theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of local authorities have a five year housing land supply based on current delivery given the Government's housing targets. \p Matthew Pennycook: The National Planning Policy Frameworks sets out that local authorities should identify and update annually a five-year housing land supply (5YHLS) of deliverable housing sites (with appropriate buffer) for decision making. This should be calculated against their housing requirement set out in adopted strategic policies, or against their local housing need where the strategic policies are more than five years old.

While the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) may be aware of an authority’s 5YHLS position at the time of a specific appeal, this position is not static. It may change over time due to annual updates or as a result of subsequent planning appeal decisions. As such, my Department does not collect live data on the 5YHLS status of individual local planning authorities.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 August 2025 to Question 69060 on Flats: Standards, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of allowing for different space standards for flats for occupation by single adult households on housing (a) stock and (b) affordability. \p Matthew Pennycook: The nationally described space standard in question is not mandatory, and it is at the discretion of local planning authorities to adopt those standards in their area where they believe there is a justified need to do so.
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Daniel Francis:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has considered amending (a) subsection 254(5) and (b) Schedule 14 of the Housing Act 2004. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government has no current plans to change the list of buildings that are not considered Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) under the Housing Act 2004. We keep the regulation of HMOs under review.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons preventing local authorities from adopting (a) roads and (b) communal areas in new build developments. \p Matthew Pennycook: Local planning authorities already have powers to issue a completion notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which requires a developer to complete their development if it is left uncompleted. If they fail to do so, the planning permission for the development will no longer be valid.

As part of their responsibilities local authorities should consider how to mitigate risks around infrastructure delivery, including looking at the timing of infrastructure completion on site and considering whether it is appropriate to require developers to set aside bonds which can be used to complete infrastructure should the developer be unable to do so.

The government is determined to end the injustice of 'fleecehold' and we have committed to consult this year on options to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders. I refer the hon. Member to my Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS2440) I made on 21 November last year for further details.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the balance between supply and demand of student accommodation in university towns. \p Matthew Pennycook: My Department has not made a specific assessment of the balance between the supply and demand of student accommodation in all university towns.

MHCLG and the Department for Education regularly engage with a range of stakeholders in the student accommodation market and will continue to do so.

The government recognise the concerns of some students about the availability and cost of accommodation in university towns across the country. We expect higher education providers to work collaboratively with local authorities to ensure there is adequate accommodation for their students, and we expect universities and private landlords to review their accommodation policies to ensure they are affordable, fair, clear, and promote the interests of students.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to with reference to DEP2025-0538/ MHCLG Flights July 5 2024- May 31 2025, deposited on 24 July 2025, for what reason his Department took flights from Manchester to London. \p Samantha Dixon: A flight was taken from Manchester to London on 9 March 2025 by a member of staff to attend a mandatory training course on the following day.

The trains were on strike at the time of the booking attempt (14 February 2025), as a result, none of the Manchester-to-London routes were shown on the government booking platform.
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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the Single Transferable Vote system in elections for newly established unitary councils. \p Samantha Dixon: Elections for existing unitary councils are held under the First Past the Post system. There are no plans to change the voting system for local council elections in England and elections for newly established unitary councils will also be held under this voting system.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many special advisers he plans to hire. \p Samantha Dixon: The government publishes an annual statement to Parliament setting out the numbers, names and pay bands of special advisers, the appointing minister and the overall paybill.
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Ben Coleman:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that all disabled people in social housing have personal emergency evacuation plans. \p Samantha Dixon: We are committed to improving systems that enable fire safety and evacuation of disabled and vulnerable residents in all high-rise and higher-risk residential buildings. On 4 July, the government laid The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 in Parliament, which will come into force on 6 April 2026.

Under the new regulations, residents with disabilities or impairments will be entitled to personal assessments designed to identify necessary equipment and adjustments that aid their fire safety and evacuation. Fire and Rescue Services will also receive information on vulnerable residents, where the individual resident agrees to the information being shared, in case they need to support their evacuation.

The government has committed funding this year to support social housing providers to deliver Residential PEEPs for their renters. Future years’ funding will be confirmed in due course.
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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will hold discussions with the National House Building Council on protecting homeowners from registered property developers who repeatedly set up new businesses and fail to complete property builds. \p Samantha Dixon: My Department engages regularly with the National House Building Council and is committed to improving upon existing means of redress for new build homebuyers for when things go wrong. This includes bringing into force a statutory New Homes Ombudsman scheme with accompanying Code of Practice.

We are also changing incentives in the housing market and giving local authorities the tools they need to speed up delivery.

