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, whether his Department plans to issue guidance to Integrated Care Boards on commissioning speech and language therapy services for people with primary progressive aphasia.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving care for everyone with dementia, which is why we have funded the work of Dementia 100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme. This brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool and will help simplify best practice. A number of experts, including those with expertise in speech and language therapy and dementia care, provided independent, desktop analysis of the tool and this invaluable feedback was integrated into the tool. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool can be found at the following link:
We will also deliver the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, which is expected this year. The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.
We are committed to publishing an interim product in September this year to feed into NHS and local government planning cycles, and will aim to publish the full modern service framework by the end of this calendar year as recommended by Baroness Casey.
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 his Department is taking to ensure access to speech and language therapy for people with primary progressive aphasia.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include speech and language therapy. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
Patients can be referred to a speech and language therapist at any time after a diagnosis. The therapist will assess speech, language, and communication difficulties and how they are affecting the patient or making everyday life difficult. They can also help with eating, drinking, and swallowing difficulties.
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, if he will make an estimate of the costs involved in maintaining the building and grounds of Bootham Park Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Bootham Park Hospital site is a Grade I listed heritage asset and therefore requires significant ongoing management. The costs associated with maintaining the buildings and grounds have been £5.5 million since 2018, which covers maintenance, security, and insurance across the site, as well as the upkeep of areas that remain operational, including the chapel used by the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and the work required to maintain safe public access through parts of the site. NHS Property Services continues to progress plans to sell the site, which would bring these ongoing holding costs to an end.
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, whether there is a mechanism in place for Integrated Care Boards to respond to correspondence from Members of Parliament.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are statutory bodies as established under the NHS Act 2006 amended by the Health and Care Act 2022. As such they must follow their own internal governance, accountability, and decision-making requirements. How ICBs follow these requirements when replying to correspondence is managed by the ICB.
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 many (a) new and (b) existing claimants were waiting for a Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment in each month since January 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions prioritises assessments for new claims to minimise waiting times and ensure claimants receive the right benefit entitlement as soon as possible. We are working with suppliers to increase capacity for clearing the backlog of reassessment cases, including by accelerating the recruitment of assessors.
The number of new claimants waiting for a Universal Credit (UC) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) in each month since January 2025 can be found in the table below.
Month | Outstanding UC WCAs |
Jan-25 | 220,000 |
Feb-25 | 220,000 |
Mar-25 | 220,000 |
Apr-25 | 210,000 |
May-25 | 200,000 |
Jun-25 | 210,000 |
Jul-25 | 210,000 |
Aug-25 | 210,000 |
Sep-25 | 210,000 |
Oct-25 | 230,000 |
Nov-25 | 240,000 |
Dec-25 | 250,000 |
The number of existing claimants waiting for an UC WCA in each month since January 2025 can be found in the table below.
Month | Outstanding UC WCAs |
Jan-25 | 89,000 |
Feb-25 | 90,000 |
Mar-25 | 91,000 |
Apr-25 | 92,000 |
May-25 | 92,000 |
Jun-25 | 93,000 |
Jul-25 | 89,000 |
Aug-25 | 88,000 |
Sep-25 | 87,000 |
Oct-25 | 83,000 |
Nov-25 | 81,000 |
Dec-25 | 63,000 |
Please note:
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Vice Chancellors on the impact of Government policy on university finances.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Higher education (HE) providers are independent from government and as such are responsible for managing their finances and ensuring their business models provide long-term sustainability.
However, this government is committed to helping put the HE sector on a secure financial footing so that it 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 (OfS) on monitoring the sector’s financial health, demonstrates this commitment.
Although the OfS is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial sustainability, the government has a strong interest in understanding the sector’s level of risk. My department continues to engage closely with the OfS, other government departments and sector representative groups, as well as individual providers, to better understand the changing financial landscape.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what was the number of redundancies announced in higher education over the past year.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for York Central to the answer of 11 March 2026 to Question 117322.
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 undertaken a review of the tuition fee-based funding model for higher education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government set out its plans for tuition fees as part of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, published on 20 October 2025.
To provide long-term certainty over future funding for the sector so that it can focus on reform, we will increase tuition fee caps for all higher education (HE) providers in line with forecast inflation in 2026/27 and 2027/28 and then legislate when parliamentary time allows to increase tuition fee caps automatically for future academic years.
Maximum fee limits for undergraduate courses in the 2026/27 and 2027/28 academic years will increase by forecast inflation of 2.71% (to £9,790) and 2.68% (to £10,050) respectively, based on the retail price index (exclusive of mortgage interest payments).
In future years, we will link inflationary fee uplifts to judgements on HE providers’ quality and restrict fee income where high quality cannot be demonstrated.
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, what public funding has been allocated to union-led workplace learning in each of the past five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 March 2026 to Question UIN 117323.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review the financial situation of Higher Education institutions.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Higher education (HE) providers are independent from government and as such are responsible for managing their finances and ensuring their business models provide long-term sustainability.
However, this government is committed to helping put the HE sector on a secure financial footing so that it 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 (OfS) on monitoring the sector’s financial health, demonstrates this commitment.
Although the OfS is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial sustainability, the government has a strong interest in understanding the sector’s level of risk. My department continues to engage closely with the OfS, other government departments and sector representative groups, as well as individual providers, to better understand the changing financial landscape.