Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference his Department's press release entitled NHS patients to get quicker tests and scans closer to home, published on 13 April 2026, whether teenagers and young adults will have access to diagnostic services at new and expanded Community Diagnostic Centres; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that diagnostic pathways at these Centres are appropriate for patients aged 13–25.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the National Health Service to increase diagnostic capacity to bring down the size of the list and reduce waiting times. The Department also recognises that teenagers and young adults require age-appropriate care, regarding diagnosis, treatment and wider support.
In April 2026, the Department announced its plan to open four new community diagnostic centres during 2026/27. The Department also announced a further 32 centres, which will be expanded and improved with new scanning equipment, outpatient clinic space and testing facilities. The 36 centres, backed by a £237 million Government investment, will significantly boost NHS diagnostic capacity and deliver more care in local communities, including for teenagers and young adults.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to action 9 on page 76 of his Department's document entitled National Cancer Plan for England, published on 4 February 2026, what progress he has made on assessing novel procurement routes for diagnostics and treatments for rare cancers, including brain tumours; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure timely adoption and rollout of approved diagnostic innovations.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving outcomes for people with rare and less common cancers, including brain tumours, and to ensuring that patients benefit from effective innovations as quickly and safely as possible.
The Department is working with NHS England to consider how procurement approaches can better support earlier access to diagnostics and treatments for rare cancers, including for brain tumours. The plan sets out that we will explore new procurement routes in 2026 and we will publish an annual report on progress against the commitments in the National Cancer Plan.
To support timely adoption and rollout of approved diagnostic innovations, NHS England is strengthening cancer pathways and making greater use of digital tools to identify bottlenecks and delays. This includes expanding the use of the Federated Data Platform to all trusts to support clinicians and operational teams to consolidate multiple frontline operational systems into a single view, facilitating more effective and efficient clinical and operational decisions.
The Department is also supporting the deployment of diagnostic innovations through national investment, including focusing the £21 million AI Diagnostic Fund on the deployment of technologies in key, high-demand areas such as chest X-Ray and chest CT scans to enable faster diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in over half of acute trusts in England.
NHS England will continue to work with Regions and Cancer Alliances to support providers to adopt effective innovations and to improve pathway performance, including targeted support for challenged trusts and pathways.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 28 of his Department's document entitled National Cancer Plan for England, published on 4 February 2026, what progress he has made on the development and implementation of multi‑cancer early detection tests; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of evaluating and integrating blood‑based biomarker tests and other non‑invasive diagnostic tools for earlier detection of brain tumours.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department will continue to implement the actions set out in the National Cancer Plan, including supporting the development and adoption of multi-cancer early detection tests and other non-invasive diagnostic tools.
Whilst the 10-Year Health Plan anticipated a breakthrough within the next five years, any new screening test must be subject to review by the UK National Screening Committee, to prove safety, efficacy and value before it can become part of a national screening program. We will prioritise further efforts to research and evaluate effective diagnostic tools and tests for rare cancers, including brain cancer, using multi-cancer early detection tests and other non-invasive diagnostic tests.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 74 of his Department's document entitled National Cancer Plan for England, published on 4 February 2026, what progress he has made on implementing action 4 in the Rare and less common cancers section; whether his Department has a timeline to introduce the regular publication of data on the occurrence of the emergency diagnoses of non‑stageable cancers, including blood and brain cancers; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including such data into early diagnosis performance metrics.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan for England sets out a comprehensive ten-year strategy to transform cancer outcomes across the country. Rare and Less Common Cancers have been prioritised through the National Cancer Plan, to drive forward progress for cancers that have previously been neglected.
To meet its obligations for rare cancers, the Government will appoint a new national clinical lead for rare cancers. This national clinical lead will have a clear mandate to speak up for rare cancers, and to provide clinical advice and support for the delivery of the actions in the plan.
Brain and some blood cancers such as leukaemia cannot be staged in the same way as other cancers and are therefore not included in current early‑diagnosis measures. However, the Plan commits to publishing regular data on the number of these cancers diagnosed in emergency settings, as a proxy for late or ineffective diagnosis. Moreover, adding this to the basket of early diagnosis metrics we prioritise will help incentivise systems and providers to focus on earlier diagnosis of blood and brain cancers. This will happen across the lifetime of the plan.
Across the life of the National Cancer Plan, Ministers will publish an annual summary of progress, along with a more in-depth report after three years to assess where the plan may need updating and refreshing.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when the correspondence sent on 22nd October 2025 by the Hon. Member for Wokingham, reference number MC2025-00013812, will receive a response.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department apologises for the significant delay in responding to the hon. Member’s correspondence on this occasion. I provided a full response on 24 April 2026.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2026 to Question 116006 on Vitamin D: Dietary Supplements, what interim measures he is taking to tackle Vitamin D deficiency rates in black and Asian populations prior to the analysis of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is not currently planning to introduce any targeted vitamin D measures. Any further risk management approaches will be considered once the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition has completed reviewing the evidence on vitamin D requirements for people with higher melanin concentrations and made recommendations.
Government recommendations on vitamin D are publicised via the NHS.UK website and the Department's social marketing campaigns Better Health, Healthier Families, and Best Start in Life. These channels help ensure that at-risk groups, for example people who have an African, African-Caribbean, or South Asian background, as well as the general population, are aware of the importance of vitamin D supplementation.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 the exclusion of UK recyclate from the Single Use Plastics Directive on (a) material dumping and (b) the circular economy.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are monitoring ‘European preference’ and ‘Made in Europe’ clauses included in legislation and strategies. We are working across government departments and with key industry stakeholders to understand potential impacts.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has had discussions with the European Commission on the exclusion of UK recyclate from the Single Use Plastics Directive.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yes. The UK Government has raised Directive (EU) 2019/904 (the Single Use Plastics Directive) and associated implementing decisions with the EU Commission.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 3rd March 2026 to question 115687, if he will ask Baroness Amos to consider the potential merits of appointing a Maternity Commissioner in the course of the Independent National Investigation into maternity and neonatal care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation is independent, with the investigation’s terms of reference allowing Baroness Amos, in her role as Chair, to make recommendations as she sees fit.
The independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation is bringing together the findings from past reviews, from local investigations of maternity and neonatal services in selected trusts, and evidence from families and staff, and will develop and publish one clear national set of recommendations.
Baroness Amos and her team have met with hundreds of families as part of the local investigations, and a national call for evidence for women, families, and staff has recently concluded. Her final report will be published in June.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of weapons and ordnance manufactured in the UK are currently being used in conflicts in a) Lebanon, b) Iran and c) the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Details of UK export licences can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. The UK operates one of the most robust export control regimes in the world. We assess all licences in line with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. All licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard.