Oral Answers to Questions

Ashley Dalton Excerpts

Tuesday 24th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab)]

2. What steps his Department is taking to tackle inequalities in access to radiotherapy treatment services for cancer patients.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)]

The national cancer plan, which I launched about two weeks ago, will end the postcode lottery. Wherever people live, they will receive high-quality cancer treatment. We have already invested £70 million in 28 new cutting-edge radiotherapy machines, reducing waiting times and providing 15% more treatments. This allows 27,500 more patients to be treated every year, which means more equal access and better outcomes for cancer patients across England.

[Grahame Morris]

I applaud the ambitions in the cancer plan, but my question was about improving access to advanced therapeutic radiotherapy. Almost half the cancer centres in more urban areas in England have experienced a staff recruitment freeze, and the figure rises to 60% in more rural and deprived areas such as mine in east Durham. What steps is the Minister taking to end such recruitment freezes and ensure that cancer patients, irrespective of where they live, have access to the lifesaving care that they require?

[Ashley Dalton]

I commend my hon. Friend’s continued advocacy for radiotherapy. I have met the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) and the other members of the all-party parliamentary group on radiotherapy to discuss how the Government will improve outcomes for cancer patients. While trusts retain responsibility for recruitment, we are continuing to increase our cancer workforce: between November 2024 and 2025, it grew by more than 4%. In the cancer plan, we have committed to ensuring that we have the staff where and when we need them, and we are rebalancing cancer training places targeted at trusts in rural and coastal areas—such as east Durham—to improve patient outcomes.

[Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)]

I welcome what the Minister has just said, but we start a long way behind. In OECD countries, the average proportion of people with cancer with access to radiotherapy is 53%. In England the proportion is 36%, and in Lancashire and South Cumbria it is the worst in the country, at just 29%. There is no doubt in our communities in South Cumbria that that is because patients must take three-hour round trips every day to obtain treatment in Preston. Will the Minister support our new plans to bring a satellite radiotherapy unit to Kendal, so that people in our communities can experience shorter journeys and longer lives?

[Ashley Dalton]

The hon. Gentleman and I share part of that integrated care board area. In the cancer plan, we committed to ensuring that coastal and rural areas receive the services that they need. We are investing more in radiotherapy machines, and we are working with ICBs to ensure that they are providing the services that their communities need, and that we are supporting the recruitment of the cancer workforce who will be able to go into those rural areas.

[Douglas McAllister (West Dunbartonshire) (Lab)]

4. What steps his Department is taking to support the diagnosis of cancer patients.

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[Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)]

10. What steps his Department is taking to help prevent ill health.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)]

The 10-year health plan announced ambitious measures to make the healthy choice the easy choice. They include tackling the obesity epidemic through mandatory healthy food sales reporting, business targets to increase the healthiness of products sold and restrictions on junk food advertising.

[Naz Shah]

In Bradford West, more than one in five children begins primary school overweight or obese. By the time they leave primary school, that figure rises to one in three children. Will the Minister set out how this Government’s world-leading new ban on junk food advertising will help parents to give every child the best and healthiest start in life?

[Ashley Dalton]

I thank my hon. Friend for outlining the very real crisis of childhood obesity. It is a problem that robs children of the best possible start in life and sets them up for a whole lifetime of health problems. It is why this Government have come down hard and delivered our commitment to restrict advertisements for junk food on TV and online. That action will remove around 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets every single year.

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

As the House will know, pharmacies are an important part of the system to prevent ill health. Last week, I raised the challenges that pharmacies in my constituency of South West Hertfordshire and across the country are facing due to rising costs and a lack of funding support. I wrote to the Minister for Care last April and have followed up several times since. How can I arrange a meeting with him to discuss these concerns further?

[Ashley Dalton]

The Minister responsible runs a regular ministerial surgery and would be more than happy to meet the hon. Member.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

I declare an interest as a consultant paediatrician in the NHS. Prevention of ill health is crucial. It is particularly important in children, perhaps most especially when one is trying to prevent ill health in children caused by doctors. I have expressed concerns previously about the puberty blockers trial, as have many in both Houses. The trial has now been paused due to a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency letter. When were Ministers first aware of that letter and when were they first aware of the concerns described within it?

[Ashley Dalton]

The regulators are doing their job. This is a perfectly ordinary occurrence in certain research trials. As the hon. Member has made the House aware—I am sure it was already aware—the trial has been paused. We will leave the regulators and the clinicians to do their jobs to ensure that all the trials, including this one, are done in an appropriate fashion.

