Asked by: Natalie Fleet (Labour - Bolsover)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department is ensuring that NHS weight management services comply with NICE guidance on the use of (a) established community-based programmes and (b) combined behavioural and pharmacological support for obesity.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance on overweight and obesity management sets out the core components and standards for community-based weight management programmes, including multi-component behavioural interventions. Commissioning organisations, including local integrated care boards (ICBs), local authorities, and NHS England, and providers are expected to take the guidance into account when designing and delivering services. Support for compliance includes:
- detailed advice within the NICE guidance itself on the structure and content of effective community-based interventions;
- implementation support toolkits and practical guides from NICE; and
- funding through NHS England allocations for ICBs and the Public Health Grant for local authorities.
NICE guidance recommends that pharmacological treatments for obesity should only be offered alongside behavioural interventions, to provide ‘wraparound care’. ICBs have a legal duty to make NICE-recommended medicines available and are expected to ensure that patients prescribed these medicines also receive appropriate behavioural and lifestyle support. There is further support for ICBs in addition to that listed above, including:
- NHS England’s interim commissioning guidance and a centrally funded wraparound care service, Healthier You: Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing, with procurement underway for a longer-term offer; and
- additional funding to support the delivery of services within primary care and the cost of obesity medicines in line with the interim commissioning background.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to deliver 50 new neighbourhood health centres by the end of this Parliament; and whether any will be built in Cumbria.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and we recognise that delivering high quality NHS healthcare requires the right infrastructure in the right places.
That is why over the course of our 10-Year Health Plan, we aim to establish a Neighbourhood Health Centre in every community, transforming healthcare access by bringing historically hospital-based services into communities and addressing wider determinants of health through services like debt advice, employment support, and obesity management programmes.
Nationwide coverage will take time, but we are starting in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, using public capital to update and refurbish existing, under-used buildings.
We recently announced the places that will form wave 1 of the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP), after a rigorous assessment of applications against the core criteria. The first wave of the NNHIP covers 43 sites across England, from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in the south-west to Sunderland in the north-east, ensuring that communities nationwide benefit from this new model of care.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, where does he expect a neighbourhood health centre to be established in the London Borough of Harrow; and when this will be.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and we recognise that delivering high quality NHS healthcare requires the right infrastructure in the right places.
That is why, over the course of our 10-Year Health Plan, we aim to establish a Neighbourhood Health Centre in every community, transforming healthcare access by bringing historically hospital-based services into communities and addressing wider determinants of health through services like debt advice, employment support, and obesity management programmes.
We recently announced the places that will form wave 1 of the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP), after a rigorous assessment of applications against the core criteria. The first wave of the NNHIP covers 43 sites across England, from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in the south-west to Sunderland in the north-east, ensuring that communities nationwide benefit from this new model of care.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning, planning, securing, and monitoring general practice services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. Both ICBs and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for Neighbourhood Health Centres.
Nationwide coverage will take time, but we are starting in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, using public capital to update and refurbish existing, under-used buildings.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that patients taking weight loss medication have equitable access to community-based (a) weight management and (b) lifestyle support services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both the license and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance for these medicines specify that they should be prescribed alongside a reduced calorie diet and physical activity. NICE guidance also states that healthcare professionals should arrange information, support, and counselling on additional diet, physical activity, and behavioural strategies when these medicines are prescribed.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning health services within their area in line with local population need and taking account of relevant guidance. NHS England has, however, also made a central wraparound service available that ICBs can use, known as Healthier You: Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing, for patients to be referred into, with a procurement underway for a longer-term offer. This central service focuses on nutrition, physical activity, and psychological support.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much capital funding her Department has allocated for the rollout of neighbourhood health centres (a) in England and (b) for each eligible integrated care board.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and we recognise that delivering high quality NHS healthcare requires the right infrastructure in the right places.
That is why over the course of our 10-Year Health Plan, we aim to establish a neighbourhood health centre in every community, transforming healthcare access by bringing historically hospital-based services into communities and addressing wider determinants of health through services like debt advice, employment support, and obesity management programmes.
Nationwide coverage will take time, and we will start by using public capital to update and refurbish existing, under-used buildings, targeting places where healthy life expectancy is lowest and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.
Capital funding for neighbourhood health centres will become available from 2026/27, with detailed planning guidance for local systems to be communicated before the end of the year.
As outlined in the Government’s 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, a decision on whether to proceed with the use of Public Private Partnerships for neighbourhood health centres will be made by HM Treasury and relevant ministers by the 2025 Autumn Budget.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to expand prescribing of GLP-1 medications beyond specialist weight-management services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on the first two GLP-1 medicines licensed for the treatment of obesity, namely liraglutide under various brand names and semaglutide with brand name Wegovy, restricted their use to specialist weight management services. These services are primarily delivered in secondary care.
