Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of police powers to seize (a) motorcycles and (b) other vehicles being used antisocially.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
New powers in the Crime and Policing Act 2026 remove the requirement for police to issue a warning before seizing motorcycles and other vehicles used antisocially. In May 2025, the Government launched a consultation on proposals to allow the police to more quickly dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially. The Government response to the consultation was published on 9 June. It sets out our intention to reduce and align timelines to dispose of seized vehicles from up to three months to seven days. Changes will be made when legislative time allows.
We are taking steps to ensure local police forces can tackle anti-social behaviour in local communities. The Government has put more than 3,000 extra officers into neighbourhood roles in less than a year. They are dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in their local communities and towns through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to increase police powers to address antisocial off-road biking.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
New powers in the Crime and Policing Act 2026 remove the requirement for police to issue a warning before seizing motorcycles and other vehicles used antisocially. In May 2025, the Government launched a consultation on proposals to allow the police to more quickly dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially. The Government response to the consultation was published on 9 June. It sets out our intention to reduce and align timelines to dispose of seized vehicles from up to three months to seven days. Changes will be made when legislative time allows.
We are taking steps to ensure local police forces can tackle anti-social behaviour in local communities. The Government has put more than 3,000 extra officers into neighbourhood roles in less than a year. They are dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in their local communities and towns through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle antisocial biking in towns.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
New powers in the Crime and Policing Act 2026 remove the requirement for police to issue a warning before seizing motorcycles and other vehicles used antisocially. In May 2025, the Government launched a consultation on proposals to allow the police to more quickly dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially. The Government response to the consultation was published on 9 June. It sets out our intention to reduce and align timelines to dispose of seized vehicles from up to three months to seven days. Changes will be made when legislative time allows.
We are taking steps to ensure local police forces can tackle anti-social behaviour in local communities. The Government has put more than 3,000 extra officers into neighbourhood roles in less than a year. They are dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in their local communities and towns through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of judicial powers in respect of motorcycle theft.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through the Crime and Policing Act we have also introduced legislation to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles. This will empower the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying them, supporting the changes manufacturers continue to make to prevent theft. The maximum penalty for these offences will be five years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.
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 ensure people in Ashfield constituency can access (a) treatment and (b) therapy for arthritis in a timely manner.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which provides rheumatology services for those living in the Ashfield constituency, currently reports an average wait of approximately four weeks for a first rheumatology appointment. The trust is meeting the National Health Service constitutional standard, with 100% of patients seen within 18 weeks and no patients waiting over 52 weeks. Nationally, the average wait to see a rheumatologist is approximately 10 weeks, meaning patients in Ashfield are seen significantly sooner than the national average.
While no Ashfield constituency‑specific programme is separately published, these improvements reflect work to enhance clinic capacity, referral pathways, and operational efficiency. The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board also participates in NHS England’s Referral to Treatment improvement framework, using monthly performance data to support continued progress.
Specialist care is provided through rheumatology services at Kings Mill Hospital, offering diagnosis, medication management, joint injections, and monitoring for inflammatory and degenerative arthritis. Community‑based services, including physiotherapy, podiatry, and dietetics, are available locally and monitored through the Community Health Services Monthly Situation Report. Additional support is available through national resources such as NHS My Planned Care and Arthritis Action, which provide guidance on pain management, exercise, and self‑management.
Nationally, we are supporting better care for patients with arthritis through the Getting It Right First Time Programme (GIRFT) for Rheumatology. The GIRFT rheumatology programme is supporting the NHS to deliver care more equitably throughout England and closer to patients’ homes and improve services nationally.
Additionally, as part of the GIRFT Musculoskeletal (MSK) Community Delivery Programme, GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for patients with arthritis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. Patients with MSK conditions, such as arthritis, will also soon be able to bypass their general practitioners and directly access community services, including physiotherapy, pain management, and orthopaedics, in the NHS App.
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 improve early diagnosis for prostate cancer.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Government has committed to meeting the cancer waiting time standards in England by the end of this Parliament, by modernising the whole cancer pathway so that patients are diagnosed and treated more quickly.
Through the National Cancer Plan for England, patients across England will benefit from faster and more convenient tests, checks, and scans. By expanding diagnostic capacity, using real‑time data to spot delays, and rolling out technologies like robotic surgery, genomic testing, and faster, less invasive diagnostics, this will benefit all patients, including prostate cancer patients.
Through the Cancer Programme Innovation Open Call, the Department is piloting the use of artificial intelligence to assist radiologists using magnetic resonance imaging to detect clinically significant prostate cancer.
On 2 June 2026, the Government announced up to £20 million of investment to improve prostate cancer research and treatment, including up to £18 million to expand the TRANSFORM trial so that all eligible Black men will be invited to take part in stage 2. The TRANSFORM trial, which is co-funded by Prostate Cancer UK and the National Institute of Health and Care Research, the Department’s research arm, is testing the best ways to detect prostate cancer earlier and save more lives, while avoiding unnecessary treatment and the associated harms.
The Government has accepted the recommendation of the UK National Screening Committee to introduce England’s first targeted prostate cancer screening programme. This decision has been taken after considering the evidence presented by both the UK National Screening Committee and patient advocate groups. The programme is expected to begin roll-out in 2027 and will use an IT call and recall system that will systematically invite eligible men for tests.
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 reduce delays in cancer treatment for patients in Ashfield.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Cancer patients are waiting too long for a diagnosis and treatment. We are determined to change that.
The National Cancer Plan, published in February 2026, sets a clear ambition to meet all cancer waiting time standards, including in the Ashfield constituency, by the end of this Parliament, ensuring patients get faster diagnosis and treatment. We will achieve this through a modernised, more productive cancer pathway, expanding diagnostic capacity, harnessing 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 his Department is taking to improve the level of support offered to people living with arthritis in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which provides rheumatology services for those living in the Ashfield constituency, currently reports an average wait of approximately four weeks for a first rheumatology appointment. The trust is meeting the National Health Service constitutional standard, with 100% of patients seen within 18 weeks and no patients waiting over 52 weeks. Nationally, the average wait to see a rheumatologist is approximately 10 weeks, meaning patients in Ashfield are seen significantly sooner than the national average.
While no Ashfield constituency‑specific programme is separately published, these improvements reflect work to enhance clinic capacity, referral pathways, and operational efficiency. The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board also participates in NHS England’s Referral to Treatment improvement framework, using monthly performance data to support continued progress.
Specialist care is provided through rheumatology services at Kings Mill Hospital, offering diagnosis, medication management, joint injections, and monitoring for inflammatory and degenerative arthritis. Community‑based services, including physiotherapy, podiatry, and dietetics, are available locally and monitored through the Community Health Services Monthly Situation Report. Additional support is available through national resources such as NHS My Planned Care and Arthritis Action, which provide guidance on pain management, exercise, and self‑management.
Nationally, we are supporting better care for patients with arthritis through the Getting It Right First Time Programme (GIRFT) for Rheumatology. The GIRFT rheumatology programme is supporting the NHS to deliver care more equitably throughout England and closer to patients’ homes and improve services nationally.
Additionally, as part of the GIRFT Musculoskeletal (MSK) Community Delivery Programme, GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for patients with arthritis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. Patients with MSK conditions, such as arthritis, will also soon be able to bypass their general practitioners and directly access community services, including physiotherapy, pain management, and orthopaedics, in the NHS App.
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 improve diagnosis times for arthritis in (a) Ashfield constituency and (b) nationwide.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which provides rheumatology services for those living in the Ashfield constituency, currently reports an average wait of approximately four weeks for a first rheumatology appointment. The trust is meeting the National Health Service constitutional standard, with 100% of patients seen within 18 weeks and no patients waiting over 52 weeks. Nationally, the average wait to see a rheumatologist is approximately 10 weeks, meaning patients in Ashfield are seen significantly sooner than the national average.
While no Ashfield constituency‑specific programme is separately published, these improvements reflect work to enhance clinic capacity, referral pathways, and operational efficiency. The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board also participates in NHS England’s Referral to Treatment improvement framework, using monthly performance data to support continued progress.
Specialist care is provided through rheumatology services at Kings Mill Hospital, offering diagnosis, medication management, joint injections, and monitoring for inflammatory and degenerative arthritis. Community‑based services, including physiotherapy, podiatry, and dietetics, are available locally and monitored through the Community Health Services Monthly Situation Report. Additional support is available through national resources such as NHS My Planned Care and Arthritis Action, which provide guidance on pain management, exercise, and self‑management.
Nationally, we are supporting better care for patients with arthritis through the Getting It Right First Time Programme (GIRFT) for Rheumatology. The GIRFT rheumatology programme is supporting the NHS to deliver care more equitably throughout England and closer to patients’ homes and improve services nationally.
Additionally, as part of the GIRFT Musculoskeletal (MSK) Community Delivery Programme, GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for patients with arthritis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. Patients with MSK conditions, such as arthritis, will also soon be able to bypass their general practitioners and directly access community services, including physiotherapy, pain management, and orthopaedics, in the NHS App.
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 increase bowel cancer screening for young adults.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Government is guided by the independent scientific advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). It is only where the offer to screen provides more good than harm that a screening programme is recommended.
The UK NSC considers all of the latest scientific evidence when reviewing the case for screening for different conditions. As the policy is based on the benefits and harms to whole populations, the screening decisions are based on the effect on the whole population, rather than individual circumstances. Where there is a lack of evidence, the committee cannot be confident that screening would benefit the population as a whole. In these circumstances, the proportionate approach is to screen within the range that has evidence to support the policy.
The National Health Service bowel screening programme in England was recently extended from 60 to 74 years old to 50 to 74 years old. This aligns with the evidence of where the screening programme can do the most good, with the least harm caused. Harm can include increased anxiety, misdiagnosis, over diagnosis, where unnecessary and invasive follow up tests are offered, or unnecessary treatment.
The UK NSC keeps these age brackets under review. The committee recognises that screening programmes are not static and that, over time, they may need to change to be more effective.
Any person or organisation can submit a proposal for a new screening topic during the UK NSC’s three-month open call process, which will next run from 1 July 2026 to 30 September 2026.