theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report by the NAO entitled Home to School Transport, published on 31 October 2025, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities about the increasing demand for home to support transport; and whether she intends to include policies to support home to school transport provision as part of the forthcoming Government White Paper on SEND. \p Georgia Gould: Department officials hold regular forums to which all local authority home-to-school travel teams are invited. These meetings provide the department with valuable information about the challenges local authorities face.

We have committed to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system to enable more children to thrive in local mainstream settings, whilst guaranteeing access to excellent specialist provision where needed. This will mean fewer children will need to travel long distances to access education which will reduce the financial and logistical burden on local authorities and leave the service better able to meet the needs of the children that continue to rely on it. These reforms to the SEND system will be set out in a Schools white paper early in the new year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Essex County Council on the impact of the We Rise Business Mentoring Programme on (a) youth employment and (b) skills development. \p Josh MacAlister: The department does not hold data on the impact of the We Rise Business Mentoring Programme, as it is part of the ‘Essex Year of Opportunity’, a campaign by Essex County Council. Departmental officials and Essex County Council regularly discuss how to improve opportunities for young people in Essex.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 82987 on Jobcentres: Neurodiversity and Young People, what recent discussions she has had with (a) education providers and (b) local authorities on recent trends in the performance of children and young people with SEND across the country. \p Georgia Gould: Over the last year, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and the former Minister for School Standards, alongside expert advisers like Tom Rees and Dame Christine Lenehan, have listened to the voices of parents, teachers and young people to guide policy development and we have made good progress on plans to build a truly inclusive system where high quality support is provided at the earliest opportunity.

To help us deliver the most effective set of reforms we can, we have taken the decision to have a further period of engagement, with the view of bringing forward a full Schools White Paper early in the new year. Through this period of engagement with parents, educators, experts, local authorities and representative organisations, we will test policy options being considered and seek views through listening sessions in every region of the country, and Ministerial meetings with parent and expert groups.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

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Alistair Strathern:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she will take to support children’s media and digital literacy education before 2028. \p Georgia Gould: Media literacy is covered in the current citizenship, relationships, sex and health education (RSHE), and digital literacy is covered in the computing curriculum.

In July the government published updated RSHE statutory guidance containing new content related to artificial intelligence (AI), online safety and pornography, which will be mandatory from September 2026. The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report was published on 5 November 2025 and includes recommendations for reform to the curriculum, which the government has accepted. Vital applied knowledge and skills in media and digital literacy will be embedded into the revised curriculum from 2028.

To support schools with teaching in the meantime, Oak National Academy, an independent arm’s length body, provides adaptable, optional and free curriculum support for schools, including resources for computing and secondary citizenship, which can be found here: https://www.thenational.academy/.

The ’Educate Against Hate’ website hosts a series of online media literacy resources to support teachers and school leaders to build resilience to extremist narratives online in children and young people. The website is available at: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/.

The National Centre for Computing Education provides teachers with continuing professional development and resources to support the teaching of computing topics, including digital literacy and AI.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support higher education providers to (a) diversify their income sources and (b) reduce financial vulnerability arising from international recruitment. \p Josh MacAlister: Higher education (HE) providers are responsible for managing their finances. As such, they must continue to adapt to uncertainties and financial risks. However, this government is committed to putting the HE sector on a secure financial footing so that it can face the challenges of the next decade.

Our decision to raise tuition fees annually in line with inflation, alongside refocusing the Office for Students (OfS) on monitoring the sector’s financial health, demonstrates this commitment.

The government does not currently have any plans to issue guidance to higher education providers in light of the Office for Student’s (OfS) assessment of the HE sector’s reliance on international student fee income. The OfS is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the financial sustainability of the sector, including risks relating to international student recruitment.
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Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many state school students took the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those students were female. \p Georgia Gould: The data requested is below. Data relating to 2024/25 will be available in February 2026.

