Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with NICE on its work programme and the objectives of the Women's Health Strategy to ensure that women's health technologies and treatments are prioritised within future NICE work programmes.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the concerns that women have raised about inequalities in their healthcare, and we are committed to ensuring that women’s voices and choices are central to healthcare. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the methods and processes it uses in the development of its guidance and for the prioritisation of topics for guidance development.

NICE evaluates all new licensed medicines, including medicines for women’s health, and women’s and reproductive health is one of NICE’s priority topic areas for the maintenance and updating of guideline content.

NICE has prioritised a number of topics for guidance development related to women’s health including Digital Health Technologies for the delivery of cognitive behaviour therapy to help manage the symptoms of menopause, technologies for the rapid diagnosis of endometriosis, and technologies to improve the detection of endometrial cancer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on its Topic Selection processes for hormone-based therapies used in the treatment of menopause and female sexual dysfunction and the need for timely decisions on women's health technologies awaiting appraisal.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the concerns that women have raised about inequalities in their healthcare, and we are committed to ensuring that women’s voices and choices are central to healthcare. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the methods and processes it uses in the development of its guidance and for the prioritisation of topics for guidance development.

NICE evaluates all new licensed medicines, including medicines for women’s health, and women’s and reproductive health is one of NICE’s priority topic areas for the maintenance and updating of guideline content.

NICE has prioritised a number of topics for guidance development related to women’s health including Digital Health Technologies for the delivery of cognitive behaviour therapy to help manage the symptoms of menopause, technologies for the rapid diagnosis of endometriosis, and technologies to improve the detection of endometrial cancer.

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 adequacy of NICE's topic selection and health technology assessment processes in prioritising conditions that predominantly affect women, including menopause-related conditions and female sexual dysfunction; and whether she plans to review those processes.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the concerns that women have raised about inequalities in their healthcare, and we are committed to ensuring that women’s voices and choices are central to healthcare. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the methods and processes it uses in the development of its guidance and for the prioritisation of topics for guidance development.

NICE evaluates all new licensed medicines, including medicines for women’s health, and women’s and reproductive health is one of NICE’s priority topic areas for the maintenance and updating of guideline content.

NICE has prioritised a number of topics for guidance development related to women’s health including Digital Health Technologies for the delivery of cognitive behaviour therapy to help manage the symptoms of menopause, technologies for the rapid diagnosis of endometriosis, and technologies to improve the detection of endometrial cancer.

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 effectiveness of NICE in addressing medical and clinical misogyny within health technology assessment and clinical guideline development; and what steps she is taking to identify and eliminate systemic bias against women's health conditions.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the concerns that women have raised about inequalities in their healthcare, and we are committed to ensuring that women’s voices and choices are central to healthcare. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the methods and processes it uses in the development of its guidance and for the prioritisation of topics for guidance development.

NICE evaluates all new licensed medicines, including medicines for women’s health, and women’s and reproductive health is one of NICE’s priority topic areas for the maintenance and updating of guideline content.

NICE has prioritised a number of topics for guidance development related to women’s health including Digital Health Technologies for the delivery of cognitive behaviour therapy to help manage the symptoms of menopause, technologies for the rapid diagnosis of endometriosis, and technologies to improve the detection of endometrial cancer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with NICE on its appraisal and topic selection processes to ensure they comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty in relation to women's health.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the concerns that women have raised about inequalities in their healthcare, and we are committed to ensuring that women’s voices and choices are central to healthcare. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the methods and processes it uses in the development of its guidance and for the prioritisation of topics for guidance development.

NICE evaluates all new licensed medicines, including medicines for women’s health, and women’s and reproductive health is one of NICE’s priority topic areas for the maintenance and updating of guideline content.

NICE has prioritised a number of topics for guidance development related to women’s health including Digital Health Technologies for the delivery of cognitive behaviour therapy to help manage the symptoms of menopause, technologies for the rapid diagnosis of endometriosis, and technologies to improve the detection of endometrial cancer.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what analysis his Department has undertaken on the reasons for the difference between current alcohol duty receipts and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s November 2023 forecast.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s June 2026 Forecast Evaluation Report sets out changes made to the alcohol duty forecast methodology to revise the forecast down at Budget 2025 - FERs - Office for Budget Responsibility. The Office for Budget Responsibility will publish an updated Alcohol Duty forecast at Budget 2026.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of UK excise duty levels on the ability of UK spirits producers to compete internationally.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

UK alcohol duty is not charged on exports. To support spirits producers, the Government has:

• agreed a trade deal with India which will reduce tariffs on gin and whisky exports from 150% to 75% initially, and then 40% over time.

• ended the alcohol duty stamps scheme on 1 May 2025, reducing the administrative burden on spirit producers and importers.

• invested £5m in the Spirits Drink Verification Scheme (SDVS) to enable HMRC to cut the fees it charges producers for its verification service.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has undertaken analysis of the excise duty regime by alcohol content by unit to identify different practices between different types of alcohol such as spirits, wine and cider.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

The Government is evaluating the 2023 alcohol duty reforms in line with the commitment to do so three years after they took effect. This evaluation will consider the impacts of the application of a strength-based duty calculation to all products.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the Evaluation of Alcohol Duty Reforms, published on 20 April 2026, does not consider the effect of duty rates on receipts; and if he will widen its scope to include that effect.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

On 20 April 2026 the Government published a page on Gov.uk setting out the objectives, scope and process of the Evaluation of the Alcohol Duty Reforms - Evaluation of Alcohol Duty Reforms - GOV.UK. The Evaluation will consider the extent to which the reforms have met their objectives.

The Government carefully considers the extent to which changes to alcohol duty policy impact receipts as part of the Budget process.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increases in spirits duty since 1 August 2023 on (a) the volume of spirits sold in the UK and (b) spirits duty receipts.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

HMRC publishes the latest alcohol duty receipts and clearance statistics in its Alcohol Bulletin, including a separate series for spirits receipts and clearances - Alcohol Bulletin - GOV.UK.