Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 that medical students remain in the (a) UK and (b) medical profession after graduation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to listening to the concerns of resident doctors, and to enhancing and improving their working lives.
We are undertaking a range of work to tackle the issues that resident doctors are facing, including improving working conditions and reforming the current system of rotations and placements, working in partnership with the British Medical Association and other partners, as agreed as part of the pay deal last year.
NHS England’s Enhancing Resident Doctors Working Lives programme continues to implement a number of measures to support resident doctors, encouraging them to stay in training and the National Health Service. This includes measures such as less than full time training options, to allow trainees to continue to work in the service and progress with their training on a reduced working pattern, where this benefits their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 mental health support for residents in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health and that people can be confident of accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.
Nationally, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out “Young Futures hubs” in every community.
In addition, people of all ages who are in crisis or who are concerned about a family or loved one can now call 111, select the mental health option, and speak to a trained mental health professional. National Health Service staff can guide callers with next steps such as organising face-to-face community support or facilitating access to alternative services, like crisis cafés or safe havens, which provide a place for people to stay as an alternative to accident and emergency or a hospital admission. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICB) to commission care to meet the needs of their local population.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 merits of providing local authorities longer-term public health funding.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the upcoming Spending Review, we will aim to issue multi-year public health grant allocations to local authorities from 2026/27. We recognise that multi-year funding settlements for councils provide several benefits, enabling them to focus on delivering outcomes in a stable environment rather than managing budget uncertainties. In addition, 93% of respondents in a Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (Solace) survey stated that they believe multi-year settlements would support economic prosperity.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support unpaid carers in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people.
The Government is committed to giving families the support that they need. I recently met with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets in the Department for Business and Trade, and the Minister of State for Social Security and Disability in the Department for Work and Pensions to look at how we can work together more closely to support unpaid carers.
The Government has already taken steps to support unpaid carers. From April 2025 we are increasing the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196. This means carers can earn up to £10,000 a year whilst still retaining Carer's Allowance; this is approximately an additional £2,000 a year.
The Accelerating Reform Fund’s (ARF) second tranche of funding worth £22.6 million for 2024/25 has also been released. More than half of the ARF projects, and at least one in each integrated care system area are focussed on identifying, recognising and supporting unpaid carers.
The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why we are launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.
The Commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 innovate the delivery of public health services in rural areas.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Upper tier local authorities have a statutory duty to take steps to improve the health of local people. Under this duty, local authorities commission a range of public health services and are responsible for determining the most effective approaches to the delivery of these services taking account of different local needs, including the needs of rural areas.
In 2025/26, we will provide funding of £3.858 billion to local authorities for their public health duty, through the Public Health Grant and the 100% retained business rate arrangement for local authorities in Greater Manchester. This is a cash increase of £198 million, an average 5.4% cash increase and 3.0% real-terms increase compared to 2024/25.
NHS England is responsible for commissioning further specified public health services, including national immunisation and screening programmes, under a statutory delegation from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and informed by the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Working with NHS Integrated Care Boards, commissioning of these services should also take account of local needs, including the different urban and rural characteristics of communities.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many local authorities reported an (a) underspend and (b) overspend on public health grants in the last five financial years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities must account for the full allocated Public Health Grant and must accrue any money that is not committed to a ring-fenced reserve. These reserves serve an important purpose, for example to support strategic changes which may involve a one-off change in spending patterns, or as provision against future spending plans. The following table shows the movement of public health reserve levels as reported by each local authority from 2019/20 to 2023/24:
Movement of reserve levels | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Decreased reserves | 73 | 11 | 21 | 58 | 83 |
Increased reserves | 50 | 110 | 101 | 69 | 45 |
Source: local authority revenue outturn data, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing
Notes:
Local authorities do not report underspends on the Public Health Grant.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 support local authorities with the impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on public health contracts.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In determining Public Health Grant allocations for 2025/26, we considered a range of cost pressures affecting local authority commissioned or provided health services, including increased operational costs. 2025/26 Public Health Grant allocations have been increased by an average of 5.4% relative to 2024/25.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 adequacy of Public Health Grants in rural areas.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In line with the Government’s Health Mission, our goal is to create a more equitable healthcare system that leaves no person or community behind.
The government recognises the health inequalities faced by rural communities in England, particularly around access to healthcare services.
In response, we are working closely across the department, with NHS England (NHSE), and regional Directors of Public Health (DPHs) to develop approaches that address these inequalities. The Department supports statutory Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in delivering National Health Services across England. ICSs are partnerships of organisations which come together to plan and deliver joined up health and care services, this includes considering adequate healthcare provision for populations in rural and remote areas.
The local authority Public Health Grant, including funding for the ten Greater Manchester authorities through a business rate retention arrangement is £3.858 billion in 2025/26. This is an increase of 5.4% in cash terms, 3% in real terms, compared to 2024/25. On average, funding for the most deprived local authorities is more than two times greater than that for the least deprived.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 the long-term sustainability of air ambulance charities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports the longstanding independent air ambulance charities model for the successful operation of helicopter emergency medical services in England, including through the training and provision of National Health Service clinicians.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 help to improve training in the use of automated external defibrillators in rural areas.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the fund.
The Department selected a joint bid from Smarter Society as its independent partners to manage grant applications. Smarter Society has reviewed funding applications, against requirements specified by the Department. These requirements were to ensure that resources are allocated where there is the greatest need, for instance remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest, including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.
As part of the Department’s requirements, the defibrillators are suitable for use by untrained persons. The Mindray C1A Defibrillator, a fully automated device suitable for use by untrained persons, are the AEDs provided by Smarter Society in partnership with London Hearts charity.
The Department has continued its partnership with Smarter Society, who managed the grant applications on our behalf, with London Hearts supplying the AEDs. London Hearts is the leading heart defibrillator charity in the United Kingdom, supporting communities with the provision of life saving heart defibrillators and teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillator skills.
NHS England has partnered with St John Ambulance to co-ordinate skills development to significantly increase the use of AEDs by individuals in community settings. This includes a national network of Community Advocates to champion the importance of first aid, training 60,000 people that will help save up to 4,000 lives each year by 2028.