Written questions by Dance.

What assessment he has made of the potential health impact of air pollution in Yeovil constituency on young residents.

It is well established that children can be more vulnerable to air pollution, which may affect their lungs and worsen conditions like asthma.In March, the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants reviewed the latest evidence and advised that children with asthma should continue to be considered in the Daily Air Quality Index. A full list of its recommendations is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-given-to-the-air-quality-information-system-aqis-review-steering-groupLocal authorities have a duty to monitor and review air quality in their areas. Annual reports with details of the monitoring carried out, as well as actions that are being taken to improve air quality in the Somerset area, including Yeovil, are available at the following link:https://www.somerset.gov.uk/environment-and-food-safety/air-quality-and-health/The Environment Agency manages the United Kingdom's national monitoring sites on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.

What assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of the availability and (b) trends in the level of use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines.

The Department of Health and Social Care has not made an assessment of the availability or trends in the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines in the NHS.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides national guidance and advice to improve health. This includes advice on use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines.

What steps he is taking to improve access to support for people with anxiety in Yeovil constituency.

The NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board is responsible for commissioning services to meet the mental health needs of the people in Yeovil.People with anxiety can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies or their general practitioner can refer them. NHS Talking Therapies offer evidence-based psychological therapies to help with common mental health problems such as anxiety.Nationally, the Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services by hiring more staff, delivering more talking therapies, and getting waiting lists down. We are delivering on our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers for children and adults by the end of this Parliament.  6,700 of these workers have been recruited since July 2024, meaning we are more than halfway towards our target.

What steps he is taking to reduce the prevalence of alcohol-related illnesses in Yeovil constituency.

The NHS Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon, and Gloucestershire Cancer Alliance is supporting liver services in these regions by ensuring that sufficient ultrasound capacity is available to provide six-monthly liver surveillance to people with cirrhosis and advanced fibrosis and by establishing robust call and recall systems within each provider to track and invite those eligible for liver surveillance to attend appointments. The alliance is also ensuring that those who qualify for ultrasound appointments are included on liver surveillance registers. In addition to funding through the Public Health Grant, in 2025/26, the Department is providing Somerset County Council with £2,101,277 from the Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant and the Individual Placement and Support Grant to help improve alcohol and drug treatment and recovery support, which includes housing and employment. All funding is provided at the Somerset level, and it is for Somerset County Council to determine how to meet the needs in Yeovil.The Department has several analytical tools to help local authorities understand local need. This includes a publication of estimates of the number of alcohol dependent adults in each local authority in England and fingertips published data on alcohol and alcohol related conditions, including mortality and hospital admissions at a regional level. This is alongside a collection of alcohol and drug misuse prevention, treatment, and recovery guidance to support commissioners, service providers, and others providing alcohol and drug interventions. The Department has also developed the first ever United Kingdom clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment which are expected to be published in the next few months. The aim of the guidelines is to promote and support good practice and improve the quality of service provision.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of prescribing medical cannabis as a treatment for the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

No assessment has been made by the Department of the potential merits of prescribing medical cannabis as a treatment for symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Where there are demonstrated therapeutic effects, we would expect manufactures to apply to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for a marketing authorisation (licence) for their medicines, to enable prescribers to be confident of the medicine’s quality, safety and effectiveness.Assessment by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) would then precede any routine prescribing on the NHS.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of mandating digital prescribing for medical cannabis.

Cannabis-based products for medicinal use are Schedule 2 controlled drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. Electronic prescribing of Schedule 2 and 3 Controlled Drugs in NHS primary care settings has been operational since 2019.It is mandatory for electronic prescriptions for controlled drugs in Schedules 2 and 3 to be sent using an advanced electronic signature and sent via the NHS Electronic Prescribing Service as part of enhanced security measures.There are no current plans to make legislative changes to enable similar systems in private healthcare to prescribe Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Ten Year Health Plan on community hospital bed provision in Yeovil constituency.

Our 10-Year Health Plan is creating a National Health Service truly fit for the future, keeping patients healthy and out of hospital, with care closer to home and in the home.An impact statement for the plan will be published shortly.

With reference to the 10 Year Health Plan for England, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of neighbourhood health centres on the provision of community hospital services in Yeovil constituency.

On 3 July 2025, the Government announced the 10-Year Health Plan and set out its vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service to bring care into local communities, transform access to health services, and prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.Neighbourhood Health Centres will play a key role in realising this vision and transforming healthcare access by bringing historically hospital-based services into communities and addressing wider determinants of health in communities across the country, including in places like Yeovil.On 21 July 2025, I wrote to Members of Parliament highlighting that the Department and NHS England have written to integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities to invite applications from local places to participate in the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme.

