Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department taking to support menopausal women with mental health issues in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We know that too many people, including menopausal women with mental health issues, are not receiving the mental health care they need, and that waits for mental health services are too long across England, including in Surrey Heath.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we are committed to prioritising women’s health, and we will also recruit 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult services to help ease pressure on busy mental health services.

We are working with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment alongside the refresh of the Long Term Workforce Plan.

In addition, NHS England is working on menopause workforce support packages for employees and developing a range of tools and interventions that will help to upskill more general practitioners in menopause care, including awareness of mental health symptoms during menopause, and improve access to treatments.

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 support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of radiographers in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place and with the right skills mix, to deliver safe and effective care. These staff include allied health professionals such as radiographers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists.

The Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, to ensure that we retain more of our skilled and dedicated staff. NHS England is leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.

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 ensure that healthcare services can (a) recruit and (b) retain occupational therapists in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place and with the right skills mix, to deliver safe and effective care. These staff include allied health professionals such as radiographers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists.

The Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, to ensure that we retain more of our skilled and dedicated staff. NHS England is leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.

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 ensure that healthcare services can (a) recruit and (b) retain speech therapists in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place and with the right skills mix, to deliver safe and effective care. These staff include allied health professionals such as radiographers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists.

The Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, to ensure that we retain more of our skilled and dedicated staff. NHS England is leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.

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 ensure that healthcare services can (a) recruit and (b) retain physiotherapists in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place and with the right skills mix, to deliver safe and effective care. These staff include allied health professionals such as radiographers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists.

The Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, to ensure that we retain more of our skilled and dedicated staff. NHS England is leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.

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 GP waiting times in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table shows the percentage of all practice appointments that were delivered on the same day as booking, the percentage of practice appointments which were not usually booked in advance that were delivered within two weeks of booking, and the percentage of practice appointments which were not usually booked in advance that were delivered within four weeks of booking, in the Surrey Heath constituency, from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025:

The Surrey Heath constituency outperformed the national average when it comes to delivering appointments on the same day that they are booked, but slightly underperforms when it comes to the percentage of appointments delivered within two weeks of booking.

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 adequacy of the level of care for Parkinson in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The integrated care boards (ICBs) in England are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their population, including for Parkinson’s disease. The Government expects ICBs to take account of the relevant guidelines and best practice in designing their local services.

Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy in place, the majority of people with Parkinson’s can be cared for through routine access to primary and secondary care. NHS England commissions the specialised elements of Parkinson’s care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England, which provide access to neurological multidisciplinary teams to ensure that patients with Parkinson’s can receive specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.

There are also national initiatives to support service improvement and better care for patients with neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease. This includes the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the Neurology Transformation Programme. NHS England is updating its Specialised Neurology service specification, which includes Parkinson’s disease. Service specifications define the standards of care expected from organisations funded by NHS England, which provide specialised care.

We acknowledge the significant neurology workforce challenges across the country, including a need for more neurologists and specialist nurses. We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service and improve care for people with long-term conditions, and a central and core part of the plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to make it more accessible, proactive, and tailored for patients.

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 merits of increasing research investment into Parkinson’s disease in Surrey.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government’s responsibility for delivering Parkinson’s disease research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.

Whilst no assessment has been made of the potential merits of increasing research investment into Parkinson’s disease in Surrey, the Government is continuing to invest in Parkinson’s disease research. For example, the UK Dementia Research Institute, primarily funded by the Government, is partnering with Parkinson’s UK to establish a new £10 million research centre dedicated to better understanding the causes of Parkinson’s and finding new treatments.

The NIHR welcomes high quality funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including Parkinson's disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

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 improve access to care need s assessments for (a) deaf and (b) blind people in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that deaf and blind people can access needs assessments. Under the Equality Act (2010), local authorities must also make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are performing against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duty to undertake needs assessments. Needs assessments for deaf and blind people will form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care. In that context, the CQC will report on how local authorities work with deaf and blind people when there is something important to highlight, such as something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement. The CQC is assessing all 153 local authorities in England. So far, the CQC has published over twenty assessments, including an assessment for Surrey County Council, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/surrey-1124

By identifying local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, CQC assessments facilitate the sharing of good practice and help us to target support where it is most needed. These steps will help to improve access to needs assessments for everyone who needs it, including deaf and blind people.

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 ensure that NHS systems used by (a) GPs and (b) pharmacies are protected against IT outages in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Business continuity is a shared responsibility between IT service providers, general practices, and pharmacies. The Frimley Integrated Care Board collaborates with general practices to enhance their resilience planning, which includes reviewing current arrangements, adopting best practices, and preparing for worst-case scenarios. This approach ensures practices are well-equipped to manage any IT disruptions effectively.

For example, the Patient System, which is a patient record system used by general practices, can operate in business as usual mode when offline so that local functionality can continue if web services are interrupted. Many sites are prepared for Main Network, Health and Social Care Network, outages so that they can continue to access and share information. Sites are equipped with laptops featuring Virtual Private Network capabilities, which can connect to mobile hotspots if the primary network internet connection is unavailable.

