Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government will commit to publishing outcome data and not only referral figures for Op COURAGE and Op RESTORE as set out in the Veterans Strategy.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has been working with the regional providers of Op COURAGE to ensure that they are meeting the needs of veterans. This includes reviewing the time that veterans wait for assessment and treatment. Any required changes identified through this internal review will be implemented from April 2026.
All primary care networks in Wiltshire have at least one general practice (GP) accredited as being veteran friendly. NHS England, in partnership with the Royal College of General Practitioners, are continuing to encourage GPs to participate in the Armed Forces Veteran Friendly GP accreditation scheme. This voluntary initiative is available to GPs across England and is free to access.
NHS England is working with Op COURAGE and Op RESTORE to develop more meaningful data on outcomes, patient satisfaction, and to demonstrate progress on continuous improvement in services and clinical provision. This work will focus on ensuring that future reporting is both purposeful and proportionate, to avoid detracting from the delivery of frontline services.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for veterans accessing Op COURAGE services, including for those in rural counties such as Wiltshire.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has been working with the regional providers of Op COURAGE to ensure that they are meeting the needs of veterans. This includes reviewing the time that veterans wait for assessment and treatment. Any required changes identified through this internal review will be implemented from April 2026.
All primary care networks in Wiltshire have at least one general practice (GP) accredited as being veteran friendly. NHS England, in partnership with the Royal College of General Practitioners, are continuing to encourage GPs to participate in the Armed Forces Veteran Friendly GP accreditation scheme. This voluntary initiative is available to GPs across England and is free to access.
NHS England is working with Op COURAGE and Op RESTORE to develop more meaningful data on outcomes, patient satisfaction, and to demonstrate progress on continuous improvement in services and clinical provision. This work will focus on ensuring that future reporting is both purposeful and proportionate, to avoid detracting from the delivery of frontline services.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
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 GP accreditation coverage for Veteran Aware practices in Wiltshire, and what steps are being taken to close any gaps.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has been working with the regional providers of Op COURAGE to ensure that they are meeting the needs of veterans. This includes reviewing the time that veterans wait for assessment and treatment. Any required changes identified through this internal review will be implemented from April 2026.
All primary care networks in Wiltshire have at least one general practice (GP) accredited as being veteran friendly. NHS England, in partnership with the Royal College of General Practitioners, are continuing to encourage GPs to participate in the Armed Forces Veteran Friendly GP accreditation scheme. This voluntary initiative is available to GPs across England and is free to access.
NHS England is working with Op COURAGE and Op RESTORE to develop more meaningful data on outcomes, patient satisfaction, and to demonstrate progress on continuous improvement in services and clinical provision. This work will focus on ensuring that future reporting is both purposeful and proportionate, to avoid detracting from the delivery of frontline services.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether training on the NHS Accessible Information Standard will be included in the competency framework setting out all nationally mandated training subjects, in the context of NHS’s England’s ongoing review of mandatory training for NHS staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is currently considering the inclusion of the Accessible Information Standard in the Competency Framework as part of their review of mandatory and statutory training for National Health Service staff.
In the meantime, NHS England is working to support implementation of the Accessible Information Standard with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the Accessible Information Standard. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the Accessible Information Standard and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using services.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timeline is for making the NHS Accessible Information Standard mandatory for health and social care providers, following commencement of regulations made under the Health and Care Act 2022.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Mandatory information standards will be introduced in a staged process. There is no timeline yet for issuing a mandatory NHS Accessible Information Standard.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support access to (a) affordable minimally processed foods and (b) UK-grown fruit, vegetables and legumes in (i) Wiltshire and (ii) other rural areas.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Good Food Cycle sets out the government’s vision to drive better outcomes from the UK food system around 10 priority outcomes, on healthy and more affordable food, good growth, sustainable and resilient supply, and vibrant food cultures.
