Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to support areas with lower than national average attendance to breast cancer screening appointments, such as North West Leicestershire.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP) has returned to normal operation following disruption from COVID-19 and subsequent recovery measures.
NHSBSP is seeing improvement in uptake nationally with annual data for 2023/24 showing the number of women who are up to date with their screening has increased to the highest on record, to 4.61 million.
Breast screening uptake among those invited in 2023/24 improved to 70%, an increase from 64.6% in 2022/23, which is the first time the NHSBSP has hit its acceptable target for breast screening uptake since before the pandemic.
In February 2025, NHS England launched the first ever National Health Service breast screening campaign nationally to widespread media attention. It ran across television, radio, social media, and outdoor advertising during February and March, targeting women of breast screening age, with a focus on those least likely to attend, including younger women, those in deprived areas, ethnic minorities, and disabled women.
Specifically, regarding North West Leicestershire, measures to improve uptake include implementation of a timed appointment system which gives patients a specific date and time for their screening appointment, rather than asking them to contact the service to arrange one themselves. Evidence has shown that timed appointments improve participation and help reduce health inequalities. In addition, workforce structure is being reviewed to ensure a resilient staffing establishment capable of managing the higher demand from the timed appointment system.
More broadly, the integrated care board works with NHS England to support an increase in breast screening across Leicester, Leicestershire, Rugby. This includes:
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will ask the Financial Conduct Authority to assess whether the mission critical neighbourhoods, as identified by the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods, have an effective credit union or a community development finance institution providing access to affordable credit for local residents and businesses.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises that credit, when provided responsibly, can be crucial for people facing unexpected expenses or managing their cash flow.
The UK has a diverse landscape for credit provision to individuals and businesses, comprising traditional banks, challenger and specialist banks, and non-bank finance providers such as Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs).
In November, I published the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, which includes a focus on how to improve access to affordable credit.
The Strategy includes a pilot scheme for small sum lending and measures to strengthen the community finance sector, including encouraging partnerships with mainstream financial firms. The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders to deliver on the interventions.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans there are to expand specialist neurorehabilitation capacity in the North East.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of timely, high-quality rehabilitation for children and young people with an acquired brain injury (ABI). NHS England’s paediatric neurorehabilitation service specification supports community neurorehabilitation by ensuring that children and young people receive coordinated, specialist care beyond the hospital setting. It requires integrated care boards (ICBs), including the NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB, to work with tertiary centres and local providers to deliver structured rehabilitation programmes in the community, supported by multidisciplinary teams.
The Department expects all National Health Services to follow the guideline for the assessment and early management of head injury in babies, children, young people, and adults, reference code NG232, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The guideline sets out clear standards for discharge advice, risk assessment, and timely referral for further evaluation where symptoms persist or escalate. NHS England ensures that ICBs follow NICE guidance through a combination of statutory oversight frameworks, annual performance assessments, and local clinical governance requirements. NICE provides ICBs with implementation tools, audit templates, training resources, and commissioning guidance to help embed the guideline into local pathways and ensure consistent, evidence-based practice.
The Government is committed to increasing specialist neurorehabilitation capacity in the North East of England as part of wider efforts to improve access and reduce regional variation. Our forthcoming ABI Action Plan will set out practical steps to strengthen commissioning and expand multidisciplinary rehabilitation services. This aligns with commitments in the 10-Year Health Plan to enhance community-based rehabilitation, invest in specialist teams, and ensure timely, high-quality care for people with ABI across England, including the North East.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of rough sleeping in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency during winter 2025-26 on the health of rough sleepers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that homelessness and rough sleeping numbers continue to remain high. That is why the Government is providing £255.5 million for the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant so that local authorities can support people sleeping rough in their areas, including funding health‑led interventions, alongside a £69.9 million top‑up announced in October 2025 to tackle additional pressures.
