Written questions by Glindon.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of holding regional public consultation events as part of the independent review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism.

The independent review into prevalence and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism will appoint an advisory working group. This will be a multidisciplinary group of leading academics, clinicians, epidemiological experts, charities and people with lived experience to directly shape the recommendations and scrutinise the evidence.Ahead of launching the independent review, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, held discussions with a range of mental health, ADHD, and autism stakeholders on the scope of the review.As this is an independent review, it is therefore for the Chair and vice-chairs to consider who to consult and the relevant forums for engagement, that are relevant to deliver the terms of reference set by the Department.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 70441 on Health Services: Disadvantaged, what his Department's planned timescale is for the publication of an (a) impact statement and (b) equalities impact assessment for the 10-Year Health Plan.

We expect these documents to be published shortly.

If he will take steps to introduce interim access to omaveloxolone for Friedreich’s Ataxia patients.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new, licensed medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources.NICE is unable to make a recommendation about the use in the NHS of omaveloxolone for treating Friedreich's ataxia in people aged 16 years old and over. This is because the company, Biogen, withdrew its evidence submission. NICE will review its decision if the company decides to make a new submission. Further information can be found at the following link:www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ta11431NHS England does not fund medicines where the company has not engaged with NICE. This is to avoid a potential pathway for circumventing the NICE appraisal process.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of flavoured vapes on tobacco smoking cessation.

The youth vaping call for evidence, published in 2023, demonstrated that vape flavours are one of the main reasons that vapes appeal to children. However, we recognise that vape flavours can also be a consideration for adult smokers seeking to quit smoking.That is why it is important we strike the balance between restricting vape flavours to reduce their appeal to young people, whilst ensuring vapes remain available for adult smokers as a smoking cessation tool.The Tobacco and Vapes Bill includes regulation making powers to limit vape flavours, to reduce the appeal to children. Before laying any regulations in Parliament, we will undertake a full public consultation to ensure we get this balance right and consider the views of a range of stakeholders. We will publish thorough impact assessments to accompany any future regulations, including future flavour restrictions. These assessments will consider the international evidence available.In October 2025, we launched a call for evidence to gather information on flavours and substances in vaping, nicotine, and tobacco products, aiming to better understand the role and risks of flavourings and ingredients. The call for evidence also seeks to identify where efforts to control flavours have been effective or not.Adult smokers will still be able to access vapes as well as alternative methods to support them to stop smoking. Vapes are commonly used alongside behavioural support within local Stop Smoking Services.

What steps he is taking to improve accessibility to (a) education and (b) healthcare for people with progressive neurological conditions such as Friedreich’s Ataxia.

The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Friedreich’s ataxia. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, and these include: getting a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. In February we published the fourth England action plan reporting on progress.NHS England has revised the national service specification for specialised neurology, which now includes an annex providing greater clarity for neurology sub-specialties. This includes the categories of both movement disorders and neurogenetics, into which Friedreich’s ataxia falls. Every specialised National Health Service neurology centre could and should see patients with Friedreich’s ataxia.The NHS England Genomics Education Programme has also developed a range of educational resources for healthcare professionals. This includes a Knowledge Hub page on Friedreich ataxia, including information on presentation, diagnosis, management, and links for clinicians to further resources, which is available at the following link:https://www.genomicseducation.hee.nhs.uk/genotes/knowledge-hub/friedreich-ataxia/

If he has made an assessment on the potential impact of vape flavour restrictions in (a) Canada, (b) Australia and (c) Netherlands on smoking cessation in the context of the proposed regulation of vape flavours in the United Kingdom.

The youth vaping call for evidence, published in 2023, demonstrated that vape flavours are one of the main reasons that vapes appeal to children. However, we recognise that vape flavours can also be a consideration for adult smokers seeking to quit smoking.That is why it is important we strike the balance between restricting vape flavours to reduce their appeal to young people, whilst ensuring vapes remain available for adult smokers as a smoking cessation tool.The Tobacco and Vapes Bill includes regulation making powers to limit vape flavours, to reduce the appeal to children. Before laying any regulations in Parliament, we will undertake a full public consultation to ensure we get this balance right and consider the views of a range of stakeholders. We will publish thorough impact assessments to accompany any future regulations, including future flavour restrictions. These assessments will consider the international evidence available.In October 2025, we launched a call for evidence to gather information on flavours and substances in vaping, nicotine, and tobacco products, aiming to better understand the role and risks of flavourings and ingredients. The call for evidence also seeks to identify where efforts to control flavours have been effective or not.Adult smokers will still be able to access vapes as well as alternative methods to support them to stop smoking. Vapes are commonly used alongside behavioural support within local Stop Smoking Services.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of scientific evidence on vape flavours as a smoking cessation aid.

The youth vaping call for evidence, published in 2023, demonstrated that vape flavours are one of the main reasons that vapes appeal to children. However, we recognise that vape flavours can also be a consideration for adult smokers seeking to quit smoking.That is why it is important we strike the balance between restricting vape flavours to reduce their appeal to young people, whilst ensuring vapes remain available for adult smokers as a smoking cessation tool.The Tobacco and Vapes Bill includes regulation making powers to limit vape flavours, to reduce the appeal to children. Before laying any regulations in Parliament, we will undertake a full public consultation to ensure we get this balance right and consider the views of a range of stakeholders. We will publish thorough impact assessments to accompany any future regulations, including future flavour restrictions. These assessments will consider the international evidence available.In October 2025, we launched a call for evidence to gather information on flavours and substances in vaping, nicotine, and tobacco products, aiming to better understand the role and risks of flavourings and ingredients. The call for evidence also seeks to identify where efforts to control flavours have been effective or not.Adult smokers will still be able to access vapes as well as alternative methods to support them to stop smoking. Vapes are commonly used alongside behavioural support within local Stop Smoking Services.

What steps he is taking to improve the identification of young carers across other health services in the context of plans to change the Mental Health Act Code of Practice.

Local authorities must take reasonable steps to identify young carers in their area and assess their needs. To support local authorities in their child protection duties, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently making its way through Parliament, strengthens this by introducing a duty on safeguarding partners to enhance multi-agency working with children and families.Reforms to the Mental Health Act will encourage recording young carers in Advance Choice Documents, providing crucial information for professionals during crises. The Mental Health Bill also ensures carers are actively involved in patients’ statutory care plans, supported by guidance in the revised Mental Health Act Code of Practice.NHS England is improving young carer identification and support through general practice guidance and better data sharing across health, education, and social care. In partnership with the Department for Education, it is leading a cross-Government project with young carers and voluntary organisations to reduce inequalities and strengthen support pathways.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that Integrated Care Boards support improved early identification of young carers.

NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are currently supporting a cross-Government project, in collaboration with the Department for Education (DfE), which looks at the inequitable experience of and outcomes for young carers in both health and education. This project, co-produced with young carers, other Government departments and voluntary sector organisations, aims to improve rates of identification of young carers and improve pathways of support in a joined-up approach across schools, health services and local Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations.Additionally, I have established, and now chair, a regular cross-Government meeting of ministers from DHSC, DfE, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Business and Trade to drive coordinated action and to ensure unpaid carers receive the recognition and support they deserve.Early next month NHS England will be hosting an engagement workshop led by their patient and public voice partners, to hear directly about the challenges facing young carers. Their feedback will inform a Young Carers Cross-Government Summit, due to be held in November, to help develop improved approaches across the system.

