Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 provide sustainable funding for grassroots men’s mental health initiatives.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department currently has no plans to provide funding for grassroots men’s mental health initiatives.
More widely, the 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including for men. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the NHS App.
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, identifies middle aged men as a priority group for targeted and tailored support at a national level.
On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks, and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.
Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience.
We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 improve access to mental health services, particularly for young people and those in rural areas.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that too many children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, including young people living in rural communities. For 2025/26, mental health spending is forecast to amount to £15.6 billion. This represents a significant uplift of £688 million in real terms spending on mental health compared to the previous financial year.
As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government is recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament.
Additionally, approximately six in ten pupils will have access to a mental health support team by March 2026, which equates to approximately six million pupils and further education learners. Rollout will be prioritised based on NHS identification of local need and reaching the most vulnerable children first. We are accelerating the rollout of mental health support teams to achieve full national coverage by 2029.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of volunteer-led men’s mental health groups on mental wellbeing and NHS services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of volunteer-led men’s mental health groups on mental wellbeing and National Health Services.
More widely, the 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including for men. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the NHS App.
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, identifies middle aged men as a priority group for targeted and tailored support at a national level.
On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks, and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.
Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience.
We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 improve continuity of care for people with drug treatment needs on release from prison, including ensuring effective links between prison and community drug treatment services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone who has drug and/or alcohol treatment needs is assessed in prison and offered a referral to a treatment or recovery service on release. The Department works closely with national partners and with local authorities to improve continuity of care between prison and community drug and alcohol treatment systems. To support this, the Department has published a continuity of care self-assessment toolkit, and shares actionable data and good practice with drug and alcohol partnerships on a regular basis. The continuity of care self-assessment toolkit is available at the following link:
This work has enabled more people than ever to receive the treatment they need following their release from prison. The proportion of adults released from prison and successfully starting community treatment within three weeks of release was 53% in 2023 to 2024. This is a 10% increase from the proportion reported in 2022 to 2023, at 43%, and is 23% higher than when this data was first reported in 2015 to 2016, at 30%.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what specific actions the Department is taking, in response to the Chief Medical Officer’s report on the health of people in prison, published on 6 November 2025, to improve access to effective drug treatment and support services across the criminal justice pathway, including upon release from custody.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We welcome the Chief Medical Officer’s report on the health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure National Health Service estate in England and we are carefully considering the findings and recommendations.
The Department is committed to working with partners to reduce health inequalities for prisoners and is a signatory of the National Partnership Agreement which supports commissioning and delivery of appropriate service in prisons. We recognise that there is more we need to do to address health issues for this cohort. In addition, NHS England is updating all 19 health and justice service specifications by March 2026, which should provide opportunities to improve healthcare in prisons.
With specific regard to improving access to effective drug treatment and support services across the criminal justice pathway, including upon release from custody, the Department works closely with national partners and with local authorities to improve continuity of care between prison and community drug and alcohol treatment systems. To support this the Department has published a continuity of care self-assessment toolkit and shares actionable data and good practice with drug and alcohol partnerships on a regular basis. The toolkit is available at the following link:
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Department’s timelines are for implementing the recommendations set out in the Chief Medical Officer’s report, Health of People in Prison, on Probation and in the Secure NHS Estate in England, published on 6 November 2025.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We welcome the Chief Medical Officer’s report on the health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure National Health Service estate in England and we are carefully considering the findings and recommendations.
The Department is committed to working with partners to reduce health inequalities for prisoners and is a signatory of the National Partnership Agreement which supports commissioning and delivery of appropriate service in prisons. We recognise that there is more we need to do to address health issues for this cohort. In addition, NHS England is updating all 19 health and justice service specifications by March 2026, which should provide opportunities to improve healthcare in prisons.
With specific regard to improving access to effective drug treatment and support services across the criminal justice pathway, including upon release from custody, the Department works closely with national partners and with local authorities to improve continuity of care between prison and community drug and alcohol treatment systems. To support this the Department has published a continuity of care self-assessment toolkit and shares actionable data and good practice with drug and alcohol partnerships on a regular basis. The toolkit is available at the following link:
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of repeat offenders have access to specialist (a) mental health and (b) substance misuse treatment while in custody.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
People in prison are entitled to the same standard and range of health and social care services as they would receive in the community. All prisoners, regardless of whether or not they are repeat offenders, should have access to integrated mental health services. This includes access to a range of treatments and interventions within prison.
We are committed to ensuring that all offenders can access high-quality treatment that enables them to recover from their problems with drug or alcohol use as quickly as possible. We will continue to ensure that the full range of evidence-based treatment interventions is available to address the wide range of drug needs presented by people in secure and community settings, including abstinence-based interventions to support recovery from drug dependency.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the (a) level of rollout completion and (b) uptake rates of lung cancer screening programmes in each area where those services have been commissioned.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Lung Cancer Screening Programme is designed to identify lung cancer at an earlier stage, particularly among people at highest risk. The programme offers screening to individuals aged 55 to 74 years old with a history of smoking, recognising that lung cancer disproportionately affects people living in more deprived areas.
The National Health Service is currently rolling out the programme across England. The Public Health Functions Agreement between the Department and NHS England sets a target to invite 50% of the eligible population by March 2026, with full implementation planned by the end of the decade.
To encourage uptake of lung screening, the NHS in England is directly targeting activity at areas that we know will make a difference. This includes awareness campaigns such as the NHS Help Us, Help You campaign, to increase awareness of cancer symptoms, including lung cancer, and encourage people to get checked.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 equality of access to palliative care across England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations.
NHS England has also developed a palliative care and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.
The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.
We will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.
Additionally, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department is investing £3 million in a Policy Research Unit in Palliative and End of Life Care. This unit, launched in January 2024, is building the evidence base on palliative care and end of life care, with a specific focus on inequalities.
Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part charitable hospices play as well. This is why we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.
We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. I am pleased to confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the next three financial years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 hospice contracts reflect the (a) cost of the services they provide and (b) needs of their local populations.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. NHS England has also developed a palliative care and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population.
Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life, and their loved ones.
Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.
The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10- Year Health Plan. We will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.
Additionally, we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.
We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. I am pleased to confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the next three financial years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.