Written questions by Slade.

How many and what proportion of adults with a learning disability are registered on the learning disability register in (a) England (b) each region of England.

Work is currently underway in NHS England to encourage children and young people to join the learning disability register at the age of 14 years old, and to support people who do not have a confirmed learning disability diagnosis to access the register and appropriate services.NHS England has published guidance to support general practitioners (GPs) in identifying people with a learning disability. People with a learning disability are identified using specific codes within a patient record which are then grouped into a ‘code cluster’. Further information on the guidance is avaiable at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/improving-identification-of-people-with-a-learning-disability-guidance-for-general-practice.pdfThe learning disability register code cluster includes conditions and diagnoses that are highly likely to indicate that a person has a learning disability. Code cluster contents are dynamic and are updated regularly to account for new content. The latest cluster contents can be found in the Primary Care Domain Reference Set Portal, with further information available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/quality-and-outcomes-framework-qof/quality-and-outcome-framework-qof-business-rules/primary-care-domain-reference-set-portalIn addition, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, recently wrote to GPs, emphasising the importance of the learning disability register and providing high quality annual health checks.As part of efforts to monitor uptake, NHS England data shows that, as of October 2025, there were 343,520 people aged 14 years old and over with a learning disability on the learning disability register in England. The following table shows the number of people on the learning disability register in each region of England:RegionRegister size age 14 years old and overLondon46,823South West35,950South East50,528Midlands67,118East of England38,983North West43,676North East and Yorkshire60,442Source: NHS England published data on the Learning Disability Health Check Scheme for October 2025, a copy of which is attached.

What plans he has for future NHS staff pay negotiations in terms of (a) groups who will be involved and (b) when such negotiations will take place.

The Government remitted the independent pay review bodies (PRBs) in respect of National Health Service staff on 22 July, which formally began the 2026/27 pay round. This was over two months earlier than last year.The Pay Review Bodies (PRBs) are independent advisory bodies made up of industry experts who carefully consider evidence submitted to them from a range of stakeholders, including Government and trade unions to make recommendations on headline pay for their remit groups. It is for individual trade unions to decide whether to engage with the PRB process, but we encourage them to do so in order for the PRBs to have the full breadth of evidence available when forming their recommendations.The PRBs base their recommendations to the Government on a range of factors including the economic context, cost of living, recruitment and retention, morale, and motivation of NHS staff.The Government carefully considers the independent PRBs’ recommendations once received. Ministers are not obligated to accept these, although the Government did accept the recommendations on headline pay in full for 2024/25 and 2025/26.As my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, stated on 15 December, the Government is open to discussing multi-year pay deals with trade unions if we can bridge the gap between affordability and expectation.

Whether his Department is taking steps to deliver the outstanding recommendations from Sir Stephen Bubb's report for the Public Accounts Select Committee, entitled Care services for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour, published On 23 March 2015.

Care services for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour was published for the Public Accounts Select Committee in 2015, under a previous administration. The Government is committed to reducing the number of people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health inpatient settings and ensuring they receive the right support in the community which aligns with the recommendations set out in the report.Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out to make three big shifts towards more preventative, digitally-enabled care, with more holistic, on-going support in the community to tackle health inequalities, including for disabled people. Our 2025 Mental Health Act will limit the scope to detain people with a learning disability and autistic people so that they can only be detained for treatment in a mental health hospital if they have a co-occurring mental disorder that requires hospital treatment. The act will also introduce measures to improve community support for people with a learning disability and autistic people by putting Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews and Dynamic Support Registers on a statutory footing and placing certain duties on integrated care boards and local authorities when exercising existing commissioning duties.The NHS Medium Term Planning Framework 2026/27 to 2028/9 maintains a focus on improving mental health and learning disability care with an explicit objective to deliver a minimum 10% reduction in the use of mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people year-on-year.

What steps he is taking to help close the gap in average life expectancy between those with a learning disability and those living without a learning disability.

