Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Edward Argar and Henry Smith

Tuesday 27th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

T3. What measures is my right hon. Friend taking to protect children and young people from vile internet trolls who seek to encourage them to self-harm?

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Edward Argar)]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight this issue. We yesterday tabled an amendment to the Online Safety Bill that would create a new offence of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm, whether by verbal or electronic communications, publication or correspondence. That fills a gap in the law and, together with the broader regulatory measures in the Bill, it will help to protect people from such content. It remains our intention, however, when parliamentary time allows, to expand the offence to cover encouragement or assistance given by means other than such communications, which are currently out of scope of the Bill.

Elective Care Recovery in England

Debate between Edward Argar and Henry Smith

Monday 7th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

Since the hon. Lady was elected, she has had a long track record of interest and campaigning on that issue. She is absolutely right to raise children’s mental health. Before I was a Minister, I took a close interest in eating disorders, which are an element of that—I worked with Beat the eating disorder charity—and in the challenges that parents face in getting access to child and adolescent mental health services for a first consultation and for the required treatment. I absolutely reassure her that mental health, including children’s mental health, remains a priority for the Government.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I very much welcome the record high levels of funding the Government are putting into the national health service and the rolling out of rapid-diagnostic centres throughout the country. May I seek an assurance from the Minister that the diagnosis and treatment of blood cancers will be a key element of that rapid diagnosis?

[Edward Argar]

I can give my hon. Friend that reassurance. The clinical decision making will rightly inform the approach we adopt to the diagnosis and treatment of cancers, as my hon. Friend would expect, but he is absolutely right that we cannot neglect blood cancer in that context, and nor will we.

NHS England Funding: Announcement to Media

Debate between Edward Argar and Henry Smith

Monday 25th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow has no greater champion that my right hon. Friend. I reassure him that, as he knows, it is on the list of 40 new hospitals that we are committed to building before 2030.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I, too, welcome the significant extra resource for our national health service as we tackle the covid backlog. I seek an assurance from the Minister that more difficult to detect conditions, such as blood cancers, will be at the heart of what those diagnostic hubs will deliver.

[Edward Argar]

The purpose of the investment in diagnostic capacity is not only to tackle the backlog but to provide a long-term solution to allow diagnostic tests to take place for more people earlier in the illness and to detect illnesses at an early stage. We know that is a key part of tackling illness, preventing serious illness and aiding recovery.