Written questions by Lewis.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) support the recruitment and training of midwives and (b) increase the availability of employment opportunities for newly qualified midwives.

Awaiting answer.

What is the content of the advice he has been given on the contract and performance of Palantir and the Federated Data Platform, particularly in relation to triggering the break clause in March 2027.

Ministers in the Department have been apprised of the nature of the NHS Federated Platform contract, that the seven-year contract term is split into an initial three-year term, plus extension options of two years, plus one year and one year, and that the initial term ends in March 2027. They have been notified therefore that the contract will be reviewed and, in line with standard contract management processes, that a decision will be needed on its extension. Ministers have received written and verbal briefing on the ongoing rollout of the NHS Federated Platform and the benefits achieved, including information which is published quarterly by NHS England at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/digitaltechnology/nhs-federated-data-platform/impact/fdp-uptake-and-benefits/

Whether he has sought advice on triggering the break clause in Palantir’s contract with the NHS.

The current contract for the NHS Federated Data Platform is for seven years, ending in 2031, with the initial term ending March 2027. Advice is given regularly on the contract and performance, and ministers have been given advice on the need for a decision this year on the extension of the contract in line with standard contract management processes. We continuously assess performance against the contract, and performance of the programme as a whole, and publish data on uptake and benefits each quarter.

Whether an impact assessment has been conducted of delaying consideration of a specialised commissioned service until April 2027 on patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).

The Government published the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan in July 2025, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mecfs-the-final-delivery-planThe plan focuses on three main areas to improve care and support for those with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease. It also sets out a series of actions, which will help address the key challenges and drive forward improvements to outcomes and quality of life for people living with ME/CFS in England.The Department worked closely with ME/CFS patients, carers, clinicians, charities, research funders and researchers throughout the development of the plan. This engagement has helped to shape new and more ambitious actions that deliver meaningful change for the ME/CFS community.Due to transformation in NHS England, the decision has been made to delay the action to review a case for a specialised service commission until April 2027. Until this time, integrated care boards (ICBs) should continue to commission appropriate services for patients with very severe ME/CFS as needed. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of services for all severity levels of ME/CFS. NHS England and the Department are developing a new template service specification for mild and moderate ME/CFS which will include reference to severe and very severe ME/CFS. Officials, alongside stakeholders, are considering interim measures to support people with very severe ME/CFS.The Department and NHS England will continue to work with stakeholders across and beyond government and the NHS to progress the agreed actions set out in the plan and to ensure the best possible care for people with ME/CFS.

Whether there has been any considerations to stop working with unregulated private clinics in prescribing gender-affirming care for adults.

Unregulated private services pose a risk to patient safety as they are not subject to the same regulatory oversight as services registered with the Care Quality Commission. This includes private online services.It is for an individual general practitioner (GP) to decide whether to accept a request from a private provider for a shared care agreement in relation to hormone medications. The National Health Service has issued guidance that advises GPs not to enter into shared care agreements with unregulated private providers or where GPs are not confident that the request is being made by a reputable organisation.

Whether (a) he or (b) any members of his Department met or corresponded with Lord Mandelson on Palantir.

Neither my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, nor any members of the Department have met or corresponded with Lord Mandelson on Palantir Technologies.We utilise a range of international suppliers based on operational requirements, value for money, and compliance with our security and legal obligations, with all suppliers subject to rigorous due diligence.

When he expects the Spending Review budget allocations for his Department to be finalised and an allocation made to future ringfenced spending on NHS dentistry.

NHS England has now published the Medium-Term Planning Framework and allocations for 2026/27 to 2027/28. The framework and allocations are available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/medium-term-planning-framework-delivering-change-together-2026-27-to-2028-29/https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/allocation-of-resources-2026-27-to-2027-28/National Health Service organisations are now in the process of developing their operational plans that will detail how they will meet the standards set out in the Medium-Term Planning Framework.A separate schedule has been issued setting out the 2026/27 to 2027/28 integrated care boards (ICBs) primary, optometry, and dentistry (POD) allocations, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/icb-other-primary-care-allocations-2026-27-to-2028-29-v2.pdfThe utilisation of ICB POD allocations is subject to a ringfence on budgets for dental services.

How many of the community diagnostic centres and surgical hubs set up since July 2024 are run by private contractors.

Since July 2024, five new community diagnostic centres (CDCs) have started reporting activity for the very first time. None of these five will be run by the independent sector (IS) once they are fully operational. Of these five CDCs, the Thanet CDC is temporarily using magnetic resonance imaging services leased from an IS provider to ensure temporary capacity while the main facility is built. Upon completion of the permanent site, the Thanet CDC site will be National Health Service owned and use only NHS owned assets.Since July 2024, 23 new surgical hubs have opened. None of these surgical hubs are run by IS providers.

How much funding has been allocated to the NHS under the Better Care Fund in each integrated care board area; and where monitoring of that spending is publicly reported.

For 2025/26, approximately £9 billion is committed to the Better Care Fund (BCF). This includes approximately £3.3 billion provided to local authorities through the local authority BCF Grant, as well as the £5.6 billion NHS Minimum Contribution.2025/26 allocations for the NHS Minimum Contribution by integrated care board and upper tier local authority are available on the NHS England website, at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/better-care-fund-minimum-nhs-contributions-from-integrated-care-boards/.Data from the monitoring of BCF spending is also available on the NHS England website, at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/part-rel/transformation-fund/better-care-fund/better-care-fund-reporting-and-insight/The planned expenditure data for 2025/26 will be published on the same website in due course.

What proportion of his Department's spending was on (a) community, (b) acute and (c) primary care services in (i) Norfolk and Waveney and (ii) the rest of England by ICB area in the latest year for which statistics are available.

