Written questions by Stephenson.

Whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the proposed re-organisation of ICBs, in the context of English Devolution.

The Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, alongside NHS England, continue to work closely on any proposals to reorganise integrated care boards (ICBs). I and my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, have discussed the reorganisation of ICBs and alignment with strategic authorities, including those in the East of England, in the context of English devolution.

What steps his Department has taken to prepare for resident doctor strikes since July 2024.

The National Health Service makes every effort through rigorous contingency planning to minimise disruption as a result of industrial action and its impact on patients and the public.Resident doctors in England went on strike for five days from Friday 25 July to Wednesday 30 July 2025. To prepare, NHS England analysed previous strike data to assess financial, operational, and patient impacts.In response to this assessment, NHS England worked hard to ensure that resources were prioritised to protect all patients using its services during the period of strike action, in particular emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, maternity, and trauma, and to ensure we prioritised patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery.NHS England will continue to iterate its approach based on the most recent industrial action to ensure the NHS continues to deliver for patients.

What steps he is taking to ensure the (a) safety, (b) dignity and (c) provision of healthcare for (i) transgender and (ii) non-binary people in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

The Denny Review, published in September 2023, investigated health-related inequalities in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes. This included a report commissioned from Healthwatch Luton on the experiences of LGBT+ people in the town.Subsequently, training was provided to general practices in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes to increase the confidence of practices in enhancing dignity and respect for this group of patients.NHS England has also increased the number of gender services available, across England, for both children and young people and adults. A Children and Young People’s specialised gender service is anticipated to open in the East of England later in the year. In April 2025, my rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, commissioned NHS England to undertake an LGBT+ health evidence review to better understand LGBT+ healthcare needs and provide advice on future actions to address health inequalities amongst LGBT+ people including those who identify as trans and non-binary. The review was launched in June 2025 and will run for six months. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator in England with oversight of providers of health and adult social care. It holds services providers to account for safety and dignity for all patients and service users. The standards are enshrined in CQC regulations, having due regard to protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act 2010. Failure to comply with CQC standards can result is enforcement action.

With reference to the press release entitled UK partnership brings new 250-bed Islamabad hospital closer to opening of 24 June 2025, if he will make an estimate of the net impact on the public purse.

While the specific contract value is commercially sensitive, all income generated supports NHS initiatives and trust improvements. Income generated through this International Affiliate Programme is reinvested into the Trust, supporting a range of initiatives aimed at enhancing both NHS and private healthcare services. By leveraging international partnerships such as this one, the Trust not only strengthens its global reputation and reach but also yields domestic and international healthcare benefits.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of resident doctor strikes on NHS waiting lists.

Industrial action has a significant direct and indirect impact on elective performance and NHS waiting lists.Within the period of industrial action from December 2022 up to February 2024, 430,000 completed pathways (where a patient starts consultant-led treatment and is removed from the waiting list) are estimated to have been deferred as a result of industrial action.In summer 2024, this Government’s rapid resolution of industrial action allowed the NHS to exceed its pledge to deliver 2 million extra operations, scans and appointments, having delivered an additional 4.9 million appointments from July 2024 to June 2025.Unfortunately, in July 2025 we have seen further industrial action from Resident Doctors. As a result of tireless collaborative work, and valuable learning from previous industrial action, the NHS managed to remain resilient against strike action and minimised the impact on patients and the public.NHS England published estimates that the NHS maintained improved levels of inpatient and outpatient activity at 93% of normal activity levels, which is available at the following link: Early-assessment-of-the-July-2025-Resident-Doctors-IA-on-elective-activity-for-NHS-Acute-Providers-Final_7viii25.xlsx.

How many visas have been issued where the NHS is the sponsoring employer since July 2024; and how many of those employees continue to work for the NHS.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.The Home Office publishes data on sponsored work visas by occupation in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on grants of visas are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2021 up to the end of June 2025.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

If she will make an estimate of how many and what proportion of people who entered the UK on a skilled worker visa in each of the past ten years continue to (a) live in the UK and (b) work in an occupation on the qualifying list.

