Every parliamentary written question tabled by Damian Hinds this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 101–120 of 491 · this parliament
Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timetable is for (a) reviewing and (b) publishing her assessment of Southern Water’s Water Resources Management Plan 24.
We are currently reviewing Southern Water’s draft Water Resources Management Plan with water regulators. The Secretary of State will make a decision on the next steps is due course.
For what reason his Department has reduced funding for the language hubs programme.
The government is continuing to fund the National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE). NCLE is delivering a new model of support for schools that can potentially reach a greater number of schools nationally. The new programme, which replaces Language Hubs, has national reach as it is not constrained by geography or limited by the number of schools it can support.NCLE launched Language Educators Online (LEO) on 16 September 2025. LEO provides free continuous professional development to all language teachers in England. This is supported by 14 Strategic Learning Networks and locally responsive National Priority Projects. It is research-informed, helping teachers collaborate and tackle key challenges in language education. Language teachers can join the NCLE Language Network in their area and sign up to LEO to keep up to date with current and evolving teaching practice in language education.
What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the role of SIM farms in facilitating authorised push payment fraud; and what steps her Department is taking to help tackle their misuse.
The Home Office recognises the serious role SIM farms play in enabling authorised push payment (APP) fraud, allowing criminals to send mass scam messages and impersonate trusted organisations.Following extensive consultation, the Government is introducing a new offence in the Crime and Policing Bill to ban the possession and supply of SIM farms without a legitimate reason. This will disrupt fraud operations and protect the public, while safeguarding lawful uses such as broadcasting and network maintenance.This measure is aimed at reducing fraud and strengthening enforcement against those who exploit technology to target victims.
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to funding levels on the language hubs programme.
The government is continuing to fund the National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE). NCLE is delivering a new model of support for schools that can potentially reach a greater number of schools nationally. The new programme, which replaces Language Hubs, has national reach as it is not constrained by geography or limited by the number of schools it can support.NCLE launched Language Educators Online (LEO) on 16 September 2025. LEO provides free continuous professional development to all language teachers in England. This is supported by 14 Strategic Learning Networks and locally responsive National Priority Projects. It is research-informed, helping teachers collaborate and tackle key challenges in language education. Language teachers can join the NCLE Language Network in their area and sign up to LEO to keep up to date with current and evolving teaching practice in language education.
What assessment he has made of the trends of mental health disorders in children and young people in England compared to other comparator countries.
Whilst there has not been a formal assessment of the trends in children and young people’s mental health problems in England compared to other countries, work continues with partners across the United Kingdom and internationally on a range of issues relating to mental health, including mental health disorders in children and young people.Through resources such as the Global Burden of Disease study, we closely monitor international policy developments in mental health to harness insights. For example, the six new 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres being piloted across England are inspired by the community model of mental health care originally pioneered in Trieste, Italy.Estimates of the rates and trends in the prevalence of adults’ and children and young people’s mental health problems are reported in the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey series and the Mental Health of Children and Young People Survey series.
If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of working with comparator countries to understand causal factors in trends of mental health disorders in children and young people.
Whilst there has not been a formal assessment of the trends in children and young people’s mental health problems in England compared to other countries, work continues with partners across the United Kingdom and internationally on a range of issues relating to mental health, including mental health disorders in children and young people.Through resources such as the Global Burden of Disease study, we closely monitor international policy developments in mental health to harness insights. For example, the six new 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres being piloted across England are inspired by the community model of mental health care originally pioneered in Trieste, Italy.Estimates of the rates and trends in the prevalence of adults’ and children and young people’s mental health problems are reported in the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey series and the Mental Health of Children and Young People Survey series.
What assessment he has made of the trend of mental health disorders in children and young people in England in relation to the trend in poor mental health in adults.
Whilst there has not been a formal assessment of the trends in children and young people’s mental health problems in England compared to other countries, work continues with partners across the United Kingdom and internationally on a range of issues relating to mental health, including mental health disorders in children and young people.Through resources such as the Global Burden of Disease study, we closely monitor international policy developments in mental health to harness insights. For example, the six new 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres being piloted across England are inspired by the community model of mental health care originally pioneered in Trieste, Italy.Estimates of the rates and trends in the prevalence of adults’ and children and young people’s mental health problems are reported in the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey series and the Mental Health of Children and Young People Survey series.
What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of pharmacy provision in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight area.
