Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide an analysis of trends relating to the distribution of take home naloxone kits between 2022 and 2025.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Access to naloxone is vital to respond to the threat of synthetic opioids and to prevent drug related deaths. The Government has long supported expanded provision of naloxone, with guidance and funding, and this has contributed to a significant growth in the amount of naloxone available in the community to reverse opioid overdoses.
In England, take-home naloxone supply is recorded by the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, which drug and alcohol treatment services complete. It only records supply of take-home naloxone to people in registered treatment and does not record other people who may also be supplied with naloxone, like friends or family of people in treatment. Local authorities may also distribute naloxone via other routes besides substance misuse services.
We have recently published statistics on the distribution of naloxone to those in registered treatment from 2024 to 2025. The statistics can be found in the data tables in Table 1.7: naloxone distribution and use to reverse overdose, namely in Table 1.7a: naloxone issued, at the following link:
This is the first time that figures on the distribution of naloxone have been published and, therefore, trends in its distribution over time cannot yet be assessed. We intend to continue publishing statistics on naloxone distribution each year.
The Department launched a public consultation in December 2025 on further legislative options to expand access to take-home and emergency use naloxone. As part of this consultation, we are proposing specific data reporting requirements to enable more consistent reporting across the United Kingdom on the supply of take-home naloxone. The consultation closes on the 9 March 2026.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many take-home naloxone kits were distributed by local authorities in England in 2022/2023.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Access to naloxone is vital to respond to the threat of synthetic opioids and to prevent drug related deaths. The Government has long supported expanded provision of naloxone, with guidance and funding, and this has contributed to a significant growth in the amount of naloxone available in the community to reverse opioid overdoses.
In England, take-home naloxone supply is recorded by the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, which drug and alcohol treatment services complete. It only records supply of take-home naloxone to people in registered treatment and does not record other people who may also be supplied with naloxone, like friends or family of people in treatment. Local authorities may also distribute naloxone via other routes besides substance misuse services.
We have recently published statistics on the distribution of naloxone to those in registered treatment from 2024 to 2025. The statistics can be found in the data tables in Table 1.7: naloxone distribution and use to reverse overdose, namely in Table 1.7a: naloxone issued, at the following link:
This is the first time that figures on the distribution of naloxone have been published and, therefore, trends in its distribution over time cannot yet be assessed. We intend to continue publishing statistics on naloxone distribution each year.
The Department launched a public consultation in December 2025 on further legislative options to expand access to take-home and emergency use naloxone. As part of this consultation, we are proposing specific data reporting requirements to enable more consistent reporting across the United Kingdom on the supply of take-home naloxone. The consultation closes on the 9 March 2026.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in each of the last 5 years, a) how many complaints have been made to his Department, b) how many of those complaints have been referred to the Independent Case Examiner, and c) how many of those referrals have resulted in payments or additional payments being made to the complainant.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
a) The Department publishes a quarterly series of Official Statistics including DWP complaints received, closed and upheld by each business area, and categorisation of the reason for complaint:
DWP Complaints Statistics to September 2025 - GOV.UK
The number complaints received in each quarter from September 2020 to September 2025 are available in Table 1 of the accompanying data tables:
The next release of the Official Statistics will be published in March 2026, containing data to 31 December 2025.
b) The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) publishes an Annual Report each year. The reports include data relating to complaint intake volumes. The Independent Case Examiner’s Annual Reports are available on gov.uk.
DWP complaints: Annual reports by the Independent Case Examiner - GOV.UK
c) ICE is unable to confirm how many cases it recommended DWP pay financial redress for prior to 2023/24 as its data retention policy means this data is no longer available.
Of the investigations ICE concluded in 2023/24, ICE recommended DWP pay financial redress in 1,388 cases. In 2024/25, the volume of cases where ICE recommended financial redress be paid by DWP was 1,332.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to expand access to women's health hubs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is supporting integrated care boards (ICBs) to use the learning from the women’s health hub pilots to improve local delivery of services to women and girls.
ICBs should take a neighbourhood approach to women’s healthcare, ensuring women can get the care they need regardless of whether they speak first to a general practice (GP), hospital, or other healthcare provider.
We are supporting ICBs to continue improving their delivery of neighbourhood women’s healthcare, in line with their responsibility to commission services that meet the needs of their local populations.
Neighbourhood women’s healthcare is delivered both by a range of providers and digitally, giving women access not just to GPs and community specialists in women’s health, but to other services include pelvic physiotherapists, pharmacies, and psychological support services. This builds on the successful pilot of women’s health hubs.
Outcomes in women’s health will be soon be shared with ICBs through a data dashboard so they can see how well they are meeting the needs of women in their population.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of easing taxes for elderly residents who are privately funding their care home place.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are a wide range of factors to take into consideration when introducing a tax relief. These include how effective the relief would be at achieving the policy intent, how targeted support would be, whether it adds complexity to the tax system, and the cost.