On 25 May, we published the Speeding Up Build Out working paper, which sets out proposals to increase build out rates. This includes incentivising and supporting models of development that build out faster, giving local authorities tools to agree and monitor build out rates and potentially giving local authorities the ability to charge developers a ‘Delayed Homes Penalty’.
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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support the provision of emergency co-responders in (a) rural and (b) coastal areas. \p Samantha Dixon: Collaboration between emergency services has a vital role to play in keeping the public safe in a way that optimises efficiency and effectiveness. However, it is for local emergency service providers to decide what collaborative activities will best serve their communities’ needs.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 62599 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Official Engagements, if he will publish his Department's Freedom of Information response with the reference FOI2025/22450 of 3 September 2025. \p Samantha Dixon: It is not MHCLG policy to routinely publish FOI responses. The Information Tribunal views disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as a release into the public domain.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many civil servants from his Department went on strike on 1 September 2025. \p Samantha Dixon: 431 individuals are recorded as having taken part in strike action on 1 September 2025.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 22 July 2025 to Question HL9253 on Planning Permission: Public Consultation, if he will make it his policy to bring the Street Vote provisions from the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 into effect. \p Matthew Pennycook: Although UIN HL9253 set out that the government does not currently intend to implement the street votes provisions in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, I can clarify that no final decision has been taken.

We are currently considering how we might support urban densification through a new suite of national policies for decision making that we intend to consult on later this year.
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Helen Grant:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, by what date he plans to introduce free independent legal advice for adult rape victims. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The Government continues to progress the manifesto commitment to introduce free independent legal advice (ILA) for victims of adult rape, to help them understand and feel confident in their legal rights.

ILAs will be able to help victims with issues including understanding their rights, understanding what constitutes a reasonable Third-Party Material or digital material request, assisting with complaint applications, compensation claims, and the Victim’s Right to Review scheme.

We will be making further announcements about our plans for the rollout of this service in due course.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve probation services in the East Midlands. \p Jake Richards: We are committed to supporting probation staff and value their hard work, commitment and dedication. Following HM Inspectorate of Probation’s (HMIP) inspection of probation services in the East Midlands, their report identified areas of improvement, making 11 recommendations. 10 of these recommendations have been accepted in full, with the 11th being partially accepted. An action plan has been agreed with HMIP and delivery against that action plan is reviewed regularly by the Area Executive Director.

To address workload pressures, we have implemented initiatives such as “Probation Reset” and “Impact” and launched the “Our Future Probation Service” programme, which aims to ensure that workloads for probation staff are sustainable by deploying new technologies, reforming processes and ensuring prioritisation of probation staff time. By the final year of the spending review period, there has been a commitment to increase funding by up to £700 million for the Probation Service. Recruitment remains a priority, with significant numbers of probation officer trainees onboarded in 2024/25 and a commitment to onboard a further 1,300 in 2025/26 nationally.

These efforts are supported by a new wellbeing support model across HMPPS, including regional plans such as the Midlands wellbeing strategy, to ensure staff are supported in delivering their vital public safety responsibilities.
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Sarah Dyke:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce further financial support for community pharmacies required to take on additional dispensing of prescriptions following the closures of neighbouring community pharmacies. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to set a clear timetable for confirming and implementing the final proposals arising from the NHS dental contract quality and payment reforms 2026 consultation; and if he will publish a deadline by which (a) NHS dental professionals, (b) commissioners and (c) patients can expect both the Department’s response and the commencement of the resulting reforms. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Dr Ben Spencer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2025 to Question 75683 on Neurodiversity: Children, what discussions he has had with NHS Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board on the steps they are taking to ensure that assessment pathways for neurodevelopment disorders in children meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Sarah Dyke:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of pharmacy closures on neighbouring community pharmacies. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Noah Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the delivery of 10,910 new dental appointments in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly since February 2025 . \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent data his Department holds on the number of NHS-funded IVF cycles provided in each Integrated Care Board area. \p Karin Smyth: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department provides to ICBs to ensure that patients are informed of local IVF eligibility criteria at the point of referral to fertility services. \p Karin Smyth: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total amount of payment is through the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme; and how much has been paid in each year for which figures are available. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that women with polycystic ovary syndrome receive (a) timely and (b) equitable access to fertility assessment and treatment under NHS pathways. \p Karin Smyth: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which acute hospital trusts have a helipad which can be used 24 hours a day 7 days a week. \p Karin Smyth: There are currently 55 hospital helipad sites located on NHS England estates with a further 26 sites utilised outside of NHS grounds. While some of these are operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week, many have restricted opening hours due to local planning requirements, such as noise abatement controls at night.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of a public awareness campaign on endometriosis. \p Karin Smyth: The Government recognises the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives, their relationships, and their participation in education and the workforce.

