Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will consider adopting or developing national guidance for NHS trusts on the management of single‑sex spaces, similar to proposals submitted to him by representatives of the Darlington nurses.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We expect National Health Service organisations to follow the law and implement the Supreme Court’s ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v. The Scottish Ministers, and to take specialist legal advice where necessary.

The Supreme Court ruling made clear in law that single-sex spaces based on biological sex must be protected and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been clear that he expects all NHS providers to follow the law.

Now the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Code of Practice for services, public functions, and associations has been laid in Parliament, NHS England is developing guidance, for instance regarding the provision and use of physical NHS staff facilities, which will be published in due course. This will advise employers on the approach they must take to ensure that their relevant policies are up to date and legally compliant.

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 ensure that NHS trusts consult staff and conduct equality impact assessments before making changes to workplace facilities that affect privacy, dignity or safety.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We expect National Health Service organisations to follow the law and implement the Supreme Court’s ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v. The Scottish Ministers, and to take specialist legal advice where necessary.

The Supreme Court ruling made clear in law that single-sex spaces based on biological sex must be protected and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been clear that he expects all NHS providers to follow the law.

Now the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Code of Practice for services, public functions, and associations has been laid in Parliament, NHS England is developing guidance, for instance regarding the provision and use of physical NHS staff facilities, which will be published in due course. This will advise employers on the approach they must take to ensure that their relevant policies are up to date and legally compliant.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for consideration of the final outcome of the UK National Screening Committee's evaluation of prostate cancer screening.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

We have accepted the recommendation of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) to introduce England's first targeted prostate cancer screening programme. The programme, rolling out in 2027, will screen men between 45 and 61 years old who have a BRCA2 gene variant and a family history of prostate, breast, pancreatic or ovarian cancer.

Alongside introducing targeted screening, the Government has announced a major package of investment of over £20 million to expand research and improve treatment. This includes committing to: provide additional funding to the jointly-funded NIHR and Prostate Cancer UK TRANSFORM screening trial to ensure all eligible Black men are invited to take part in the second stage, filling essential gaps in the evidence relating to Black men who are twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as white men; work with clinical experts to improve the guidance for general practitioners on men with a family history of cancer seeking a prostate specific antigen test if they have no symptoms of prostate cancer; invest further capital funds in focal therapies, a less invasive treatment for prostate cancer that can reduce harms from treatment, to further develop the evidence for an emerging and innovative treatment, and support the expansion in the TRANSFORM trial; and maintain the UK NSC-commissioned SCHARR model, ensuring that it can be updated as new evidence becomes available.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what safeguards are in place to ensure that public sector employees are not subject to political vetting, pressure or monitoring by internal staff networks.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

All civil servants must follow the Civil Service Code, including when acting in a volunteer civil service staff network capacity. This includes acting with political impartiality at all times. The public sector is not bound by the Civil Service Code but public sector employees will be subject to their own codes of conduct.