Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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 support the (a) development and (b) approval of (i) second- and third-line tyrosine kinase inhibitors and (ii) other targeted therapy options for patients with ROS1-positive cancer; and whether his Department has had recent discussions with (A) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and (B) pharmaceutical companies on encouraging clinical trial funding in this area.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that develops recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NICE evaluates all new licensed cancer medicines and aims wherever possible to issue recommendations close to the time of licensing. The NHS in England is legally required to fund treatments recommended by the NICE. The NICE published guidance that recommends the tyrosine kinase inhibitors crizotinib and entrectinib for use in the treatment of people with ROS1 positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer who have not previously been treated with ROS1 inhibitors. These treatments are now routinely funded by the NHS for eligible patients.
The Department has had no discussions with the NICE or pharmaceutical companies on encouraging clinical trial funding in this area. The Department is working closely with the NHS, industry, academia, research regulators, and charities to make clinical research in the United Kingdom more efficient, more competitive, and more accessible. We expect these efforts to attract more commercial investment in clinical research and yield a broad and diverse portfolio of clinical trials in the UK, including clinical trials for cancer. The Department funded National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research, including clinical research on cancer. NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. These investments are pivotal towards efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's press release entitled New services for patients under record pharmacy funding deal, published on 31 March 2025, what proportion of the additional funding for community pharmacies was allocated to meet the cost of increases to (a) employer National Insurance Contributions (b) business rates and (c) National Minimum Wage in (i) 2024/25 and (ii) 2025/26.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.
The Department has considered the increases in the National Living Wage and employer national insurance when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to community pharmacies of changes in the level of (a) employer National Insurance contributions, (b) business rates and (c) the National Minimum Wage from 1 April 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.
The Department has considered the increases in the National Living Wage and employer national insurance when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people served in the Armed Forces (a) in total and (b) by service between 2003 to 2023.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The requested information is shown in the attached spreadsheet. UK service personnel statistics on strengths, requirements, intake, applications and outflow is published quarterly on GOV.UK here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-index
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the ODA budget on the level of support provided by the Government for the (a) investigation and (b) prosecution of (i) war crimes and (ii) other serious international crimes in Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The impact of Official Development Assistance cuts on specific programmes is being worked through following the decision but the Prime Minister has reassured that Ukraine will remain a priority. The UK is committed to ensuring Russia is held to account for its actions.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many family law cases required a qualified legal representative broken down by individual court in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Data on the number of family law cases involving cross-examination by litigants in person where there were allegations of abuse is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Data is not held on the number of qualified legal representatives required by individual court.
The Legal Aid Agency publishes data on the number of Qualified Legal Representatives who submit a claim for payment under the QLR Scheme. This information is published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed via the following link. The relevant data can be found in Table 10.1 at column M. Claims for payment are submitted and paid in arrears so the claim may not necessarily be reflective of the period in which work was undertaken.
Data is not held on the number of family law cases which were (a) adjourned and (b) delayed due to no qualified legal representative being available in the most recent 12 month period.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many family law cases were (a) adjourned and (b) delayed due to no qualified legal representative being available in the most recent 12 month period for which data is available.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Data on the number of family law cases involving cross-examination by litigants in person where there were allegations of abuse is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Data is not held on the number of qualified legal representatives required by individual court.
The Legal Aid Agency publishes data on the number of Qualified Legal Representatives who submit a claim for payment under the QLR Scheme. This information is published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed via the following link. The relevant data can be found in Table 10.1 at column M. Claims for payment are submitted and paid in arrears so the claim may not necessarily be reflective of the period in which work was undertaken.
Data is not held on the number of family law cases which were (a) adjourned and (b) delayed due to no qualified legal representative being available in the most recent 12 month period.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many family law cases involving cross-examination by litigants in person where there were allegations of abuse were there in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Data on the number of family law cases involving cross-examination by litigants in person where there were allegations of abuse is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Data is not held on the number of qualified legal representatives required by individual court.
The Legal Aid Agency publishes data on the number of Qualified Legal Representatives who submit a claim for payment under the QLR Scheme. This information is published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed via the following link. The relevant data can be found in Table 10.1 at column M. Claims for payment are submitted and paid in arrears so the claim may not necessarily be reflective of the period in which work was undertaken.
Data is not held on the number of family law cases which were (a) adjourned and (b) delayed due to no qualified legal representative being available in the most recent 12 month period.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many qualified legal representatives are there by (a) solicitor and (b) barrister for which the latest data is available.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
According to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the number of solicitors on the roll was 209,200 in February 2025, an increase from 202,524 at the end of July 2024. More information can be found via the SRA’s website: https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/research-publications/regulated-community-statistics/data/population_solicitors.
The most recent figures from the Bar Standards Board from 2024 suggest that there were 18,141 practising barristers in England and Wales. More information on the number of practicing barristers in the UK can be accessed via their website: https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/for-the-public/search-a-barristers-record/the-barristers-register.html.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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 31 March 2025 to Question 40741 on Health Services: Public Consultation, what was the cost to the public purse of (a) travel and (b) accommodation for the 11 working groups supporting the development of the 10-Year Health Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has met the costs of travel and accommodation for a small number of working group members. The total cost to date is £912.25, which is made up of £750.35 of travel expenses, and £162.00 for accommodation.