Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s policy is on the use of minimum waiting times for elective NHS care; and whether he has considered prohibiting the use of such waiting times less than 18 weeks.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As of August 2025, the waiting list had reduced by over 206,000 compared to the start of July 2024 despite over 24.5 million referrals onto the list over this period. Performance against the standard for 92% of patients to start first treatment within 18 weeks of referral was 61.0%, 2.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
There is no formal national policy supporting minimum waits in the National Health Service and no national assessment has been made on the potential impact of minimum waiting. However, the NHS standard contract technical guidance for 2025/26 states that commissioners may choose to include minimum waiting times in Activity Planning Assumptions to ensure delivery of targets within agreed financial allocations. The guidance requires commissioners to consider the equality and quality impacts of their plans on patients and to plan to deliver their wait time targets as set out in the annual Planning Guidance.
Improving value for money and ensuring we are using resources in the most effective manner is a priority for this government. This provision was added to support commissioners in managing activity to ensure they can sustainably manage within their budgets alongside the other requirements set out in the operational planning guidance for 2025/26.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) hold the responsibility and budget for commissioning and delivering elective activity through providers in their local area, they have discretion to design bespoke services that work best for and meet the needs of their local community. The specific information requested on which NHS ICBs use minimum waiting times for elective care; and for what reasons, is not held by the Department.
We will work closely with all systems to ensure they deliver the expected level of improvement in waiting times set out in 2025/26 Planning Guidance.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 minimum waiting times for elective care on patients; and if he will publish clinical advice his Department has received on those waiting times.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As of August 2025, the waiting list had reduced by over 206,000 compared to the start of July 2024 despite over 24.5 million referrals onto the list over this period. Performance against the standard for 92% of patients to start first treatment within 18 weeks of referral was 61.0%, 2.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
There is no formal national policy supporting minimum waits in the National Health Service and no national assessment has been made on the potential impact of minimum waiting. However, the NHS standard contract technical guidance for 2025/26 states that commissioners may choose to include minimum waiting times in Activity Planning Assumptions to ensure delivery of targets within agreed financial allocations. The guidance requires commissioners to consider the equality and quality impacts of their plans on patients and to plan to deliver their wait time targets as set out in the annual Planning Guidance.
Improving value for money and ensuring we are using resources in the most effective manner is a priority for this government. This provision was added to support commissioners in managing activity to ensure they can sustainably manage within their budgets alongside the other requirements set out in the operational planning guidance for 2025/26.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) hold the responsibility and budget for commissioning and delivering elective activity through providers in their local area, they have discretion to design bespoke services that work best for and meet the needs of their local community. The specific information requested on which NHS ICBs use minimum waiting times for elective care; and for what reasons, is not held by the Department.
We will work closely with all systems to ensure they deliver the expected level of improvement in waiting times set out in 2025/26 Planning Guidance.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS Integrated Care Boards use minimum waiting times for elective care; and for what reasons.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As of August 2025, the waiting list had reduced by over 206,000 compared to the start of July 2024 despite over 24.5 million referrals onto the list over this period. Performance against the standard for 92% of patients to start first treatment within 18 weeks of referral was 61.0%, 2.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
There is no formal national policy supporting minimum waits in the National Health Service and no national assessment has been made on the potential impact of minimum waiting. However, the NHS standard contract technical guidance for 2025/26 states that commissioners may choose to include minimum waiting times in Activity Planning Assumptions to ensure delivery of targets within agreed financial allocations. The guidance requires commissioners to consider the equality and quality impacts of their plans on patients and to plan to deliver their wait time targets as set out in the annual Planning Guidance.
Improving value for money and ensuring we are using resources in the most effective manner is a priority for this government. This provision was added to support commissioners in managing activity to ensure they can sustainably manage within their budgets alongside the other requirements set out in the operational planning guidance for 2025/26.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) hold the responsibility and budget for commissioning and delivering elective activity through providers in their local area, they have discretion to design bespoke services that work best for and meet the needs of their local community. The specific information requested on which NHS ICBs use minimum waiting times for elective care; and for what reasons, is not held by the Department.
We will work closely with all systems to ensure they deliver the expected level of improvement in waiting times set out in 2025/26 Planning Guidance.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 deliberately imposed minimum waiting times for elective care on the NHS’s compliance with its constitutional access standards.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As of August 2025, the waiting list had reduced by over 206,000 compared to the start of July 2024 despite over 24.5 million referrals onto the list over this period. Performance against the standard for 92% of patients to start first treatment within 18 weeks of referral was 61.0%, 2.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
There is no formal national policy supporting minimum waits in the National Health Service and no national assessment has been made on the potential impact of minimum waiting. However, the NHS standard contract technical guidance for 2025/26 states that commissioners may choose to include minimum waiting times in Activity Planning Assumptions to ensure delivery of targets within agreed financial allocations. The guidance requires commissioners to consider the equality and quality impacts of their plans on patients and to plan to deliver their wait time targets as set out in the annual Planning Guidance.
Improving value for money and ensuring we are using resources in the most effective manner is a priority for this government. This provision was added to support commissioners in managing activity to ensure they can sustainably manage within their budgets alongside the other requirements set out in the operational planning guidance for 2025/26.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) hold the responsibility and budget for commissioning and delivering elective activity through providers in their local area, they have discretion to design bespoke services that work best for and meet the needs of their local community. The specific information requested on which NHS ICBs use minimum waiting times for elective care; and for what reasons, is not held by the Department.
