Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the £70 million funding for new radiotherapy machines is in addition to the prevailing budgets for radiotherapy machines.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The £70 million investment into 28 radiotherapy machines that was announced in the 2024 Autumn Budget is part of the overall financial settlement for the 2025/26 financial year.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether an application for authorisation of Sipavibart has been submitted to the the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is actively engaging with Astra Zeneca for any applications in flight. We recognise the importance of the rapid assessment of the medicines mentioned and we are ensuring the decisions made appropriately assess quality, safety, and efficacy.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
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 restricting the radiotherapy machine fund to replacing only end of life machines on his Department's ability to make new radiotherapy capacity available in 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The £70 million fund will replace older radiotherapy machines with new, more efficient radiotherapy machines, which will in turn increase treatment capacity and allow more patients to be treated.
All future spending commitments beyond 2025/26, including the replacement of radiotherapy equipment, will be determined through the next phase of the Spending Review process, which will conclude in June.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the £70 million funding for radiotherapy machines announced in October 2024 is an additional budgetary amount for radiotherapy in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The £70 million investment into 28 radiotherapy machines, which was announced in the 2024 Autumn Budget, is part of the overall financial settlement for the 2025/26 financial year.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) online and (b) in person meetings NHS England had with (i) Varian, (ii) Elekta and (iii) Accuray before setting the criteria for the allocation of funding for new radiotherapy machines.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not currently hold this information, but we are seeking advice from NHS England on whether any engagement took place between NHS England and the medical companies listed.
The Government does not routinely publish correspondence between NHS England and medical companies. We have various communication channels to keep the public and stakeholders updated on our work to improve cancer care.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding was received by listed places of worship in the (a) Wells and Mendip constituency and (b) the Wells constituency prior to boundary changes in each year since 2001.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are unable to provide data going back to 2001, as the Department only has reliable data from August 2022. Data ranging from 2014 to 2022 was collated by the previous grant administrator and is less reliable, though work has been undertaken by DCMS to improve its quality. Data prior to 2014 is no longer available.
Systems have been updated to reflect the new constituency boundaries and we are now unable to provide annual data for the Wells Constituency.
Since August of 2022, a total of £391,543.99 worth of funding has been received by listed places of worship in the Wells and Mendip constituency.
From August of 2022 to the end of December 2022 £28,277.74 was received.
From January 2023 to December 2023 £79,368.98 was received.
From January 2024 to December 2024 £36,815.43 was received.
From January 2025 to the end of April 2025, £102,619.69 has been received.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
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 7 April 2025 to Question 41044 on Radiotherapy, by how much the National Health Service’s capital settlement for 2024-2025 was underspent; how much of the total 2024-2025 settlement was allocated for radiotherapy equipment; whether the £15 million additional funds were in addition to the 2024-2025 radiotherapy equipment settlement; and how much has been allocated from the 2025-2026 capital settlement for new radiotherapy equipment.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service’s capital settlement for 2024/25 underspend figure is not yet available, although it should be included in the NHS’s annual accounts, which will be published later this year.
£15 million was allocated from capital underspend to replace ageing radiotherapy equipment, as per the answer I gave on 7 April 2025 to Question 41044. Any other spending on radiotherapy equipment was allocated at local level, and we do not hold details on this spend.
£70 million of central capital funding was announced as part of the Autumn Budget in 2024, which will be used to replace 28 machines during 2025/26.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many new radiotherapy machines were applied for from the funding announced in the Autumn Budget 2024; and which hospital trusts applied.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
31 trusts submitted applications for funding to replace a total of 40 machines, with some trusts having applied to replace two machines. This became 30 trusts after the North Middlesex University Hospital Trust joined the Royal Free London Group on 1 January 2025, during the application process. Each trust had submitted a separate request.
Of the 30 trusts that submitted applications, two withdrew their applications, namely the Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, having received funding for a replacement machine from National Health Service capital underspend. University Hospitals Birmingham did receive a contribution from this funding towards the refurbishment of its radiotherapy bunker infrastructure.
The 28 trusts that submitted applications, and who have been awarded funding to replace one machine, are as follows:
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding was allocated to the emergency radiotherapy capital equipment fund in 2024-25; and which hospital trusts have been awarded that funding.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Providers were awarded a total of £15 million to replace ageing radiotherapy equipment from an underspend in the National Health Service’s capital settlement for 2024/25. The providers who were allocated money, and the amount they were allocated, are as follows:
The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust received funding for two machines.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells and Mendip Hills)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the number of private prosecution cases brought by the RSPCA under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not collate or record detailed data on individual private prosecutions, although some prosecutors may publish their own data separately. Therefore, it is not possible to provide data on the number of prosecutions which have been brought by the RSPCA under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
This Government recognises that greater transparency is needed in relation to private prosecutions, in order to improve confidence in the criminal justice system. This is why we have launched a public consultation on options to improve the oversight, regulation, and transparency of private prosecutors in the criminal justice system, which closes on 8 May. The consultation seeks respondents’ views on improvements to the available data on private prosecutors and the prosecutions they bring, and this includes prosecutions brought by the RSPCA.