The number and proportion of state-funded student entries for international baccalaureate by sex

Time Period

Sex

Number of State-Funded Students

Proportion (%)

2023/24

Female

764

55.9

2023/24

Male

602

44.1

2022/23

Female

661

55.8

2022/23

Male

524

44.2

2021/22

Female

772

57.3

2021/22

Male

574

42.6

2020/21

Female

763

59.5

2020/21

Male

519

40.5

2019/20

Female

737

58.5

2019/20

Male

522

41.5

*Source: A level and other 16 to 18 results

*Coverage: All institutions, England

To note regarding the data:
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Dr Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has conducted an equalities impact assessment of the age limit for Lifelong Learning Entitlement tuition fee loans; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that knowledge of the age limit is widely promoted amongst people who are over 60 years old. \p Josh MacAlister: The department conducted an equalities impact assessment (EIA) in 2023 that considered the availability of Lifelong Learning Entitlement tuition loans up to the age of 60. The EIA can be found in the public domain and is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64061b31e90e0740d2e5a80b/Lifelong_loan_entitlement_-_equality_analysis.pdf.

The department has published guidance about the availability of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement which is accessible here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lifelong-learning-entitlement-lle-overview/lifelong-learning-entitlement-overview . The Student Loans Company has also published information on its website: https://www.heinfo.slc.co.uk/lle/lle-faq/lifelong-learning-entitlement-faq/.
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Patrick Hurley:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of continued professional development on the ability of teachers to tackle misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories in the classroom. \p Georgia Gould: The initial teacher training and early career framework sets out the foundational core content that defines great teaching. This includes anticipating common misconceptions within particular subjects, which is an important aspect of curricular knowledge. In the context of misinformation, this can help teachers to spot pupil misconceptions that may arise from various sources. Beyond this, providers can design a curriculum which is responsive to participant needs, including additional training where necessary.

In October 2024, Ofcom published its three-year media literacy strategy, which commits to supporting teachers through continuing professional development, evaluation of training outcomes and stronger collaboration with regional partners to share learnings and effective practices.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report was published on 5 November 2025 and includes recommendations for reform to the curriculum, which the government has accepted. Vital applied knowledge and skills in media and digital literacy will be embedded into the revised curriculum from 2028.

To support schools in the meantime, Oak National Academy provides adaptable, optional and free curriculum support for schools, including resources for computing and secondary citizenship, which can be found here: https://www.thenational.academy/.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) careers guidance and (b) school-to-work transition programmes in the context of the UK’s above OECD average for youth unemployment. \p Josh MacAlister: Careers guidance is key to supporting young people into work and further study. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has reported that in England, over 98% of pupils are offered careers guidance at their school compared to an average of 74% across other OECD countries.

Gatsby Benchmark attainment continues to improve and in 2024/25, schools and colleges achieved 6.0 out of 8 Gatsby Benchmarks on average, up from 5.8 in 2023/24.

The government is committed to continuing to improve careers guidance and ensuring all young people complete two weeks’ worth of work experience which is shown to reduce the likelihood of a young person becoming ‘not in education, employment, or training’ (NEET).

In the Post-16 education and skills white paper, we committed to prevent young people becoming NEET by ensuring that those without a post-16 study plan are automatically allocated a place at a local college or further education provider.
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Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will answer Question 85056 on Prostate Cancer: Medical Treatments, tabled on 26 October for named day response by 30 October. \p Ashley Dalton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 November 2025 to Question 85056.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of bowel cancer patients diagnosed in emergency NHS settings in the last 12 months; and what steps he is taking to help reduce this number. \p Ashley Dalton: The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England is the cancer registry for England and collects data on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. The service is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs

Rapid Cancer Registration Data (RCRD) provides a quick, indicative source of cancer data. It is provided to support the planning and provision of cancer services. The data is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-outputs/cancer-data-hub/rapid-cancer-registration-data-dashboards

Using the latest available Routes to Diagnosis estimates from the RCRD, there were 7310 bowel cancer patients diagnosed through Emergency Presentation between January and December 2024. This includes emergency routes via accident and emergency, emergency general practitioner referral (not urgent suspected cancer referral), emergency transfer, emergency admission, or attendance.

