Written questions by Morgan.

Whether his Department has made a recent estimate of the number of people that will have palliative care needs in the next 10 years.

Currently, approximately 600,000 people die per year in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that up to 90% of deaths could benefit from palliative and end of life care.The Office for National Statistics has projected that, by 2040, approximately 800,000 people a year will die in the UK. Also, current trends point to a growing proportion of people dying from chronic disease, particularly cancer and dementia. Taking these considerations together, it has been estimated that the number of people needing palliative and end of life care could increase by 42% by 2040.We have committed to develop a 10-Year Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered, from hospital to community, from treatment to prevention, and from analogue to digital. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.

What steps she is taking through the 10 Year Health Plan to address (a) quality of care, (b) inadequate access and (c) rising demand in palliative and end of life care.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and families receive the care they need when and where they need it, including those who need palliative and end of life care.As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we have been carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including the hospice sector.

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 38394 on Integrated Care Boards: Operating Costs, what proportion of running costs integrated care boards are being asked to reduce; and what guidance he has issued on which services should be reduced.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) have been asked to make 50% cuts to running costs. Further detail on the future of ICBs was provided in a letter issued to all ICBs and National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts on 1 April 2025. This letter is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/The letter details that in order to meet the expectations, ICBs should look carefully at functions where there is duplication.

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 38394 on Integrated Care Boards: Operating Costs, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment on the decision to reduce ICB running costs.

NHS England has asked the integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health and care services and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within their structure to achieve a 50% cost reduction in their running cost allowance. NHS England provided additional guidance to ICBs, National Health Service trusts, and NHS foundation trusts on 1 April 2025, with ICBs being tasked to develop plans by the end of May setting out how they will manage their resources to deliver across their priorities.NHS England will be working closely with ICBs to support the development of these plans, ensuring that their implementation reduces duplication and supports patient care. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/In his letter to ICBs, Sir Jim Mackey committed to greater transparency and moving back to a fair shares allocation policy over time.The Department has not conducted an impact assessment of the NHS decision to reduce ICB running costs.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43516: Maternity Services and with reference to the Final report of the Ockenden Review, published on 30 March 2022, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal care in implementing the findings of the Ockenden review.

NHS England’s Three-Year Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services, from 2023 to 2026, pulled together the majority of existing commitments, including the Ockenden recommendations, into a single package. The technical guidance outlines how progress towards the objectives of the plan is being tracked at a national level.The vast majority of recommendations in the second Ockenden report were aimed at trusts. Following this, NHS England wrote to all National Health Service trusts asking them to consider and act upon the report’s findings, and asked trust boards to have oversight of the progress. Integrated care boards are responsible for overseeing local progress.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43516: Maternity Services, whether he has set a deadline for (a) outcome and (b) progress measures in the three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal care.

NHS England’s three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal care services was published on 31 March 2023 and implementation of the objectives is due to run for three years until March 2026. Progress is monitored through the plan’s technical guidance, which sets out how progress will be tracked at a national level against the four key themes of the plan.Due to the complexity of maternity and neonatal care and the need for robust validation, some of the outcome data is significantly lagged and will not be fully available within the lifetime of the plan. Much of this data is published by external organisations beyond NHS England.Although the delivery plan spans three years, its objectives are intended to enable services to deliver improvements in care that will lead to sustained, long-term improvements in outcomes and experiences for women, babies, and families.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43516: Maternity Services, if he will update the three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal care to include specific numerical targets.

NHS England’s three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, ending in March 2026, will not be updated to include specific numerical targets. The focus remains on delivering actions to drive the necessary improvements on the ground to ensure that all women, babies and families receive the high-quality care that they deserve. This includes both the actions set out in the current plan, as well as the further actions needed to tackle the key issues in maternity and neonatal services. It is essential that any targets set are evidence-based and women and baby-centred.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43516: Maternity Services, and with reference to the Final report of the Ockenden Review, published on 30 March 2022, which (a) Trusts and (b) systems have implemented (i) immediate and (ii) essential actions.

