Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) establishing an NHS information campaign to raise awareness of prostate cancer referral routes for GPs and (b) issuing specific guidance to GPs on informing patients about the (i) NICE and (ii) PCRMP referral routes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government takes the management of the risk of prostate cancer seriously. Too many men are waiting too long for diagnosis and treatment, and this must change. We have asked the UK National Screening Committee to look at the evidence for screening for prostate cancer and we will await their findings before making an evidence-based decision.
A public awareness campaign at this stage would not be appropriate. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance relates to symptomatic patients, while the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme is guidance for general practitioners (GPs) on how to counsel non-symptomatic men about the risks associated with using the current best test for prostate cancer, because of its lack of accuracy. Before we direct asymptomatic individuals to GPs, we need a better test, and that is why the Government has invested £16 million into the TRANSFORM trial, which is looking for more effective ways of accurately detecting prostate cancer.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of further regulation of funds by (a) developers and (b) building owners for leaseholders.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government intends to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
This includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable.
Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement published on Thursday 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April to Question 4096, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Financial Conduct Authority’s response to the Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner's final report, published on 11 March 2025 stating that compensatory payment to the customers of Safe Hands Plans Limited will not be offered.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the honorable member to my response to UIN 40961.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 reduce waiting times for Pension Credit applications.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) published on 22nd July 2024 DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK. This shows that in 2023/24 DWP cleared 192,000 Pension Credit claims within the planned 50 working day timescale, equating to 77.7%. The next publication of the ARA will include claims processed in the financial year 2024 to 2025 and is due for publication in the summer.
The Department is working hard to meet its published timeliness standard of processing claims and reduce Pension Credit processing times, DWP deployed over 500 additional people. As a result, the Department is clearing more cases. The latest Pension Credit published statistics show DWP cleared 211,600 Pension Credit claims from 29 July 2024 to 9 February 2025, representing an 87% increase in clearance compared to 112,900 cleared Pension Credit claims for the comparable 2023/24 period (31 July 2023 to 11 February 2024). Subsequently, our latest published statistics up to February 2025 show outstanding volumes have reduced Pension Credit applications and awards: February 2025 - GOV.UK. Escalation arrangements are also in place for cases where individuals are identified as being vulnerable or in immediate hardship.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 merits of resolving NHS employment disputes early.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made this specific assessment. National Health Service employment disputes arising at a local level are for employers to manage and resolve locally. At a national level, the Government has prioritised improving industrial relations following the General Election in July 2024. The deal we agreed with resident doctors in England, negotiated within four weeks of being in Government, brought an end to their prolonged strikes and we will continue to work with resident doctors to improve their working lives and keep them in the NHS.
Our ambition remains to reset the relationship between the Government and all NHS staff, and we want to work collaboratively with trade unions to address concerns and foster a productive and positive relationship with the NHS workforce.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet the honourable Member for Dorking and Horley to discuss his proposed amendment to the Mental Health Bill.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would be happy to meet with the Hon. Member to discuss his proposed amendment to the Mental Health Bill. My Private Office will be in touch with him shortly to make the arrangements.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to reduce waiting times for Access to Work applications.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Demand for the Access to Work Scheme has been growing. In 2023-2024, 67,720 people were approved for Access to Work provision. This is around a 32% increase compared to the previous year. Alongside this, there is a significant delay in processing Access to Work applications. As of February 2025, there were 62,000 applications outstanding.
We are committed to reducing waiting times for Access to Work. We have streamlined delivery practices and have increased the number of staff processing claims. We will also consider further changes within the existing policy framework to reduce waiting times.
In March 2025, the department published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, which consults on the future of Access to Work. The backlog, coupled with significant increases in expenditure in recent years requires us to consider how resources should be best directed to ensure the service is sustainable.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 merits of implementing face-to-face Personal Independence Payment assessments.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since July 2024, there has been no change in policy regarding assessing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims remotely. We remain committed to enabling a multi-channel assessment approach, but as announced in Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, we will be carrying out more face-to-face assessments.
As part of the Functional Assessment Service (FAS) process, the feasibility of a paper-based assessment will always be considered in the first instance, for all cases. Where a paper-based review is not possible the claimant will be invited to an assessment.
Before an invitation to an assessment is sent, consideration will be given to claimants who need a specific assessment channel due to their health condition or circumstances. Other claimants who can undertake any assessment type will be allocated to the next available appointment; however, this can be changed if the claimant informs us that a reasonable adjustment is appropriate in their circumstances.
The department audits FAS suppliers to ensure that the correct PIP assessment channel type has been selected for the claimant. This provides assurance that claimants are routed to the most appropriate assessment type.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the accuracy of the education, health and care plan issuance process.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
An education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment ensures that a child or young person’s needs are assessed in a co-ordinated manner across education, health and social care services.
Under this assessment process the local authority must seek information and advice from a range of partners, including the child or young person and their parents, their school or college, where applicable, relevant health and social care partners, an educational psychologist and any other relevant professionals.
The EHC needs assessment must identify the child or young person’s special educational needs together with any relevant health or social care needs.
If an EHC needs assessment determines that it is necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person, the local authority must prepare an EHC plan.
Following the assessment, if the local authority decides not to issue an EHC plan, or if the child’s parent or, from the age of 16, the young person themselves disagrees with the description of needs, such as the educational provision set out in the plan or the educational institution named in it, they are able to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).
Latest data from the department shows that 5.1% of children and young people who underwent an EHC needs assessment during the 2023 calendar year were not issued a plan. In addition, 1,048 appeals were heard by the First-tier Tribunal in the 2023 calendar year regarding a decision on whether to issue a plan.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 independent pharmacy closures on (a) local GP capacity, (b) hospital capacity, (c) the healthcare needs of the local community and (d) local pharmacists in need of employment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The impact of any specific pharmacy closure will differ depending on the remaining access to health services in the area. We monitor access carefully and in general, access to pharmacies in England continues to be good, with 80% of people able to reach a pharmacy within a 20 minute-walk and twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived areas. We continue to support those in areas where there are fewer pharmacies through the Pharmacy Access Scheme. Additionally, in rural areas where there is no pharmacy, general practitioners are permitted to dispense medicines. Patients can also choose to access medicines and pharmacy services through any of the nearly 400 National Health Service online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver prescription medicines free of charge to patients and deliver other services remotely.
Local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served, and must keep these assessments under review in the interim. Integrated care boards must give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications to open new pharmacies in their areas.