Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of charging VAT on Community Interest Companies (CICs) carrying out health support services on the ability of (a) employees of CICs to feasibly continue their work into the future and (b) families who rely on the services of CICs for the care of their loved ones to continue to afford such services.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Supplies of welfare services, including the provision of care for people with permanent disabilities and dementia, are exempt from VAT if they are supplied by eligible bodies, such as public bodies or charities.
Because community interest companies (CICs) are not charities in law, they must meet the criteria of being state-regulated in order to provide VAT-exempt care services. This is to ensure that the VAT relief is carefully targeted at private providers offering safe and high-quality welfare services.
The Government recognises that there are private organisations that bring value to the care sector without being regulated, but extending the VAT relief to include these would have to be carefully balanced against the risks that it poses.
More generally, VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 a respiratory modern Service Framework on winter pressures on the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and will then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery. Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia.
The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks, including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. There has not, therefore, been a specific assessment made in relation to winter pressures.
NHS England, working with the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and other partners, took action to reduce the impact of respiratory conditions on the National Health Service during the winter of 2025/26. Further details of the actions taken to reduce demand on acute services during winter is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consideration his Department has given to the potential role of a respiratory Modern Service Framework in reducing winter pressures on the NHS by improving outcomes for long-term respiratory conditions and short-term respiratory illnesses such as flu.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and will then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery. Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia.
The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks, including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. There has not, therefore, been a specific assessment made in relation to winter pressures.
NHS England, working with the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and other partners, took action to reduce the impact of respiratory conditions on the National Health Service during the winter of 2025/26. Further details of the actions taken to reduce demand on acute services during winter is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
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 improve access to speech and language therapy for people with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA), particularly for people who are linguistically and ethnically diverse.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
The Government is committed to improving care for everyone with dementia, including those with primary progressive aphasia, which is why we have funded the work of the Dementia 100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for busy system leaders and will help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.
A number of experts, including those with expertise in speech and language therapy and dementia care, provided independent, desktop analysis of the tool, and this invaluable feedback was integrated into the tool. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool can be found at the following link:
NHS England has published a guide which aims to help health and social care workers provide dementia care which corresponds to the needs and wishes of people from a wide range of ethnic groups, especially minority ethnic groups. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/intercultural-dementia-care-guide/
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 co-ordinate the Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia with the Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Frailty and Dementia. This will be complemented by an MSF for Palliative Care and End of Life Care. Together these MSFs will drive rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. We are committed to publishing an interim product for the MSF for Frailty and Dementia in September this year to feed into National Health Service and local government planning cycles, and will aim to publish the full MSF by the end of this calendar year as recommended by Baroness Casey.
The MSF for Palliative Care and End of Life Care, with a planned publication date of Autumn 2026, will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life, including those living with dementia, and will enable integrated care boards to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. We are committed to publishing an interim product for the Palliative Care and End of Life Care in Spring.
We intend to engage with a range of partners over the coming months to enable us to build frameworks which are both ambitious and practical, to ensure we can improve system performance for people with dementia both now and in the future. The teams responsible for the MSFs are working together to ensure alignment and co-ordination.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has considered the potential merits of providing funding for speech therapy for those suffering from primary progressive aphasia.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include speech and language therapy. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 the accuracy and consistency of coding practices for young onset dementia across health systems.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To strengthen both local and national insight into dementia care, enable clearer benchmarking, and support the delivery of more timely, targeted, and person-centred support, NHS England continues to monitor the monthly dementia diagnosis rate and analyse trends at national, regional, and integrated care board level. The commitment to recover diagnosis rates to the national ambition, of 66.7%, remains in place, ensuring identification and appropriate support for people living with dementia.
The national ambition to ensure that two-thirds of people estimated to have dementia receive a formal diagnosis includes ensuring provision of a validated diagnosis of dementia subtype.
In addition, NHS England is actively looking to improve the clinical utility and relevance of dementia data reporting. This includes:
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with young onset dementia have received a care plan review in the most recent period for which data is available in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not hold data for the Yeovil constituency centrally. In England, 369,635, or 72.4%, of those with a recorded diagnosis of dementia on 28 February 2026 received a care plan or care plan review in the preceding 12 months. This information is found in the Primary Care Dementia Data, published at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/primary-care-dementia-data
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 those suffering from primary progressive aphasia.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include speech and language therapy. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
The Government is committed to improving care for everyone with dementia, including those with Primary Progressive Aphasia, which is why we have funded the work of the Dementia 100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for busy system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.
A number of experts, including those with expertise in speech and language therapy and dementia care, provided independent, desktop analysis of the tool, and this invaluable feedback was integrated into the tool. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available for those suffering from primary progressive aphasia.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include speech and language therapy. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
The Government is committed to improving care for everyone with dementia, including those with Primary Progressive Aphasia, which is why we have funded the work of the Dementia 100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for busy system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.
A number of experts, including those with expertise in speech and language therapy and dementia care, provided independent, desktop analysis of the tool, and this invaluable feedback was integrated into the tool. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool can be found at the following link: