Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with ICBs on determining funding required to meet palliative care needs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative care and end-of-life care services to meet the reasonable needs of their local populations, including hospice provision. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
As set out in NHS England’s Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium Term Planning Guidance, both published last year, ICBs are expected to understand current and projected total service utilisation and the associated costs for people at the end of life, create an overall plan to more effectively manage the needs of these high-priority cohorts, and significantly reduce avoidable unplanned admissions.
Through the development of the Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF), the Department and NHS England are working with the sector to support ICBs to commission more strategically, including considering future contracting and commissioning arrangements. This shift aims to move away from grant-based and historic block contract models towards a more sustainable approach that ensures funding aligns with the needs identified by ICBs.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure equal access to palliative care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know there are inequalities in access to palliative care and end of life care, and the Government is looking at how best to reduce these.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. NHS England has published statutory guidance which outlines areas for consideration when commissioning services, which makes reference to improving equity of access and reducing inequity in outcomes and experience. This includes the completion of an Equalities and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment and action plan.
NHS England has also developed a palliative care and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities.
Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Research Policy Research Unit in Palliative and End of Life Care has been recently extended for a further two years to run to the end of 2028, delivering high-quality policy research to help improve palliative care and end-of-life care, and tackle inequalities.
Through our Modern Service Framework on Palliative Care and End of Life Care, due for publication later this year, we will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end-of-life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to deliver the MSF on Palliative Care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. We will publish an interim update in spring 2026, ahead of the full MSF in Autumn 2026.
The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and enable integrated care boards to address challenges in access, quality and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the last year’s 10-Year Health Plan. Through our MSF, we will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end-of-life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality.
The MSF will put in place a clear and effective mechanism to deliver a fundamental improvement to the care provided. This will enable adoption of evidence-based interventions that are proven to make a difference to patients and their families. Examples include earlier identification of need, care delivered closer to home by integrated generalist and specialist teams, and strengthened out-of-hours community health support, including dedicated telephone advice.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect freshwater invertebrates from pesticides used in veterinary tick and flea treatments.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is taking a range of actions to address the levels of fipronil and imidacloprid being detected in UK waterways.
Through its leadership of the cross‑Government Pharmaceuticals in the Environment Group, the VMD has published a roadmap focusing on improving public awareness and promoting responsible use and disposal of topical flea and tick treatments.
To strengthen the evidence base, the VMD is funding research into environmental exposure pathways and pet owner behaviours and is working with environment agencies to improve monitoring data.
The VMD is also undertaking an evidence‑based review of distribution categories for veterinary medicines containing fipronil or imidacloprid.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department’s policies of permitting the use of active substances in pesticides that are banned for outdoor agricultural use in veterinary tick and flea treatments.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is taking a range of actions to address the levels of fipronil and imidacloprid being detected in UK waterways.
Through its leadership of the cross‑Government Pharmaceuticals in the Environment Group, the VMD has published a roadmap focusing on improving public awareness and promoting responsible use and disposal of topical flea and tick treatments.
To strengthen the evidence base, the VMD is funding research into environmental exposure pathways and pet owner behaviours and is working with environment agencies to improve monitoring data.
The VMD is also undertaking an evidence‑based review of distribution categories for veterinary medicines containing fipronil or imidacloprid.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding has been allocated to union-led workplace learning in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The previous government ended the standalone Union Learning Fund (ULF) on 31 March 2021. The Adult Skills Fund funds a very broad range of provision, including to support the effective operation of Trade Unions such as for Trade Union Health & Safety Representatives.
The Department is committed to working with employers, providers, and trade unions to ensure that high quality qualification and training pathways are meeting skills needs.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of redundancies in higher education in the last year.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government greatly values the hard work of staff across the higher education (HE) sector who continue to deliver for students and universities during what is a challenging period.
We are aware that some providers are making difficult decisions around staffing to safeguard their financial sustainability.
Given that universities are independent, the government does not have a role in intervening with specific providers in pay and staffing matters, nor does it collect specific data on redundancies within HE.
We encourage providers to work constructively with their staff to develop sustainable models that retain talent and expertise, and provide stability for the workforce and the institution.
We are committed to putting our world-leading universities onto a secure financial footing so they can face the challenges of the next decade. Our decision to raise tuition fees annually in line with inflation, alongside refocusing the Office for Students on monitoring the sector’s financial health, demonstrates this commitment.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of tuition fee-based funding model for higher education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Around £10.8 billion in tuition fee loans administered by the Student Loans Company were paid directly to higher education providers in the 2024/25 financial year.
To provide long-term funding certainty for the sector, so that it can focus on reform, we will increase tuition fee caps for all higher education providers in line with forecast inflation of 2.71% in 2026/27 and 2.68% in 2027/28 and then legislate when parliamentary time allows to increase tuition fee caps automatically for future years.
We expect the sector to demonstrate that, in return for the increased investment that we are asking students to make, they deliver the best outcomes for those students and the country.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of university fee income is derived from international students in each of the last five years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. These data are shared with the department and includes a wide range of information on UK higher education providers (HEPs), including the income they receive through tuition fees.
Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, the proportion of HE tuition fee income that is attributed to international students in UK HE has steadily increased from 39% in 2019/20 to 47% in 2023/24.
The below table shows international tuition fee income as a proportion of total tuition fee income for UK HEPs:
Academic year | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
International tuition fee income as a proportion of total tuition fee income (sector) | 39% (£8.2 billion) | 39% (£8.8 billion) | 43% (£10.4 billion) | 46% (£12.1 billion) | 47% (£12.7 billion) |
HESA university finance data returns for the 2024/25 academic year are not complete therefore have not been included.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the financial return to the economy of public investment in higher education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Research by London Economics estimates that teaching and learning activities provided by the UK higher education (HE) sector generated £94.8 billion, which was equivalent to an average £13 return for every £1 of public investment in 2021/22. The combined research and knowledge exchange activities of UK universities generated a total economic impact of approximately £62.84 billion. This equates to an average of £9.90 for every £1 invested. Spending by UK HE providers also produces indirect effects, positively impacting the economy.