Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
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 introducing restrictions on alcohol in line with existing restrictions on the marketing of less healthy food and drink.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Currently alcohol advertisements follow voluntary codes, regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA’s Advertising Codes contain specific rules about how alcohol can be advertised, as they recognise the social imperative of ensuring that alcohol advertising is responsible.
The Department of Health and Social Care will continue to work with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, as the lead Government department responsible for advertising, to consider if additional statutory restrictions on marketing and advertising are needed to reduce alcohol related harms.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
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 manage conflicts of interest associated with alcohol industry involvement in public health policy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department already has established arrangements in place to manage conflicts of interest for both ministers and civil servants, including where these relate to the alcohol industry.
Ministerial conduct is governed by the Ministerial Code, which sets out requirements on the declaration and handling of ministers’ interests. Civil servants are bound by the Civil Service Code, and by departmental policies that set out how actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest must be identified, declared, and managed.
The Department keeps its internal guidance under regular review to ensure it remains aligned with cross-Government standards and supports transparent and accountable decision-making.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to develop a new national alcohol strategy for England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for York Central on 23 January 2026 to Question 105860.
The Government is committed to shortening the amount of time spent in ill health and preventing premature deaths caused by alcohol. Action to prevent harms from alcohol feature in several current strategies and plans.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
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 expand the use of optometry-led diagnostic and treatment pathways.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.
This can already include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices, including minor and urgent eye care services and glaucoma referral refinement services.
NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
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 expand the use of community optometry services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.
This can already include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices, including minor and urgent eye care services and glaucoma referral refinement services.
NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
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 28 October 2025 to Question 83204, what step he is taking to secure a recurrent budget for abiraterone in high risk, non-metastatic prostate cancer, in the context of it being ranked top priority for routine commissioning at the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group Prioritisation Meeting in 2024-25.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are pleased to confirm that NHS England announced on 16 January that patients with non‑metastatic prostate cancer will now have access to abiraterone in combination with prednisolone, where it is deemed to be clinically beneficial. This development has been made possible by the health service buying and delivering treatments at better value.
This decision marks a major step forward in the Government’s ongoing work to improve cancer outcomes, ensure earlier access to effective treatments, and support men and their families across England.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures his Department is taking to improve the access people experiencing homelessness have to health and social care services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of ensuring that people experiencing homelessness have access to appropriate health and social care services. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline 214, titled Integrated health and social care for people experiencing homelessness, sets out clear expectations for services to be accessible and tailored to individual needs, and is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng214/chapter/Recommendations#intermediate-care
We are exploring how best to encourage integrated care boards to adopt and embed this guidance within their commissioning processes.
People experiencing homelessness are considered as an inclusion health group. Inclusion health groups are a key cohort within the locally identified priority ‘PLUS’ populations in NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 framework to reduce healthcare inequalities. Further information on NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 framework is available at the following link:
Integrated care boards are responsible for implementing this approach, aiming to reduce inequalities in health outcomes and improve equitable access to healthcare treatments and services.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Housing First interventions for people experiencing homelessness on (a) health outcomes and (b) costs to the NHS.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving health outcomes for people experiencing homelessness. We are working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to support those experiencing homelessness with multiple and complex needs.
The Government published an evaluation of the Housing First pilots, including their impact on health outcomes, a copy of which is attached. However, Housing First is not a Department of Health and Social Care policy, therefore the National Health Service has not undertaken analysis of its effectiveness and costs.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of implementing the recommendations of the report by the Association of Optometrists entitled Key Interventions to Transform Eye Care and Eye Health, published in October 2024, relating to a national-roll out of (a) Community Urgent Eye Service and Minor Eye Conditions Service, (b) the Integrated Glaucoma Pathway, and (c) the Integrated Cataract Pathway for pre and post assessments on costs to the NHS.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. This can include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices.
NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the (a) Minor Eye Conditions Service and (b) Community Urgent Eyecare Service on (i) patient outcomes and (ii) unnecessary referrals to secondary care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. This can include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices.
NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in the 10-Year Health Plan.