Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to update the Mental Capacity Act 2005 by bringing into force uncommenced sections of (1) the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019, and (2) the Powers of Attorney Act 2023, and on what timescale.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has overall responsibility for the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. The Act provides a framework for making decisions on behalf of adults who are unable to do so for themselves.
The Department for Health and Social Care is responsible for the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019. This provides for a new system of safeguards (Liberty Protection Safeguards, or LPS) in care and treatment settings when a person lacks capacity and cannot consent to a deprivation of liberty.
The Government announced on 18 October the intention to consult on LPS. This consultation is planned to take place in 2026.
The Powers of Attorney Act 2023 introduced several provisions to enable modernisation of the Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) system, to increase safeguards in the process and improve access to LPAs. This is a complex project and it is important we take the time to get the new service design right. We will give more information in due course about readiness for testing the modernised service.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 explore potential (a) genomics and (b) AI opportunities for (i) preventing, (ii) diagnosing and (iii) treating bowel cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will use genomics, predictive analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to shift from sickness to prevention, enabling earlier diagnosis and personalised care.
The National Health Service Genomic Medicine Service provides equitable access to cancer genomic testing, guided by the National Genomic Test Directory, which includes over 200 cancer indications. NHS England’s Cancer Genomics Improvement Programme is delivering quality improvement initiatives and establishing Cellular Pathology Genomic Centres to streamline clinical pathways and accelerate genomic testing.
In addition, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department of Health and Social Care fund research via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) into AI applications for cancer diagnosis. This includes the £21 million AI Diagnostic Fund, the £10 million Cancer Data-Driven Detection programme, and the £11 million Early Detection using Information Technology in Health Trial.
The Office for Life Sciences (OLS) is also funding the £11 million NIHR i4i/OLS Cancer Healthcare Goals: Early Cancer Diagnosis Clinical Validation and Evaluation programme, which includes a project to assess a breath test technology's effectiveness by using AI for gastrointestinal cancers in over 8,000 patients (including bowel cancer). AI offers significant opportunities for faster triage and improved outcomes, and evaluations of its impact are ongoing.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research his Department is undertaking into side affects of the AstraZenica covid vaccine; through what process his Department are recognising emerging side effects; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Vaccines are only authorised once they have met robust standards of effectiveness, safety, and quality set by the independent medicines’ regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The monitoring of vaccine safety does not stop once a vaccine has been approved. The MHRA continuously monitors safety data from a range of sources to ensure that the benefits continue to outweigh any risks. This includes reports of adverse events and rare side effects retrieved from the MHRA’s Yellow Card Database, interim and final study reports for clinical trials, post-authorisation safety studies, and data from scientific literature. A dedicated team of assessors reviews this information on a weekly basis to look for safety issues or unexpected, rare events.
The Department also commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including for vaccine side effects.
Since the start of the pandemic, the NIHR has allocated more than £110 million of funding for COVID-19 vaccine research, including consideration of issues around vaccine safety. As part of this, the Department commissioned a £1.6 million programme of work through the NIHR to understand the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of COVID-19 vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia syndrome, a rare condition of blood clotting with low platelets following vaccination for COVID-19. This research was published in July 2025 and is available in the NIHR Journals Library.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is undertaking research into (a) damage and (b) lasting effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Vaccines are only authorised once they have met robust standards of effectiveness, safety, and quality set by the independent medicines’ regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The monitoring of vaccine safety does not stop once a vaccine has been approved. The MHRA continuously monitors safety data from a range of sources to ensure that the benefits continue to outweigh any risks. This includes reports of adverse events and rare side effects retrieved from the MHRA’s Yellow Card Database, interim and final study reports for clinical trials, post-authorisation safety studies, and data from scientific literature. A dedicated team of assessors reviews this information on a weekly basis to look for safety issues or unexpected, rare events.
The Department also commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including for vaccine side effects.
Since the start of the pandemic, the NIHR has allocated more than £110 million of funding for COVID-19 vaccine research, including consideration of issues around vaccine safety. As part of this, the Department commissioned a £1.6 million programme of work through the NIHR to understand the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of COVID-19 vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia syndrome, a rare condition of blood clotting with low platelets following vaccination for COVID-19. This research was published in July 2025 and is available in the NIHR Journals Library.
