Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the Child Maintenance Service formula in cases where the paying parent is the sole earner in a household supporting children with registered (a) disabilities and (b) additional needs; and whether he plans to review the formula to reflect financial pressures faced by families caring for disabled children, including higher daily living costs and the need for specialised equipment.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) formula is calculated on the paying parent’s gross income, the number of qualifying children, overnight care arrangements, and any additional children in their care – known as ‘relevant other children’. The formula does not automatically account for the higher costs associated with caring for children with disabilities or additional needs.
However, we recognise the additional financial pressures faced by families caring for disabled children. Therefore, the CMS provides a special expenses variation which allows paying parents to request an adjustment where they incur significant costs related to the illness or disability of ‘relevant other children’. The permitted expenses cover a wide range of costs, including personal care, heating and specialised equipment.
In addition, the Government is reviewing the CMS calculation to ensure the formula remains fit for purpose and reflects current societal and financial realities. Any proposed changes will be subject to public consultation and would require primary legislation and Parliamentary approval.
Asked by: Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve access to community equipment for disabled people throughout the UK.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated community equipment services are critical to the provision of health and social care, supporting people in their homes, preventing avoidable admissions, and reducing delayed discharges.
Under various legislations, including the Care Act 2014, and the Children and Families Act 2014, local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure provision of disability aids and community equipment, to meet the assessed eligible needs of individuals who are resident in their area.
Local authorities should develop and maintain contingency plans in case of service disruption, working with local partners including integrated care boards.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will take steps to enable specialist medical equipment to reach disabled people in the community following the liquidation of NRS Healthcare.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Community equipment, such as wheelchairs, hoists, and other specialist medical equipment, forms an important part of many people’s health and care support package. Such equipment can be critical in supporting better care outcomes, can enable people to remain in or return to their homes as the primary setting for care, and can avoid unnecessary stays in hospital or care homes.
Local authorities have statutory duties under the Care Act 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014 to arrange for the provision of disability aids and community equipment to meet the assessed needs of individuals in their area. While some local authorities provide these services themselves, many have contracts with external suppliers, such as NRS Healthcare. The Department does not have a statutory role in the provision of community equipment.
However, as part of NRS Healthcare’s liquidation process, the Government made available short-term funding to the Official Receiver to cover the essential operating costs of NRS Healthcare and its affiliated companies. This funding ensured that trading was able to continue for a limited time, minimising disruption by providing crucial time for local authorities to put alternative supply in place. The Department continues to monitor the situation in affected local authorities through Partners in Care and Health, a Department funded programme run in partnership with the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 to improve access to disability medical equipment for (a) adults and (b) children.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population, and responsibility for providing equipment to disabled people typically falls to the National Health Service and local authorities.
We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022, NICE published relevant guidance in relation to children, called Disabled children and young people up to 25 with severe complex needs: integrated service delivery and organisation across health, social care and education, which is available at the following link:
The Medium-Term Planning Framework, published in 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.
Local authorities in England have a statutory duty, including under the Care Act 2014, to make arrangements for the provision of disability aids and community equipment to meet the assessed eligible needs of individuals who are resident in their area. Responsibility for managing the market for these services, including commissioning and oversight of delivery, rests with local authorities.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 to reduce the time taken for the delivery of disability medical equipment to (a) adults and (b) children.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population, and responsibility for providing equipment to disabled people typically falls to the National Health Service and local authorities.
We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022, NICE published relevant guidance in relation to children, called Disabled children and young people up to 25 with severe complex needs: integrated service delivery and organisation across health, social care and education, which is available at the following link:
The Medium-Term Planning Framework, published in 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.
Local authorities in England have a statutory duty, including under the Care Act 2014, to make arrangements for the provision of disability aids and community equipment to meet the assessed eligible needs of individuals who are resident in their area. Responsibility for managing the market for these services, including commissioning and oversight of delivery, rests with local authorities.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
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 made of the potential barriers that prevent disabled people from accessing lifesaving medical equipment.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population, and responsibility for providing medical equipment to disabled people typically falls to the National Health Service and local authorities.