All National Health Service community pharmacy owners are required to have a business continuity plan in place to address temporary service suspensions under their terms of service. All registered community pharmacy premises are regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council, which sets expectations regarding business continuity planning and IT resilience. Pharmacies are expected to develop robust plans that incorporate proactive risk assessments, preparedness measures, and comprehensive response and recovery strategies. These plans must ensure that essential services, such as medication dispensing and patient care, can continue during disruptions, including power outages, network failures, or physical security breaches.

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 adequacy of (a) adult and (b) child dental care in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Dental Statistics - England 2023/24, published by the NHS Business Services Authority on 22 August 2024, is available from the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324

The data for the NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board, which includes the Surrey Heath constituency, shows that 39% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2024, compared to 40% in England, and that 55% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2024, compared to 56% in England.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities in managing the increasing volume of utility roadworks in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department supports local authorities in several ways, including via updates to statutory guidance, supporting the roll-out of lane rental schemes and improving our Street Manager digital service which all authorities and utility companies use to plan, co-ordinate and manage works.

The Government has also announced that we are cracking down on utility companies, doubling fines and applying charges for works that overrun at weekends.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support public awareness campaigns aimed at protecting hedgehogs in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

While we are not carrying out any specific public awareness campaigns in Surrey Heath, the Government welcomes public awareness campaigns, such as Project Amazing Grace, which promote actions that support the recovery and conservation of hedgehogs.

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 ensure air ambulance services are supported during seasonal spikes of serious accidents in Surrey.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Air ambulances provide services through a longstanding and successful independent charitable model. It is for National Health Service commissioners to work in partnership with local providers, including those providing ambulance services, to best meet the health and care needs of the local population in Surrey.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to publish the DVSA's findings from the call for evidence on the experience of booking and managing car driving tests.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

On the 18 December 2024, a call for evidence was launched, seeking views on the current rules to book tests.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency have been analysing the responses to this and have been working to develop proposals to improve the rules to make sure learner drivers can book their driving test easily and efficiently.

This will lead to public consultation on the proposed improved rules, with potential future legislative changes. On the 23 April, the Secretary of State announced that this consultation has been fast-tracked and will launch in May 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent unauthorised activity around asylum accommodation sites in Surrey.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available to staff in asylum accommodation who experience harassment in Surrey.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using injunctions to protect asylum accommodation.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with police forces on safeguarding asylum accommodation in Surrey.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the public safety risk around asylum hotels.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce knife crime in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission.

We have already taken radical action to get dangerous knives off Britain’s streets, including implementing a ban on the sale and possession of zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes, and introducing new legislation to ban ninja swords which will come into effect from 1 August.

We have also announced “Ronan’s Law” following an independent review into online knife sales by Commander Stephen Clayman, which sets out a range of measures including strengthened age verification and delivery checks and a requirement on retailers to report bulk sales to the police.

With measures in the Crime and Policing Bill 2025, we are increasing the penalties for illegal sales of knives, creating a new offence of possessing a knife with the intention to commit unlawful violence and are giving the police a new power to seize knives when they believe they are likely to be used in connection with unlawful violence.

The Young Futures Programme is another key part of the Safer Streets Mission and the Government’s ambition to halve knife crime over the next decade. Under this programme the Government will intervene earlier to ensure children and young people who are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way.

In Surrey, the government has allocated £1m for the Police and Crime Commissioner for the Hotspot Action Fund in 2025-2026 to deliver high visibility patrolling and problem-oriented policing tactics in the areas with the highest densities of knife crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (‘hotspots’).

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans her Department has to support effective collaboration between hon. Members of Parliament and county councils in the context of local government reorganisation in Surrey.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

On 5^th February I wrote to all councils in two tier areas and their neighbouring small unitaries, including Surrey, to formally invite them to submit unitary proposals. In this invitation, we set out that we expect local leaders to engage their Members of Parliament, and to ensure there is wide engagement with local partners and stakeholders, residents, workforce and their representatives, and businesses on a proposal.

We are committed to updating Parliament on the progress of local government reorganisation.

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 support people with Restless Leg Syndrome in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Most services for long-term conditions, including restless leg syndrome (RLS), are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). It is the responsibility of the ICBs, working with clinicians, service users, and patient groups, to develop local services and care pathways that meet patients’ needs.

General practitioners (GPs) will utilise the RLS Rating Scale to understand the impact on the patient and then trial treatments. GPs are supported by neurology referral or specialist advice and guidance.

There are 27 specialised neurological treatment centres across the National Health Service in England, which provide access to neurological multidisciplinary teams to ensure that patients with RLS can receive specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence publishes clinical knowledge summaries (CKS) as a source of information, mainly for NHS staff working in primary care. The CKS on the diagnosis and clinical management of RLS was updated in February 2025, and is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/

We have also launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and improve care for people with long-term conditions. A central and core part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to make it more accessible, proactive, and tailored for patients.

Progress in UK-EU relations

Political parties at Pride

Universities and international students

Gaza occupation proposals

Climate and Nature Bill

Electoral reform

Restless legs syndrome

Scientific hearing on animal experiments

Blockade of aid to Gaza

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