In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated their guideline on endometriosis, to make firmer recommendations to healthcare professionals on the referral and investigation for women with a suspected diagnosis, in order to help the estimated one in 10 women with endometriosis receive a diagnosis faster. Alongside the updated guidelines, new treatments have been approved, and we are investing £5.6 million into research and taking action to cut gynaecology waiting lists through our Elective Reform Plan.

On 15 July, the Department for Education published the revised relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education statutory guidance. This revised guidance emphasises the importance of ensuring that pupils have a comprehensive understanding of women’s health topics, including endometriosis.

We know that women deserve better, which is why we are renewing the Women’s Health Strategy, to assess the progress that has been made so far and to continue progressing delivery while empowering women with information about heavy menstrual bleeding and reproductive health conditions.

The 2022 Women’s Health Strategy identified many important issues 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.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to implement the Women's Health Strategy for England. \p Karin Smyth: We are turning the commitments in the Women's Health Strategy into tangible action by delivering 5.2 million extra appointments, tackling gynaecology waiting lists by using the private sector, and by shortly making emergency hormonal contraception free in pharmacies.

The 2022 Women's Health Strategy identified many important issues 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, which is why we are renewing the Women’s Health Strategy, to assess the progress that has been made so far and to continue progressing delivery.
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Cat Eccles:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce waiting lists for people needing urgent allergic care. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is working closely with a range of stakeholders from across the Government, the National Health Service, voluntary organisations, and patient representative groups, including the National Allergy Strategy Group, to consider how allergy care and support could be improved.

The Government is committed to returning accident and emergency waiting times to the safe operational waiting time standards set out in the NHS Constitution. In doing so, we will be honest about the challenges facing the health service and serious about tackling them.

The Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 was published on 6 June 2025 and focuses on improvements that will make urgent and emergency care better every day. The plan will:

Further information on the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/

In July 2025, we published the 10-Year Health Plan to create a new model of care, to be fit for the future. This includes establishing the Neighbourhood Health Service, to shift care into the community and reduce demand in emergency departments, which is backed by almost £450 million of capital investment. Further information on the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve cancer outcomes. \p Ashley Dalton: We are committed to transforming cancer services. The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and improving this country’s cancer survival rates. Having consulted with key stakeholders and patient groups, I confirm that the plan will be published early in the new year.

We will support the National Health Service to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners. We have already invested £70 million in new radiotherapy machines. The Government is investing an extra £26 billion in the NHS and is opening up community diagnostic centres at evening and weekends, to help catch cancer earlier.

Furthermore, NHS England has completed the national roll-out of non-specific symptom pathways to support faster diagnosis of cancer in patients who present with symptoms that do not align with a single cancer site.

The NHS has exceeded its pledge to deliver an extra two million appointments, having now delivered over five million more appointments as the first step to ensuring earlier and faster access to treatment.

Additionally, reducing inequalities is a key priority for the National Cancer Plan, which will look at the targeted improvements needed across different cancer types to reduce disparities in cancer survival. This includes looking at protected characteristics, such as ethnicity, as well as inequalities related to socioeconomic status, and geographic location.
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Marie Goldman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) increase capacity and (b) reduce inequalities in accessing respiratory diagnosis. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to increasing the capacity of respiratory services and is improving access to these services through new community diagnostic centres (CDCs).

All standard and large CDCs are required to offer diagnostic respiratory tests such as spirometry and full lung function tests as part of their core testing offer.

The 2025/26 capital guidance confirmed that £1.65 billion of capital funding is being allocated to support National Health Service performance across secondary and emergency care across 2025/26 more broadly. This includes funding to enable the completion of 2024/25 CDC schemes, as well as to expand existing and build new CDCs.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many languages the NHS app will be available in by 2035. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The 10-Year Health Plan recently committed to offering services in the NHS App in multiple languages to reach people who have difficulty with English where it is not their first language. Scoping has started to understand how to deliver this in a safe and cost-effective way, so that translations are reliable, consistent across patient journeys, accessible by those that they are intended for, and are making good use of public funds. The NHS App is currently available in English and Welsh.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will allocate funding for mental health support for doctors in the Autumn Budget 2025. \p Karin Smyth: My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer will set out any policy changes in the Autumn Budget in the usual way.