It is for integrated care boards to oversee local progress in implementing the immediate and essential actions from the Ockenden Review.

Whether he has issued guidance to hospital trusts on reducing waiting lists for elective care through demand management.

The Government has committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. Our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025 and sent to all NHS trusts, details the necessary reform efforts and includes several actions to reduce unnecessary elective referrals. This includes stepping up volumes of Advice and Guidance (A&G) through the introduction of a new £20 payment for general practitioners, per A&G request, and rolling out clinical triage more consistently to ensure patients receive care in the correct setting, including in primary or community services where this is in the patient’s best interests.The NHS Get it Right First Time (GIRFT) programme also has detailed national guidance for NHS trusts to help reduce their elective waits, including specialty-level guides with specific advice on demand management. GIRFT is proactively supporting trusts to implement this.

What recent progress each NHS Trust providing maternity services has made on implementing each of the immediate and essential actions set out in the Final report of the Ockenden review, published on 30 March 2022.

All of the recommendations made by Donna Ockenden in her review into maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust in 2022 were accepted, including the requests made to the Government, the health system more widely, and the trust. Following publication of the Ockenden review, NHS England wrote to all trusts and systems asking them to deliver the recommendations and report to their public boards.To support this delivery, the three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services brought together the immediate and essential actions from the Ockenden review with those from other reports and guidance. The National Health Service’s operational planning guidance sets out the expectation that trusts should implement the key actions from the plan. In accordance with the NHS operating framework, it is for integrated care boards to oversee local progress with this. The technical guidance which accompanies the plan sets out how we are monitoring progress at a national level.The plan aims to grow the maternity workforce, develop a culture of safety, and ensure women receive safe, compassionate care across the country. NHS England is in the second year of delivery, and progress has been made across the four themes to improve outcomes and experiences for women and their babies.The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust has seen a significant improvement in overall midwifery staffing levels. The trust has enhanced its senior and specialist midwifery teams to provide additional leadership, expert advice, and support for women and families, as well as the clinical teams. The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust now has in place robust training programmes that equip the maternity workforce with up-to-date skills, training, and development, including in the management of emergency scenarios.

What steps he is taking to reduce the use of temporary care environments in patient care.

The Government recognises that long waits in accident and emergency are unacceptable and lead to worse patient outcomes. Patients should expect and receive the highest standards of service, and we are determined to tackle the issue of corridor care.NHS England published guidance in September 2024 regarding the use of temporary escalation spaces, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/principles-for-providing-safe-and-good-quality-care-in-temporary-escalation-spaces/In January, we published the National Health Service’s mandate and planning guidance for 2025/26, which set out the priorities and actions to be taken to reform and improve urgent and emergency care services. This includes increasing the proportion of patients admitted, discharged, and transferred from an emergency department within 12 hours across 2025/26 compared to 2024/25.We will shortly set out the further improvements and actions to be taken to support urgent and emergency care services this year.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of publishing year-round data on the number of patients treated in temporary care environments.

We continue to keep the data available and published to support improvements to urgent and emergency care services under review.NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements related to the use of temporary escalation spaces, to drive improvement. Subject to a review of data quality, this information will be published later this year, and we will consider how this data could be published on a more regular basis.

If he will ensure that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill does not lead to (a) restrictions and (b) bans on smoking in outside areas of hospitality businesses.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will put us on track towards a smoke-free UK, was introduced to Parliament on 5 November 2024. On 26 March 2025, MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of advancing the Bill to the next Parliamentary stage and it has now entered the House of Lords.The Bill allows us to expand current indoor smoking restrictions to outdoor public places and workplaces. However, we have been very clear that in England, we intend to consult on extending smoke-free places to outside schools, children’s playgrounds and hospitals but not outdoor hospitality settings or wider open spaces like beaches. Private outdoor spaces are out of scope of the powers in the Bill.We do not intend to extend these powers further than this at this time and recognise that now would not be the right time to consult on making outdoor hospitality settings smoke-free in England.