What recent discussions his Department has had with Integrated Care Boards on steps to improve access to care for people with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

Integrated care boards (ICBs), with oversight from NHS England, have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the needs of their local populations, including for those with PoTS.We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and times down, including for those with PoTS. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard, that 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, by March 2029.Additionally, the shifts outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan will free up hospital-based consultants’ time by shifting care from hospitals to communities, utilising digital technology to reduce administrative burdens, and promoting prevention to reduce the onset and severity of conditions that lead to hospital admissions. This includes expanding community-based services, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, developing integrated neighbourhood health teams, and investing in digital tools and data. These shifts will allow specialists to focus on more complex cases of PoTS, enabling earlier identification and management, and improved patient outcomes.By shifting care into the community through Neighbourhood Health Services, promoting integrated, multidisciplinary models of care, and expanding the use of personalised care plans, as outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will ensure that people with conditions like PoTS receive more timely and accessible support closer to home.

What recent discussions his Department has had with Integrated Care Boards on the time it takes to be diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

Integrated care boards (ICBs), with oversight from NHS England, have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the needs of their local populations, including for those with PoTS.We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and times down, including for those with PoTS. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard, that 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, by March 2029.Additionally, the shifts outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan will free up hospital-based consultants’ time by shifting care from hospitals to communities, utilising digital technology to reduce administrative burdens, and promoting prevention to reduce the onset and severity of conditions that lead to hospital admissions. This includes expanding community-based services, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, developing integrated neighbourhood health teams, and investing in digital tools and data. These shifts will allow specialists to focus on more complex cases of PoTS, enabling earlier identification and management, and improved patient outcomes.By shifting care into the community through Neighbourhood Health Services, promoting integrated, multidisciplinary models of care, and expanding the use of personalised care plans, as outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will ensure that people with conditions like PoTS receive more timely and accessible support closer to home.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of research into postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

The Department funds health and care research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds clinical, public health and social care research and works in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients and the public. The NIHR welcomes proposals for research into a range of conditions, including postural tachycardia syndrome. Proposals can be made at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/suggest-a-research-topic

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 73856 on Long Covid: Health Services, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to long Covid care for people in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne and (b) North Tyneside.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning specialist services for long COVID that meet the needs of their population, subject to local prioritisation and funding. For Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside, this is the North East and North Cumbria ICB.The ICB is currently carrying out a review of long COVID services across the region which is expected to be completed by the end of March 2026.

What steps he is taking to ensure equitable (a) access to long covid services, (b) care outcomes and (c) patient experience for people with long covid.

Since April 2024, the commissioning of post-COVID, or long COVID, services have been the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs), following the closure of the national post-COVID programme.ICBs are responsible for commissioning specialist services for long COVID that meet the needs of their population, subject to local prioritisation and funding. In the commissioning of services, commissioners should take account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, commissioning guidance, and other best practice.NHS England has published commissioning guidance for post-COVID services, which sets out the commissioning, service requirements, and oversight of post-COVID services by ICBs in England for adults, and children and young people. It outlines the elements that post-COVID services should include and the principles of care for long COVID. The guidance also sets out that a proportion of long COVID services funding should be allocated to tackling health inequalities. The commissioning guidance is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-guidance-for-post-covid-services-for-adults-children-and-young-people/

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2025 to Question 62460 on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Health Services, whether a date has been set for the showcase event for post-acute infection conditions.

A provisional date of 6 November 2025 has been set for the showcase event for post-acute infection conditions. The event looks to encourage researchers to join the myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and long COVID research field, to enable new collaborations across specialties and disciplines to stimulate further vital research.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the 10 Year Health Plan on victims of (a) modern slavery and (b) human trafficking.

