Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS penalty charges for incorrectly claimed free prescriptions have been issued to individuals who qualified for but did not hold NHS medical exemption certificates in the last 12 months.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
From November 2024 to October 2025, the NHS Business Service Authority issued 47,058 penalty charge notices (PCNs) to people who claimed a medical exemption but were found to have no exemption in place when checked. Of these, 21,328 were eased, for various reasons including the patient subsequently applying for an exemption successfully. The number of easements in this category cannot be confirmed. Of the 47,058 PCNs issued 3,583 people received multiple PCNs.
Although the Department has made no formal assessment of the effectiveness of issuing PCNs as a deterrent against improper claims, the fact that the vast majority who receive one PCN do not go on to receive another would, in my opinion, suggest a potential deterrent effect.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
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 effectiveness of issuing penalty charge notices as a deterrent against improper claims of free NHS prescriptions.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
From November 2024 to October 2025, the NHS Business Service Authority issued 47,058 penalty charge notices (PCNs) to people who claimed a medical exemption but were found to have no exemption in place when checked. Of these, 21,328 were eased, for various reasons including the patient subsequently applying for an exemption successfully. The number of easements in this category cannot be confirmed. Of the 47,058 PCNs issued 3,583 people received multiple PCNs.
Although the Department has made no formal assessment of the effectiveness of issuing PCNs as a deterrent against improper claims, the fact that the vast majority who receive one PCN do not go on to receive another would, in my opinion, suggest a potential deterrent effect.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
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 the requirement to obtain a medical exemption certificate before being eligible to claim free prescriptions on people with chronic illnesses.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no assessment.
The exemption certificate provides the patient with evidence to demonstrate to dispensers that they are entitled to have the National Health Service cover the cost of their prescriptions. The exemption certificate requirement also allows for the verification of claims for exemption, and for fraud to be identified and pursued.
It is straightforward to apply for a medical exemption certificate; the patient should ask their doctor for form FP92A. The form includes guidance on how to complete it and who can authorise it. A healthcare professional (HCP), e.g. a hospital doctor or general practitioner (GP), or at the GP’s discretion a member of the GP’s practice who can access medical records, must authorise the application to confirm the patient has the qualifying condition. If a patient is unable to complete the form themselves then a relative or HCP can complete it on their behalf and insert their name in the signature box.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has identified service gaps in the provision of primary care, mental health, dentistry and substance misuse services at HMP/YOI Downview.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Primary care, mental health, dentistry, and substance misuse services at HMP/YOI Downview are delivered under the national specification for integrated healthcare.
As part of the commissioning monitoring processes outlined in the NHS Strategic Commissioning Framework, which covers all National Health Service commissioned services, including health and justice, providers are measured against the mandatory performance indicators within the national specification and any potential inconsistencies in service delivery are identified.
Independent processes are also embedded within service delivery monitoring. These include annual healthcare needs assessments, equality impact assessments, Independent Monitoring Board reports, Care Quality Commission reports and inspections, and user experience consultations. An annual user experience has also been carried out across all prisons in the South East.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that UK public bodies in Scotland implement the For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers Supreme Court judgment.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has shared its updated draft statutory code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations with my Right Honourable Friend, the Minister for Women and Equalities. She will consider it fully and make a decision in due course. It is important we take the time to get this right.
The Code of Practice will apply to service providers, public bodies and associations across Great Britain. It is for the Scottish Government, of course, to ensure that its own public bodies comply with their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to provide additional support for women who face additional prescription costs due to (a) menorrhagia and (b) other menstrual issues caused by (i) miscarriage and (ii) other significant traumas.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to review the support available to women facing these issues.
A maternity exemption certificate can be applied for as soon as a healthcare professional has confirmed that the patient is pregnant or has given birth, including still-birth, in the previous twelve months, and this provides exemption from prescription costs until 12 months after the due date. The certificate remains valid if the patient has a miscarriage. The certificate is automatically backdated one month from the date the application is received by the NHS Business Services Authority.
If a patient is not entitled to the maternity exemption, they can purchase a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC), which allows them to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost. A three-monthly PPC, costing £32.05, or an annual PPC, costing £114.50, will save people money if they need four or more items in three months or 12 or more items in 12 months. To help spread the cost, people can pay for an annual PPC by ten monthly direct debits. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just over £2 per week.
Approximately 40% of the population are currently liable to pay the prescription charge though approximately 89% of the items dispensed in the community are dispensed free of charge.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure (a) equality of access to and (b) quality of healthcare provision across the (i) women’s and (ii) Children and Young People's estate.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To improve health and social care outcomes for all women in prison and upon their release, NHS England and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service commissioned the National Women’s Prisons Health and Social Care Review. The review’s report identified a number of recommendations to improve equity and quality of care to meet the specific needs of women in prison.
A wide range of actions to implement these recommendations are taking place at establishment, regional, and national levels, backed by £21 million across three years, and overseen by the Joint Women's Prison Health and Social Care Review Implementation Programme Board.
The health issues facing those detained in the children and young people secure estate are systematically kept under review through regular health and wellbeing needs assessments and the Healthcare Standards for Children and Young People in Secure Settings.
The Framework for Integrated Care operates in the children and young people secure estate as a coherent structure for a comprehensive, trauma-informed system of care that focuses on individualised care rather than on separate labels, diagnoses, or interventions.
NHS England has also commissioned the three-year Benchmarking Project, aimed at assessing and supporting the implementation of the Healthcare Standards for Children and Young People in Secure Settings.
Further work is underway to identify where the existing pathway in the children and young people secure estate requires enhancement to better support the placement, management, and care of all girls in secure settings. This work will be informed by evidence and best practice and will be developed with experts to test the most appropriate model of care.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for routine mental health appointments across the prison estate in England.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally. As part of the formal prisoner induction process, all prisoners undergo health screening that incorporates a mental health assessment. The secondary care mental health assessment is carried out by a mental health professional. Routine assessments are carried out within five working days. Where an individual is in a state of mental health crisis, presents with rapidly escalating needs, or is at risk of immediate harm to themselves or others, an urgent assessment should be undertaken within 48 hours.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merit of allowing nannies to offer funded hours under the Free Childcare for Working Parents programme.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
Nannies are an unregulated part of the sector because they are employed by parents to provide care to children in their home. Parents alone are responsible for deciding the services that a nanny provides, which may or may not include early education. Parents also arrange the payment of income tax and National Insurance contributions and organise security checks for those that they employ. For this reason, successive governments have not engaged in private arrangements between the two parties.
Officials remain in touch with the National Nanny Association and we keep all such policies under review.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many transgender young people are currently held in mixed gender settings within the Children and Young People Estate at HMP & YOI Downview.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
HMP & YOI Downview is not part of the Children and Young People Estate. No children or young people are accommodated there.