Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to work with NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB to reduce the number of patients that are waiting an extended period for a wheelchair.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services, based on the needs of their local population.
NHS England supports ICBs to reduce variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs, and to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. Since July 2015, NHS England has collected quarterly data from ICBs on wheelchair provision, including waiting times, to enable targeted action if improvement is required. The latest figures from the Quarter 2 2025/26 National Wheelchair Data Collection showed that 84% of adults and 78% of children received their equipment within 18 weeks. Further information is available at the following link:
The Community Health Services Situation Report, which will be used to monitor ICB performance against waiting time targets in 2026/27, currently monitors waiting times for both children and young people and adult waiting times under the ‘Wheelchair, Orthotics, Prosthetics and Equipment’ line. The Community Health Services Situation Report is available at the following link:
The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework, published October 2025, requires that, from 2026/27, all ICBs and Community Health Services must actively manage and reduce the proportion of waits across all community health services over 18 weeks and develop a plan to eliminate all 52-week waits.
Birmingham and Solihull ICB providers are working towards reducing waiting times in line with the NHS 10-Year Health Plan. In Birmingham in December 2025, equipment handovers were completed within the 18-week target for 42.9% of children and 71.9% of adults.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
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 recent trends in levels of regional disparity in Dental Delivery Rates between the South West and London; and what steps he will take to increase delivery in the South West.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dental Statistics - England 2024/25, published by NHS Business Services Authority on 28 August 2025, is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202425
This shows that 31% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the South West, in the previous 24 months up to June 2025, and that 52% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2025. By comparison, in London 39% of adults were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2025, and 53% children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2025.
In 2024/25, there were 40.5 NHS dentists per 100,000 population in the South West, compared to 52.7 NHS dentists per 100,000 population in London.
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural areas such as the South West.
We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available since April 2025.
ICBs are recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on the quality and payment reforms to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available from the following link:
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
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 2 February 2026 to Question 108291 on IVF: Greater Manchester, if he will have discussions with the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board on the potential impact of the decision to reduce NHS-funded IVF provision across Greater Manchester to one cycle on (i) patient outcomes and (ii) health inequalities; and if will hold discussions with that ICB on current NICE guidance on IVF provision.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to discuss with the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB) any changes to its provision of National Health Service funded in vitro fertilisation treatment or the current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on fertility services.
Funding decisions for health services in England are made by ICBs and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. They are expected to commission fertility services in line with NICE guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.
Updated NICE fertility guidelines are expected in spring. The Department will continue to support NHS England as they work closely with ICBs to ensure the guidance is fully considered in local commissioning decisions.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether future NHS planning guidance will require Integrated Care Boards to provide dedicated long covid pathways.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are allocated funding by the National Health Service based on a statistical formula which takes into account population size and needs, so that funding distribution is fair and objective. Further details on ICB funding allocation can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/allocations/
The allocation of funding for specialised services, including long COVID, are at the discretion of local ICBs to best meet the needs of their local population.
Commissioning guidance, from December 2023, presents guidelines for the commissioning and oversight of post-COVID services by ICBs in England for adults, and children and young people from April 2024. Since then, in line with the NHS operating framework and the establishment of integrated care systems, the commissioning of post-COVID services has been the responsibility of ICBs. However, according to this guidance, post-COVID services should comprise an integrated pathway of assessment, medical treatment, and multifaceted rehabilitation, including psychology, with direct access to required diagnostics. Referral should be via a single point of access which is managed by clinician-led triage.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
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 each Integrated Care Board in England for long covid services in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are allocated funding by the National Health Service based on a statistical formula which takes into account population size and needs, so that funding distribution is fair and objective. Further details on ICB funding allocation can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/allocations/
The allocation of funding for specialised services, including long COVID, are at the discretion of local ICBs to best meet the needs of their local population.
