Written questions by Morgan.

What steps he is taking to (a) reduce potential disparities between waiting times for mental health services and physical health services and (b) ensure mental health is given equal priority to physical health.

We recognise that people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health. This includes recruiting 8,500 more mental health workers, introducing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, rolling out Young Futures hubs in every community, and modernising the Mental Health Act.

With reference to the press notice entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, if he will list the number of additional urgent dental appointments that will be made available in each Integrated Care Board area.

We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and have already requested that integrated care boards (ICBs) start making extra appointments available from April 2025. NHS England issued a letter to the ICBs to start the rollout of the 700,000 urgent dental appointments. The letter provides specific targets for each ICB and the number of additional appointments they are expected to deliver, with further information available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/arrangements-for-nhs-urgent-primary-dental-care-during-2025-26-and-confirmation-of-the-closure-of-the-new-patient-premium-scheme/#annex-a-distribution-of-700k-additional-appointments

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to provide additional urgent dental appointments on (a) patients and (b) dental surgeries.

National Health Service planning guidance has now been published for 2025/26 and sets out the funding available to integrated care boards (ICBs). Planning guidance also confirms that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority. We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and have asked that ICBs start making extra appointments available for patients from April 2025. Whilst NHS England is not mandating an approach to the purchasing of these additional appointments, ICBs could consider options such as buying more appointments through new or recommissioned contracts, through modification of existing contracts, or by using flexible commissioning.For the remainder of 2024/25, ICBs should continue to secure additional urgent care capacity and offer contractors providing mandatory services additional funded activity up to 110% where feasible.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) improve the quality of administrative tasks within the NHS and (b) reduce the number of people receiving an invitation to an appointment after the date it is supposed to have taken place.

The Government is putting patients first, making sure they are seen as quickly as possible and have the best possible experience, which includes receiving timely communication and experiencing high quality administration.The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025 as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, sets out the reform we will deliver to reduce waiting times and improve experience of care. This will be patient-led and co-developed with people that use the National Health Service. We will work with patients, carers, and their representatives to target the things that matter most and will publish minimum standards patients should expect to experience.We are reforming the digital landscape to improve productivity, communication, and offer greater convenience for NHS service users, including changing the NHS App to make it easier and more helpful for patients to access information about their appointments. By the end of March 2025, 85% of acute trusts will allow patients to view appointment information via the NHS App if they wish, reducing reliance on physical letters. We will also provide high quality, non-digital options for those who want and need them.The Government is also reducing the burden of administrative tasks in the NHS. On Friday 4 October 2024, the Government and NHS England launched a Red Tape Challenge to address bureaucracy between primary and secondary care and give our health professionals back time to do what they do best. The challenge is being led by NHS England leaders, Medical Director for Primary Care, Dr Claire Fuller, and Medical Director for Secondary Care and Quality, Stella Vig.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the claims process under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme for sub-post masters whose period of tenure includes years prior to 2004 where records have not been maintained by the Post Office.

The Government recognises that due to the absence of records and the amount of time that has passed since losses were incurred, postmasters may face challenges in evidencing their claim under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. The scheme was designed so that a lack of supporting information would not be a barrier to entry to the scheme.Claimants are asked to provide as much information as they can in making their claim. In the absence of any Post Office records, the postmaster’s testimony will be considered when determining the outcome.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using grass pasture for carbon storage.

Defra is informed by work in its advisory bodies on this topic. Natural England produced an assessment of carbon storage by different habitats in 2021 and found that old species-rich grasslands with minimal inputs can store significant amounts of carbon. There are many factors that influence the amount of carbon storage including historical management, grassland types, soil types and climate. In view of ongoing uncertainties, Defra is funding ongoing research on carbon in grasslands within the Nature Returns programme (https://www.kew.org/science/nature-returns). The role of grazing and fertiliser inputs also needs to be taken into account in assessing the value of pasture as carbon stores. The most recent report of the Climate Change Committee (The Seventh Carbon Budget Advice for the UK Government, 2025) addressed this. It reports that ‘nearly two-thirds (63%) of agricultural emissions (and all agricultural methane emissions) in 2022 were directly emitted from livestock, with 49% from the digestive process (enteric fermentation) of cattle and sheep and 14% from the management of livestock waste and manure. Agricultural soils, mainly from the application of organic and chemical fertiliser onto grassland and cropland, accounted for a further 24%’. References & Reports Natural England (2021) Carbon Storage and Sequestration by Habitat 2021 (NERR094)https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5419124441481216 Climate Change Committee (2025). The Seventh Carbon Budget. Advice for the UK Governmenthttps://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/The-Seventh-Carbon-Budget.pdf

With reference to the press release entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, if he will instruct NHS England to make further changes to the commissioning of NHS dentistry in 2025.

To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.There are no perfect payment models and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver genuine improvements for patients and the profession.We are continuing to work with the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to deliver our shared ambition to improve access to treatments for NHS dental patients. At the same time, we will not wait to make improvements to the current system, where they can increase access and incentivise the workforce to deliver more NHS care.

With reference to the press release entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, published on 21 February 2025, what methodology his Department used for determining the geographical distribution of the proposed additional urgent dental appointments.

We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and have asked that integrated care boards (ICBs) start making extra appointments available from April 2025. Appointments will be available across the country. Patients will be able to access these additional appointments either through NHS 111, or via helplines set up by their ICB, where these arrangements are in place. NHS England issued a letter to the ICBs to start the rollout of the 700,000 urgent dental appointments. The letter provides the methodology used to determine the allocation of the 700,000 appointments across the ICBs in Annex A, considering factors including unmet need, population size, and projected contract delivery at an ICB level for 2024/25. The letter and annex are available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/arrangements-for-nhs-urgent-primary-dental-care-during-2025-26-and-confirmation-of-the-closure-of-the-new-patient-premium-scheme/#annex-a-distribution-of-700k-additional-appointments

What steps he is taking to increase (a) the number of people seeing an NHS dentist and (b) access to NHS dentistry beyond the 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments.

