Written questions by Ferguson.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the NHS supply of Futibatinib.

NHS England funds the use of licensed medicines that have been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Futibatinib is licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and has been recommended by the NICE for the treatment of previously treated advanced cholangiocarcinoma with FGFR2 fusion or rearrangement. However, Taiho Pharma Europe, the company that markets futibatinib, has advised NHS England that they are not currently able to supply it to the National Health Service. Patients with previously treated advanced cholangiocarcinoma with FGFR2 fusion or rearrangement are able to access a different treatment, pemigatinib, which is also licensed and recommended by the NICE for this indication.

What funding is available for patients to receive the immunotherapy drug Futibatinib through the NHS; and what criteria his Department uses to determine whether a patient is eligible for any funding.

NHS England funds the use of licensed medicines that have been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Futibatinib is licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and has been recommended by the NICE for the treatment of previously treated advanced cholangiocarcinoma with FGFR2 fusion or rearrangement. However, Taiho Pharma Europe, the company that markets futibatinib, has advised NHS England that they are not currently able to supply it to the National Health Service. Patients with previously treated advanced cholangiocarcinoma with FGFR2 fusion or rearrangement are able to access a different treatment, pemigatinib, which is also licensed and recommended by the NICE for this indication.

What the average life expectancy is in (a) Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency and (b) each ward of that constituency.

Life expectancy estimates for Parliamentary constituencies are not available. Life expectancy estimates for local authorities in England are produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The latest available figures from the ONS are for the three-year period 2020 to 2022. In that period, life expectancy at birth for the Gateshead local authority, which includes the constituency of Gateshead and Whickham, was 76.7 years for males, and 81.4 years for females.Life expectancy estimates for electoral wards are produced by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). The following table shows the latest available estimates of life expectancy at birth, separated by sex, for the five-year period of 2016 to 2020, in the electoral wards within the Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency:Electoral ward nameSexLife expectancy in years BridgesMale73.7 ChowdeneMale77.8 DeckhamMale74.1 Dunston and TeamsMale73.0 Dunston Hill and Whickham EastMale79.0 High FellMale74.5 Lobley Hill and BenshamMale74.7 Low FellMale80.8 SaltwellMale76.5 Whickham NorthMale77.9 Whickham South and SunnisideMale82.3 BridgesFemale78.6 ChowdeneFemale83.1 DeckhamFemale77.8 Dunston and TeamsFemale81.1 Dunston Hill and Whickham EastFemale83.8 High FellFemale78.6 Lobley Hill and BenshamFemale78.6 Low FellFemale83.8 SaltwellFemale84.8 Whickham NorthFemale80.3 Whickham South and SunnisideFemale87.6 Source: data is from the OHID’s Local Health profile, with further information on male and female life expectancy within the Gateshead local authority available, respectively, at the following two links: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-health/data#page/3/gid/1938133185/pat/502/par/E08000037/ati/8/are/E05001067/iid/93283/age/1/sex/1/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/5/cid/4/tbm/1 https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-health/data#page/3/gid/1938133185/pat/502/par/E08000037/ati/8/are/E05001067/iid/93283/age/1/sex/2/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/5/cid/4/tbm/1/page-options/car-do-0 The profile also provides comparable estimates for the Gateshead local authority for the five-year period, from 2016 to 2020.

How much has been (a) budgeted and (b) spent by the Care Quality Commission on the (i) design, (ii) development and (iii) rollout of its new regulatory platform.

The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) budget for its new regulatory platform was £88.3 million. The actual cost of the regulatory platform is £92.4 million, including the utilisation of contingency, which isn’t accounted for in the budget, and so is the reason for the variance. The actual cost comprises spending on contingent labour, internal staffing, professional services, and non-pay costs. All spending during the CQC’s transformation was subject to appropriate governance, and any procurement was undertaken in line with public sector standards.The regulatory platform was gradually delivered and implemented over a five-year period to the end of March 2024. The CQC is unable to provide a breakdown of the figures into design, development, and rollout as the regulatory platform was broken down into various services and each of these had a different design, build, test, and deploy phase. These phases overlapped due to the phased rollout.