Written questions by Stephenson.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing ongoing access to therapy for people with complex mental health needs.

We recognise the importance of providing ongoing access to therapy for people with complex mental health needs. The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service and the three big shifts needed in the system – analogue to digital, sickness to prevention and hospital to community.As part of this, we are piloting neighbourhood mental health centres. These pilots aim to provide open access holistic care for anyone with a severe mental illness or complex mental health needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, bringing together a range of community mental health services and other forms of relevant support under one roof, including crisis services and short-stay beds.NHS England is also developing a Modern Service Framework which will focus on services for people with severe and enduring mental illness and services for people with complex emotional needs.

How many people have dependent visas associated with a holder of a charity worker visa.

In total, 3,971 Charity Worker visas have been issued from 2023 to the end of June 2025.Data on charity worker visas issued is published as part of the Immigration system statistics data tables regular releases on the Gov.uk website at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

If he will make an assessment of the causes of the resident doctor strikes in 2025.

On 9 April, The British Medical Association resident doctors committee (BMA RDC) entered into dispute in relation to the timing of the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration report and subsequently ran a statutory ballot, which closed on 8 July, in response to the report and the 2025/26 pay award. They have since run another statutory ballot exclusively for their foundation year 1 members in relation to lack of training places.Following these ballots the BMA RDC currently holds two live mandates for strike action. One is in relation to pay, which applies to all the resident doctor membership, and one is in relation to pay and training places, which applies to their foundation year 1 membership only.They took five days of strike action from 25 to 30 July under their mandate over pay.My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has regular engagement with resident doctors and is aware of the issues that they are experiencing as they work and train in the National Health Service. My Rt. Hon. Friend intends to continue to work with the BMA RDC to resolve their disputes and improve working conditions. This Government has already made significant improvements on the issues which impact doctors most through NHS England’s 10 Point Plan to improve resident doctors’ working lives.

How many people have a charity worker visa.

In total, 3,971 Charity Worker visas have been issued from 2023 to the end of June 2025.Data on charity worker visas issued is published as part of the Immigration system statistics data tables regular releases on the Gov.uk website at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

With reference to his Department's press release entitled £75 million boost for hospices to transform end-of-life care, published on 20 July 2025, whether he has made an assessment of the revenue implications for hospices of this investment.

Hospices do incredible work by supporting people and families when they need it most, and we recognise the incredibly tough pressures they are facing.Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations.Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding from their respective ICBs for providing National Health Services.The £75 million capital funding boost for hospices was intended to help them to provide the best end of life care to patients and their families in a supportive and dignified physical environment by, for example, funding refurbishments, overhauling IT systems, and improving facilities for patients and visitors. The impact this may have had on revenue has not been assessed.Additionally, we are providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which, until recently, as known as the Children’s Hospice Grant.I can also now confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the three years of the next spending review period, 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see circa £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.

With reference to the 10-Year Health Plan, what assessment he has made of public trust in AI for use in AI diagnosis tools.

The 10-Year Health Plan and the Life Sciences Sector Plan commit the Government to making the National Health Service become the healthcare system in the world most ready for artificial intelligence (AI). The Department is testing AI in areas that cause the most harm to health and to our economy. Supporting clinicians to make faster and more effective decisions through the testing and deployment of diagnostic support AI has been one of the key areas of the Department’s work.This Government takes public opinion on AI deployment seriously. The Department and UK Research and Innovation have previously held public dialogue on how the public feels decisions should be made about access to their personal health data for AI purposes. Insights from these dialogues have been used to inform policymakers and future guidance for both developers and adopters of AI tools in the NHS.To bridge the gap between policy and practice and build confidence in AI for both the public and adopters, the NHS launched the AI Ambassadors Network in January 2025, allowing clinicians and NHS staff to hear from and pose questions directly to AI experts and regulators. The network already has almost 10,000 members.In the UK, AI products used in health and care are regulated as medical devices to ensure patient safety and are subject to stringent requirements, including those laid out in the Medical Devices Regulations 2002, and robust monitoring by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, this year we will review regulations, and in 2026, we will publish a new regulatory framework for medical devices, including AI.