NICE recommended that tirzepatide, with brand name Mounjaro, could be used for the treatment of obesity in eligible patients without a restriction on its setting. This means tirzepatide can be used in specialist weight management services but can also be prescribed in primary care by general practitioners (GPs) and other competent prescribers. From 23 June 2025, tirzepatide started to become available in primary care so the expansion beyond specialist services is underway.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are the National Health Service organisations responsible for arranging the provision of health services within their area in line with local population need and taking account of relevant guidance. ICBs have had to develop new care pathways to ensure that patients can access these medicines via their GP with appropriate wraparound support. NHS England has been working closely with ICBs to support the safe and effective roll out of tirzepatide in primary care. It has identified the groups of people to be prioritised in each phase of the initial rollout; helped develop local treatment models; provided funding support and regular communication channels to ICBs; and set up an interim, centrally funded ‘wraparound care service’, known as the ‘Healthier You: Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing’, for patients to be referred into, with a procurement underway for a longer-term offer.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 weight loss medications through the NHS.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Until recently, the newest obesity medicines liraglutide, under various brand names, semaglutide, under the brand name Wegovy, and tirzepatide, under the brand name Mounjaro, have only been available via the National Health Service through specialist weight management services which are mainly hospital-based.
From 23 June, tirzepatide has started to become available in primary care, meaning it can be prescribed by general practitioners, or other competent prescribers. NHS England’s phased rollout within primary care will prioritise those with the greatest clinical need. Approximately 220,000 people are expected to benefit in the first three years of implementation. As part of the rollout plans, the NHS will look at different service models, including digital and community options. New approaches might enable access to be expanded more quickly. Progress will be reviewed in three years, and the roll out will be sped up if possible.
In addition, the 10-Year Health Plan sets out our ambition to build on these plans by testing innovative models of delivering weight loss services and treatments to patients.
On 12 August we announced an £85 million competition to fund the design and delivery of new community and primary care weight management pathways to support access to interventions such as weight loss medications. We expect tens of thousands of patients to directly benefit from increased access to interventions, such as GLP-1s. This will generate new evidence to inform the future commissioning and rollout of tirzepatide.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the consumption of high caffeine energy drinks on health services in Lancashire.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 3 September 2025, the Government published its consultation on banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years in England, an important step towards fulfilling our Plan for Change commitment to create the healthiest generation of children ever.
We estimate the proposals could reduce childhood obesity rates by the equivalent of 40,000 children and deliver health benefits worth £7.7 billion through improved health outcomes. In addition, we estimate the proposals could provide NHS savings of £127 million, social care savings of £84 million, and reduced premature mortality is expected to deliver an additional £1.2 billion of economic output.
The Department of Health and Social Care has not assessed the potential impact of the consumption of high-caffeine energy drinks on health services in Lancashire.
The consultation and accompanying impact assessment are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/banning-the-sale-of-high-caffeine-energy-drinks-to-children.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 publication entitled 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, published on 3 July 2025, what progress his Department has made on the digital-only delivery of weight loss (a) services and (b) treatments; and if his Department will publish further details on how it plans to test innovative models for those services and treatments.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to expanding access to weight management services through digital innovation and personalised pathways that support people in a way that best meets their needs.
The NHS Digital Weight Management Programme is the only nationally commissioned weight management service delivered entirely through digital means. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, there is a clear commitment to expand access to this programme, including doubling referral volumes. The service went live in 2021, and active planning is now underway to deliver this expansion, which is expected to begin in 2026/27.
For pharmacological treatments such as tirzepatide, otherwise know as Mounjaro, for the management of obesity, NHS England is working with the Office for Life Sciences and other partners to develop digitally enabled care pathways supported by behavioural interventions and which place patient safety and clinical oversight at their core. This is part of the newly launched £85 million health innovation programme, in collaboration with Eli Lilly, to test novel delivery models for weight management. These include digital platforms, pharmacy-led services, and community-based access routes. The programme is designed to improve accessibility and reduce pressure on specialist services, whilst ensuring care is safe and aligned with national clinical standards.
These innovative pathways are being designed to bring together remote prescribing, personalised behavioural support, and ongoing clinical supervision, allowing patients to access high-quality care in a way that is convenient and tailored to their individual needs.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 ensure that Integrated Care Systems provide a range of weight management services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are responsible for providing local weight management services, taking into account their population needs and relevant guidance. Weight management services range from behavioural programmes to specialist services for those living with obesity and associated co-morbidities.
Local authorities are able to fund behavioural weight management services from their Public Health Grant. Additionally, NHS England commissions the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme nationally, which can be accessed via referral from general practice or community pharmacy.
ICBs are responsible for commissioning NHS specialist weight management services. Until recently the newest obesity medicines have only been available via the NHS through specialist weight management services. One of these medicines, tirzepatide (brand name Mounjaro®), is now available in primary care, with access currently being prioritised to those with the greatest clinical need. ICBs are developing new care pathways to ensure that patients can access these medicines via general practice.