Written questions by Collins.

What plans his Department have to ensure that local authorities can fulfil their duties to carers under the Care Act 2014.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to unpaid carers.  This means that the CQC is looking at how local authorities are supporting unpaid carers in their area.All 153 local authorities in England are being assessed, with ratings and reports available on the CQC’s website. The assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, facilitating the sharing of good practice, and helping us to target support where it is most needed.The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers, who provide vital care and support.

If his Department will provide Integrated Care Boards with detailed guidance on the minimum provision of palliative care required for hospices in their area.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. Although the statutory guidance does not specifically set out a minimum provision of palliative care required by ICBs, it does state that ICBs have a legal duty to commission palliative and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations.Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and to their loved ones.Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.

What plans his Department has to ensure effective fracture liaison services for over 50s.

Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) are a globally recognised care model and can reduce the risk of refracture for people at risk of osteoporosis by up to 40%. They can play a vital role in improving quality of life and increasing the number of years that can be lived in good health.We remain committed to rolling out FLS across every part of the country by 2030.In the meantime, we are investing in high-tech DEXA scanners, which are expected to provide an extra 29,000 scans to ensure that people with bone conditions get diagnosed earlier.

What steps his Department is taking to develop a (a) comprehensive and (b) fully-funded plan to effectively (i) recruit, (ii) train, and (iii) retain a sustainable social care workforce.

We are launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. We expect that the commission will look at workforce issues, building on work already underway to provide a career structure, give care professionals greater skills and legislate for the first ever Fair Pay Agreements.

What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on the potential impact of the energy price cap increase on unpaid carers.

The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently. This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run, is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past.However, we recognise that we need to support households struggling with bills whilst we transition to clean power by 2030. This is why we are delivering the Warm Home Discount to approximately three million eligible low-income households this winter. On 25 February 2025, we published a consultation on the expansion of the Warm Home Discount, giving more eligible households £150 off their energy bills. These proposals would bring approximately 2.7 million households into the scheme, pushing the total number of households that would receive the discount next winter up to approximately six million.The Government is continuing to work with Ofgem and energy suppliers to ensure energy bills remain fair and affordable while we transition to clean power by 2030.Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers.Ministers regularly engage with colleagues in other Government departments on a range of issues.

Whether his Department plans to incentivise dentists to increase NHS appointments in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) England.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. 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.The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency, this is the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB. ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB is expected to deliver 5,712 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.Areas which are struggling to recruit and retain NHS dentists can make use of the Golden Hello scheme, which aims to encourage dentists to work in areas where they are needed most.

What steps he is taking to ensure the move to a neighbourhood health service will (a) meet the complex needs of people living with dementia and their families and (b) include (i) Admiral Nurses and (ii) other dementia specialist nurses as a core role within these multidisciplinary teams.

We are committed to moving towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered in local communities to spot problems earlier, supporting people to stay healthier and maintain their independence for longer. The Government also wants a society where every person with dementia receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.Neighbourhood Health Guidelines have been published alongside the 2025/26 NHS Operational Planning Guidance and the 2025/26 Better Care Fund policy framework, to help integrated care boards (ICBs), local authorities and health and care providers to continue to progress neighbourhood health in 2025/26. The focus for 2025/26 is on individuals with complex needs who require support from multiple services and organisations, which could include those living with dementia.Neighbourhood health reinforces integrated working for the National Health Service, local government, social care and wider partners including the voluntary sector as the norm, not the exception. Admiral Nurses are developed and supported by Dementia UK as an independent charitable organisation. Provision of dementia health services is the responsibility of local ICBs. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends providing people living with dementia with a single named health or social care professional who is responsible for coordinating their care.The full vision for the health system will be set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) psychotherapy and (b) counselling professionals operating without a protected title on patients.

Psychotherapists and counsellors are not statutorily regulated. Where a health profession is regulated by law, this normally allows for a professional’s title to be protected in law, making it a criminal offence for someone to practise or use a protected title without being registered with the relevant regulator. The Government has no current plans to extend statutory regulation to psychotherapists and or counsellors.

Whether he plans to include policies on supporting people with dementia in the 10-year health plan for the NHS.

We have committed to develop a 10 Year Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with dementia, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan. In February, I hosted a roundtable discussion where partners considered how dementia, ageing well, and digital inclusion could be reflected in the 10 Year Plan. I would also encourage people to take part in our public engagement exercise, which is helping us to fully understand what in the NHS is not working as well as it should, and what the potential solutions are. Further information is available at the following link: https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

Whether his Department plans to train carers in using musical techniques to support people living with dementia.

We are committed to a professional, well supported social care workforce. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, providers must provide enough suitably qualified, competent, skilled, and experienced staff to meet the needs of the people using the service. Staff must receive the support, training, professional development, supervision, and appraisals that are necessary for them to carry out their role.The Department currently funds research on the use of musical techniques for people living with dementia via the National Institute for Health and Care Research. This includes a major study investigating how music therapy can reduce patient distress and physical assaults on National Health Service inpatient wards for people with dementia. The study is called MELODIC and will create a programme of music therapy which will be piloted in two NHS mental health wards at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

Whether his Department has had discussions with NHS England on the potential merits of promoting the return and reissue of reusable NHS medical equipment.