The health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff is very important, and the Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, by supporting our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals. At a national level, NHS staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health and wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals and support to work healthily and flexibly. We will also roll out Staff Treatment Hubs to ensure staff have access to high quality support for mental health and back conditions.
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Sorcha Eastwood:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Northern Ireland executive on the potential introduction of a national screening programme for prostate cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises ministers and the National Health Service in the four nations of the United Kingdom about all aspects of screening. The implementation of any UK NSC screening recommendation is a devolved matter.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of child (a) injuries and (b) illnesses linked to counterfeit toys in the last five years. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department does not collect or hold this data. The National Health Service classifies injuries and illnesses by diagnosis rather than cause. Hospital Episode Statistics do not have an International Classification of Disease code for counterfeit products.

The Department acknowledges increasing concerns regarding the potential health risks to children associated with fake and counterfeit products. Children’s health remains a priority for the Government.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Minister in his Department is responsible for children's health. \p Ashley Dalton: I am the Minister responsibility for children’s health, as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention. Children’s health remains a priority for the Department, and the Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) physical, (b) mental and (c) financial support is available to people diagnosed with endometriosis. \p Karin Smyth: The Government recognises the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline on endometriosis diagnosis and management recognises that endometriosis can be a long-term condition, and can have a significant physical, sexual, psychological, and social impact. On 11 November 2024, NICE published its updated version of this guideline, making firmer recommendations on referral and investigations which will help women receive a diagnosis and effective treatment faster.

Research has led to new treatments being made available for endometriosis, including the NICE approval of two pills to treat endometriosis this year, namely Relugolix and Linzagolix.

Individuals, including those diagnosed with endometriosis, can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies or their general practitioner can refer them. NHS Talking Therapies offer evidence-based psychological therapies to help with common mental health problems.

Many integrated care boards are taking an innovative approach to endometriosis care. For example, in the North East and West of England there is the endometriosis transformation programme. This programme is addressing long waits for patients with severe endometriosis and improving patient pathways, from presentation in general practice through to management in secondary care.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-24)

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Jessica Toale:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether women (a) known and (b) suspected to have exposure to diethylstilbestrol in utero are eligible for enhanced cancer screening. \p Ashley Dalton: Yes, women who believe they have been exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES) in utero are eligible for enhanced cancer screening. The NHS Cervical Screening Programme guidance reminds providers that these women are eligible for routine cervical screening and states that local arrangements should be made for the follow up of women who have been exposed to DES and who have the stigmata of DES exposure. This is usually via annual colposcopy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-24 conversation_201

Lizzi Collinge:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that the national commitment to fracture liaison services is supported by a clear rollout plan. \p Ashley Dalton: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Stockton West on 13 October 2025 to Question 77186.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-24 conversation_202

Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the Modern Service Framework for cardiovascular disease will (a) reduce disability caused by stroke and (b) improve the lives of stroke survivors living with poor health or a disability post-stroke. \p Ashley Dalton: To accelerate 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 (CVD MSF) in 2026. The CVD MSF will consider approaches to reducing poor health and disability caused by heart disease and stroke.

The Department and NHS England are working together to deliver the CVD MSF and are engaging widely throughout its development to ensure that we prioritise ambitious, evidence-led and clinically informed approaches to prevention, treatment, and care. At the heart of this is engagement with people and communities, so that the modern service framework is shaped by and meets their needs. We will say more on these plans in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-24 conversation_203

Rebecca Long Bailey:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department is providing to support the development of reliable prostate cancer screening tests. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK National Screening Committee reviewed the evidence for prostate cancer screening in 2020 and recommended against it due to the insufficient reliability of the best available test, the prostate specific antigen test (PSA test).

The committee is currently undertaking a new evidence review of prostate cancer screening at both a population level and for targeted high-risk groups such as black men and men with a family history of prostate cancer.

However, the reliability of the PSA test remains an issue, which is why the Government has invested £16 million into Prostate Cancer UK’s TRANSFORM trial to investigate whether different tests and more modern treatments can both detect important prostate cancers and reduce the harm of a large scale, population screening programme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-24 conversation_204

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to integrate the 10-Year Plan with the National Cancer Plan. \p Ashley Dalton: The 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will fight cancer on all fronts, from prevention to diagnosis to treatment, to improve survival and reduce the lives lost to one of the biggest killers. The National Cancer Plan for England will take forward this work and build on the shifts set out in the 10-Year Health Plan to improve the experiences and outcomes for people with cancer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-24 conversation_205

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of updating GP guidance to allow GPs to have proactive conversations on prostate cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) commissioned an evidence review looking at screening for prostate cancer. We anticipate a public consultation on the findings of this review later this year and a recommendation by the committee in the first quarter of next year.