Tax reliefs are typically of greatest benefit to those paying higher rates of tax. Furthermore, new reliefs also add complexity to the tax system and are likely to result in similar calls for reliefs on other forms of personal expenditure or income, which others may argue are equally deserving.
To support social care authorities to deliver key services, in light of pressures, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. This is part of an overall increase to local Government spending power of 6.8% in cash terms.
Moreover, the Government is making available around £4.6 billion of additional funding for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector to improve adult social care.
The Government recognises the significant challenges facing the adult social care system and is committed to transforming the sector and supporting the care workforce. Baroness Louise Casey is leading an independent commission to build consensus on reform. The first phase will report in 2026 and will focus on how to make the most of existing resources.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 impact of corridor care in Emergency Departments on patient safety, dignity, and clinical outcomes; and what actions are being taken to address the routine treatment of acutely ill patients in corridor settings.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of clinical care in corridors is unacceptable, and we are committed to ending its practice in the National Health Service. Furthermore, our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 commits to publishing data on the prevalence of corridor care for the first time.
We recently published a clear definition of corridor care and based on this, will begin collecting data on its use across the NHS imminently. Subject to data quality, this information will be published monthly on NHS England’s website from May 2026. In parallel, NHS England is also working with trusts to introduce new reporting arrangements on corridor care to improve transparency and support system-wide improvement.
We have also introduced new clinical operational standards for the first 72 hours of care, setting clear expectations for timely reviews and specialist input, further supporting our efforts to eliminate corridor care and improve patient experience.
Where corridor care cannot be avoided, we have published updated guidance to support trusts to deliver it safely, ensuring dignity and privacy is maintained to reduce impacts on patients and staff. This means that corridor care areas must uphold the same high standards of care for patients as those in planned clinical settings, with patients prioritised by clinical urgency. All patients should be risk‑assessed by senior clinicians at triage and monitored by named nurses.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the Valuation Office Agency's responses to Member's correspondence, including on matters of confidentiality.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency is committed to protecting taxpayer confidentiality in line with its duty under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2026 to Question 110973, what proportion of the consolatory payment was as a result of a decision by the Independent Case Examiner to increase the payment offered by his Department in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As part of its investigations, the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) reviews any remedies (including consolatory payments) already offered by DWP during its own complaints process. ICE considers whether these remedies were appropriate and adequately reflected the impact of maladministration. This assessment informs the findings ICE reaches and any recommendations it makes. However, ICE does not record information on the level of consolatory payments that DWP may have made prior to escalation to ICE.
The Department does record consolatory payments recommended by ICE. However, identifying what proportion of these payments were made specifically because ICE increased the offer originally made by the Department’s complaints service would require a manual review of individual case files, as this level of detail is not held in an accessible format.
Carrying out this work would exceed the cost limit set for central Government, and we are therefore unable to provide the information requested.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he is taking to make accessing and understanding support for unpaid carers clear and transparent a) nationally and b) locally.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need. I chair a cross-Government ministerial group that meets regularly, made up of ministers from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education, to consider how we can provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.
Work is underway to introduce a MyCarer section to the NHS App, allowing people to book appointments and communicate more easily with relevant clinical team members on behalf of those for whom they care. This will allow carers to seek guidance directly from health professionals, improving people’s experience, outcomes, and saving admin time for the health professionals and the carer.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities must provide a range of high-quality services for unpaid carers. The Better Care Fund supports initiatives such as short breaks and respite care, with local areas deciding how to use funding based on local need.
We have raised the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit from £151 to £196 per week, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage and representing the largest cash increase ever.
Nationally, the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside NHS England and local authorities, continue to strengthen guidance to the care sector, and online resources to make support clear and accessible through its work. This includes information on financial help, health and wellbeing services, and respite care.
Locally, integrated care systems and local authorities continue to work towards improving their services. All these steps aim to help ensure unpaid carers can access the services they need efficiently, supporting both their wellbeing and essential caring role.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he is taking to support unpaid carers a) generally and b) specifically to remove barriers to accessing respite.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need. I chair a cross-Government ministerial group that meets regularly, made up of ministers from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education, to consider how we can provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.
Work is underway to introduce a MyCarer section to the NHS App, allowing people to book appointments and communicate more easily with relevant clinical team members on behalf of those for whom they care. This will allow carers to seek guidance directly from health professionals, improving people’s experience, outcomes, and saving admin time for the health professionals and the carer.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities must provide a range of high-quality services for unpaid carers. The Better Care Fund supports initiatives such as short breaks and respite care, with local areas deciding how to use funding based on local need.
We have raised the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit from £151 to £196 per week, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage and representing the largest cash increase ever.
Nationally, the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside NHS England and local authorities, continue to strengthen guidance to the care sector, and online resources to make support clear and accessible through its work. This includes information on financial help, health and wellbeing services, and respite care.
Locally, integrated care systems and local authorities continue to work towards improving their services. All these steps aim to help ensure unpaid carers can access the services they need efficiently, supporting both their wellbeing and essential caring role.