Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what annual percentage increases in healthcare demand is the 10 Year Heath Plan based.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 33002 on Asylum: Finance, how many top-up payments have been made to Asylum Support Enablement Cards since 4 July 2024, broken down by week.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the Answer he received on 3 March 2025 to UIN 33002.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Spring Statement 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the funding of the Farming and Countryside Programme on the net number of hectares of farmland farmed in a nature-friendly way.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are increasing the budget for sustainable farming and are investing more than £2.7 billion a year in farming and nature recovery.
Funding for the Environmental Land Management Schemes paid to farmers will increase by 150% from £800 million in 2023/24 to £2 billion by 2028/29.
As a result of the Government’s determination to get more farmers to participate, there are now 50,000 farm businesses and half of all farmed land now managed under our schemes – with more money being spent through these schemes than at any point.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency is taking steps to (a) control and (b) report on the potential risk of toxic contamination from the use of (i) recycled Energy Recovery Facilities incineration ash residue and (ii) Air Pollution Control Residue in building materials.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As was the case when he was Secretary of State for Defra, the ash residue from energy recovery facilities is normally processed into incinerator The bottom ash aggregate (IBAA). IBAA can only be used under the terms of a regulatory position statement (RPS) or a permit issued by the Environment Agency (EA).
The EA have risk assessed the use of IBAA. The RPS sets out placement limitations which allows use of IBAA whilst retaining protection of the environment. If the RPS cannot be met, a site-specific permit and risk assessment is required. Where a permit is issued there is a requirement to report.
Air Pollution Control Residue can only be used as a building material when that material has met the criteria for end-of-waste, which is assessed on a case-by-case basis. This requires that the material must be of no significantly greater risk to the environment or human health than the non-waste-derived equivalent.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 the decision to discontinue the electronic Bed and Capacity Management Systems initiative on (a) A&E waits and (b) patient transfers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The decision not to proceed with stand-alone investment into electronic bed management systems was based on value for money with other investments offering greater benefits for patients.
The Government is committed to returning accident and emergency services to the standards patients rightly expect. Our new urgent and emergency care plan, published on 6 June 2025, sets out a fundamental shift in the approach to urgent and emergency care. It will drive collaboration across the system to deliver improvements for patients this year, backed by nearly £450 million of capital investment.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 there is adequate infrastructure to offer access to treatment for people living with inherited cardiac conditions in the East of England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has a published a national service specification for inherited cardiac conditions. This sets out what guidance should be followed, and the services provided to support diagnosis and treatment of patients with previously undiagnosed cardiac disease. This also includes support to families requiring follow up due to a death from this cause. The specification is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cardiology-inherited-cardiac-conditions.pdf
The national service specification also includes a requirement for specialised inherited cardiac conditions services to investigate suspected cases.
NHS England is currently reviewing this service specification working with a broad range of stakeholders including NHS clinical experts, the Association of Inherited Cardiac Conditions, Cardiomyopathy UK, Heart Valve Voice and the British Heart Foundation.
There are plans for all referrals to the Inherited Cardiac Conditions service in Cambridgeshire to go to Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital. This will operate a specialist centre for Cambridgeshire, with a multi-disciplinary team already in place to support this.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) filled and (b) unfilled full-time equivalent roles there were in each of the NHS regional teams in (i) 2023-24, (ii) 2024-25 and (iii) 2025-26.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table sets out the full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in NHS England’s regional teams as of 30 March 2025:
Directorates / Regions | Budgeted FTE | Staff List FTE | Vacant FTE | Vacancy Rate |
Region - East of England | 804.1 | 650.2 | 153.9 | 19.10% |
Region - London | 1,032.50 | 916.7 | 115.8 | 11.20% |
Region - Midlands | 1,085.70 | 929.7 | 156.1 | 14.40% |
Region - North East & Yorkshire | 844.7 | 759.3 | 85.4 | 10.10% |
Region - North West | 756.6 | 684.7 | 71.9 | 9.50% |
Region - South East | 949.2 | 783.6 | 165.5 | 17.40% |
Region - South West | 710.3 | 621.5 | 88.8 | 12.50% |
Total | 6,183.00 | 5,345.70 | 837.3 | 13.50% |
Source: NHS England
Notes:
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in East England are currently awaiting treatment for inherited cardiac conditions; and if he will make a comparative estimate of the length of waiting times with the rest of the UK.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Inherited cardiac conditions (ICCs) are a group of largely monogenic disorders affecting the heart, its conducting system and vasculature. Waiting times data for ICCs is not available nationally in the Waiting List Minimum Data Set (WLDMS). Diagnosis codes, which could be used to identify patients with ICCs, are not collected in the WLMDS. While treatment codes are collected, there are no individual treatment codes for ICCs that could alternatively be used to identify patients waiting for treatment for an ICC. We are therefore unable to separate patients with an ICC from wider cardiac patients in England at a national or regional level.