To support earlier diagnosis, the National Health Service is improving referral and diagnostic pathways, including the use of non-specific symptom pathways for patients whose symptoms, such as unexplained weight loss, fatigue, or abdominal discomfort, do not clearly align with a single cancer type. NHS England has also expanded general practice direct access to diagnostic tests, enabling faster investigation of concerning symptoms.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce the average diagnosis time for Postural Tachycardia Syndrome. \p Ashley Dalton: The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) provides education on postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) through its Syncope Toolkit, which includes an e-learning module, a podcast and a webinar. These resources cover diagnosis and management and include patient perspectives to improve clinical understanding. The toolkit is available to GPs via the RCGP e-learning platform.

As part of its Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS) resources, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has also published detailed guidance on the assessment and management of syncope and blackouts, which includes advice on PoTS. The purpose of CKSs is to provide primary care practitioners with quick, accessible, and evidence-based guidance on best practice for commonly occurring conditions.

The guidance is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/blackouts-syncope/diagnosis/assessment/

PoTS is diagnosed by a combination of GPs and specialist clinicians. GPs can diagnose PoTS in many cases but, if they are unsure of symptoms or if symptoms are complex, they will refer patients to specialists for diagnosis. The RCGP’s Syncope Toolkit provides diagnostic information to GPs, including the use of the active stand test, to rule out other conditions and potentially diagnose PoTS more quickly.

Where patients are referred to secondary care for diagnosis, we are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and times down. 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.

By expanding community-based services for routine monitoring and follow up, employing artificial intelligence for productivity and investing in digital tools and data, as outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan, we can ensure that consultants’ time is reserved for complex cases of PoTS, including specialist diagnostic assessments.

While the Department recognises the significant challenges of PoTS diagnosis, responsibility for specific clinical pathways and specialist training rests with local NHS bodies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the (a) National Cancer Plan and (b) 10 Year Workforce Plan on the capacity for cancer diagnostic services to meet the (i) current workforce shortfall, (ii) level of demand from an increase in cancer cases and (iii) the expansion of screening programmes to include national targeted lung screening. \p Ashley Dalton: This Government is committed to ensuring our workforce is fit for purpose, including to diagnose and treat cancer. As of August 2025, there are almost 70% more staff in the key cancer professions of clinical oncology, gastro-enterology, medical oncology, histopathology, clinical radiology, diagnostic and therapeutic radiography than in 2010. There are also more doctors working in clinical oncology and more radiology doctors compared to last year.

We will work with the university sector and colleagues across Government to ensure that we train the doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals that we need and maximise the contribution that our great research institutions make to the country. Over the next three years, we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out that to deliver a workforce fit for the future we need a new, sustainable approach to workforce planning. Our 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out action to how we will create a workforce ready to deliver a transformed service for patients when and where they need it.

Furthermore, the National Cancer Plan will look at how we can reform the current workforce to utilise it as effectively as possible and to provide a workforce able to meet cancer demand of the future. The National Cancer Plan will align with the 10 Year Workforce Plan to take into consideration expected demand for cancer over the next ten years. By ensuring we have the necessary staff with the right skills, we will support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer earlier and treat it faster and improve patients’ experience across the system.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that gambling harm prevention campaigns reach rural and remote communities. \p Ashley Dalton: The introduction of the new statutory levy on gambling operators, which came into effect in April 2025, guarantees sustainable funding for the research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harms which is entirely independent of the influence of the gambling industry.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), as the gambling harms prevention commissioner in England under the levy, acknowledges the role that public health and awareness-raising campaigns can play in preventing health harms, including harms associated with gambling.

