Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the risk that unpaid carers may have acquired criminal convictions as a result of DWP system failures rather than deliberate fraud.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government inherited a system where some busy carers, already struggling under a huge weight of caring responsibilities, have found themselves with unexpected debts due to earnings-related overpayments of Carer’s Allowance which they were asked to pay back. This only affected some of the relatively small number of Carer’s Allowance claimants who also do paid work, but the impact on some of these unpaid carers has been significant.
Liz Sayce OBE led an Independent Review into the matter. The Review’s report, which we published on 25 November 2025, alongside the Government’s response, has been invaluable in assessing how these overpayments have arisen; what can be done to support unpaid carers who have incurred debts in the past; and how further overpayments can be minimised in future.
The Review has shown that some mistakes were made, and we are determined to put them right. The Government has welcomed the report and is accepting or partially accepting 38 out of the 40 recommendations. In some cases, the changes the report is asking for have already been made. Others will take more time to put in place.
The department agrees the guidance on averaging earnings between 2015 and summer 2025 did not accurately reflect the statutory position with respect to those with fluctuating earnings. That is why we are putting steps in place to run a reassessment exercise. This exercise will begin later this year, and we will communicate details on how this will work in due course.
The department does not routinely publish data at a benefit level linked to benefit fraud prosecutions. However, data on the volume of prosecutions since 2015, where published, can be found in their respective Annual Report available here: DWP annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK. For example, for the 2024/25 figures see page 114 in the Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 ensure consistent implementation of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance by Integrated Care Boards across England.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service commissioners have a statutory responsibility to make funding available for a medicine or treatment recommended in a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal (TA) or highly specialised technology evaluation within the timeframe recommended in that guidance, usually within three months of the publication of NICE’s final guidance. The Innovation Scorecard reports on the use of medicines and medical technologies which have received a positive recommendation within the last five years by NICE; it can be used by local NHS organisations to monitor progress in implementing NICE TA recommendations. The Estimates Report provides a comparison of expected uptake to the actual volume of medicines used in the NHS in England.
Additionally, as part of commitments made in the 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth, NHS England agreed to the development of a local formulary national minimum dataset to increase visibility of local variation in the implementation of NICE guidance, identify where variation in local formularies may be creating barriers to access and to provide assurance to NHS England when a NICE recommended treatment has been listed on a local formulary.
Furthermore, the 10-Year Health Plan for England set out a commitment to move towards a Single National Formulary (SNF) for medicines within the next two years. Over time, an SNF is expected to replace local formulary processes and will be designed to help address inequity and variation in the use of approved medicines; helping to ensure every patient has equitable access to medicines, and that the same medicines are available to patients in an equitable way, in all parts of the country. Work is already underway to deliver the SNF through a phased approach. NHS England will work collaboratively with key stakeholders including NICE and industry throughout the implementation.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 variation between Integrated Care Boards in the availability of Xonvea; and whether he plans to issue further advice or guidance to Integrated Care Boards to help improve access.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of access to medication to treat nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, and hyperemesis gravidarum. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on antenatal care includes guidance on the advantages and disadvantages of the range of pharmacological treatments for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy to support shared decision making.
Whilst no specific assessment has been made, the Department recognises that there is currently regional variation in the availability of certain medicines like Xonvea between integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs are responsible for developing local formularies setting out the use of medicines for their local populations, informed by national guidance on clinical effectiveness. This can lead to variation with different local areas taking different decisions to reflect the needs of their local population.
This is why we are progressing the Single National Formulary (SNF), as announced in our 10-Year Health Plan which set out a commitment to move towards a SNF for medicines within the next two years. Over time, an SNF is expected to replace local formulary processes and will be designed to help address inequity and variation in the use of approved medicines; helping to ensure every patient has equitable access to medicines, and that the same medicines are available to patients in an equitable way, in all parts of the country. Work is already underway to deliver the SNF through a phased approach. NHS England will work collaboratively with key stakeholders including NICE and industry throughout the implementation.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 15 September (HL10372), what estimate they have made of the (1) initial, and (2) ongoing, costs of complying with the phase three food labelling requirements under the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government considered the practical and cost impacts of Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme Phase Three labelling requirements through detailed conversations with industry. However, based on previous experience showing the difficulty of accurately estimating labelling costs due to variability in business practices, we did not seek to quantify Phase Three cost estimates prior to it commencing. The data in the Impact Assessment on the costs of GB-Wide ‘Not for EU’ labelling published alongside the Marking of Retail Goods Regulations provides some context, however.
Businesses have already successfully carried out Phase Three, and we continue to monitor the market and work closely with industry across the United Kingdom to implement the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 15 September (HL10371), what estimate they have made of the (1) initial, and (2) ongoing, costs of complying with the phase three food labelling requirements under the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government considered the practical and cost impacts of Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme Phase Three labelling requirements through detailed conversations with industry. However, based on previous experience showing the difficulty of accurately estimating labelling costs due to variability in business practices, we did not seek to quantify Phase Three cost estimates prior to it commencing. The data in the Impact Assessment on the costs of GB-Wide ‘Not for EU’ labelling published alongside the Marking of Retail Goods Regulations provides some context, however.
Businesses have already successfully carried out Phase Three, and we continue to monitor the market and work closely with industry across the United Kingdom to implement the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
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 made of the potential merits of providing parity in pay and conditions between primary care nursing staff and their Agenda for Change colleagues in the NHS.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring the general practice nursing workforce is sustainable, supported and valued for the work they do.
The Government looks to the independent pay review bodies for a pay recommendation for National Health Service staff, including both contractor and salaried general practitioners (GPs). They consider a range of evidence from organisations including the Government, the NHS and trade unions to reach their recommendations.
The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay. As with the previous year, we accepted the DDRB’s pay recommendation. We provided an increase to core funding for practices to allow this 4% pay uplift, on top of the provisional 2.8% uplift already provided, to be passed on to salaried and contractor GPs. The additional funding also allows for pay uplifts for other salaried general practice staff, including nurses. We expect GP contractors to implement pay rises to other practice staff in line with the uplift in funding they have received.
As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is up to general practices how they distribute pay and benefits to general practice nurses and other staff. General practice contractual arrangements do not place any specific obligations on practices regarding general practice nurse terms and conditions.
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in general practice to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, representing the biggest cash increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget overall.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what reason (a) the number of staff and (b) staff costs have increased at the Financial Reporting Council since April 2017.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has taken on several new responsibilities following its (2016) designation as competent authority for audit, and additional work resulting from the UK's exit from the European Union. These include the registration of additional third country auditors, a new programme of assessing third country audit regulatory equivalence and adequacy, and supporting agreements on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications. The FRC has also put extra resource into the supervision of audits and expediting enforcement proceedings.
Staff costs have increased in direct proportion to the increase in headcount.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for the Access to Work scheme; and whether he plans to increase that funding.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of Access to Work and how to improve the scheme so that it helps more disabled people in work. We are considering all aspects of the scheme as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation.
We have recently concluded (November) the Access to Work Collaboration Committees, in which we engaged with a range of stakeholders, including disabled people’s organisation representatives and lived experience users, to provide discussion, experience, and challenge to the design of the future Access to Work Scheme.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practice (a) closures and (b) mergers there have been in (i) Brighton Pavilion constituency and (ii) the Brighton and Hove local authority area since 2016.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the number of general practice closures and mergers that there have been in the Brighton Pavilion constituency and the Brighton and Hove local authority area since 2016. This data is held by the NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's transparency data entitled Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts: Data for July to September 2025 for all departments, published on 25 December 2025, for what reason Tackling Economic Inequality is a Key Performance Indicator for the contract entitled NHSmail Collaboration Licensing Platform that is supplied by Accenture (UK) Limited.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The inclusion of Tackling Economic Inequality as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for NHS England’s NHSmail Collaboration Licensing Platform contract reflects the Government’s Social Value Model, introduced to ensure that public procurement delivers wider economic and social benefits alongside core contractual outcomes. Further information is available at the following link:
As for every procurement, NHS England selected the most appropriate Social Value Theme from those set out in the above guidance, based on the subject matter of the contract. In this case, Tackling Economic Inequality was chosen. This theme encompasses measures that promote economic opportunity, support skills and employment, and encourage innovation and productivity across supply chains.
Each Social Value Theme in turn contains detailed Model Award Criteria, and for this contract NHS England applied:
The KPI was included to ensure those commitments are monitored transparently. This is consistent with the Government’s requirement to publish KPIs for its most important contracts, as part of strengthening accountability and transparency in public procurement.