Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with cancer charities on supporting people with hair loss accessing hair systems.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and the National Health Service in England acknowledge that some cancer patients may face difficulties with hair loss during treatment.
Decisions about the funding and provision of health services are the responsibility of local integrated care boards. NHS Supply Chain has engaged extensively on a national level to thoroughly assess the provision and supply of wigs and related accessories. Collaboration between NHS Supply Chain with industry groups is ongoing to facilitate access to the wigs framework, thereby offering NHS providers a broader selection of products. A key priority throughout this process has been ensuring suitability for individual wearers.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will outline a timeline he expects there to be standard treatment for recurrent glioblastoma available in the UK.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that there are currently limited treatment options available for people who have been diagnosed with cancerous brain tumours, such as glioblastoma, and recognises the significant impact that this rare cancer can have on patients, carers, and their families.
In October 2025, a new nationwide trial was launched exploring whether surgery can improve the quality of life for patients when glioblastoma comes back after treatment commenced, backed by £1.98 million of National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding.
The Government published the National Cancer Plan for England on 4 February 2026, and it was the first ever cancer plan to include a chapter on rare and less common cancers. The plan sets out that we will aim to reduce the number of cancers diagnosed in emergency settings.
To accelerate breakthroughs, the Government will explore innovative procurement methods, such as advance market commitments, to stimulate the development of new diagnostic tests, targeted therapies and more effective treatments for rare cancers, such as brain cancers.
As a result of the significant new commitments to brain tumour research being announced, committed spend on brain tumour research from NIHR programmes alone is now in excess of £40 million since 2018. This is in addition to NIHR investments in infrastructure, which are estimated to be £44.5 million over the period 2018/19 to 2024/25, and UK Research and Innovation commitments of £46.8 million to brain tumour research over the six years from 2018/19 to 2023/24.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve accessibility to Mobility Assessment Centres in (a) Nottinghamshire and (b) the East Midlands.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport is working closely with the Mobility Centres network (England) and DVLA to provide accessible and timely access to driving and mobility assessments. The Department recently provided additional funding to Mobility Centres, including to Centres across the Midlands, to facilitate the provision of assessments. It also provides targeted funding to support the upgrading of vehicle fleets, and to enhance the range of vehicle adaptations available. Better equipped and funded Centres will continue to improve accessibility for disabled and older people who live in the Midlands.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of staffing levels in cancer care on waiting times for patients to receive treatment.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The development of the National Cancer Plan highlighted areas where there are higher vacancy rates in some areas of the country. The Department and NHS England will work with the royal colleges to encourage resident doctors and internal medicine trainees to specialise in clinical and medical oncology to address these pressures. NHS England will also use training more directly as a lever to support improvements in operational performance, prioritising training places in trusts, often those in rural or coastal areas, where vacancy rates are higher and performance is lower.
Through these interventions, patients will see improvements now, and these training places will secure the workforce for the future. The Department has committed to the National Health Service meeting all cancer waiting time standards by the end of this Parliament, ending a decade of missed targets.
The NHS is determined to cut cancer waiting lists and treatment times. That is why the Department is investing £70 million in new radiotherapy machines in the NHS and opening 170 community diagnostic centres to speed up diagnosis. Furthermore, the NHS will continue to look at opportunities to use artificial intelligence, for example by helping oncologists plan radiotherapy more quickly and accurately. Improved contouring in radiotherapy practice will mean better outcomes and reduced risk of healthy tissue damage, meaning fewer complications for patients and less need for follow up treatment.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support people with potential surges in energy costs.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that families and businesses across the country will see the recent global events and once again be concerned about the impact on their energy bills. We continue to monitor the situation closely and we are looking at what further support may be needed.
At the Autumn Budget we committed to taking money off energy bills and we have. The energy price cap will provide protection for households until the start of July, regardless of developments in the Middle East. Ofgem has confirmed that the price cap will fall by 7% or £117 annually for the period covering April to June. The price cap for that period is fixed and will not change.
In addition to this, around 6 million families are benefitting from the expansion of the £150 Warm Home Discount, and through the Warm Homes Plan the Government is delivering the biggest investment in home upgrades in British history.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to ensure people with hearing loss do not face discrimination in society.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Equality Act 2010 makes it clear that businesses and public bodies that provide goods and services to the public must not unlawfully discriminate against disabled people, including those who are deaf or have hearing impairments. The Act places an anticipatory duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises, buildings and services. The Act is clear that the failure by a service provider to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled person could amount to disability discrimination.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of a lack of naval assets in the Mediterranean on the attack on RAF Akrotiri.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) keeps its defensive posture in the region under constant review and decisions are made based on operational factors. The deployment of HMS Dragon is in addition to the considerable amount of capability positioned into RAF Akrotiri since January, including hundreds of armed forces personnel, radar, anti-air defence missiles and F35s to defend our bases, people and interests.
The MOD remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of security to safeguard our national defence capabilities.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 help reduce waiting times for cancer treatment in the East Midlands.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to ensuring that all cancer patients, including those in the East Midlands, have timely access to high-quality treatment services.
The Department has invested £70 million into new state of the art radiotherapy treatment machines to replace older, less efficient machines. These new machines are currently being rolled out to trusts and have started treating patients throughout the country. These newer, more powerful machines will reduce treatment times, boost productivity, and allow more patients to be seen.
The recently published National Cancer Plan sets a clear ambition to meet all cancer waiting time standards by the end of this Parliament, ensuring that patients have access to faster diagnosis and treatment. This will be achieved through a modernised, more productive cancer pathway, expansion of diagnostic capacity, harnessing innovative technology, and giving the most challenged trusts intensive support to deliver the improvements patients rightly expect.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 help reduce increases in the number of kidney disease cases.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS England Renal Service Transformation Programme has been established to support the transformation of renal services across England to deliver better services and outcomes in relation to kidney disease. The programme recognises the importance of prevention and optimising screening, detection, and treatment. Regional renal clinical networks, with eight commissioned networks across England, have established workstreams, working with providers to develop transformation programmes to reduce the number of patients progressing through the stages of chronic kidney disease, supporting improved patient outcomes.
NHS England has also established a renal Clinical Reference Group to help drive improvements in diagnosis and treatment for people living with kidney disease.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 help tackle kidney disease.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS England Renal Service Transformation Programme has been established to support the transformation of renal services across England to deliver better services and outcomes in relation to kidney disease. The programme recognises the importance of prevention and optimising screening, detection, and treatment. Regional renal clinical networks, with eight commissioned networks across England, have established workstreams, working with providers to develop transformation programmes to reduce the number of patients progressing through the stages of chronic kidney disease, supporting improved patient outcomes.
NHS England has also established a renal Clinical Reference Group to help drive improvements in diagnosis and treatment for people living with kidney disease.