Every parliamentary written question tabled by Helen Morgan this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 841–860 of 992 · this parliament
When he plans to publish the 2024-25 pharmacy contract.
The funding agreed seeks to address inflation and activity increases in the sector. We are now working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have available is used to support community pharmacy in the best way possible. We will announce the outcome of the consultation in the normal manner, by letter to contractors, when the consultation has concluded.
How many pharmacies his Department expect to close in the next financial year if the pharmacy contract remains unchanged.
Community pharmacies are private businesses, and the Department does not have sight of their individual financial positions. We are now working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have secured for 2024/25 and 2025/26 is used to support community pharmacy in the best way possible. We will announce the outcome of the consultation in the normal manner, by letter to contractors, when the consultation has concluded.
What estimate his Department has made of the cost increase of (a) delivering Pharmacy First services, (b) dispensing costs and (c) employment of pharmacy staff between 2023-24 and 2025-26.
The funding agreed seeks to address inflation and activity increases in the sector. We are now working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have available is used to support community pharmacy in the best way possible. We will announce the outcome of the consultation in the normal manner, by letter to contractors, when the consultation has concluded.
Whether provisional results have been shared with him from Frontier Economics' independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024.
Frontier Economics were commissioned to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding by the previous administration. The interim report has been shared with ministers and has informed the offer that Community Pharmacy England is currently being consulted on. The final project is nearing completion, and will be shared in full with ministers, before being published.
If he will respond to Question 32211 on NHS: Finance tabled by the hon. Member for North Shropshire on 21 February 2025.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 32211 on 24 March 2025.
When she expects to publish the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice on statutory learning disability and autism training.
Under the Health and Care Act 2022, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is required to issue a Code of Practice to guide providers registered with the Care Quality Commission on how to meet their statutory requirement on learning disability and autism training, under the same act. The code must be laid before Parliament for 40 sitting days before it can be issued. We will set out further information on our plans for the Code of Practice in due course.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the readiness of businesses in the hospitality industry for the implementation of the mandatory separation of food waste from recycling from 31 March 2025.
We are working closely with industry partners such as UK Hospitality, the Hospitality Sector Council, and Food and Drink Federation to raise awareness of the requirements and understand the sector’s readiness, which has included hosting a sector specific webinar with the hospitality sector. Our understanding of readiness of the sector is also informed by ongoing discussions with the waste collection industry. Furthermore, we are actively responding to queries and publishing guidance in partnership with WRAP to further support the sector’s readiness.
Food and Rural Affairs, what limits his Department plans to set on effluent released into waste water from commercial food waste extraction and drying systems.
Trade effluent discharges to the public sewerage network are the responsibility of the discharging party to agree consent to discharge with the local sewerage undertaker. Under s.118 of the Water Industry Act 1991, the occupier of any trade premises in the area of a sewerage undertaker may discharge any trade effluent proceeding from those premises into the undertaker’s public sewers if they do so with the undertaker’s consent. Under s.121 of the Act, the sewerage undertaker may place conditions on the consent to discharge Disposal of food waste to landfill or into the sewer system (even if pre-treated) should only be carried out as a last resort in accordance with the food and drink waste hierarchy. Any additional food waste that is not disposed of on-site must be collected separately for recycling as per the Simpler Recycling requirements. Defra has commissioned research into the various technologies that treat and discharge food waste to sewer to better understand their respective environmental impacts.
What steps he is taking to (a) reduce potential disparities between waiting times for mental health services and physical health services and (b) ensure mental health is given equal priority to physical health.
We recognise that people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health. This includes recruiting 8,500 more mental health workers, introducing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, rolling out Young Futures hubs in every community, and modernising the Mental Health Act.
With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to provide additional urgent dental appointments on (a) patients and (b) dental surgeries.
National Health Service planning guidance has now been published for 2025/26 and sets out the funding available to integrated care boards (ICBs). Planning guidance also confirms that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority. We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and have asked that ICBs start making extra appointments available for patients from April 2025. Whilst NHS England is not mandating an approach to the purchasing of these additional appointments, ICBs could consider options such as buying more appointments through new or recommissioned contracts, through modification of existing contracts, or by using flexible commissioning.For the remainder of 2024/25, ICBs should continue to secure additional urgent care capacity and offer contractors providing mandatory services additional funded activity up to 110% where feasible.
With reference to the press notice entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, if he will list the number of additional urgent dental appointments that will be made available in each Integrated Care Board area.
We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and have already requested that integrated care boards (ICBs) start making extra appointments available from April 2025. NHS England issued a letter to the ICBs to start the rollout of the 700,000 urgent dental appointments. The letter provides specific targets for each ICB and the number of additional appointments they are expected to deliver, with further information available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/arrangements-for-nhs-urgent-primary-dental-care-during-2025-26-and-confirmation-of-the-closure-of-the-new-patient-premium-scheme/#annex-a-distribution-of-700k-additional-appointments
What steps his Department is taking to (a) improve the quality of administrative tasks within the NHS and (b) reduce the number of people receiving an invitation to an appointment after the date it is supposed to have taken place.
