Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 increase the number of community diagnostic hubs in South Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are delivering additional, digitally connected, diagnostic capacity in England, providing patients with a co-ordinated set of tests in the community in as few visits as possible, to enable fast and accurate diagnoses
CDCs help to separate urgent and elective care, providing additional capacity in the community and relieving pressure on hospitals.
As of September 2025, CDCs are now delivering additional tests and checks on 170 sites across the country and have delivered over 9.4 million tests, checks and scans, including large, standard, and hub and spoke models, since July 2024.
The Elective Reform Plan sets out that the Government will deliver additional CDC capacity in 2025/26 by expanding a number of existing CDCs and building up to five new CDCs. The locations of both new and expanded CDC schemes will be confirmed in due course. This is funded as part of the £600 million of capital investment for diagnostics in 2025/26, which my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in the June 2025 statement.
There are no CDCs in the South Shropshire constituency. However, there is a CDC in Telford, the Shropshire CDC. Constituents may also have access to diagnostic services at the Royal Shrewsbury and Robert and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospitals. Diagnostic services are also available in the community hospitals run by the Shrewsbury Community Health NHS Trust in Bridgnorth, Ludlow, and Whitchurch, as well as the health centre in Oswestry.
CDCs, even if not local to a constituent, will add capacity to the wider integrated care system. They, therefore, benefit more than just those patients immediately close to them.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements during corporate restructuring in safety-critical sectors in the context of the Employment Tribunal correction in Unite v MAEL.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government cannot comment on individual cases. In addition, the Government is unable to assess sector-based trends on the use of non-disclosure agreements as they are private contractual agreements and data on their use is not collected.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve access to palliative care in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that there are inequalities in access to palliative care and end of life care in rural areas and the Government is looking at how best to reduce these.
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
The statutory guidance outlines areas for consideration when commissioning services, which makes reference to improving equity of access and reducing inequity in outcomes and experience.
NHS England has also developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.
The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to support community pubs.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We recognise the vital role pubs play as social hubs within communities, fostering connections while driving local economies and supporting high streets. That’s why we’re investing £440,000 with Pub is The Hub to help rural pubs diversify, aiming to support rural communities, create new jobs and services.
We are planning on introducing reforms to premises licensing to simplify outdated rules, making it easier and more affordable to run hospitality venues and to allow communities to thrive. These proposals will include a National Licensing Policy Framework. A Call for Evidence closed on 6 November. We are now analysing responses at pace.
We are also creating a fairer business rates system, including permanently lower rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties under £500,000 rateable value and through the English Devolution Bill, we have introduced a strong new ‘right to buy’ to help communities safeguard valued community assets, empowering local communities to reclaim and revitalise empty shops, pubs, and community spaces, helping to revamp our high streets and eliminate the blight of vacant premises.
We continue to work closely with the sector, including through the Hospitality Sector Council, working together to address the challenges facing all hospitality businesses.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to support independent specialist education colleges.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the role special post-16 institutions play in providing specialist education in the further education (FE) sector, catering for young people whose needs cannot be met in general FE colleges.
We have been clear that a more inclusive education system is needed to give children and young people the opportunities they need to achieve and thrive. There remains a crucial role for specialist providers, not only in supporting children and young people with particularly complex needs, but also in building capability across the system.
The department supports independent specialist education colleges through regulatory approval, funding and guidance. Colleges can apply to join the Section 41 approved list, giving families the right to request them in an education, health and care plan and ensuring compliance with the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice.
The department also provides high-needs funding for eligible institutions, alongside local authority contributions, and issues guidance on safeguarding, governance and curriculum standards.