Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
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 publish a long-term financial sustainability plan for community pharmacy co-produced with the community pharmacy sector in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recently announced a £340 million uplift to community pharmacy funding, a 10% increase, recognising the essential role pharmacies play in supporting patients and the wider National Health Service. This follows on from a 19% uplift delivered across 2024/25 and 2025/26, the largest uplift in the NHS at the time.
The Government is committed to continuing to work jointly with Community Pharmacy England on reforms to ensure the sustainability of medicine supply and resilience of the community pharmacy network, to ensure that patients receive the best possible care and support.
Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
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 ensure that children and families in areas with high levels of childhood excess weight, including Wolverhampton North East, have access to appropriate nutrition and dietetic support through neighbourhood health services.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever, which includes taking decisive action on the obesity crisis.
Local authorities and National Health Service integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to support children, families, and others living with overweight and obesity, based on local decision making and priorities. In line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, these services should include nutritional support to improve diet, eating patterns and behaviours, and may include dietetic support where appropriate. This applies to services delivered through neighbourhood health models, including neighbourhood health centres, where these are part of local provision.
Core funding for local authorities’ public health responsibilities is provided through the ring-fenced Public Health Grant (PHG) which funds a range of preventative and treatment health services, including obesity programmes. The PHG allocation is weighted heavily towards deprivation. On average, the most deprived areas receive over twice the funding per capita as the least deprived. Wolverhampton’s consolidated PHG for 2026/27 is £28,621,803 (est. £28.6 million).
Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to local NHS bodies and public health teams in Wolverhampton to improve prevention and treatment for people living with obesity and diet related long term conditions in areas of high deprivation.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever, which includes taking decisive action on the obesity crisis.
Local authorities and National Health Service integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to support children, families, and others living with overweight and obesity, based on local decision making and priorities. In line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, these services should include nutritional support to improve diet, eating patterns and behaviours, and may include dietetic support where appropriate. This applies to services delivered through neighbourhood health models, including neighbourhood health centres, where these are part of local provision.
Core funding for local authorities’ public health responsibilities is provided through the ring-fenced Public Health Grant (PHG) which funds a range of preventative and treatment health services, including obesity programmes. The PHG allocation is weighted heavily towards deprivation. On average, the most deprived areas receive over twice the funding per capita as the least deprived. Wolverhampton’s consolidated PHG for 2026/27 is £28,621,803 (est. £28.6 million).
Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the role of nutritious school food in reducing health inequalities in constituencies with high levels of child poverty and childhood excess weight, including Wolverhampton North East.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department recognises that access to nutritious school food plays an important role in supporting children’s health and breaking down barriers to opportunity. The School Food Standards set the mandatory nutritional framework for food and drink in state‑funded schools, ensuring pupils receive the energy and nutrients they need while developing healthy eating habits. This is why we are taking action to update the Standards and are consulting on the changes to ensure they better reflect current nutritional guidance. Nutritious school food, alongside education on healthy eating, supports wider efforts to improve health outcomes.
The consultation is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-food-policy-team/school-food-standards-updating-the-leg-framework/.
Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the action relating to a specialised service for patients with very severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was included in the Final Delivery Plan without full consideration of system constraints affecting its implementation.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of specialised services that meet the needs of their local populations. ICBs are expected to commission services in line with National Health Service expectations of care. NHS England supports ICBs through statutory guidance, service specifications, and the Strategic Commissioning Framework, but decisions on commissioning and service configuration ultimately rest with individual ICBs, based on local need. This is also the case for the commissioning of services for all levels of severity of myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
The action within July 2025’s final delivery plan on ME/CFS, to consider whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for very severe ME/CFS has been delayed until April 2027.
Officials in the Department and NHS England are currently considering, along with ME/CFS stakeholders, interim measures to support patients with very severe ME/CFS, including referencing severe and very severe ME/CFS in a new template service specification for mild and moderate ME/CFS.
Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
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 ensure integrated care boards are accountable for commissioning effective services for patients with very severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome until the nationally commissioned specialised service is introduced.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of specialised services that meet the needs of their local populations. ICBs are expected to commission services in line with National Health Service expectations of care. NHS England supports ICBs through statutory guidance, service specifications, and the Strategic Commissioning Framework, but decisions on commissioning and service configuration ultimately rest with individual ICBs, based on local need. This is also the case for the commissioning of services for all levels of severity of myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
The action within July 2025’s final delivery plan on ME/CFS, to consider whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for very severe ME/CFS has been delayed until April 2027.
Officials in the Department and NHS England are currently considering, along with ME/CFS stakeholders, interim measures to support patients with very severe ME/CFS, including referencing severe and very severe ME/CFS in a new template service specification for mild and moderate ME/CFS.
Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress she has made on moving decisions on youth services funding to local communities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The National Youth Strategy includes a shift from ‘national to local’ - this means there is a renewed focus on the role, capability, and leadership of local authorities, working closely with local partners. It also means local young people being more involved in funding decisions.
The £70m Local Youth Transformation programme is improving local authorities’ capability to rebuild a high-quality youth offer and develop a network of 50 Young Futures Hubs which will be co-designed by local authorities and young people. Through the Richer Young Lives Fund, we are also investing over £60 million over the next 3 years, enabling local organisations to deliver high-quality youth work and activities.
Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what incentives are available to employers to support day-release arrangements for young people in further education and apprenticeships; and whether she plans to introduce additional measures to encourage employer participation in such schemes.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
T Levels include a substantive industry placement, with 96% of students completing their placement last year.
The Skills for Life campaign raises awareness of T Levels and other training, ensuring businesses understand their value. The department is increasing awareness of T Level industry placements and encouraging employers to take part through a network of T Level ambassadors, a targeted small and medium businesses (SME) campaign, and investing £6.3 million in the employer support fund. As part of the construction skills package, £100 million is committed to support 40,000 industry placements each year for construction learners.
An apprenticeship is a job with a formal programme of off-the-job training. The government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, giving greater flexibility to employers and learners. To support our ambition of 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, we will expand foundation apprenticeships, launch a £140 million pilot with mayors to better connect young people to local apprenticeships, and fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible 16 to 24-year-olds.
Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to introduce a multi-year funding settlement for the further education sector, and what assessment she has made of the potential benefits of a three-year funding cycle for workforce planning and financial sustainability in FE colleges.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education colleges have a number of different funding streams, including funding for 16-19 year-olds.
Funding for 16-19 year-olds is through a lagged funding system whereby the funding for each college is based on its student numbers in the previous year. However, for those institutions with a significant growth in students, the department recognises that there are additional costs and provides in-year growth funding to help with these.
This system allows funding for colleges to respond to changes in their delivery and give them confidence on 16-19 funding in the year ahead. Colleges are informed of their allocations several months before the start of the academic year to help them finalise their financial and workforce planning. Ensuring that funding directly reflects the number of students recruited enables institutions to recruit with confidence, whereas a fixed multi-year funding allocation would not. The department keeps the effectiveness of the funding system under review.
Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve staff (a) pay and (b) conditions in further education colleges.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education (FE) colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating staff pay and terms and conditions within colleges.
In May 2025, the department announced a further £190 million investment for colleges and other 16 to19 providers in addition to the £400 million of extra funding we already planned to spend on 16 to 19 education in the 2025/26 financial year.
Across the Spending review period, we will provide £1.2 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028/29. This significant investment will ensure there is increased funding to colleges and other 16 to 19 providers to enable the recruitment and retention of excellent staff, including expert teachers in high value subject areas, and interventions to retain top teaching talent.
Targeted Recruitment Incentives of up to £6,000 (after tax) are available for eligible early career FE teachers working in key science, technology, engineering and mathematics and technical shortage subjects, in disadvantaged schools and colleges, including in sixth form colleges. This payment is separate to teachers’ usual pay.