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 recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of prostate cancer treatment in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving outcomes for men with prostate cancer across England, including in the Surrey Heath constituency. The Government understands that more needs to be done to improve outcomes for all people with prostate cancer, including in the Surrey Heath constituency.
The Department will publish a National Cancer Plan which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients across England, including Surrey Heath, speed up diagnosis and treatment, and ensure that patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.
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 steps his Department is taking to support men with prostate cancer in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving outcomes for men with prostate cancer across England, including in the Surrey Heath constituency. The Government understands that more needs to be done to improve outcomes for all people with prostate cancer, including in the Surrey Heath constituency.
The Department will publish a National Cancer Plan which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients across England, including Surrey Heath, speed up diagnosis and treatment, and ensure that patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support older people in financial hardship in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the financial security and dignity they deserve. The State Pension is the foundation of support for older people and together with the private and workplace pensions system provides for security in retirement. That’s why we have made a commitment to the Triple Lock for the entirety of this Parliament which will see the forecast annual spend on people’s State Pensions rise by around £31 billion.
In April this year, the basic and new State Pensions increased by 4.1%, benefitting 12 million pensioners by up to £470 this year. That’s up to £275 more than if pensions had been up rated by inflation. The standard minimum guarantee in Pension Credit, which provides a vital safety net for around 1.4m pensioners on the lowest incomes, also increased by 4.1%. Pension Credit can passport pensioners to a range of extra support including help with rent, council tax reduction, fuel bills (via the Warm Home Discount scheme and Cold Weather Payments) and a free TV licence for those over 75. We have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit campaign across Great Britain since Autumn 2024. Our drive to maximise Pension Credit take-up has seen the Department receive around 285,600 claims from July 2024 to May 2025 with almost 60,000 extra awards on the comparable period the previous year. Further promotional activity is planned from this Autumn through to the end of the financial year, as part of a nationwide campaign aimed at eligible pensioners, their friends and their families – including those in Surrey Heath.
The Household Support Fund also continues to provide support to those most in need, including older people in financial hardship. The Government has extended it in England until 31 March 2026 with funding of £742 million – and additional corresponding funding for the devolved administrations.
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 steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dental care for patients unable to register with a local practice in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend. Some dental practices may operate local waiting list arrangements.
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Surrey Heath constituency, this is the NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB. ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The Surrey Heartlands ICB is expected to deliver 6,585 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.
As a first step to reforming the dental contract, we are consulting on a package of changes to improve access to, and improve the quality of, NHS dentistry, which will deliver improved care for the diverse oral health needs of people across England. A link to the consultation is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms
The consultation was launched on 8 July 2025 and will close on 19 August 2025.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce anti-social behaviour by people on motorbikes in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
Our Crime and Policing Bill will give the police greater powers to clamp down on all vehicles, including motorbikes, involved in anti-social behaviour, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles.
On 28 May, the Government launched a six-week consultation on proposals to allow the police to more quickly dispose of seized vehicles such as motorbikes, which have been used anti-socially.
Combined, these proposals will help tackle the scourge of vehicles ridden anti-socially and illegally by sending a clear message to would be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with higher education organisations on tackling the potential implications of increased use of artificial intelligence by students.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There are huge opportunities for artificial intelligence (AI) as it becomes more sophisticated, particularly through generative AI, and we know higher education (HE) providers and the industries they work with are at the forefront of this. There will be many benefits which we are already seeing, but there are also challenges in how the HE sector and students incorporate AI, particularly for teaching, learning and assessment.
The experience and expertise of the sector is contributing to the department’s evidence base for how generative AI is used in education. We published research in January 2024 containing insights from interviews with teachers and experts in HE and the education technology (EdTech) industry, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/generative-ai-in-education-educator-and-expert-views.
The Quality Assurance Agency has been exploring the implications of AI, particularly in relation to academic integrity, and published a briefing for its members in February 2024 focusing on the challenges, underpinned by insights from HE sector leaders.
The Office for Students set out its approach to the use of AI in HE in a recent blog which can be accessed here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/blog/embracing-innovation-in-higher-education-our-approach-to-artificial-intelligence/.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of four-weekly employer pay cycles on the (a) calculation and (b) consistency of Universal Credit payments.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Those who are paid their earnings four-weekly will normally get one payment in each monthly assessment period and will have one assessment period a year where they will receive two four-weekly payments. This is because there are 12 assessment periods a year and those who are paid four-weekly will receive 13 payments a year. This means for 11 assessment periods entitlement to Universal Credit should be the same and in the other assessment period entitlement will be reduced or end because of the higher amount earnings received in that assessment period. The proportion of Universal Credit claimants in work who are paid their wages 4-weekly by their employer are 10% (excluding self-employed people).
The Department has committed to reviewing Universal Credit, to make sure it is doing the job we want it to, to make work pay and tackle poverty. We know that UC’s monthly assessment period doesn’t suit household circumstances in all cases. We are meeting with expert stakeholders to explore this as part of the review
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support campaign organisations in promoting awareness of the dangers of knife crime in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission.
As part of this mission, we have launched the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime. The Coalition brings together campaign groups, families of people who have tragically lost their lives to knife crime, young people who have been impacted and community leaders, united in their mission to save lives and make Britain a safer place for all.
The Coalition includes representation from charities who work across Surrey and provide advice and expertise to the Government as it takes action to halve knife crime in a decade.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the support available to police who attend traumatic callouts in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The health and wellbeing of our police is a top priority for the Home Office and it's essential that those who have faced traumatic incidents in the line of duty receive the support they need to recover and continue serving. We continue to fund the National Police Wellbeing Service who have developed an evidenced-based trauma support model which is now available to forces.
NPWS have also created a national suicide action plan which aims to educate and support the workforce, reduce stress and improve data recording. In addition, the Service is piloting a 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Support Line to provide urgent support for our police when they need it the most.
It is the responsibility of individual Chief Officers to effectively manage their workforce, ensuring the appropriate health and wellbeing provisions are in place for their officers and staff.
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 steps his Department is taking to ensure individuals receive timely reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 to support access to dental services in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service contracts with independent dental providers to deliver NHS dental treatment in primary care settings. Dental practices are businesses and therefore able to decide how they operate, providing they remain compliant with the appropriate regulations.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for undertaking special care oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of oral health need, to inform local commissioning intentions, and to determine the local priorities for investment. For the Surrey constituency, this is the NHS Surrey Heartlands.
The NHS constitution states that NHS services will always be available for the people who need them. No one can deny a person the right to access these services because of their age, disability, race, gender or gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, or marital or civil partnership status. The Handbook to the NHS Constitution is available at the following link:
Care Quality Commission regulations mandate that all registered providers must have due regard to the protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act 2010.
Furthermore, Community Dental Services provide care to patients who may have difficulty accessing high street dental services due to their social, medical, or dental need. This may include children with learning disabilities, complex medical needs, physical disabilities, or challenging behaviour.