Department of Health and Social Care

The Adult Substance Misuse Treatment Statistics 2024 to 2025 report and the Children’s Substance Misuse Treatment Statistics 2024 to 2025 report, both published in December 2025, show that in England between April 2024 and March 2025 there were 37,117 people under the age of 25 years old receiving drug and alcohol treatment in the community.

The General Dental Council (GDC) regulates United Kingdom dentistry and sets the standards for all applicants to its registers. Routes to registration for overseas qualified dentists are set out in legislation.

The Government is working with the GDC to increase the number of overseas-qualified dentists gaining registration to help address National Health Service workforce shortages.

The GDC already offers priority booking to refugee dentists on its Overseas Registration Exam (ORE). Last year I asked the GDC to develop a plan to urgently cut the high ORE waiting list and in November received an update on their work. I have been assured that significant improvements to international registration are expected this year.

I have also asked the GDC for an improved ORE booking system for the new ORE delivery contract, coming into effect from April 2026, and to explore prioritisation of UK resident candidates. I will meet the GDC again for an update on this work once the new contract is finalised.

Improving elective performance and cutting waiting lists is a priority for the Government. We have made significant progress with patients being seen faster, and November saw the second biggest drop in the waiting list for 15 years outside of the early days of the pandemic.

Fit for the Future: The 10-Year Health Plan for England and the Partnership Agreement between NHS England and the Independent Healthcare Providers Network reaffirmed our continued commitment to using independent sector capacity to improve access, reduce backlogs, and build a sustainable healthcare system.

Between April 2025 and November 2025, the latest month for which data is available, independent sector providers delivered 9.9% of all elective ordinary and day case procedures for the National Health Service.

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

The NHS Learning Disability Improvement Standards support National Health Service trusts to assess the quality of care provided for people with a learning disability and were designed with lived experience at the centre of the process. The standards and easy read information are available on the NHS England website.

To understand how well organisations are meeting the standards, the NHS Benchmarking Network undertakes an annual data collection exercise, with further information avaiable at the NHS Benchmarking Network website. All annual summary reports are published on the Learning Disability Improvement Standards Hub website. Each trust that participates in the exercise also receives their own bespoke report and are encouraged to share learning at the local level in suitable formats for the populations they serve.

Ahead of each annual benchmarking exercise, people with a learning disability and user-led organisations are engaged to design and revise the metrics which are asked of NHS organisations. This process recognises that people with lived experience are best placed to ask questions concerning the quality of services they expect and has recently been facilitated by Learning Disability England. Input is also sought from clinicians, managers, and senior leadership, ensuring greater transparency and accountability.

To accelerate progress towards the Government’s ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) in 2026. The CVD MSF will support consistent, high quality, and equitable care whilst fostering innovation across the cardiovascular disease pathway.

The Department and NHS England are engaging widely throughout the development of the CVD MSF to ensure that we prioritise ambitious, evidence-led, and clinically informed approaches to prevention, treatment, and care, and as part of this we are considering the role of levers and incentives.

Of the 17 executive senior managers at NHS England who have left since 1 March 2025 and received a payment either in lieu of notice or in lieu of annual leave, six have since been re-employed in the National Health Service, an NHS body, an arm’s length body (ALB), or a Government department. We do not hold information related to consultancy.

One of these six individuals received a redundancy payment which is in the scope of the clawback provisions. Recovery has commenced for a partial recovery proportionate to their gap in NHS employment.

For the other five people securing re-employment in the NHS, an NHS body, an ALB, or a Government department, their payments in lieu related to annual leave or notice, and therefore were not within the scope of clawback arrangements.

Whilst recovery action has actively commenced for the individual in the scope of the claw back provisions, no funds have been recovered to date.

NHS England has engaged with providers and commissioners as part of the development of the currency models and guide prices for autism assessment services and certain attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services prior to their inclusion within the NHS Payment Scheme.

The statutory consultation for the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27, which closed on 16 December 2025, provided an opportunity for all service providers to review the consultation guidance and provide comments and feedback, with further information avaiable on the NHS.UK website. NHS England is currently reviewing this feedback to inform the final 2026/27 Payment Scheme. The NHS England Payment Team invited all known ADHD and autism service providers to a pre-consultation webinar which set out the overall changes to the payment scheme. NHS England will continue to engage service providers as part of the next phase of development following the publication of the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27.

