Written questions by Morello.

What assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of healthcare capacity in West Dorset, particularly regarding primary care, ambulance response times and urgent care provision in winter 2025-2026.

We have done more than ever to prepare for this winter, stress testing winter plans across the country, including in West Dorset, making sure community teams have the vaccines they need, and identifying the patients most vulnerable in winter.West Dorset sits within the NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board (ICB), where general practices have delivered 14.3% more appointments in September 2025, or 495,000 appointments, in comparison to September 2024, at 433,000. This is above the national average of a 6.6% increase. There is good coverage of pharmacy first services which are offered by 90% pharmacies in Dorset, and there has been a steady increase in uptake since September 2024. We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from April 2025, and these are available across the country with specific expectations for the region. There are also four pilot sites for urgent dental access running this winter which will support better local access to these services. Urgent and emergency care has fallen short of the standards patients rightly expect in recent years. To address this, we launched our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, setting ambitious goals of at least 78% of patients in accident and emergency being seem within four hours and reducing the average Category 2 ambulance response time to 30 minutes. Backed by £450 million of capital investment, we are upgrading hundreds of ambulances and expanding the capacity of urgent and emergency care services, enhancing both the speed and quality of care for patients in greatest need.West Dorset is served by South Western Ambulance Service. The latest National Health Service data shows that in October, the South West achieved an average Category 2 response time of 32 minutes 37 seconds, an improvement of nearly 10 minutes compared with the same month last year.

What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the forthcoming Fuel Finder scheme in addressing significant local fuel price disparities.

Fuel Finder will increase price transparency so drivers can compare prices to find the best deal and incentivise greater local competition, including in rural areas. The expectation is that third party organisations such as price comparison websites, navigation apps, and other app developers will access the data and incorporate into their consumer facing products, which consumers can then use to compare fuel prices in their local area. In our draft Impact Assessment, we assess this could result in fuel cost savings for drivers totalling £10.4bn over 10 years which amounts to savings of 1-6 pence per litre at the pump. The hon Member can find the Impact Assessment at www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2025/9780348275308/impacts

Communities and Local Government, when devolution proposals for Wessex will be considered by his Department.

Regular meetings are held between officers from local authorities in Wessex and officials this Department on a range of topics important to the area, including devolution. Ministers have also exchanged views in correspondence with local leaders, in which we have been clear that decisions on future devolution will be subject to further ministerial decisions and local conversations.

What steps he is taking to ensure that (a) West Dorset constituency and (b) rural areas can access more competitive fuel prices through the Fuel Finder scheme.

Fuel Finder will increase price transparency so drivers can compare prices to find the best deal and incentivise greater local competition, including in rural areas. The expectation is that third party organisations such as price comparison websites, navigation apps, and other app developers will access the data and incorporate into their consumer facing products, which consumers can then use to compare fuel prices in their local area. In our draft Impact Assessment, we assess this could result in fuel cost savings for drivers totalling £10.4bn over 10 years which amounts to savings of 1-6 pence per litre at the pump. The hon Member can find the Impact Assessment at www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2025/9780348275308/impacts

What steps his Department is taking to help improve the speed and efficiency of vaccine rollout when new vaccines receive NHS approval.

The Government is committed to supporting the timely delivery of new vaccination programmes to fully protect the public from vaccine preventable diseases. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation meets regularly to consider both current and future vaccine products and to advise ministers accordingly.The Department works with NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to secure supply deals with manufacturers, stockpile doses, and coordinate logistics to ensure fast deployment, working at pace to update guidelines and training documents so that the workforce providing vaccines is ready to go.To boost capacity, the Department is exploring new ways of delivering vaccinations including health visits and community pharmacy, with pilots for administering vaccinations as part of health visits standing-up from January 2026. Digital tools also ensure speedy and efficient rollout, for instance: online booking via the NHS app; automated reminders; and data dashboards to track uptake and tweak priorities in real-time. Finally, the Department works with NHS England and the UKHSA to develop targeted communications campaigns, advertising, and social media to build trust and drive appointments, aiming for high coverage from day one. Programme planning by the UKHSA and NHS England occurs simultaneously to ensure delivery of safe, clinically effective, stable, and accessible programmes that commence at the right time and are rolled out in a timely manner after a policy decision has been made.

