Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
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 help prevent childhood obesity.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The prevention of ill health is a clear priority for the Government and the cornerstone of this is supporting children to live healthier lives. We face a childhood obesity crisis, and the Government will take action to tackle the root causes of obesity head on, easing the strain on the National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have already laid secondary legislation to restrict advertisements of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online, we have announced changes to the planning framework for fast food outlets near schools and we are taking steps to ensure the Soft Drinks Industry Levy remains effective and fit-for-purpose. We are also committed to banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old. Further action on obesity under the Government’s Health Mission will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
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 (a) hospices and (b) charities on improving end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In early February 2025, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, including Hospice UK, Marie Curie, Sue Ryder, Together for Short Lives, MacMillian, and the Association for Palliative Medicine, where we had a productive conversation about improving palliative and end of life care in England. Long-term sector sustainability, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, was discussed at length at this meeting.
On visits to hospices, I have also heard from staff on their thoughts on how palliative and end of life care could be improved.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
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 adequacy of access to (a) counselling and (b) psychological support for patients who receive a diagnosis of terminal illness.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has published statutory guidance which outlines areas for consideration when commissioning palliative and end of life care services and, within this, there is reference to improving equity of access and reducing inequity in outcomes and experience. Additionally, NHS England has developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling integrated care boards to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.
NHS England’s statutory guidance for palliative and end of life care states that integrated care board (ICB) commissioners should work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care service providers available to deliver high-quality end of life care, paying particular attention to access to mental health and wellbeing support and spiritual care.
National Health Service counselling and psychological support is principally provided through local NHS Talking Therapies services, which provide treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, to adults with common mental health conditions including depression and anxiety. People can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies Services or be referred by their general practitioner. All ICBs are expected to expand services locally by commissioning NHS Talking Therapies services integrated into physical healthcare pathways.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
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 tackle inequalities in access to end of life care services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has published statutory guidance which outlines areas for consideration when commissioning palliative and end of life care services and, within this, there is reference to improving equity of access and reducing inequity in outcomes and experience. Additionally, NHS England has developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling integrated care boards to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.
NHS England’s statutory guidance for palliative and end of life care states that integrated care board (ICB) commissioners should work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care service providers available to deliver high-quality end of life care, paying particular attention to access to mental health and wellbeing support and spiritual care.
National Health Service counselling and psychological support is principally provided through local NHS Talking Therapies services, which provide treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, to adults with common mental health conditions including depression and anxiety. People can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies Services or be referred by their general practitioner. All ICBs are expected to expand services locally by commissioning NHS Talking Therapies services integrated into physical healthcare pathways.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
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 adequacy of GP provision in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Ilford South constituency; and what steps he is taking to improve patient access.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ilford South sits within the North East London Integrated Care Board (ICB). Since June 2018, there has been an increase of 45 full-time equivalent (FTE) general practitioners (GPs) in the ICB; in the London region, there has been an increase of 411 FTE GPs; and across England there has been an increase of 4,636 FTE GPs.
In January 2025, an estimated 1.1 million appointments were delivered in the North East London ICB, an increase of 3.75% from January 2024. In the London region, there was a 2.64% increase over the same period, and across England there was a 1.76% increase.
We are uplifting the 2025/26 GP contract by £889 million, with a rising share of total National Health Service resources going to general practice. This will help to increase capacity in the system so patients can access the care they need. Alongside this increase in funding, the contract contains measures to improve access to services, continuity of care and GP recruitment.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
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 reduce obesity rates amongst children under the age of 16 in East London.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The prevention of ill health is a clear priority for the Government, and the cornerstone of this is supporting children to live healthier lives. We face a childhood obesity crisis, and the Government will take action to tackle the root causes of obesity head on, easing the strain on the National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.
The Government has already laid secondary legislation to restrict advertisements of less healthy food and drink to children on TV and online from 1 October 2025, announced changes to the planning framework for fast food outlets near schools and is committed to banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old.
We are also working collaboratively across Government to deliver a resilient food system that promotes health and food security. The Food Strategy will work to provide healthier, more easily accessible food to help people live longer, healthier lives.
Officials in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities regional teams work closely with local partners including local authorities and the NHS to support them with local initiatives to promote a healthy lifestyle and tackle obesity. In London, there is Every Child a Healthier Weight Delivery Plan. This helps to drive partnership action on healthy weight across the NHS, local and regional government and wider partners. More information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
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 tackle the levels of diabetes among (a) Black and (b) South Asian people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has established a focused engagement campaign, using social media and more traditional approaches, to raise awareness and boost uptake from these groups as part of its approach to address the poorer outcomes for those of south Asian and black ethnicity.
NHS England has provided funding of £3 million to systems to provide clinical leadership to ensure that clinical diabetes metrics, such as the eight key diabetes care processes and treatment targets, are reviewed at integrated care board level and unwarranted variation identified. A resource hub of materials has been set up on Future NHS, including examples of innovation and best practice for improvement of care process delivery, and achievement of treatment targets.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
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 on the potential merits of a total ban on the advertising of unhealthy food across all media.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made. However, we are implementing restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food or drink products on television and online from October 2025. This includes a 9pm watershed on television and a 24-hour restriction on paid-for advertising of these products online. These restrictions are expected to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from United Kingdom children’s diets per year and reduce the number of children living with obesity by 20,000. We continue to review evidence of the impacts on children of advertising for less healthy food and drink products and will consider where further action is needed.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ban fast food outlets near schools.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 12 December 2024, the Government published the revised National Planning Policy Framework for local government. As part of this, local authorities were given the stronger, clearer powers they have told us they need to block new fast-food outlets near schools and where young people congregate, unless the location is in a designated town centre.
The framework also indicates that applications should also be refused where there is evidence that a concentration of such uses is having an adverse impact on local health, pollution or anti-social behaviour.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of paramedics in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In November 2024, there were 20,243 full time equivalent paramedics employed across the 10 National Health Service ambulance services in England, representing 1,518 or 8.1% more than a year ago and 4,131 or 25.6% more than five years ago.
In summer 2025, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.