Consideration of changes to the guidance for general practitioners regarding prostate cancer will be taken based on the findings of the evidence review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-24 conversation_206

Jessica Toale:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered the potential merits of a screening protocol for people exposed to diethylstilbestrol. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which advises the Government on all aspects of screening, has never been asked to consider the evidence for a screening programme for people exposed to diethylstilbestrol in utero.

Any individual or organisation can submit a topic to the UK NSC to consider a new screening programme via the UK NSC’s open call. As part of the open call process the committee will discuss whether this falls within its remit or whether it's more aligned with clinical care.

Further information about the open call is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-annual-call-submitting-a-screening-proposal
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-24 conversation_207

Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the accessibility of cervical screening in the context of the proposed merging of Integrated Care Boards. \p Ashley Dalton: The merging of smaller integrated care boards will help to ensure that they have the capacity and capability to be effective strategic commissioners for all the services for the local population for which they are responsible, including elements of cervical screening.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-24 conversation_208

Jon Trickett:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to reconsider the criteria for covid vaccination eligibility, in the context of levels of prevalence of new variants. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government’s policy on the groups eligible for vaccination programmes is based on the advice of the independent expert body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

The aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme is to prevent serious disease, meaning hospitalisation and/or mortality, arising from COVID-19. Population immunity to COVID-19 has been increasing due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity, following recovery from infection, and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant.

The JCVI carefully considered the latest evidence on the risk of hospitalisation and mortality in specific groups to provide the Government with advice on the autumn 2025 programme. A more targeted vaccination programme aimed at individuals with a higher risk of developing serious disease was advised for autumn 2025.

On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on who should be offered vaccination in autumn 2025. On 26 June 2025, the Government decided, in line with this advice, that a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered in autumn 2025 to the following groups:

- adults aged 75 years old and over;

- residents in a care home for older adults; and

- individuals aged six months old and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in the ‘immunosuppression’ sections of tables three or four in the COVID-19 chapter of the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) Green Book.

The UKHSA advises that currently, XFG and its sub lineages, sometimes called the ‘Stratus’ variant, are the most prevalent in England. This lineage is closely related to previous variants that circulated in the United Kingdom. At this time there is no indication that XFG causes more serious disease, or that the vaccines being used in the autumn 2025 campaign will not be effective against it. The UKHSA will continue to monitor both COVID-19 outcomes and variant prevalence as we enter the winter season.

This means that while the JCVI keeps the available data under regular review, there are no plans to offer vaccination through the national programme outside these JCVI advised groups for autumn 2025. All those individuals who are eligible are encouraged to take up the offer of vaccination.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-24 conversation_209

Patrick Hurley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates in the North West. \p Ashley Dalton: We recognise that there is more to do to improve cardiac arrest survival rates, including in the North West. The National Health Service 10-Year Health Plan addresses cardiac arrest at a national level through a broad focus on cardiovascular disease detection and prevention. Key initiatives include improving the early detection and treatment of high-risk conditions like atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, known as the ABCs, to prevent heart attacks and strokes, which can lead to cardiac arrest.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-24 conversation_210

Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people with liver (b) cirrhosis, (b) advanced liver disease and (c) those at high risk of liver cancer receive systematic (i) surveillance and (ii) early diagnosis. \p Ashley Dalton: As part of a program to transform liver disease outcomes we will work with partners, including the British Liver Trust, to raise awareness and address the stigma related to hazardous and harmful levels of alcohol use, obesity, and viral hepatitis, which are key drivers of liver disease.

We will improve early detection of liver disease by developing best practice diagnostic pathways for primary care with agreed common referral thresholds. This includes exploring innovative approaches to increasing early detection, such as Intelligent Liver Function Testing, and improving access to treatments for liver disease, thereby tackling health inequalities in relation to access, uptake, patient experience, and outcomes.

We will continue to reach out to the communities that are worst affected by liver disease through the Community Liver Health Checks programme to proactively identify people with undiagnosed liver disease, who are suitable for liver cancer surveillance. The number of mobile liver scanning teams has almost doubled in the last two years. Over 100,000 people have had a fibroscan of their liver, and over 8,000 have been referred on for vital liver cancer checks since the programme began.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has announced that a National Cancer Plan for England will be published in the new year. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experiences and outcomes for people with cancer, including for liver cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next 10 years.