Written questions by Mierlo.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of closing NHS England on the (a) timeline for the production of the NHS 10-year plan and (b) publication date of that plan.

We do not envisage that the changes set out by the Prime Minister on 13 March 2025 will affect the publication of the 10 Year Plan. We still intend to publish the plan later in the spring.The changes will set the National Health Service up to deliver on the three big shifts needed to make the service fit for the future, from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.

If he will consider the final costs and benefits statement for programmes delivered under the National Programme of Technology, published on 6 June 2013, in his plans for (a) an NHS Federated Data Platform and (b) a single patient record.

We are keen to draw on the lessons from the National Programme for IT in delivering the Federated Data Platform and the single patient record.NHS England publishes information each quarter on the benefits being realised by the Federated Data Platform, with further information available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/digitaltechnology/nhs-federated-data-platform/solution-exchange/fdp-uptake-and-benefits/

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting (a) GP surgeries, (b) social care providers, (c) hospices, (d) NHS dentists, (e) charitable providers, and (f) pharmacies from the increase in employer's National Insurance contributions.

The Government has taken a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability after the situation we inherited from the previous administration. The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance costs only. This does not include support for the private sector, including private sector firms contracted by central or local government.This is the usual approach Government takes to supporting the public sector with additional employer NICs costs, as was the case with the previous government’s Health and Social Care Levy. As a result of this measure, along with others announced at Budget, the NHS will receive an extra £22.6 billion increase in resource spending which will benefit employers.

If he will made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the length of funding periods of pharmacies.

We have now concluded the consultation on funding for 2024/25 and 2025/26, and have agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a first step in delivering stability for the future and a commitment to rebuilding the sector.Government spending is normally agreed through spending reviews, and we are currently planning the Spending Review which will cover budgets beyond 2025/26.We agree that funding agreements that cover multiple years can bring certainty for contractors and support investment decisions, but it is also difficult to flex such agreements to take into account unforeseen events, as demonstrated in the last five-year deal for pharmacy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to mark the 30th anniversary of the Thames Path National Trail; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of the trail at Marsh Lock Horsebridge on the (i) anniversary and (ii) tourism to the Henley and Thame constituency.

There will be a programme of events in the summer of 2026 celebrating the history and importance of the Thames Path National Trail. The Environment Agency recognises the importance of Marsh Horse Bridge to the community within the Henley & Thame constituency and the role it plays supporting tourism along the Thames Path National Trail. The Health, Safety, and Wellbeing of river users is the Environment Agency’s foremost consideration. The current condition of the bridge is such that closure was the only option to keep people safe. The Environment Agency is in regular contact with National Trails, to ensure it has the latest information on the bridge closure. It has published details of a diversion route on their website to ensure progress along the trail is not significantly hampered by the bridge closure.

Whether his Department has plans to link pharmacy funding to inflation and National Living Wage increases.

We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.The Department has considered the increases in the National Living Wage when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a first step in delivering stability for the future and a commitment to rebuilding the sector.

What discussions he has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the suitability of the EQ-5D questionnaire as tool for measuring caregiver quality of life improvements.

I regularly meet with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues. The NICE is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in its health technology evaluations. The NICE’s health technology evaluations manual, which was last updated in 2022 following extensive stakeholder engagement, states that its preferred measure for capturing health-related quality of life data in its health technology evaluations, whether for patients or caregivers, is the EQ-5D. The NICE can accept data using other measures, if evidence is provided that the EQ-5D is inappropriate. The NICE is aware of external work exploring how to better account for caregiver effects in health economic evaluations, for example through the work of the SHEER Task Force, and will continue to monitor and actively encourage further work in this area to potentially inform its methods in the future.

What steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce the levels of tax evasion by of cash-only high street businesses and (b) support small businesses to adopt card payment systems.

HMRC is committed to ensuring the tax system operates fairly and efficiently, creating a level playing field for compliant businesses. Most businesses pay what they owe, but a minority fail to register or only declare a portion of their earnings for tax. This minority deprives our vital public services of funding, affects fair competition between businesses, and places unfair burdens on everyone else.Cash is a legitimate means of paying for goods and services and continues to be used by many people across the UK. The Government’s position is that individuals and businesses can choose whether to accept or decline any form of payment, and this choice can be based on factors such as customer preference and cost. If a person or business receives cash payments, it is their responsibility to ensure they meet their tax obligations, including registering for and paying the right taxes.At the autumn budget in October 2024 the government introduced the most ambitious package ever to close the tax gap, raising £6.5 billion in additional tax revenue per year by 2029-30. The government built on this at Spring Statement in March 2025, announcing a package of measures to further close the tax gap and raise over £1 billion in additional gross tax revenue per year by 2029-30.HMRC’s approach to tax compliance includes a range of activities that aim to both detect and tackle current non-compliance and change future behaviours. We aim to help and support customers to understand their tax obligations and promoting compliance by simplifying policies and procedures, providing clear guidance to make it easy for them to get things right, providing accessible digital services to make it easier to register to pay the appropriate taxes, providing targeted support and guidance, and intervening early to reduce mistakes.HMRC are making it increasingly difficult for people and businesses to hide their income, using improved targeting with new data sources, third-party data and focused compliance activity. We will not hesitate to use stronger sanctions against those who deliberately choose not to comply. This includes potential criminal prosecutions for the most serious cases involving tax evasion.

If his Department will make an assessment of the (a) adequacy of the entry criteria for the Innovative Medicines Fund and (b) whether these present barriers to patients accessing medicines in areas of high unmet need.

The Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) was launched in June 2022, building on the successful Cancer Drugs Fund and supporting patient access to the most promising new medicines while further evidence is collected on their use to address clinical uncertainty.The IMF’s principles ensure that patients can access promising but still clinically uncertain medicines while supplementary data is collected over a time limited period, to allow for more informed decision making about patient access and long-term National Health Service funding.Since the IMF was established in June 2022, over 1,050 patients have been registered to receive treatment with 16 products, treating 16 different conditions. NHS England has made interim funding available via the IMF for 14 products, and two products have been recommended for managed access across three indications in the IMF.

What proportion of the ringfenced £340 million budget for the Innovative Medicines Fund has been spent in each year since its launch in June 2022.

The Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) was established to provide a funding mechanism for promising non-cancer medicines recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for a period of managed access to address uncertainties in the evidence base. Up to £340 million has been available each financial year to support funding of medicines through the IMF. Expenditure in 2023/24 was £2 million.The relatively low level of expenditure within the IMF for 2023/24 reflects the high proportion of topics assessed by NICE as having potential for managed access which have gone on to secure a positive recommendation for routine commissioning, therefore bypassing the need for further data collection and reappraisal through the IMF.The remainder of the IMF budget is used to support pressures in the overall specialised commissioning budget and is reported as part of the overall financial position.

Whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of NHS trusts having electronic records.

No assessment of these trends has been made. Currently, we have achieved a 91% rollout of Electronic Patient Records (EPR), with work underway to provide tailored support to the remaining 19 trusts that do not yet have an EPR.The programme is forecasting to achieve 96% EPR coverage by the programme’s end in March 2026, with the remaining 4% of trusts having advanced in their plans for an EPR.

Whether he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the NHS National Program for IT.

The final cost and benefits statement for the programmes delivered under the National Programme for Information Technology was published on 6 June 2013, and can be found online on the GOV.UK website.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contribution on (a) local animal shelters, (b) other small charities and (c) the whole charitable sector; and what steps she is taking to help mitigate the impact on that sector.

DCMS Ministers have met with representatives from the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector to discuss this issue and are aware of their concerns about the impacts of the increase to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs). The government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that more than half of businesses (including charities) with NICs liabilities will either gain or see no change next year.We are also expanding eligibility of the Employment Allowance by removing the £100,000 eligibility threshold, to simplify and reform employer NICs so that all eligible employers now benefit. Businesses and charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.Within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving. More than £6 billion in charitable reliefs was provided to charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs and their donors in 2023 to 2024. The biggest individual reliefs provided are Gift Aid at £1.6 billion and business rates relief at nearly £2.4 billion.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 37093 on Environment Agency: Finance, if he will take steps to fast track the flood and coastal erosion risk management grant-in-aid funding application for the (a) repair of the Horsebridge at Marsh Lock and (b) restoration of the Thames Path National Trail.

The Government’s Spending Review process will consider all of the investment requests relating to the non-tidal Thames navigation assets. The Environment Agency (EA) will then develop its medium-term capital delivery programme based on the benefits, opportunities, and risks of each of its candidate projects. The EA will only apply for funding towards maintaining structures which it has a responsibility to maintain. Where the Agency is the landowner for sections of the towpath it will consider what works it can progress within its maintenance and refurbishment programmes. Other landowners and risk management authorities will have the opportunity to consider restoration works to the Thames Path National Trail within their annual work programmes.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take through the National Planning Policy Framework to ensure the adequate provision of M4(2) and M4(3) compliant housing in Henley and Thame constituency.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 requires local planning authorities to assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those of older and disabled people, and to reflect this in planning policies.Where an identified need exists, plans are expected to help bring forward an adequate supply of accessible housing, which can include setting out the proportion of new housing that will be delivered to M4(2) and M4(3) standards.The government will shortly set out its policies on accessible new build housing, reinforcing our commitment to ensuring everyone has access to a safe, suitable home.

Media and Sport, when she plans to respond to the letter of 17 February 2025 from the hon. Member for Henley and Thame on the ongoing closure of the Thames Path National Trail at Marsh Lock near Henley on Thames.

This is not the responsibility of this Department and I gather the Member has already received a response from DEFRA.

When he plans to respond to the letter of 5 February 2025 from the Hon. Member for Henley and Thame on building a new Royal Berkshire Hospital.

I replied to the hon. Member’s letter on 21 March 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter of 12th February 2025 from the Hon. Member for Henley and Thame on a meeting to discuss the ongoing closure of the Thames Path National Trail at the Marsh Lock Horsebridge in Henley-on-Thames.

The Department has not received the hon. Member’s aforementioned letter of 12 February 2025; however, it did respond on 3 March 2025 to the hon. Member’s letter of 6 February 2025 regarding the Thames Path National Trail at the Marsh Lock Horsebridge. The Department was also transferred the hon Member’s letter of 17 February to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care regarding the same topic, which was closed in light of the 3 March response. A further letter from the hon Member dated 10 March has been received and will receive a response as soon as possible.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter of 17 February 2025 from the hon. Member for Henley and Thame on the closure of the Thames Path National Trail at the Marsh Lock Horsebridge in Henley on Thames.

The Department has not received the hon. Member’s aforementioned letter of 12 February 2025; however, it did respond on 3 March 2025 to the hon. Member’s letter of 6 February 2025 regarding the Thames Path National Trail at the Marsh Lock Horsebridge. The Department was also transferred the hon Member’s letter of 17 February to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care regarding the same topic, which was closed in light of the 3 March response. A further letter from the hon Member dated 10 March has been received and will receive a response as soon as possible.

When she plans to make a decision on the final business case submitted by Chiltern Railways.

The Department will continue to work closely with Chiltern Railways to support delivery of its train fleet renewal programme and to finalise the commercial arrangements attached to the rolling stock business case in order to deliver an improved experience for passengers from 2026.