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 discussions he has had with integrated care boards on reducing waiting times for breast cancer treatment in Slough constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government and the local integrated care board (ICB) has taken action to reduce waiting times for breast cancer treatment. This includes expansion of one-stop breast clinics and improved access to breast imaging. Action has also been taken to use enhanced digital triage to prioritise highest-risk cases. Moreover, targeted action has been taken to reduce the proportion of patients diagnosed at stage 3 or stage 4, with early signs of improvement in the timeliness of staging and biopsy results.
Additionally, there are plans for extended-hours breast imaging sessions for Slough Community Diagnostic Centre after the scheduled opening in March 2026. Moreover, action has been taken across the local ICB to safeguard capacity for triple assessment and surgery. Participation in the national AI-enabled breast cancer early detection programme will help to support improved accuracy and faster reporting.
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 he is taking to increase the proportion of written parliamentary questions which receive answers within within the usual time period.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with train operators on steps taken to prevent sexual offences from occurring on the rail network.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Everyone should be able to use the rail network without fearing for their safety. As part of the government’s Safer Streets mission we have a commitment to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade.
The Department works with all operators through the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) on their work to prevent sexual offences across the rail network, including funding the initial launch of the RDG’s Zero Tolerance campaign in 2021.
Furthermore, the Department has implemented contractual changes to improve the steps operators take to prevent VAWG on the network, including requiring operators under public ownership to ensure their public-facing staff complete sexual harassment training on a regular basis.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of CCTV in (a) preventing and (b) prosecuting crime committed on the transport network.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Everyone should be able to use public transport without fearing for their safety. As part of the government’s Safer Streets mission we have a commitment to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade.
On the railway, we recognise that police access to CCTV is vital to being able to identify offenders and bring them to justice, as well as to prevent crime, which is why my Department has recently announced nearly £17 million of funding to provide greater direct CCTV access from railway stations to British Transport Police (BTP).
The project, to be delivered by Network Rail in collaboration with the rail industry, will enable BTP officers to have more access to real-time footage from across the railway and help to identify sexual offenders as quickly as possible without having to request this from rail operators.
Across the bus network, as at March 2024, the proportion of buses used by local operators in England that were equipped with CCTV was 96%, a significant increase from 44% in the year ending March 2006. We will be considering the use of, and access to, CCTV on buses as part of our work on the Government’s Safer Streets mission.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve awareness of milk entitlement schemes among schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Milk is an excellent food for children’s growth and development. To help schools understand the milk entitlement schemes available to them, departmental advice is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-school-food-in-england/school-food-in-england. This includes links to the guidance on the school milk subsidy scheme and the nursery milk scheme.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure the mandatory reimbursement scheme for Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud adequately protects consumers at risk of being scammed.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this appalling crime. To protect consumers, under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has introduced a mandatory reimbursement regime for Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams taking place over the Faster Payment system. This came into force on 7 October 2024.
The details of the APP reimbursement regime are a matter for the independent PSR. The PSR monitors compliance with the reimbursement regime closely and has powers to take action where firms fall short of their obligations.
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 assessment of the adequacy of waiting times at urgent care centres in Slough constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. The Department monitors urgent and emergency care performance nationally through NHS England, and the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets commitments and improvement measures. This includes £250 million of capital funding to continue the expansion of co-located urgent treatment centres and same day emergency care to improve patient streaming and reduce overcrowding.
NHS England works with local systems to implement these improvements and ensure patients receive timely and appropriate care.
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 discussions he has had with integrated care boards on the steps they are taking to reduce waiting times for (a) ADHD and (b) autism assessments.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has recognised that, nationally, demand for assessments for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown significantly in recent years and that people are experiencing severe delays for accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future and recognises the need for early intervention and support.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to autism and ADHD assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
The Medium-Term Planning Framework, published 24 October, was explicit that ICBs and providers are expected to optimise existing resources to reduce long waits for autism and ADHD assessments and improve the quality of assessments by implementing existing and new guidance, as published.
In April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the NHS to deliver improved outcomes for people referred to an autism assessment service. NHS England has continued to support services to identify challenges and how they might overcome these. NHS England also established an ADHD taskforce to better understand the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing timely and equitable access to services and support. We are pleased that the final report was published on 6 November, and we are carefully considering its recommendations.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with transport stakeholders on the adequacy of CCTV coverage in rail stations in (a) preventing and (b) prosecuting incidents of sexual offences.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Everyone should be able to use the rail transport without fearing for their safety. As part of the government’s Safer Streets mission we have a commitment to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade.
We recognise that police access to CCTV is vital to being able to identify offenders and bring them to justice, as well as to prevent crime, which is why my Department has recently announced nearly £17 million of funding to provide greater direct CCTV access from railway stations to British Transport Police (BTP).
The project, to be delivered by Network Rail in collaboration with the rail industry, will enable BTP officers to have more access to real-time footage from across the railway and help to identify sexual offenders as quickly as possible without having to request this from rail operators.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has assessed the potential merits of introducing a statutory Code of Practice on the Sikh articles of faith to help prevent discrimination against (a) public sector workers and (b) users of public services.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Government attaches great importance of correctly applying equalities legislation in the public sector to avoid discrimination on the basis of religion or belief, one of the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) regulates equality law across England, Wales and Scotland, and human rights across England and Wales, and is independent of government. It has published Code of Practice on Equal pay, Employment and Services, public functions and associations. These Codes of Practice provide individuals, businesses, employers and public authorities the information they need to understand the Act, exercise their rights, and meet their responsibilities, including on the basis of religion or belief.