What assessment the has made of the adequacy of the 1.68% uplift to the practice expenses element of the NHS dental contract in 2023-24, in the context of changes to the costs of running a dental practice.

The pay elements of the 2024/25 National Health Service contracts for general dental practitioners and salaried dentists were all uplifted by 6%, in line with the independent Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration’s recommendations. The overall contract value was uplifted by 4.64%, net of pay and expense elements. Uplifted payments were backdated to 1 April 2024.Whilst no specific assessment of adequacy has been carried out, the use of a gross domestic product deflator for expenses was consistent with other areas across the NHS, including for general practitioners and ophthalmology.

What proportion of the NHS budget was allocated to primary care NHS dentistry excluding patient charge revenue in each financial year since 2010-11; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of the NHS budget that will be allocated to primary care NHS dentistry excluding patient charge revenue in each year from 2026-27 until 2029-30.

Prior to 2023/24 there was no specific dental budget allocation, as dentistry formed part of a wider budget which included community pharmacy and optometry. Since 2023/24, there has been a specific dental ringfence allocation for integrated care boards. This includes primary, secondary, and community dentistry and is set net of patient charges. The following table shows the dental budget as a proportion of the total National Health Service budget in each of the last two years:YearProportion of NHS budget2023/242.17%2024/252.12%Note: the figure for 2025/2026 is not yet confirmed. The details of budget allocations within each Government department for future years is still being determined. The Department is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans. This includes preparing for the first multi-year planning round for the NHS in more than half a decade, which will give local leaders the certainty they need to deliver.

How much funding his Department plans to provide for NHS dentistry in each of the next three financial years.

Prior to 2023/24 there was no specific dental budget allocation, as dentistry formed part of a wider budget which included community pharmacy and optometry. Since 2023/24, there has been a specific dental ringfence allocation for integrated care boards. This includes primary, secondary, and community dentistry and is set net of patient charges. The following table shows the dental budget as a proportion of the total National Health Service budget in each of the last two years:YearProportion of NHS budget2023/242.17%2024/252.12%Note: the figure for 2025/2026 is not yet confirmed. The details of budget allocations within each Government department for future years is still being determined. The Department is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans. This includes preparing for the first multi-year planning round for the NHS in more than half a decade, which will give local leaders the certainty they need to deliver.

What recent discussions he has had with NHS dentists on rises in the costs for (a) NHS dental practices and (b) (i) laboratories and (ii) dental materials.

The Government is continuing to meet the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector on a regular basis and some of these meetings have included the discussion of costs associated with delivering National Health Service dental care.In addition, the Government is conducting a research project to better understand the costs and pressures associated with running a dental practice in England.As part of this research, a survey was launched on 13 May 2025 and closed on 16 June 2025. This included questions on laboratory fees and dental materials as well as other associated costs with running a dental practice.We are currently reviewing and analysing responses to understand findings.

What discussions he has had with NICE on the impact of their severity modifier on people with secondary breast cancer in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) the UK.

The Department has regular discussions with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), including on the impact of the severity modifier on people with secondary breast cancer.NICE carried out a review of the implementation of the severity modifier in September 2024 and found that it is operating as intended. This showed that the proportion of positive cancer recommendations is higher, at 84.8%, than with the end-of-life modifier it replaced, at 75%, and the proportion of positive recommendations for advanced cancer treatments is also higher, at 81.1% compared to 69%.Since the introduction of the severity modifier, NICE has recommended all but one of the treatments for breast cancer that it has assessed. These treatments are now available to eligible National Health Service patients.NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future method reviews.

If he will implement the recommendations in Breast Cancer Now’s Setting the bar too high report in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) the country.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. NICE has processes in place to review its methods to ensure that they keep pace with best practice and are suitable for the evaluation of emerging new medicines.NICE concluded a comprehensive review of the methods and processes it uses for health technology evaluations in January 2022, and introduced a number of changes that make its methods fairer, faster, and more consistent.NICE’s board considered a review of the severity modifier at its public meeting on 25 September 2024, in light of its implementation to date, and concluded that it is operating as intended, so no change to the modifier is needed at the time.NICE has no immediate plans to make further changes to its methods in response to the Breast Cancer Now report’s recommendations, but is monitoring the impact of the changes made following the methods review, and has committed to considering modular updates to its methods and processes in the future. NICE has also commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future methods reviews.

