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 regions where (a) cancer outcomes are poorer and (b) research infrastructure is historically underfunded receive a fair share of national cancer research investment and clinical trial opportunities.

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

The Department is committed to funding health and care research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) across England, and to ensuring that the research we support is inclusive and representative of the populations we serve.  We know that cancer survival rates are generally lower in people living in more deprived areas.

In 2024, the NIHR made equity, diversity, and inclusion a condition of funding for all domestic research awards. This means applicants must demonstrate how their research will contribute towards the NIHR’s mission to reduce health and care inequalities, with a focus on participant inclusion from diverse populations of the United Kingdom.

NIHR research infrastructure has national coverage across the whole of England. Our infrastructure schemes aim to build research capacity and capability across the country across all geographies and settings. In line with prior commitments, the Department has increased funding for research infrastructure schemes delivering cancer research outside the Greater South East, including Biomedical Research Centres, Clinical Research Facilities, and HealthTech Research Centres.

Through the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN), the NIHR supports 100% of National Health Service trusts in England to deliver research, operating across 12 regions throughout the country. From 2026/27, the RDN will adopt a new national funding model for NHS support costs and research delivery. This will be a consistent, nationally agreed funding distribution model across all regions of England and will reduce regional variations of health research delivery investment, and better enable clinical trial opportunities across all areas, including underserved areas and settings.

The NIHR also provides an online service called Be Part of Research which promotes participation in health and social care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest. This makes it easier for people to find and take part in health and care research that is relevant to them.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of expanding prehabilitation and rehabilitation services in cancer care on (a) NHS costs and (b) patient outcomes.

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

The Department and NHS England are taking a number of steps to support systems to deliver cost-effective, lifesaving prehabilitation and rehabilitation services. Local planning for prehabilitation and rehabilitation services is devolved to National Health Service trusts and Cancer Alliances in their locality.

NHS England has highlighted the positive impact of efficient prehabilitation and rehabilitation on cancer outcomes and the potential for them to lead to cost savings. The PRosPer Cancer Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation learning programme, launched in partnership between NHS England and Macmillan Cancer support, aims to support allied health professionals and the wider healthcare workforce in developing their skills in providing personalised care, prehabilitation, and rehabilitation in the cancer pathway.

The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will look at how we can improve patient outcomes and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, including prehabilitation and rehabilitation services where appropriate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures in the NHS 10 Year Plan will support earlier diagnosis of heart valve disease in primary and community care settings.

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

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out the three big shifts the National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. All three shifts are relevant to improving outcomes for those experiencing heart valve disease.

More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their conditions closer to home and help to reduce hospital admissions.

In line with the goals of the 10-Year Health Plan, NHS England has already undertaken measures to improve earlier detection of heart valve disease (HVD). It is commissioning the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society to develop a new referral form to support the investigation of HVD. The referral form is to guide primary healthcare teams to confidently refer patients with suspected, or known, valve disease for specialist assessment and/or echocardiography, where appropriate.

NHS England is also establishing an Expert Advisory Group on HVD which brings together experts and key stakeholders from across the United Kingdom, with the aim of ensuring excellence in care whilst exploring ways to improve heart valve disease management nationwide. Additionally, NHS England is undertaking a review of health inequalities for all specialised cardiac services which will include aortic stenosis, a type of HVD. This will specifically consider the presentation of males versus females with aortic stenosis where research shows that women are likely to present with symptoms at an older age. It is also working with providers to implement a single point of access pathway for severe aortic stenosis.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England is taking to raise awareness of (a) heart valve disease and (b) its symptoms among the (i) population and (ii) healthcare professionals.

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

Continuous improvements have been made in the heart valve disease (HVD) pathway for service users, but there remains unwarranted variation and inequalities in terms of care for patients with HVD for example in access to surgery for aortic stenosis, a form of HVD; and late presentation which increases the risk of surgery and limits recovery after surgery.

NHS England produced an e-learning for healthcare on heart failure and heart valve disease in early 2023. This package of education supports clinicians across primary care and community settings to better recognise the symptoms, diagnose, manage, and support patients with heart failure and heart valve disease, including palliative and end of life care. In doing so, clinicians are supported to identify and manage patients in primary care where appropriate, to reduce avoidable admissions to hospital.

In 2024 NHS England commissioned the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society to develop a new referral form to support the investigation of heart valve disease. The referral form is to guide primary healthcare teams to confidently refer patients with suspected, or known, valve disease for specialist assessment and/or echocardiography, where appropriate. The resource includes:

- a comprehensive checklist to support patient referral for further assessment;

- important signs and symptoms; and

- referral pathways for suspected heart valve disease.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to remove the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of Council Tax in England as part of wider proposed sentencing reforms.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax only applies where the court is satisfied that non-payment is due to wilful refusal to pay or culpable neglect. A person cannot be imprisoned for being unable to pay their council tax.

The government is currently consulting on modernising and improving the administration of council tax, and this includes seeking views on changes to how councils collect and enforce council tax. The government will publish its response to the consultation in due course.

Football regulator

Support for early years and the National Literacy Trust

Found: (94.1%) Paula Barker (Labour, Liverpool Wavertree) (added 28 Oct 2024) 16 of 17 (94.1%) Gill Furniss

Found: Members of the public bill committee The Mental Health Bill [Lords] Committee was chaired by Gill Furniss

Found: Members of the public bill committee The Mental Health Bill [Lords] Committee was chaired by Gill Furniss