Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend entitlement for children who are under five to receive free milk in nurseries and schools to the end of the academic year in which they turn five.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Nursery Milk Scheme is a statutory scheme which allows early years childcare settings to reclaim the cost of providing one-third of a pint of milk per day to children under the age of five years old who attend a setting for two or more hours per day. Schools can claim reimbursement from the scheme in respect of their pupils aged under five years old.
There are no plans to extend eligibility for the Nursery Milk Scheme to cover children until the end of the academic year, during which they reach their fifth birthday. Separate legislation allows pupils from lower-income families, and who are eligible for free school meals, to continue to receive free milk at school after the age of five years old.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the NHS 10 Year Health Plan will improve the integration of NHS services for patients with multiple long-term conditions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future. While it’s too soon to say exactly what will be in the plan, it will set the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with long-term complex health needs.
We are assessing the costs and benefits of the 10-Year Health Plan by utilising analysis and evidence from across NHS England and the Department, as well as external sources. This includes an assessment of the impacts on different groups that may be affected.
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts, from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their long-term conditions, closer to home. Earlier diagnosis of conditions will help prevent deterioration and improve survival rates. All of these are relevant to managing and improving long-term conditions in all parts of the county.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the major conditions strategy.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Work on the Major Conditions Strategy was paused in July 2024. As we develop our plans to rebuild the National Health Service, we will consider how we incorporate the findings from the Major Conditions Strategy into our plans.
The 10-Year Health Plan will focus on the three shifts needed to deliver a modern NHS: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. We want to see more tests and scans in the community, in high street settings, reducing the need for people to take multiple trips to hospitals to get diagnosed.
The 10-Year Health Plan will describe a shared vision for the health and care system in 2035, drawing directly from the extensive engagement underway with the public, patients, and staff. The plan will include how care models and pathways will need to change or evolve to better meet patient needs, and the cultural and behavioural changes we want to see.
The Department, following the merger with NHS England, will continue the work undertaken by NHS England to improve the services for major conditions in line with the vision of the 10 Year Plan.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to ensure the care of people living with long term conditions can be accessed close to where those people live.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s ambition is to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting.
Most services for long-term conditions are commissioned locally by integrated care boards, which are best placed to plan the provision of local services subject to local prioritisation and funding. Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy in place, people with long term conditions can usually be cared for through routine access to local primary, secondary, and community care services.
For the longer term, the Government is developing a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed, to move healthcare from hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from treatment to prevention. This will include care and support for people with long term conditions.
We also continue to invest in health research for the management of long term conditions through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Medical Research Council, and UK Research and Innovation.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve (1) the outcomes and (2) the experiences, of patients living with long-term conditions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s ambition is to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting.
Most services for long-term conditions are commissioned locally by integrated care boards, which are best placed to plan the provision of local services subject to local prioritisation and funding. Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy in place, people with long term conditions can usually be cared for through routine access to local primary, secondary, and community care services.
For the longer term, the Government is developing a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed, to move healthcare from hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from treatment to prevention. This will include care and support for people with long term conditions.
We also continue to invest in health research for the management of long term conditions through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Medical Research Council, and UK Research and Innovation.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage the broader use of NHS transformation initiatives, such as patient-initiated follow-up and shared decision-making.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government's Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025 and shared with all National Health Service trusts, exemplifies our dedication to NHS transformation. It sets out a wide-ranging package of reforms, such as increasing patient initiated follow up (PIFU) to 5% of outpatient appointments by March 2029. We are supporting NHS trusts to deliver transformation initiatives like PIFU through innovation, sharing best practice to increase productivity and efficiency, and ensuring the best value is delivered. NHS England has detailed national guidance for trusts with various resources to help implement transformation initiatives.
Shared decision making between patients and clinicians ensures patients are empowered to make informed choices about their care. Investment and development of digital platforms is key to that, including our commitments to go further on the NHS App, the Federated Data Platform and the electronic referral service. These efforts will facilitate shared decision making through improved information for patients on waiting times and better two-way communication between patients and healthcare teams. In addition, our introduction of a new £20 payment per Advice and Guidance (A&G) request for general practitioners, to support stepping up A&G, demonstrates how we are supporting initiatives which transform how primary and secondary care work together to provide seamless patient care.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many independent schools have closed, or announced that they will close, since July 2024.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The register of independent schools, publicly available as part of the Get Information about Schools website, shows that 20 private schools, closed between 29 July 2024 and 11 April 2025. Schools are not required to notify the department of planned closures.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of proposed welfare reform on the projected number of people who are deemed unfit for work by 2030.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The recent Pathways to Work Green Paper announced our plans to abolish the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and instead use the Personal Independence Payment assessment as the single assessment for additional financial support, subject to parliamentary approval. Once the WCA has been abolished the Department for Work and Pensions will no longer classify people as fit or unfit for work.
The Department published “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts” alongside the Spring Statement.
This report contains estimated caseloads for the Universal Credit health element from 2026/27 to 2029/30, categorised by whether claimants are receiving the higher rate or the frozen rate from 2025/26.
By 2029/30 an estimated 2.25 million people, the pre-April 2026 current claimants, will still be receiving the higher rate of the UC health element, frozen at its 2025/26 level. A further 730,000 are forecast to be receiving the new lower rate of the health element. All will receive a standard allowance that has been increased by more than CPI inflation.
Table A5: Benefit units affected by UC health element change
Average caseload over year (1,000s) | 2026/27 | 2027/28 | 2028/29 | 2029/30 |
Pre April 2026 claimants (current) | 2,670 | 2,510 | 2,380 | 2,250 |
Post April 2026 claimants (future) | 120 | 360 | 560 | 730 |
Note: Estimates are after behavioural effects and are rounded to the nearest ten thousand. A benefit unit is a single adult or a married or cohabiting couple and any dependent children.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings they have planned with Chagossians to discuss the proposed Chagos Islands deal.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Minister of State, Stephen Doughty, has met with members of the Chagossian community, and officials have also been in regular contact with Chagossians on a range of issues. We will continue to engage with Chagossians in the UK and around the world on the implementation of the agreement at both an official and Ministerial level.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure families of students with special education needs are not charged additional fees as a result of changes to VAT on independent school fees.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and a requirement to attend a private school identified through an education, health and care (EHC) assessment are not impacted by the government’s VAT policy. Where a private school place is necessary to support a child with SEN, the local authority will fund it through an EHC plan. Local authorities can reclaim the cost of VAT added to fees for places that they fund through Section 33 of the VAT Act 1994.
Parents may make a choice that their child should attend a private school, but this is a choice like that made by any parent using the independent sector. Where parents have chosen to send their child to private school rather than a local authority deeming it necessary, VAT will apply to fees.