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Wheelchair Provision: Independent Review Body
21 April 2026
Lead MP
Daniel Francis
Bexleyheath and Crayford
Lab
Responding Minister
Zubir Ahmed
Tags
NHSSocial CareTaxationForeign AffairsBusiness & TradeStandards & EthicsLocal Government
Word Count: 11226
Other Contributors: 11
At a Glance
Daniel Francis raised concerns about wheelchair provision: independent review body in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.
Key Requests to Government:
The MP requests national leadership and accountability of service providers, increased baseline funding for wheelchair services, improved data collection and transparency, procurement based on user needs rather than cost-effectiveness, and extending NHS provision to children aged three to five.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Lead Contributor
The MP is concerned about unacceptable delays in wheelchair provision, unsuitable equipment for users, and a postcode lottery of service quality. He cites examples of long waiting times, poor fitting wheelchairs, and complex access pathways leading to negative health outcomes. In 2024-25, there were 630,000 registered wheelchair users in England with 70,600 under 18 years old, but this figure excludes those who purchase privately or are unable to get the right equipment through the NHS. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has received a significant increase in complaints about long delays and poor communication from four in 2018 to 76 in 2025.
Alison Bennett
Lib Dem
Mid Sussex
Ms Alison Bennett highlighted the inconsistency in w [1D [K wheelchair provision across England, with delays and unsuitable equipment l [1D [K leading to health complications. She emphasized that access to wheelchairs [K is essential for independence and quality of life but pointed out systemic [K issues like weak oversight and poor performance by private contractors. She [3D [K She proposed an independent national review body to ensure accountability, [K consistent standards, and better data monitoring.
Alison Hume
Lab
Scarborough and Whitby
Alison Hume highlighted the failure of NHS-contracte [13D [K NHS-contracted wheelchair services, recounting a constituent's two-year wai [3D [K wait for an electric wheelchair after a traumatic accident. She also noted [K similar issues in other cases, including delays due to liquidation of repai [5D [K repair companies. Hume called for an independent national regulator to hold [4D [K hold providers accountable.
Allison Gardner
Lab
Stoke-on-Trent South
She highlighted the long wait times for wheelchairs [K and repairs, citing examples of constituents such as Noah and Preston who f [1D [K faced significant delays in receiving appropriate equipment. She also raise [5D [K raised concerns about inadequate communication from providers like AJM and [K called for an independent review body to oversee wheelchair provision. Raises concerns that personal wheelchair budgets do [K not cover current costs, forcing constituents to use their own funds for ne [2D [K necessary wheelchairs.
Carla Lockhart
DUP
Upper Bann
Discussed Phil Eaglesham, a former Royal Marine who [K founded Conquering Horizons to design all-terrain wheelchairs for both indo [4D [K indoor and outdoor use. Suggested the Minister meet with Phil to understand [10D [K understand how his work is transforming lives.
Danny Beales
Lab
Uxbridge and South Ruislip
ShopMobility volunteers have reported to me that man [3D [K many customers are waiting for wheelchair provision from the contractor for [3D [K for more than six months. Additionally, young people with cerebral palsy ar [2D [K are unable to get basic repairs to their existing equipment. These delays i [1D [K in service delivery are unacceptable given the critical nature of wheelchai [9D [K wheelchairs as essential mobility aids.
Dave Robertson
Lab
Lichfield
Dave Robertson shared the case of a constituent with [4D [K with severe disabilities who waited 18 months for a wheelchair, impacting h [1D [K her breathing and mobility. He emphasized that AJM's failure is not isolate [7D [K isolated but systemic across the country, citing increased complaints to th [2D [K the Parliamentary Ombudsman since 2023. Robertson stressed the need for an [K independent national body to oversee wheelchair provision.
Gregory Campbell
DUP
East Londonderry
While provision itself can sometimes meet initial ne [2D [K needs, parents often find that the wheelchair becomes unsuitable as their c [1D [K child grows and develops, leading to difficulties in obtaining appropriate [K equipment for changing requirements. Noted the speaker's presence.
