Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether steps his Department has taken to reduce waiting times for palliative radiotherapy treatment.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that patients are waiting too long for cancer treatment, and we will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer on time or earlier, treating it faster, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system. We will also be spending £70 million on new radiotherapy machines, to ensure the most advanced treatment is available to patients who need it.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of NHS clinical oncologists that will be required for each of the next five years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We remain focused on the continued delivery of education and training, to ensure that patients receive timely, high-quality care delivered by the right professionals, including for clinical oncologists. This includes refreshing our Long Term Workforce Plan demand forecasts, based on the Government’s stated objectives and financial settlements for the National Health Service.
We continue to recruit priority medical specialties, including clinical oncologists. As of October 2024, there are over 1,800 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the speciality of clinical oncology in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 120, or 7.4%, more than last year, almost 470, or 34.9%, more than 2019, and over 770, or 74.5%, more than in 2010.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to increase the number of clinical oncologists working within the NHS.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We remain focused on the continued delivery of education and training, to ensure that patients receive timely, high-quality care delivered by the right professionals, including for clinical oncologists. This includes refreshing our Long Term Workforce Plan demand forecasts, based on the Government’s stated objectives and financial settlements for the National Health Service.
We continue to recruit priority medical specialties, including clinical oncologists. As of October 2024, there are over 1,800 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the speciality of clinical oncology in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 120, or 7.4%, more than last year, almost 470, or 34.9%, more than 2019, and over 770, or 74.5%, more than in 2010.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 meet national targets on urgent cancer referrals.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As we set out in our new plan for reforming elective care, we are committed to improving performance on cancer waiting times to meet national targets. Further details will be set out in our recently announced dedicated National Cancer Plan and the National Health Service’s annual operational planning guidance.
We have launched a call for evidence, seeking contributions from individuals and organisations to help shape this plan, including ideas on how to meet national targets. The call for evidence can be accessed at the following link:
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Pakistan on press freedom within Pakistan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a champion of media freedom and proud member of the Media Freedom Coalition. We are deeply concerned by restrictions on media freedom in Pakistan and regularly raise this issue at the highest levels. I underlined the importance of upholding freedom of information when I met Pakistan's Human Rights Minister on 19 November, and discussed the safety of journalists in Parliament on 28 November. We will continue to advocate for improved legislation and stronger institutions to enable a free and independent media and ensure the safety of journalists.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on human rights in Pakistan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Promoting human rights is an important part of the UK's diplomatic engagement in Pakistan. I raised the importance of upholding civil and political rights with senior Pakistani Ministers, including the Minister for Human Rights and Interior Minister, during my visit to Pakistan in November. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people in accordance with Pakistan's Constitution and international standards.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help increase the number of construction apprenticeships in (a) Slough constituency and (b) the South East.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government has committed to widening the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer, which will provide greater flexibility to employers and learners across the country, including in Slough and the South East. It will also align with the industrial strategy, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, such as construction.
As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country and providing high quality entry pathways for young people.
In addition, as part of this government’s ambitious plan to rebuild Britain and deliver 1.5 million homes in England in this Parliament, 32 new Homebuilding Skills Hubs will deliver fast-track training in critical areas such as bricklaying, groundwork, and site carpentry to boost housebuilding and drive forward the government’s growth mission. Hubs will be established in areas where large-scale homebuilding projects lead to a surge in demand. These Hubs will help deliver around 5,000 more construction apprenticeship places per year by 2027/28, through a £140 million industry investment to get Britain building again.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps she is taking to ensure that privately owned e-scooters comply with the law.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has previously written to micromobility retailers to remind them of their responsibility to provide their customers with accurate information about the legal restrictions on e-scooter use. The DVSA Market Surveillance Unit also carries out surveillance of e-scooter retailers to ensure they are being supplied in line with current legislation. When the MSU observes non-compliant advertising, they act to rectify this.
Until any changes are brought forward and come into effect, private e-scooters remain illegal to use on public roads, cycle lanes and pavements, and rental e-scooters can only be used in national rental e-scooter trial areas.
Law enforcement, including the enforcement of law on the road is an operational matter for the police, who will decide how to deploy available resources in dealing with all the issues for which the force is responsible, taking into account any specific local problems and demands.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve (a) the provision of and (b) access to palliative care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services that integrated care boards (ICBs) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
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 and end of life care needs of those in their local population, thereby enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities.
We have committed to develop a 10-year plan, to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, and as part of this we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.
I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders on 3 February 2025 to discuss the long-term sustainability of palliative and end of life care, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has plans to introduce legislation on the use of e-scooters.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the depth of public concern about the longstanding question of regulation for e-scooters and the need to address it. We intend to deliver an integrated transport system that reduces emissions, improves journeys, and gives people choice over how they travel, and we are carefully considering how micromobility, including e-scooters, can help to deliver these objectives.
The trials of rental e-scooters are due to run until May 2026 and will help to build our evidence base and inform options for future regulation. Findings will be published once the evaluation of the trials has finished.
No decisions have been taken on regulating private e-scooters, but the Department for Transport has committed to consulting on any future regulations before they come into force so that all interested parties have the chance to shape the new regime.