Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average amount of capital funding provided by his Department was for each new hospital built in the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Specific national capital funding is allocated by the Department for the building of new hospitals through the New Hospital Programme (NHP).
The capital funding provided to build a new hospital varies significantly between each individual hospital. Hospitals are built based on local requirements and vary in the scope of services that they provide and their size.
For the hospitals built as part of the NHP in the last five years, the average amount of capital funding provided by the Department was approximately £270 million per hospital. This average includes a significant range.
In addition to funding delivered through the NHP, in the last five years national capital funding has been provided for several other estates and upgrade schemes outside the scope of the NHP, some of which have delivered major new facilities, but which fall short of the definition of a new hospital.
As set out in the published NHP Plan for Implementation, the cost estimates for the new hospital schemes in Waves 1, 2, and 3 are expected to be higher. We are backing this plan with investment which will increase to up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging approximately £3 billion a year.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether an impact assessment was carried out on the abolition of NHS England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities
It is only right that with such significant reform, we commit to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, as is due process. These ongoing assessments will inform our programme as appropriate.
The Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure that the public and parliamentarians are informed of the outcomes.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make a further announcement on social care reform.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The independent commission into adult social care, chaired by Baroness Casey, is looking at what fundamental reforms will be needed as we build towards a National Care Service, including what social care should look like, who it should serve, and who should be responsible for its services.
This will be delivered in two parts. The first report will be delivered next year, with work able to begin on implementing its recommendations after publication.
We are also making tangible improvements in the short-term and laying the foundations for a National Care Service that will enable more people to live independently and make social care more productive. This includes funding more home adaptations for disabled and older people, the largest ever uplift to the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit, new standards for care technologies, and legislating for the first Fair Pay Agreement for care workers.
Meanwhile, the Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of social care reforms on levels of demand for immigration.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the Government’s policy to reduce reliance on international recruitment in adult social care and to improve domestic recruitment and retention.
The Government recognises the scale of reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth, and to improve the retention of the domestic workforce. We want it to be regarded as a profession, and for the people who work in care to be respected as professionals. That is why we are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the adult social care sector, implementing the first universal career structure, and providing £12 million this year for staff to complete training and qualifications.
The Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main applicants as a result of ending the overseas recruitment of care workers and senior care workers. This can be found in the technical annex of the Immigration White Paper, published 12 May 2025. The analysis in the technical annex will be refined and included within the relevant impact assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of social care workforce demand on levels of immigration in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In February 2022, care workers became eligible for the Health and Care Visa and were added to the Shortage Occupation List. Senior care workers were added to the list of eligible occupations for the Health and Care Visa in January 2021.
Published data on entry clearance visa grants for the Caring Personal Services occupation code (613) illustrates the broad trend in international recruitment into adult social care in recent years.
This shows that 37,091 Health and Care Worker visas were granted to main applicants under the Caring Personal Services category in 2022. Volumes peaked in 2023, with 107,772 grants, before falling to 9,539 in 2024. This data does not include in-country visa grants.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the role that place-making in new towns could play in reducing demand pressures on the social care workforce.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers have regular discussions with Cabinet Office colleagues about a variety of issues, including, but not limited to, place-making in new towns.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care. They also have responsibility to meet social care needs, and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.
The Government recognises the scale of reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth, and improve the retention of the domestic workforce. This is why we are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the adult social care sector, so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work they do.
The Department has launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission forms a key part of the Government’s Plan for Change, recognising the importance of adult social care in its own right, as well as its role in supporting the National Health Service.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of change in demand for at home social care since 2019.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of local authority-funded social care users in community care settings has risen by approximately 5% between 2019/20 and 2023/24, according to a 2024 National Health Service publication produced in conjunction with the Department. However, this publication only includes those care users who are funded by their local authority, and does not include those who may fund their own care.
The Department utilises projections of the future demand for care, including community care, published by the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre at the London School of Economics. These projections inform decisions about funding requirements made at fiscal events such as the Local Government Finance Settlement and the Spending Review.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider asking the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to (a) revise their guidance on and (b) respond to the concerns of (i) patient groups and (ii) other people who are affected by restless legs syndrome.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not published guidance on restless legs syndrome but has commissioned a Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS), which covers diagnosis and management. The CKS is available at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/
As NICE is an independent body, it would not be appropriate for the Department to interfere in the development of NICE’s advice or guidance.
NICE has an established prioritisation process overseen by a prioritisation board, for the identification of priorities for guidance development. Anyone is able to suggest a topic through the NICE website, at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/forms/topic-suggestion
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the average (a) capital and (b) revenue funding that is required to maintain a newly built hospital over the next fifteen years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The capital and revenue funding required to maintain a newly built hospital varies widely depending on the size and type of the facility, and is subject to a number of further uncertainties around operational costs and demand. There is no standard cost that reflects this variation.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on the level of (a) capital and (b) revenue funding required to maintain (i) Bedford and (ii) Luton and Dunstable hospitals in the next fifteen years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Estates Returns Information Collection survey collects data from National Health Service trusts on the quality of their estate annually, including backlog maintenance, and the projected cost of bringing all buildings into acceptable condition. The latest backlog maintenance figures, including for Bedford and Luton and Dunstable hospitals, are available at the following link:
The Government is committed to improving our hospital estate, and that is why my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that £30 billion in capital funding will be invested over five years in the day-to-day maintenance and repair of the NHS estate, with over £5 billion specifically allocated to address the most critical building repairs.
At a local level, individual NHS organisations are responsible for maintaining their estates within their capital and revenue budgets, as set out in NHS Planning Guidance.