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 steps his Department is taking to ensure accurate NHS public messaging on prostate cancer awareness is circulated in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing prostate cancer earlier and treating it faster, so that more patients survive.
NHS England partners with Cancer Alliances, charities, and local representatives to reach people through projects in the heart of their communities, to help raise awareness of prostate cancer, including in Surrey Heath. Cancer Alliances have also been undertaking action to alert at risk groups about prostate cancer, and this is determined at a local level and therefore will vary depending on local needs and priorities.
In January 2025, NHS England re-launched its ‘abdominal and urological symptoms of cancer’ phase of the Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, including symptoms of prostate cancer.
In the Surrey Heath constituency, the Department holds information for two trusts. In 2024, the Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust recorded that a total of 2,337 prostate cancer patients commenced a first or subsequent treatment, 583 of which were a first treatment. In 2024, the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust recorded that a total of 614 prostate cancer patients commenced a first or subsequent treatment, 549 of which were a first treatment.
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 data his Department holds on the number of men treated for prostate cancer in Surrey Heath constituency in 2024.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing prostate cancer earlier and treating it faster, so that more patients survive.
NHS England partners with Cancer Alliances, charities, and local representatives to reach people through projects in the heart of their communities, to help raise awareness of prostate cancer, including in Surrey Heath. Cancer Alliances have also been undertaking action to alert at risk groups about prostate cancer, and this is determined at a local level and therefore will vary depending on local needs and priorities.
In January 2025, NHS England re-launched its ‘abdominal and urological symptoms of cancer’ phase of the Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, including symptoms of prostate cancer.
In the Surrey Heath constituency, the Department holds information for two trusts. In 2024, the Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust recorded that a total of 2,337 prostate cancer patients commenced a first or subsequent treatment, 583 of which were a first treatment. In 2024, the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust recorded that a total of 614 prostate cancer patients commenced a first or subsequent treatment, 549 of which were a first treatment.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of designating firework-free zones to help protect (a) wildlife and (b) domestic animals in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits of designating firework-free zones to help protect animals or on the impact of fireworks on animal welfare.
However, the Government is continuing to engage with animal welfare stakeholders, businesses, consumer groups and charities on the impacts of fireworks, to inform any future action.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of fireworks displays on (a) wildlife and (b) domestic animals.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits of designating firework-free zones to help protect animals or on the impact of fireworks on animal welfare.
However, the Government is continuing to engage with animal welfare stakeholders, businesses, consumer groups and charities on the impacts of fireworks, to inform any future action.
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 steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS health messaging is accessible among diverse ethnic communities in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department takes the challenge of health misinformation seriously and recognises its potential impact on public health outcomes. We focus on delivering consistent, clinically assured messaging that builds public trust and confidence, positioning the Department and the National Health Service as reliable sources of information. We also work closely with a wide range of community media, organisations, clinical experts, and influential voices to ensure messaging is accessible to diverse ethnic communities.
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 steps his Department is taking to ensure the (a) independence and (b) effectiveness of mechanisms for capturing patient feedback within health services in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are required to consult the group of people for whom they have core responsibility, and any other person they consider it appropriate to consult when developing their joint forward plans. Local Healthwatch arrangements also provide a route through which patients may provide feedback on services in their area.
As set out in the 10 Year Health Plan for England, the work of local Healthwatch bodies relating to healthcare will be brought together with ICBs and provider engagement functions to ensure patient and wider community input into the planning and design of services. Individual provider boards will be asked to ensure that they have robust mechanisms in place to collect and use patient feedback, ensuring that it is actively fed back to individual clinicians and clinical teams. Local authorities will have a similar role in relation to social care functions.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the (a) application and (b) appeal processes for disability benefits are accessible to (i) blind and (ii) visually impaired people in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The (a) initial new claims application process for disability benefits is either paper or telephony based. A range of alternative formats are available for paper-based correspondence and is therefore accessible to blind and visually impaired customers. Customers can also progress their claims digitally, however, customers who are blind or visually impaired would need appropriate software to do so. If not, paper-based correspondence supported with alternative formats is available.
In respect of (b) His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has a legal obligation under the Equality Act 2010 to provide reasonable adjustments for users with specific accessibility needs and to give equal access to our information. Users may ask for HMCTS leaflets, blank forms, and any documents relating to their case in an alternative format. Everyone has individual needs which we would discuss to meet their requirements.
There are many different types of alternative formats. The more common types requested by users are:
• audio translation
• braille
• coloured paper
• documents sent by email in a specific format, to be viewed using assistive technology
• easy read
• font type
• large print / font size
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, whether he plans to increase the availability of community-based mental health support in order to reduce the level of reliance on inpatient care for children and young people in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our ambition is to avoid unnecessary admissions to children and young people’s mental health inpatient services and provide care close to home in the least restrictive environments. NHS England’s new model for specialised children and young people’s mental health services will support the delivery of specialised services in the community by establishing and expanding local services such as day services, intensive community outreach and hospital at home services that will provide timely assessment, reduce lengths of inpatient stay and wrap care around the family to achieve timely discharge.
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 steps his Department is taking to ensure that children and young people in inpatient mental health settings have access to (a) regular and (b) unrestricted contact with their families in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The new service model for children and young people’s inpatient mental health services, including those in the Surrey Health area, sets out that visiting hours should be flexible to meet the needs of the child and their family or carer. Each mental health inpatient unit should also develop appropriate environments to support family visits, including designated family rooms and families or carers should have access to provision for overnight stays to enable them to be near or with their child where appropriate.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential economic merits of a UK-EU mutual recognition of conformity assessments agreement.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ahead of the UK-EU summit in May 2025 we explored a number of proposals with our EU partners on manufactured goods. To inform these discussions, the government assessed the potential economic benefits of a range of measures, including a mutual recognition agreement, which indicated that such an agreement would be mutually beneficial for both the UK and EU. What was announced at the UK-EU summit reflects the outcome of these discussions.