What (a) additional funding and (b) operational support his Department will provide to Integrated Care Systems in (i) rural areas and (ii) West Dorset in winter 2025-2026.

NHS England is responsible for determining funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs), including those covering rural areas and West Dorset. This process is independent of the Government and is informed by advice from the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA).Funding allocations for 2025/26, published on 30 January 2025, include an ACRA-recommended adjustment specifically focused on rurality that reflects the additional cost of providing home-delivered community services in sparsely populated areas, and recognises the longer travel times required to deliver said services. Allocations cover the whole financial year, so there is not winter specific additional funding provided. Further information on funding allocations for 2025/26 is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/allocation-of-resources-2025-26/All ICBs and trusts have developed their own winter plans, which were stress tested at regional events throughout September to expose any weaknesses and to be strengthen where necessary. We continue to work closely with the most challenged trusts, providing targeted improvement support to help them improve their four-hour and 12-hour performance, and reduce ambulance handover delays.

What steps he is taking to ensure that (a) Dorset County Hospital and (b) associated community services have adequate (i) staffing and (ii) resources for winter 2025-2026.

Both Dorset County Hospital and Dorset Healthcare, as the primary providers of community services in Dorset, have assessed their resource and capacity requirements for the winter period as part of the annual planning process. These take account of the expected impact of surges in seasonally affected conditions and the associated infection prevention and control challenges this presents.The winter plans are underpinned by robust organisational business continuity plans to maintain services in the event of loss of workforce or service capacity and are aligned to wider system resilience planning across health and social care partners to help manage and mitigate the risks of anticipated increases in demand and acuity expected over this period. System-level plans include provision for surge and escalation responses at times of peak operational pressure.The Dorset County Hospital has a comprehensive Operational Resilience and Capacity Plan for winter 2025/26, which aligns to NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care priorities and forms part of Dorset’s overall system plan.The Government continues to strengthen the resilience of elective care, including through expanding valuable protected elective capacity, including in surgical hubs and community diagnostic centres.Nationally we have invested nearly £26 billion in additional funding for supporting both immediate winter capacity and the infrastructure transformation, new surgical hubs, diagnostic scanners, and enhanced digital systems, that will establish the Neighbourhood Health Service and make future winters fundamentally different, building towards our milestone of 92% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with councils in Wessex on a devolution settlement.

Regular meetings are held between officers from local authorities in Wessex and officials this Department on a range of topics important to the area, including devolution. Ministers have also exchanged views in correspondence with local leaders, in which we have been clear that decisions on future devolution will be subject to further ministerial decisions and local conversations.

Whether she will take steps to prioritise shotgun licence applications where the applicant requires a firearm for work purposes.

The issuing of firearms certificates, resourcing of firearms licensing teams and the efficiency of police forces is a matter for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners.The Government has recently taken action to increase the fees for firearms and shotgun applications that can be charged by police forces. On 5 February 2025, increased fees came into effect to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications processed by police forces. The extra income from fees will help police forces to better resource and train their firearms licensing teams. This was the first increase in fees for 10 years and the Government will conduct more regular reviews of fees in the future.In the interests of consistency and transparency, the National Policing Chiefs Council (NPCC) Lead for Firearms Licensing has also for the first time published performance data for firearms licensing teams in all police forces. This includes the performance target for forces to complete applications for the grant or renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates within four months. This data is now being published by the NPCC on a quarterly basis.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken to process shotgun licence renewals in (a) rural areas and (b) West Dorset constituency.

