Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
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 help reduce male suicide rates through access to timely mental health care, follow-up after (a) self-harm and (b) crisis presentations and support for men at high-risk due to (i) relationship breakdown and (ii) trauma.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country. This includes transforming mental health services into neighbourhood mental health centres which are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, improving assertive outreach and access to timely mental health care, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to all-hours support directly through the NHS App. These services are available to men at high-risk due to relationship breakdown and trauma.
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, identifies middle aged men and people who have self-harmed as a priority group for targeted and tailored support at a national level.
On 19 November 2025, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The Strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.
Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience.
We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that communication in (a) adoption support and (b) reunification cases is (i) timely and (ii) compliant with statutory guidance.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Regional adoption agencies should clearly set out on their websites what adoption support is available, who provides it, and how families can access it. This should include an overview of universal, targeted and specialist forms of support. During the adoption assessment process, prospective adopters must also receive information, counselling and advice about adoption, including the support services they may be entitled to. In addition, the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund provides nationwide access to funded post‑adoption support, including therapeutic interventions for adopted children and their families.
In early‑permanence placements such as foster‑to‑adopt, reunification may occur if the court decides a child should return to their birth family. In these circumstances, reunification must follow statutory care‑planning duties, ensuring well‑planned transitions and appropriate support for carers and parents. Adoption England’s Reunification Framework provides structured guidance for practitioners to manage these transitions safely and sensitively, ensuring the child’s needs remain central throughout the process.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of equalising financial allowances between foster carers and kinship carers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will soon begin to trial a new Kinship Allowance in a number of local authorities. Funding for this was announced at the Autumn Budget 2024.
The pilot will provide all those caring for a child in a kinship arrangement with a Special Guardianship Order or a ‘lives with’ Child Arrangement Order, where the child would have otherwise been in care, an allowance paid at the same rate as foster care, in the pilot local authorities.
This will support approximately 4,500 kinship children and help equalise the financial allowance between foster carers and kinship carers.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Department is taking to improve the care system for cardiology patients in the UK; and whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting elements of the structured clinical programme established in Poland in the 1980s by Professor Religa.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to achieving a 25% reduction in premature mortality due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke across England. To accelerate progress and tackle variation across the country, a new CVD Modern Service Framework will be published in 2026. This framework will support improvement, reduce inequalities, and foster innovation where it is needed most.
No assessment has been made of adopting elements of the structured clinical programme established in Poland in the 1980s for heart transplant surgery. The National Health Service’s heart transplant programme provides life-saving heart transplants for adults, those 16 years old or older, with end-stage heart failure, involving assessment, surgery, and lifelong care.
NHS England has been undertaking a review of heart and lung transplantation services, building on a report commissioned by the Department, named Honouring the gift of organ donation, published in 2023 and avaiable at the following link:
The goals of the review are to increase the number of transplants, improve patient outcomes, reduce inequalities in access to transplants, and improve patient experience.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children's homes that are privately owned and operated.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As at 31 March 2025, 84% (3,360) of all children’s homes were privately owned and operated.
Ofsted publish annual data on children’s social care in England. This includes data on the number of homes and the different types of social care providers. The latest data is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childrens-social-care-in-england-2025.
The government is taking forward work to reshape the children’s social care placement’s market, including increasing the number of foster carers so that more children can be looked after in family-based environments and encouraging more non-profit, local authority, and social investment backed providers to enter the market.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department provides to public health teams operating in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency to increase men’s engagement with preventative health services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the first ever Men’s Health Strategy for England which aims to improve the health of all men and boys in England, including those in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.
We recognise that many of the issues affecting men cannot be solved by the Government alone. The strategy sets out how other sectors, such as the National Health Service, local government, employers, charities, research funders and communities, can contribute to shared outcomes and highlights that improving men’s health will depend on how national priorities are translated into local delivery.