As set out in the NHS Payment Scheme consultation, we have used a range of existing local prices agreed between commissioners and providers as the basis for the guide prices in the consultation. The payment scheme consultation provides the opportunity for providers to comment on the proposed guide prices, and we will consider all the responses received before finalising the payment scheme for 2026/27. These proposals for 2026/27 represent the first stage of planning pricing development for autism assessment services and certain ADHD services.

NHS England has set out what is included within assessments for ADHD and autism within a supporting document to the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27 statutory consultation. This guidance also links to clinical guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and other guidance which may support the commissioning and provision of these services. Guidance setting out the all age autism assessment pathway intended to help integrated care boards deliver improved outcomes in all age autism assessment pathways was written by NHS England in April 2024 and is available on the NHS.UK website.

NHS England has engaged with providers and commissioners as part of the development of the currency models and guide prices for autism assessment services and certain attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services prior to their inclusion within the NHS Payment Scheme.

The statutory consultation for the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27, which closed on 16 December 2025, provided an opportunity for all service providers to review the consultation guidance and provide comments and feedback, with further information avaiable on the NHS.UK website. NHS England is currently reviewing this feedback to inform the final 2026/27 Payment Scheme. The NHS England Payment Team invited all known ADHD and autism service providers to a pre-consultation webinar which set out the overall changes to the payment scheme. NHS England will continue to engage service providers as part of the next phase of development following the publication of the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27.

As set out in the NHS Payment Scheme consultation, we have used a range of existing local prices agreed between commissioners and providers as the basis for the guide prices in the consultation. The payment scheme consultation provides the opportunity for providers to comment on the proposed guide prices, and we will consider all the responses received before finalising the payment scheme for 2026/27. These proposals for 2026/27 represent the first stage of planning pricing development for autism assessment services and certain ADHD services.

NHS England has set out what is included within assessments for ADHD and autism within a supporting document to the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27 statutory consultation. This guidance also links to clinical guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and other guidance which may support the commissioning and provision of these services. Guidance setting out the all age autism assessment pathway intended to help integrated care boards deliver improved outcomes in all age autism assessment pathways was written by NHS England in April 2024 and is available on the NHS.UK website.

NHS England has engaged with providers and commissioners as part of the development of the currency models and guide prices for autism assessment services and certain attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services prior to their inclusion within the NHS Payment Scheme.

The statutory consultation for the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27, which closed on 16 December 2025, provided an opportunity for all service providers to review the consultation guidance and provide comments and feedback, with further information avaiable on the NHS.UK website. NHS England is currently reviewing this feedback to inform the final 2026/27 Payment Scheme. The NHS England Payment Team invited all known ADHD and autism service providers to a pre-consultation webinar which set out the overall changes to the payment scheme. NHS England will continue to engage service providers as part of the next phase of development following the publication of the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27.

As set out in the NHS Payment Scheme consultation, we have used a range of existing local prices agreed between commissioners and providers as the basis for the guide prices in the consultation. The payment scheme consultation provides the opportunity for providers to comment on the proposed guide prices, and we will consider all the responses received before finalising the payment scheme for 2026/27. These proposals for 2026/27 represent the first stage of planning pricing development for autism assessment services and certain ADHD services.

NHS England has set out what is included within assessments for ADHD and autism within a supporting document to the NHS Payment Scheme 2026/27 statutory consultation. This guidance also links to clinical guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and other guidance which may support the commissioning and provision of these services. Guidance setting out the all age autism assessment pathway intended to help integrated care boards deliver improved outcomes in all age autism assessment pathways was written by NHS England in April 2024 and is available on the NHS.UK website.

The 10-Year Health Plan was published on 3 July 2025, which sets out how the Government will ensure the National Health Service is fit for the future, where artificial intelligence (AI) will play a fundamental role in this transformation. As part of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government is supporting the use of AI-enabled appointment and scheduling tools to reduce the administrative burden on clinicians, with early trials showing an increase in productivity and clinician time saved.