The Department published the Design for Life Roadmap in October 2024, which sets out the Government's ambition to transition away from all avoidable single-use medical technology products by 2045. One of the key mechanisms for doing this, as outlined in the roadmap, is maximising reuse in the National Health Service. The roadmap includes a suite of 30 actions to deliver the 2045 vision, which NHS England were closely involved in creating. We are now working together to deliver these actions, including through joint working groups.

How many people have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer through the non-specific symptoms pathway.

We will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, including blood cancer. NHS Planning Guidance, issued on 30 January 2025, set stretching targets for cancer. By March 2026, approximately 100,000 more people every year will be told whether they have cancer or not within 28 days, and 17,000 more people will begin treatment within two months of a referral.Meeting these targets for cancer will ensure that no patient waits longer than they should for diagnosis or treatment, and we have started by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, to support faster diagnosis and access to treatment.Making improvements across different cancer types is critical to reducing disparities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.We do not currently have access to information on how many people have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer through the non-specific symptoms pathway.

What steps his Department is taking to tackle regional variations in early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

We will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, including blood cancer. NHS Planning Guidance, issued on 30 January 2025, set stretching targets for cancer. By March 2026, approximately 100,000 more people every year will be told whether they have cancer or not within 28 days, and 17,000 more people will begin treatment within two months of a referral.Meeting these targets for cancer will ensure that no patient waits longer than they should for diagnosis or treatment, and we have started by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, to support faster diagnosis and access to treatment.Making improvements across different cancer types is critical to reducing disparities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.We do not currently have access to information on how many people have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer through the non-specific symptoms pathway.

What steps he is taking to improve the accessibility of dental care during the maternity exemption period.

We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist and we want to make sure that everyone who needs a National Health Service dentist can get one, including pregnant women and new mothers. The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to Integrated Care Boards across England. For Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency, this is the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB.

Whether his Department plans to allocate funding for (a) secure data environments for data validation and (b) other infrastructure required for AI implementation in the NHS.

Secure access to data to accelerate research and development is an important lever in delivering the Government’s health and growth missions. Access to National Health Service data across England has been supported by investments in digital infrastructure between 2022 and 2025 by the Data for Research and Development programme’s implementation of Secure Data Environment (SDEs) at a national and regional level. The programme’s investment into SDEs supports the full spectrum of data-driven research, including artificial intelligence (AI) development. The budget for the programme for 2025/6 is currently being finalised alongside other priority NHS transformation programmes. Funding plans beyond 2026 will be agreed as part of the Spending Review. Improved digital and data infrastructure, such as Electronic Patient Records, are essential foundations for digital transformation, such as AI. The NHS has one of the largest and most comprehensive longitudinal patient datasets in the world, making it an attractive location for the development and testing of AI. The centralisation of the healthcare system streamlines data accessibility, integration, and standardisation, all of which benefit the development and deployment of AI. Part of our work will be to create the right environment for the United Kingdom to safely deploy AI at scale, and to attract AI researchers and companies that both develop for, and sell to, UK health and care.

What assessment he has made of levels of workforce requirements needed for AI adoption and innovation in (a) radiology and (b) clinical oncology.

As part of the 10-Year Health Plan, we are reviewing how the National Health Service should focus its resources to ensure it maximises the impact of data and technology. This includes how we can make life easier and more productive for those who work in the NHS, and how we can use data more effectively to plan, manage, and deliver services. Artificial intelligence (AI) will play an important role in achieving this long-term ambition by building and delivering AI capabilities which will allow clinicians to focus more on direct patient care, and will allow staff to spend more time on high value, high impact tasks.The Government recognises that a cancer-specific approach is needed to meet the challenges in cancer care, and to improve outcomes for people living with cancer. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new National Cancer Plan, which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients.The Department, with NHS England, has convened an expert group to identify advanced technology that can be used most effectively in the NHS, building on the findings of the Topol Review. Alongside this work, the Department and NHS England will continue to work with professions to embrace technological innovations, such as AI.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of AI integration in health on productivity in (a) radiology and (b) oncology.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have huge potential in improving productivity across the National Health Service by supporting clinicians with faster and more accurate diagnosis, enhancing clinical decision-making about treatment plans, and reducing the administrative burden faced by healthcare staff. The Department and NHS England are developing guidance for the responsible use of these tools and how they can be rolled out to make the day-to-day operations of the NHS more productive. To further support staff productivity in radiology and oncology, the Department is focusing the £21 million AI Diagnostic Fund on the integration of AI technologies in key, high-demand areas such as radiology, particularly for chest X-Rays and chest computed tomography scans, to enable faster diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in over half of acute trusts in England. The Department is also working closely with regulators to assess the impact of AI integration on healthcare staff productivity and identify new measures for providing assurance, with the launch of AI Airlock. A Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency-led initiative, supported by the Department, designed to create a controlled testing environment where developers can rigorously validate AI tools in real-world clinical settings before full-scale deployment, ensuring they meet NHS standards for safety, efficacy, value for money, and integration into existing healthcare workflows, including productivity. This initiative provides valuable feedback for developers to refine their products to ensure assessments are carried out on the impact to staff before eventually being deployed into the NHS.In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), sponsored by the Department, evaluates new health technologies for NHS use, considering clinical effectiveness, value for money, and impacts on staff. As part of this, the NICE conducts Early Value Assessments (EVA) for developers, reviewing their AI tools before they are deployed. For the NHS, EVAs aim to give the NHS a clear signal about which innovations work, offer good value for money, and meet system need, including productivity gains for staff.The NHS also partnered with the Royal College of Radiologists to deliver the first Global AI Conference on 3 and 4 February 2025. AI projects across radiology, oncology, and other clinical specialties were discussed at the conference, including how AI could support radiologists and oncologists to be more productive and offer a high standard of treatment to the public. The 10-Year Health Plan is committed to reviewing how the NHS should focus its resources to ensure it maximises the impact of data and technology, including how we can make life easier and more productive for those who work in the NHS. AI will play an important role to achieve this long-term ambition by building and delivering AI capabilities, which will allow clinicians, such as radiologists and oncologists, to focus more on direct patient care and staff to spend more time on high value, high impact tasks.

