Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of trends in levels of funding available on deaf victims and survivors of crime.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As part of ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, the Home Office committed to deliver specialist VAWG Helplines across England and Wales alongside 1-1 advocacy support for victims of VAWG who are least likely to be able to access support locally.
The competitions to deliver this £24 million investment closed on 31 July 2026. As the competitions are still ongoing, we are unable to comment on the details beyond what has already been published. However, we can provide assurance that the Home Office is working to ensure there is no gap in provision between existing services including for disabled people and the services awarded through the competition.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increased use of optometrists to provide commissioned eye care services beyond the testing of sight, including post-operative cataract care, acute eye care services and glaucoma detection and monitoring, to increase capacity within hospital eye services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the ophthalmology specialism, which includes cataract services, 73.8% of patients were waiting within 18 weeks as of June 2026, with six of seven regions already meeting the March 2027 target of 70%.
Integrated care boards are responsible for deciding whether to commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of regional variation in access to cataract services, including waiting times for assessment and treatment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the ophthalmology specialism, which includes cataract services, 73.8% of patients were waiting within 18 weeks as of June 2026, with six of seven regions already meeting the March 2027 target of 70%.
Integrated care boards are responsible for deciding whether to commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2026 to Question 11285, and with reference to the report entitled UK National Screening Committee, Screening for prostate cancer, whether his Department is taking steps to estimate the cost of identifying new BRCA2 variant carriers.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department estimates that there are approximately 1,500 men currently known to have both a BRCA2 gene variant and a family history of breast, pancreatic, ovarian, or prostate cancer who will be eligible for the targeted prostate cancer screening programme. The Department has not estimated the costs of identifying additional BRCA2 variant carriers, as the UK National Screening Committee, which advises the Government on all screening related matters, did not recommend proactively identifying BRCA2 carriers.