An accident and emergency demand forecasting tool is now available to all NHS trusts and is already in use by 50 NHS organisations, helping them plan how many people are likely to need emergency care and treatment on any given day. While this tool does not schedule appointments specifically, it uses AI to predict emergency care demand, enabling trusts to plan staffing and resources more effectively and reduce pressure on services.

The NHS continues to fund both pilots and scaling of different software products that enable the use of AI in scheduling and managing secondary care appointments. Typically, these include the ability to predict Did Not Attends, to reschedule appointments at short notice, and improve utilisation of clinician time.

Work has begun to deliver the NHS’s Medium Term Planning Framework commitment that, from April 2026, the NHS will begin to move to a unified access model, using AI-assisted triage. This model should effectively guide patients to self-care or to the appropriate care setting, through a single user interface delivered via the NHS App but with an integrated telephony and in-person offering.

Further to this, features set to be developed through the NHS App will include the ability to book and manage remote or face-to-face appointments, receive personalised health advice, see when vaccines are up-to-date, and book appointments to get them organised, and find travel vaccine info.

Additionally, DrDoctor, an AI tool, had a three-year contract from 2021 to 2024 with the NHS AI Lab Award. It supports hospitals by providing AI guidance on overbooking as a more efficient and economical solution to increase NHS appointment capacity. This has been shown to free up clinician and administrative time, improve patient care and experience, and predict which patients are at the highest risk of missing an appointment with “Did Not Attend” DNA Prediction.

No commissioners have been appointed. Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock chairs the Independent Commission into adult social care, alongside a dedicated secretariat team.

Baroness Casey and the Commission’s secretariat are based in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat has a total of ten officials, eight are employed by the Department of Health and Social Care, and two by the Cabinet Office. One external individual has been hired as contingent labour to support the work of the Commission’s secretariat. There are a further four officials working in the Commission’s sponsorship function based in the Department of Health and Social Care.

As the Commission is independent, the secretariat may expand as it carries out its work and as Baroness Casey considers what further skills and expertise she needs.

For 2025/26, the Department of Health and Social Care indicatively made available £2.9 million to support the Commission’s work and continue to keep the budget under review. As the Commission is independent, they will be responsible for reporting on their financial expenditure.

The independence of the Commission means the Department of Health and Social Care does not track the number of meetings the Commission has held. Engagement decisions are for Baroness Casey and her team to decide. The Commission has set out that it has met with over 350 people including those drawing on care and supporting, national organisations and delivery or provider organisations.

Details about how to engage with the Commission, including via the portal, are available on its website in an online-only format.

No commissioners have been appointed. Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock chairs the Independent Commission into adult social care, alongside a dedicated secretariat team.

Baroness Casey and the Commission’s secretariat are based in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat has a total of ten officials, eight are employed by the Department of Health and Social Care, and two by the Cabinet Office. One external individual has been hired as contingent labour to support the work of the Commission’s secretariat. There are a further four officials working in the Commission’s sponsorship function based in the Department of Health and Social Care.

As the Commission is independent, the secretariat may expand as it carries out its work and as Baroness Casey considers what further skills and expertise she needs.

For 2025/26, the Department of Health and Social Care indicatively made available £2.9 million to support the Commission’s work and continue to keep the budget under review. As the Commission is independent, they will be responsible for reporting on their financial expenditure.

The independence of the Commission means the Department of Health and Social Care does not track the number of meetings the Commission has held. Engagement decisions are for Baroness Casey and her team to decide. The Commission has set out that it has met with over 350 people including those drawing on care and supporting, national organisations and delivery or provider organisations.

Details about how to engage with the Commission, including via the portal, are available on its website in an online-only format.

No commissioners have been appointed. Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock chairs the Independent Commission into adult social care, alongside a dedicated secretariat team.

Baroness Casey and the Commission’s secretariat are based in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat has a total of ten officials, eight are employed by the Department of Health and Social Care, and two by the Cabinet Office. One external individual has been hired as contingent labour to support the work of the Commission’s secretariat. There are a further four officials working in the Commission’s sponsorship function based in the Department of Health and Social Care.

