Written questions by Evans.

What guidance his Department issues to general practice staff on triaging (a) online consultation submissions and (b) reports of life-threatening symptoms shortly before the online tool closes each day.

The Department updates the General Medical Services and Personal Medical Services regulations that govern general practice. NHS England issues contractual variations and provides supplementary resources to support practices in implementing these changes.The change to online access requirements was deferred by six months to 1 October 2025 so practices could prepare and get support for this transition if needed. Practices were encouraged to consider what changes they have needed to implement to ensure they were ready to meet this requirement from 1 October 2025. This approach was intended to facilitate a smooth transition and minimise any disruption to patient care. Practices are permitted to display guidance on their websites and premises that states patient should not submit an online consultation request if their issue is urgent and should instead call the practice or attend in person.There is a range of support on offer for practices including guidance, joint webinars from NHS Confederation and NHS England to showcase best practice and case studies where this is working well.

Whether funding from local budgets will be used to pay redundancy packages, in the context of the abolition of NHS England.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre, as well as scaling back integrated care board running costs and NHS provider corporate cost reductions in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy.£860 million of planned resource funding has been re-profiled from later to earlier years of the Department’s Spending Review settlement. This will enable the Department to continue making progress towards halving headcount across the Department and NHS England. This will unlock savings of £1 billion a year by the end of the Parliament, equivalent to the cost of over 115,000 extra hip and knee operations.

What plans he has to allocate funding for redundancy packages (a) following the abolition of NHS England and (b) for Integrated Care Boards.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre, as well as scaling back integrated care board running costs and National Health Service provider corporate cost reductions in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy.£860 million of planned resource funding has been re-profiled from later to earlier years of the Department’s Spending Review settlement. This will enable the Department to continue making progress towards halving headcount across the Department and NHS England. This will unlock savings of £1 billion a year by the end of the Parliament, equivalent to the cost of over 115,000 extra hip and knee operations.

If she will make an assessment of the amount of police time taken to administer vehicle stops under section 163 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Section 163 of the Road Traffic Act (RTA) 1988 allows a police officer in uniform to require the driver of a vehicle to stop when directed.This is an important provision in maintaining road safety. It also enhances understanding of road traffic crime and vehicle-enabled crime.Enforcement of traffic law and the deployment of available resources is an operational matter for individual Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to determine, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 October 2024 to Question 73744 on Private Education, whether the matter of the financial impact of VAT on private school fees was discussed at the meeting on 22 July 2025.

The impact of VAT changes on private schools with Independent Schools Council membership was discussed at the meeting on 22 July.

Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2025 to Question 74384 on Rugby, what assessment her Department has made of the long-term financial sustainability of professional rugby union; and whether she plans to discuss the financial challenges facing professional rugby union with Premiership Rugby.

The governance of rugby union is a matter for the Rugby Football Union (the national governing body for rugby union), which is independent of government.DCMS continues to work with the RFU, representatives of Prem and Champ clubs as well as the Tier Two Board, and the wider sport sector to support the ongoing sustainability of elite and community level rugby union.I have met with Prem Rugby previously to discuss the long-term financial sustainability of professional rugby union, and my officials regularly engage with Prem Rugby on this issue.

Pursuant to his Department's press release entitled Major NHS update brings menopause into routine health checks, published on 23 October 2025, what steps he is taking to identify those who are eligible for but have not undertaken health checks.

The recent announcement that menopause will be included in the NHS Health Check will mean that eligible women can access information on menopause more easily, including information on managing symptoms, where to seek support, and treatment options.Based on the percentage of eligible people who received an NHS Health Check in 2024/25, we expect that approximately 2.1 million women aged 40 to 55 years old could be given this support in the next five years. If all eligible women aged 40 to 55 years old received an NHS Health Check, we would provide information on the menopause to up to five million women every five years.We know that there is more to do to improve the impact of the NHS Health Check programme and we are currently piloting an online NHS Health Check which we hope will make it easier for people to access this important health check.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Major NHS update brings menopause into routine health checks, published on 23 October 2025, how many women his Department expects to be questioned through the NHS Health Check; and if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of women who are eligible for a health check that will not be reached.

The recent announcement that menopause will be included in the NHS Health Check will mean that eligible women can access information on menopause more easily, including information on managing symptoms, where to seek support, and treatment options.Based on the percentage of eligible people who received an NHS Health Check in 2024/25, we expect that approximately 2.1 million women aged 40 to 55 years old could be given this support in the next five years. If all eligible women aged 40 to 55 years old received an NHS Health Check, we would provide information on the menopause to up to five million women every five years.We know that there is more to do to improve the impact of the NHS Health Check programme and we are currently piloting an online NHS Health Check which we hope will make it easier for people to access this important health check.

Whether he will have discussions with (a) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and (b) NHS England on the applicability of current guidance to assist medical professionals to recognise type 1 diabetes in (i) babies (ii) toddlers (iii) children and (iv) adolescents at the point of care.

