Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 (a) swiftly reopen referrals to the Adult ADHD Service at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust once they close on 1 December 2025, and (b) ensure that Adult ADHD Services in Berkshire have sufficient resources to remain open.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed that the adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) service is not closing. From 1 December 2025, the trust will temporarily stop accepting new referrals. The trust has taken this short-term measure to protect patient safety and ensure the service can continue providing safe and effective care. Referrals will reopen once the immediate pressures are resolved and the redesign work is complete. This difficult decision was made locally following discussion with the integrated care boards (ICBs), the Frimley ICB and the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB.
The pause has been introduced because demand for ADHD assessments and ongoing support has risen significantly in recent years, both locally and nationally, far beyond the level the service was originally resourced to deliver. This has led to long waits and a substantial number of overdue annual ADHD reviews. Temporarily pausing new referrals will allow Berkshire Healthcare to prioritise the provision of a safe service for existing patients, complete essential reviews, and support a sustainable redesign of the service.
The trust will continue to provide care for people already receiving treatment. Those already referred for assessment or medication will remain on the waiting list, and the transition of care from the children’s ADHD service to adult ADHD services will continue. General practitioners (GPs) continue to be able to refer to Right to Choose providers for assessment and diagnosis of ADHD for adults. Berkshire Healthcare is committed to working closely with system partners to ensure the adult ADHD service is able to deliver sustainable, high-quality care and to enable the reopening of referrals as soon as it is clinically appropriate.
The ICB is leading an adult ADHD service transformation programme which has been shaped by experts by experience, clinicians, and managers from the Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. It is expected that the implementation of the new service model will start in 2026/27. An increase in resources has already been agreed to support GPs in participating in shared care, and work is underway to prioritise investment in the new service model for 2026/27.
The Government has recognised that, nationally in England, demand for assessments for ADHD has grown significantly in recent years and that people are experiencing severe delays accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan for England will make the National Health Service fit for the future, recognising the need for early intervention and support.
It is the responsibility of ICBs in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to ADHD assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
NHS England established an ADHD taskforce which brought together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing timely and equitable access to services and support. We are pleased that the taskforce's final report was published in November, and we are carefully considering its recommendations.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many people in the UK have been prosecuted for committing cyber security attacks on individuals and businesses.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
This Government is taking significant action to counter the cyber threat posed to UK nationals and businesses.
The Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) response to cybercrime is delivered at a local, national and international level, with increasing levels of expertise targeted at the most complex cases.
Cybercrime is complex – often involving transnational elements and led by highly skilled organised crime groups. The CPS takes this form of offending extremely seriously and will prosecute cases referred to them by law enforcement wherever its legal test is met.
The CPS handles both cyber enabled and cyber dependent crime. Most cyber dependent crime is prosecuted under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. While the CPS does not hold data showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation, I can confirm that between April 2020 and March 2025, 992 offences under the Act reached a first hearing in the magistrates’ court. This is set out by year below. Please note that this data relates to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants.
Financial Year | Offences |
2020-2021 | 185 |
2021-2022 | 232 |
2022-2023 | 179 |
2023-2024 | 199 |
2024-2025 | 197 |
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help ensure universal mobile data coverage for for residents in Finchampstead, Wokingham.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In their Connected Nations Spring update, published 8 May 2025, Ofcom reports that 4G geographic coverage is already available across 99% of the Wokingham constituency from all four mobile operators. 5G (combined standalone and non-standalone 5G) is available outside 91% of premises in the constituency from at least one mobile operator, but this falls to 10% from all four operators.
Our ambition is for all populated areas, including the Wokingham constituency, to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. While mobile network operator's rollout of 5G is a commercial decision, we continue to work closely with network operators to remove barriers to network deployment to achieve our ambition, to support investment into mobile networks and, drive competition in the market.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure universal mobile data coverage for passengers on the railway network.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. In the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy (June 2025), the Government committed to work with Ofcom and other regulators to assess the telecommunications needs of the transport sector by December 2026. My officials are undertaking this assessment alongside the Department for Transport and the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.
The Department for Transport also recently secured funding to introduce low-earth-orbit satellite connectivity on all mainline trains, which will significantly improve both the availability and internet data connection speeds for Wi-Fi connected passengers.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle road freight crime.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government understands the significant and damaging impact freight crime has on businesses and drivers and we are aware of worrying increases in its frequency.
There are strong links between freight crime and serious, organised crime, which is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK and estimated to cost the economy at least £47 billion annually.
This Government is committed to tackling serious and organised crime in all its forms, and we are continuing to work closely with Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, which has multiple thematic desks, including a vehicle crime intelligence desk which covers freight crime.
We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies and invested stakeholders to change the unacceptable perception that freight crime is low risk and high reward and find solutions which will tackle it. I also recently met with Rachel Taylor MP, and Lilian Greenwood, Minister for the Future of Roads at the Department for Transport (DfT) to discuss this very matter.
The DfT also hosts the Freight Council; this group regularly discusses crime against freight companies, and the Home Office works closely with DfT to engage with the sector on this issue through the Freight Council.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that the National Genomic Test Directory for Cancer is expanded to include known biomarkers for rare forms of cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Genomic Test Directory includes tests for over 7,000 rare diseases and over 200 cancer clinical indications, and includes both whole genome sequencing (WGS) and non-WGS testing. It is updated annually, following a robust and evidence-based process, with a fast-track scheme in place to make in-year changes.
The NHS Genomic Medicine Service has implemented next generation sequencing pan-cancer panels for solid tumours and haematological malignancies, including for rare cancers, as well as WGS for cancer patients. This has enabled testing for a larger number of genetic variations, the identification of known biomarkers to target treatment, and improved eligibility for clinical trials.
In April 2025, NHS England and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a genomic testing pathway to support the rapid, safe adoption of innovation in genomics, including, for example, new testing for known biomarkers, into the National Health Service. Further information on the NICE genomic testing pathway is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-england-nice-genomic-testing-pathway/
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 improve turnaround times for genomic and biomarker testing of suspected cancers in (a) Berkshire and (b) the UK.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is delivered by a network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs), with the South-East GLH serving Berkshire. Genomic testing is one element of the cancer pathway, with other dependencies on overall turnaround times. NHS England captures Patient Level Contract Monitoring data across the GLHs, and performance data is published quarterly on the NHS England website, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/genomic-testing-activity/
NHS England has developed a Cancer Genomic Improvement Programme to support the equitable delivery of services for cancer patients. The Cancer Genomic Improvement Programme engages representatives from across the entire sample pathway. The programme also includes establishing Cellular Pathology Genomic Centres to streamline diagnostic sample pathways and support the timely return of genomic test results.
NHS England is not responsible for NHS turnaround times in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 increase the number of patients with (a) suspected and (b) confirmed rare cancers who have access to treatments through clinical trials of medications currently approved for other indications.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with rare cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials, including trials where medicines are repurposed, as well as innovative, lifesaving treatments.
The Department is working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future, including for rare cancers. The Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.
The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients across the country, including patients with rare cancers. It will ensure that more patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and to clinical trials.
The Government also supports the Rare Cancers Bill and its ambitions to incentivise clinical trials and access to innovative treatments for rare cancers.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 improve the (a) recognition of the signs and symptoms of rare cancers by General Practitioners and (b) rate of referral to specialist diagnostic testing for patients who present with signs and symptoms of rare cancers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to supporting the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including rare and less common cancers, earlier and to treat them faster.
The Department is taking steps to improve public awareness of cancer signs and symptoms, including rare and less common cancers, through supporting the NHS in streamlining referral routes, and increasing the availability of diagnostic capacity through the roll-out of more community diagnostic centres. The Department is also committed to ensuring that general practitioners have the right training and systems to identify cancer, including rare and less common cancers. The use of specific clinical decision support tools is agreed at a local level.
Furthermore, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms which do not clearly align to a tumour type. The Department will continue to look at opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence to transform diagnostic performance and ultimately bring down waiting times, including for cancer.
The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the NHS will improve outcomes for all cancer patients, including for rare and less common cancers. The plan will aim to speed up diagnosis and treatment and will ensure that all patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with (a) representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, (b) the NHS, (c) Cabinet colleagues and (d) other stakeholders on indication-specific pricing of medications used in the treatment of more than one form of cancer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not held any meetings specifically on the topic of indication-specific pricing of medications used in the treatment of more than one form of cancer.