Written questions by Farron.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the state of repair of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

As part of the management of their estate, National Health Service trusts regularly assess the physical condition of their estate. NHS England’s annual Estates Returns Information Collection collects data from trusts on the quality of their estate annually, including the projected cost of bringing all the buildings on each NHS site into acceptable condition, recorded as backlog maintenance. The latest published data on backlog maintenance, for 2024/25, is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection/summary-page-and-dataset-for-eric-2024-25Hospitals in the New Hospital Programme, including the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, continue to receive support for maintenance and repairs. In addition to operational capital, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust has been provided with £3.3 million from the 2025/26 Estates Safety Fund for works at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of delays to rebuilding of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary on people in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency.

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive. An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

What recent steps he has taken to help reduce NHS waiting times in Cumbria.

Tackling the waiting-list is a top priority for the Government. We have exceeded our pledge to deliver over two million more elective care appointments. More than double that number, 5.2 million more appointments, have now been delivered in England.On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, which sets out a whole system approach to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029. This includes a focus on:empowering patients by giving them more choice and control, and by establishing the standards they can expect from National Health Service planned care;reforming delivery by working more productively, consistently, and in many cases differently, to deliver more elective care. This includes a commitment to rolling out additional diagnostic tests and scans through a network of community diagnostic centres (CDCs); andaligning funding, performance oversight, and delivery standards, with clear responsibilities and incentives for reform.Cumbria is covered by two integrated care boards (ICBs). As of August 2025, 18-week referral to treatment performance for the NHS Lancashire And South Cumbria ICB was 60.7%, and was 70.2% for the NHS North East And North Cumbria ICB. As of October 2025, there are now two CDCs in Cumbria, the Workington CDC and the Crossland Day Hospital. These community diagnostic centres will support access to earlier diagnostic tests, benefiting millions of patients.

If he will bring forward proposals to rebuild the Royal Lancaster Hospital from 2035-38; and what steps he is taking to prevent further delays to this.

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive. An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

What steps he has taken to acquire further funding for the rebuilding of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

The New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation was published on 20 January 2025 and sets out a credible, deliverable plan for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP). This plan will be delivered through five-year waves of investment and is backed by up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging £3 billion a year from 2030. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome As wave 3 schemes, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital have been paused. No further funding will be available from the NHP until pre-construction activity begins from 2030. The NHP is committed to ensuring both schemes are fully resourced when this time comes. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive. An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the NHP and included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

What estimate he has made of the number of patients who no longer meeting the criteria to reside in hospital in (a) the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, (b) Westmorland General Hospital and (c) Furness General Hospital.

The Department does not hold hospital level data. However, as per the trust level data for the University Hospital Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, which includes the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Westmorland General Hospital, and Furness General Hospital, in the month of September 2025, the latest month for which data is available, there were on average 145 adult patients, occupying 20.9% of the adult acute beds, each day who had no criteria to reside but who were not discharged by the end of the day. This was 6.1% higher than the average for England, of 14.8%, for September 2025.

What estimate he has made of the number of people who are on NHS waiting lists for radiotherapy in South Cumbria.

We do not routinely publish data on current waiting list levels broken down to the level of specific treatment types, and so we cannot provide an estimate of the number of people who are on National Health Service waiting lists for radiotherapy in South Cumbria.However, the Government is aware that patients in all parts of the country, including South Cumbria, can be waiting too long for their treatment. That is why the Government is taking decisive action to get the NHS diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster.We have invested £70 million in replacing outdated radiotherapy machines across the NHS with cutting-edge technology that will speed up treatment for thousands of patients. These new machines are being rolled out across the country.

What estimate he has made of the average travel distance for cancer patients from South Cumbria and North Lancashire required to attend Royal Preston Hospital for radiotherapy.

NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring healthcare needs of local communities in England are met. For the Royal Preston Hospital, this is the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board.The National Health Service in England runs schemes to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. The NHS Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme provides financial assistance to patients who do not have a medical need for transport, but who require assistance with the costs of travelling to receive certain NHS services.The Department has not made any assessment of average travel distances in the South Cumbria and North Lancashire area.

How many patients resident in the postcode district (a) LA2, (b) LA5, (c) LA6, (d) LA7, (e) LA8, (f) LA9, (g) LA10, (h) LA11, (i) LA12, (j) LA13, (k) LA14, (l) LA15, (m) LA16, (n) LA17, (o) LA18, (p) LA19, (q) LA20, (r) LA21, (s) LA22 and (t) LA23 received radiotherapy treatment at the Rosemere Cancer Centre, Royal Preston Hospital in each of the last five years.

The attached table shows the number of patients who received radiotherapy treatment at the Rosemere Cancer Centre, Royal Preston Hospital each year between 2019 and 2024 for the postcode districts requested.

What steps his Department has taken to increase availability of Megestrol 160mg tablets for surgery based pharmacies.

We are aware of supply issues affecting Megestrol Acetate 160 milligram tablets, for which we issued comprehensive management guidance to the National Health Service. This supply issue should start being resolved the week commencing 14 July 2025. We continue to work with the supplier to ensure full resolution.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential reasons for the level of availability of Megestrol 160mg tablets.

We are aware of supply issues affecting Megestrol Acetate 160 milligram tablets, for which we issued comprehensive management guidance to the National Health Service. This supply issue should start being resolved the week commencing 14 July 2025. We continue to work with the supplier to ensure full resolution.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of increased regulation on the nutritional value of baby food.

Children’s early years provide an important foundation for their future health and strongly influences many aspects of wellbeing in later life.It is vital that we maintain the highest standards for foods consumed by babies and infants, which is why we have regulations in place that set nutritional and compositional standards for commercial baby food. The regulations also set labelling standards to ensure consumers have clear and accurate information about the products they buy. We continue to keep these regulations under review to ensure they reflect the latest scientific and dietary guidelines.

What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the availability of dental appointments for women.

We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist and are committed to reducing health inequalities.The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. 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.The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards across England.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of AI auto contouring funding on NHS waiting times for radiotherapy treatment.

We are committed to transforming diagnostic services, and will support the National Health Service to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners. While no assessment has been made, we will continue to monitor developments and any potential impacts on waiting times.All future spending commitments beyond 2025/26, including this one, will be determined through the next phase of the Spending Review process, which will conclude in June.We will be spending £70 million on new radiotherapy machines, to ensure the most advanced treatment is available to patients who need it.The Department will continue to look at opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence to diagnostic performance and ultimately bring down waiting times.

What (a) webinars, (b) meetings and (c) other engagements NHS England undertook with radiotherapy networks on access to the AI auto contouring funding announced on 21 May 2024; and whether alternative funding will be made available to support AI use in radiotherapy.

The information requested is not held by the Department, but we are seeking advice from NHS England on the impact of these webinars and subsequent engagement that they have undertaken.All future spending commitments beyond 2025/26, including this one, will be determined through the next phase of the Spending Review process, which will conclude in June.The Department supports the National Health Service in reviewing opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence to transform performance, bring down waiting times, and support staff with their workload. We expect that radiotherapy treatment centres will use all appropriate technology for treating patients, to ensure that they receive the best possible care. This includes the use of artificial intelligence where available.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the webinars held by NHS England with hospital staff on AI auto contouring funding in September 2024 on staff expectations for that technology.

The information requested is not held by the Department, but we are seeking advice from NHS England on the impact of these webinars and subsequent engagement that they have undertaken.All future spending commitments beyond 2025/26, including this one, will be determined through the next phase of the Spending Review process, which will conclude in June.The Department supports the National Health Service in reviewing opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence to transform performance, bring down waiting times, and support staff with their workload. We expect that radiotherapy treatment centres will use all appropriate technology for treating patients, to ensure that they receive the best possible care. This includes the use of artificial intelligence where available.

For what reason the NHS was preparing for AI auto contouring funding in September 2024; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of not providing this funding on planning by radiotherapy departments.

We are committed to transforming diagnostic services, and will support the National Health Service to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners. While no assessment has been made, we will continue to monitor developments and any potential impacts on waiting times.All future spending commitments beyond 2025/26, including this one, will be determined through the next phase of the Spending Review process, which will conclude in June.We will be spending £70 million on new radiotherapy machines, to ensure the most advanced treatment is available to patients who need it.The Department will continue to look at opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence to diagnostic performance and ultimately bring down waiting times.

Whether the NHS was instructed to proceed with engagement on AI auto contouring funding in 2024 following the previous Government's funding announcement.

We are committed to transforming diagnostic services, and will support the National Health Service to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners. While no assessment has been made, we will continue to monitor developments and any potential impacts on waiting times.All future spending commitments beyond 2025/26, including this one, will be determined through the next phase of the Spending Review process, which will conclude in June.We will be spending £70 million on new radiotherapy machines, to ensure the most advanced treatment is available to patients who need it.The Department will continue to look at opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence to diagnostic performance and ultimately bring down waiting times.

If his Department will publish all correspondence between the NHS, his Department and Ministers on AI auto contouring funding in 2024.

The Department does not plan to publish correspondence between the National Health Service and Ministers on this topic from 2024.

Whether he plans to attend the World Health Organisation’s Second Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health in March 2025.

My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is unable to attend this World Health Organisation (WHO) conference. We aim to support attendance at relevant international events where possible and as appropriate, and work across Government to determine if and how Ministers can undertake travel, considering availability and finite resources.The Government recognises that air pollution is a local, regional, and global issue and continues to be a long-standing supporter and member of the WHO. In advance of the Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health, the United Kingdom is providing funding to the WHO to refresh and synthesize the evidence base on the health impacts of air pollution.