Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will develop a workforce plan for palliative care with service commissioners.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have published our 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and a central part of the plan is our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
We will publish a new workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, to ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.
We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups. We are committed to working with partners to ensure the plan meets its aims and will engage independent experts, including those in the palliative and end of life care sector, to make sure the plan is ambitious, forward looking, and evidence based. The workforce plan will be published in spring of this year.
We are also developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. The MSF will align with the Workforce Plan, which commits to ensuring staff have better training, more fulfilling roles, and the right skills for future models of care.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions has he had with the Home Secretary on the reclassification of ketamine as a Class A substance.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care takes seriously addressing harms from ketamine. We are working with partners across Government, including Home Office, to respond to existing and new drug threats and to reduce and prevent the health harms they cause. This includes launching a recent media campaign alerting young people to the dangers of ketamine through providing £3.4 billion for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services over the next three years.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to secure a new NHS dental contract.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on shorter term improvements to the National Health Service dental contract on 16 December 2025. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest needs first while incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following link:
We are continuing to work with the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector, including through Ministerial meetings, to deliver our shared ambition to improve access to treatments for NHS dental patients.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he is having with (a) local authorities and (b) independent sector agencies on the delivery of adult social care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has met with sector representatives including the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors for Adult Social Services to discuss operational issues, emerging challenges, and opportunities to improve adult social care services.
Minister Kinnock and his officials maintain regular engagement with the adult social care sector, discussing policy and local delivery. For example, in December 2025, I attended the Fair Pay Agreement Working Group, comprised of trade unions, local government, employer representatives and wider social care partners. In November 2025, I gave a speech at the National Children and Adults Services Conference attended by local government and independent sector representatives. We are committed to working in genuine partnership with social care professionals, local authorities, policy makers, and crucially the people who draw on care and support.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 review the NHS funding formula.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is responsible for determining allocations of financial resources to integrated care boards (ICBs) The process of setting allocations is informed by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA), an independent committee that provides advice to NHS England on setting the target formula, which impacts how allocations are distributed over time.
Under the supervision of the ACRA, the funding formulae for ICB commissioned services in the National Health Service are under a rolling programme of review and update. Following the 10-Year Health Plan, NHS England commissioned ACRA to review: the findings of the Chief Medical Officer’s recent reports on health across different communities to provide assurance that the factors discussed in the reports have been considered for inclusion in the ICB allocations formulae; and how the setting of ICB allocations can better support the reduction of health inequalities to ensure that resources are targeted where they are most needed.
These reviews are expected to be completed by autumn 2026.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment is made of level of need for unmet trauma interventions for offenders (a) in prison and (b) on probation; and how these needs are being met.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the level of need for unmet trauma interventions for offenders in prison and on probation, or how these needs are being met.
NHS England commissions healthcare services in every prison in England to a level equivalent to community provision. The National Integrated Prison Mental Health Service Specification requires trauma‑informed care as a core part of mental health support, with teams equipped to recognise and respond to the effects of trauma through assessment, screening, care planning, risk management, and evidence‑based interventions.
NHS England is reviewing the National Integrated Prison Mental Health Service Specification to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the prison population.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress he has made in developing a strategy for delivering Adult Social Care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are progressing towards a National Care Service with around £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care by 2028/29 compared to 2025/26. We are already putting the core foundations of a National Care Service in place, aligned with the Government’s three objectives for adult social care:
In December 2025, the department launched a new publication 'Adult social care priorities for local authorities: 2026 to 2027', which sets out priority outcomes and expectations for local authority delivery of adult social care from 2026/27.
The Government recognises the vital importance of coproduction and is committed to working with people who draw on care and support, and those with professional experience of care to design and develop a National Care Service that is shaped by what matters most to people. But we know that meaningful, lasting reform of adult social care cannot be delivered overnight. Phase 1 of the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care will report this year, making recommendations to address immediate priorities for adult social care, laying the groundwork for long-term reform. We will consider and respond to the recommendations when Baroness Casey reports and work will then begin on implementing phase 1 recommendations, alongside ongoing reforms in the Department.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he is drawing on lived experience in shaping the strategy for adult social care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are progressing towards a National Care Service with around £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care by 2028/29 compared to 2025/26. We are already putting the core foundations of a National Care Service in place, aligned with the Government’s three objectives for adult social care:
In December 2025, the department launched a new publication 'Adult social care priorities for local authorities: 2026 to 2027', which sets out priority outcomes and expectations for local authority delivery of adult social care from 2026/27.
The Government recognises the vital importance of coproduction and is committed to working with people who draw on care and support, and those with professional experience of care to design and develop a National Care Service that is shaped by what matters most to people. But we know that meaningful, lasting reform of adult social care cannot be delivered overnight. Phase 1 of the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care will report this year, making recommendations to address immediate priorities for adult social care, laying the groundwork for long-term reform. We will consider and respond to the recommendations when Baroness Casey reports and work will then begin on implementing phase 1 recommendations, alongside ongoing reforms in the Department.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what elements of the Adult Social Care strategy does he intend to publish this year as the first phase of the strategy.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are progressing towards a National Care Service with around £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care by 2028/29 compared to 2025/26. We are already putting the core foundations of a National Care Service in place, aligned with the Government’s three objectives for adult social care:
In December 2025, the department launched a new publication 'Adult social care priorities for local authorities: 2026 to 2027', which sets out priority outcomes and expectations for local authority delivery of adult social care from 2026/27.
The Government recognises the vital importance of coproduction and is committed to working with people who draw on care and support, and those with professional experience of care to design and develop a National Care Service that is shaped by what matters most to people. But we know that meaningful, lasting reform of adult social care cannot be delivered overnight. Phase 1 of the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care will report this year, making recommendations to address immediate priorities for adult social care, laying the groundwork for long-term reform. We will consider and respond to the recommendations when Baroness Casey reports and work will then begin on implementing phase 1 recommendations, alongside ongoing reforms in the Department.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he is drawing on professional experience of those working in adult social care for developing the strategy.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are progressing towards a National Care Service with around £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care by 2028/29 compared to 2025/26. We are already putting the core foundations of a National Care Service in place, aligned with the Government’s three objectives for adult social care:
In December 2025, the department launched a new publication 'Adult social care priorities for local authorities: 2026 to 2027', which sets out priority outcomes and expectations for local authority delivery of adult social care from 2026/27.
The Government recognises the vital importance of coproduction and is committed to working with people who draw on care and support, and those with professional experience of care to design and develop a National Care Service that is shaped by what matters most to people. But we know that meaningful, lasting reform of adult social care cannot be delivered overnight. Phase 1 of the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care will report this year, making recommendations to address immediate priorities for adult social care, laying the groundwork for long-term reform. We will consider and respond to the recommendations when Baroness Casey reports and work will then begin on implementing phase 1 recommendations, alongside ongoing reforms in the Department.