Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Integrated Care Boards will receive extra funding to meet costs adjusted for population.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) receive funding allocations from NHS England to pay for the services they commission, and NHS England is responsible for decisions on the weighted capitation formula used to allocate resources between ICBs. This process is independent of the Government. NHS England takes advice from the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation, a group of academics and other experts.
Most funding is allocated as non-ring-fenced budgets, informed by a calculation of what would constitute a ‘fair share’ of funding, taking account of population, age, need, deprivation, and health inequalities considerations. ICB allocations for 2025/26 were published on 30 January 2025. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/allocations/
Core allocations are growing by 4.4%, which is higher than population growth, so ICBs are receiving extra funding, adjusted for the population compared to the year before.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
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 impact of the 50 per cent cut to Integrated Care Boards on Solihull Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has asked the integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health and care services, and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within their structure to achieve a 50% cost reduction in their running cost allowance. NHS England provided additional guidance to ICBs, National Health Service trusts, and NHS foundation trusts on 1 April 2025, where ICBs were tasked with developing plans by the end of May setting out how they will manage their resources to deliver across their priorities.
NHS England will work closely with the ICBs to ensure these changes do not compromise the quality of care or the statutory responsibilities of the ICBs, and to protect frontline staff from cuts. NHS England will be working closely with the ICBs to support the development of these plans, ensuring that their implementation reduces duplication and supports patient care. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/
In his letter to the ICBs, Sir Jim Mackay committed to greater transparency and to moving back to a fair shares allocation policy over time. Currently, the Birmingham and Solihull ICB is 3.4% off its fair shares allocation targets, which includes specialised commissioning.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on using the transformation fund announced in the Spring Statement 2025 on support for the palliative and end of life care sector.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.
In February 2025, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format, with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include measures on reforming funding allocations for (a) palliative and (b) other end of life care services in the comprehensive spending review.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.
In February 2025, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format, with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress his Department has made with the Digital Poverty Alliance on providing re-purposed Government laptops to people who need them.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is implementing a device donation pilot by working with the Digital Poverty Alliance to refurbish end-of-life laptops from DSIT, DESNZ and DBT and distribute them to those who need them most. This pilot will be in effect until Autumn 2025.
We are also working closely with industry on a device donation charter, to encourage more organisations to set up their own device donation schemes. We are hoping to publish this in Spring 2025.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to publish the evidence from the Digital Inclusion Strategy Call for Evidence.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February, which sets out the first steps we are taking towards our ambition of delivering digital inclusion for everyone across the UK, regardless of their circumstances. The Government also published a call for evidence on the focus areas and invited contributions from individual citizens, charities, business, civil society, and subject matter experts. The call for evidence closed on 9 April and details on how the Government expects to respond will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to tackle digital exclusion.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February, which sets out the first steps we are taking towards our ambition of delivering digital inclusion for everyone across the UK, regardless of their circumstances. The Government also published a call for evidence on the focus areas and invited contributions from individual citizens, charities, business, civil society, and subject matter experts. The call for evidence closed on 9 April and details on how the Government expects to respond will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much money the Government has committed for the Digital Inclusion Fund; and how it will be allocated.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Digital inclusion is a priority for Government. The Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund is designed to support initiatives that increase digital participation and to identify innovative best practice with an ambition to scale and replicate successful digital inclusion activities.
Further details of funding will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress he has made on the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, announced in February 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Digital inclusion is a priority for Government. The Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund is designed to support initiatives that increase digital participation and to identify innovative best practice with an ambition to scale and replicate successful digital inclusion activities.
Further details of funding will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the increase in the number of people that will need palliative care over the next 10 years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Currently, approximately 600,000 people die per year in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that up to 90% of deaths could benefit from palliative and end of life care.
The Office for National Statistics has projected that, by 2040, approximately 800,000 people a year will die in the UK. Also, current trends point to a growing proportion of people dying from chronic diseases, particularly cancer and dementia. Taking these considerations together, it has been estimated that the number of people needing palliative and end of life care could increase by 42% by 2040.
We have committed to developing a 10-Year Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered, from hospital to community, from treatment to prevention, and from analogue to digital. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.