We recognise the unacceptable health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability. We do not have comprehensive data on the life expectancy of people with a learning disability, broken down by gender and age, although we do have crucial insights into life and health outcomes which support service improvements.in July 2025 NHS Digital published data on the mortality and life expectancy of people with a learning disability and autism which showed that people with a learning disability have a life expectancy at birth of 59.5 years old, compared to the general population life expectancy at birth of 81.4 years old, a difference of 21.9 years. These figures are based on data from April 2022 to March 2023, with further information avaiable at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/supplementary-information/2025/learning-disabilities-and-autism---mortality-and-life-expectancy-2022-23Significant action is underway to improve access to and the quality of care for people with a learning disability, and to achieve the critical prevention shift set out in our 10-Year Health Plan. This includes mandatory training for health and social care staff, improving identification on the general practice learning disability register and uptake of annual health checks, and rolling out a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag to ensure that care is tailored appropriately. The national Core20Plus5 approach also guides action to tackle health inequalities at a system level, and NHS England expects learning disability to be identified as a priority cohort at a local level.Furthermore, each integrated care board (ICB) must have an executive lead for learning disability and autism who will support the board in addressing health inequalities, support access to care across all health services, and improve overall health outcomes.  Each ICB must also consider and demonstrate how they will reduce inequalities for people with a learning disability within their five‑year strategic plans under the Medium-Term Planning Framework. The Medium-Term Planning Framework is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/medium-term-planning-framework-delivering-change-together-2026-27-to-2028-29/

How many and what proportion of adults with a learning disability in England have a regular annual health check by a GP.

The Department does not hold data relating to what proportion of adults with a learning disability in England have a regular annual health check with a general practitioner.NHS England is required to offer to all primary medical services contractors the opportunity to enter into arrangements under the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Services (DES) Scheme. Integrated care boards (ICBs), as commissioners of primary care services, are responsible for ensuring that there is sufficient provision of these services to meet the needs of their patient population.As part of the Network Contract DES Learning Disabilities Health Check Scheme, primary services contractors are required to identify registered patients aged 14 years old or over who have learning disabilities and to record this on a learning disabilities register. Contractors are required to offer annual health checks to these patients.

Whether he plans to help increase the uptake of registration on the learning disability register.

Work is currently underway in NHS England to encourage children and young people to join the learning disability register at the age of 14 years old, and to support people who do not have a confirmed learning disability diagnosis to access the register and appropriate services.NHS England has published guidance to support general practitioners (GPs) in identifying people with a learning disability. People with a learning disability are identified using specific codes within a patient record which are then grouped into a ‘code cluster’. Further information on the guidance is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/improving-identification-of-people-with-a-learning-disability-guidance-for-general-practice.pdfThe learning disability register code cluster includes conditions and diagnoses that are highly likely to indicate that a person has a learning disability. Code cluster contents are dynamic and are updated regularly to account for new content. The latest cluster contents can be found in the Primary Care Domain Reference Set Portal, with further information available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/quality-and-outcomes-framework-qof/quality-and-outcome-framework-qof-business-rules/primary-care-domain-reference-set-portalIn addition, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, recently wrote to GPs, emphasising the importance of the learning disability register and providing high quality annual health checks.As part of efforts to monitor uptake, NHS England data shows that, as of October 2025, there were 343,520 people aged 14 years old and over with a learning disability on the learning disability register in England. The following table shows the number of people on the learning disability register in each region of England:RegionRegister size age 14 years old and overLondon46,823South West35,950South East50,528Midlands67,118East of England38,983North West43,676North East and Yorkshire60,442Source: NHS England published data on the Learning Disability Health Check Scheme for October 2025, a copy of which is attached.

What the life expectancy is of (a) women and (b) men of working age with a learning disability; and how does this compare with the life expectancy of people without a learning disability.

