Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of optometrists on neighbourhood‑level health planning; and whether he considered including optometrists as a listed provider in the Neighbourhood Health Framework.

The Neighbourhood Health Framework outlines the national minimum aims and objectives of Neighbourhood Health Services. It is important that reforms are locally led, as integrated care boards and local authorities are best placed to design services that make sense for their local populations. Local systems can choose to go further than the minimum aims set out in the framework, including in relation to optometry.