As the Commission is independent, the secretariat may expand as it carries out its work and as Baroness Casey considers what further skills and expertise she needs.

For 2025/26, the Department of Health and Social Care indicatively made available £2.9 million to support the Commission’s work and continue to keep the budget under review. As the Commission is independent, they will be responsible for reporting on their financial expenditure.

The independence of the Commission means the Department of Health and Social Care does not track the number of meetings the Commission has held. Engagement decisions are for Baroness Casey and her team to decide. The Commission has set out that it has met with over 350 people including those drawing on care and supporting, national organisations and delivery or provider organisations.

Details about how to engage with the Commission, including via the portal, are available on its website in an online-only format.

No commissioners have been appointed. Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock chairs the Independent Commission into adult social care, alongside a dedicated secretariat team.

Baroness Casey and the Commission’s secretariat are based in the Cabinet Office. The secretariat has a total of ten officials, eight are employed by the Department of Health and Social Care, and two by the Cabinet Office. One external individual has been hired as contingent labour to support the work of the Commission’s secretariat. There are a further four officials working in the Commission’s sponsorship function based in the Department of Health and Social Care.

As the Commission is independent, the secretariat may expand as it carries out its work and as Baroness Casey considers what further skills and expertise she needs.

For 2025/26, the Department of Health and Social Care indicatively made available £2.9 million to support the Commission’s work and continue to keep the budget under review. As the Commission is independent, they will be responsible for reporting on their financial expenditure.

The independence of the Commission means the Department of Health and Social Care does not track the number of meetings the Commission has held. Engagement decisions are for Baroness Casey and her team to decide. The Commission has set out that it has met with over 350 people including those drawing on care and supporting, national organisations and delivery or provider organisations.

Details about how to engage with the Commission, including via the portal, are available on its website in an online-only format.

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement HLWS1086 I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.

The membership of the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce is currently being finalised, and the first meeting of the taskforce will be held early this year. Following engagement with some families and stakeholders, the Terms of Reference are also being developed and will be published in due course.

This will allow the taskforce to begin to address some of the entrenched issues we know exist and be fully prepared to act once the national maternity and neonatal investigation reports in Spring 2026.The taskforce will work rapidly to transform the investigation’s recommendations into a deliverable new national action plan to drive real change.

The membership of the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce is currently being finalised, and the first meeting of the taskforce will be held early this year. Following engagement with some families and stakeholders, the Terms of Reference are also being developed and will be published in due course.

This will allow the taskforce to begin to address some of the entrenched issues we know exist and be fully prepared to act once the national maternity and neonatal investigation reports in Spring 2026.The taskforce will work rapidly to transform the investigation’s recommendations into a deliverable new national action plan to drive real change.

The sickness to prevention shift is one of three major shifts described in the 10-Year Health Plan to transform the health service. As part of this shift, prevention accelerators will demonstrate that investment in high-impact interventions on cardiovascular disease and diabetes can improve population health and reduce demand for National Health Services, such as elective appointments and general practice appointments.

Work to agree the formal arrangements with prevention accelerators is ongoing, alongside finalising the specific high-impact interventions that they will prioritise. We will share further information on the action underway in due course.

The Government is unable to comment or provide details on the personal health information of named individuals.

NHS England commissions health services in prisons, and healthcare providers monitor the health of all individuals in custody to ensure they receive appropriate care.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and in 2024/25 spent £141.6 million on cancer research, signalling its high priority.

One example of a recent investment into rare cancers is the NIHR’s investment of £13.7 million in December 2025 to support ground-breaking research to develop novel brain tumour treatments in the United Kingdom, with significant further funding announcements expected shortly. Research specifically on Ocular Melanoma includes a study completed in 2022 to develop AI Techniques to Predict Eye Cancer Using Big Longitudinal Data. The NIHR is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with rare cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments, by working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future, including for rare cancers

The Government also supports the Rare Cancers Private Members Bill. The bill will make it easier for clinical trials on rare cancers to take place in England, by ensuring the patient population can be more easily contacted by researchers

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into less common cancers, including ocular cancer. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

The Department has no plans to ask the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to conduct a review of the NICE guideline on the treatment and management of depression, reference code NG222.

