On 9 April 2025, the minimum salary for Health and Care Worker Visa holders increased to £25,000 per year. This applies to new Certificates of Sponsorship assigned on or after this date. No specific assessment has been made on the impact of this change on National Health Service international staff, staffing levels, and waiting lists.

While we value our international workforce and the skills and experience they bring, we are also committed to growing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join our NHS. The 10-Year Health Plan set out this Government’s intention to reduce the reliance on internationally trained healthcare professionals.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local populations, and for determining the priorities for investment.

We do not hold data on access to NHS dentistry according to income. However, ICBs are responsible for undertaking special care oral health needs assessments to inform local commissioning intentions that reduce inequalities in access and priorities for investment.

We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments, with these appointments more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from 1 April 2025.

More broadly, as per the 10-Year Health Plan for England, we are shifting the focus from treatment to prevention. This includes assessing the roll out of further water fluoridation programmes in areas where oral health outcomes are poorest, and through targeted action such as our supervised toothbrushing programme for three to five-year-olds living in the 20% most deprived areas of England. Both of these interventions improve oral health and reduce inequalities.

The Department and NHS England do not hold information centrally on the number of National Health Service cancer treatment centres that have access to medical grade freezers. Further information on the availability and adequacy of freezing capacity in specific cancer treatment centres may be obtained through direct engagement with NHS providers.

The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) regulates organisations that remove, store, and use human tissue for scheduled purposes, including research and medical treatment.

Under the Human Tissue Act 2004, appropriate consent is always required to remove tissue from the deceased for research purposes. Tissue from living patients, for example biopsy or blood samples, can ordinarily be used for research only with the person's consent. The HTA ensures that it is removed and stored in an appropriate and well managed way.

Consent is not required for research on tissue from living patients if the samples are anonymised or coded to make sure patient or participant information is not identifiable, and the project has recognised ethics committee approval, or if the tissue samples were obtained before 1 September 2006, when the Human Tissue Act came into force.

The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different Government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report.

The Department will consider further meetings with the community and relevant stakeholders, when we have a substantive update to ensure that discussions can be productive, as part of our work on these important issues.

The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different Government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report.

The Department will consider further meetings with the community and relevant stakeholders, when we have a substantive update to ensure that discussions can be productive, as part of our work on these important issues.

The consultation on the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, is seeking the views of stakeholders on a national vision, statutory objectives and underlying performance indicators. The shape of the final strategy, intended to be published, next year including targets concerning walking and cycling stages, will be informed by the responses to the consultation.

Each year, over 15 million people are invited for screening, with over 10 million taking up the invitation. In total, this saves approximately 10,000 lives every year and enables many others to make better informed decisions around their health.

The Government delivers 11 screening programmes to detect 33 treatable conditions. The antenatal screening programme also provides information for couples about their baby.

On 14 October 2025, NHS England announced that newborn screening for the rare, life-threatening metabolic disorder hereditary tyrosinaemia type 1 is now being offered to all babies in England.

In early 2026, screening providers will also be able to offer human papillomavirus self-sampling kits to under-screened individuals in the National Health Service cervical screening programme in England. Evidence suggests that self-sampling will increase the numbers engaging with the screening programme.

In addition to this, the Government continues to deliver the NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease prevention programme, which aims to detect those at risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and kidney disease for people aged between 40 to 74 years old. In 2024/25, the NHS Health Check engaged over 1.4 million people and prevented an estimated 500 heart attacks and strokes. To improve access to the programme we are piloting an online NHS Health Check so that people can undertake a check at a time and place convenient to them.

Employers across the NHS have their own arrangements in place for supporting their staff, including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and board level scrutiny through health and wellbeing guardians.

We will also roll out Staff Treatment hubs to ensure that staff have access to high quality support for mental health and back conditions.

At a national level, NHS England has made additional support available. This includes a focus on healthy working environments, tools and resources to support line managers to hold meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their wellbeing, and emotional and psychological health and wellbeing support.

NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns in England to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and to address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point.

NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including mouth cancer. This information can be found at sources like the NHS.UK website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/

The majority of patients with asthma are managed by general practitioners and members of the primary care team, with onward referrals to secondary care where required. The provision of annual reviews is incentivised in primary care through the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). Further details on the QOF asthma indicators are available in the QOF guidance, a copy of which is attached.

In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the British Thoracic Society, and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network published the guideline Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management, in November 2024, which covers diagnosing, monitoring, and managing asthma in adults, young people, and children. NHS England has also been working jointly with the Health Innovation Networks to form a national respiratory partnership to improve asthma outcomes, including through implementation of this asthma guideline.