We are determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, with integrated care boards (ICBs) asked to start making extra appointments available from April 2025. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.ICBs have started to advertise posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.The most common reason children aged between five and nine years old are admitted to hospital is for tooth decay. We will work with local authorities and the NHS to introduce supervised tooth brushing for children aged between three and five years old in the most deprived communities. These programmes are proven to reduce tooth decay and to boost good practices at home.

What steps he is taking to improve access to Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy in Shropshire.

The Department monitors and manages medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. Information on stock levels within local areas is not held centrally.The Department is continuing to engage with all suppliers of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) to boost production and mitigate the supply issue. Suppliers have managed to secure additional pharmaceutical ingredients resulting in expected increased volumes of PERT for 2025. The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the gap in the market. In December 2024, the Department issued further management advice to healthcare professionals. This directs clinicians to prescribe unlicensed imports when licensed stock is unavailable, and includes actions for integrated care boards to ensure that local mitigation plans are put in place and implemented. The Department, in collaboration with NHS England, has created a webpage to include the latest updates on PERT availability and easily accessible advice on the prescribing and ordering of alternative PERT products.

What progress his Department has made on carrying out an independent economic analysis of pharmacy funding.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. This work is nearing completion and will be published at the earliest opportunity.

What estimate he had made of the number of GP appointments performed by each of the Spine Directory Service roles in 2024.

In 2024, across the general practices (GPs) and primary care networks in England, over 165.8 million appointments were delivered by GPs, 77.3 million were delivered by nurses, 95 million were delivered by other direct patient care staff, and 40.1 million were delivered by professionals of an unknown spine directory service role. There has been a 9.6% increase in appointments delivered in GPs within the last year. In December 2024, 29.2 million appointments were delivered, an increase of 2.5 million appointments compared to December 2023, when 26.7 million were delivered.

With reference to the 2025-26 NHS Payment scheme consultation notice, whether there will be a deterioration in waiting times as a result of payment limits for elective services; and whether there will be (a) a nationally set floor for level of activity of each elective service in each ICB and (b) a minimum level of provision for ADHD and ASD assessments.

As set out in the Elective Reform Plan, integrated care boards (ICBs) will be allocated funding needed to deliver improvements to the 18-week referral-to-treatment performance standard for consultant-led care. The 2025-26 NHS Payment Scheme consultation proposes that, as a minimum, commissioners need to ensure that the planned level of activity would deliver their target referral to treatment time improvement for consultant-led treatments, considering affordability.The consultation also proposes that commissioners have the option of breaking down the planned level of activity into specific limits set at service, specialty or procedure level. These could consider where additional activity is required and where waiting times are already within the 18-week standard. However, there would be no requirement to break the limit down in this way.The introduction of a payment limit is being proposed to increase commissioners’ ability to manage their finite resources prioritising the specific health needs of their populations. In planning local service provision, including for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder assessments, ICBs should consider how local funding can be deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.

What discussions he is having with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on improving the coordination of (a) the Local Government Finance Settlement and (b) Public Health Grant allocations.

Following the upcoming Spending Review, we will aim to issue multi-year public health allocations to local authorities from 2026/27, to support local planning.The Department of Health and Social Care will continue to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to improve coordination of allocations.

If he will take steps to ensure that future announcements on provisional local government finance settlements and public health grants to local authorities are published within a week of each other.

Following the upcoming Spending Review, we will aim to issue multi-year public health allocations to local authorities from 2026/27, to support local planning.The Department of Health and Social Care will continue to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to improve coordination of allocations.

When the 2025-26 Public Health Grant allocations will be published.

The Government published the 2025/26 Public Health Grant allocations to local authorities on 7 February 2025. These are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-health-grants-to-local-authorities-2025-to-2026

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to respond to Question 24712, tabled on 17 January 2025.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 24712 on 12 February.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support community farms.

We welcome community farms in England as they give local communities a chance to get involved in the countryside. Community farms, like any other farm, may be eligible for a variety of grants. Depending on the setup of the community farm, projects may be eligible for the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive. Our ELM schemes provide fairer support to smaller farms, and farmers and land managers can choose the scheme or schemes that work best for their business. To work out what’s available, you can visit the ‘funding for farmers, growers and land managers’ landing page on GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to Question 24518 on Farming Recovery Fund, tabled on 16 January 2025 by the hon. Member for North Shropshire.

A response to Question 24518 is being prepared and will be provided as soon as possible. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.

What assessment he has made of the prevalence in the use of off-framework agency staff by NHS providers; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of using these staff on NHS finances.

The National Health Service is now operating at the lowest levels of off-framework on record, since a peak in month four of 2022/23, with the highest compliance on capped rates since the introduction of the Agency Rules in 2016.The Government is committed to reducing off-framework agency use, the cost of which is at a premium above the agreed framework rates. Additionally, staff hired through off-framework agencies are not subject to the same pre-employment checks as those carried out by on-framework agencies. Off-framework use is actively monitored through NHS England’s governance mechanisms, with additional oversight applied to trusts with recurring non-compliance.The 2025/26 NHS priorities and operational planning guidance aims to improve procurement, contract management, and work to accept operating models that meet commercial standards. The NHS Planning Guidance states that trusts should reduce their agency spend by a minimum of 30%, and the accompanying Revenue Finance and Contracting Guidance sets the ambition that agency spend should be eliminated in the coming years.