Written questions by Morgan.

What the mean payment to each Government funded hospice was in each year since 2015.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life, and their loved ones.The Department does not hold specific data regarding hospice funding for each year. Individual ICBs oversee and maintain records of these transactions.Additionally, the amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on the demand in that ICB area, but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.

How many hospices there were in England in each year since 2015; and how many of those received Government funding in each of those years.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life, and their loved ones.The Department does not hold specific data regarding hospice funding for each year. Individual ICBs oversee and maintain records of these transactions.Additionally, the amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on the demand in that ICB area, but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.

How much Government funding has been provided to hospices in each year since 2015.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life, and their loved ones.The Department does not hold specific data regarding hospice funding for each year. Individual ICBs oversee and maintain records of these transactions.Additionally, the amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on the demand in that ICB area, but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.

What steps his Department is taking to help promote UK vaccine development.

Vaccines are critical for preventing infectious diseases, and lessening their impact. Vaccine development ensures that the United Kingdom remains on the cutting edge of technological advancements, and is able to respond to new and emerging disease risks. The Department’s work on vaccine development aligns with the Biological Security Strategy, which seeks to ensure that the UK is resilient to a spectrum of biological threats and is a world leader in responsible innovation by 2030. It also contributes to the 100 Days Mission, a global mission to have safe and effective diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines in the first 100 days of a pandemic. The Department promotes UK vaccine development through a variety of mechanisms, including:investing in innovative research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and its infrastructure, which actively supports the development of new interventions to prevent disease, including research for the whole of the national immunisation programme;funding the UK Vaccine Network’s (UKVN) research projects into vaccines and vaccine technology that could prevent and respond to epidemics in low- and middle-income countries, with research innovations developed through this project having the potential to also promote the development of vaccine technologies with domestic applications, with, for example, the UKVN’s funding for a Middle East respiratory syndrome vaccine being rapidly adapted to develop the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine;funding the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which aims to accelerate development of vaccines against epidemic and pandemic threats and to enable equitable access to these vaccines globally, with the UK having committed to provide £160 million in support for the CEPI over five years at the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit in March 2022;establishing the UK Health Security Agency’s Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre to strengthen UK research and develop vaccines against the world’s deadliest pathogens;investing in the Moderna Strategic Partnership, through which Moderna has invested in mRNA research and development in the UK and is building a state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing centre with the ability to produce up to 250 million vaccines a year; andassessing bids into the Government’s Life Sciences Innovation Manufacturing Fund, announced on 30 October 2024, which will provide up to £520 million in capital grants to help the UK’s medicines manufacturers grow and innovate.

What discussions he has had with health charities on the potential impact of increases in levels of employers' national insurance contributions on those charities.

Ministers and officials meet regularly with health and care charities to discuss a variety of issues.To repair public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. On the impact on charities in particular, our tax regime for charities, including exemption from paying business rates, is among the most generous of anywhere in the world, with tax reliefs for charities and their donors worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of an increase in employers national insurance contributions on dental practices' finances.

No assessments have been made yet on the potential impact of an increase in employers National Insurance Contributions on dental practices’ finances.The employer National Insurance rise will be implemented April 2025, and the Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Accelerating Reform Fund in innovating the social care sector.

The Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF) aims to address barriers to the adoption and scaling of innovation in adult social care and improve support for unpaid carers. Local authorities are supported to take forward locally identified innovative projects, working collaboratively with other local authorities, the National Health Service, care providers, and voluntary and community organisations in their integrated care system footprints.An independent national evaluation by Ipsos aims to improve the evidence base on the impact of funded innovations, as well as assessing the success of the fund in overcoming barriers to, and creating the conditions for, innovation.Emerging evidence suggests the ARF is encouraging more innovative activities in adult social care. The evaluation will continue to assess the effectiveness of the ARF through the lifecycle of the fund, concluding in June 2025.

Whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the report entitled Return on investment of public health interventions: a systematic review, published in March 2017. .

We agree with the overall systematic review findings that local and national preventative public health interventions can be highly cost effective. The systematic review sets out analysis and evidence which has informed the Department’s own analysis.

