Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on developing the cross-departmental Acquired Brain Injury Action Plan; and what mechanisms are in place to ensure the plan addresses regional inequalities in neurorehabilitation services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working closely with NHS England, other Government departments, and stakeholders to finalise the Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Action Plan, which will set out clear priorities for improving prevention, diagnosis, rehabilitation, and long-term support. Work on the plan is well advanced, and we expect to publish the plan in the first half of 2026.
The Department has worked closely with leading ABI charities through stakeholder forums, the ABI All-Party Parliamentary Group, and a national call for evidence. These organisations have provided expert insight on rehabilitation pathways, community support, and service gaps. Their contributions are directly shaping the plan by informing priorities and practical actions to improve outcomes for individuals and families affected by ABI.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent work has been undertaken with voluntary sector organisations supporting families affected by acquired brain injury; and how their expertise is being incorporated into the Acquired Brain Injury Action Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working closely with NHS England, other Government departments, and stakeholders to finalise the Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Action Plan, which will set out clear priorities for improving prevention, diagnosis, rehabilitation, and long-term support. Work on the plan is well advanced, and we expect to publish the plan in the first half of 2026.
The Department has worked closely with leading ABI charities through stakeholder forums, the ABI All-Party Parliamentary Group, and a national call for evidence. These organisations have provided expert insight on rehabilitation pathways, community support, and service gaps. Their contributions are directly shaping the plan by informing priorities and practical actions to improve outcomes for individuals and families affected by ABI.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of targeted interventions to improve breast cancer screening uptake among underserved groups.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP) has returned to normal operation following disruption from COVID-19 and subsequent recovery measures.
NHSBSP is seeing improvement in uptake nationally with annual data for 2023/24 showing the number of women who are up to date with their screening has increased to the highest on record, to 4.61 million.
Breast screening uptake among those invited in 2023/24 improved to 70%, an increase from 64.6% in 2022/23, which is the first time the NHSBSP has hit its acceptable target for breast screening uptake since before the pandemic.
In February 2025, NHS England launched the first ever National Health Service breast screening campaign nationally to widespread media attention. It ran across television, radio, social media, and outdoor advertising during February and March, targeting women of breast screening age, with a focus on those least likely to attend, including younger women, those in deprived areas, ethnic minorities, and disabled women.
Specifically, regarding North West Leicestershire, measures to improve uptake include implementation of a timed appointment system which gives patients a specific date and time for their screening appointment, rather than asking them to contact the service to arrange one themselves. Evidence has shown that timed appointments improve participation and help reduce health inequalities. In addition, workforce structure is being reviewed to ensure a resilient staffing establishment capable of managing the higher demand from the timed appointment system.
More broadly, the integrated care board works with NHS England to support an increase in breast screening across Leicester, Leicestershire, Rugby. This includes:
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the backlog and other impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the breast cancer screening programme has been completed.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP) has returned to normal operation following disruption from COVID-19 and subsequent recovery measures.
NHSBSP is seeing improvement in uptake nationally with annual data for 2023/24 showing the number of women who are up to date with their screening has increased to the highest on record, to 4.61 million.
Breast screening uptake among those invited in 2023/24 improved to 70%, an increase from 64.6% in 2022/23, which is the first time the NHSBSP has hit its acceptable target for breast screening uptake since before the pandemic.
In February 2025, NHS England launched the first ever National Health Service breast screening campaign nationally to widespread media attention. It ran across television, radio, social media, and outdoor advertising during February and March, targeting women of breast screening age, with a focus on those least likely to attend, including younger women, those in deprived areas, ethnic minorities, and disabled women.
Specifically, regarding North West Leicestershire, measures to improve uptake include implementation of a timed appointment system which gives patients a specific date and time for their screening appointment, rather than asking them to contact the service to arrange one themselves. Evidence has shown that timed appointments improve participation and help reduce health inequalities. In addition, workforce structure is being reviewed to ensure a resilient staffing establishment capable of managing the higher demand from the timed appointment system.
More broadly, the integrated care board works with NHS England to support an increase in breast screening across Leicester, Leicestershire, Rugby. This includes:
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to support areas with lower than national average attendance to breast cancer screening appointments, such as North West Leicestershire.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP) has returned to normal operation following disruption from COVID-19 and subsequent recovery measures.
NHSBSP is seeing improvement in uptake nationally with annual data for 2023/24 showing the number of women who are up to date with their screening has increased to the highest on record, to 4.61 million.
Breast screening uptake among those invited in 2023/24 improved to 70%, an increase from 64.6% in 2022/23, which is the first time the NHSBSP has hit its acceptable target for breast screening uptake since before the pandemic.
In February 2025, NHS England launched the first ever National Health Service breast screening campaign nationally to widespread media attention. It ran across television, radio, social media, and outdoor advertising during February and March, targeting women of breast screening age, with a focus on those least likely to attend, including younger women, those in deprived areas, ethnic minorities, and disabled women.