The food strategy brings together and coordinates action across government towards a healthier, more equitable and resilient food system, including collaboration with:
The UK produces some of the world’s highest quality products - a source of national pride and central to access to healthy, affordable food in all areas. The food strategy’s approach to food security includes robust, diverse supply chains and domestic production as well as imports.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
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 be asked to report local baseline (a) data and (b) progress on reducing ultra-processed food consumption; and if he will publish a breakdown for (i) Wiltshire and (ii) other local authority areas.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
UK dietary recommendations are based on robust independent risk assessments by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). The SACN considered processed foods and health in 2023 and 2025. The SACN recommended that on balance, most people are likely to benefit from reducing their consumption of processed foods high in energy, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, and which are low in fibre. Diets high in ultra-processed foods (UPF) are often energy dense, high in saturated fat, salt, or free sugars, high in processed meat and/or low in fruit, vegetables, and fibre. The SACN’s recommendations align with our existing policies for supporting healthier diets and our advice to consumers. Therefore, the Government does not currently have plans to introduce a national target to reduce the proportion of UPF in the diet of the United Kingdom’s population.
The Government is taking action to support people to make healthier choices. As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce mandatory healthy food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector, and will set new targets to increase the healthiness of sales in all communities. This more strategic, outcomes-based approach aims to reduce less healthy food consumption, in line with UK dietary guidelines.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he has made an assessment of the potential merits of setting a national target to reduce the proportion of ultra-processed foods in the UK diet by 2030.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
UK dietary recommendations are based on robust independent risk assessments by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). The SACN considered processed foods and health in 2023 and 2025. The SACN recommended that on balance, most people are likely to benefit from reducing their consumption of processed foods high in energy, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, and which are low in fibre. Diets high in ultra-processed foods (UPF) are often energy dense, high in saturated fat, salt, or free sugars, high in processed meat and/or low in fruit, vegetables, and fibre. The SACN’s recommendations align with our existing policies for supporting healthier diets and our advice to consumers. Therefore, the Government does not currently have plans to introduce a national target to reduce the proportion of UPF in the diet of the United Kingdom’s population.
The Government is taking action to support people to make healthier choices. As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce mandatory healthy food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector, and will set new targets to increase the healthiness of sales in all communities. This more strategic, outcomes-based approach aims to reduce less healthy food consumption, in line with UK dietary guidelines.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) ultra-processed foods, (b) palm oil and (c) single-use plastics on the environment impacts associated with supply chains; and if she will publish lifecycle analyses held by her Department.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is funding research into the environmental impacts of agricultural goods including oil seeds such as palm oil and multi-ingredient/complex food products. We are also funding a life-cycle assessment on alternative proteins, which may include products involving varying levels of processing. The findings will be published once complete.
UK Research and Innovation is taking forward a public dialogue on ultra-processed foods to ensure public views feed into research and innovation priorities and programmes at an early stage. The oversight group for the dialogue involves multiple stakeholders from academia, Government and policy bodies, NGOs and food industry organisations.
The Government is committed to supporting sustainable production, trade and use of palm oil. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee has created the Global Environmental Impacts of Consumption indicator, which includes analysis of the impact of palm oil in global supply chains. The indicator estimates that UK consumption of palm oil drove 2,800 hectares of deforestation in 2022. We recognise the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation. Oil palm is a very efficient crop, producing more oil per hectare than other vegetable oil crops. Substitution of other oils which typically require significantly more land to produce may lead to greater environmental impacts as more land is converted to agricultural use.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department takes through school food (a) standards and (b) guidance to tackle ultra-processed foods; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward further proposals to help reduce the proportion of ultra-processed items in school (i) meals and (ii) vending machines.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) has considered the impact of processed foods on health in 2023 and 2025, and recommends that on balance, most people are likely to benefit from reducing their consumption of processed foods high in energy, saturated fat, salt and free sugars and low in fibre.
The School Food Standards already restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods, but to ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the department is working with with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with updated nutrition guidance.
The School Food Standards apply to food and drink provided to pupils on school premises up to 6pm and include vending machines.