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Written Question
Department of Health and Social Care: Staff
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what staff networks there are in her Department.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following staff-led support networks currently operate in the Department:

- EnABLE, a disability and long-term conditions network;

- Autism Network;

- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Network;

- Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Network;

- Race Equality Matters Network;

- Prism, an LGBT+ network;

- Women’s Network;

- Parents’ Network;

- Age Diversity Network;

- Carers’ Network;

- Care Leavers’ Network;

- Social Mobility Network;

- Men’s Health Network;

- Christian Network;

- Jewish Network;

- Muslim Network;

- Hinduism and Sikhism Group;

- Humanists Network;

- Diversity and Inclusion Analytical Network;

- Domestic Abuse Support Group;

- Working Through Cancer Network; and

- Mental Health First Aid.

The following networks support and promote professional development and operational delivery:

- International Network;

- Flexible Working Network;

- Green Network;

- Social Workers Network;

- Health Science and Engineering Network;

- IT User Engagement Group;

- Clinicians’ Network;

- Nutritionist Network;

- Perspectives Network;

- History Network;

- Culture and Engagement Champions Network;

- Active Travel Network;

- International Network;

- First Aid Network;

- Administrative Officer and Executive Officer Network;

- Personal Assistant Network;

- Senior Executive Officer and Higher Executive Officer Network;

- G6 and G7 Network; and

- Direct Appointment Scheme Network.


Written Question
NHS: Facsimile Transmission
Wednesday 13th March 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

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 fax machines used in the NHS.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No data is collected in relation to the number of fax machines being used in the National Health Service.


Written Question
Department of Health and Social Care : Equality
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff in their Department have job titles that include the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department currently has seven roles with job titles that include the words equality, diversity, inclusion, gender, LGBT and race. These roles sit within policy areas linked to supporting the Department’s work externally, and are not internally or HR focussed.


Written Question
NHS England: Equality
Thursday 29th February 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff in NHS England have job titles that include the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In NHS England, there are 51 staff who have equality, diversity, inclusion, gender, LGBT and race in their job titles. This covers a wide range of roles both supporting NHS England as an employer, and facing the wider National Health Service system.


Written Question
NHS: Postage Stamps
Wednesday 7th February 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS spent on postage in the latest 12 month period for which data is available.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data on the total spend on postage by National Health Service trusts in England is not held centrally and will be held locally by individual trusts.


Written Question
Dental Services
Wednesday 7th February 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many units of dental activity were (a) commissioned and (b) delivered in each integrated care board in (i) 2017, (ii) 2018 and (iii) 2019.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data for units of dental activity commissioned and delivered in each integrated care board in 2017, 2018 and 2019 will be published shortly on the NHS Business Services Authority’s Open Data Portal.


Written Question
Dental Services
Monday 29th January 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many units of dental activity were (a) commissioned and (b) delivered in each integrated care board in each month since January 2017.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Information on units of dental activity prior to April 2023 is not held centrally. The attached table shows this information from April 2023 to October 2023, the most recent period for which data is available.


Written Question
Pupils: Ethnic Groups
Thursday 25th January 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

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 in England; 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 Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects data on the height and weight status of children aged between four and five years old in reception grade and between 10 and 11 years old in year six. NHS England publishes data on the average height of children in reception and year six by sex and academic year. The data on average height is not available in the requested format for each ethnic group, nor is data on the number of state school pupils in reception year and year six by ethnic group and academic year published in the requested format.

The following table shows the data on national average height from the NCMP since the programme began in 2006/07 up to 2021/22, the period for which the most recent data is available:

Academic Year

Boys’ height in reception year (centimetres)

Girls’ height in reception year (centimetres)

Boys’ height in year six (centimetres)

Girls’ height in year six (centimetres)

2006/07

110.8

109.9

145.9

146.7

2007/08

110.5

109.5

145.3

146.1

2008/09

110.3

109.4

145.2

145.9

2009/10

110.2

109.3

144.9

145.6

2010/11

110.1

109.2

144.8

145.5

2011/12

110.0

109.1

144.7

145.4

2012/13

110.0

109.0

144.7

145.4

2013/14

110.0

109.0

144.7

145.4

2014/15

109.8

108.9

144.6

145.4

2015/16

109.9

109.0

144.9

145.6

2016/17

109.9

108.9

144.8

145.4

2017/18

110.1

109.1

144.8

145.5

2018/19

110.0

109.0

144.9

145.6

2019/20

109.4

108.4

144.6

145.2

2020/21

112.3

111.4

147.6

149.3

2021/22

110.9

109.9

146.1

147.6

Source: NCMP

Notes:

  1. Analysis of the NCMP data in the first three years show lower participation rates in the programme and suggested selective optout of children with a higher body mass index for age. It is possible that average height figures for year six for 2006/07 to 2008/09 could have been affected by this lower participation in the measurement programme.

  2. Some of the variation in height across all NCMP years may be due to variation over time in average age of children when measured. In 2019/20, children were only measured up to March 2020 so the average age of children and therefore mean height was lower than other collection years. In 2020/21 the NCMP data collection did not start until April 2021 so the average age and therefore average height was higher than other collection years.

  3. The 2020/21 NCMP only collected around 20% of the usual sample. The sample was found not to be fully representative and therefore weighting was used in most NCMP publications to make the data comparable to other NCMP collection years. However, NHS England did not apply the weighting to the 2020/21 figures in the table above. When combined with the higher average age of the sample in 2020/21 it implies that data for 2020/21 cannot be reliably compared to the rest of the time series.

Written Question
Department of Health and Social Care: Equality
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many equalities impact assessments her Department completed in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Under the Public Sector Equality Duty, otherwise known as the Duty, all public authorities, including Government departments, are required by law to ensure that they have due regard to certain equality considerations when carrying out their functions. Whilst ‘equality impact assessments’ may be produced, there is no legal requirement for duty assessments to be recorded in a specific format.

We do not centrally monitor assessments in this area but are confident that we are meeting the Duty in our decision-making processes. As a Department, we promote awareness of the Duty, via a number of channels, and the relevant analytical and other tools are available to policy professionals, to help ensure compliance with the Duty.


Written Question
IVF: East Midlands
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) cycles of IVF were funded and (b) people received a cycle of IVF in the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland integrated care board in the most recent year for which data is available.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

This information is not collected centrally.