 to 2022 | 109.7cm | 110.7cm |
5 | 2022 to 2023 | 109.3cm | 110.4cm |
5 | 2023 to 2024 | 109.3cm | 110.3cm |
11 | 2008 to 2009 | 145.7cm | 145.0cm |
11 | 2009 to 2010 | 145.8cm | 145.0cm |
11 | 2010 to 2011 | 145.9cm | 145.1cm |
11 | 2011 to 2012 | 145.9cm | 145.1cm |
11 | 2012 to 2013 | 146.0cm | 145.1cm |
11 | 2013 to 2014 | 146.1cm | 145.3cm |
11 | 2014 to 2015 | 146.2cm | 145.3cm |
11 | 2015 to 2016 | 146.3cm | 145.5cm |
11 | 2016 to 2017 | 146.3cm | 145.5cm |
11 | 2017 to 2018 | 146.4cm | 145.6cm |
11 | 2018 to 2019 | 146.5cm | 145.6cm |
11 | 2019 to 2020 | 146.6cm | 145.7cm |
11 | 2020 to 2021 | 148.0cm | 146.5cm |
11 | 2021 to 2022 | 148.0cm | 146.4cm |
11 | 2022 to 2023 | 147.8cm | 146.3cm |
11 | 2023 to 2024 | 147.5cm | 146.4cm |
Source: data is from the NCMP, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/obesity-profile-november-2024-update
Height data has not been published for the years 2005 to 2008. Height data by ethnic group of pupil is not available, but is due to be published by the Department on 4 February 2025, and will be available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/obesity-profile-february-2025-update
The Department for Education publishes information on the number of state school pupils by ethnicity. This information can be found in the Schools, pupils, and their characteristics publication on GOV.UK website, which is based on January school census data. Statistics from May 2010 onwards are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers
Data is not published for Reception and Year 6 children specifically. Statistics from 2005 to 2009 are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-pupil-and-their-characteristics-2002-to-2009-data
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 1 May 2024 to Question 19413 on NHS: Expenditure, how much (a) NHS England, (b) clinical commissioning groups and (c) integrated care boards spent in aggregate on (i) mental health services, (ii) acute health services, (iii) social care services, (iv) primary medical services, (v) specialised services, (vi) NHS continuing healthcare and (vii) all other recorded spending categories in each financial year since 2015-16; and how much those organisations plan to spend in aggregate in each of those areas in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people there were in each region with a newly diagnosed HIV infection whose country of birth was (a) in the UK and (b) not in the UK in each year since 2014.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of new diagnoses for each year between 2014 and 2023, presented by region of residence and by whether country of birth was UK or not, is publicly available from the following GOV.UK link: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
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 22 October 2024 to Question 9646 on HIV Infection: Diagnosis, how many people living with diagnosed HIV infection there were whose country of birth was (a) in the UK and (b) not in the UK by region in each year since 2014.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested, however HIV data are publicly accessible from the HIV data tables published on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hiv-annual-data-tables.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department provides to integrated care boards on the use of funding for dentistry; and whether such funding is required to be ring-fenced for the provision of dentistry services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has issued guidance on the ringfencing of dental budgets between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/revenue-finance-and-contracting-guidance-for-2024-25/
To ensure compliance against this requirement, and to strengthen oversight of funding that is used to deliver access to National Health Service dental care, NHS England will meet with and collect monthly returns from all integrated care boards to establish current and planned spend against the ringfenced dental allocations budget.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP premises there were in 2010.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2010, there were 8,324 general practice (GP) premises. This data has been sourced from NHS England and only includes main practices. More data is available at the following link:
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many units of (a) orthodontic and (b) dental activity were (i) commissioned and (ii) delivered per head of population in each region in each year since 2006.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not hold data on the units of dental activity delivered per head of population in each region and each year since 2006. Activity in National Health Service dentistry is measured by the number of Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) commissioned and delivered, and by the number of courses of treatment delivered. Data on the number of UDAs commissioned and delivered is published each month on the NHS Business Services Authority Open Data Portal, which us available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-contractor-monthly-general-dental-activity
The data for 2023/24, and for the years prior to 2023/24, is respectively available at the following two links:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many new HIV diagnoses there were in each year since 2012, by world region of birth.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This data is published routinely on gov.uk.