Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding for local stop smoking services was allocated to swap to stop schemes in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024; and how much funding for local stop smoking services his Department plans to allocate to swap to stop schemes in (i) 2025 and (ii) 2026.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Swap to Stop scheme provides local services with vape starter kits to support smokers to quit, alongside behavioural support. The Swap to Stop scheme was launched in November 2023, and has provided local services with vape starter kits to the value of £3.2 million in 2023/24 and £17 million in 2024/25. This funding is ringfenced and is supplementary to the additional £70 million of ringfenced funding for Local Stop Smoking Services, along with existing funding through the Public Health Grant.
The extension of the Swap to Stop scheme for the coming year, 2025/26, was recently announced, with up to £19 million of funding available. Future settlements for this programme are being considered as part of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 extend the swap to stop scheme for smoking cessation; and whether he plans to allocate ring-fenced funding for a future extension of that scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Swap to Stop scheme provides local services with vape starter kits to support smokers to quit, alongside behavioural support. The Swap to Stop scheme was launched in November 2023, and has provided local services with vape starter kits to the value of £3.2 million in 2023/24 and £17 million in 2024/25. This funding is ringfenced and is supplementary to the additional £70 million of ringfenced funding for Local Stop Smoking Services, along with existing funding through the Public Health Grant.
The extension of the Swap to Stop scheme for the coming year, 2025/26, was recently announced, with up to £19 million of funding available. Future settlements for this programme are being considered as part of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how often the NHS has made use of Private and Voluntary ambulances in the last five years; whether the NHS is planning to reduce or increase their use; and what is the estimated impact of their use on costs to his Department.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The requested information is not held. National Health Service ambulance trusts may procure support from private ambulance services during periods of peak demand to supplement the NHS’ ambulance fleet. Ambulance availability is therefore monitored on a daily basis by each NHS ambulance trust.
With regard to expenditure on private ambulance services, NHS England does not collect this data, as decisions to engage private emergency ambulance support are made at the frontline operational level.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 tackle regional disparities in access to community-based eating disorder treatments in (a) rural areas and (b) general.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is working with the integrated care boards with the aim of increasing the capacity of eating disorder services, to provide community and day treatment services. By improving care in the community, the National Health Service aims to improve outcomes and recovery, reduce rates of relapse, prevent children’s eating disorders continuing into adulthood and, if admission is required as a very last resort, reduce the length of time that people have to stay in hospital.
NHS England has commissioned the Royal College of Psychiatrists to deliver a national, all-age eating disorders audit. This aims to drive improvement in the identification and appropriate management of eating disorders, and the quality and consistency of services for all ages in England. This will help ensure that services across the country, including in rural areas, are safe, effective, patient centred, timely, efficient, and equitable.
In addition, NHS England is currently refreshing the guidance on children and young people's eating disorders to highlight the importance of awareness and the early recognition of eating disorders within schools, colleges, primary care, and broader children and young peoples’ mental health services.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 expand intensive (a) community and (b) day treatments for eating disorders across NHS Integrated Care Systems.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is working with the integrated care boards with the aim of increasing the capacity of eating disorder services, to provide community and day treatment services. By improving care in the community, the National Health Service aims to improve outcomes and recovery, reduce rates of relapse, prevent children’s eating disorders continuing into adulthood and, if admission is required as a very last resort, reduce the length of time that people have to stay in hospital.
NHS England has commissioned the Royal College of Psychiatrists to deliver a national, all-age eating disorders audit. This aims to drive improvement in the identification and appropriate management of eating disorders, and the quality and consistency of services for all ages in England. This will help ensure that services across the country, including in rural areas, are safe, effective, patient centred, timely, efficient, and equitable.
In addition, NHS England is currently refreshing the guidance on children and young people's eating disorders to highlight the importance of awareness and the early recognition of eating disorders within schools, colleges, primary care, and broader children and young peoples’ mental health services.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to ensure that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency uses (a) placenta-on-a-chip and (b) other modern test methods in drug testing.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the development of new medicines, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) does not, itself, carry out experimental studies. Its role is to review reports of studies supplied by drug developers characterising safety and potential efficacy of the drug; these can include placenta-on-a chip, or other methods using human cells.
To be able to make such judgements, MHRA staff need to maintain and develop their knowledge about modern testing methods and to this end, MHRA staff have contributed to organising and have attended meetings where these methods are discussed. For instance, Agency staff contributed to a multi-stakeholder meeting in London in November 2024 organised in conjunction with the National Council for the 3Rs and with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry for which a publication is now under preparation. MHRA staff will attend the Microphysiological Systems World Summit in Brussels in June 2025, where drug testing methods will be a major topic of discussion.
The MHRA’s own laboratory activities include the independent testing of certain biological products, for example, vaccines and anti-toxins, to ensure they meet acceptable standards prior to each batch being released for use. In the small number of products where this work currently relies on use of animals, development of acceptable, validated, alternatives is a major priority; the numbers of animals used in our regulatory science has more than halved in the last 10 years.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 9 January 2025 to Question 22100 on Genetics: Diseases, how many additional (a) midwives and (b) close relative neonatal nurses were provided for the Genetic Risk Equity project; and what proportion of funding that represented.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were an additional 3.8 working time equivalent (WTE) midwives and 1 WTE neonatal nurse in post in 2024/25. Staff costs represented 22% of project costs, or 59% if full recruitment to funded posts was secured.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish (a) the business case for and (b) analysis held of the Genetic Risk Equity project.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is not a business case for the project and therefore there is no plan to publish one. The project was approved through the maternity transformation programme board and business planning and prioritisation processes.
The project expert reference group has engaged with pilot sites throughout implementation and qualitative feedback has informed development of Phase 2 of the programme. There will be an evaluation of the project due in spring 2025 that will include quantitative and qualitative analyses. The intention is to publish this.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 20 January 2025 to Question 24256 on Electronic Cigarettes: Young People, whether the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will restrict the size of vape tanks.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst nicotine vapes are already subject to tank size requirements, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill goes further and covers all types of vapes, both nicotine and non-nicotine, and consumer nicotine products.
As stated in our previous answer, the bill provides powers on product features that allow the Government to regulate the size of a tank or refill container, and the amount of liquid that can be included, as well as powers to standardise the size and shape of vapes, and to further restrict liquid availability.
Subject to consultation, regulation making powers in the Government’s bill will allow us to amend or place additional requirements and limits on vape tank sizes, and the size of refill tanks. The Government will consider this issue further as part of its secondary legislation programme after Royal Assent.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a table of the number of (a) doctors, (b) registered nurses and (c) medical scientists were employed as locums in each (i) month and (ii) year since 2021 and what the total cost was for each group in each of those (A) months and (B) years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested. NHS England publishes quarterly information on total agency and bank expenditure by National Health Service providers as part of financial reporting, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/financial-performance-reports
The 2025/26 NHS Planning Guidance states that trusts should reduce their agency spend by a minimum of 30% and bank spend by a minimum of 10%. The accompanying Revenue Finance and Contracting Guidance sets the ambition that agency spend should be eliminated in the coming years.