OHID is working at pace to develop its gambling harms prevention programme, working closely with the gambling harms prevention commissioners in Scotland and Wales. OHID is considering the role of prevention campaigns in the future prevention programme at a national and Great Britain-wide level and will consider the reach of such activity across specific populations such as rural and remote communities. Further details will be confirmed before the end of this financial year.
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Dr Rosena Allin-Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the cost to the individual of a COVID-19 vaccination on (a) vaccination rates and (b) public health more widely. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

As with all vaccines offered as part of the national programme in England, there is no charge for COVID-19 vaccination for those who are eligible. There is therefore no cost to those individuals that might impact vaccination rates or public health.

As with other UK vaccination programmes, the JCVI advice on eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination carefully considers the evidence on the risk of illness, serious disease, or death as a consequence of infection, in specific groups, as well as cost-effectiveness analysis.
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Lewis Cocking:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77757 on Multiple Myeloma: Diagnosis, when the NHS will fully implement non-specific symptom pathways for the purpose of earlier diagnosis of blood cancers. \p Ashley Dalton: We recognise that there is more to be done to ensure that every patient receives fast and early diagnosis, including patients with harder to stage cancers, such as myeloma.

The National Health Service has fully implemented non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. There are currently 115 NSS services operating in England with blood cancers being one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

Diagnosing cancer earlier is a key focus of the forthcoming National Cancer Plan, which will build on the shifts in care set out in the 10-Year Health Plan to diagnose cancers earlier.
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Fabian Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people initially coded with (a) pre‑diabetes and (b) type 2 diabetes who were later found to have early or established type 1 diabetes in the most recent period for which data is available; and what steps his Department is taking with NHS England to help improve diagnostic accuracy in England. \p Ashley Dalton: Data is not collected centrally on the numbers or proportions of people initially coded with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes who were later found to have type 1 diabetes. The change of patient diagnosis would be reflected by a change of diagnosis code in clinical systems. However, the way that data extraction works for national audits means that it is not possible to track these types of changes.

Published data on diabetes registrations by GP practice can be found in the quarterly National Diabetes Audit (NDA) data release. This also contains data on care process and treatment target attainment as well as the number of new diagnoses by calendar year.

The latest quarterly report is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/national-diabetes-audit/core-q4-24-25/national-diabetes-audit-nda-2024-25-quarterly-report-for-england-integrated-care-board-icb-primary-care-network-pcn-and-gp-practice

The NDA supports improvements in diagnosis by assessing whether people with diabetes are receiving the recommended diagnostic checks and to identify variations and shortfalls in care delivery against National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support (a) innovation and (b) collaboration in improving public health outcomes in rural areas. \p Ashley Dalton: Upper and single tier local authorities have a statutory duty to take steps to improve the health of local people. Under this duty, local authorities commission a range of public health services and are responsible for determining the most effective approaches to the delivery of these services, taking account of different local needs, including the needs of rural areas. This can include testing new approaches to service delivery, implementing technology-based interventions or improving data analytics to better understand population health. In 2025/26, we provided funding of £3.884 billion to local authorities for their public health duty, through the Public Health Grant. This is an average 6.1% cash increase, or 3.4% real terms increase, compared to 2024/25.

NHS England is responsible for commissioning further specified public health services, including national immunisation and screening programmes. The 10-Year Health Plan signaled innovative approaches in these public health services, including a transformed NHS app that will be linked with screening programmes allowing individuals to receive reminders and book appointments online for breast, cervical and bowel cancer screening. Working with integrated care boards, commissioning of these services should also take account of local needs, including the different urban and rural characteristics of communities.

The 10-Year Health Plan also announced that, from 2026, we will set the expectation that every single or upper tier local authority participates in an external public health peer review exercise, on a five-year cycle, with the results directly informing local plans. These will support local government to improve public health services, including those in rural areas, through sharing innovations and adopting best practices.
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Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre's report entitled National Prostate Cancer Audit State of the Nation Report 2025, published in October 2025, what assessment his Department has made of the geographical variation in men being (a) over-treated and (b) under-treated for prostate cancer; and what steps he is taking to address these issues. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing prostate cancer earlier, and treating it faster, so that more patients survive.