Local authorities are required, by statute, to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served by local pharmacies and must keep these assessments under review. Integrated care boards (ICBs) give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from the new contractors. Contractors can also apply to open a new pharmacy to offer benefits to patients that were not foreseen by the PNA.If there is a need for a new local pharmacy to open and no contractors apply to open a pharmacy and fill the gap, an ICB can commission a new pharmacy to open outside of the market entry processes and fund the contract from the ICB’s budgets. In some rural areas where a pharmacy may not be viable, local GP practices are permitted to dispense medicines to their patients. In addition, patients can choose to access medicines through any of the distance selling pharmacies that are required to deliver medicines they dispense free of charge and also provide other pharmaceutical services remotely.
Innovation and Technology, which functions of the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit have transferred to (a) the Government Digital Service, (b) other parts of his Department and (c) any other government department.
As announced in January 2025, the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit's key areas are now embedded across DSIT as follows:Public sector facing work on responsible use of AI & data, algorithmic transparency and privacy-enhancing technologies joined the expanded Government Digital Service, sitting alongside closely related work from the former Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) data ethics team.Broader economy-facing initiatives on the AI Assurance ecosystem and the Manchester Prize moved to form part of the AI Opportunities Unit.Public attitudes and insights team moved to the Digital Inclusion team within DSIT.
Innovation and Technology, what the differences are in the (a) remit and (b) functions of the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit and its predecessor body the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.
As set out to Parliament in the AI White Paper consultation response published by the previous government, the remit of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) did not change as a result of its rebrand into the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA).However, the functions of CDEI did evolve over time in response to changes in the data and AI landscape between its establishment in 2018 and its role being split across different parts of DSIT in January 2025.The RTA's key areas are now embedded across DSIT, including in the newly expanded Government Digital Service, the AI Opportunities Unit and the Digital Inclusion team.
What estimate he has made of the number and proportion of claimants who receive payments (a) monthly, (b) weekly, (c) fortnightly and (d) at any other frequency for each benefit administered by his Department.
The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of varying the reference period for the guaranteed-hours provisions in the Employment Rights Bill for sectors with particularly high degrees of seasonality.
We expect the initial reference period to be 12 weeks long. The frequency and length of subsequent reference periods will be subject to consultation and set out in regulations.We are conscious of the importance of seasonal workers and industries. There will be several ways for employers to maintain seasonal flexibility in line with the Bill. One is that the Bill allows employers to use fixed-term contracts to manage their workforce around the demand they expect.We will consult publicly on the detail of the guaranteed hours measures.
Innovation and Technology, how many full time equivalent staff there were at each grade (a) in the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation at the end of the 2022-23 financial year, (b) in the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit at the end of the 2023-24 financial year, (c) in the Government Digital Service in functions equivalent to those of the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit, at the most recent date for which data is available and (d) elsewhere in her Department in functions equivalent to those of the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit, at the most recent date for which data is available.
Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) At the end of the 2022–23 financial year, the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation was still part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). As such, staffing data for this period falls outside the remit of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTAU) At the end of the 2023–24 financial year, the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit had approximately 32.9 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff.Government Digital Service (GDS) The Responsible Technology Adoption Unit does not sit within the Government Digital Service. There is no direct equivalence between RTAU functions and those currently delivered by GDS.Elsewhere in DSIT – Equivalent Functions Following a departmental restructure, the RTAU was disbanded as a distinct directorate. Its functions were integrated into other DSIT policy teams.
What estimate he has made of the average cost per night of care (a) in an acute hospital, (b) in a community hospital and (c) at home with visiting nursing support (i) for NHS England, (ii) in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB area and (iii) in the Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust area.