The issuing of firearms certificates, resourcing of firearms licensing teams and the efficiency of police forces is a matter for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners.The Government has recently taken action to increase the fees for firearms and shotgun applications that can be charged by police forces. On 5 February 2025, increased fees came into effect to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications processed by police forces. The extra income from fees will help police forces to better resource and train their firearms licensing teams. This was the first increase in fees for 10 years and the Government will conduct more regular reviews of fees in the future.In the interests of consistency and transparency, the National Policing Chiefs Council (NPCC) Lead for Firearms Licensing has also for the first time published performance data for firearms licensing teams in all police forces. This includes the performance target for forces to complete applications for the grant or renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates within four months. This data is now being published by the NPCC on a quarterly basis.

If she will provide additional resource to Dorset Police to help process outstanding firearm and shotgun licence applications.

The issuing of firearms certificates, resourcing of firearms licensing teams and the efficiency of police forces is a matter for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners.The Government has recently taken action to increase the fees for firearms and shotgun applications that can be charged by police forces. On 5 February 2025, increased fees came into effect to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications processed by police forces. The extra income from fees will help police forces to better resource and train their firearms licensing teams. This was the first increase in fees for 10 years and the Government will conduct more regular reviews of fees in the future.In the interests of consistency and transparency, the National Policing Chiefs Council (NPCC) Lead for Firearms Licensing has also for the first time published performance data for firearms licensing teams in all police forces. This includes the performance target for forces to complete applications for the grant or renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates within four months. This data is now being published by the NPCC on a quarterly basis.

What steps she is taking to reduce the backlog of shotgun and firearm licence applications nationally.

The issuing of firearms certificates, resourcing of firearms licensing teams and the efficiency of police forces is a matter for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners.The Government has recently taken action to increase the fees for firearms and shotgun applications that can be charged by police forces. On 5 February 2025, increased fees came into effect to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications processed by police forces. The extra income from fees will help police forces to better resource and train their firearms licensing teams. This was the first increase in fees for 10 years and the Government will conduct more regular reviews of fees in the future.In the interests of consistency and transparency, the National Policing Chiefs Council (NPCC) Lead for Firearms Licensing has also for the first time published performance data for firearms licensing teams in all police forces. This includes the performance target for forces to complete applications for the grant or renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates within four months. This data is now being published by the NPCC on a quarterly basis.

What recent assessment he has made of logistical challenges affecting rapid vaccine deployment in rural areas.

The Department, NHS England, and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) work together to ensure a new vaccine is rolled out in a timely manner after a policy decision has been made, ensuring that all the components are in place to provide an accessible and safe programme. Supplies of centrally procured vaccines for the routine immunisation programme are available to order from UKHSA by all registered general practices, hospitals, maternity services, and other sites commissioned to deliver the programme. Sites have deliveries at least once a week, regardless of where in England they are located, and the coverage is across the country, including rural areas.To improve public access to vaccinations, including in rural areas, we are expanding the use of community pharmacies giving vaccinations, including through delivering flu vaccines for two and three-year-olds this autumn. An evaluation will assess whether the use of community pharmacies improves coverage and helps tackle regional health inequalities, in line with the National Health Service vaccination strategy.To ensure pharmacy access in rural areas, local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served by local pharmacies and must keep these assessments under review.We are also exploring ways of delivering our commitment to administer vaccinations as part of health visits. Local pathfinders for health visitor delivery will begin from January 2026, across a mix of urban and rural geographies.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service in ensuring timely case handling and communication with parents.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to providing a modern, efficient, and accessible service for all customers. Through the Service Modernisation Programme, CMS is expanding digital channels and self-service options, including online tools like Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance and My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC), available 24/7. It has improved communications via SMS, email, and clearer letters, and introduced online messaging for certain processes, with plans to extend this further. By promoting self-service, CMS frees resources for customers who prefer phone support. Recent call routing improvements ensure faster access to case-owning teams. All changes undergo equality assessments to guarantee fair access to the service for all customers regardless of location. The Government is reviewing the child maintenance calculation to ensure it reflects current and future trends. Any proposed reforms will undergo public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny. CMS remains committed to delivering a reliable, fair, and responsive service for every parent.

