Asked by: Lewis Atkinson (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she can list the (a) Ministerial responsibilities and (b) the responsibilities and reporting arrangements of any relevant cross-departmental units in relation to drugs policy.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Joint Combating Drugs Unit (JCDU) is responsible for driving and co-ordinating efforts across Government to tackle drugs, working in close partnership with six departments – the Home Office, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Department for Education. JCDU comprises full-time civil servants who are seconded from key government departments.
Each department is responsible for delivery of their programmes and projects. Progress is overseen by the lead departmental ministers but also reported to me as the lead drugs Minister, while a lead Permanent Secretary fulfils the role of senior responsible owner at official level.
Illicit drug use affects the whole of society, and this Government is taking a collective response to deliver safer streets, improve health outcomes and contribute to opportunities and growth through reducing crime and saving lives.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
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 effectiveness of the current regulatory framework for Research Ethics Committees (RECs), including the Governance Arrangements for Research Ethics Committees, in providing adequate guidance for RECs considering research proposals pertaining to gender and sex.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made by the Department. The Health Research Authority (HRA) and the devolved administrations provide a Research Ethics Service so that research proposals relating to their areas of responsibility can be reviewed by a Research Ethics Committee (REC) for all kinds of health and social care research proposals within the scope of the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care research, including those pertaining to gender and sex.
A REC is a group of people appointed to review research proposals to assess formally if the research is ethical. This means the research must conform to recognised ethical standards. RECs protect the rights, safety, dignity and wellbeing of research participants and the Governance Arrangements for Research Ethics Committees, a United Kingdom wide policy, describes what is expected from RECs when reviewing research proposals.
Each REC is required to adopt the UK Standard Operating Procedures approved by, or on behalf of, its appointing authority, and each REC is audited against these standards on a rolling basis. RECs reviewing Clinical Trials of Investigational Medicinal Products must be accredited by the UK Ethics Committee Authority before they can review applications to ensure committees comply with legislation and uphold standards.
The HRA has a duty to provide an efficient and robust research ethics review service to protect participants.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions the Department has had with social media companies regarding the potential impact of their platforms on child mental health.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not undertaken any recent engagement with social media companies regarding the potential impact of their platforms on child mental health.
However, the Government is taking forward wider work to understand and address risks to children in the online world. A national consultation has recently been launched to seek views on measures to improve children’s online safety across social media, gaming platforms, and artificial intelligence chatbots. We will work closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on this consultation, including in relation to understanding the potential impact of social media use on children’s mental health. This forms part of the Government’s broader programme to create a safer digital environment for children and to reduce potential harms linked to these services.
Insights from this consultation will help inform future policy to better protect children’s mental health and ensure that digital platforms play their part in promoting safe and healthy online experiences.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 respond to feedback from frontline GPs to the NHS 10-Year Health Plan consultation; and whether this feedback will result in changes to its policy approach to general practice.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Participants shared their experiences of using and/or working in or with the National Health Service and their views on what it should look like in the future, which were used to shape the 10-Year Health Plan. A report detailing the views of members of the public and health and care staff as gathered through the Change NHS engagement process that contributed to the development of the 10-Year Health Plan for England is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/engagement-insight-report-10-year-health-plan-for-england
The Department currently has no plans to respond to specific individual feedback from frontline general practitioners (GPs).
The 10-Year Health Plan, shaped by engagement, set out the need for reform within GPs. This includes increasing capacity, delivering on the recommendations of the Red Tape Challenge, and rolling out the technology to enable more appointments and better continuity of care for those with complex needs.
As part of the shift from hospital to community, the plan also sets out more fundamental reform that will see GPs lead new neighbourhood providers that convene teams of skilled professionals to provide personalised care for groups of people with similar needs.
We have now concluded the 2026/27 GP Contract consultation. The final package reflects commitments in the 10-Year Health Plan, including ending the 8:00am scramble, improving timely access to care, tackling GP unemployment, and supporting a shift towards prevention. Overwhelmingly, participants in the public deliberative events identified access to care, and prioritising GP access, as the most immediate priority the 10-Year Health Plan should address.