We recognise the unacceptable health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability. We do not have comprehensive data on the life expectancy of people with a learning disability, broken down by gender and age, although we do have crucial insights into life and health outcomes which support service improvements.in July 2025 NHS Digital published data on the mortality and life expectancy of people with a learning disability and autism which showed that people with a learning disability have a life expectancy at birth of 59.5 years old, compared to the general population life expectancy at birth of 81.4 years old, a difference of 21.9 years. These figures are based on data from April 2022 to March 2023, with further information available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/supplementary-information/2025/learning-disabilities-and-autism---mortality-and-life-expectancy-2022-23Significant action is underway to improve access to and the quality of care for people with a learning disability, and to achieve the critical prevention shift set out in our 10-Year Health Plan. This includes mandatory training for health and social care staff, improving identification on the general practice learning disability register and uptake of annual health checks, and rolling out a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag to ensure that care is tailored appropriately. The national Core20Plus5 approach also guides action to tackle health inequalities at a system level, and NHS England expects learning disability to be identified as a priority cohort at a local level.Furthermore, each integrated care board (ICB) must have an executive lead for learning disability and autism who will support the board in addressing health inequalities, support access to care across all health services, and improve overall health outcomes.  Each ICB must also consider and demonstrate how they will reduce inequalities for people with a learning disability within their five‑year strategic plans under the Medium-Term Planning Framework. The Medium-Term Planning Framework is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/medium-term-planning-framework-delivering-change-together-2026-27-to-2028-29/

What steps he is taking to reduce the consumption of junk food by children.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, we are taking decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. As part of this, the Government has announced an ambitious programme aimed at improving the healthiness of the food environment. In December 2024, the Government published the revised National Planning Policy Framework for local government. As part of this, local authorities were given the stronger, clearer powers they have told us they need to block new fast-food outlets near schools.On 1 October 2025, we implemented restrictions on volume price promotions for less healthy food and drinks, such as three for two offers, in stores and their online equivalents and United Kingdom-wide restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink on television and online came into force on 5 January 2026.We have also consulted on banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old and announced changes to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy in the Autumn Budget to deliver greater health benefits to children.We announced in the 10-Year Health Plan that, in a world-first, we will introduce mandatory healthier food sales reporting for large food businesses and set new targets to increase the healthiness of sales. We will also strengthen the existing advertising and promotions restrictions by consulting on applying an updated definition of ‘less healthy food and drink’.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of junk food advertising on childhood obesity.

As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan for England, we are taking decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. We have implemented United Kingdom-wide restrictions on advertising of less healthy food and drink on television and online which we estimate will remove up to 7.2 billion calories from UK children’s diets each year and deliver health benefits of approximately £2 billion. We have also committed to updating the standards that underpin the advertising and promotions restrictions on ‘less healthy’ food and drink to reflect the latest dietary advice and strengthen the restrictions by more effectively targeting the products of most concern to childhood obesity.An impact assessment on the advertising restrictions of less healthy food and drink on television and online is published on the GOV.UK website.

Whether he plans to ensure Mental Health Support Teams in schools are trained in Speech and Language therapy.

We currently have no plans to train the education mental health practitioners, who are the primary workforce of mental health support teams (MHSTs), in speech and language therapy. We are expanding MHSTs in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029, and 900,000 more children and young people will have access to support from MHSTs in 2025/26. The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Education and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. In addition to the undergraduate degree route, speech and language therapists can now also train via a degree apprenticeship. This route is going into its fourth year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist.

Whether he has made an assessment with Secretary of State for Education of the potential impact of amending Schedule 17, Part 1, Paragraph 12(b) of The Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to enable schools to obtain new adrenaline nasal sprays for the treatment of allergic reactions on children with allergies .

Officials at the Department are in the early stages of considering if potential amendments to Schedule 17 of the Human Medicines Regulations (HMRs) 2012 are required.Should amendments to the HMRs be required, the Government will conduct a public consultation to ensure that the views of stakeholders are carefully considered, prior to any changes being made.