Surrey County Council has undertaken a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, focused on housing and related support, funded by the Department through the Public Health Grant and carried out by health and wellbeing boards. More information is available at the following link:
https://www.surreyi.gov.uk/jsna/jsna-housing-and-related-support/#homelessness
The assessment requires a thorough analysis of the health and social care needs of local populations, and highlights how determinants such as housing conditions, including insecure housing and homelessness, impact health and wellbeing. This informs planning across health, social care, and housing to improve outcomes and address inequalities.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
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 improve mobile phone and broadband access in East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency.
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 and we have a target to deliver nationwide (99%) gigabit broadband coverage by 2032.
The Government continues to work closely with the mobile network operators to ensure their continued investment into the expansion and improvement of mobile networks and that investment translates into benefits for communities right across the UK.
To improve broadband coverage in the area CityFibre is delivering a Project Gigabit contract across East and West Sussex, which includes premises in the East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency.
We are also working to identify and address barriers to deployment of both mobile and broadband infrastructure. This includes recently launching a call for evidence to help determine where planning rules could be relaxed to support the deployment of digital infrastructure.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 5 January to question 101570 Tax Yields: Hemsby, if she will make an estimate of the total annual tax receipts generated by economic activity in Hemsby, Norfolk, including (a) income tax, (b) National Insurance contributions, (c) VAT, and (d) business rates.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue and Customs cannot make an estimate of the total annual tax receipts generated by economic activity in Hemsby, Norfolk, including (a) income tax, (b) National Insurance contributions, (c) VAT as this would exceed the cost limits, and (d) business rates as these are not administered by HMRC.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to engage with road safety public awareness campaigns that educate children in schools in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Through THINK!, the government’s flagship road safety campaign, we provide a wide range of free educational resources to help improve children's road safety. These are made available to schools and local road safety officers via the THINK! website, social channels and partnerships with organisations such as the Department for Education. https://www.think.gov.uk/education.
In 2024, THINK! launched a ‘Safe Adventures’ campaign to help parents across the country prepare their children for independent travel ahead of moving to secondary school: https://www.think.gov.uk/campaign/safe-adventures/. This activity focuses on the risky behaviours assigned to child pedestrian casualties, which includes failing to look and distractions, finding a safe place to cross and being in a hurry.
THINK! routinely engages with local authorities to assist them with using and promoting our campaigns, and we work closely with Road Safety GB who help disseminate and coordinate our outreach to their network of road safety officers and professionals.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of children injured on roads in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035 and a 70% reduction in the number of children (under 16) killed or seriously injured on roads in Great Britain by 2035, using a 2022-2024 baseline.
As part of the Road Safety Strategy, we are gathering feedback on introducing penalty points for failure to wear a seat belt, and additional penalty points for drivers who do not ensure child passengers wear seat belts.
We will also support and work in partnership with local authorities, who have the legal responsibility for setting local speed limits, and detailed knowledge of their own local areas. This is important for the safety of vulnerable road users, including children. We will update our guidance to local authorities on ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’. We will also update our guidance to local authorities on ‘The use of speed and red-light cameras for traffic enforcement: guidance on deployment, visibility and signing’.
Asked by: Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to publish examples of practices and biases within institutions that they consider to be relevant conduct under their definition of anti-Muslim hatred/Islamophobia.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The independent Working Group have now provided their advice to Ministers who are carefully taking the time to review and consider the advice carefully before confirming next steps in due course.
Any definition used by government will be non-statutory. It will enable government and other relevant bodies to have a greater understanding of unacceptable treatment and prejudice against Muslim communities.
The published terms of reference for the Working Group were clear that their advice on a definition must be compatible with the unchanging right of British citizens to exercise freedom of speech and expression.
Asked by: Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to carry out a public consultation in relation to their definition of anti-Muslim hatred/Islamophobia.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The independent Working Group have now provided their advice to Ministers who are carefully taking the time to review and consider the advice carefully before confirming next steps in due course.
Any definition used by government will be non-statutory. It will enable government and other relevant bodies to have a greater understanding of unacceptable treatment and prejudice against Muslim communities.
The published terms of reference for the Working Group were clear that their advice on a definition must be compatible with the unchanging right of British citizens to exercise freedom of speech and expression.