We are investing an additional £485 million into GPs, taking total contract investment to over £13.8 billion in 2026/27. This builds on last year’s £1.1 billion of investment.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 pathways used by other Common Travel Area countries to enable qualified medical professionals from outside the EEA to practise medicine; and what steps he is taking to reduce barriers to registration for qualified international medical graduates.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by the Department of the potential policy implications of the pathways used by other Common Travel Area countries to enable qualified medical professionals from outside the European Economic Area to practise medicine in the United Kingdom.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of medical practitioners, or doctors, in the UK. It is responsible for setting standards that must be met by both domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to their registers to ensure registrants are safe to practise.
As the independent regulator, it is for the GMC to determine routes to registration and the qualifications that it will accept for registration.
In 2023, the Department amended the GMC’s legislation to provide greater flexibility to streamline the process for registering overseas-qualified medical professionals. Following these changes, the GMC introduced new specialist registration routes, including the Recognised Specialist Qualification pathway, which was launched on 15 May 2024. This enables the GMC to formally recognise suitable specialist qualifications from overseas for the purposes of UK Specialist and General Practitioner registration.
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, whether his Department plans to provide additional funding for safety measures for NHS staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone working in the National Health Service has a fundamental right to be safe at work. Individual employers are responsible for the health and safety of their staff, and they put in place measures, including security, training, and emotional support for staff affected by violence, abuse, or harassment. There are currently no plans to provide additional funding for safety measures for NHS staff.
At a national level there are several policy measures being implemented and developed to help keep staff safe and to prevent and reduce violence in the workplace. This includes measures to improve data and reporting, strengthen risk assessment, and improve training and support for victims. This will be bolstered by the introduction of a new set of staff standards, as detailed in the 10-Year Health Plan. The standards will be included in the NHS Oversight Framework and act as an early warning signal for the Care Quality Commission.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his policy that integrated care board boundaries should match mayoral combined authority boundaries.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It remains the Government’s ambition for integrated care boards (ICBs) to be coterminous with one or more strategic authorities wherever feasible, a commitment made in the English devolution white paper and reaffirmed in our 10-Year Health Plan.
This summer as local government reform progresses, the Department of Health and Social Care will work closely with NHS England and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to decide any further ICB mergers and boundary changes.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there have been for offences relating to the termination of pregnancy through the the pills-by-post scheme.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of convictions across England and Wales for a wide range of offences in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK
The offences that constitute unlawful abortion include procuring an illegal abortion under sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, as well as child destruction under section 1 of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929.
Information centrally held does not specify how many of these convictions are linked to the use of the pills-by-post scheme.
The Department of Health and Social Care is responsible for the policy relating to the pills-by-post scheme.
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, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of frontline NHS staff, including receptionists working in GP surgeries.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone working in the National Health Service has a fundamental right to be safe at work without fear of violence or abuse.
Individual employers are responsible for the health and safety of their staff, and they put in place measures, including, security, training, and emotional support for staff affected by violence, abuse, or harassment.
At a national level there are several policy measures being implemented and developed to help keep staff safe and to prevent and reduce violence in the workplace. This includes measures to improve data and reporting, strengthen risk assessment, and improve training and support for victims. This will be bolstered by the introduction of a new set of staff standards, as detailed in the 10-Year Health Plan. The standards will be included in the NHS Oversight Framework and act as an early warning signal for the Care Quality Commission.
Additionally, the You and your general practice guidance makes clear that general practice staff should be treated with respect. A practice also reserves the right to remove patients from their list if they are violent or abusive to staff. The You and your general practice guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/you-and-your-general-practice-english/
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
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 causes of prescription medicine shortages in the UK, including reported shortages of aspirin 75mg dispersible tablets and supply disruption affecting carbamazepine (Tegretol) prolonged-release tablets; and what steps he is taking to improve national medicines supply.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes, or distribution issues and regulatory issues. There are approximately 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply.
The Department is currently not aware of any supply issues affecting Tegretol prolonged-release tablets.
The Department is aware of a recent disruption to the supply of aspirin tablets due to manufacturing issues and knock-on increased demand. The issues have been addressed, and we are working with suppliers to aid a return to normal supply as soon as possible with stock regularly being made available for pharmacies to order.
We continue to work with manufacturers and United Kingdom distributors to maximise supply to pharmacies and hospitals across the country. The Department is closely monitoring the situation and expects supplies to return to normal in the coming weeks.
In August 2025, the Department published a policy paper, Managing a robust and resilience supply of medicines, setting out our actions to strengthen supply chain resilience, which is available at the following link:
The Department has committed to providing a published update on progress in 2026.