Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 impact of adult social care capacity on delivering the 10-year health plan.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A fairly paid adult social care workforce with the right training, qualifications, and values will be able to provide high quality tailored care and support to those who need it and will support the priorities that we set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, namely shifting care from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from treating sickness to promoting prevention.
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out how the Government’s aims to shift towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered locally to create healthier communities, spot problems earlier, and wrap around people’s lives to help people stay independent for longer. This speaks to the heart of what adult social care, done well, already is. More integrated working between the National Health Service, adult social care, local government, and civil society will be crucial to the delivery of neighbourhood health.
The Government recognises the scale of the reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth, and improve the recruitment and retention of the workforce. That is why we plan to introduce the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in 2028 to improve pay and conditions for the adult social care workforce, backed by £500 million of new investment.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is provided to recruit and retain staff in coastal and rural health economies such as Torbay and South Devon.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals.
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether interim capital support will be provided for the estate at Torbay Hospital ahead of full redevelopment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are supporting the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust to ensure Torbay Hospital remains safe, comfortable, and capable of delivering high quality National Health Service care ahead of the delivery of a replacement hospital. As a first step towards this, Torbay Hospital received over £9.7 million from the Estates Safety Fund in 2025/26 for vital works.
The Estates Safety Fund will continue over the next nine years with a total of £6.75 billion of investment to continue addressing poor quality estate. The NHS South West Region, responsible for Torbay Hospital, has been allocated £271.2 million from the Estates Safety Fund for the 2026/27 to 2029/30 period, alongside a further £339.0 million in planning assumption to 2034/35.
The regional teams are currently prioritising the funding between hospital sites across the South West, including allocations for this financial year, and will be considering the needs of Torbay Hospital as part of this process.
In addition to national capital, the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust has been allocated £82.4 million in operational capital across 2026/27 to 2029/30, which can be allocated to local priorities, including estates works.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the scope of the Torbay Hospital rebuild has been revised in the context of the 10-year health plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The scope of individual New Hospital Programme (NHP) schemes, including Torbay Hospital, are only confirmed and agreed through the approval of a Full Business Case. The NHP will build “right-sized” hospitals, based on consistent and robust assumptions appropriate for local health needs that supports the shift from hospital to community care. To support this, the programme has developed a National Health Service demand and capacity model reflecting demographic change, including population growth, which will inform future business case development.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the average increase in energy costs for small businesses since 2021.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The department publishes statistics on the price paid for electricity and gas by the non-domestic sector.
Industrial energy price statistics - GOV.UK
This includes tables 3.4.1 and 3.4.2 outlining the prices of fuels purchased by non-domestic consumers split by consumption size band.