Whether he has made an assessment with the Home Secretary of the potential merits of funding a wider rollout of long-acting Injectable Buprenorphine as a treatment option for people using opioids in Dorset.

The Department supports the provision of long-acting injectable buprenorphine as an option for those undergoing Opioid Substitution Treatment. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning drug and alcohol treatment services according to local need, and this includes the provision of long-acting injectable buprenorphine.In addition to the Public Health Grant, in 2025/26 the Department is providing Dorset Council with £1,469,140 to improve drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services. The Department encourages local authorities to prioritise resourcing long-acting injectable buprenorphine prescribing from this additional funding if current provision is not adequate.The Department is currently doing more analysis to understand cost-effectiveness and develop clinical guidance, and to scope out how best to expand access to long-acting injectable buprenorphine further.

What assessment his Department has made of (a) the optimum number of pharmacies and (b) areas where there is an oversupply of pharmacies.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that provide National Health Service funded services.There were 10,402 community pharmacies on 30 September 2025. In general, despite a reduction in the number of pharmacies in recent years, patient access to pharmacies remains good, and continues to be better in the most deprived areas when compared with the least deprived.The vast majority of pharmacies are not directly commissioned or contracted by the NHS, instead contractors apply to gain entry to the NHS pharmaceutical list and if an application is approved, a pharmacy can start providing NHS services.The assessments of the adequacy of provision, the location, and the number of pharmacies required in a certain area are the statutory responsibility of local authorities health and wellbeing boards. Local authorities are required to publish a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years. Integrated care boards (ICBs) give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from potential contractors.Contractors can apply to open a new pharmacy to meet any current or future need identified in the PNA, but also to offer benefits to patients that were not foreseen by the PNA. If there is a need for a new local pharmacy to open and no contractors apply to open a pharmacy and fill the gap, ICBs can directly commission a new pharmacy to open outside of the market entry processes and can fund the contract from the ICB’s budgets.Contractors can already seek an ICB’s permission to either consolidate different premises onto one site or to relocate their pharmacy premises to a different address. The approval of such requests depends on the impact it is likely to cause for patients and commissioners.

Whether he has plans to adapt pharmacy contracts so that pharmacies can be re-located to areas of high need.

Community pharmacies are private businesses that provide National Health Service funded services.There were 10,402 community pharmacies on 30 September 2025. In general, despite a reduction in the number of pharmacies in recent years, patient access to pharmacies remains good, and continues to be better in the most deprived areas when compared with the least deprived.The vast majority of pharmacies are not directly commissioned or contracted by the NHS, instead contractors apply to gain entry to the NHS pharmaceutical list and if an application is approved, a pharmacy can start providing NHS services.The assessments of the adequacy of provision, the location, and the number of pharmacies required in a certain area are the statutory responsibility of local authorities health and wellbeing boards. Local authorities are required to publish a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years. Integrated care boards (ICBs) give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from potential contractors.Contractors can apply to open a new pharmacy to meet any current or future need identified in the PNA, but also to offer benefits to patients that were not foreseen by the PNA. If there is a need for a new local pharmacy to open and no contractors apply to open a pharmacy and fill the gap, ICBs can directly commission a new pharmacy to open outside of the market entry processes and can fund the contract from the ICB’s budgets.Contractors can already seek an ICB’s permission to either consolidate different premises onto one site or to relocate their pharmacy premises to a different address. The approval of such requests depends on the impact it is likely to cause for patients and commissioners.

Whether his Department plans to (a) review and (b) update the automatic breast screening programme policy for women aged 70 and above as part of his National Cancer Plan.