Specifically, regarding North West Leicestershire, measures to improve uptake include implementation of a timed appointment system which gives patients a specific date and time for their screening appointment, rather than asking them to contact the service to arrange one themselves. Evidence has shown that timed appointments improve participation and help reduce health inequalities. In addition, workforce structure is being reviewed to ensure a resilient staffing establishment capable of managing the higher demand from the timed appointment system.
More broadly, the integrated care board works with NHS England to support an increase in breast screening across Leicester, Leicestershire, Rugby. This includes:
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans there are to expand specialist neurorehabilitation capacity in the North East.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of timely, high-quality rehabilitation for children and young people with an acquired brain injury (ABI). NHS England’s paediatric neurorehabilitation service specification supports community neurorehabilitation by ensuring that children and young people receive coordinated, specialist care beyond the hospital setting. It requires integrated care boards (ICBs), including the NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB, to work with tertiary centres and local providers to deliver structured rehabilitation programmes in the community, supported by multidisciplinary teams.
The Department expects all National Health Services to follow the guideline for the assessment and early management of head injury in babies, children, young people, and adults, reference code NG232, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The guideline sets out clear standards for discharge advice, risk assessment, and timely referral for further evaluation where symptoms persist or escalate. NHS England ensures that ICBs follow NICE guidance through a combination of statutory oversight frameworks, annual performance assessments, and local clinical governance requirements. NICE provides ICBs with implementation tools, audit templates, training resources, and commissioning guidance to help embed the guideline into local pathways and ensure consistent, evidence-based practice.
The Government is committed to increasing specialist neurorehabilitation capacity in the North East of England as part of wider efforts to improve access and reduce regional variation. Our forthcoming ABI Action Plan will set out practical steps to strengthen commissioning and expand multidisciplinary rehabilitation services. This aligns with commitments in the 10-Year Health Plan to enhance community-based rehabilitation, invest in specialist teams, and ensure timely, high-quality care for people with ABI across England, including the North East.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of rough sleeping in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency during winter 2025-26 on the health of rough sleepers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that homelessness and rough sleeping numbers continue to remain high. That is why the Government is providing £255.5 million for the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant so that local authorities can support people sleeping rough in their areas, including funding health‑led interventions, alongside a £69.9 million top‑up announced in October 2025 to tackle additional pressures.
Surrey County Council has undertaken a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, focused on housing and related support, funded by the Department through the Public Health Grant and carried out by health and wellbeing boards. More information is available at the following link:
https://www.surreyi.gov.uk/jsna/jsna-housing-and-related-support/#homelessness
The assessment requires a thorough analysis of the health and social care needs of local populations, and highlights how determinants such as housing conditions, including insecure housing and homelessness, impact health and wellbeing. This informs planning across health, social care, and housing to improve outcomes and address inequalities.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK National Screening Committee’s draft recommendation on prostate cancer screening on future demand for PSMA PET-CT imaging, including modelling of the different demand scenarios included in the current public consultation.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The independent UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which is made up of leading medical and screening experts, advises ministers in all four nations of the United Kingdom on the evidence on screening. They have carried out an evidence review to look at screening for prostate cancer. Where the committee is confident that screening provides more good than harm, they recommend a screening programme. Treatment can lead to immediate life changing side effects which need to be balanced against potential benefits some years in the future.
On 28 November 2025, the UK NSC opened a 12-week public consultation on an evidence review to look at screening for prostate cancer and a draft recommendation to:
Alongside the consultation, work is being carried out to assess the costs and resources required to deliver the possible screening pathway, this could include an assessment of future demand for PSMA PET-CT imaging.
We anticipate that the UK NSC will make a final recommendation on screening for prostate cancer in early 2026. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will consider this and make a decision on whether to accept and next steps at this point.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities are able to act swiftly where there is evidence of illegal tobacco or vaping products being sold on high streets.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will strengthen enforcement and crack down on rogue retailers selling illegal tobacco and vaping products. The bill enables ministers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products, and enables the introduction of a new registration system for tobacco, vape, and nicotine products that are sold on the United Kingdom’s market. This will help ensure products are compliant with product safety and standards requirements and enable Trading Standards to remove non-compliant products from the market quickly and efficiently.
Alongside the bill, the Government has announced £10 million of new funding in 2025/26 to Trading Standards, to support the enforcement of illicit and underage tobacco and vape sales in England, and the implementation of the measures in the bill. This funding is being used to boost the Trading Standards workforce by recruiting 94 new apprentices. This will provide greater workforce capacity, enabling swifter enforcement action against illicit activity.
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will be assessing the impact of new developments in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Long Covid research, such as the findings of the LOCOME project, on health policy towards those living with long term health conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 6 November, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) jointly hosted a showcase event for post-acute infection conditions research, which included a review of the DecodeME research project and the PrecisionLife study on myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and long COVID research. PrecisionLife is leading on the LOCOME, or LOng COvid and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Diagnostics Stratification, project. The showcase event was attended by speakers from a range of disciplines, including researchers, people with lived experience, ME charities, NIHR and MRC representatives, as well as Government officials.
The Department is always very keen to reflect newly emerging research findings in its policy-making.