We will work closely with all systems to ensure they deliver the expected level of improvement in waiting times set out in 2025/26 Planning Guidance.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 policies of other countries permitting poultry shows under biosecure conditions.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on GOV.UK.
Gatherings risk assessments focus on the risk as it relates to birds within Great Britain at the time of assessment. The policies and risk management decisions of other countries do not directly impact our assessment of risk. Context is important as there are differences in industry structure between Great British poultry and poultry in other countries; as well as differences in biosecurity requirements, disease prevalence, migratory pathways and disease control measures.
Each competent authority will need to assess the risk to animal health in their own administrations based on local risk assessments.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 Patients treated more quickly as NHS productivity rises over year, published on 22 September 2025, what estimate he has made of the monetary value of the increased acute sector costs referred to; and if he will provide a breakdown of that expenditure.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service productivity is measured by comparing the amount of healthcare activity delivered, otherwise known as outputs, against the resources used, otherwise known as inputs, over time. To estimate the growth in costs, data is drawn from financial returns submitted by NHS trusts, known as Provider Financial Returns. These returns capture spending across the system. However, certain items that are not directly related to patient care activity, such as one-off or exceptional costs, are excluded to ensure the analysis reflects core service delivery.
To allow for a fair comparison between years, the figures are adjusted to remove the effects of inflation and NHS pay awards. This process, known as “deflation”, ensures that any changes in cost reflect real changes in resource use rather than price increases. This is standard practice in productivity analysis.
Following these adjustments, the estimated increase in acute sector costs between 2023/24 and 2024/25 is £3.0 billion. This figure reflects the additional resources used to support increased activity in acute care settings, such as hospitals.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 Patients treated more quickly as NHS productivity rises over year, published on 22 September 2025, whether NHS pay awards were included in the calculation of cost growth used to measure NHS productivity.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service productivity is measured by comparing the amount of healthcare activity delivered, otherwise known as outputs, against the resources used, otherwise known as inputs, over time. To estimate the growth in costs, data is drawn from financial returns submitted by NHS trusts, known as Provider Financial Returns. These returns capture spending across the system. However, certain items that are not directly related to patient care activity, such as one-off or exceptional costs, are excluded to ensure the analysis reflects core service delivery.
To allow for a fair comparison between years, the figures are adjusted to remove the effects of inflation and NHS pay awards. This process, known as “deflation”, ensures that any changes in cost reflect real changes in resource use rather than price increases. This is standard practice in productivity analysis.
Following these adjustments, the estimated increase in acute sector costs between 2023/24 and 2024/25 is £3.0 billion. This figure reflects the additional resources used to support increased activity in acute care settings, such as hospitals.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 Patients treated more quickly as NHS productivity rises over year, published on 22 September 2025, how the growth in costs used to measure NHS productivity was calculated.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service productivity is measured by comparing the amount of healthcare activity delivered, otherwise known as outputs, against the resources used, otherwise known as inputs, over time. To estimate the growth in costs, data is drawn from financial returns submitted by NHS trusts, known as Provider Financial Returns. These returns capture spending across the system. However, certain items that are not directly related to patient care activity, such as one-off or exceptional costs, are excluded to ensure the analysis reflects core service delivery.
To allow for a fair comparison between years, the figures are adjusted to remove the effects of inflation and NHS pay awards. This process, known as “deflation”, ensures that any changes in cost reflect real changes in resource use rather than price increases. This is standard practice in productivity analysis.
Following these adjustments, the estimated increase in acute sector costs between 2023/24 and 2024/25 is £3.0 billion. This figure reflects the additional resources used to support increased activity in acute care settings, such as hospitals.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 policies of the UK Health Security Agency’s conclusion that the risk to the general public from avian influenza remains very low when determining policy on poultry shows.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. These risk assessments focus on the risk as it relates to birds.
Detailed risk assessments can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many new general practice premises projects are awaiting a valuation by the district valuer; and what the average time taken is to complete such valuations.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
For context, the Valuation Office Agency’s (VOA) District Valuer Services (DVS) provide property advice to NHS bodies in England, including Current Market Rent (CMR) assessments for GP practice premises, under the NHS (General Medical Services - Premises Costs) Directions.
DVS is instructed in accordance with the Directions, to assess the financial value for money aspect of proposed new lease terms including rent for both existing premises and for third-party development schemes. DVS then provide advice to the Integrated Care Board (ICB) who will utilise our advice to consider their wider Value for Money approval including affordability. The length of time taken to complete a case varies depending on case type and complexity, and negotiations with GPs and their advisors.
Instructions of this nature vary considerably. DVS may be asked to provide advice on the CMR based on initial project proposals or alternatively may be asked to review the scheme, seek further details of the proposal and enter into discussions with the parties prior to providing an opinion of CMR. Therefore, the time taken to provide the valuation will vary. As projects progress and are subject to amendment DVS may provide a number of valuations during the instruction period and instructions may be paused at the request of the ICB, depending on wider circumstances.
Instructions are commenced within a short period from date of receipt and progressed in line with client requirements.