Jim Shannon
DUP
Strangford
The Member highlighted the postcode lottery nature o [1D [K of wheelchair provision and called for an independent national review body [K to oversee it. He gave a personal example of fundraising efforts for Reuben [6D [K Reuben Walls, who needed a specialized wheelchair and was helped by local c [1D [K charity fundraisers raising £6,000. Jim Shannon also stressed the need for [K better data collection and accountability within the current system.
Jo White
Lab
Bassetlaw
Highlighting the challenges faced by wheelchair user [4D [K users in NHS services, Jo White mentioned a constituent's experience of lim [3D [K limited guidance and choice at initial assessment stages leading to long-te [7D [K long-term consequences. She pointed out systemic issues such as long waitin [6D [K waiting times, inconsistent eligibility criteria across regions, and unreli [6D [K unreliable repair services that immobilize users when equipment fails.
Luke Evans
Con
Hinckley and Bosworth
Asked about the Government's plans to ensure ongoing [7D [K ongoing provision and servicing of wheelchairs after NRS went bankrupt, exp [3D [K expressing concern over contract follow-ups for constituents who previously [10D [K previously worked at high levels in NRS. Acknowledges the debate on disability equipment prov [4D [K provision and emphasizes the importance of wheelchair users' access to nece [4D [K necessary equipment. Expresses concern over the lack of a national strategy [8D [K strategy for wheelchair services, questioning who will be responsible for o [1D [K oversight as NHS England is restructured. Asks how responsibility and accou [5D [K accountability will be maintained in the future.
Olivia Blake
Lab
Sheffield Hallam
The issue extends beyond geographical inequalities; [K it affects young people's access to education, impacting school attendance [K and our understanding of why children may be absent. Data collection is cru [3D [K crucial for addressing these educational disparities.
Government Response
Zubir Ahmed
Government Response
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford on securing this important debate and also on challenging us, born of his lived experience, to make the lives of disabled people better and better lived across our country. We are grateful for his presence in this House and this place, every single day. I am also grateful to my hon. Friend for the work he has done to champion this interest more generally in his capacity as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for wheelchair users. In recent months wheelchair services have received considerable attention, both within Parliament and more widely. As has been highlighted, last month I participated in a debate on the provision of disability equipment, brought forward by the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan). I have been struck by the compelling testimonies shared during those discussions and the ones today, highlighting the profound impact that timely access to appropriate disability equipment can have on people's lives. This is a matter clearly deserving of much more attention. Since the previous debate on this topic, I have written to the national quality board to request that disabled people and the equipment they use are considered as part of the board's ongoing work to improve quality and reduce inequality across health and care services. I am pleased to update that the board has confirmed it will take this forward. This Government remain steadfast in their commitment to ensuring that disabled people can access the services and support they need. Through our reforms to health and social care, we are dedicated to delivering meaningful change that will make that vision a reality. Integrated care boards, as has been highlighted, are responsible for commissioning local wheelchair services. Responsibility for providing disability equipment lies with local authorities or the NHS, depending on the person's needs. For adults and children with long-term complex needs, services are typically provided by NHS wheelchair services. There is a range of NHS wheelchair providers across England, as we have heard. I acknowledge the concerns that the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) raises about NRS. My hon. Friend the Minister for Care and I will be having discussions about that, and it would be appropriate to write the hon. Member an urgent letter to update him, as I know that he is genuinely concerned about the topic. Although the latest data from NHS England shows a reduction in wheelchair waiting times for adults, I recognise that far too many people of all ages, as we have heard today, experience unacceptable delays for appropriate equipment. The covid pandemic had a significant impact on wheelchair services, from which we are still suffering in terms of supply chain disruption. That has meant that waiting times for both adults and children have fluctuated unnecessarily—well, unacceptably—as services have worked to recover. Those with more complex needs can also experience delays due to the lead-in time for supply of more bespoke equipment. I understand that there have been complaints about the quality of services commissioned by some ICBs. Some of these are being dealt with on an individual basis