What steps he is taking to improve public health services focusing on (a) smoking cessation, (b) drug and alcohol and (c) children's health.

The Government is committed to improving public health as part of delivering a shift from sickness to prevention. As part of this, the Public Health Grant funds a range of preventative interventions across the country, including local authority-led stop smoking services, local authority-led alcohol and drug treatment services, and services which promote and support children’s health. The National Health Service’s 10-Year Health Plan will ensure that children and their families are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.The Government is also delivering additional targeted interventions which will promote public health. On smoking, this includes delivering the national smoke-free pregnancy incentives scheme, and working to ensure that all hospitals integrate opt-out smoking cessation interventions into routine care.For drug and alcohol treatment, the Government continues to invest in improvements to local alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services to enable people to access high quality help and support, should they need it. In addition, the Government has allocated local authorities a further £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery, alongside £105 million made available by the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to improve treatment pathways and recovery, housing, and employment outcomes for people with drug and alcohol problems.The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. There are a range of public health services through which children and their families can access support. This includes the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme, which places at its heart preventative health services from conception to the age of two years old, in 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation. In addition, the Healthy Child Programme provides targeted support, offering universal, personalised services provided by a health visiting team for those aged zero to five years old.

With reference to paragraph 2.72 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, whether the £600 million for social care is in addition to Accelerating Reform Fund money yet to be released to councils.

The Budget announced that the Government is providing at least £600 million of new grant funding for social care in 2025/26, as part of the broader estimated real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of approximately 3.2%. To support our unpaid carers, from April 2025, the Government will also increase the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, which is the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage.The funding announced at the budget for 2025/26 is distinct from the £22.6 million intended to support the Accelerating Reform Fund in 24/25.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of an increase in employers national insurance contributions on GP surgeries' finances.

Primary care providers, for instance general practices (GPs), dentists, pharmacies, and eye care, are valued independent contractors who provide nearly £20 billion worth of services within the National Health Service. Every year we have discussions with each sector both about what services they provide, and what their pay will be. In accordance with the usual process, this issue will be dealt with as part of those discussions. We will shortly begin negotiations on the annual GP contract.

What steps he is taking to increase innovation in adult social care.

The Government recognises that innovation is vital in supporting the adult social care sector to adjust to the changing needs of the population. We want to support local authorities and providers to adopt new approaches to delivering care, improving outcomes for people who draw on care, and their unpaid carers. This includes enshrining home-first principles that enable people to live independently in their communities for longer.The Accelerating Reform Fund aims to address barriers to the adoption and scaling of innovation in adult social care and improve support for unpaid carers. Local authorities are supported to take forward locally identified innovative projects, working collaboratively with other local authorities, the National Health Service, care providers, and voluntary and community organisations in their integrated care system footprints.Through the Adult Social Care Technology Fund, we are also supporting local systems to test, scale, and evaluate innovative digital solutions to ensure people are supported in their own homes for longer. We know there are opportunities for technologies to transform care, and by building our evidence base we can help identify care technologies with the potential for wider rollout.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that upper tier local authorities can meet additional demand for social care services in (a) Shropshire and (b) England in winter 2024-25.

On 17 September, I wrote to all local authorities, setting out priorities for improving service resilience across social care this winter. The letter emphasises the importance of close partnership working and joint planning between local authorities, the NHS and community partners. Local authorities are expected to have business continuity plans in place for a range of risks, including for localised disruptions caused by adverse winter weather.The Department funds Partners in Care and Health, delivered by the Local Government Association, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, and the Social Care Institute for Excellence, to provide a support offer that helps local authorities tackle operational challenges, including during winter.Under the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF), local authorities must submit an adult social care capacity plan that provides assurance that plans are in place to meet estimated local demand for different types of long-term care services, with a focus on winter. These were submitted to the department in June 2024. The member’s local authority, Shropshire, submitted their 2024/25 capacity plan which is currently undergoing processing and quality assurance.MSIF is designed to support increased adult social care capacity, improve market sustainability, and enable local authorities to make improvements to adult social care services. Shropshire has been allocated just over £6 million of MSIF funding in 2024/25 to support these aims.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS services can meet additional demand in (a) the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin integrated care board and (b) England in winter 2024-25.

