Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will review the current eligibility criteria for NHS-funded COVID-19 vaccinations, in light of the emergence of a new variant and rising hospitalisations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation carefully considered the latest evidence on the risk of hospitalisation and mortality in specific groups, as well as cost-effectiveness analysis, in order to provide the Government with advice on the autumn 2025 programme. The evidence indicates that whilst the risk from COVID-19 is now much lower for most people, adults aged 75 years old and over, residents in care homes for older adults, and those who are immunosuppressed are those at highest risk of serious COVID-19 disease.
Therefore, a more targeted vaccination programme aimed at individuals with a higher risk of developing serious disease, and where vaccination was considered potentially cost-effective, was advised for autumn 2025.
The latest UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) data in the national flu and COVID-19 surveillance report supports the current eligibility, showing that there is a strong association between age and COVID-19 hospitalisation rates. The highest hospital admission rate for COVID-19 in the report published on 27 November 2025 was in those aged 85 years old and over.
Currently XFG and its sub lineages, sometimes called the ‘Stratus’ variant, are the most prevalent SARS-CoV-2 lineages in England. This lineage is closely related to previous variants that circulated in the United Kingdom. At this time there is no indication that XFG causes more serious disease, or that the vaccines being used in the autumn 2025 campaign will not be effective against it. The UKHSA will continue to monitor both COVID-19 outcomes and variant prevalence as we enter the winter season.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to question 81028, tabled on 10 October 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 December 2025 to Question 81028.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 the availability of NHS dental services in the Bracknell Forest wards of Maidenhead constituency; and what steps he is taking to improve access to NHS dentistry in the Ascot, Binfield with Warfield, and Winkfield and Cranbourne areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend. Some dental practices may operate local waiting list arrangements. Therefore, data is not available on the number of people who are unable to register with a dentist in the Maidenhead constituency.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Maidenhead constituency, this is the Frimley ICB.
The data for the NHS Frimley ICB shows that 40% of adults were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2025, which is the same as the average for England, and 56% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2025, compared to 57% in England.
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in underserved areas, and the Government is taking action to improve this. We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments across the country, with appointments more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. The Government is also considering the outcomes of the consultation on immediate improvements to dental care and will publish a response shortly.
ICBs are also recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to reforming the dental sector and we will deliver fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people in the Bracknell Forest wards of Maidenhead constituency who are unable to register with an NHS dentist.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend. Some dental practices may operate local waiting list arrangements. Therefore, data is not available on the number of people who are unable to register with a dentist in the Maidenhead constituency.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Maidenhead constituency, this is the Frimley ICB.
The data for the NHS Frimley ICB shows that 40% of adults were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2025, which is the same as the average for England, and 56% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2025, compared to 57% in England.
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in underserved areas, and the Government is taking action to improve this. We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments across the country, with appointments more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. The Government is also considering the outcomes of the consultation on immediate improvements to dental care and will publish a response shortly.
ICBs are also recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to reforming the dental sector and we will deliver fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of naturalisation fees on UK residents with Indefinite Leave to Remain who have not applied for British citizenship; and if she will reduce citizenship application fees to administration costs only.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
No specific assessment has been made on the impact of naturalisation fees on those who are resident in the UK with Indefinite Leave to Remain and have not applied for British Citizenship. However, where changes to fee legislation are made, Impact Assessments are produced which identify potential impacts resulting from the changes. When fees for naturalisation applications were increased on 09 April 2025, an Equalities Impact Assessment was published, which can be viewed through this link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/363/pdfs/uksiod_20250363_en_001.pdf.
The Home Office acknowledges that whilst some individuals may wish to apply to become a British citizen, it is not mandatory, and many choose not to do so. This is because, in addition to lawful permanent residence in the UK, a person with Indefinite Leave to Remain enjoys the benefit of access to the UK labour market, state education and healthcare and the ability to sponsor family members’ residence in the UK.