In 2023/24, the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) spent £1,275.5 million on acute services, £240.9 million on community services, and £258.7 million on primary medical services. As a proportion of the Department’s Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit outturn of £182,819 million, as per the Department’s 2023/24 Annual Report, this is equivalent to approximately 0.7% for acute services, approximately 0.1% for community services, and approximately 0.1% for primary medical services. Further information on the Department’s 2023/24 Annual Report is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/676150ef26a2d1ff18253415/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024-web-accessible.pdf#page=331The following table shows a full breakdown of spend across these three service areas by ICB in 2023/24:Integrated care boardAcute (millions of pounds)Community (millions of pounds)Primary medical services (millions of pounds)Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB1,115.9190.4217.8Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICB1,026.2183.3220.4Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB1,725.5302.7326.0Mid and South East Essex ICB1,427.6230.1254.6Norfolk and Waveney ICB1,275.5240.9258.7Suffolk and North East Essex ICB1,140.2216.0230.4Nort East London ICB2,498.7470.5488.0North Central London ICB1,891.5362.2358.2North West London ICB2,798.4459.6518.9South East London ICB2,309.6457.6419.3South West London ICB1,928.2280.0344.9Birmingham and Solihull ICB1,612.5314.2339.7Coventry and Warwickshire ICB1,142.1174.4221.3Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB861.5195.9186.8Derby & Derbyshire ICB1,268.2191.0252.9Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland ICB1,147.1231.6252.9Lincolnshire ICB928.0180.6189.4Northamptonshire ICB912.8124.0174.3Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB1,363.0257.3248.3Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB612.2126.0115.2Staffordshire & Stoke on Trent ICB1,210.5311.9264.3Black Country ICB1,610.8277.6258.0Cumbria & North East ICB3,768.9724.4743.4Humber, Coast and Vale ICB2,019.4358.3388.4Sth Yorkshire ICB1,611.8267.4329.0West Yorkshire ICB2,776.8536.7571.6Cheshire & Merseyside ICB3,404.8648.2637.8Gtr Manchester ICB3,738.3665.2729.7Lancashire & Sth Cumbria ICB2,374.5399.2411.9Bucks, Oxfordshire & Berks West ICB1,831.3392.1383.8Frimley ICB753.1152.3178.3Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB2,032.0433.0372.4Kent and Medway ICB2,228.3460.0407.8Surrey Heartlands ICB1,210.2190.4217.0Sussex ICB2,045.6381.1415.3Bath & NE Somerset, Swindon & Wiltshire ICB1,010.6209.3218.3Bristol, Nth Somerset & South Gloucs ICB1,110.5226.2222.5Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly ICB651.9166.7144.1Devon ICB1,479.2339.5273.3Dorset ICB952.3198.9172.1Gloucestershire ICB641.1123.1161.4Somerset ICB703.2114.6143.1

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) recent NHS guidance and (b) his Department's health and social care priorities on Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (i) services and (ii) organisations.

The Department values working with the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector, in particular to address wider health inequalities. The insights and reach of VCSE organisations are instrumental, particularly in engaging with those who have lived experience and communities facing the greatest barriers to health.The VCSE sector has been central to discussions about the forthcoming 10 Year Plan, with input from VCSE organisations directly influencing the plan’s content. As part of the 10 Year Health Plan’s national engagement exercise launched on 21 October 2024, we held 17 roundtables, attended by nearly 300 organisations, including VCSE groups, National Health Service trusts, professional bodies, and national charities. We also provided training, materials, and support to organisations to host their own events in communities across England. Over 600 community events took place with over 17,000 participants. The different components combined to create a programme that reached large numbers of people, engaged the widest range of groups and voices among the public, patients, and staff and partner organisations.

If he will make an assessment of the impact of the abolition of NHS England on the Federated Data Platform and Associated Services contract awarded to the consortium led by Palantir Technologies.

Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by James Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job, we will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, driving productivity up and getting waiting times down.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dental services.

We are determined to rebuild dentistry for the long term.We will deliver an additional 700,000 urgent dental appointments; reform the dental contract; and introduce supervised toothbrushing for three- to five-year-olds in the most deprived communities.We are working with the dental sector, including the British Dental Association, to deliver these shared ambitions.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 8935 on Hospices: Children, what his planned timetable is for a decision on the future of that funding.

While 2023/24 marked the final year of the Children’s Hospice Grant in its previous format, in 2024/25, NHS England continued to provide an additional £25 million of funding for children and young people’s hospices, maintaining the level of grant funding from 2023/24. For the first time, this funding was distributed by integrated care boards (ICBs), on behalf of NHS England, rather than being centrally administered as before.The Department and NHS England are aware that the shift to ICB distributed funding in 2024/25 has not been as smooth a transition as we would have hoped. However, we are working closely with NHS England to resolve any remaining issues with the 2024/25 funding. Furthermore, I am working very closely with NHS England to get the funding arrangements for 2025/26 confirmed as a matter of urgency.I recently met NHS England, Together for Short Lives, and one of the co-chairs of the Children Who Need Palliative Care All-Party Parliamentary Groups, Lord Balfe, to discuss children’s palliative and end of life care, and this funding stream was discussed at length at that meeting.

What steps his Department is taking to tackle shortages of Quetiapine.

The Department was aware of shortages affecting quetiapine 150 milligrams, 200 milligrams and 300 milligrams. The Department worked closely with industry and others and issued communications to the National Health Service to help ensure patients continued to have access to an alternative treatment until their usual product was back in stock. These shortages have now been resolved and the Serious Shortage Protocols that were in place have now been stood down.