What steps he is taking to support research into how neurodiverse conditions manifest in women.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is funding a number of research projects on neurodiverse conditions including research into a new psychometric tool assessing the presentation of autism in women.The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and social care, including neurodiverse conditions. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on neurodiverse conditions to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility, both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

What assessment he has made of the gender gap in neurodiversity diagnosis in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.

We recognise that diagnosis rates of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are lower in women and girls and lower than the best evidence on prevalence. This may reflect differences in how autism and ADHD present in males and females, which may make these conditions more difficult to identify in women and girls.Some information on autism and ADHD diagnosis rates by gender can be taken from the Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities, Experimental Statistics 2023 to 2024, published by NHS England, and based on 54.7% of registered patients. This data shows that 0.82% of females have an autism diagnosis recorded on their general practice (GP) record, whereas for males it is 1.84%. For ADHD, 0.9% of women had an ADHD diagnosis on their GP record, compared to 1.6% of men.National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on autism and ADHD set out considerations for clinicians when assessing for autism or ADHD, including highlighting that autism and ADHD may be under-recognised in women and girls.

What assessment NHS England has made of the potential risks of dopamine agonists as a treatment for restless leg syndrome.

NHS England has made no assessment. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) assesses all medicines before they are licensed in the United Kingdom, with regard to quality, safety, and efficacy. The licensed dopamine agonist medicines that are indicated for the treatment of restless leg syndrome (RLS) are ropinirole, pramipexole, and rotigotine.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recently revised its Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS) on the diagnosis and clinical management of RLS, which was updated in February 2025, and which can be used as a source of information for healthcare professionals. This CKS is available at the following link: https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/ Decisions about what medicines to prescribe are made by the doctor or healthcare professional responsible for that part of the patient’s care. Prescribers are accountable for their prescribing decisions. Prescribers must always satisfy themselves that the medicines they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed, and that they take account of appropriate national guidance on clinical effectiveness, as well as the local commissioning decisions of their respective integrated care boards.

What discussions he has had with NICE on the adequacy of treatments available for restless leg syndrome through the NHS in (a) Yeovil constituency (b) Somerset and (c) England.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not developed any guidelines on the diagnosis and/or management of restless leg syndrome (RLS) and has not evaluated any treatments for this condition. NICE has, however, commissioned a Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS) on the diagnosis and clinical management of RLS, which was updated in February 2025, and which can be used as a source of information for healthcare professionals. This CKS is available at the following link:https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/There are currently no plans to develop a NICE guideline on RLS. NICE has an established prioritisation process overseen by a prioritisation board, for the identification of priorities for guidance development. Anyone is able to suggest a topic through the NICE website, at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/forms/topic-suggestion

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of NICE guidelines on treatments for restless leg syndrome.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not developed any guidelines on the diagnosis and/or management of restless leg syndrome (RLS) and has not evaluated any treatments for this condition. NICE has, however, commissioned a Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS) on the diagnosis and clinical management of RLS, which was updated in February 2025, and which can be used as a source of information for healthcare professionals. This CKS is available at the following link:https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/There are currently no plans to develop a NICE guideline on RLS. NICE has an established prioritisation process overseen by a prioritisation board, for the identification of priorities for guidance development. Anyone is able to suggest a topic through the NICE website, at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/forms/topic-suggestion

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the time taken for restless leg syndrome to be identified in patients who present relevant symptoms in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset, and (c) England.

We are committed to supporting people with restless leg syndrome and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate.Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy and care plan in place, the majority of people with restless leg syndrome can be cared for through routine access to primary, secondary, and community care services. Integrated care boards (ICBs), including the Somerset ICB which covers the Yeovil constituency, are responsible for commissioning most services for people with restless leg syndrome. ICBs are best placed to plan the provision of services to meet the needs of their local population.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a clinical knowledge summary (CKS) on restless leg syndrome, which is available at the following link:https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/CKS’ are designed to collate and summarise all the guidance and evidence on specific topics and they are a source of supporting information mainly for National Health Service staff working in primary care. The CKS for restless leg syndrome recognises that iron deficiency and dysfunction of iron metabolism are likely causes of restless leg syndrome, and states that a full iron assessment, including ferritin, total iron-binding capacity, and percentage transferrin saturation, should be requested for patients with restless leg syndrome. If iron deficiency anaemia is found, or serum ferritin levels are less than 50 to 75 micrograms per litre, clinicians should investigate to identify a cause of iron deficiency and prescribe iron supplements.We do not hold data on the time taken for patients to receive a diagnosis of restless leg syndrome after first presenting with relevant symptoms.