Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance has been issued by (a) his Department and (b) NHS England on expenditure on flags.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department follows general Government guidance on flying flags, which is available at the following link:
Neither the Department nor NHS England has issued guidance regarding expenditure on flags.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 improve community-based glaucoma care services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. This can include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices, such as glaucoma referral refinement services and glaucoma monitoring.
The Getting It Right First Time programme is currently developing best practice guidance for glaucoma services to support the adoption of high standards across the pathway, from detection onwards.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what mechanisms his department uses to ensure integrated care boards commission children’s palliative care services effectively and in accordance with national quality standards.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member for Leicester South and the Rt. Hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087 I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are providing £80 million for children’s and young people’s hospices over the next three financial years, giving them stability to plan ahead and focus on what matters most, caring for their patients.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 effectiveness of the soft drinks industry levy on reducing obesity and related illnesses.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government data shows that sugar levels in drinks in scope of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) reduced by 47% between 2015 and 2024, removing approximately 57,000 tonnes of sugar from these drinks. This has had benefits across all socio-economic groups.
The National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), an ongoing Government-funded survey of food consumption and nutrient status in the United Kingdom, shows that sugar intakes of older children and adolescents reduced between 2014 and 2019, and the amount of sugar coming from soft drinks reduced.
Academic modelling papers suggest that the following benefits may have been realised as a result of the reductions in sugar seen in drinks in scope of the SDIL:
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, what data his Department holds on the prevalence of cleft palate syndrome in the UK; and what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness among (a) healthcare professionals and (b) the general public.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Cleft Registry and Audit Network (CRANE) is a national register and clinical audit funded by NHS England to evaluate and report on the delivery of cleft services to children born with a cleft lip and/or palate in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The 2024 Annual Report states that cleft lip and/or palate is a common condition, affecting one in 660 births and between 2021 and 2023, as 2,609 children were registered on CRANE, which is approximately 870 per year.
As part of their development activities, CRANE has previously linked with national educational data in England and found that attainment gaps exist between those with a cleft and the general population.
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is currently funding a £2 million study to improve outcomes for individuals with cleft lip and/or palate by addressing variation in unmet needs.
This study aims to understand, and subsequently develop a tool to help address, the clinical, psychosocial, educational, and patient-reported needs of young adults with cleft lip and/or palate when they move from child to adult health services.
The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including cleft palate.
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, what information his Department holds on the long-term (a) health, (b) educational and (c) social outcomes of individuals born with cleft palate syndrome; and what steps his Department is taking to monitor these outcomes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Cleft Registry and Audit Network (CRANE) is a national register and clinical audit funded by NHS England to evaluate and report on the delivery of cleft services to children born with a cleft lip and/or palate in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The 2024 Annual Report states that cleft lip and/or palate is a common condition, affecting one in 660 births and between 2021 and 2023, as 2,609 children were registered on CRANE, which is approximately 870 per year.
As part of their development activities, CRANE has previously linked with national educational data in England and found that attainment gaps exist between those with a cleft and the general population.
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is currently funding a £2 million study to improve outcomes for individuals with cleft lip and/or palate by addressing variation in unmet needs.
This study aims to understand, and subsequently develop a tool to help address, the clinical, psychosocial, educational, and patient-reported needs of young adults with cleft lip and/or palate when they move from child to adult health services.
The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including cleft palate.
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, if his Department will provide guidance, resources, and risk assessment tools to general practitioners to support discussions with patients eligible for targeted prostate cancer screening.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will consider the final recommendation of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) on screening for prostate cancer when it is received. At that point, he will make a decision on implementation, including any resources that may be required for general practitioners and other healthcare professionals to support his decision.
It is anticipated that the final recommendation will be provided in early 2026 after the conclusion of a 12 week consultation which opened on 28 November 2025. This seeks views on an evidence review and a draft recommendation to:
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
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 merits of piloting a national early-detection scheme for Type 1 Diabetes, in the context of seeking to deliver long-term savings and reducing unplanned hospital admissions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has published a RightCare toolkit which sets out what good quality diabetes care looks like for children and young adults and which includes guidance on timely and accurate diagnosis.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published clinical guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment, and care of children and young people with type 1 diabetes.
Through our National Institute for Health and Care Research, we have supported the establishment of the Early Surveillance for Autoimmune diabetes, or the “ELSA” study. This study is exploring the feasibility and benefits of screening for type 1 diabetes.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
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 improve public confidence in performing CPR on women experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs training sessions on first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and the use of defibrillators both in the community and in schools, under the Restart a Heart programme. This training should help to increase confidence in performing CPR on women. NHS England has trained over 35,800 adults and children in CPR and defibrillation in the last 13 years, and 2,134 this year so far. NHS England delivers the sessions via their resuscitation team and via their community first responders.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has assessed the potential impact of annual funding cycles for the Nursery Milk Scheme on suppliers and delivery partners.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Nursery Milk Scheme is a statutory scheme which allows registered early years childcare settings to claim one-third of a pint of milk for all children under the age of five years old who attend the setting for at least two hours per day. The statutory nature of the scheme means that it is not impacted by annual funding discussions, and these discussions therefore have no impact on the childcare settings who use the scheme, or on the suppliers who supply them.