[Dr Johnson]

That is a very interesting answer. Before Christmas, the Secretary of State had confidence in an allegedly vigorous and rigorous process. Fertility preservation techniques have not deteriorated over the last few months. The ages at which children reach the Tanner stages of puberty have not changed over the last few months, but the MHRA’s view has. Why? Given that this is such a scrutinised trial, does that not call into question the MHRA’s wider competence and due diligence? Will the Minister publish the MHRA’s letter from November referred to in the more recent correspondence published on Friday?

[Ashley Dalton]

What the hon. Member highlights is part of this rigorous process. That is what happens. Why the MHRA has changed its view is a question for the MHRA, but it is up to the MHRA to raise these issues through the process. That is why we run such trials. [Interruption.] It is an independent regulator.

[Calum Miller (Bicester and Woodstock) (LD)]

11. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of health-related funding for specialist sexual violence support services.

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[Dr Beccy Cooper (Worthing West) (Lab)]

12. What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his polices of recent trends in national wellbeing indicators.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)]

We are revolutionising our country’s health and wellbeing through our 10-year health plan, which will deliver the three major shifts, boost life expectancy and improve mental health for everyone, everywhere. We are shifting from prioritising the tackling of sickness to prevention, including through action in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to create a smoke-free generation.

[Dr Cooper]

It is great to hear that wellbeing is being built in through the shift to prevention in our national health strategy. Does the Minister agree that we should now champion health in all policies, starting with the mandatory use of the wellbeing indicators available for the Treasury Green Book, which are currently used sporadically at best?

[Ashley Dalton]

My hon. Friend will know that that is a question for Treasury colleagues. However, we are a mission-led Government committed to healthy outcomes across Government, not just in the DHSC.

[Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) (Con)]

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has compared GPs’ salaries to that of the Prime Minister. I can understand why he is taking a keen interest in how much a Prime Minister is paid, but can the Government assure the House that the GP contract will include an increase in GP funding over and above inflationary pressures? [Interruption.] They are on the frontline of ensuring that national wellbeing indicators in this country improve.

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Member just about scraped something together.

[Ashley Dalton]

I am not entirely sure what any of that has to do with wellbeing indicators—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Let me do my job and I will let the Minister do hers. Try to answer the question—I did add a caveat to it.

[Ashley Dalton]

Sorry, Mr Speaker; I did not hear you. I can confirm that a written ministerial statement will be tabled at 4 pm in which the contract for 2026-27 will be laid out.

[Dr Al Pinkerton (Surrey Heath) (LD)]

13. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the role of sport in health outcomes for young people with Down’s syndrome.

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[Alex Ballinger (Halesowen) (Lab)]

T3. I welcome the changes set out in the gambling White Paper about the responsibilities of the Department in relation to the treatment and prevention of gambling harms. As part of the new responsibilities, will the Secretary of State commit to undertake a review of the impact of gambling advertising, marketing and sponsorship on public health, including on the health and wellbeing of children and young people?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)]

We acknowledge the important issue of the potential negative impact that gambling advertising may have on children and young people’s health. My officials continue to work closely with officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and I will be discussing the issue with the Minister for Gambling, who is responsible for gambling advertising policy. We continue to keep the public health evidence under review, and to consider suitable action to protect individuals and communities from gambling harms.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

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[Luke Taylor (Sutton and Cheam) (LD)]

T10. Children’s cancer services are due to move from the Royal Marsden to the Evelina hospital next year. Concerns have been raised with me about the provision of a teaching space for children undergoing cancer treatment and its provision in the new plans. Will the Minister meet with me to discuss that transition and confirm that the Department of Health and Social Care is working with the Department for Education to ensure that a high-quality hospital school is provided at both sites during the transition?

[Ashley Dalton]

As the hon. Gentleman is probably aware, this Government’s cancer plan, which I launched just over a week ago, is the first ever cancer plan to have a section on children and young people with cancer and to commit to supporting children holistically throughout their cancer journey. I am more than happy to have a conversation with him about the issues that he has raised.

[Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)]

T7. A resident in my constituency was initially told to take a round trip of almost 200 miles to receive hospital treatment in Glasgow because he was registered with his nearest GP, which happened to be in Scotland. Can the Minister tell the House what progress is being made in reviewing and updating cross-border healthcare guidance?