I refer the Hon. Member to the responses I gave during the Urgent Question debate on Gaza in the House of Commons on 29 October, Official Report, vol. 774, cols. 311-325.

I refer the Hon. Member to the responses provided in the Urgent Question debate on the Conflict in Sudan on 5 November 2025.

I refer the Hon. Member to the responses provided in the Urgent Question debate on the Conflict in Sudan on 5 November 2025.

It is unacceptable that some women have such poor experiences of hysteroscopies. It is important that healthcare professionals provide women with information ahead of the procedure, so that they can make an informed decision. Women must be given the opportunity to speak to the doctor or nurse before having the procedure about what to expect, and to discuss pain relief options, including the option of local or general anaesthetic. Women can also discuss the option of alternative treatment, such as pelvic ultrasound.

Letters and information sent to patients are determined at a local level by individual National Health Service trusts. A range of additional information is available for patients on hysteroscopy procedures, including on the NHS.UK website, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has created a patient information resource on hysteroscopy. This is available at the following link:

https://www.rcog.org.uk/outpatient-hysteroscopy

Details of ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the GOV.UK website.

We recognise that people with mental health issues, including those in Greater Manchester, are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we are working to ensure the National Health Service provides the right support to the right people at the right time.

That is why, as part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government is recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers, including psychiatrists, by the end of this Parliament. We are more than halfway towards this target, which will help to ease pressure on busy mental health services.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including in Greater Manchester. We will transform the current mental health system so people can access the right support at the right time in the right place. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, building on existing pilots, and investing up to £120 million to bring the number of mental health emergency departments up to 85.

The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different Government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report.

We are committed to the long-term sustainability and prosperity of the UK fleet. Our aim is to ensure that catch limits are set sustainably, consistent with the best available scientific advice, and rebuild stocks for the long term whilst also maintaining a viable and profitable fishing industry. Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) will help deliver this ambition for sustainable fisheries - they are evidence-based plans that set out short, medium and long-term actions to restore or maintain stocks to sustainable levels.

We are also supporting fishing communities through the £360 million Fisheries and Coastal Growth Fund which we announced in May. Over the next twelve years this funding will support the next generation of fishermen and breathe new life into our coastal communities.

The Blue Badge scheme helps people with significant mobility issues - both visible and hidden - park closer to their destination, whether they’re drivers or passengers. It offers national on-street parking concessions, including free and time-unlimited parking in restricted areas and up to three hours on yellow lines (unless loading restrictions apply). Local authorities manage the scheme, while the Department manages and supports improvements to the digital application process.

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel for eligible disabled people and those of state pension age. The scheme costs around £700 million annually, and any changes must consider financial sustainability. A recent review included travel times for disabled passholders, and next steps are being considered. Local authorities administer ENCTS and may offer additional concessions at their own expense.

The Disabled Persons Railcard offers a third off rail fares for the cardholder and a companion, with over 348,000 in circulation as of March 2025. It is valid during peak times and provides excellent value. A review of the scheme has been completed, and any updates will be announced shortly.

The government has increased funding for homelessness services by £316 million to a total of £1 billion in 2025/26. This includes a recent £84 million top up which included £10.9 million funding to support families and children in temporary accommodation, funding services to improve their quality of life whilst they are homeless.

We are developing a homelessness strategy to deliver the long-term solutions that we need to get back on track to ending homelessness. Our strategy will put prevention at its core, to reduce the number of children who experience homelessness, and will consider the needs of all groups who are at risk of and experience homelessness, including young people. We are taking a cross-government approach, including working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions as they develop the Child Poverty Strategy.

The Government recognises the importance of accessible transport to enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. As part of our broader mission to break down barriers to opportunity, we recognise that more needs to be done to ensure transport is accessible to all, and we are committed to driving this change.

We are working closely with other government departments, operators, local authorities and passengers to achieve this – including through regularly meeting with the other lead ministers for disability to ensure we are doing all we can to remove barriers for disabled people.

We are committed to developing an Accessible Travel Charter. The charter is a commitment to a shared vision for accessible travel. It will aim to set out what disabled travellers can expect from their journeys and what to do when standards aren’t met, share best practice across organisations and create consistency in end-to-end journeys for disabled travellers. It will be co-designed by a range of stakeholders including local authorities to ensure it is achievable and impactful locally and nationally. The Accessible Travel Charter and our accessibility focus as a department is committed to making journeys accessible for all, irrespective of location or disability.