The NHS England East of England Cardiac Network team for 2025/26 focuses on improving referral to treatment times across cardiology, improving access to cardiac diagnostics and ensuring patients access the specialists service that is required such as the ICC services across Royal Papworth Hospital and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
We are taking steps to improve access to diagnostic equipment and other services for ICC in East England, including new innovations wherever possible. For example, James Paget University Hospital has piloted a scheme that focuses echocardiograms in heart failure referral pathways. This streamlines echocardiogram waits across all conditions. The scheme is now being planned in Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn and being considered in Milton Keynes University Hospital as well as in Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board.
NHS England is also piloting the ‘Beat to Treat’ programme at Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, which uses handheld, AI assisted echocardiograms in clinic and point of care testing for blood tests that are used to assess for heart failure. This will enable results to be received on the day and will allow for treatment to start at the first clinic appointment. This scheme will improve the accuracy of referrals for echocardiogram, refining the waiting list for this scan across all conditions, including ICC.
There are plans to introduce a single point of access for all referrals to the ICC service in Cambridgeshire, namely Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital. Referrals will be triaged by both teams, to either the Royal Papworth Hospital or Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust element of the service and that there would be a clear standard operating procedure for how this would work and be managed, moving therefore to both sites operating as a joint service for these conditions. A multi-disciplinary team is already in place to support this, as well as access to newer therapies.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 improve access to (a) diagnostic equipment and (b) other services for inherited cardiac conditions in East England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Inherited cardiac conditions (ICCs) are a group of largely monogenic disorders affecting the heart, its conducting system and vasculature. Waiting times data for ICCs is not available nationally in the Waiting List Minimum Data Set (WLDMS). Diagnosis codes, which could be used to identify patients with ICCs, are not collected in the WLMDS. While treatment codes are collected, there are no individual treatment codes for ICCs that could alternatively be used to identify patients waiting for treatment for an ICC. We are therefore unable to separate patients with an ICC from wider cardiac patients in England at a national or regional level.
The NHS England East of England Cardiac Network team for 2025/26 focuses on improving referral to treatment times across cardiology, improving access to cardiac diagnostics and ensuring patients access the specialists service that is required such as the ICC services across Royal Papworth Hospital and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
We are taking steps to improve access to diagnostic equipment and other services for ICC in East England, including new innovations wherever possible. For example, James Paget University Hospital has piloted a scheme that focuses echocardiograms in heart failure referral pathways. This streamlines echocardiogram waits across all conditions. The scheme is now being planned in Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn and being considered in Milton Keynes University Hospital as well as in Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board.
NHS England is also piloting the ‘Beat to Treat’ programme at Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, which uses handheld, AI assisted echocardiograms in clinic and point of care testing for blood tests that are used to assess for heart failure. This will enable results to be received on the day and will allow for treatment to start at the first clinic appointment. This scheme will improve the accuracy of referrals for echocardiogram, refining the waiting list for this scan across all conditions, including ICC.
There are plans to introduce a single point of access for all referrals to the ICC service in Cambridgeshire, namely Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital. Referrals will be triaged by both teams, to either the Royal Papworth Hospital or Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust element of the service and that there would be a clear standard operating procedure for how this would work and be managed, moving therefore to both sites operating as a joint service for these conditions. A multi-disciplinary team is already in place to support this, as well as access to newer therapies.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
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 improve access to new innovations for people living with inherited cardiac conditions in East England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Inherited cardiac conditions (ICCs) are a group of largely monogenic disorders affecting the heart, its conducting system and vasculature. Waiting times data for ICCs is not available nationally in the Waiting List Minimum Data Set (WLDMS). Diagnosis codes, which could be used to identify patients with ICCs, are not collected in the WLMDS. While treatment codes are collected, there are no individual treatment codes for ICCs that could alternatively be used to identify patients waiting for treatment for an ICC. We are therefore unable to separate patients with an ICC from wider cardiac patients in England at a national or regional level.
The NHS England East of England Cardiac Network team for 2025/26 focuses on improving referral to treatment times across cardiology, improving access to cardiac diagnostics and ensuring patients access the specialists service that is required such as the ICC services across Royal Papworth Hospital and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
We are taking steps to improve access to diagnostic equipment and other services for ICC in East England, including new innovations wherever possible. For example, James Paget University Hospital has piloted a scheme that focuses echocardiograms in heart failure referral pathways. This streamlines echocardiogram waits across all conditions. The scheme is now being planned in Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn and being considered in Milton Keynes University Hospital as well as in Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board.
NHS England is also piloting the ‘Beat to Treat’ programme at Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, which uses handheld, AI assisted echocardiograms in clinic and point of care testing for blood tests that are used to assess for heart failure. This will enable results to be received on the day and will allow for treatment to start at the first clinic appointment. This scheme will improve the accuracy of referrals for echocardiogram, refining the waiting list for this scan across all conditions, including ICC.
There are plans to introduce a single point of access for all referrals to the ICC service in Cambridgeshire, namely Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital. Referrals will be triaged by both teams, to either the Royal Papworth Hospital or Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust element of the service and that there would be a clear standard operating procedure for how this would work and be managed, moving therefore to both sites operating as a joint service for these conditions. A multi-disciplinary team is already in place to support this, as well as access to newer therapies.