This is a matter for National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as the independent body responsible for providing guidance and quality standards on the treatment and care of diabetes in England. NICE has an established prioritisation process for the identification of priorities for guidance development.NHS England has published a RightCare toolkit which sets out what good quality diabetes care looks like for children and young adults and includes guidance on timely and accurate diagnosis.

Pwith reference to his Department's press release entitled Major NHS update brings menopause into routine health checks, published on 23 October 2025, what the pathway is for people who are found to be peri-menopausal.

We will be working with experts, including general practitioners, over the coming months to co-design the menopause content for the NHS Health Check.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Major NHS update brings menopause into routine health checks, published on 23 October 2025, what questions will be added to the NHS Health Check.

We will be working with experts, including general practitioners, over the coming months to co-design the menopause content for the NHS Health Check.

Whether she has made an estimate of the potential annual income from introducing employers’ National Insurance contributions for General Practice partners.

Partners are treated as self-employed for tax purposes and therefore no Employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are due on their income.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of introducing employers’ National Insurance contributions for General Practice partners on retention.

Partners are treated as self-employed for tax purposes and therefore no Employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are due on their income.

What estimate she has made of the number of General Practice partners who do not pay employers’ National Insurance contributions due to the partnership funding model.

Partners are treated as self-employed for tax purposes and therefore no Employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are due on their income.

What recent assessment his Department has made of it's capacity to meet its target to deliver mental health support teams in all schools by the 2029-30 academic year.

Building on the progress already made and the ambitions in 10-Year Health Plan, the Medium Term Planning Framework, published on 24 October, sets targets for integrated care boards to expand coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges in England to achieve full national coverage by 2029.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 August 2025 to Question 68971 on General Practitioners: Disclosure of Information, with which stakeholders the impact of information sharing duties on GPs was last discussed; and at what forums this was discussed.

Keeping children safe is a priority for the Government. The new information sharing duty will clarify when a child’s information should be shared, which should ease the overall burden on practitioners. It will be supported by statutory guidance, and we will work closely with multi-agency partners to ensure effective implementation. To ensure the impact on general practitioners is effectively captured in the information sharing duty, the Department have consulted the following stakeholders: - Action for Children;- Barnardo’s;- British Association of Social Workers;- Domestic Abuse Commissioner;- General Medical Council;- Royal College of General Practitioners;- Information Commissioner’s Office;- Nursing and Midwifery Council;- Operation Encompass;- Social Work England;- Teaching Regulation Agency, Teacher Misconduct; and- over 400 individual practitioners, including those working in health. All consultations took place in the form of meetings. We are committed to ongoing engagement with health stakeholders as we plan for the effective implementation of the information sharing duty.

How many and what proportion of foundation pharmacists beginning their training in 2025 have been assigned a Designated Practicing Practitioner.

To support the development of Designated Practicing Practitioner (DPP) capacity, NHS England has and continues to engage with training sites and invest in training for independent prescribers, as well as initiatives to support the development and safe practice of DPPs.From the 20205/26 Foundation Trainee Pharmacist Programme, trainee pharmacists in England start their foundation training in the 2025/26 year in two windows: 14 July 2025 - 4 August 2025 (Summer) and 20 October 2025 - 10 November 2025 (Autumn).Every foundation trainee pharmacist that has graduated against the 2021 General Pharmaceutical Council Learning Outcomes for the Initial Education and Training of Pharmacists will require a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) during their foundation training period to support supervision and assessment of prescribing training activities.All prospective training sites for 2025/26 were required to make a declaration that they meet the National Recruitment Scheme (NRS) Terms of Participation at the point that the training sites were entered into the NRS. This includes the declaration that they would provide a DPP for the trainee. Training sites are required to provide details of the DPP to NHS England after the trainee pharmacist commences in post.NHS England is currently collating details of supervisors. Data will be available for the 2025 cohort by the end of the 2025 calendar year.

With reference to the oral contribution by the Minister for Secondary Care of 17 July 2025, Official Report, column 443, when he plans to publish the report.

The Department recognises the importance of this report and of giving members of the NHS Pension Scheme certainty about when they will receive their McCloud Remedy.I wrote to the Hon. Member on 13 October 2025 informing him that I expect to be in a position to provide him and the House with a fuller update on the remedy replan and the review of this in good time before Christmas recess.

How many Remedial Pension Savings Statements remain outstanding for each of the last 12 months.

The NHS Business Services Authority confirmed that as of 30 October 2025, 28,374 Remedial Pension Savings Statements are outstanding.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 September to Question 68833 on General Practitioners: Recruitment, where the underspend in the additional roles reimbursement scheme was reallocated.

In 2019/20, commissioners were asked to reinvest underspend in wider general practice services. In 2020/21, underspend was invested in supporting the delivery of the COVID vaccination programme. In 2021/22, underspend was reinvested in providing allocations for the Winter Access Fund. In 2022/23, underspend was reinvested in Acute Respiratory Infection Hubs and Pharmacy First.In 2023/24 and 2024/25, where underspends occurred in national programmes for general practice such as this, any funding that couldn’t be reinvested in general practice contributed to supporting the overall National Health Service financial position.