We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022, NICE published relevant guidance in relation to children, which is available at the following link:
Local authorities in England have a statutory duty, including under the Care Act 2014, to make arrangements for the provision of disability aids and community equipment to meet the assessed eligible needs of individuals who are resident in their area. Responsibility for managing the market for these services, including commissioning and oversight of delivery, rests with local authorities.
More broadly, the Government wants disabled people’s access to, and experience of, healthcare services to be equitable, effective, and responsive to their needs. Our 10-Year Health Plan for England sets out to tackle health inequalities, and specifically identifies disabled people as a priority group for neighbourhood health teams, which will offer more holistic on-going support.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 increase access to specialist wheelchairs for children in Nottingham East constituency.
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, and responsibility for providing disabled children’s equipment would typically fall to the National Health Service and local authorities.
NHS England supports ICBs to commission effective, efficient, and personalised wheelchair services. Since July 2015, NHS England has collected quarterly data from clinical commissioning groups, now ICBs, on wheelchair provision, including waiting times, with the aim of supporting improvements where required. Further information can be found at the following link:
www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/national-wheelchair
NHS England is taking steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of NHS wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving intervention and equipment. This includes publishing a Wheelchair Quality Framework on 9 April 2025 which sets out quality standards and statutory requirements for ICBs, such as offering personal wheelchair budgets. The framework is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/wheelchair-quality-framework/
The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB is actively working to ensure equitable access to specialist wheelchair services across the region, including Nottingham City and South Nottinghamshire. This is being pursued through:
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
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 parents with disabled children are provided with appropriate medical equipment to support their child.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population, and responsibility for providing disabled children’s equipment would typically fall to the National Health Service and local authorities.
We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022 NICE published guidance on Disabled children and young people up to 25 with severe complex needs, which is available at the following link:
The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that education, health, and social care services must work together to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). In May 2023, NHS England issued statutory guidance setting out the requirement for ICBs to have an executive lead for SEND, who will lead on supporting the chief executive and the board to ensure the ICB performs its functions effectively in the interests of children and young people with SEND.
Local authorities are responsible for providing social care services for disabled children which can include specialist equipment. The guidance on supporting disabled children and their carers is available at the following link:
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
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 adequacy of NHS provision of medical equipment for families with disabled children.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population, and responsibility for providing disabled children’s equipment would typically fall to the National Health Service and local authorities.
We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022 NICE published guidance on Disabled children and young people up to 25 with severe complex needs, which is available at the following link:
The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that education, health, and social care services must work together to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). In May 2023, NHS England issued statutory guidance setting out the requirement for ICBs to have an executive lead for SEND, who will lead on supporting the chief executive and the board to ensure the ICB performs its functions effectively in the interests of children and young people with SEND.
Local authorities are responsible for providing social care services for disabled children which can include specialist equipment. The guidance on supporting disabled children and their carers is available at the following link:
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing the separate eligibility criteria for children under three for the Blue Badge scheme.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since 17 June 2011, children under the age of three have been eligible for a Blue Badge if they fall under either or both of the following criteria:
(a) a child who, because of a condition, must always be accompanied by bulky medical equipment which cannot be carried around with the child without great difficulty
(b) a child who, because of a condition, must always be kept near a motor vehicle so that, if necessary, treatment for that condition can be given in the vehicle or the child can be taken quickly in the vehicle to a place where such treatment can be given
Whilst the Department recommends that local authorities treat each application for children under the age of three as a special case, it does not consider that there is a compelling case for giving automatic Blue Badge eligibility to disabled children below the age of three who do not meet the above criteria. In most cases, they could reasonably be carried in a pram or pushchair, in much the same way as able-bodied children of a similar age.