The Home Office keeps fees for immigration and nationality applications under review. However, the Home Office does not make a profit from fees and any income from fees set above the cost of processing is utilised for the purpose of running the Migration and Borders system, reducing reliance of taxpayer funding.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for learner drivers seeking to book and take the car theory test.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has a key performance indicator (KPI) to provide theory test candidates with a test appointment within 28 days of their preferred date which is measured as a regional average. Despite unprecedented levels of demand for theory tests this KPI is consistently met.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has the Government made of the financial impact on UK small and medium-sized enterprises of the adverse effects on competition identified in the Competition and Markets Authority's Cloud Services Market Investigation, specifically regarding egress fees and technical barriers to switching cloud providers.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has not assessed the impacts of the practices detailed in the CMA’s Cloud Service Market Investigation.
In the Final Report published on 31 July 2025, the key recommendation was for the CMA Board to prioritise commencing investigations under the digital markets regime to consider designating the two largest providers - Microsoft and AWS - with strategic market status in relation to cloud services.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 suitability of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s approach to evaluating the cost-effectiveness of rare disease medicines.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE plays a key role in supporting the adoption of innovative new medicines to improve outcomes for patients, at a price that reflects their value and is fair to the taxpayer.
NICE has a strong track record of recommending medicines for the treatment of rare diseases and its standard technology appraisal process has been proven to be suitable for the evaluation of these medicines, where companies engage constructively in the appraisal and commercial discussions with NHS England. NICE’s approval rate for medicines for rare diseases is in line with its overall approval rate for new medicines, with 91% of medicines licensed for rare diseases recommended for some or all of the eligible patient population since April 2024.
NICE’s also operates a separate highly specialised technologies programme (HST) which is reserved for a small number of medicines for very rare and very severe diseases. The HST programme uses a much higher cost-effectiveness threshold than a standard NICE appraisal, that recognises the challenges of developing medicines for very small patient populations.
The Government remains committed to improving the lives of people living with rare diseases through the UK Rare Diseases Framework, which includes improving access to specialist care, treatment, and drugs as one of its four priorities. We are committed to ensuring that this priority is a key driver of the action plans published under this framework.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 ensure that people living with rare diseases in England have timely access to innovative medicines.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE plays a key role in supporting the adoption of innovative new medicines to improve outcomes for patients, at a price that reflects their value and is fair to the taxpayer.
NICE has a strong track record of recommending medicines for the treatment of rare diseases and its standard technology appraisal process has been proven to be suitable for the evaluation of these medicines, where companies engage constructively in the appraisal and commercial discussions with NHS England. NICE’s approval rate for medicines for rare diseases is in line with its overall approval rate for new medicines, with 91% of medicines licensed for rare diseases recommended for some or all of the eligible patient population since April 2024.
NICE’s also operates a separate highly specialised technologies programme (HST) which is reserved for a small number of medicines for very rare and very severe diseases. The HST programme uses a much higher cost-effectiveness threshold than a standard NICE appraisal, that recognises the challenges of developing medicines for very small patient populations.
The Government remains committed to improving the lives of people living with rare diseases through the UK Rare Diseases Framework, which includes improving access to specialist care, treatment, and drugs as one of its four priorities. We are committed to ensuring that this priority is a key driver of the action plans published under this framework.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 in response to research by the UK BioIndustry Association published on 6 November 2025 showing that around half of rare disease medicines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are not being reimbursed for patients in England.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE plays a key role in supporting the adoption of innovative new medicines to improve outcomes for patients, at a price that reflects their value and is fair to the taxpayer.
NICE has a strong track record of recommending medicines for the treatment of rare diseases and its standard technology appraisal process has been proven to be suitable for the evaluation of these medicines, where companies engage constructively in the appraisal and commercial discussions with NHS England. NICE’s approval rate for medicines for rare diseases is in line with its overall approval rate for new medicines, with 91% of medicines licensed for rare diseases recommended for some or all of the eligible patient population since April 2024.
NICE’s also operates a separate highly specialised technologies programme (HST) which is reserved for a small number of medicines for very rare and very severe diseases. The HST programme uses a much higher cost-effectiveness threshold than a standard NICE appraisal, that recognises the challenges of developing medicines for very small patient populations.
The Government remains committed to improving the lives of people living with rare diseases through the UK Rare Diseases Framework, which includes improving access to specialist care, treatment, and drugs as one of its four priorities. We are committed to ensuring that this priority is a key driver of the action plans published under this framework.