The National Cancer audits are an essential tool in understanding variation in access to treatment across England and Wales. The NHS Cancer Programme’s workstream on treatment variation takes the recommendations from the ten cancer-focused audits and works with Cancer Alliances and the audit teams each year to assess and prioritise recommendations for focused action each year. Cancer Alliances work closely with their local specialty networks to identify and address opportunities to improve across their local areas. This includes taking action to address variation in over-treatment and under-treatment across the country.

Reducing inequalities and geographical variation in cancer care is a top priority for the Government. The National Cancer Plan, due for publication early next year, will set out further details on how we will improve outcomes for prostate cancer patients in all part of England.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 130 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what recent progress he has made on undertaking a sprint review. \p Ashley Dalton: The sprint review is initiated and led by the Ministry of Defence, working with the Department of Health and Social Care and other Governmental and private organisations. A series of meetings are planned for late 2025 which will explore and progress the joint plans to meet the recommendations outlined in the Strategic Defence Review.
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John Milne:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will include a target in a future Rare Disease Action Plan on proportionate access to multi-indication medicines for (a) rare and (b) ultra-rare disease patients. \p Ashley Dalton: Improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs is a priority under the UK Rare Diseases Framework. The 2025 England Rare Diseases Action Plan was published in February 2025 and reports on progress against existing actions under this priority. This included reviewing the effectiveness of the Early Access to Medicines Scheme, the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway, and the Innovative Medicines Fund, which are key access initiatives aimed at facilitating earlier availability of innovative treatments. Our review specifically assessed how effective these pathways are in supporting timely access to therapies for individuals living with rare diseases.

As set out in the Life Sciences Sector plan, we will be introducing a new and proportionate approach to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) appraisals and NHS indication-specific based pricing agreements for medicines with large numbers of indications, strong long-term outcome data, and low affordability risk. This will support treatments for rare diseases. There are currently no plans to introduce an access target, as it is essential to review the available evidence on a case-by-case basis. However, the Government remains committed to improving access to medicines for rare and ultra-rare diseases.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the reduction in the qualifying age for bowel cancer screening on detection rates in the past five years. \p Ashley Dalton: The final roll out of this policy only concluded in April 2025. As such, NHS England has not yet made any formal assessment of the impact of lowering the age for bowel cancer screening down to 50 on detection rates.

However, when making the recommendation to extend the screening age, from 60- to 74- year olds to 50- to 74- year olds, and to replace the faecal occult blood test with the faecal immunochemical test at the current test sensitivity threshold of 120 micrograms of haemoglobin per gram of faeces, these two activities combined were estimated to nearly double the number of colorectal cancer incidences detected and mortality reduced.
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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the 60% disability threshold requirement to qualify for the vaccine damage payment scheme. \p Ashley Dalton: I would like to reiterate my deepest sympathies to all those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.

I recognise many of the concerns that campaigners have raised regarding the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). Their input will shape our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme.

In parallel, the Department continues to work with the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the VDPS, to take further steps to improve the scheme, including through processing claims at a faster rate.

I will keep Parliament updated, as appropriate.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure access to (a) diagnostic and (b) treatment options for women with heart valve disease. \p Ashley Dalton: Cutting elective care waiting times, including for cardiology services, is a key priority for the Government. The national waiting list for cardiology services has fallen by 59,307 since this Government came into office, with an increase in the proportion waiting less than 18 weeks, from 60.2% to 62.4%. But we know there is much more work to be done.

Cardiology is identified as a top priority for reform in our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025. Specific actions being taken to reform cardiology include increasing specialist input earlier in care pathways, developing standard pathways for common outpatient presentations such as palpitation, and increasing timely access to cardiac diagnostic tests, including through “straight to test” pathways.