When developing the 10-Year Health Plan, workshops were held for people experiencing multiple forms of social and economic exclusion played a large part in it, including victims of modern slavery.As part of the recommendations from the review into modern slavery risk in NHS supply chains in December 2023, it was recommended to lay regulations with a view to eradicate modern slavery, supporting the amendment of Section 12zc in the NHS Act 2006.The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England in collaboration have developed detailed guidance to support the embedding of the regulations and policies throughout a procurement exercise. This ensures alignment of procurements conducted under all legal regimes including the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, Procurement Act 2023 and the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. A public consultation for the content and approach of those regulations was launched in Autumn 2024. A Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) was laid in both Houses of Parliament on 21 November 2024 to launch the consultation, and is available at the following link:https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-11-21/hcws245. As set out in the WMS, the draft regulations and guidance were published alongside the consultation. The consultation closed in February 2025 and the Department published a consultation report in June, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tackling-modern-slavery-in-nhs-procurement-proposed-regulations-and-guidance/outcome/tackling-modern-slavery-in-nhs-procurement-government-response. It is planned to lay the regulations in the autumn, to come into force in the spring/summer of 2026. The published guidance is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tackling-modern-slavery-in-nhs-procurement-proposed-regulations-and-guidance. This refers to a risk assessment tool that NHS England have developed based on the six characteristics to help assess modern slavery risks as set out in the Public Procurement Policy Note on identifying and managing modern slavery risks. These are: industry type; nature of the workforce; supplier location; context in which the supplier operates; commodity type; and business/supply chain model.

If he will make an estimate of how many and what proportion of people waited less than 6 weeks for their first treatment for talking therapies in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne and (b) North Tyneside in May 2025; and if he will make an estimate of how many and what proportion of first treatments were (i) a session with a therapist and (ii) guided self-help.

The following table shows the number of referrals to NHS Talking Therapies with their first treatment in May 2025, and the number and percentage of referrals with first treatment within six weeks of the referral being received, for Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside: Local authorityAll referrals with first treatment in May 2025Referrals with first treatment within six weeks of referral being receivedNumber of referralsNumber of referralsPercentage of totalNewcastle upon Tyne55551593%North Tyneside32030595%Source: NHS Talking Therapies dataset, NHS England. In addition, the following table shows a breakdown of these referrals by the specific therapy provided, in total and as a percentage of total referrals:All referrals with first treatment in May 2025Referrals with first treatment with therapistReferrals with first treatment of guided self helpLocal authorityNumber of referralsNumber of referralsPercentage of totalNumber of referralsPercentage of totalNewcastle upon Tyne55554598%102%North Tyneside32013040%19060%Source: NHS Talking Therapies dataset, NHS EnglandNotes: a referral has had a first treatment in NHS Talking Therapies when the patient has attended a first session with an appointment type of treatment, assessment and treatment, or review and treatment;first treatment 'with a therapist' is defined as attended care contacts that are not recorded as one of the guided or non-guided self help therapies; andfirst treatments of guided self help are those with a therapy coded as ‘Guided self-help using book’ or ‘Guided self-help using computer’. Guided self-help sessions also include time with therapists.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the 10 Year Health Plan on people experiencing multiple forms of (a) social and (b) economic exclusion.

Social justice runs through our 10-Year Health Plan, which sets out a reimagined service designed to tackle inequalities in both access and outcomes, as well as to give everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, the means to engage with it on their own terms. We know everyday life poses greater health risks to the most disadvantaged in society, and that the current model of care works least well for those who already experience disadvantage and are far more likely to have complex needs.We have undertaken an impact statement and an equalities impact assessment for the 10-Year Health Plan and these will be published shortly.

Whether his Department considered the legal opinion by Tom Cross KC and Ruth Kennedy entitled In the Matter of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, published on 28 April 2025, during the development of the document entitled Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: ECHR memorandum, published on 2 May 2025.

It was not possible to consider the legal opinion entitled In the Matter of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill during the development of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: ECHR memorandum, as the legal opinion was published after the European Convention on Human Rights Memorandum (ECHR) memorandum was finalised for publication.The ECHR memorandum sets out the Government’s position on the bill’s compatibility with the Human Rights Act 1998.The Government will keep the bill’s compatibility with the Human Rights Act 1998 under review as it progresses through Parliament, and issue a further ECHR memorandum if appropriate.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on his Department’s suicide prevention strategy.

The Government is neutral on the matter of assisted dying and the passage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.The Government remains committed to tackling suicide as one the biggest killers in this country and preventing lives being lost.The suicide prevention strategy identifies priority areas for action to reduce suicide and we will continue to explore opportunities to go further.