NICE is an independent body and is responsible for taking decisions on whether its guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence and changes in clinical practice. NICE operates an active surveillance programme and when new evidence emerges, it proactively considers whether existing guidance should be reviewed and, if appropriate, updated. Decisions as to whether NICE will create new, or update existing, guidance are overseen by an integrated, cross-organisational prioritisation board. NICE has no current plans to review intravenous racemic ketamine in the context of the depression guideline.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has updated its safety advice on mefloquine to reflect the risk of neuropsychiatric side effects, advising that it should not be used for chemoprophylaxis in individuals with a history of psychiatric disturbance.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance states that mefloquine should not be prescribed to people with current or past psychiatric disorders, suicidal ideation or behaviour, or with epilepsy or any form of convulsion.

The clinical management of suspected mefloquine intoxication has recently been reviewed with the NHS England Armed Forces Clinical Reference Group. This review advised that clinicians should assess patients individually and are expected to take a full drug and alcohol history, including any previous mefloquine use.

NHS England is considering adding screening for prior mefloquine use and any associated adverse events to initial Op COURAGE and Op RESTORE assessments. Additional clinical guidance on mefloquine and its potential adverse effects is being developed and through the Five Eyes partnership discussions are being arranged with the United States to support continuous learning and best practice in the management of suspected mefloquine intoxication.

Final approval for the business case for the rebuild of Weybridge Health Centre was granted by NHS England on 4 November 2025. Planning approvals have been secured, and pre-construction demolition began on 10 November 2025. Full construction is scheduled to start in late January 2026.

Final approval for the business case for the rebuild of Weybridge Health Centre was granted by NHS England on 4 November 2025. Planning approvals have been secured, and pre-construction demolition began on 10 November 2025. Full construction is scheduled to start in late January 2026.

The Department is currently developing the National Cancer Plan for England, which will be published shortly. The plan will build on the commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan to provide comprehensive molecular profiling of all cancers. Genomic testing is a key element of molecular profiling.

We also recognise the important role that nongenomic biomarkers play in identifying the most effective treatments for individual patients. The plan will consider how to ensure access to high-quality treatment, including access to testing that determines eligibility for precision testing.

Funding for pharmaceutical services is through the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) settlement. For 2025/26, this was increased to £3.073 billion, of which £900 million is the amount pharmacy contractors are allowed to retain as medicine margin, the difference between the reimbursement price and the purchase price paid by the pharmacy contractor.

The Department, along with Community Pharmacy England, the representative body of community pharmacies, assesses the medicines margin retained by community pharmacies in totality, through a ‘quarterly margin survey’. If too much medicine margin is being delivered, then downwards adjustments, or clawbacks, are made to bring this in line with the allowed medicine margin as agreed under the CPCF settlement.

The economic analysis is considered as part of the wider decision on the CPCF settlement, which was agreed with Community Pharmacy England, the representative body of community pharmacies. The medicine margin adjustment made each quarter, including the downward adjustment of £16.8 million per quarter made in January 2026, is operating within the agreed 2025/26 CPCF settlement.

Advice provided by the UK Health Security Agency to the Government, which includes the Department, on the health impacts of electromagnetic fields associated with telecommunications masts is publicly available on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mobile-phone-base-stations-radio-waves-and-health/mobile-phone-base-stations-radio-waves-and-health

The Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) and National Insurance contributions are the responsibility of HM Treasury and packaging taxes fall under the remit of the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs.

The Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) is under the remit of the Department of Health and Social Care. We are committed to updating the standards which underpin the advertising restrictions on television and online and the promotion restrictions in stores and their equivalent places online on ‘less healthy’ food and drink products. The NPM 2004/05 is plainly out of date and updating the standards will strengthen the restrictions by reflecting the latest dietary advice and more effectively target the products of most concern to childhood obesity. An impact assessment will be published alongside a consultation later this year.