To accelerate progress towards the Government’s ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease modern service framework in 2026. The Department and NHS England are engaging widely throughout its development to ensure that we prioritise ambitious, evidence-led, and clinically informed approaches to prevention, treatment, and care.

My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced £600 million in the October statement to reduce diagnostic waiting lists, supporting new and expanded community diagnostic centres (CDCs), upgraded hospital diagnostic equipment, and digital diagnostic capabilities. NHS England's digital investments, including using artificial intelligence for cardiac imaging, have accelerated cardiology test reporting. From July 2024 to September 2025, CDCs performed 312,049 echocardiography and 281,869 electrocardiography tests, with many centres adopting innovative cardiac pathways to speed diagnosis and treatment, including for women.

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we build a National Health Service fit for the future. We know that women deserve better, which is why we are delivering our commitment that never again will women’s health be neglected. The 2022 Women’s Health Strategy identified many important issues, including cardiology, which remain valid, so we now need to align the strategy with the 10-Year Health Plan and identify areas where we need to go further. That is why we are updating the Women’s Health Strategy, to assess the progress that has been made so far and to continue progressing delivery.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the availability of treatment for those with Friedreich’s Ataxia. \p Ashley Dalton: Under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is working to improve access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs across all rare conditions. In February, we published the fourth England action plan reporting on progress.

Following extensive consultation, 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.

Although Skyclarys (omaveloxolone) is now licensed for those aged 16 years old and over, following an update from the company, Biogen, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has had to terminate its appraisal of this medicine as the company has withdrawn its evidence submission. NICE will review its decision if the company decides to make a new submission. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/TA1061

To avoid the possibility of creating a way to circumvent the appraisal process, NHS England is unable to fund medicines where companies have not engaged with NICE.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_63

Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) promote earlier detection of mouth cancer, (b) ensure (i) dentists, (ii) GPs and (iii) other frontline health professionals are trained to identify early warning signs and (c) reduce the time taken to (A) diagnose and (B) refer patients for treatment for mouth cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: We know that cancer incidence, including mouth cancer incidence, is increasing. We know that more needs to be done to improve outcomes for patients with mouth cancer, including raising awareness of signs and symptoms and focusing on prevention, such as the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Our forthcoming National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart, and it will include further details on how we will speed up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates.

To support earlier and faster cancer diagnosis, we are now delivering additional checks, tests and scans at 170 community diagnostic centres.

Additionally, to help increase early detection of cancer, the Government has recently launched Jess’s Rule, an initiative that asks general practitioners (GPs) to think again if, after three appointments, they have been unable to diagnose a patient, or their symptoms have escalated.

We are also investing an additional £889 million in general practice, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This will help to ensure we have a well-trained and well-equipped primary care service that can take the time to provide quality care to patients around the country.

Dentists and other dental professionals, including hygienists, routinely check the soft tissues of a patient’s mouth for signs of cancer during dental visits and as part of the check-up will make an assessment and record an individual’s oral cancer risk. Dentists will prioritise patients at a higher risk of oral cancer for more frequent recall and review in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_64

Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of (a) women and (b) men eligible for NHS health checks have had those checks in the last year, broken down by parliamentary constituency in the East of England. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department does not hold data on NHS Health Checks broken down by sex or by parliamentary constituencies. Local authorities, who are responsible for commissioning the NHS Health Check, may hold this information locally.

The NHS Health Check should be offered once every five years to eligible people, which means if everyone expected was offered a check and completed one, we would expect 20% of the total eligible population to receive a check each year.