Commissioning guidance, from December 2023, presents guidelines for the commissioning and oversight of post-COVID services by ICBs in England for adults, and children and young people from April 2024. Since then, in line with the NHS operating framework and the establishment of integrated care systems, the commissioning of post-COVID services has been the responsibility of ICBs. However, according to this guidance, post-COVID services should comprise an integrated pathway of assessment, medical treatment, and multifaceted rehabilitation, including psychology, with direct access to required diagnostics. Referral should be via a single point of access which is managed by clinician-led triage.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the the numbers of hen harriers over the last 5 years.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The number of breeding hen harriers is assessed annually by Natural England in partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Summaries of these figures are published as blogs via Natural England’s .gov blog page.
Assessments of the number of breeding hen harriers from the last four years can be seen below:
Nesting attempts per upland area of England
Area | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
Bowland | 18 | 11 | 11 | 15 |
North Pennines | 7 | 11 | 4 | 2 |
Northumberland | 9 | 17 | 15 | 18 |
Peak District | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Yorkshire Dales and Nidderdale | 10 | 15 | 4 | 2 |
Total | 49 | 54 | 34 | 39 |
In 2025, a peer-reviewed paper was published assessing the population trends in hen harriers in the UK and Isle of Man between 2016 and 2023. This included data and co-authorship from Natural England’s hen harrier programme: https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2024.2446373.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for each wave of Mental Health Support Teams up to Wave 12, what the anticipated ratio of FTE clinical staff (a) was and (b) is in the Mental Health Support Team to pupil numbers in the schools covered.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) typically comprise of approximately eight full-time equivalent (FTE) clinical staff. Each team was anticipated to cover a population of between 8,000 and 8,500 children and young people. This figure refers to the total population covered by an MHST, not the number of children and young people receiving direct care.
The most recent coverage analysis indicates that MHSTs support an average population of approximately 8,300 children and young people. This equates to a current estimated ratio of FTE clinical staff to children and young people of approximately 1:1,037.
In July 2025, the National Children’s Bureau published an independent MHST evaluation report, Evaluating the implementation of the Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision Green Paper programme. According to survey data published as part of this report, 86% of respondents in schools and colleges were satisfied or very satisfied with the direct interventions that the MHST provided for pupils/students or families. The evaluation report is available at the following link:
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to maintain the adequacy of prison education provision in the context of changes to staffing levels.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Government is committed to ensuring prisoners can access high-quality education and skills provision that supports rehabilitation and reduces reoffending.
While the national prison education budget has increased by 3% this financial year, this has not kept pace with rising delivery costs across a range of services, leading to a reduction in what can be delivered through the Core Education contracts. Core Education represents only one part of the wider education, skills and work offer available to prisoners. Prison Governors commission education that meets the needs of their population, and providers are responsible for managing the staffing required to deliver the contracted services. HMPPS works closely with providers and governors to monitor delivery and maintain adequate provision.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of access to NHS ear wax removal services on long-term costs to the NHS associated with avoidable hearing loss, including on a) mental health and b) falls of elderly persons.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning local National Health Servies, including ear wax removal services, and must consider how best to improve population health and achieve best value for money.
ICBs commission these services in line with the recommendations for ear wax removal as set out in guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng98/chapter/Recommendations
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
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 limited fresh-freezing capacity on patients’ access to emerging cancer (a) testing and (b) treatments.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Fresh-freezing, also referred to as snap-freezing, is a standard technique used by pathology networks to preserve tissue architecture without chemical fixatives, allowing for subsequent molecular or histological analysis, typically supporting research or advanced diagnostic applications.
Pathology services in England are delivered through 27 regional pathology networks, and offer a comprehensive range of tests, including the analysis of brain tissues.
Individual pathology services maintain their own standard operating procedures (SOPs) for fresh tissue samples and for the snap-freezing of tissue samples. These SOPs outline local capabilities and practices.
It is important that everyone, regardless of where they live, can access the latest innovations in the health and care system through research. The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year in research through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR’s investments for capital equipment, technology, and modular buildings support NHS trusts across England to deliver high-quality research to improve the health of the population. This investment includes cutting edge research equipment and fixed assets such as ultra-low and cryogenic freezers, to strengthen research capacity and improve access to samples for research.
The Department is exploring options to expand brain tissue freezing capacity.