It was announced at Budget 2025 that milk based and milk substitute drinks, for instance soya, almond, and/or oat, would be included in the scope of the SDIL from 1 January 2028. These reforms are not expected to have any significant macroeconomic impacts, including on employment, on the basis that the levy is limited to soft drinks, and an estimated 11% of United Kingdom soft drink sales will be affected. A full assessment of the impacts of these changes is included within the Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy – Summary of Responses document. This is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/strengthening-the-soft-drinks-industry-levy/outcome/strengthening-the-soft-drinks-industry-levy-summary-of-responses#assessment-of-impacts

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the bill, containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts. The Government protected the smallest hospitality businesses from recent changes to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500.

The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs published the updated impact assessment of the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility scheme in October 2024, which evaluated the overall effects on packaging producers, without disaggregating by sector.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

The NIHR is continuing to invest in brain tumour research. For example, in December 2025, the NIHR announced the pioneering Brain Tumour Research Consortium to accelerate research into new brain tumour treatments. NIHR is investing an initial £13.7 million in the consortium with significant further funding due to be awarded early in 2026. The world-leading consortium aims to transform outcomes for adults and children and their families who are living with brain tumours, ultimately reducing lives lost to cancer.

Brain tumours are one of the toughest cancers to treat. This new NIHR investment will help researchers and clinicians understand the disease better, test new treatments earlier and make trials available to more adults and children closer to home.

The consortium brings together 48 organisations from across leading universities, National Health Service trusts, and charities, along with patients, to help deliver better research, faster. It is a coordinated national effort to improve the development and evaluation of treatments for brain tumours across adult and paediatric populations.

The NIHR continues to welcome high quality funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including low-grade glioma and other rare brain tumours.

Data for the Gloucester constituency is not available, as workforce information is not collected at a parliamentary constituency level.

Between June 2024 and October 2025, the NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board saw an increase of 128 full‑time equivalent mental health staff, rising from 1,416 to 1,544, representing 9.1% growth, compared with 5% nationally over the same period.

NHS England’s London Region Specialised Commissioning is currently undertaking a tabletop review of Tier 4 (T4) Personality Disorder inpatient provision within the London footprint. This review is being led by the Nursing and Quality and Mental Health teams and covers all units providing national T4 Personality Disorder inpatient services, which are all located in London.

The review has been initiated in response to a number of quality and environmental concerns identified within the provision and is assessing the effectiveness of the current service model, its clinical distinctiveness, equity of access, and its alignment with national policy objectives.

Significant action is underway to improve the quality and accessibility of health and care services for people with a learning disability at a local level, helping to deliver the shift from treatment to prevention, outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan, which is avaiable at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future

The national Learning Disabilities Health Check Scheme is designed to encourage general practices to identify all patients aged 14 years old and over with a learning disability, and to offer them an annual health check and health action plan. Further information on the Learning Disabilities Health Check Scheme is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/learning-disabilities-health-check-scheme

The latest published data for Surrey Heath shows that 82.78% of people with a learning disability in the area had completed a health check, and that 80.19% of learning disability patients in Surrey Heath had a completed health action plan. The latest published data for Surrey Heath is avaiable at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/learning-disabilities-health-check-scheme/england-march-2025

According to recently published data on Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities, 81.5% of people with a learning disability had completed an annual health check in England. Further information on the recently published data on Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities is avaiable at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/health-and-care-of-people-with-learning-disabilities/experimental-statistics-2024-to-2025

The Surrey All Ages Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Oversight Committee routinely monitors the following:

- admissions and discharges for adults, and children and young people with a learning disability and any barriers to timely discharge;

- mandatory training on learning disability and autism;

- performance on Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews and commissioner oversight visits;

- Dynamic Support Register governance; and

- implementation of the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag.

