Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government intends to provide Start for Life funding to new local authority areas.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out an ambitious agenda to how we will improve the nation’s health by creating a new model of care that is fit for the future.
We recognise that local authorities are ambitious, seeking to deliver universal support to families and prevent escalating need. We are committed to delivering the 10-Year Health Plan ambition to match Healthy Babies, formerly Start for Life, to Best Start Family Hubs over the next decade.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 regional variation in access to NICE-approved medicines across Integrated Care Systems.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on adoption of innovative medicines in local formularies states that once a NICE technology appraisal recommends a medicine, it must be included in a local formulary within 90 days, providing it is clinically appropriate and relevant to the services provided by the organisation, or 30 days for Early Access to Medicines Scheme medicines. This NICE guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/mpg1/chapter/Recommendations#local-formulary-scope
Local formularies exist at various levels of the health service, but most frequently appear at integrated care board (ICB) level. It is the responsibility of local medicines optimisation teams and formulary committees to ensure they are meeting these targets.
At a national level, the Innovation Scorecard and Estimates Report is a publication which reports on the use of medicines and medicine groupings in the National Health Service in England, which have been positively appraised by NICE. It can be used by local NHS organisations to monitor progress in implementing NICE Technology Appraisal recommendations. Further information on the Innovation Scorecard and Estimates Report is available at the following link:
In line with commitments made in 2024 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access, and Growth, NHS England, NICE, and the NHS Business Services Authority are further developing the Innovation Scorecard and Estimates Report to better track variation in the uptake of NICE recommended medicines between ICBs.
The 10-Year Health Plan and Life Sciences Sector Plan set out a commitment to move to a Single National Formulary for medicines within the next two years. The overall aim of the Single National Formulary will be to drive rapid and equitable adoption of clinically- and cost-effective innovations.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of NICE technology appraisals have been terminated in each year since 2019; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for these terminations.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The follow table shows the proportion of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisals that have been terminated in each year since 2019:
Year | Terminations as a percentage of each year |
2019/20 | 17.54% |
2020/21 | 20.00% |
2021/22 | 19.39% |
2022/23 | 22.77% |
2023/24 | 18.47% |
2024/25 | 18.18% |
Source: NICE.
NICE is an independent body and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has made no assessment of the reasons for the terminations of technology appraisals.
NICE strives to get the best care to patients fast, and to ensure value for the taxpayer. The aligned NICE and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency pathway, set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, will allow us to bring medicines to patients three to six months sooner. NICE continues to support and work with companies to identify the best time to submit appraisals and to ensure they have a clear understanding of NICE’s methods and processes, to try to avoid terminations.
Sometimes companies withdraw from the NICE appraisal process which means NICE cannot continue to evaluate the treatment. Companies can choose to do this for different reasons, including the treatment not being put forward at a cost-effective price, supply issues and incomplete evidence.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Department plans to review the level of statutory funding provided to hospices that currently rely heavily on charitable donations to deliver core services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing National Health Services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between integrated care board (ICB) areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative care and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.
In addition to the statutory funding provided by ICBs, the Government has been supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We recently also confirmed the continuation of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices for the next three financial years. This amounts to approximately £80 million over that period.
For the long-term, we are developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. We will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements as part of our MSF. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting ICBs to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087 I gave to the House.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 implications for his policies of trends in the level of legal costs associated with lower value clinical negligence claims.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We welcome the report by the National Audit Office (NAO) entitled Costs of clinical negligence. As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC is providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims. The review is ongoing, following initial advice to ministers and the recent NAO report.
The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policymaking in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps, in due course.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 implementing the recommendations in the National Audit Office’s report entitled Costs of clinical negligence, published on 17 October 2025.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We welcome the report by the National Audit Office (NAO) entitled Costs of clinical negligence. As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC is providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims. The review is ongoing, following initial advice to ministers and the recent NAO report.
The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policymaking in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps, in due course.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the findings of David Lock KC’s review into clinical negligence costs.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We welcome the report by the National Audit Office (NAO) entitled Costs of clinical negligence. As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC is providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims. The review is ongoing, following initial advice to ministers and the recent NAO report.
The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policymaking in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps, in due course.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 impact of banning cigarette filters on smoking prevalence.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are not aware of clear evidence to show that a ban on filters would lead to reductions in smoking rates. We are confident the best way to protect people’s health is to reduce the prevalence of smoking. That is why we are taking decisive action through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to create a smoke-free generation alongside continuing with evidence-based approaches to supporting smokers to quit. We therefore have no current plans to ban cigarette filters.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his department will put in place constitutional standards for hospital discharges.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no immediate plans to introduce additional constitutional standards at this time, including for the timeliness of discharge from hospital.
However, the Urgent and Emergency Care plan for 2025/26 set as a priority that hospitals should tackle the delays in patients waiting to be discharged. They should profile discharges by pathway to support local planning, eliminate discharge delays of more than 48 hours caused by in-hospital issues, and work with local authorities to tackle the longest delays, starting with those over 21 days.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the latest report on Corridor Care from the APPG on Emergency Care, what plans his department has to tackle delayed discharges.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that delayed discharges contribute to shortages of hospital beds and is committed to reducing delayed discharges to free up beds for those who need them.
The 2025/26 Urgent and Emergency Care plan prioritises reducing hospital discharge delays. Hospitals must eliminate in-hospital delays of over 48 hours and work with local authorities to address the longest delays, starting with those exceeding 21 days.
For 2025/26, approximately £9 billion is being provided through the Better Care Fund (BCF), which requires the National Health Service and local authorities to set joint goals for improving discharge performance and preventing unnecessary admissions. From 2026/27, the BCF will be reformed to provide consistent joint funding for key services such as discharge, rehabilitation, and reablement.