Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 73326 on NHS: Strikes, whether more detailed guidance has been provided by (a) NHS England and (b) his Department on this matter.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Further guidance is provided for employers by NHS Employers and doctors should reference the Good Medical Practice Guide outlined by the General Medical Council (GMC) when making decisions about working during periods of strike action.
Information for employers can be found here:
https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/industrial-action-guidance-resources-and-faqs
Information for doctors can be found here:
https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/ethical-hub/industrial-action
The GMC guidance states that if a doctor is due to work but is not attending due to strike action, it is advised that the doctor still prepares and remains available during their scheduled working hours to respond appropriately if circumstances change during a period of industrial action.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
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 the Employment Rights Bill on industrial action in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to reforming trade union legislation, to bring it into the 21st century. We want to create an industrial relations framework fit for a modern economy and workplaces that work for everyone.
The Department of Business and Trade has published an overarching economic analysis of the Employment Rights Bill, namely the Employment Rights Bill economic analysis, a copy of which is attached. It has also published a specific impact assessment on the repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016, the Repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016, a copy of which is also attached.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 46764 on Industrial Disputes: Trade Unions, if he will make it his policy to suspend (a) facility time and (b) check-off for NHS-recognised trade unions whilst they are on strike.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have no plans to suspend facility time or check-off for National Health Service recognised trade unions whilst they are on strike.
It is for the local NHS employers and trade unions to agree on the approach to facility time during any period of industrial action. NHS trade union representatives would normally hold contracts with their individual NHS employer.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether trade union diversity networks in (a) his department and (b) NHS England are eligible for trade union facility time; and whether people can claim both diversity network time and facility time.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neither the Department nor NHS England have specific trade union diversity networks.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press release entitled Internship Scheme To Get More Working Class Students Into Civil Service, published on 1 August 2025, whether children of (a) NHS doctors and (b) NHS nurses will be able to apply for the Summer Internship Programme in (i) DHSC and (ii) NHS England in 2026.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Summer Internship Programme (SIP) is a Cabinet Office run scheme. The scheme places interns into Government departments. The Department of Health and Social Care participates in the scheme and is allocated interns from the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2025 to Question 54408 on Recruitment: Equality, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of the Rooney rule being adopted by NHS bodies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made. We expect National Health Service organisations to implement policies and procedures relating to recruitment that are in line with employment law and good human resources practice, including the Equality Act 2010 and other relevant legislation.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) embedded communications and (b) members of the Government Communications Service are employed by (i) his Department and (ii) NHS England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the end of August 2025, the Department had 40 full-time equivalent (FTE) communications staff embedded in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities working on public health and prevention programmes, and 85 FTE staff working in the Communications Directorate, covering a broad range of roles including media relations, marketing and branding, public health campaigns, internal communications and external publishing on GOV.UK. All are members of the Government Communications Service.
At the end of July 2025, NHS England had 330 FTE staff working in communications covering a wide range of roles and support functions, including business operations, system and stakeholder engagement, events and visits teams, and parliamentary briefing and Freedom of Information (FOI) management. There are also five FTE staff embedded in other directorates, including working with FOI management and parliamentary briefing.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 42740 on Smoking: Hospitality Industry, what his planned timetable is for the consultation on the vaping and smoking provisions in relation to outdoor public places; and what role local authorities would be expected to play in enforcement.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill sets a duty to consult on a range of powers before making regulations, including vaping and smoking provisions in relation to outdoor public places. We plan to consult on these measures in due course, and we will provide stakeholders with notice of when consultation processes are due to happen.
We expect that enforcement of vaping and smoking provisions in relation to outdoor public places in England to be undertaken by the same local authority teams that enforce existing smoke-free legislation; these would typically be the environmental health teams. The exact details will be explored via future consultation processes.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2025 to Question 66478 Innovation: Beer and Public Houses, for what reason it is his policy to prohibit sales of non-alcoholic products to people under the age of 18; and how non-alcoholic drinks would be differentiated from soft drinks.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to supporting further growth of the no- and low-alcohol market, which has grown significantly over the past 10 years.
A non-alcoholic product differs from a soft drink as it is a beverage intentionally crafted to mimic traditional alcoholic drinks like beer, wine, or spirits but with very little to no alcohol content. A full definition of an alcohol substitute drink can be found in regulation 9 to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy Regulations 2018, which are available at the following link:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/41/made
This policy is being pursued as these alcohol substitute drinks are intended for consumption by adults and should not be sold or supplied to children.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of employer pension contributions for NHS employees are funded by NHS England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 1 April 2024, the National Health Service employer pension contribution rate rose to 23.7%. Employers pay 14.38% and central payments are made by NHS England for the remaining 9.4%.