Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that AI-based mental health tools do not replace access to human-delivered psychological support where this is clinically appropriate.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is clear that artificial intelligence (AI) based tools must not replace access to human‑delivered psychological support where this is clinically appropriate.
Digital and AI tools can be used to support mental health services and those in need of those services, for example by helping with administrative tasks, triage, or appointment management, and these benefits can enable clinicians to spend more time delivering direct care. However, decisions about treatment and care must always be clinically led and based on individual patient need.
Publicly available AI applications that are not deployed by the National Health Service, such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini, are not regulated as medical technologies and may offer incorrect or harmful information. People experiencing mental health difficulties are strongly encouraged to seek support from qualified professionals through NHS services or trusted charities.
Spending across mental health services, both specialised commissioning and ICB combined, and including learning disability, autism, and dementia, is planned to increase to £20.616 billion in 2025/26, compared to £18.988 billion in 2024/25. Specific funding has also been allocated to expand mental health support in schools to 100% of institutions by 2029/30.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of including a dementia diagnosis pathway in the Modern Service Framework for Dementia and Frailty.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In developing the Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Frailty and Dementia, we are engaging with a wide group of partners to understand what should be included to ensure the best outcomes for people living with frailty and dementia.
We will consider what interventions should be supported to improve diagnosis waiting times, which we know are too long in many areas. We are considering all options to help reduce variation, including reviewing metrics and targets.
We will also review existing guidance and literature, including the Dementia 100 pathway assessment tool, which continues the work of the Dementia Care Pathway and covers all elements of the Well Pathway, including diagnosis.
We are working to develop the content of the framework as soon as possible and we will keep partners updated on progress and timings as this work unfolds. We are committed to publishing an interim product 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.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what appointments they have made to the task and finish groups responsible for developing the modern service frameworks for (1) dementia, and (2) frailty; what meetings those groups have held to date; and when those groups plan to meet next.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework Task and Finish Group is an advisory body to offer insight and guidance, helping to shape the Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia by drawing on expertise from across the health and care system. It will be co-chaired by:
We are unable to confirm the names of others invited to join the task and finish groups at this time, as we are still awaiting confirmation that they have accepted the invite. The first meeting is scheduled for 25 March 2026, and these meetings will occur monthly. We are working to develop the content of the framework as soon as possible and we will keep partners updated on progress and timings as this work unfolds.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what proportion of UKRI and other research council funding was spent on (a) dementia, (b) cancer, (c) stroke and (d) coronary heart disease research in each year between 2019 and 2025.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), supports world‑leading research to accelerate diagnosis, develop treatments and prevent disease.
Details of funding from MRC, as well as other research councils within UKRI, on specific areas is provided in the table below:
| 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | Total |
(a)Dementia* |
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|
MRC | £44m | £54m | £50m | £56m | £65m | £56m | £334m |
Rest of UKRI |
| £29m | £30m | £31m | £32m | £23m | £145m |
Total | £44m | £83m | £81m | £87m | £97m | £88m | £479m |
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(b)Cancer |
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MRC | £68m | £70m | £71m | £106m | £73m | £74m | £462m |
Rest of UKRI | £61m | £81m | £69m | £128m | £143m | £125m | £607m |
Total | £129m | £151m | £140m | £234m | £216m | £199m | £1069m |
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(c)Stoke |
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MRC | £47m | £9m | £21m | £10m | £15m | £20m | £121m |
Rest of UKRI | £6m | £30m | £12m | £31m | £50m | £30m | £148m |
Total | £53m | £39m | £33m | £41m | £65m | £50m | £269m |
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(d) Coronary heart disease |
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MRC | £73m | £18m | £29m | £44m | £32m | £64m | £260m |
Rest of UKRI | £23m | £24m | £25m | £49m | £84m | £55m | £260m |
Total | £96m | £42m | £54m | £93m | £116m | £119m | £520m |
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*'Rest of UKRI' spend figure for 2019/20 is unavailable. For 2024/25, ‘Rest of UKRI’ figure does not include funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 help improve early diagnosis of non-memory led dementias including primary progressive aphasia in Surrey.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A timely diagnosis is vital to ensuring that a person with dementia can access the advice, information, care, and support that can help them to live well and remain independent for as long as possible.
As part of development of the Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia, we will consider what interventions should be supported to improve dementia care and diagnosis waiting times, which we know are too long in many areas. We are considering all options to improve care and help reduce variation, including reviewing metrics and targets.
We remain committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7%. 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.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 adequacy of the support available to people of working age living with dementia including primary progressive aphasia in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of the support available to people of working age living with dementia, including primary progressive aphasia, in the Surrey Heath constituency.
Employers must make reasonable adjustments to make sure workers with disabilities, or physical or mental health conditions, are not substantially disadvantaged when doing their jobs. This applies to all workers, including trainees, apprentices, contract workers, and business partners.
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: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 help increase the availability of speech and language therapists supporting people living with dementia in Surrey Heath constituency.
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 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: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 help improve support for people living with primary progressive aphasia and other language led dementias in Surrey Heath constituency.
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 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: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 help ensure access to speech and language therapy for people diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia in Surrey Heath constituency.
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 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: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her Department’s Eastern Neighbourhood Small Projects Programme, whether any of the people supported by the project entitled Social care and dementia support to Jewish communities in Belarus are British citizens.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK does not provide funding to the Belarusian regime. Assistance in Belarus is delivered through our Embassy in Minsk and is focused on supporting vulnerable people and communities who have limited or no access to alternative charitable support. Such projects are small scale and humanitarian in nature. The Hon Member can find details of all programmes supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) at the Development Tracker website on GOV.UK.