Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason he plans to reduce the allocation of NHS funding for mental health services in 2025-26.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are determined to transform NHS mental health services, with a shift to prevention and earlier intervention. Spending on mental health support will increase relative to 2024/25 and is forecast to amount to £15.6 billion in 2025/26. That is an increase of £688 million in cash terms.
All integrated care boards are expected to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS) in 2025/26 by increasing their investment in mental health services in line with their overall increase in funding for the year.
Mental health’s share of total National Health Service spend has fallen slightly by 0.07% in 2025/26 as a result of increased investment in other areas, for example in bringing down waiting lists for elective operations and additional investment in general practice. While elective and GP investment is not included in mental health funding, mental wellbeing is a biopsychosocial phenomenon and this funding is also likely to impact positively on mental health outcomes.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) data and (b) other information his Department used to inform public health (i) policies and (ii) campaigns related to reducing alcohol consumption in the development of the NHS 10 Year Plan; from which (A) individuals and (B) organisations that information was sourced; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of (1) impartiality and (2) scientific robustness of those sources.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The impact statement of the 10-Year Health Plan will be published in full shortly. This document explains the rationale for, and potential effects of, a number of measures outlined in the plan, including references to the relevant evidence.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
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 meet the World Health Organisation’s vaccination target for the human papillomavirus vaccine.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In March 2025, NHS England published the Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 –for England, which outlines how the National Health Service will improve uptake and coverage across human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cervical screening. This is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cervical-cancer-elimination-by-2040-plan-for-england/
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors uptake of HPV vaccination nationally, regionally and by local authority and publishes annual reports at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#hpv-vaccine-uptake
While HPV vaccination uptake rates in England have been very high, vaccine coverage by cohort has been steadily declining since the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2023 to 2024 academic year, this decline appeared to be stabilising.
NHS-commissioned School Aged Immunisation Service providers have robust catch-up plans in place for the adolescent HPV vaccination programme based on population need, to offer vaccination to those young people who may have missed out at the point of initial offer.
UKHSA works closely with charities and academics to develop resources that can be used to raise awareness of HPV and the importance of vaccination including for boys. NHS England has improved digital communications on vaccinations, including expanding the NHS app, and has improved access to the HPV vaccine outside of schools through community clinics at convenient times and locations.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
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 support people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in Woking constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services for their local population, including for multiple sclerosis (MS). The Government expects ICBs, including the Surrey Heartlands ICB, which covers the Woking constituency, to assess the demand for service provision in designing their local services.
There are initiatives to support better care for patients with neurological conditions, such as MS, across England, including in the Woking constituency. These include the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, which aims to improve MS care by supporting the National Health Service to address variations in care and by promoting best practice.
The Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit, published by NHS England’s RightCare Programme, supports healthcare systems in improving the care of individuals living with progressive neurological conditions, including MS. It aims to enhance local services and reduce hospital admissions by focusing on preventative care and optimising the delivery of services.
NHS England’s Neurology Transformation Programme (NTP) is a multi-year programme to develop a new model of integrated care for neurology services. The NTP has collaborated with clinicians and patient groups to create specific pathways for MS, aiming to improve the quality and coordination of care.
NHS England is also updating its Specialised Neurology service specification, which includes MS. Service specifications define the standards of care expected from organisations funded by NHS England to provide specialised care.
Our 10-Year Health Plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed, to move healthcare from the hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from treatment to prevention. We also plan to publish our refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver a transformed health service over the next decade and to treat patients wherever they live in England, including those with MS, on time again.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is his Department taking to reduce inequalities in uptake of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus maternal vaccination programme by (a) region, (b) ethnicity and (c) socioeconomic background.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) monitoring of programme uptake by ethnicity and region is a key tool in identifying disparities in uptake across diverse populations. UKHSA has prepared respiratory syncytial virus antenatal vaccine information leaflets in over 30 languages, and in other formats, to support programme accessibility and reduce inequalities. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv-maternal-vaccination
An update to UKHSA’s Immunisation Equity Strategy is forthcoming and will support action to ensure that everyone can access vaccination at the right time, irrespective of where they live, their ethnicity and their socioeconomic background. The current Immunisation Inequalities Strategy can be found on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phe-immunisation-inequalities-strategy
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for new specialist mental health crisis centres in Surrey.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Individuals experiencing a mental health crisis in Surrey can access support 24/7 through the Mental Health Crisis Helpline, operated by the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The service is staffed by trained professionals who provide immediate advice, support, and signposting to a range of community services.
There are five Safe Havens across Surrey that provide out-of-hours help and support to individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis or emotional distress. Each Safe Haven is staffed by a mental health practitioner from the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and two trained Safe Haven workers. Peer support from people with lived experience of mental health issues is also increasingly available.
At a national level, substantial progress has been achieved in building more robust crisis care pathways across all ages and in all regions, ensuring that people in a mental health crisis can receive the right care.
As part of this, the Government has committed £26 million in capital investment to support people in a mental health crisis, including opening new mental health crisis centres across England, which aim to provide accessible and responsive care for individuals in a mental health crisis. In addition, we are piloting six 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres which provide support to individuals with severe mental illness, without needing to book an appointment.
People of all ages in England experiencing a mental health crisis can speak to a trained NHS professional at any time of the day via the NHS 111 service. This service gives people the chance to be listened to by a trained member of staff who can help direct them to the right place.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the use of block contracts for radiotherapy services, in the context of (a) recent trends in levels of patient numbers and (b) Lord Darzi's Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England, published in September 2024.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for ensuring that the healthcare needs of local communities are met. These responsibilities include ensuring adequate healthcare provision, care, and wider support for local populations, including in remote and rural areas. This includes radiotherapy treatment. The Government will work to ensure that the best standard of healthcare is available no matter where people live.
Since April 2022, the responsibility for investing in new radiotherapy machines has been with local systems. However, the Government is investing £70 million of central funding to replace outdated radiotherapy machines, to ensure the most advanced treatment is available to patients who need it. There are no current plans to review the use of block contracts for radiotherapy services.
All future spending commitments beyond 2025/26, including this one, will be determined through the next phase of the Spending Review process, which will conclude in June.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has considered providing dedicated capital funding for new (a) MRI and (b) CT scanners for radiotherapy departments.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the reforms needed to return to the 18-week Referral to Treatment (RTT) constitutional standard by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. This will include ensuring the diagnostic capacity, such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners, required to deliver on the standard.
As announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, capital spending is set to increase to £13.6 billion in 2025/26, representing record levels of capital investment into healthcare.
This settlement includes a £1.65 billion capital investment to fund new surgical hubs, diagnostic scanners, and beds, supporting National Health Service performance across secondary and emergency care in 2025/26. Of this, £70 million will fund new radiotherapy machines to improve cancer treatment.
In addition, the Government is backing the NHS with over £4 billion in operational capital in 2025/26, enabling systems to allocate funding to local priorities such as replacement diagnostic and radiotherapy equipment.
All future spending commitments beyond 2025/26 will be determined through the next phase of the Spending Review process.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
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 increase the number of (a) clinical oncologists, (b) therapeutic radiographers, (c) medical physicists and (d) engineers as part of the NHS 10 year plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and those who support our workforce, and how we ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.
Getting the NHS back to working for patients means ending the workforce crisis across the health service. We intend to take a fresh look at the Long Term Workforce Plan, to ensure it fully aligns with the level of ambition and reforms required following the 10-Year Health Plan. Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual NHS trusts.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on ensuring the provision of community pharmacies in new housing developments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served by local pharmacies. Legislation requires PNAs to include consideration of the future need for pharmaceutical services in the area. The Department has published an information pack to support local authorities in preparation of PNAs, which is available at the following link:
Chapter 6 of the information pack provides advice on how future needs, improvement, or better access should be articulated in the PNA, including following any new housing developments. These assessments inform commissioning decisions by integrated care boards.