Whether his Department plans to ensure that NHS trusts have access to similar AI technologies by having approved models in line with the provision of medical equipment.

The Department is working to accelerate the safe, ethical, and effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) across the whole healthcare system. The Department has already provided £113 million, through the NHS AI Health and Care Awards, to 86 AI technologies, which have been used in 40% of National Health Service acute trusts in England, and hundreds of Primary Care Networks across the United Kingdom. This funding has helped to generate the evidence needed to deploy effective AI tools across the NHS.The NHS operates within a comprehensive regulatory framework for AI, underpinned by rigorous standards established by bodies including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Health Research Authority, and the Care Quality Commission. These agencies ensure that any AI technologies that are made available to the NHS are safe, effective, and ethical to use.Additionally, the NICE, sponsored by the Department, conducts Early Value Assessments (EVA) which evaluate new health technologies for NHS use, considering clinical effectiveness and value for money. EVAs aim to give the NHS recommendations and highlight the accessibility of AI technologies, including which innovations work, offer good value for money, and meet system need.For trusts procuring technology there is a standardised procurement route available through specialised procurement frameworks. These frameworks offer NHS trusts access to a list of suppliers who have met a set of standards to be invited to join the framework.

What steps his Department is taking to monitor quality control of new AI products used in the NHS to ensure (a) value for money and (b) return on investment.

Against a backdrop of increasing demand for National Health Services and significant workforce pressures, artificial intelligence (AI) presents significant opportunities for improving the delivery of care and outcomes for patients, while also saving money and staff time.Continuous monitoring after deployment is essential to ensure rigorous quality control of new AI products, value for money, and return on investment. The Department is working closely with regulators to identify new measures for providing assurance.The Department has launched regulatory projects, such as the AI Airlock, to support this aim. AI Airlock is a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency-led initiative designed to create a controlled testing environment where developers can rigorously validate AI tools in real-world clinical settings before full-scale deployment, ensuring they meet NHS standards for safety, efficacy, value for money, and integration into existing healthcare workflows. This initiative provides valuable feedback for developers to refine their products to ensure a return on investment, when eventually deployed into the NHS.In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), sponsored by the Department, evaluates new health technologies for NHS use, considering clinical effectiveness and value for money. As part of this, the NICE conducts Early Value Assessments (EVA) for developers, reviewing their AI tools, including their value for money and return on investment, before they are deployed. For the NHS, EVAs aim to give the NHS a clear signal about which innovations work, offer good value for money, and meet system need.In the United Kingdom, the vast majority of AI products being used in health and care are regulated as medical technologies. This means they are subject to stringent requirements, primarily set out in The Medical Devices Regulations 2002, and robust monitoring by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency.The responsibility for spending decisions rests with individual NHS trusts. As public bodies, NHS trusts should maintain the highest standards of rigour, value for money, and propriety in the use of public funding. All spending must contribute to organisational objectives and support the delivery of high-quality patient care.

Whether the (a) 10 Year Health Plan and (b) Long-Term Workforce Plan will link to the AI Opportunities Plan.

As part of the 10-Year Health Plan we are reviewing how the National Health Service should focus its resources to ensure that it maximises the impact of data and technology. This includes how we can make life easier and more productive for those who work in the NHS, and how we can use data more effectively to plan, manage and deliver services. This will also be reflected in the refreshed Long-Term Workforce Plan.Artificial intelligence (AI) will play an important role in achieving this long-term ambition, allowing clinicians to focus more on direct patient care and allowing staff to spend more time on high value, high impact tasks. The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out a desire to shape the AI revolution on principles of shared economic prosperity, improved public services, and increased personal opportunities.