NHS England has written to integrated care boards (ICBs), trusts, and primary care networks to set out a national approach to 2024/25 winter planning. This builds on the priorities in the National Health Service’s planning guidance, and sets out the key steps to be taken to support the delivery of high-quality care for patients this winter.The Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB is undertaking an improvement programme that aims to better respond to the pressures of the demand upon the urgent and emergency care services. This is delivering changes to meet needs now, throughout winter, and sustainably for the future. There is a focus on the following areas:providing alternatives for patients rather than attending emergency departments;faster progress through emergency departments, improving performance against national waiting time standards;improving processes in inpatient wards to reduce delays for patients;coordinating and enabling more timely discharge, with more patients able to go home, in conjunction with the area’s local authorities; anda specific focus upon supporting frail older adults, to keep them well in their place of residence and minimise the time spent in hospital when an admission to hospital is required.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of each upper tier local authority to meet the demand for social care in the next (a) 12 months and (b) five years.

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. In performing that duty, a local authority must have regard to the need to ensure that it is aware of current and likely future demand for such services, and to consider how providers in their local area might meet that demand.The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing local authorities’ delivery of these duties. The CQC started these assessments in December 2023, and will assess all 153 local authorities in England over the next two years. The assessments facilitate the sharing of good practice and help us to target support where it is most needed. If an assessment identifies that a local authority has failed or is failing to discharge its functions under the Care Act 2014 to an acceptable standard, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has powers to intervene.The Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund includes grant conditions which require each local authority to submit an adult social care capacity plan. These were submitted to the Department in June 2024 and are currently undergoing processing and quality assurance.

If he will make an estimate of the number of patients that are fit to be discharged but have remained in hospital due to the unavailability of social care since January 2022.

Since April 2022, there have been, by monthly average, 12,828 people in hospital daily with no criteria to reside; however, we do not hold data on which or how many of these people have been in hospital for the entirety of this time.In October 2024, 33% of patients who have a length of stay of 14 or more days were delayed due to capacity reasons, however these delays include both National Health Service-commissioned and adult social care capacity.

When the 2024-25 funding allocations of the Accelerating Reform Fund will be released.

The Government recognises that innovation is vital to support adult social care to adjust to the changing needs of the population. We want to support local authorities to adopt new approaches to delivering care, improving outcomes of people who draw on care and their unpaid carers. This includes enshrining home-first principles that enable people to live independently in their communities for longer.The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support they need. We want to ensure that people who care for family and friends are better able to look after their own health and wellbeing.The Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF) aims to address barriers to the adoption and scaling of innovation in adult social care and improve support for unpaid carers. A decision on the release of 2024/25 funding allocations for the ARF will be shared shortly.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of delaying the release of the 2024-25 funding allocation of the Accelerating Reform Fund on unpaid carers.

The Government recognises that innovation is vital to support adult social care to adjust to the changing needs of the population. We want to support local authorities to adopt new approaches to delivering care, improving outcomes of people who draw on care and their unpaid carers. This includes enshrining home-first principles that enable people to live independently in their communities for longer.The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support they need. We want to ensure that people who care for family and friends are better able to look after their own health and wellbeing.The Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF) aims to address barriers to the adoption and scaling of innovation in adult social care and improve support for unpaid carers. A decision on the release of 2024/25 funding allocations for the ARF will be shared shortly.

How many and what proportion of patients received urgent cancer treatment within 62 days of a GP referral at Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin integrated care board since October 2023.

Cancer waiting times data, organised by integrated care board, and published by NHS England, and is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure all NHS Trusts meet the Government’s target to reduce the number of stillbirths nationally to 0.23%.

The current rate of stillbirths per 1,000 births is 3.9.The Government continues to work with the National Health Service as it delivers its three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services. As part of the plan, an updated version of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle, which aims to support a reduction in stillbirths, has been rolled out. All trusts are implementing the third version of this bundle, which provides maternity units with detailed guidance and a package of interventions to reduce stillbirths, neonatal brain injury, neonatal death, and preterm birth.