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 steps his Department is taking to ensure that staff impacted by the abolition of Commissioning Support Units are kept informed of their (a) employment status and (b) future prospects.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that the current process of transition for Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) directly impacts staff. NHS England is working to support CSUs as part of the change process, and the Department and NHS England are committed to treating people with the care, respect, and fairness they are owed throughout this process.
The Government is committed to the modernisation of the National Health Service as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, including abolishing CSUs as part of the refocussing of the role of integrated care boards on strategic commissioning. This will help support delivery of the three shifts, from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention, that are needed to build a health service fit for the future.
No formal assessment has yet been made about the number of staff employed in CSUs without allocated work.
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, how many staff previously employed in Commissioning Support Units are without allocated work but continue to receive full pay.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that the current process of transition for Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) directly impacts staff. NHS England is working to support CSUs as part of the change process, and the Department and NHS England are committed to treating people with the care, respect, and fairness they are owed throughout this process.
The Government is committed to the modernisation of the National Health Service as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, including abolishing CSUs as part of the refocussing of the role of integrated care boards on strategic commissioning. This will help support delivery of the three shifts, from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention, that are needed to build a health service fit for the future.
No formal assessment has yet been made about the number of staff employed in CSUs without allocated work.
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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of the abolition of Commissioning Support Units on (a) staffing levels and (b) management capacity within NHS England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that the current process of transition for Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) directly impacts staff. NHS England is working to support CSUs as part of the change process, and the Department and NHS England are committed to treating people with the care, respect, and fairness they are owed throughout this process.
The Government is committed to the modernisation of the National Health Service as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, including abolishing CSUs as part of the refocussing of the role of integrated care boards on strategic commissioning. This will help support delivery of the three shifts, from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention, that are needed to build a health service fit for the future.
No formal assessment has yet been made about the number of staff employed in CSUs without allocated work.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the long-term workforce planning implications of medical graduates seeking employment overseas due to lack of NHS opportunities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data from the General Medical Council shows that approximately 7% of doctors in England do not hold a licence to practice five years after they have completed the foundation programme (the work-based training programme that bridges the gap between medical school and specialty or general practice training). This is equivalent to around 520 doctors – a relatively small number. Although some doctors do work overseas, most moves are temporary, and the overall loss is small.
We will publish a new 10-Year Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 (a) planning and (b) training to help staff to enable supported home births.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England fully support women to make informed choices about their care, including the choice to give birth at home. We expect local services to work collaboratively to ensure the provision of safe, personalised care in all settings.
The Core Competency Framework, which sets out the essential training for staff to address variations in the quality of support provided, outlines that training should be tailored to specific staff groups, for example, home birth, or birth centre teams. Staff should also receive training in the management of emergencies, using clinical simulation at the point of care and across a range of settings, including in the community.
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning maternity services and for determining how those services are configured to meet local needs. There may be occasions when home birth services need to be temporarily suspended or interrupted for safety reasons. When this occurs, trusts are required to re-open services as soon as it is safe to do so and report it nationally through the Maternity and Neonatal SitRep reporting tool, which collects essential data to monitor the performance of maternity and neonatal services.
NHS England will be writing to all services and systems asking them to review their service provision.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to ensure retired NHS staff do not suffer financial hardship due to late pension payments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department regularly meets with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), which is responsible for administering the NHS Pension Scheme, to discuss performance levels. These discussions include the current increase in processing times for initial pension payments to retired National Health Service staff.
The NHSBSA is working in partnership with the Department to ensure robust measures are in place to improve performance as a matter of urgency. The NHSBSA has reallocated internal resources, is actively recruiting and training new staff, and has enhanced communications with members and employers to help them plan accordingly. The Department is committed to supporting the NHSBSA in taking all necessary steps to ensure pension benefits return to being paid on-time.
To minimise the risk of financial hardship, the NHSBSA is proactively contacting and prioritising cases involving vulnerable members and those experiencing ill health. A member whose first pension payment is delayed beyond 30 days will automatically receive interest on the overdue amount. Up-to-date information on processing times is made available to members via the NHSBSA website which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/current-processing-times-nhs-pensions.
The NHSBSA remains dedicated to providing the highest possible standard of service to retiring and retired NHS staff and will continue to keep members updated on progress.