Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department have made on the impact of participation in (a) gyms, (b) swimming pools, and (c) leisure centres on men’s (i) mental and (ii) physical health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government knows that addressing physical inactivity and getting people moving more is important for improving health outcomes, well-being, reducing demand on the National Health Service, and supporting economic growth.
Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out our ambition to break down barriers and take a cross-sector approach to building movement back into everyday lives. This requires a collective effort and there is an important role for the leisure and fitness sector through providing facilities and opportunities to get people active and reap the associated health benefits.
On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Day, we published England’s first ever Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community, and family networks, address societal norms, and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men. The strategy recognises the importance of meeting men where they are and includes investment in community-based health and suicide prevention programmes and a new partnership with the Premier League to ensure men know where to go for mental health support.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of waiting times for children and young people accessing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know too many children and young people are waiting too long for mental health support, and through our Plan for Change, we’re determined to give children and young people the best start in life.
The Government is expanding access to mental health support teams in all schools and colleges to reach all pupils by 2029, ensuring that every pupil has access to early support services. This expansion will ensure that up to 900,000 more children and young people will have access to support from trained education mental health practitioners in 2025/26.
More widely, we are, rolling out young futures hubs. The Government’s first 50 young futures hubs will bring together services at a local level to support children and young people, helping to ensure that young people can access early advice and wellbeing intervention. We will work to ensure there is no wrong door for young people who need support with their mental health.
We have also committed to hiring 8,500 more mental health staff to reduce waiting times. Thus far, we have hired almost 7,000 extra mental health workers since July 2024.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure early intervention for pupils with special educational needs.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Leeds South West and Morley, to the answer of 12 November 2025 to Question 86204.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of powers available to local authorities to (a) maintain and (b) intervene on land where ownership is (i) unknown and (ii) unregistered.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Land Registry (HMLR) are responsible for registering the ownership of land.
Approximately 11% of land in England and Wales remains unregistered.
My Department is working with HMLR to widen and deepen transparency of land ownership and control.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in identifying ownership of land that has remained unregistered since 1974.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Land Registry (HMLR) are responsible for registering the ownership of land.
Approximately 11% of land in England and Wales remains unregistered.
My Department is working with HMLR to widen and deepen transparency of land ownership and control.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
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 improve access to NHS dental services for (a) carers and (b) frontline care workers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a National Health Service dentist including for carers and front-line workers. We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments from 1 April 2025.
ICBs are also recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability. The Government is committed to achieving fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.
We recently held a full public consultation on a package of changes to improve access to, and the quality of NHS dentistry, which will deliver better care for the diverse oral health needs of people across England. The consultation closed on 19 August 2025. The Government is considering the outcomes of the consultation and will publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
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 people in full-time employment who have caring responsibilities can access GP appointments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is expanding capacity in general practice which will help deliver more appointments to patients, ensuring everyone, including those in full-time employment and with caring responsibilities, can access care.
General practitioner (GP) core hours are between 8am and 6:30pm Monday to Friday, extending beyond the usual working day and usual school day to allow easier access for those in employment, or with caring responsibilities.
In October 2024, we invested £82 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of over 2,000 additional GPs into primary care networks (PCNs) across England, helping to increase appointment availability. In addition, practices are now required to provide access to online services throughout core operating hours, reducing the 8am scramble and increasing flexibility for patients.
PCNs must also offer appointments outside of core hours, including on weekends, which can be more convenient for people in full-time employment, or with caring responsibilities.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing levels of access to hormone replacement therapy treatment on the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While menopause is a natural part of a woman’s life course, we recognise that menopause symptoms can be wide-ranging and debilitating, affecting a woman’s physical and mental health.
Women should not have to suffer in silence and any woman concerned about menopause symptoms should seek advice from their general practitioner or other healthcare professional. It is important that women are provided with accurate information and are able to make informed choices about their care, including hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
HRT is the main treatment for menopause symptoms, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that for most women it is safe and effective. In November 2024, NICE published their updated guideline which recommends more treatment choices for menopause symptoms. NICE guidelines are not mandatory, but healthcare professionals are expected to take NICE guidance fully into account in their prescribing decisions.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
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 expand access to smear tests.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England launched its first ever cervical cancer elimination creative campaign and communications toolkit for Cervical Screening Awareness Week, from 16 June 2025 to 24 June 2025. The campaign included digital resources that create a strong sense of shared responsibility and aim to increase awareness of the elimination goal, educate the public, and build confidence in cervical screening.
In March 2025, NHS England published its Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England, setting out how the National Health Service will improve equitable uptake and coverage across cervical screening to meet the goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. Further information on the Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cervical-cancer-elimination-by-2040-plan-for-england/
NHS England will build on what is already working well to drive vaccination and screening uptake and coverage, focussing on five cross-cutting themes: increasing access; raising awareness; reducing inequalities; improving digital capabilities; and strengthening workforce capacity.
From January 2026, screening providers in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England will be able to offer human papillomavirus self-sampling kits to women if they have not attended their appointment for six months or more, following routine invitation.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that London weighted salaries for civil servants only apply to employees that live in London.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Decisions on pay, including London weighting, are delegated to individual departments for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS). The SCS pay framework is managed centrally and only operates a national pay range.