Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
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 implement automatic enrolment into stop smoking support at (a) A&E departments, (b) cancer screening appointments, (c) mental health services and (d) other NHS services (i) in Liverpool City Region and (ii) nationally.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we remain committed to ensuring all hospitals integrate smoking cessation interventions into routine care.
NHS England have already rolled out tobacco dependence treatment programmes in acute and mental health inpatient settings, and maternity services. As of March 2025, 93% of acute and mental health in-patient services and 97% of maternity services, nationally, had tobacco dependence treatment offers. In the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB), 12 out of 13 in-patient services and all seven maternity services had an offer.
As part of their allocations for 2025/26, ICBs have access to funding to support the provision of tobacco dependency treatment to smokers. Funding for future years is subject to final decisions following the recent Spending Review.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Cancer Plan will expand innovation in cancer screening to ensure people from deprived areas are encouraged to participate.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention, research, and innovation. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experiences and outcomes for people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next 10 years.
Reducing inequalities is a key priority for the National Cancer Plan. The plan will look at targeted improvements needed across different cancer types to reduce disparities in cancer survival and develop interventions to tackle these. This includes looking at protected characteristics, as well as inequalities related to socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and geographic location. We know that people living in deprived areas are less likely to have their cancers diagnosed at an early stage, when treatment can be more effective, and we want to reduce the gap in early diagnosis between those living in the richest and poorest areas through the National Cancer Plan.
The Lung Cancer Screening Programme has been successful at reducing the gap in early diagnosis. It has led to over 5,000 more lung cancers being diagnosed at stages 1 and 2. The National Cancer Plan will look to learn lessons from the success of this programme.
We are working closely with cancer partners as part of our engagement to inform the development of the plan, and continue to prioritise the key areas raised, including cancer screening.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
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 (a) prehabilitation and (b) rehabilitation services in cancer care on (i) NHS costs and (ii) 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, and any expansion of them, is a matter for National Health Service trusts and Cancer Alliances to take forward in their local areas.
NHS England has highlighted the positive impact of efficient prehabilitation and rehabilitation on cancer outcomes and the potential 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 National Cancer Plan, to be published later this year, will look at how to improve patient outcomes across the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, including prehabilitation and rehabilitation services where appropriate.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure equitable regional access to national cancer (a) research funding and (b) clinical trial opportunities.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Cancer research is a critical priority for the Government. The Government is committed to ensuring that all cancer patients across the UK have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and UK Research Institute (UKRI) have made research inclusion a condition of its funding. Applicants to domestic research programmes are required to demonstrate how inclusion and health inequalities are being built into their research. NIHR’s Be Part of Research service on the NHS App, will provide patients with access to life-changing clinical trials and innovative therapies across the UK.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what evidential basis the cervical screening interval was changed from three to five years; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of that interval on rates of early cancer detection.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation to change the cervical screening intervals from three to five years for women aged 25 to 49 years old was made in 2019. The evidence and consultation responses supporting the recommendation can be found at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/cervical-cancer/
The decision to make the changes was based on what is best for individuals. The more accurate human papillomavirus test requires less frequent screening, and changing the frequency eliminates the unnecessary over screening of the population.
The IT system supporting the national cervical screening programme was updated in July 2024, and can now enable the changes that were recommended.
A full impact assessment and equality impact assessment were considered before the changes were agreed by the Government. We will publish these shortly.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
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 potential impact of changes to the frequency of cervical screening on women from (a) underserved and (b) marginalised communities.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation to change the cervical screening intervals from three to five years for women aged 25 to 49 years old was made in 2019. The evidence and consultation responses supporting the recommendation can be found at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/cervical-cancer/
The decision to make the changes was based on what is best for individuals. The more accurate human papillomavirus test requires less frequent screening, and changing the frequency eliminates the unnecessary over screening of the population.
The IT system supporting the national cervical screening programme was updated in July 2024, and can now enable the changes that were recommended.
A full impact assessment and equality impact assessment were considered before the changes were agreed by the Government. We will publish these shortly.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the (a) equality impact assessment and (b) risk-benefit analysis for the decision to change cervical screening intervals.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation to change the cervical screening intervals from three to five years for women aged 25 to 49 years old was made in 2019. The evidence and consultation responses supporting the recommendation can be found at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/cervical-cancer/
The decision to make the changes was based on what is best for individuals. The more accurate human papillomavirus test requires less frequent screening, and changing the frequency eliminates the unnecessary over screening of the population.
The IT system supporting the national cervical screening programme was updated in July 2024, and can now enable the changes that were recommended.
A full impact assessment and equality impact assessment were considered before the changes were agreed by the Government. We will publish these shortly.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will support the establishment of an independent governing body for futsal that complies with (a) FIFA and (b) UEFA regulations but operates outside of the control of the Football Association.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Internationally, FIFA and UEFA recognise the Football Association as the recognised National Governing Body (NGB) for football, including futsal, in England.
Domestic recognition of an NGB in England is a matter for Sport England in coordination as appropriate with the other UK Sports Councils (Sport Northern Ireland, Sport Scotland, Sport Wales and UK Sport).
The Sport and NGB Recognition Process is currently closed to all new applications while the UK Sports Councils undertake a review of the recognition policy and process, which is expected to re-open by Spring 2026.
Both processes operate independently of the Government.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) people and (b) organisations involved in futsal feel able to raise concerns about the conduct of (i) the Football Association and (ii) other governing bodies to the relevant authorities without fear of adverse consequences.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
England Futsal is a private company, licensed by the Football Association (FA).
In the first instance, participants should follow the complaints process of the relevant National Governing Body (NGB), including any procedures for appeal. UK Sport’s and Sport England’s complaints procedures set out how they handle complaints falling within their remits.
The Code for Sports Governance sets out the levels of transparency, diversity and inclusion, accountability and integrity that are required from sporting governing bodies, including the FA, who seek, and are in receipt of, Government and National Lottery funding from either Sport England or UK Sport.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of international best practices in embedding stakeholder governance into company law.
Answered by Justin Madders
Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 requires company directors to have regard in their decision-making to the interests of their employees, customers and suppliers, and also to the impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment. Large companies must report annually on how their directors have met this duty. Section 172 also enables companies to amend their articles of association to adopt a purpose of their own choosing, which may include placing particular weight on environmental, stakeholder or other interests.
The United Kingdom Government is an active member of the OECD Corporate Governance Committee which regularly discusses and shares good practice on corporate governance.