If he will ensure that outdoor hospitality areas remain outside the scope of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will put us on track towards a smoke-free UK, was introduced to Parliament on 5 November 2024. On 26 March 2025, MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of advancing the Bill to the next Parliamentary stage and it has now entered the House of Lords.The Bill allows us to expand current indoor smoking restrictions to outdoor public places and workplaces. However, we have been very clear that in England, we intend to consult on extending smoke-free places to outside schools, children’s playgrounds and hospitals but not outdoor hospitality settings or wider open spaces like beaches. Private outdoor spaces are out of scope of the powers in the Bill.We do not intend to extend these powers further than this at this time and recognise that now would not be the right time to consult on making outdoor hospitality settings smoke-free in England.

When the Office for National Statistics will make the (a) 2022 and (b) 2023 under-18 conception data ward level data available for local authorities.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.

When the Office of National Statistics will publish the quarterly England and Wales and Local Authority under-18 conception data for 2024.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.

When the Office for National Statistics will publish the quarterly and annual under-18 conception data for (a) 2022: England and Wales, Local Authority and District level and (b) 2023: England and Wales, Local Authority and District Level.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman or lady Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.

With reference to the Answer of 12 January 2022 to Question 102658, how much money NHS England clawed back from primary care NHS dental practices in England that had not met their contractual targets in each year since the 2020-21 financial year.

The NHS Business Services Authority publishes the details of each National Health Service dental contract with the associated contract delivery data annually. This information includes additional NHS dental payments and deductions each year since 2015. Deductions to this amount include where a dentist does not deliver the contracted amount of NHS dental care. Performance adjustments each year relate to the performance in the previous financial year, for example, performance adjustments in 2023/24 relate to contract performance in 2022/23.The publications are available at the following link: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/dental-data/nhs-payments-dentists

What discussions he has held on the 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme with the (a) voluntary and (b) community sector.

The NHS Payment Scheme is a policy of NHS England. NHS England is following standard procedure in its consultation on the NHS Payment Scheme. While the consultation’s objection thresholds apply only to commissioners and providers of National Health Service-funded services, the consultation accepts responses from any interested parties and members of the general public.On publication, all providers and commissioners affected by the proposals were sent details of the consultation and were asked to respond.An email to highlight the consultation was also sent to over 4,300 people, including from representative bodies, charities, and other voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations, who had registered for updates about the payment system or had joined the payment system support, FutureNHS. A reminder was also sent out a week before the consultation closed.NHS England also promoted the consultation alongside the consultation on the NHS Standard Contract, contacting approximately 2,000 people from NHS organisations, local authorities, voluntary sector organisations, and other interested parties. During the consultation period, NHS England also met with ADHD UK to discuss the proposals.Of the responses that were received regarding the consultation, 16 were from representative bodies, including health charities and royal colleges.

With reference his Department's consultation entitled 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme, published on 30 January 2025, what (a) meetings he has held with and (b) representations he has received from (i) health charities and (ii) Royal Colleges on NHS payment limits.

The NHS Payment Scheme is a policy of NHS England. NHS England is following standard procedure in its consultation on the NHS Payment Scheme. While the consultation’s objection thresholds apply only to commissioners and providers of National Health Service-funded services, the consultation accepts responses from any interested parties and members of the general public.On publication, all providers and commissioners affected by the proposals were sent details of the consultation and were asked to respond.An email to highlight the consultation was also sent to over 4,300 people, including from representative bodies, charities, and other voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations, who had registered for updates about the payment system or had joined the payment system support, FutureNHS. A reminder was also sent out a week before the consultation closed.NHS England also promoted the consultation alongside the consultation on the NHS Standard Contract, contacting approximately 2,000 people from NHS organisations, local authorities, voluntary sector organisations, and other interested parties. During the consultation period, NHS England also met with ADHD UK to discuss the proposals.Of the responses that were received regarding the consultation, 16 were from representative bodies, including health charities and royal colleges.