Significant action is underway to improve access to and the quality of care for people with a learning disability. This will help deliver the shift from treatment to prevention, outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan, with further information avaiable at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future

As part of this we are rolling out mandatory training for health and social care staff, improving identification on the general practice learning disability register and uptake of annual health checks, and implementing a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag in health and care records to ensure care is tailored appropriately. The NHS Learning Disability Improvement Standard also supports trusts by setting guidance on safe, personalised, and high-quality care provision. The standards  are designed to support organisations in assessing the quality of their services and to promote uniformity across the National Health Service in the care and treatment provided to people with a learning disability.  Further information on the standards is avaiable at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/learning-disabilities/about/resources/the-learning-disability-improvement-standards-for-nhs-trusts/

Each integrated care board must also have an executive lead for learning disability and autism and must demonstrate how they will reduce inequalities for people with a learning disability within their five year strategic plans under the Medium-Term Planning Framework. Further information is avaiable on the Medium-Term Planning Framework at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/medium-term-planning-framework-delivering-change-together-2026-27-to-2028-29/

Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the basis of an evaluation of their costs and benefits. NICE is currently re-evaluating brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus) to determine whether it can be recommended for routine NHS use, taking into account real-world evidence generated through its use in the Cancer Drugs Fund. NICE has been unable to recommend the treatment in final draft guidance, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ta11545/documents

This is because the available evidence does not suggest that brexucabtagene autoleucel is value for money in this population. Final guidance has not yet been published, and consultees have until 19 January to appeal NICE’s final draft recommendations.

In line with an arrangement between NHS England and the company, if NICE’s final guidance does not recommend use, patients who started treatment during the managed access period can continue their treatment.

Under the Equality Act 2010, health and care organisations have a legal duty to make changes in their approach and provision to ensure that services are as accessible to disabled people as they are for everybody else.

All National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard, which details the recommended approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss, including Deaf and blind people.

We welcome the British Sign Language Advisory Board’s report, Locked out: Exclusion of deaf and deafblind BSL users from health and social care in the UK. We will carefully consider its recommendations, including how, in the context of our work on the 10-Year Health Plan and reform of adult social care, we can improve the experiences of Deaf and blind people when accessing health and care services.

The information requested is not held centrally. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services, based on the needs of their local population.

NHS England supports ICBs to reduce variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs, and to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. Since July 2015, NHS England has collected quarterly data from clinical commissioning groups, now ICBs, on wheelchair provision, including waiting times, to enable targeted action if improvement is required. The latest figures from Quarter 2 2025/26 National Wheelchair Data Collection showed that 84% of adults and 78% of children received their equipment within 18 weeks. Further information is avaiable at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhse-national-wheelchair-data-collection/q2-2025-26

The Community Health Services Situation Report, which will be used to monitor ICB performance against waiting time targets in 2026/27, currently monitors waiting times for both children and young people, and adults through the Wheelchair, Orthotics, Prosthetics and Equipment line, with further information avaiable at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/community-health-services-waiting-lists/

The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework, published October 2025, requires that, from 2026/27, all ICBs and community health services must actively manage and reduce the proportion of waits across all community health services over 18 weeks and develop a plan to eliminate all 52-week waits.

These targets will guide systems to reduce longest waits. Improvement initiatives to meet these targets may affect waits that are over 18-weeks and 52-weeks.

The information requested is not held centrally. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services, based on the needs of their local population.

NHS England supports ICBs to reduce variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs, and to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. Since July 2015, NHS England has collected quarterly data from clinical commissioning groups, now ICBs, on wheelchair provision, including waiting times, to enable targeted action if improvement is required. The latest figures from Quarter 2 2025/26 National Wheelchair Data Collection showed that 84% of adults and 78% of children received their equipment within 18 weeks. Further information is avaiable at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhse-national-wheelchair-data-collection/q2-2025-26

The Community Health Services Situation Report, which will be used to monitor ICB performance against waiting time targets in 2026/27, currently monitors waiting times for both children and young people, and adults through the Wheelchair, Orthotics, Prosthetics and Equipment line, with further information avaiable at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/community-health-services-waiting-lists/

The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework, published October 2025, requires that, from 2026/27, all ICBs and community health services must actively manage and reduce the proportion of waits across all community health services over 18 weeks and develop a plan to eliminate all 52-week waits.

These targets will guide systems to reduce longest waits. Improvement initiatives to meet these targets may affect waits that are over 18-weeks and 52-weeks.

The Government recognises the importance of a coordinated approach to reduce medicine wastage, improve efficiencies, and lower costs for taxpayers.

