Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a screening programme for group B Streptococcus in pregnant women.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).
The UK NSC last reviewed the evidence to screen for group B streptococcus (GBS) at 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy in 2017 and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits of screening would outweigh the harms.
This was because the test currently available cannot accurately distinguish between those mothers whose babies are at risk and those who are not.
This means that many women would unnecessarily be offered antibiotics during labour, with the balance of harms and benefits from this approach being unknown.
The National Institute for Health Research funded a large-scale clinical trial to compare universal screening for GBS against the usual risk factor-based strategy.
Recruitment to the trial ended in March 2024 and a report is expected in early 2026. The UK NSC Secretariat is in contact with the researchers. The UK NSC will review its recommendation considering the evidence from the trial, after the report is presented.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to confirm the funding settlement for Start for Life services from 1 April 2026; whether that funding settlement will include the (a) increased geography and (b) widened age range of the programme; and whether ring-fenced funding will be allocated to provide (i) parent-infant relationship support, (ii) perinatal mental health support and (iii) infant feeding services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out an ambitious agenda for a decade of renewal to create a new model of care to improve the nation’s health. Over the next decade, we will give every child the best start in life by expanding Start for Life services and by integrating zero-to-five-year old’s health and children’s services within communities, with a strong focus on the critical first 1,001 days.
Building on the £126 million funding boost for the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme in 2025/26, an additional £500 million will enable Best Start Family Hubs to be rolled out to every local authority from April 2026.
The Government recognises the importance of providing local authorities with certainty on financial allocations and we will communicate outcomes, including grant details and delivery expectations where applicable, with local authorities when we have more information to share.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) mental and (b) physical health benefits of having access to (i) green and (ii) blue spaces for recreation.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The ability to access green and blue space is associated with improved physical and mental health and increased healthy life expectancy.
The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people's health and wellbeing, and has committed to creating nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England, expanding access to the great outdoors.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of integrating OpenActive data standards into NHS clinical care pathways.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Health and Social Care Act 2022, the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 and the Health and Social Care Information Standards (Procedure) Regulations 2025 establish a new legislative framework for setting mandatory information standards for public and private health and adult social care providers and IT suppliers in the health and care system. This will provide the basis for ensuring interoperability between IT systems.
Standards will be introduced in a staged process following the procedure set out in the Health and Social Care Information Standards (Procedure) Regulations 2025. No assessment has yet been made of the potential of the OpenActive data standards.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to incorporate OpenActive data into the NHS app to help patients find local physical activity opportunities relevant to health conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has no current plans to incorporate OpenActive data into the NHS App in this way.
However, the Government recognises that data plays an important role in supporting the delivery of high-quality public services, helping to achieve the shift from sickness to prevention and building an NHS fit for the future.
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out to build movement back into everyday life and get millions more people moving. Physical activity is part of this Government’s mission to improve health. Work is already underway through the NHS Better Health campaign and the ‘We are Undefeatable’ campaign to promote movement, remove barriers and make it easier for people with long term conditions to access physical activity. Raising awareness of the value of everyday movement, such as walking, cycling and wheeling is key in our mission to help people keep fit and healthy for longer.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the UK National Screening Committee’s in-service evaluation of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy covers a wide geography.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Planning and development work to shape the in-service evaluation (ISE) of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is ongoing. This is being steered by the SMA partnership board that includes Department officials, the UK National Screening Committee, NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and patient and public representatives. The SMA partnership board has three sub-groups, one of which is the laboratory subgroup. This subgroup has experts with a broad range of experience of laboratory testing of newborn blood spots both in the United Kingdom and internationally. Their expertise ensures that laboratory requirements for successfully rolling out SMA ISE are fully considered and represented in the ongoing planning work.
The number of laboratories in England that will form part of the ISE is under consideration by the SMA partnership board led by NHS England.
The geographical coverage of the ISE is also under consideration by the SMA partnership board, and will be determined by the number of laboratories with the technology and processes needed to roll out the ISE.
Earlier this summer, the NIHR advertised the research call for the SMA ISE, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/spinal-muscular-atrophy-screening/2025338
A decision on the shape and roll out of the ISE will be made after the research call process has concluded.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to involve laboratories in the in-service evaluation of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Planning and development work to shape the in-service evaluation (ISE) of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is ongoing. This is being steered by the SMA partnership board that includes Department officials, the UK National Screening Committee, NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and patient and public representatives. The SMA partnership board has three sub-groups, one of which is the laboratory subgroup. This subgroup has experts with a broad range of experience of laboratory testing of newborn blood spots both in the United Kingdom and internationally. Their expertise ensures that laboratory requirements for successfully rolling out SMA ISE are fully considered and represented in the ongoing planning work.
The number of laboratories in England that will form part of the ISE is under consideration by the SMA partnership board led by NHS England.
The geographical coverage of the ISE is also under consideration by the SMA partnership board, and will be determined by the number of laboratories with the technology and processes needed to roll out the ISE.
Earlier this summer, the NIHR advertised the research call for the SMA ISE, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/spinal-muscular-atrophy-screening/2025338
A decision on the shape and roll out of the ISE will be made after the research call process has concluded.
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing recommendation 6 of the National Child Mortality Data's report entitled Sudden and unexpected deaths in infancy and childhood, published in December 2022.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the devastating impact of sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) on affected families and communities, and the importance of raising awareness of SUDC among relevant professionals, communities, and parents. Information on SUDC is available on the National Health Service website, which also signposts to the charity SUDC.UK. This can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids
Additional information for parents on SUDC is available in the form of the booklet, When a Child Dies. The Healthy Child Programme plays an important role in supporting child health, wellbeing, and parenting confidence. This work is undertaken alongside partners to ensure that health messages are promoted across services.
The Department funds health and care research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) who work in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients, and the public. The NIHR welcomes proposals for research into a range of conditions, including SUDC, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/suggest-a-research-topic
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prevent sudden and unexplained deaths in children.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the devastating impact of sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) on affected families and communities, and the importance of raising awareness of SUDC among relevant professionals, communities, and parents. Information on SUDC is available on the National Health Service website, which also signposts to the charity SUDC.UK. This can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids
Additional information for parents on SUDC is available in the form of the booklet, When a Child Dies. The Healthy Child Programme plays an important role in supporting child health, wellbeing, and parenting confidence. This work is undertaken alongside partners to ensure that health messages are promoted across services.
The Department funds health and care research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) who work in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients, and the public. The NIHR welcomes proposals for research into a range of conditions, including SUDC, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/suggest-a-research-topic
Asked by: Andy MacNae (Labour - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the outcome of his Department's closed consultation entitled The licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England, which closed on 28 October 2023.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to taking action to address longstanding concerns about the safety of the cosmetics sector, and is exploring options for further regulation in this area. We will set out the details of our approach in our response to the consultation on the licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England, which we will publish as soon as possible.