The Department support Upper Tier Local Authorities, including Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, with the Public Health Grant. This is ringfenced funding given to local government to improve the health of their local populations and to reduce inequalities. We recently announced details of a three-year funding settlement for local government, including the Public Health Grant.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 Scotland's proposed regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures on England's regulatory framework; and, with reference to his Department's document entitled The licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England: consultation response, updated on 7 August 2025, what the timeline is for implementing the measures in that document.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 7 August 2025, the Government announced its plans to introduce measures to improve the safety of the cosmetics sector. This included prioritising the introduction of legal restrictions which will ensure that the highest risk cosmetic procedures are brought into Care Quality Commission regulation and can only be performed by specified regulated healthcare professionals.
In addition, the Government also committed to legislating to introduce a licensing scheme in England for lower risk procedures through powers granted through the Health and Care Act 2022. Under this scheme, which will be operated by local authorities, practitioners will be required to obtain a licence to perform specified cosmetic procedures, and the premises from which they operate will also need to be licensed. To protect children and young people, the Government is also committed to mandating age restrictions for cosmetic procedures.
The proposals will be taken forward through secondary legislation and therefore will be subject to the parliamentary process before the legal restrictions, or licensing regulations, can be introduced. We are now working with stakeholders to develop detailed plans and intend to consult on proposals for restrictions around the performance of the highest risk procedures in the spring.
We are aware that the Scottish Government is bringing forward its own legislation to introduce measures to protect the public in Scotland from unsafe cosmetic practises. We will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government to foster opportunities for further collaboration and alignment.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's document entitled The licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England: consultation response, updated on 7 August 2025, what progress has been made on implementing the proposals outlined in that document; and if he will set out the timeline for introducing regulatory measures for non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 7 August 2025, the Government announced its plans to introduce measures to improve the safety of the cosmetics sector. This included prioritising the introduction of legal restrictions which will ensure that the highest risk cosmetic procedures are brought into Care Quality Commission regulation and can only be performed by specified regulated healthcare professionals.
In addition, the Government also committed to legislating to introduce a licensing scheme in England for lower risk procedures through powers granted through the Health and Care Act 2022. Under this scheme, which will be operated by local authorities, practitioners will be required to obtain a licence to perform specified cosmetic procedures, and the premises from which they operate will also need to be licensed. To protect children and young people, the Government is also committed to mandating age restrictions for cosmetic procedures.
The proposals will be taken forward through secondary legislation and therefore will be subject to the parliamentary process before the legal restrictions, or licensing regulations, can be introduced. We are now working with stakeholders to develop detailed plans and intend to consult on proposals for restrictions around the performance of the highest risk procedures in the spring.
We are aware that the Scottish Government is bringing forward its own legislation to introduce measures to protect the public in Scotland from unsafe cosmetic practises. We will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government to foster opportunities for further collaboration and alignment.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
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 ensure that men can access timely support for their mental health.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach and access to timely mental health care, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the NHS App. These services are available to men.
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, identifies middle aged men as a priority group for targeted and tailored support at a national level.
On 19 November 2025, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.
Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience.
We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has held recent discussions with the Scottish Government on the inclusion of data from NHS Scotland in the UK Pelvic Floor Registry; and what his expected timescale is for full UK-wide data integration.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As a Government department, the Department of Health and Social Care engages constructively and works collaboratively with the devolved administrations on areas of shared interest, including information sharing, coordination, and issues that have United Kingdom wide or cross-border implications.
The NHS England Outcomes and Registries Programme invites relevant health professionals from the devolved nations to participate in monthly clinical steering groups across several clinical registries to foster collaboration and alignment of working practices. Wales and Northern Ireland have participated fully in the Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Stress Urinary Incontinence Clinical Steering Group. Scottish representatives last participated in November 2024, though they continue to be sent minutes of the progress of the NHS England-led Group.
The registry is due to be launched across 50% of English providers in February, with a second wave covering the remaining English providers planned for summer 2026.