NHS England don’t routinely collect expenditure data against the categories requested but we do for the following categories in the table below.For (a) and (b) rather than share data by acute or community ‘hospital’, we have broken this down by acute or community ‘trust’ for the national and integrated care board (ICB) level requests, except for Portsmouth Hospital University NHS Trust which is acute only. We are not able to provide the costs of (c), at home with visiting nurse support as we don’t collect this level of cost information. The costs we have provided are fully absorbed, i.e. they include not only the medical care of the patients but also all other costs incurred in the trusts. The costs are taken from the National Cost Collection for 2023/24, the latest year for which data is currently available. This is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2023-24-national-cost-collection-data-publication/ To derive the average cost per bed day we have divided the total cost by the total length of stay for all Admitted Patient Care delivered in: a. (i) – All acute NHS trusts and NHS foundation trustsTotal CostsTotal length of stay for all Admitted Patient Care (days)Average cost per day£45,409,702,98452,414,320£866.36 a. (ii) – All acute trusts in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB areaTotal CostTotal length of stay for all Admitted Patient Care (days)Average cost per day£1,426,531,3921,815,334£785.82 a. (iii) - Portsmouth Hospital University NHS Trust (to note - this is specifically this trust, not the Portsmouth 'area')Total CostTotal length of stay for all Admitted Patient Care (days)Average cost per day£451,003,686675,437£667.72 b. (i) – All community NHS trusts and NHS foundation trustsTotal CostTotal length of stay for all Admitted Patient Care (days)Average cost per day£481,873,973842,354£572.06 b. (ii) – All community NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB area (to note - Solent NHS Trust are the only community trust in this ICB)Total CostTotal length of stay for all Admitted Patient Care (days)Average cost per day£21,140,77336,855£573.62
What assessment he has made of trends in the seasonality of demand patterns for community hospital beds for elderly people in the last three years.
Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out our vision for a neighbourhood health service that will embody our new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can: digitally by default, in a patient’s home, if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, and only in a hospital if necessary.We have not analysed trends in the seasonality of demand patterns for community hospital beds for elderly people in the last three years because we do not have sufficient data to enable us to make an accurate assessment.
What assessment he has made of seasonality patterns in the numbers of people leaving hospital on (a) discharge pathway 0 (b) discharge pathway 1 (c) discharge pathway 2 and (d) discharge pathway 3 in each of the last three years.
Hospital discharge and the numbers of people discharged on pathways 0-3 are monitored on a regular basis and figures are published monthly by NHS England via the Acute Discharge Situation Report. The reports are available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/discharge-delays/acute-discharge-situation-report/ Data from 2022/23 and 2023/24 shows a general increase in discharges over the two years, but the proportion of people being discharged to each pathway remain relatively stable between the summer period, from April to September, and winter periods, from October to March. Definitions for data collected on discharge pathways changed from 27 May 2024 onwards, and figures from before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable. To support areas to achieve timely hospital discharge, this Government published a new policy framework in January 2025 for the £9 billion Better Care Fund, which provides the National Health Service and local authorities accountability for setting and achieving joint goals for reducing discharge delays, preventing avoidable emergency admissions and care home admission. Some challenged systems in need of additional support are also receiving a programme of improvement support.
Whether his Department holds data on the average number of patients typically cared for per nurse for stepdown care for patients in (a) Pathway 1 - home care and (b) Pathway 2 - community hospital care, (i) in England and (ii) by any geographical segmentation in the last three years.
We do not hold this information centrally.
What estimate he has made of the total staff remuneration through bank staff arrangements paid otherwise than through NHS Professionals Bank staff contracts in the last 12 months.
Bank staffing allows the National Health Service to meet workforce demand fluctuations without the need to increase capacity above that which is required on a sustained basis. NHS England publishes the total bank and agency spend for providers on a quarterly basis. This includes NHS Professionals as NHS England does not hold a split of spend by companies. The information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publications/financial-performance-reports/ NHS Professionals’ annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025 shows that remuneration paid through NHS Professionals Bank staff contracts for 2024/25 was approximately £1.1 billion. This information is available at the following link:https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06704614/filing-historyHowever, definitions used in the two publications may vary so the data is not necessarily comparable.
What assessment he has made of the level of incidence of hospital-acquired deconditioning among elderly patients in (a) acute hospitals and (b) community hospitals.
No assessment has been made of the level of incidence of hospital acquired deconditioning among elderly patients in acute hospitals or community hospitals, as the National Health Service does not routinely measure this.However, we remain committed to reducing deconditioning in in-patient settings through a strong focus on supporting health and care needs in the community wherever possible, reducing delays to discharge, and strengthening rehabilitation and reablement services.
What recent discussions he has had with NHS Pensions on the increase in the length of processing time when pensioners are able to start receiving their award.
The Department regularly meets with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), which administers the NHS Pension Scheme, to discuss performance levels in the scheme. These talks include the current increase in processing times for first pension payments.To address the delays, the NHSBSA is re-allocating resources, recruiting and training new staff, and updating communications to members and employers to allow them to plan accordingly. The Department is supporting the NHSBSA to take all steps necessary to recover performance so that applications can be processed within the 30-day target.The NHSBSA is committed to providing the best service possible to retiring and retired National Health Service staff, and will keep members updated.