Obtaining the specific information requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple systems owned by multiple teams across the Home Office and, therefore, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.The Home Office publishes data on sponsored work visas by occupation in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on grants of visas are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2021 up to the end of June 2025. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help (a) end the recent violence and (b) ensure the protection of minority groups in Syria.

I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 4 September to Question 69285.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the future role of Hamas in the Palestinian Authority.

The former Foreign Secretary held regular discussions with his US counterpart on shared priorities, including bringing an end to the war in Gaza, and the new Foreign Secretary will do the same.

Whether her Department requires sponsoring employers to notify them when an employee whose visa they are sponsoring leaves their employment.

Sponsors are required to report to the Home Office when they stop sponsoring a worker for any reason, including where the worker resigns, is dismissed or is made redundant.A sponsor’s reporting duties are set out in the Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance which is published on the gov.uk website.

How many inspections of Home Office approved visa-sponsoring employers have been made since July 2024.

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

If her Department will review the employment history of applicants for Indefinite Leave to Remain who have been in the UK on a (a) social care visa, (b) health visa and (c) other work-related visas to ensure compliance with the visa terms.

The process for considering applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain applications from Skilled Worker visa holders is set out in caseworker guidance which is available on gov.uk: Skilled Worker visa: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the provision of humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip.

I refer my Hon Friend to the statement made to the House by the former Foreign Secretary on 1 September.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he will take to support the US Government in improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

I refer my Hon Friend to the statement made to the House by the former Foreign Secretary on 1 September.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on diplomatic steps to end the conflict between Hamas and Israel.

The former Foreign Secretary held regular discussions with his US counterpart on shared priorities, including bringing an end to the war in Gaza, and the new Foreign Secretary will do the same.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to Hamas on agreeing US proposals to secure a ceasefire.

The UK has long retained a policy of no contact with Hamas who are a proscribed terrorist organisation. We are clear that Hamas must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel anymore.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the safe provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The previous Foreign Secretary spoke to Foreign Minister Sa'ar on 23 August to discuss a number of issues including humanitarian aid. We continue to work with partners, including the United Nations and United States, to push for unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza.

With reference to page 82 of the NHS Ten Year Plan, whether ICBs undergoing re-organisation will be further re-organised if their boundaries are not coterminous with new strategic authorities.

To deliver a reduction in running costs, a number of integrated care boards (ICBs) will cluster together to share leadership and functions. Clustering ICBs remain legally separate organisations with their own financial allocations. It will mean that during this financial year, the number of ICB senior leadership teams will go from 42 to 26. These have been published on the NHS England website, available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/integratedcare/integrated-care-in-your-area/more-about-each-integrated-care-system/In the long term, there will be fewer, larger ICBs enabling them to harness a shared budget of sufficient size to improve efficiency and reduce running costs.In areas where the boundaries of strategic authorities are not known, ICBs, including those that have clustered, may undergo future boundary changes to allow for alignment with newly created strategic authorities, and newly established unitary authorities resulting from local government reorganisation. Our aim throughout will be to deliver the best solutions for patients and citizens.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction on levels of fishing at the Blue Hole in the South Atlantic.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in conjunction with the Falkland Islands Government, continue to collaborate closely to assess the implications of the Agreement on fishing in the South Atlantic. During the Informal Consultations of State Parties to the UN Fish Stocks Agreement (ICSP-18), held at the UN in May 2025, Defra colleagues recommended initiating further multilateral discussions to explore the implications of the Agreement. In parallel, both departments are continuing to work with the Falkland Islands Government to address concerns around unregulated fishing in the Blue Hole and to ensure their interests are represented in international fisheries meetings.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the safe provision of humanitarian aid to people in need in Gaza.

The previous Foreign Secretary spoke to Foreign Minister Sa'ar on 23 August to discuss a number of issues including humanitarian aid. We continue to work with partners, including the United Nations and United States, to push for unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza.