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 her Department has made of trends in the level of variation between Integrated Care Boards in the commissioning of long-term stoma care services and access to specialist stoma nursing for adults.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has significantly expanded access to free school meals (FSM), introducing new eligibility criteria applying to all children in households receiving Universal Credit, which took effect from the start of this school year. This means that half a million more children will be able to receive free and nutritious lunchtime meals each day, after accounting for the ending of transitional protections. This approach ensures support is targeted at children in the lowest-income households, including looked after children.
The department has considered the impact of ending transitional protections as part of its reforms to FSM. However, it is not possible to identify looked after children who were previously receiving FSM but are no longer eligible following the end of transitional protections.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many additional driving examiners the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency plans to recruit in the next 12 months; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of staffing levels at test centres serving West London.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In April 2025, the Government announced measures to increase practical car driving test capacity, including recruiting and training 450 driving examiners, expanding examiner training capacity, offering additional paid testing and deploying other suitably qualified Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) staff to conduct tests.
DVSA uses overtime and flexible working to provide additional appointments outside normal working hours, including in the evenings, at weekends and on public holidays, where there is demand and examiner availability. Its Additional Testing Allowance scheme, introduced in June 2025, had delivered more than 138,000 additional tests by the end of September 2026, including 30,873 in September 2026.
DVSA keeps recruitment requirements under review rather than setting a separate fixed recruitment target for each rolling 12-month period. The number of driving examiners is now at its highest level since November 2017. In the 12 months to September 2026, DVSA conducted more than 2.16 million car driving tests, the highest rolling 12-month total on record.
Demand continues to exceed available capacity at some test centres serving West London. Uxbridge currently has 11 full-time driving examiners, with nine at Yeading and eight at Southall. Three recruits are expected to join Yeading and one to join Southall, subject to successfully completing their training. DVSA is also recruiting for nearby centres, including Isleworth, Chertsey, High Wycombe and Slough, and can deploy examiners from other areas to centres with higher waiting times.
These measures, together with additional out-of-hours testing and changes to the booking service, are intended to increase the number of tests available, target capacity where demand is greatest and reduce waiting times.
DVSA has published detailed data on car driving test waiting times and availability by county, region and test centre, including for Uxbridge, to provide greater transparency. Further information is available on GOV.UK
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to expand out-of-hours, evening and weekend driving test slots.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In April 2025, the Government announced measures to increase practical car driving test capacity, including recruiting and training 450 driving examiners, expanding examiner training capacity, offering additional paid testing and deploying other suitably qualified Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) staff to conduct tests.
DVSA uses overtime and flexible working to provide additional appointments outside normal working hours, including in the evenings, at weekends and on public holidays, where there is demand and examiner availability. Its Additional Testing Allowance scheme, introduced in June 2025, had delivered more than 138,000 additional tests by the end of September 2026, including 30,873 in September 2026.
DVSA keeps recruitment requirements under review rather than setting a separate fixed recruitment target for each rolling 12-month period. The number of driving examiners is now at its highest level since November 2017. In the 12 months to September 2026, DVSA conducted more than 2.16 million car driving tests, the highest rolling 12-month total on record.
Demand continues to exceed available capacity at some test centres serving West London. Uxbridge currently has 11 full-time driving examiners, with nine at Yeading and eight at Southall. Three recruits are expected to join Yeading and one to join Southall, subject to successfully completing their training. DVSA is also recruiting for nearby centres, including Isleworth, Chertsey, High Wycombe and Slough, and can deploy examiners from other areas to centres with higher waiting times.
These measures, together with additional out-of-hours testing and changes to the booking service, are intended to increase the number of tests available, target capacity where demand is greatest and reduce waiting times.
DVSA has published detailed data on car driving test waiting times and availability by county, region and test centre, including for Uxbridge, to provide greater transparency. Further information is available on GOV.UK
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time was for a practical driving test in (a) Uxbridge, (b) London and (c) England in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In April 2025, the Government announced measures to increase practical car driving test capacity, including recruiting and training 450 driving examiners, expanding examiner training capacity, offering additional paid testing and deploying other suitably qualified Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) staff to conduct tests.
DVSA uses overtime and flexible working to provide additional appointments outside normal working hours, including in the evenings, at weekends and on public holidays, where there is demand and examiner availability. Its Additional Testing Allowance scheme, introduced in June 2025, had delivered more than 138,000 additional tests by the end of September 2026, including 30,873 in September 2026.
DVSA keeps recruitment requirements under review rather than setting a separate fixed recruitment target for each rolling 12-month period. The number of driving examiners is now at its highest level since November 2017. In the 12 months to September 2026, DVSA conducted more than 2.16 million car driving tests, the highest rolling 12-month total on record.
Demand continues to exceed available capacity at some test centres serving West London. Uxbridge currently has 11 full-time driving examiners, with nine at Yeading and eight at Southall. Three recruits are expected to join Yeading and one to join Southall, subject to successfully completing their training. DVSA is also recruiting for nearby centres, including Isleworth, Chertsey, High Wycombe and Slough, and can deploy examiners from other areas to centres with higher waiting times.
These measures, together with additional out-of-hours testing and changes to the booking service, are intended to increase the number of tests available, target capacity where demand is greatest and reduce waiting times.
DVSA has published detailed data on car driving test waiting times and availability by county, region and test centre, including for Uxbridge, to provide greater transparency. Further information is available on GOV.UK
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to increase driving test capacity and reduce candidate waiting times.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In April 2025, the Government announced measures to increase practical car driving test capacity, including recruiting and training 450 driving examiners, expanding examiner training capacity, offering additional paid testing and deploying other suitably qualified Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) staff to conduct tests.
DVSA uses overtime and flexible working to provide additional appointments outside normal working hours, including in the evenings, at weekends and on public holidays, where there is demand and examiner availability. Its Additional Testing Allowance scheme, introduced in June 2025, had delivered more than 138,000 additional tests by the end of September 2026, including 30,873 in September 2026.
DVSA keeps recruitment requirements under review rather than setting a separate fixed recruitment target for each rolling 12-month period. The number of driving examiners is now at its highest level since November 2017. In the 12 months to September 2026, DVSA conducted more than 2.16 million car driving tests, the highest rolling 12-month total on record.
Demand continues to exceed available capacity at some test centres serving West London. Uxbridge currently has 11 full-time driving examiners, with nine at Yeading and eight at Southall. Three recruits are expected to join Yeading and one to join Southall, subject to successfully completing their training. DVSA is also recruiting for nearby centres, including Isleworth, Chertsey, High Wycombe and Slough, and can deploy examiners from other areas to centres with higher waiting times.
These measures, together with additional out-of-hours testing and changes to the booking service, are intended to increase the number of tests available, target capacity where demand is greatest and reduce waiting times.
DVSA has published detailed data on car driving test waiting times and availability by county, region and test centre, including for Uxbridge, to provide greater transparency. Further information is available on GOV.UK
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, further to her Department's Impact Assessment on ICBs as strategic commissioners, published on 14 May 2026, what specific mechanisms will be used to provide enhanced oversight of Integrated Care Board specialised commissioning to monitor compliance with national standards and service specifications.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I have nothing to add at this time to the answer that I gave the Hon. Member on 8 September to Question 25186, but when there are further details to provide, I will ensure that he and other Hon. Members are updated in the usual way.
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 8 September 2026 to question 25186, when the regulations determining which specialised services will be commissioned by the Secretary of State and which by Integrated Care Boards will be published; and whether these regulations will be subject to public consultation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I have nothing to add at this time to the answer that I gave the Hon. Member on 8 September to Question 25186, but when there are further details to provide, I will ensure that he and other Hon. Members are updated in the usual way.
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 the future responsibilities and functions of the seven Offices for Pan-ICB Commissioning will be in supporting Integrated Care Boards to commission specialised services; and when detailed guidance on this will be published.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I have nothing to add at this time to the answer that I gave the Hon. Member on 8 September to Question 25186, but when there are further details to provide, I will ensure that he and other Hon. Members are updated in the usual way.
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 she has to improve the collection and publication of patient outcomes data for specialised services, including through the use of patient-reported outcome measures.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I have nothing to add at this time to the answer that I gave the Hon. Member on 8 September to Question 25186, but when there are further details to provide, I will ensure that he and other Hon. Members are updated in the usual way.
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 her planned time frame is for giving NHS primary care dentists access to the single patient record.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Health Bill before Parliament will provide the legislative framework for the Single Patient Record. The programme is developing the technical and delivery approach, working with healthcare professionals, patients, the public, National Health Service providers, and suppliers. Initial work is focused on a Core Record and early priority areas, including maternity and frailty, as part of a phased approach to implementation.
The detailed scope and sequencing, including access for primary care dentistry, are still being developed, and no specific date has yet been set. The programme will engage dental professionals and relevant system suppliers as requirements and implementation plans are confirmed.