Oral Answers

Wera Hobhouse Excerpts

Tuesday 25th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Neil O’Brien]

I recently had a very productive meeting with my Scottish Government counterpart. As I mentioned, we have already doubled the duty on cigarettes since 2010 and have brought in a minimum tax for the cheaper cigarettes. Of course, tax is a matter for the Treasury, but we will always be interested in things that can drive down smoking.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

6. What steps his Department is taking to improve access to maternity care in the south-west.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)]

Accessibility and choice remain high in the south-west. All but one trust in the region have a minimum of three birth options.

[Wera Hobhouse]

In my local council area, birthing units were closed in 2020. My constituents were promised a new midwife-led unit at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, but three years on it is still not up and running. The Minister will say that it is a funding decision for the local area, but it is an NHS England funding decision and the Government are the paymaster, so when will Bath get its midwifery unit at the RUH?

[Maria Caulfield]

I am very happy to contact the hon. Lady’s local commissioners to find out the answer for her. However, I highlight the fact that the £7.6 million health and wellbeing fund is funding 19 projects across England to reduce health disparities in new mothers and babies. Two of those projects are in the south-west: the Trelya in Cornwall, a community-centred whole-family provision that takes a holistic approach to working with children and their families; and the Splitz Support Service in Wiltshire, which aims to improve community knowledge, access to and engagement with pre-conception and perinatal care. We are investing in the hon. Lady’s region, but if she has a local funding issue I am very happy to speak to her local commissioning group on her behalf.