The Government is putting patients first, making sure they are seen as quickly as possible and have the best possible experience, which includes receiving timely communication and experiencing high quality administration.The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025 as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, sets out the reform we will deliver to reduce waiting times and improve experience of care. This will be patient-led and co-developed with people that use the National Health Service. We will work with patients, carers, and their representatives to target the things that matter most and will publish minimum standards patients should expect to experience.We are reforming the digital landscape to improve productivity, communication, and offer greater convenience for NHS service users, including changing the NHS App to make it easier and more helpful for patients to access information about their appointments. By the end of March 2025, 85% of acute trusts will allow patients to view appointment information via the NHS App if they wish, reducing reliance on physical letters. We will also provide high quality, non-digital options for those who want and need them.The Government is also reducing the burden of administrative tasks in the NHS. On Friday 4 October 2024, the Government and NHS England launched a Red Tape Challenge to address bureaucracy between primary and secondary care and give our health professionals back time to do what they do best. The challenge is being led by NHS England leaders, Medical Director for Primary Care, Dr Claire Fuller, and Medical Director for Secondary Care and Quality, Stella Vig.
What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the claims process under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme for sub-post masters whose period of tenure includes years prior to 2004 where records have not been maintained by the Post Office.
The Government recognises that due to the absence of records and the amount of time that has passed since losses were incurred, postmasters may face challenges in evidencing their claim under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. The scheme was designed so that a lack of supporting information would not be a barrier to entry to the scheme.Claimants are asked to provide as much information as they can in making their claim. In the absence of any Post Office records, the postmaster’s testimony will be considered when determining the outcome.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using grass pasture for carbon storage.
Defra is informed by work in its advisory bodies on this topic. Natural England produced an assessment of carbon storage by different habitats in 2021 and found that old species-rich grasslands with minimal inputs can store significant amounts of carbon. There are many factors that influence the amount of carbon storage including historical management, grassland types, soil types and climate. In view of ongoing uncertainties, Defra is funding ongoing research on carbon in grasslands within the Nature Returns programme (https://www.kew.org/science/nature-returns). The role of grazing and fertiliser inputs also needs to be taken into account in assessing the value of pasture as carbon stores. The most recent report of the Climate Change Committee (The Seventh Carbon Budget Advice for the UK Government, 2025) addressed this. It reports that ‘nearly two-thirds (63%) of agricultural emissions (and all agricultural methane emissions) in 2022 were directly emitted from livestock, with 49% from the digestive process (enteric fermentation) of cattle and sheep and 14% from the management of livestock waste and manure. Agricultural soils, mainly from the application of organic and chemical fertiliser onto grassland and cropland, accounted for a further 24%’. References & Reports Natural England (2021) Carbon Storage and Sequestration by Habitat 2021 (NERR094)https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5419124441481216 Climate Change Committee (2025). The Seventh Carbon Budget. Advice for the UK Governmenthttps://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/The-Seventh-Carbon-Budget.pdf
With reference to the press release entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, what methodology his Department used for determining the geographical distribution of the proposed additional urgent dental appointments.
We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and have asked that integrated care boards (ICBs) start making extra appointments available from April 2025. Appointments will be available across the country. Patients will be able to access these additional appointments either through NHS 111, or via helplines set up by their ICB, where these arrangements are in place. NHS England issued a letter to the ICBs to start the rollout of the 700,000 urgent dental appointments. The letter provides the methodology used to determine the allocation of the 700,000 appointments across the ICBs in Annex A, considering factors including unmet need, population size, and projected contract delivery at an ICB level for 2024/25. The letter and annex are available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/arrangements-for-nhs-urgent-primary-dental-care-during-2025-26-and-confirmation-of-the-closure-of-the-new-patient-premium-scheme/#annex-a-distribution-of-700k-additional-appointments
With reference to the press release entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, if he will instruct NHS England to make further changes to the commissioning of NHS dentistry in 2025.
To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.There are no perfect payment models and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver genuine improvements for patients and the profession.We are continuing to work with the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to deliver our shared ambition to improve access to treatments for NHS dental patients. At the same time, we will not wait to make improvements to the current system, where they can increase access and incentivise the workforce to deliver more NHS care.
What steps he is taking to increase (a) the number of people seeing an NHS dentist and (b) access to NHS dentistry beyond the 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments.
We are determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, with integrated care boards (ICBs) asked to start making extra appointments available from April 2025. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.ICBs have started to advertise posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.The most common reason children aged between five and nine years old are admitted to hospital is for tooth decay. We will work with local authorities and the NHS to introduce supervised tooth brushing for children aged between three and five years old in the most deprived communities. These programmes are proven to reduce tooth decay and to boost good practices at home.
What steps he is taking to improve access to Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy in Shropshire.
The Department monitors and manages medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. Information on stock levels within local areas is not held centrally.The Department is continuing to engage with all suppliers of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) to boost production and mitigate the supply issue. Suppliers have managed to secure additional pharmaceutical ingredients resulting in expected increased volumes of PERT for 2025. The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the gap in the market. In December 2024, the Department issued further management advice to healthcare professionals. This directs clinicians to prescribe unlicensed imports when licensed stock is unavailable, and includes actions for integrated care boards to ensure that local mitigation plans are put in place and implemented. The Department, in collaboration with NHS England, has created a webpage to include the latest updates on PERT availability and easily accessible advice on the prescribing and ordering of alternative PERT products.
What progress his Department has made on carrying out an independent economic analysis of pharmacy funding.
NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. This work is nearing completion and will be published at the earliest opportunity.
What estimate he had made of the number of GP appointments performed by each of the Spine Directory Service roles in 2024.
In 2024, across the general practices (GPs) and primary care networks in England, over 165.8 million appointments were delivered by GPs, 77.3 million were delivered by nurses, 95 million were delivered by other direct patient care staff, and 40.1 million were delivered by professionals of an unknown spine directory service role. There has been a 9.6% increase in appointments delivered in GPs within the last year. In December 2024, 29.2 million appointments were delivered, an increase of 2.5 million appointments compared to December 2023, when 26.7 million were delivered.