Sadik Al-Hassan

The Government gave the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) statutory information gathering powers which commenced on 1 January 2025 so that it can monitor and scrutinise petrol and diesel prices. The CMA will be able to assess how well competition is working in the road fuel market and advise government if further actions are needed to protect consumers.

The Government has also committed to implement Fuel Finder to increase price transparency, so consumers can compare prices to find the best deal and incentivise greater competition. Subject to legislation and parliamentary timings, we aim to launch Fuel Finder by the end of 2025.

Integrated care board (ICB) allocations for 2025/26 were published on 30 January alongside the 2025/26 NHS Planning Guidance, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/allocations/

The pre-requisite for multi-year settlements for ICBs is a multi-year settlement for the Department, and phase two of the Spending Review is currently underway. There have not yet been discussions with Cabinet colleagues on what the Department’s settlement in the Spending Review will then mean for ICB allocations beyond 2025/26.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard, including the need to put the patient front and centre and reform elective pathways. In recognition of the unacceptably long waits experienced at present, the plan commits a particular focus on respiratory health, as one of five initial specialties where a clinically led process will agree on the reforms needed to improve waiting times and re-design pathways in order to improve patient experience and outcomes, and make best use of clinical time.

The Elective Reform Plan commits to giving patients more choice and control over their follow up care. This includes through increasing the use of Patient Initiated Follow-Ups (PIFU), which empowers patients to book their own follow up appointments when they need them, preventing appointments that are low value to patients and to clinicians. Many respiratory patients will be appropriate for a PIFU pathway, including patients with asthma, depending upon their circumstances.

We are also committed to helping support the self-management of conditions so that patients are better equipped to recognise changes in their condition and take control of their own care. NHS England has developed a national bundle of care for children and young people with asthma, including accredited asthma training courses, alongside education and self-management resources for schools, families, and carers.

NHS England has also introduced the adult asthma best practice tariff to improve the proportion of patients who receive a specialist review of their care within 24 hours of emergency admission for an asthma attack and receive a discharge bundle before leaving hospital.

The data below is based on figures published in the Prescription Cost Analysis. It includes all community dispensing in England, regardless of where they were prescribed, where the prescriptions have been submitted to the NHS Business Service Authority (NHSBSA) for payment. The list of inhaler products is derived from products in the NHSBSA’s dictionary of medicines and devices database with a pharmaceutical formulation of inhalation powder.

In the 12 months from December 2023 to November 2024, 14.4 million such prescription items were dispensed. The term items refers to the number of times an inhalation product appears on a prescription form, not the quantity prescribed. Some prescriptions may be for multiple inhalers, whilst other may be for refills of a previously supplied inhalation device. These made up 27.9% of the total 51.6 million items of the three commonly prescribed inhaler formulations, namely: pressurised inhalation; inhalation powder: and inhalation solution.

The Government is working towards introducing legislation to enable hub and spoke dispensing between different legal entities in 2025. This change will be enabled via amendments to both primary and secondary legislation, and is subject to the usual parliamentary processes.

The independent Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises the Department on the approach to vaccination and immunisation. On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme, covering vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026. This advice is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026-jcvi-advice/jcvi-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026

The Government is considering the JCVI’s advice on autumn 2025 carefully and will respond in due course.