NHS England leads a medicine optimisation programme to enhance patient outcomes, ensure medication is taken as intended, avoid unnecessary medicines, and reduce wastage. For example, community pharmacies offer the New Medicines Service for newly prescribed patients and the Discharge Medicines Service for those recently discharged from hospital to support adherence.

The 2021 national overprescribing review highlighted necessary practical and cultural changes to ensure appropriate patient treatment and value for money. General practices offer Structured Medicine Reviews, with pharmacists in multi-disciplinary teams optimising patient medication and preventing wastage. Additionally, electronic Repeat Dispensing allows prescribers to send repeat prescriptions as a batch to allow better management, ensuring patients only collect what they need.

Waste reduction schemes are commissioned locally, and therefore the Department does not hold data centrally on the cost of medicines waste.

The Government recognises the importance of a coordinated approach to reduce medicine wastage, improve efficiencies, and lower costs for taxpayers.

NHS England leads a medicine optimisation programme to enhance patient outcomes, ensure medication is taken as intended, avoid unnecessary medicines, and reduce wastage. For example, community pharmacies offer the New Medicines Service for newly prescribed patients and the Discharge Medicines Service for those recently discharged from hospital to support adherence.

The 2021 national overprescribing review highlighted necessary practical and cultural changes to ensure appropriate patient treatment and value for money. General practices offer Structured Medicine Reviews, with pharmacists in multi-disciplinary teams optimising patient medication and preventing wastage. Additionally, electronic Repeat Dispensing allows prescribers to send repeat prescriptions as a batch to allow better management, ensuring patients only collect what they need.

Waste reduction schemes are commissioned locally, and therefore the Department does not hold data centrally on the cost of medicines waste.

The Government recognises the importance of a coordinated approach to reduce medicine wastage, improve efficiencies, and lower costs for taxpayers.

NHS England leads a medicine optimisation programme to enhance patient outcomes, ensure medication is taken as intended, avoid unnecessary medicines, and reduce wastage. For example, community pharmacies offer the New Medicines Service for newly prescribed patients and the Discharge Medicines Service for those recently discharged from hospital to support adherence.

The 2021 national overprescribing review highlighted necessary practical and cultural changes to ensure appropriate patient treatment and value for money. General practices offer Structured Medicine Reviews, with pharmacists in multi-disciplinary teams optimising patient medication and preventing wastage. Additionally, electronic Repeat Dispensing allows prescribers to send repeat prescriptions as a batch to allow better management, ensuring patients only collect what they need.

Waste reduction schemes are commissioned locally, and therefore the Department does not hold data centrally on the cost of medicines waste.

At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to deliver 250 neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme, helping to make real the commitment to creating a new neighbourhood health service over the next ten years. The NHCs will be delivered through a mixture of refurbishments, to expand and improve sites over the next three years, and new-build sites opening in the medium term. The first 120 NHCs are due to be operational by 2030, delivered through public private partnerships and public capital.

In September 2025, we launched the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) in 43 places across England, including North East Essex. The NNHIP is a large-scale change programme for all partners involved in delivering neighbourhood health with a strong focus on co-production and working with the people and communities they serve. The shift to a neighbourhood health service will revitalise access to general practice and enable hospitals to focus on providing world-class specialist care to those that need it.

Integrated care systems’ estates infrastructure strategies have been developed to create a long-term plan for future estate requirements and investment for each local area and its needs.

The NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board has submitted plans for local investment in health facilities other than Neighbourhood Health Services, based on indicative allocations, and will be informed of its multi-year capital budget upon conclusion of the planning process.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Government responsibility for delivering cancer research is shared between Department for Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the NIHR, and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.

Department of Health and Social Care and Department of Science, Innovation and Technology officials meet regularly to discuss a range of research investments to drive the maximum collective research impact on policy, practice, and individual lives.

The NIHR is continuing to invest in brain tumour research. In December 2025, the NIHR announced the pioneering Brain Tumour Research Consortium to accelerate research into new brain tumour treatments. NIHR is investing an initial £13.7 million in the consortium, with significant further funding due to be awarded early in 2026. The world-leading consortium aims to transform outcomes for adults and children and their families who are living with brain tumours, ultimately reducing lives lost to cancer.

The NIHR continues to welcome high quality funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including low-grade glioma.