With reference to the policy paper entitled 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, published on 3 July 2025, how clinical negligence cases involving mistakes by surgical robots will be handled.

NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England.The bulk of NHSR’s workload is handling negligence claims on behalf of the members of their indemnity schemes. One of the indemnity schemes is the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST). CNST handles all clinical negligence claims against member NHS bodies where the incident in question took place on or after 1 April 1995.The scheme covers all clinical negligence claims arising from the diagnosis, care, or treatment of patients by the Member, rather than specifying particular procedures.In every claim pursued, NHSR assesses whether their member has been negligent in treating the patient. This will include an assessment of whether any technology employed to assist the treatment has been used appropriately.It is important to note that surgical robots are not in anyway autonomous and are used as a surgical instrument by a qualified surgeon. This Government is setting a target of 500,000 robotic surgical operations by 2035 where the evidence supports it, in terms of faster recovery and reduced complications for patients.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of housing asylum seekers in military bases on his Department’s policies to build more houses on disused public land.

The government is committed to close all asylum hotels, and to achieve this the Home Office is looking at a range of more appropriate sites including disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites to reduce the impact on communities. These efforts will not compromise general housing delivery. Decisions on the use of alternative asylum accommodation sites will be made on a site-by site basis, and the Home Office will continue to work closely with local authorities and in compliance with published policy.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 73359 on Visas: Migrant Workers, on how many occasions her Department received such a notification by visa type since 4 July 2024; and how many and what proportion of those notifications resulted in a migrant (a) leaving the UK, (b) transferring to a new visa type and (c) being subsequently sponsored by a new employer.

The information requested is not available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

What proportion of visa holders her Department holds a UK residential address for.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.People applying for UK visas may provide a UK residential address on their application but large proportions of visa holders coming to the UK on a short-term basis such as a visitor will not be resident in the UK.

How many student visas have been issued to people studying at each university in the 2025-26 academic year.

The Home Office does not publish information on how many student visas have been issued to people studying at each university. The Home Office does publish data on sponsored study visas by course level in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visas issued are published in table ‘Edu_D02’ of the ‘sponsored study visas by course level dataset’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2018 up to the end of March 2025. Please note the data does not show the academic year the visa was granted for, or whether the visa was issued to study at a university. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

If he will make an estimate of the number of visas which have expired without (a) renewal, (b) transfer to another visa type and (c) acquiring indefinite leave to remain in each of the past five years.

The Home Office publishes immigration statistics on a quarterly basis in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. The relevant data for this request could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of being able to view the risk of major conditions on people with poor mental health.

The 10-Year Health Plan includes a commitment to begin implementing integrated risk scores that bring together polygenic risk scores (PRS) and other non-biological risk factors. NHS England, in partnership with Our Future Health and clinical experts, will carry out a service evaluation, considering a number of factors including clinical impact and the impact on individuals of the implementation of PRS, beginning with a targeted number of major conditions.

What steps he plans to take with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology to help ensure that rural communities with poor (a) broadband and (b) mobile signal can access digital NHS services from home.

Digital health should be seen as part of a multi-channel offering that meets the needs and preferences of users. Digital services must be designed to alleviate healthcare inequalities rather than exacerbate them. Our goal is to ensure that reducing healthcare inequalities and improving digital inclusion have due focus in wider inclusive user design and delivery for all digital health products and services. Digital health tools should be part of a wider offering that includes face-to-face support with appropriate help for people who struggle to access digital services.We continue to work with partners, including the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), to reduce digital barriers and support those at risk of digital exclusion.The National Health Service Digital Inclusion Framework supports delivery of the 10-Year Health Plan by providing a structured approach to tackling digital barriers across connectivity, skills, confidence, and accessibility. It ensures digital transformation is inclusive and aligned with the Plan’s ambition to personalise care, reduce inequalities, and create a health system that works for everyone.Integrated care systems (ICSs) have also been asked, through NHS priorities and operational planning guidance for financial year 2025/26, to implement the NHS Digital Inclusion Framework and identify local populations most at risk of exclusion, including those affected by poor connectivity.

Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of local authorities have a five year housing land supply.

The National Planning Policy Frameworks sets out that local authorities should identify and update annually a five-year housing land supply (5YHLS) of deliverable housing sites (with appropriate buffer) for decision making. This should be calculated against their housing requirement set out in adopted strategic policies, or against their local housing need where the strategic policies are more than five years old.While the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) may be aware of an authority’s 5YHLS position at the time of a specific appeal, this position is not static. It may change over time due to annual updates or as a result of subsequent planning appeal decisions. As such, my Department does not collect live data on the 5YHLS status of individual local planning authorities.

Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of local authorities have a five year housing land supply based on current delivery given the Government's housing targets.

The National Planning Policy Frameworks sets out that local authorities should identify and update annually a five-year housing land supply (5YHLS) of deliverable housing sites (with appropriate buffer) for decision making. This should be calculated against their housing requirement set out in adopted strategic policies, or against their local housing need where the strategic policies are more than five years old.While the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) may be aware of an authority’s 5YHLS position at the time of a specific appeal, this position is not static. It may change over time due to annual updates or as a result of subsequent planning appeal decisions. As such, my Department does not collect live data on the 5YHLS status of individual local planning authorities.

With reference to page 36 of the policy paper entitled 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, published on 3 July 2025, what his definition is of community, in this context.

The Government is committed to delivering a Neighbourhood Health Service that brings care closer to communities, ensuring that care happens as locally as it can, digitally by default, in a person’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, and only in hospital if necessary.The 10-Year Health Plan set out our aim to establish a neighbourhood health centre in every community that will be a ‘one stop shop’ for patient care and the place from which multi-disciplinary teams operate.In this context, ‘community’ refers to the local place where people live and receive care and support, encompassing the networks of health, care, and voluntary services that exist around individuals, families, and neighbourhoods.Care in the community will be supported through multidisciplinary neighbourhood teams and neighbourhood health centres.Neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of health and care services on people’s doorsteps, joining up the National Health Service and local authority and voluntary services.

With reference to page 15 of the policy paper entitled 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, published on 3 July 2025, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the potential merits of co-locating Job Centre services within Neighbourhood Health Centres.

Our aim is to have a Neighbourhood Health Centre in each community that provides easier, more convenient access to a full range of health and care services on people’s doorsteps, bringing together National Health Service, local authority, and voluntary sector services in one building to help create a holistic offer that meets the needs of local populations.We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. While we will be clear on the outcomes we expect, and we will give significant licence to tailor the approach to local need, for example to consider the merits of co-locating Job Centre services within Neighbourhood Health Centres. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, this will mean services will look different in rural communities, coastal towns, and deprived inner cities.The rollout of Neighbourhood Health Centres will be progressive over this Parliament, with early sites focused on the areas of greatest need.Furthermore, the Government is committed to supporting more individuals into employment. On 9 October, the Department for Work Pensions confirmed Connect to Work funding of over £1 billion across England and Wales over the next five years, which will support 300,000 disabled people and people with health conditions and/or other complex barriers to employment to find and remain in work.There is a range of existing Department for Work Pensions employment support depending on individual needs, including local level provision for disabled people and disadvantaged groups. This includes employment advisors in Talking Therapies, increased Work Coach Support in Job Centres, and Access to Work grants, among others.

If he will make an estimate of the number of GPs per head of population in Bedfordshire by 2035, in the context of the 10 Year Health Plan.

Each general practice (GP) is required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs of their patients. There is no NHS England recommendation for how many patients a GP should have assigned, or the ratio of GPs or other practice staff to patients. The demands each patient places on their GP are different and can be affected by many different factors, including rurality and patient demographics. It is necessary to consider the workforce for each practice as a whole, not only GPs but also the range of health professionals available who are able to respond to the needs of their patients.We will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade to treat patients on time again.

If she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of visa holders who were granted a visa who did not have basic proficiency in English on entry in each of the last five years.

No such estimate has been made of the number of visa holders who did not have basic proficiency in English on entry.