Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on the number of injuries caused by lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters in each of the last three years, broken down by region.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The requested data is not collated by the National Health Service. The Office for Product Safety and Standards does record and publish data on casualties from notified e-bike and e-scooter fires, but reporting is voluntary and does not capture the full national total or represent a complete statistical estimate of all incidents across the United Kingdom.
On the wider issue raised, the Government is strengthening e-bike and e-scooter safety through ongoing e-scooter trials, improved lithium-ion battery safety and stronger enforcement against unsafe or illegally modified vehicles.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of classifying fruit juice as less healthy on fruit and vegetable intake and vitamin C consumption among children, particularly in lower-income households.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Further to the answer provided on 5 June in response to Question 1997, the Department is now considering responses to the consultation and will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of classifying fruit juice as less healthy under the 2018 Nutrient Profiling Model on 5 A Day intake.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Further to the answer provided on 5 June in response to Question 1997, the Department is now considering responses to the consultation and will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, for each year since 2016, (1) what proportion of births were delivered by caesarean section, and (2) how many women and babies died because a caesarean section was delayed or postponed; what assessment they have made of the reasons for any changes in these figures over time; and what steps they are taking to reduce any risk of a woman being pressured into agreeing to an unnecessary elective caesarean section.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table details what proportion of births were delivered by caesarean section from 2015/16 to 2024/25:
Year | Method of delivery | |
Caesarean elective | Caesarean emergency | |
2015/16 | 11.5% | 15.6% |
2016/17 | 12.1% | 15.7% |
2017/18 | 12.6% | 16.2% |
2018/19 | 13.2% | 16.9% |
2019/20 | 13.7% | 17.5% |
2020/21 | 14.6% | 18.9% |
2021/22 | 15.9% | 20.1% |
2022/23 | 17.4% | 21.9% |
2023/24 | 18.7% | 23.7% |
2024/25 | 20.0% | 25.1% |
The information on how many women and babies died because a caesarean section was delayed or postponed is not held by the Department.
The National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit will be examining the evidence to understand the potential reasons for the increasing rate of caesarean birth and the consequences of the changing nature of birth. Women must always be able to make the choice about the type of birth that is right for them, based on clear information about risks and benefits.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support people addicted to ketamine.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Further to the answer provided on 30 June 2025 in response to Question 61669, the Department is currently reviewing and updating the toolkit it provides to drug treatment services and other stakeholders, which includes information on ketamine-related harms, prevention, treatment, and healthcare system responses, including the importance of referral pathways and joint working to support integrated care.
In 2025, the Department also published a ketamine factsheet for local authority public health teams to cascade to health partners, providing information on the risks associated with ketamine use and supporting frontline professionals to identify problems early, make appropriate referrals, and provide integrated treatment. Finally, the Department is supporting work led by the British Association of Urological Surgeons to improve awareness of ketamine-associated bladder damage among urologists, and strengthen referral and treatment pathways between specialist healthcare services and drug treatment providers.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what operational definition of a pandemic is used by her Department, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency for preparedness and planning purposes; and whether that definition has changed since 2020.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
For the definition of a pandemic, I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer she received on 9 June in response to Question 3211. The National Risk Register, last updated in July, sets out the ‘reasonable worst case scenario’ pandemic used for planning purposes.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people whose referrals to gambling harm treatment services have been disrupted by changes to commissioning arrangements since 1 April 2026.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Commissioners under the statutory gambling levy across Great Britain work collaboratively, including through the Gambling Levy Delivery Group, to support a coordinated approach and ensure that people experiencing gambling harms can access the support they need when and where they need it. As health is a devolved matter, England, Scotland and Wales are responsible for commissioning their own gambling harms treatment pathways under the levy. Where a person living in Scotland or Wales contacts a treatment service in England, they will be signposted to an appropriate service in their respective country.
NHS England has facilitated a £20 million grant funding scheme for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations in 2026/27. This represents an increase in funding for these services compared with previous years and, alongside increased funding for regional National Health Service gambling services, has increased treatment system capacity.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking with devolved Governments to ensure that changes to gambling harm commissioning arrangements do not create gaps in referral pathways between England, Scotland and Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Commissioners under the statutory gambling levy across Great Britain work collaboratively, including through the Gambling Levy Delivery Group, to support a coordinated approach and ensure that people experiencing gambling harms can access the support they need when and where they need it. As health is a devolved matter, England, Scotland and Wales are responsible for commissioning their own gambling harms treatment pathways under the levy. Where a person living in Scotland or Wales contacts a treatment service in England, they will be signposted to an appropriate service in their respective country.
NHS England has facilitated a £20 million grant funding scheme for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations in 2026/27. This represents an increase in funding for these services compared with previous years and, alongside increased funding for regional National Health Service gambling services, has increased treatment system capacity.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Drefelin (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of the national cancer plan for England, published in February 2026, what performance metrics are being used to monitor delivery of the commitment to improve outcomes for rare and less common cancers; and what is the latest reported performance against each metric.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The latest reported survival outcomes for each of the 14 less common cancers referenced in the National Cancer Plan are currently available in the CONCORD-3 study with more up to date data being released in the CONCORD-4 study, which is due to be published by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine shortly. The Department will continue to use National Disease Registration Service published survival data to monitor progress on cancer survival in England and will ensure that we are improving outcomes across all tumour types.
We are committed to improving all outcomes, including for the 14 less common cancers referenced, as we continue to implement the commitments set out in the plan. Cancer waiting time performance and early diagnosis data provide good indications on where we are making progress and help to identify low-performing tumour types. Both of these datasets are available publicly.
The reformed National Cancer Board is the senior advisory body and governance structure responsible for tracking the progress of the commitments within the plan. The board will maintain momentum, provide challenge and scrutiny to areas of slow progress, and ensure that implementation translates into meaningful improvements for patients, including rare cancer patients. Dr Robert Metcalf has been appointed as the National Clinical Lead for Rare Cancers and will be responsible for providing independent challenge and supporting the delivery of the rare cancer commitments within the plan.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Drefelin (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the latest reported survival outcomes for each of the 14 less common cancers referenced in the national cancer plan for England; and how those outcomes compare with the baseline used when the national cancer plan for England was published.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The latest reported survival outcomes for each of the 14 less common cancers referenced in the National Cancer Plan are currently available in the CONCORD-3 study with more up to date data being released in the CONCORD-4 study, which is due to be published by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine shortly. The Department will continue to use National Disease Registration Service published survival data to monitor progress on cancer survival in England and will ensure that we are improving outcomes across all tumour types.
We are committed to improving all outcomes, including for the 14 less common cancers referenced, as we continue to implement the commitments set out in the plan. Cancer waiting time performance and early diagnosis data provide good indications on where we are making progress and help to identify low-performing tumour types. Both of these datasets are available publicly.
The reformed National Cancer Board is the senior advisory body and governance structure responsible for tracking the progress of the commitments within the plan. The board will maintain momentum, provide challenge and scrutiny to areas of slow progress, and ensure that implementation translates into meaningful improvements for patients, including rare cancer patients. Dr Robert Metcalf has been appointed as the National Clinical Lead for Rare Cancers and will be responsible for providing independent challenge and supporting the delivery of the rare cancer commitments within the plan.