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, if he will make it his policy to update the multi-criteria decision support analysis to ensure that hospital wave allocations within the New Hospital Programme reflect estate conditions and patient environment standards.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Energy, Security and Net Zero on the potential impact of changes to funding for the Energy Company Obligation scheme in March 2026 on cold-related health issues.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers and officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero engage regularly on policy issues of interest to both departments. We will continue working together to ensure that cold-related health impacts are considered when implementing the Fuel Poverty Strategy for England and the Warm Homes Plan, and that more health-vulnerable households get the help they need to improve their homes.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 18 November (HL11736), whether they plan to provide no budget to enact recommendations from the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group until after the merger of NHS England with the Department of Health and Social Care.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the important role that NHS England’s clinical policy development process plays in determining routine commissioning decisions on new specialised services, treatments, and interventions, which have not been reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
We are carefully assessing NHS England’s functions as part of the process of merging NHS England with the Department. The outcome of these ongoing assessments will be made at the earliest opportunity, and we remain committed to progressing this reform at pace, subject to legislation and the will of Parliament.
Until such a time that NHS England is being abolished, Clinical Priorities Advisory Group recommendations are being enacted under the current rules and criteria.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to implement the healthy food standard policy announced as part of the 10-year health plan for England within the current Parliament; and if he will publish a timeline for these legislative or regulatory changes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 implementing the recommendations in the National Audit Office’s report entitled Costs of clinical negligence, published on 17 October 2025.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We welcome the report by the National Audit Office (NAO) entitled Costs of clinical negligence. As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC is providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims. The review is ongoing, following initial advice to ministers and the recent NAO report.
The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policymaking in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps, in due course.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what instructions his Department issued to NHS regional gender hubs on prescribing restrictions.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In March 2024, NHS England published its clinical policy on puberty suppressing hormones for children and young people who have gender incongruence and/or gender dysphoria.
This set out that puberty supressing hormones are not available as a routine commissioning treatment option for the treatment of children and young people who have gender incongruence and/or gender dysphoria.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the need for a dedicated senior official to lead on (a) coordination of policy to support state boarding schools, (b) securing sustainable funding for state boarding provision, and (c) cross-departmental engagement with the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Health and Social Care; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure state boarding schools remain a viable option for Armed Forces and mobile families.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Ministry of Defence oversees the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) for eligible service personnel, which provides clearly defined financial support to ensure that the need for frequent mobility does not interfere with a child’s education. This includes supporting parents with the option of using a state boarding school. Further information can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61684e30e90e07197867eb2b/20211007-DCS_CEAS_INFO_02-CEA_AND_BOARDING_SCHOOL_CONSIDERATIONS_INFORMATION_V4.pdf.
Senior officials maintain oversight of state boarding school policy and coordinate, as appropriate, with relevant teams across the department and other government departments on matters such as the national minimum standards for boarding and day pupil fees.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 December 2025 to Question 87411 on NHS England: Redundancy, what proportion of the £860 million will be spent in each financial year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The £860 million figure reflects funding brought forward from the Department’s 2025 Spending Review settlement. It will be brought forward to earlier years to bring NHS England into the Department, resulting in one organisation, and significantly reducing integrated care board running costs. This investment now will deliver savings of at least £1 billion per year by the end of this Parliament. This reprofiling was agreed following detailed discussions with HM Treasury and was announced at the Budget in November 2025.
The cost estimates to support this reprofiling were calculated jointly by the Department and NHS England’s finance teams, with input from subject matter experts. The calculations remain subject to ongoing policy development and refinement as part of wider transformation planning and prioritisation. Relevant material financial information will be published in due course in line with transparency obligations.
The profile by financial year has been published by HM Treasury within table 4.1, page 90, line 38 of the 2025 Budget policy paper, a copy of which is attached. It should be noted that these figures represent United Kingdom-wide allocations informed by the Barnett formula, rather than the England-only value referenced in the question.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to question 87411, if he will publish the calculations for the figure of £860 million.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The £860 million figure reflects funding brought forward from the Department’s 2025 Spending Review settlement. It will be brought forward to earlier years to bring NHS England into the Department, resulting in one organisation, and significantly reducing integrated care board running costs. This investment now will deliver savings of at least £1 billion per year by the end of this Parliament. This reprofiling was agreed following detailed discussions with HM Treasury and was announced at the Budget in November 2025.
The cost estimates to support this reprofiling were calculated jointly by the Department and NHS England’s finance teams, with input from subject matter experts. The calculations remain subject to ongoing policy development and refinement as part of wider transformation planning and prioritisation. Relevant material financial information will be published in due course in line with transparency obligations.
The profile by financial year has been published by HM Treasury within table 4.1, page 90, line 38 of the 2025 Budget policy paper, a copy of which is attached. It should be noted that these figures represent United Kingdom-wide allocations informed by the Barnett formula, rather than the England-only value referenced in the question.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 implications for his policies of the effectiveness of mandatory health warning labels in tackling alcohol harms in (a) South Korea and (b) other countries.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England, the Government committed to strengthen and expand existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages. The plan can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future
Department officials are working to progress this policy by reviewing all available evidence from a broad range of countries and engaging with a wide range of national and international stakeholders. This will inform the policy development to ensure the effectiveness of the final outcome.