The Department is not planning a review and update of the policy on breast screening for women aged over 70 as part of the National Cancer Plan. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is an independent scientific advisor to Ministers and the National Health Service about all aspects of population and targeted screening.The NHS breast screening programme does not automatically invite women for breast screening if they are 71 or over because there is a lack of evidence around the balance of benefit versus harm of screening women above this age. Women can still have breast screening every three years if they want to, by calling their local breast screening service to ask for an appointment.The UK NSC recognises that screening programmes are not static and that, over time, they may need to change to be more effective.  Work is underway within the breast screening programme to investigate the possibility of routinely screening above the currently recommended age. The AgeX research trial has been looking at the effectiveness of offering some women one extra screen between the ages of 47 and 49, and one between the ages of 71 and 73. It is the biggest trial of its kind ever to be undertaken and will provide robust evidence about the effectiveness of screening in these age groups, including the benefit and harms. The UK NSC will review the publication of the age extension trial when it reports.Furthermore, early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan, which will build on the three shifts in care set out in the 10-Year Health Plan to diagnose cancers earlier. Through the 10-Year Health Plan, we will make it easier for people to access cancer screening, diagnostic and treatment services in patients’ local areas.

Whether the National Cancer Plan will include strategies to improve the accuracy of diagnoses for those with Myeloma.

Improving diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers, as early and accurately as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes.To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancers earlier and treating them faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates.

Whether he plans to change the age at which people become eligible for free (a) prescriptions and (b) optical care.

Free National Health Service prescriptions and NHS-funded sight tests are available for many. This includes children under the age of 16 years old and those under the age of 19 years old in full time education, people on a low income, and adults aged 60 years old and over. NHS optical vouchers to help with the cost of glasses are also available for children.There are no plans to change the eligibility for free NHS prescriptions, NHS-funded sight tests or optical vouchers, including eligibility based on age.Further information about help with optical costs is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/Further information about help with prescription costs is available at the following link:https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-prescription-costs/free-nhs-prescriptions

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of hormone treatments on the mental health of patients with prostate cancer.

The forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England will seek to improve both the physical and mental health aspects of cancer care. The plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and earlier diagnosis to accessing treatment and ongoing care, and will apply to all cancer types, including prostate cancer.For this reason, the Department has not made a formal assessment specifically on the potential impact of hormone treatments on the mental health of patients with prostate cancer.

What estimate he has made of the number of (a) salaried and (b) partner GPs in each of the last ten years.

The following table shows the number of general practice (GP) partners nationally, both full time equivalent (FTE) and as a headcount, as of March in each of the last 10 years:GP partnersYearFTEHeadcountMarch 201621,52324,060March 201720,59523,088March 201819,81022,402March 201919,03021,640March 202018,13020,814March 202117,32720,096March 202216,95719,766March 202316,59919,358March 202416,14318,889March 202515,59918,309 In addition, the following table shows the number of salaried GPs nationally, both FTE and as a headcount, as of March in each of the last 10 years:Salaried GPsYearFTEHeadcountMarch 20167,08010,558March 20177,46911,166March 20187,90211,952March 20198,31012,719March 20208,68413,446March 20219,56715,014March 20229,82815,349March 20239,80815,444March 202410,51116,763March 202511,80118,866 Notes:the data does not include estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid staff records;FTE refers to the proportion of full time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. One would indicate they work a full set of hours, 37.5 hours, 0.5 that they worked half this time. For GPs in training grade contracts, one FTE equals 40 hours, and in these tables, these FTEs have been converted to the standard Workforce Minimum Data Set measure of one FTE being equal to 37.5 hours for consistency; andto compile a complete time series covering 10 years, we’ve used data starting from March 2016, as the most recent numbers wouldn’t allow for the full range. Also, data for March 2015 is unavailable.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of partner GPs in each of the next 10 years.

As self-employed contractors, general practitioners (GPs) act as providers making their own decisions based on local workforce needs. This includes decisions about the number of partners and salaried GPs at the practice.GPs will be the cornerstone of the Neighbourhood Health Service. The excellent GP leaders we currently have across the system, and those we will nurture and develop for future generations, will be integral in shaping and delivering it.Following the publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a workforce ready to deliver a transformed service. They will be more empowered, more flexible, and more fulfilled. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the best care for patients, when they need it. From now on, we will ensure that staff will be better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future, so they can achieve more.