The following table shows the proportion of the total five-year eligible population who had an NHS Health Check in each local authority in the East of England in 2024-2025:

Area

Percentage of the total five-year eligible population who received an NHS Health Check in the year 2024/25

England

9.0

East of England

9.4

Cambridgeshire

13.2

Luton

11.9

Essex

11.4

Norfolk

11.0

Southend-on-Sea

10.5

Thurrock

8.8

Peterborough

7.8

Hertfordshire

7.2

Suffolk

6.0

Central Bedfordshire

5.4

Bedford

5.3

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.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_65

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the extent of regional disparities in the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. \p Ashley Dalton: Just under 18 million people, or over 30%, of all ages in England were estimated to be affected by a musculoskeletal (MSK) condition in 2023, and improving their health and work outcomes will help deliver this Government's missions to build a National Health Service fit for the future and kickstart economic growth.

Data shows there are regional disparities in the prevalence of MSK conditions. In England in 2024, those in the most deprived Index of Multiple Deprivation decile were most likely to report a long term MSK problem, at 19.9%, compared to the least deprived decile, at 16.5%.

To tackle this, we are delivering the ‘Getting It Right First Time’ MSK Community Delivery Programme which is working to reduce MSK community waiting times, improve data and metrics and referral pathways to wider support services, which will benefit patients now and into the future.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_66

Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of existing stroke treatments. \p Ashley Dalton: The National Health Service is continuing to improve stroke services, but we recognise there is more to do.

The National Stroke Service Model and the National service model for an integrated community stroke service set out an evidence-based pathway for joined-up stroke care throughout the patient journey.

The NHS is committed to delivering thrombolysis to twice as many patients through the Thrombolysis in Acute Stroke Care (TASC) initiative. The TASC initiative unites stroke teams to use quality improvement methods to reduce delays and deliver faster, safer, more patient-centred care.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_67

James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost to the NHS of treating children with drug-resistant epilepsy who do not respond to conventional medications; and whether his Department is funding research of alternative treatments to ensure those children still receive sufficient medical care. \p Ashley Dalton: No estimate has been made of the annual cost to the National Health Service of treating children with drug-resistant epilepsy who do not respond to conventional medications. A detailed costing exercise is only usually undertaken where there is a new evidence-based treatment to potentially introduce.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with epilepsy, including the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit and the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology.

The Department funds research into epilepsy via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR has funded a range of ongoing and completed epilepsy research, including research into the effectiveness of vagus nerve stimulation as an alternative treatment for children and adults living with drug-resistant epilepsy, and research on implementing ketogenic diet therapy for children and young people with epilepsy.

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including alternative treatments for children with drug-resistant epilepsy. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_68

Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of (a) trends in the number of deaths from mouth cancer over the past ten years and (b) the potential role of late diagnosis in these trends. \p Ashley Dalton: We know that more needs to be done to improve outcomes for patients with mouth cancer. To support earlier and faster cancer diagnosis, we are now delivering additional checks, tests, and scans at 170 community diagnostic centres. As the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and treatment, the National Health Service in England has delivered an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week since the start of this administration.

Our forthcoming National Cancer Plan, which will be published in the new year, will have patients at its heart, and it will include further details on how we will speed up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates, including for mouth cancer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_69

Alex Burghart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress he has made on updating the Rare Diseases Framework. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK Rare Diseases Framework was published following the National Conversation on Rare Diseases, which received nearly 6,300 responses. This helped identify the four priorities of the framework in tackling rare diseases: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatment, and drugs.

The Government remains committed to improving the lives of those living with rare conditions, and will be publishing the next England Rare Diseases Action Plan for rare disease day in 2026, as in previous years. We recognise that despite the progress that has been made there remains considerable unmet need for people living with rare conditions. We are carefully considering the future of the UK Rare Disease Framework and will be announcing our intentions in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-21 conversation_70

Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data he holds on cancer (a) diagnosis wait times and (b) treatment commencement wait times in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency. \p Ashley Dalton: Data on waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment commencement are publicly available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/

The figures are broken down by NHS trust rather than by constituency.

The two main NHS trusts in Ely and East Cambridgeshire are the Cambridge University Hospitals Trust and the North West Anglia Trust.