What steps he is taking to reduce delays and improve contact accessibility for Child Maintenance Service users in West Dorset constituency.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to providing a modern, efficient, and accessible service for all customers. Through the Service Modernisation Programme, CMS is expanding digital channels and self-service options, including online tools like Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance and My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC), available 24/7. It has improved communications via SMS, email, and clearer letters, and introduced online messaging for certain processes, with plans to extend this further. By promoting self-service, CMS frees resources for customers who prefer phone support. Recent call routing improvements ensure faster access to case-owning teams. All changes undergo equality assessments to guarantee fair access to the service for all customers regardless of location. The Government is reviewing the child maintenance calculation to ensure it reflects current and future trends. Any proposed reforms will undergo public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny. CMS remains committed to delivering a reliable, fair, and responsive service for every parent.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of Child Maintenance Service support for separated parents in rural constituencies.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to providing a modern, efficient, and accessible service for all customers. Through the Service Modernisation Programme, CMS is expanding digital channels and self-service options, including online tools like Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance and My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC), available 24/7. It has improved communications via SMS, email, and clearer letters, and introduced online messaging for certain processes, with plans to extend this further. By promoting self-service, CMS frees resources for customers who prefer phone support. Recent call routing improvements ensure faster access to case-owning teams. All changes undergo equality assessments to guarantee fair access to the service for all customers regardless of location. The Government is reviewing the child maintenance calculation to ensure it reflects current and future trends. Any proposed reforms will undergo public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny. CMS remains committed to delivering a reliable, fair, and responsive service for every parent.

What steps he is taking to help improve the accuracy of Child Maintenance Service calculations.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to providing a modern, efficient, and accessible service for all customers. Through the Service Modernisation Programme, CMS is expanding digital channels and self-service options, including online tools like Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance and My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC), available 24/7. It has improved communications via SMS, email, and clearer letters, and introduced online messaging for certain processes, with plans to extend this further. By promoting self-service, CMS frees resources for customers who prefer phone support. Recent call routing improvements ensure faster access to case-owning teams. All changes undergo equality assessments to guarantee fair access to the service for all customers regardless of location. The Government is reviewing the child maintenance calculation to ensure it reflects current and future trends. Any proposed reforms will undergo public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny. CMS remains committed to delivering a reliable, fair, and responsive service for every parent.

o ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) rural communities and (b) West Dorset are not disadvantaged by the introduction of digital ID.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the introduction of the national digital identity credential is inclusive, secure, and useful for everyone, including those in rural communities.We recognise that not everyone has the same level of digital access or confidence, and that’s why the scheme will be accompanied by a major government digital inclusion drive.As part of the consultation, we will look at providing support such as face-to-face help, 24/7 helplines, and physical alternatives for those less confident with technology or without smartphones. This will help ensure that everyone eligible for the credential is fully supported and able to benefit from simpler, safer access to services.

If he will increase support for tailored rehabilitation for stroke patients.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are committed to improving services for patients locally by increasing the provision of services outside of a hospital setting that are delivered closer to home in the community. The National Stroke Service Model provides best practice for stroke care, including post-discharge, which should include comprehensive rehabilitation and personalised care and support. The National Stroke Quality Improvement in Rehabilitation programme is helping to transform community-based care by increasing access to specialist stroke rehabilitation at home.

What assessment he has made of the need for personalised care plans for stroke patients.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are committed to improving services for patients locally by increasing the provision of services outside of a hospital setting that are delivered closer to home in the community. The National Stroke Service Model provides best practice for stroke care, including post-discharge, which should include comprehensive rehabilitation and personalised care and support. The National Stroke Quality Improvement in Rehabilitation programme is helping to transform community-based care by increasing access to specialist stroke rehabilitation at home.