Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of the use of surveillance and enforcement practices by private parking operators to issue charges based on motorists’ movements beyond car parks.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government has not made an assessment of trends in the use of surveillance to issue charges based on motorists’ movements beyond car parks.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what powers are available to local authorities to intervene where private parking arrangements are having a demonstrable negative impact on local businesses, including through compulsory purchase or other mechanisms.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

No direct assessment has been made of the potential impact of private parking enforcement practices on footfall and consumer confidence in local high streets. However, the government is aware of motorist frustrations, and in accordance with the Private Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, intends to publish a Code which raises standard across the industry and better protects and supports motorists in autumn 2026. Under the Traffic Management Act 2004, local authorities must ensure that their parking policies are proportionate and support town centre prosperity.

Local authorities have the power to compulsorily purchase land for provision of parking spaces under section 40 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

Local authorities also have compulsory purchase powers under the Town and County Planning Act 1990 to acquire land used for private parking to facilitate development or improvements in their areas.

Compulsory purchase powers may be used where efforts to acquire the land by negotiations have failed and there is a compelling case in the public interest. More generally, local authorities have limited direct powers to intervene in private parking arrangements, and do not have powers to regulate private parking enforcement practices or charges. Private operators are self-regulated through membership of the accredited trade associations (the British Parking Associations or the International Parking Community).

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of private parking enforcement practices on footfall and consumer confidence in local high streets.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

No direct assessment has been made of the potential impact of private parking enforcement practices on footfall and consumer confidence in local high streets. However, the government is aware of motorist frustrations, and in accordance with the Private Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, intends to publish a Code which raises standard across the industry and better protects and supports motorists in autumn 2026. Under the Traffic Management Act 2004, local authorities must ensure that their parking policies are proportionate and support town centre prosperity.

Local authorities have the power to compulsorily purchase land for provision of parking spaces under section 40 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

Local authorities also have compulsory purchase powers under the Town and County Planning Act 1990 to acquire land used for private parking to facilitate development or improvements in their areas.

Compulsory purchase powers may be used where efforts to acquire the land by negotiations have failed and there is a compelling case in the public interest. More generally, local authorities have limited direct powers to intervene in private parking arrangements, and do not have powers to regulate private parking enforcement practices or charges. Private operators are self-regulated through membership of the accredited trade associations (the British Parking Associations or the International Parking Community).

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the number of private parking charge notices issued annually in England; and what assessment he has made of trends in those figures over the last five years.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government uses publicly available DVLA Keeper at Data of Event Enquiry (KADOE) data as a proxy for the number of private parking charges issued annually.

The following requests were made for car park management purposes.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of signage requirements for private parking operators, including where free parking is conditional on visiting specific premises.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Parking on private land is managed under contract law. The signage on a site sets out the terms and conditions of the contract, including any conditions attached to free parking, and these are often reflective of the landowner’s requirements. When a motorist parks on the land, they are held to have accepted the contract created through the signage. The Sector Single Code states signage must be designed, applied and maintained to be visible, legible and unambiguous to drivers.

In response to motorist concerns and in accordance with the Private Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, the government intends to lay a Code setting out standards for signage in autumn 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the variation in diagnosis times and access to treatment for heart valve disease by (a) region and (b) demographic group in England and West Sussex.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department recognises that variation in the provision of heart valve disease (HVD) services exists across England is taking action to address this.

NHS England is strengthening consistency in the diagnosis and treatment to reduce variation in HVD diagnosis, including in West Sussex. This included echocardiography workforce initiatives to increase diagnostic capacity for HVD referrals for 2024/25. In 2025, the Getting It Right First Time programme published new and revised cardiology pathways to reduce delays and guide clinicians through diagnostic steps and treatment planning, and enhanced recovery protocols for Aortic Stenosis (advanced HVD).

In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the British Heart Foundation are partnering for the £50m Inequalities, which will fund a five-year consortium to generate research focused on tackling inequalities in ethnic minorities, deprived communities and unequal cardiovascular disease outcomes between women and men. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-50m-funding-to-tackle-inequalities-cardiovascular-disease

