Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans are in place to ensure that the medical records of deaf and hearing-impaired patients are appropriately marked prior to the introduction of the Single Patient Record in 2028.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Reasonable Adjustment flag is part of the NHS Spine, and professionals and their administrative staff can work with an individual to create the flag using the National Care Records Service, to ensure that an individual’s needs for reasonable adjustments are recorded and shared, to ensure appropriate support by health and care services. Work is continuing to allow direct integration of the flag with clinical systems, using the Patient Flags Application Programming Interface.

The Single Patient Record (SPR) programme is at an early stage of development. Inclusivity and ease of access is central to the vision for the design of the SPR, and the record of people’s reasonable adjustments, and their needs, will be part of the information made available to staff.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce mandatory visual display screens in (a) GP practices and (b) medical waiting rooms to ensure (i) deaf and (ii) hearing impaired patients are made aware of their appointment.

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

The Department has no plans to mandate screens in general practices. However, a revised Accessible Information Standard (AIS) was published on 30 June 2025, to ensure that people who have a disability, impairment, or sensory loss can access and understand information about National Health Services and receive the communication support they need to use those services. Nationally, all NHS organisations and publicly funded social care providers are required to be fully compliant with all aspects of the standard.

NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication, and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what provisions he is making in the National Health Service to ensure that patients with long term eye conditions receive adequate practical and emotional support.

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

We recognise the importance of practical and emotional support for people living with long term eye conditions. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are responsible for assessing individuals’ care and support needs and, where eligible, for meeting those needs. This includes the legal duty for local authorities to support people with sight loss.

NHS England has published a patient support toolkit for eye care commissioners and providers which aims to ensure that patients with ophthalmic conditions are supported throughout their care journey. It sets out that whilst receiving care provided by the hospital, patients need information and support through diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment. Individuals can also refer themselves into talking therapies, which are widely available.

We are also taking steps to revise the certificate of visual impairment to improve signposting to local support for newly certified patients with a sight impairment or severe sight impairment.

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 access to information about the contribution of good eye care is readily available.

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

The NHS.UK website sets out the importance of regular sight tests whilst also providing information about entitlement to free National Health Service sight tests. The Department also looks for opportunities to promote the importance of NHS sight tests, such as through National Eye Health Week.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her department is taking to make transports systems more easily accessible for people with sight loss, to allow them to travel independently and spontaneously.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The government is committed to improving transport services so they are more inclusive and enable people with sight loss to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. As part of our broader mission to break down barriers to opportunity, we recognise that more needs to be done to ensure transport is accessible to all.

Our Bus Services Act 2025 includes a comprehensive package of measures to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of local transport. Through the Act, we are helping authorities to provide safer and more accessible bus stations and stops and mandating more streamlined disability training for bus drivers and frontline staff. We are also requiring local authorities to regularly review the accessibility of their bus networks through the development and publishing of a Bus Network Accessibility Plan.

The government recognises the concerns which have been raised about floating bus stops, particularly. On 20 November I wrote to all local traffic authorities in England requesting that they put on hold designs which require people to board or alight directly from or into a cycle track. The Act requires the Secretary of State to publish statutory guidance on their provision and design within three months of Royal Assent, drafting of which is underway.

We are also continuing the implementation of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations (AIR), which will require audible and visible destination and next stop information on board most local bus services by October 2026.

Ensuring the rail network is also accessible is at the heart of our passenger-focused approach to improving rail services. We are committed to improving the experience for disabled passengers and that is why we have published a roadmap to an accessible railway. It sets out what we are doing now to improve the day-to-day travelling experience for disabled passengers in the lead up to Great British Railways being established. We have installed platform edge tactile paving at every station in England with the final station in Scotland due to be complete next month. The final Welsh station, currently closed for refurbishment, will have them installed when it reopens in April.

We are also committed to developing an Accessible Travel Charter. The Charter is a commitment to a shared vision for accessible travel. It will set out what disabled travellers can expect from their journeys, share best practice across organisations and create consistency in end-to-end journeys for disabled travellers.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what data her Department holds on gender disparities in access to youth sports training facilities; and what steps she is taking to decrease those disparities.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. The Government has invested £98 million through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme across the UK in 2025/26, funding projects such as new and upgraded grass pitches, pitch maintenance equipment and floodlights. Following the Spending Review we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans.

We are committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, are able to participate in sport and physical activity. We will more than double priority access to grassroots football pitches for women and girls in England over the next five years as part of a series of plans to honour the success of the Lionesses following the team’s victory at Euro 2025, as well as dedicating flagship sites and pitches to the Lionesses.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport in England through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.