Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his statement on Pensions on 29 of January 2026, what new evidence did his Department's officials present to him in his re-consideration of the decision regarding state pension age changes that was not considered on or before 11 of November 2025.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Secretary of State has taken a new decision, and the process has been thorough. We have looked at information previously considered and conducted new searches as part of an extensive review of relevant historical documents.
In addition to the 2007 Automatic Pension Forecast Evaluation, other evidence relating to letter effectiveness and State Pension age awareness was provided to the Secretary of State.
This included survey evidence on Combined Pension Forecasts, and additional State Pension age awareness evidence from the late 2000s. The decision document, which is available on gov.uk, includes some references to the evidence that was considered. The DWP research reports referenced are also publicly available in the National Archive.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will consider providing specialist pelvic physiotherapy provision within the NHS for patients with endometriosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pelvic physiotherapy is an established and expanding component of National Health Service pelvic health services, delivered across maternity, gynaecology, community services, and specialist pathways. Across wider gynaecology and women’s health hubs, pelvic health physiotherapy is routinely offered for pelvic pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, urinary/faecal incontinence, prolapse, dyspareunia, and other presentations commonly associated with endometriosis. Multidisciplinary pelvic pain management, including pelvic physiotherapy, is an expected component within women’s health hubs.
The Government is encouraging integrated care boards to further expand the coverage of women’s health hubs and supporting them to use the learning from the women’s health hub pilots to improve local delivery of services to women and girls. This should enable improved access to pelvic physiotherapy and earlier intervention for conditions such as endometriosis.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will consider providing additional funding and resources to support BSGE-accredited endometriosis services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government acknowledges the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives, their relationships, and their participation in education and the workforce. We are committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions including endometriosis.
The 10-Year Health Plan set out our ambition for high autonomy to be the norm across every part of the country. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the healthcare needs of their local population and have the freedom to do so, and this includes women's health hubs and delivering the direction of the Women's Health Strategy. The Government is backing ICBs to do this through record funding. The 2025 Spending Review prioritised health, with record investment in the health and social care system.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 prepare for potential flu outbreaks in winter 2025-26.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have done more than ever to prepare for winter this year with the development and better testing of winter plans. This includes surge capacity and escalation plans for urgent and emergency care.
The flu vaccination programme began on 1 September 2025 for children and pregnant women. Adults aged over 65 years old, those with long term health conditions, and frontline health and social care workers will start from 1 October 2025.
Further details of the plans for this year, including actions to reduce the effects of flu on demand for services, are set out in the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/
On 16 September, the Secretary of State addressed a gathering of Chief Executives and undertook a joint visit with the NHS England Chief Executive to set out how winter preparations were being strengthened. A further meeting with Chief Executives on 3 November also focused on winter planning.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance is issued to maternity services and safeguarding partners on cannabis use during pregnancy and while caring for new born babies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Maternity services are required to provide care in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on antenatal care and pregnancy, reference code NG201, and complex social factors, reference code CG110. These guidelines specify that women should be asked about substance use, including cannabis use, as part of routine antenatal care.
Women requiring support for substance misuse should be offered a personalised care and support plan which may include referrals to specialist services. NHS England recently published the Improving postnatal care toolkit which aims to support system leaders improve postnatal care. This includes the development of targeted care pathways for vulnerable groups, such as women affected by substance misuse.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will investigate NHS Barts Health Trust funding for the Tower Hamlets Muslim Charity Run; and if he will make it his policy to ensure NHS funds are not used to support events which discriminate against women and offer no alternative single-sex provision.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Tower Hamlets Muslim Charity Run is not funded by NHS Barts Health Trust. National Health Services are available to all, irrespective of sex. The Government does not tolerate discrimination within public services.
Asked by: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - Godalming and Ash)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the workforce required to provide specialist women’s health services through the NHS online hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Analysis shows that the anticipated workforce available to provide women’s health services through the NHS online hospital, provides enough capacity to meet the demand for the service in the first three years.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they propose to take to support women with long-term health conditions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health of women with long-term conditions is a priority for the Government.
Our 10-Year Health Plan is centred around driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered, from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. More tests and scans are delivered in the community, better-joint up working between services, and greater use of technology will support women in the management of long-term conditions. This will build on the work led by the pioneering women’s health hubs.
The Government is encouraging integrated care boards (ICBs) to expand the coverage of women’s health hubs and is supporting them to use what we learned from the hub pilot programme to improve local delivery of services to women and girls. The Government is backing ICBs to do this through record funding.
We are renewing the Women’s Health Strategy, to tackle enduring challenges and build on vital progress in women’s health.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
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 merits of establishing a national register to capture and integrate the data of all women at increased risk of breast cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England provides England’s national resource for data and analytics on cancer, rare diseases, and congenital conditions.
The NDRS already serves as a national register for women at very high risk of breast cancer. NDRS curates and quality assures the collected data to ensure sufficient accuracy and completeness. The NDRS works closely with the very high risk National Breast Screening Programme to ensure safe and robust identification of women at very high risk of cancer. The integration of this data within the wider NDRS cancer data infrastructure maximises the use of this data which helps with service planning, evaluation, and improvement, and reduces the fragmentation and siloing that would occur with standalone registers.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the level of the gender pension gap within the civil service pension scheme.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The gender pension gap can be measured in different ways. In order to answer this question, we have used the difference in average pension in payment for men and women, expressed as a percentage of the average pension for men. Based on the latest data available, from 2024, the gap has reduced from 47% in 2016 to 42%.
We fully expect this position to continue to improve as the equality employment legislation reduces historical differences in both the gap in pay and pensions accruing.
The Cabinet Office will be commissioning the Government Actuary’s Department to carry out further analysis of the current position and will then consider next steps.