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of a proposed reduction in community inpatient capacity at Zachary Merton Hospital on the level of (a) the use of virtual wards, (b) care at home, and (c) provision at other community hospital sites in West Sussex.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not received a notification under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 about changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital and has not undertaken an assessment of potential impacts.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been asked by the Hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton to intervene in this matter and will consider and respond to that request in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, further to the Answer of 13 March 2026 to Question 117218 on NHS, whether his Department assessed the potential merits of exercising the call-in power under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 for proposed changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not received a notification under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 about changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital and has not undertaken an assessment of potential impacts.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been asked by the Hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton to intervene in this matter and will consider and respond to that request in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2026 to Question 117219 on NHS, whether changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital had been notified to his Department under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not received a notification under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 about changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital and has not undertaken an assessment of potential impacts.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been asked by the Hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton to intervene in this matter and will consider and respond to that request in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the average waiting time for diagnostic tests, including echocardiograms, for suspected heart valve disease in (a) England and (b) NHS trusts serving West Sussex for which the latest data is available.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

An echocardiogram is the primary diagnostic test for suspected heart valve disease. Waiting times for echocardiograms are published in the diagnostics waiting times dataset (DM01) at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/

Data is not available in DM01 for other tests used in the diagnostic pathway, for example electrocardiograms, chest X-rays, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging/computed tomography scans, and/or stress tests.

As of the end of February 2026, the latest available data, the DM01 data shows that the median time patients were waiting for an echocardiogram in England was 3.2 weeks. The median time for patients waiting for an echocardiogram at the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust was 2.2 weeks.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of heart valve disease cases were diagnosed at an advanced stage in (a) England and (b) West Sussex; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the role of primary care in achieving early detection.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Health Service is continuing to work to reduce waiting times for elective care as part of the Government's commitment to return to the NHS Constitution standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks.

The information requested on waiting times is not held in the format requested. Between January and December 2025, 73.3% of completed cardiothoracic surgery, for instance coronary artery bypass grafts, valve replacements, both aortic and mitral, lung cancer surgery, such as lobectomies, and aortic aneurysm repairs, referral to treatment pathways with a known clock start were completed within 18 weeks. This excludes 134 completed pathways with an unknown clock start date.

In 2024/25, NHS England provided funding for 13 pathway improvement projects to have a positive impact on reducing the time for referral to treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic left sided valvular disease.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the average time between diagnosis and treatment for heart valve disease in (a) England and (b) West Sussex in the last five years; and whether he plans to set maximum recommended timeframes on this matter.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Health Service is continuing to work to reduce waiting times for elective care as part of the Government's commitment to return to the NHS Constitution standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks.

The information requested on waiting times is not held in the format requested. Between January and December 2025, 73.3% of completed cardiothoracic surgery, for instance coronary artery bypass grafts, valve replacements, both aortic and mitral, lung cancer surgery, such as lobectomies, and aortic aneurysm repairs, referral to treatment pathways with a known clock start were completed within 18 weeks. This excludes 134 completed pathways with an unknown clock start date.

In 2024/25, NHS England provided funding for 13 pathway improvement projects to have a positive impact on reducing the time for referral to treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic left sided valvular disease.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the average time between first presentation with symptoms and confirmed diagnosis of heart valve disease in (a) England and (b) West Sussex in the last five years.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Health Service is continuing to work to reduce waiting times for elective care as part of the Government's commitment to return to the NHS Constitution standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks.

The information requested on waiting times is not held in the format requested. Between January and December 2025, 73.3% of completed cardiothoracic surgery, for instance coronary artery bypass grafts, valve replacements, both aortic and mitral, lung cancer surgery, such as lobectomies, and aortic aneurysm repairs, referral to treatment pathways with a known clock start were completed within 18 weeks. This excludes 134 completed pathways with an unknown clock start date.

In 2024/25, NHS England provided funding for 13 pathway improvement projects to have a positive impact on reducing the time for referral to treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic left sided valvular disease.

Found: Bristol Central) Barry Gardiner (Labour; Brent West) Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat; Chippenham) Alison Griffiths

Found: : Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths

Found: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths

Found: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths

Found: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths

Found: Redditch) John Cooper (Conservative; Dumfries and Galloway) Sarah Edwards (Labour; Tamworth) Alison Griffiths

Found: Members present: Sarah Edwards (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Alison Griffiths

Found: Members present: Sarah Edwards (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Alison Griffiths

Found: Members present: Sarah Edwards (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Alison Griffiths

Found: Members present: Sarah Edwards (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Alison Griffiths

Submit Evidence (by 21 May 2026)

The Environmental Audit Committee is examining the role of HM Treasury in shaping the UK’s response to climate change, nature loss and wider environmental sustainability. The Government’s economic policy objective includes a commitment to “accelerate the transition to a climate resilient, nature positive and net zero economy”.[1]