by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, following escalation by individual patients. As part of its oversight of ICBs, NHS England is also gathering intelligence through regional teams to understand fully the issues being raised. It is important that local commissioners have the discretion to decide how best to meet the needs of their local population, and we are giving systems control and flexibility over how that is done. None the less, the Government are taking action to support local systems in delivering effective wheelchair services. Although there are no plans at the moment to establish a national review body to oversee wheelchair provision, the medium-term planning framework, published in October, requires that from this year all ICBs and community health services should actively manage and reduce waits over 18 weeks and develop a plan to eliminate all 52-week waits. The framework also states that in 2026-27, ICBs are required to increase community health service capacity—including wheelchair services—to meet growth in demand, expected to be approximately 3% nationally per year. Ultimately, ICBs are responsible for delivering the framework. The Government are held accountable in the manner being seen today, and I have no doubt that in the new structures that we propose there will be further accountability, because in many ways the middleman will be removed and we will have more direct oversight as to what is going on with wheelchair services and other services up and down the country. NHS England has developed policy, guidance and legislation to support ICBs to reduce delays and unacceptable regional variation in the quality and provision of wheelchair services. In April 2025 NHS England published the wheelchair quality framework, in collaboration with the wheelchair advisory group, which I understand includes the Wheelchair Alliance and Whizz Kidz, both of which were recognised by hon. Members in the debate today. That framework is designed to assist ICBs and NHS wheelchair service providers in delivering high-quality provision that offers improved access, outcomes and experiences. The framework sets out quality standards relevant to all suppliers and aligns with the Care Quality Commission assessment framework that applies to providers, local authorities and integrated care systems. Those quality standards should be used to develop local service specifications and to benchmark current commissioning and provision. Other measures taken by NHS England include the establishment of a national dataset on wheelchair waiting times to increase transparency and to enable targeted action if improvement is required, and the introduction of the legal right to a personal wheelchair budget in 2019. Personal wheelchair budgets provide a clear framework for ICBs to commission personalised wheelchair services that are outcomes-focused and integrated with other aspects of care. The Government are also driving forward improvements for disabled people through our wider reforms to health and social care. The recently published neighbourhood health framework aims to improve health and care outcomes, and reduce inequalities through more convenient, personalised and joined-up care. It includes a focus on improving the diagnosis and treatment of people with long-term conditions, so that they feel more in control of their care. In July 2025, the Government announced that we will develop a new plan for disability, setting out a clear vision to break down barriers to opportunity for disabled people. We are making more than £ £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in 2028- 2028-29 compared with 2025-26, to support the sector and make the improvements that we all crave. We have also established the better care fund, a framework for ICBs and local authorities to make joint plans and pool budgets to deliver better, joined-up holistic care. This financial year, ICBs and local authorities plan to spend £440 million on assistive technology and equipment such as wheelchairs. We also continue to invest in support for home adaptations to enable independent living, with £723 million confirmed for the disabled facilities grant this year. The disabled facilities grant budget across 2025-26 and 2026-27 is £150 million more than the total budget across the previous two years, representing an 11% increase that exceeds inflation. I recognise the profound impact that delays in wheelchair provision are having on the quality of life of hon. Members' constituents, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford for highlighting that today. He had a number of asks of me, to which I hope I have responded. I am cognisant of the work he has done and the personal attention he gives to these matters, and I offer him a meeting with Department officials in my office to go through them in greater detail. My officials will be in touch to arrange that.
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About Westminster Hall Debates
Westminster Hall debates are a chance for MPs to raise important issues affecting their constituents and get a response from a government minister. Unlike Prime Minister's Questions, these debates are more in-depth and collaborative. The MP who secured the debate speaks first, other MPs can contribute, and a minister responds with the government's position.