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 assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of treatments for patients with rare diseases in a) Slough constituency and b) the South East.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, and we acknowledge unmet need remains, with just 5% of rare diseases having an approved and effective treatment. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, such as improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs, including in Slough. We published the fifth annual England action plan in February 2026, where we report on the steps we have taken to advance these priorities. These include:
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, with reference to paragraph 88 of the UK Government Resilience Action Plan, how many meetings Ministers in their Department have attended related to the Home Defence Programme.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has regular discussions with officials, external experts, and ministerial colleagues on a range of issues, including national security, defence, and resilience.
The Home Defence Programme was established in August 2024 to build the United Kingdom’s resilience to any potential escalation to conflict. It is an evolving and enduring programme of work which provides defence, security, and resilience planning, focused on aligning military and civil effort in the event of a period of crisis and international hostilities affecting the UK, informed by and reflecting the recommendations from Government strategies, including the Strategic Defence Review, National Security Strategy, and Resilience Action Plan.
The Department, with NHS England and health partners, is actively supporting this work. This includes working with partners to ensure the health sector has flexible, adaptable, and scalable capabilities that can respond to a range of threats such as equipment, for example stockpiles and countermeasures, medicines, and medical equipment, skilled people, such as clinicians and public health staff, and infrastructure, including technology, diagnostics, testing.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average staffing complement is for a ministerial private office within their Department; what grades those staff are appointed at; what the typical remuneration and contracted working hours are for those posts; and what the staff turnover rate is.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The average size of a ministerial private office is 5, although some private office staff are shared between two ministers, working for both. Private office staff are found at all civil service grades from EO to SCS1. Over the last 12 months there has been an average turnover rate of circa 25% for ministerial private offices.
The base annual salary for all private office staff is set by the same policy as all civil servants in the Cabinet Office, according to their grade. A non-consolidated Private Office Allowance is payable to staff working in Private Offices; rates are grade-dependent and not linked to general pay awards.
For staff appointed to the Civil service prior to the 01 April 2013, full-time conditioned hours are 36 hours. For those appointed to a post in Cabinet Office advertised on or after 01 April 2013, or who are promoted into a role advertised on or after 01 July 2013 full-time conditioned hours are 37 hours. All Cabinet Office employees can apply for flexible working, including part time working, from their first day of employment. All staff working in ministerial private offices currently work full time hours.
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 the average staffing complement is for a ministerial private office within their Department; what grades those staff are appointed at; what the typical remuneration and contracted working hours are for those posts; and what the staff turnover rate is.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The size, grading and remuneration of ministerial office staffing vary depending on the responsibilities of the Minister.
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 technical controls are in place within NHS patient record systems to prevent employees from accessing the records of family members without clinical need; and whether patients can request that named individuals be proactively blocked from accessing their records.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are systems and safeguards in place to keep patient information secure and confidential.
The National Health Service prioritises security and privacy in its handling of personal data. NHS systems operate Role Based Access Controls. This means only appropriate health and care staff can access the medical records they need to see to carry out their role in delivering care. Robust governance processes are required to ensure organisations comply with data protection law, and that access to personal data is necessary and appropriate.
All staff accessing systems which contain personal data are bound by their contract of employment and their professional codes of conduct.
There is currently no way to block named individuals from accessing the health records of family members. However, all access is audited and care settings can see which patient records their staff have accessed. This audit report can be used to investigate complaints or to perform proactive monitoring for inappropriate usage.
There is a policy allowing patients to request that access to their demographic record is restricted. This is to protect the location of patients who may be at risk. It ensures that information like the patient’s address cannot be easily accessed by any healthcare professional other than the patient’s general practice. Further information on this can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the average staffing complement is for a ministerial private office within their Department; what grades those staff are appointed at; what the typical remuneration and contracted working hours are for those posts; and what the staff turnover rate is.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ministerial private offices within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are resourced flexibly to meet business needs, and the size of individual offices varies.
Staff are appointed across a range of grades EO-SCS1.
Remuneration is in line with the Department’s published pay scales for each grade. Contracted working hours are typically 37 hours per week.
Staff turnover rates specific to ministerial private offices are not calculated.
The total number of staff currently working in ministerial private offices in the Department is 35.
An allowance of up to 18% of base salary is available to staff in private offices who meet the relevant eligibility criteria.
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 NHS ambulances are equipped with an MHRA approved anti-choking device.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At present, 'anti-choking' devices have not been adopted into routine National Health Service ambulance practice, as the current evidence base and national clinical guidance do not support their use over established techniques. As such, they are not included within standard ambulance equipment specifications.
Ambulance crews are equipped with a comprehensive range of airway management tools, including suction, oxygen, bag-valve-mask ventilation, airway adjuncts, both oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal, and, at a paramedic level, supraglottic airway devices, laryngoscopy, with the potential use of Magill forceps for removal of visible foreign bodies, and intubation equipment where appropriate. These enable clinicians to manage airway obstruction safely and in line with current clinical standards.
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 Ambulance call handlers are required to have working knowledge of (a) What Three Words and (b) the NATO phonetic alphabet.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no national requirement for ambulance call handlers to have working knowledge of What3Words or the NATO phonetic alphabet, as responsibility for delivering and implementing training to call handlers on use of What3Words and the NATO phonetic alphabet sits with individual ambulance services.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on a) turnover rates within Royal Navy catering services, b) the quality of food provided in messes, and c) sales receipts in mess facilities of returning responsibility for cooking and catering at shore‑based establishments to the Catering Services branch; and whether he has estimated the cost of phasing in such changes over time.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Royal Navy continuously reviews the catering provision provided to Service personnel to ensure this meets the standards expected. Recent initiatives have been introduced to further enhance nutrition, consistency, and customer satisfaction. There are currently no plans for the catering provision provide to shore-based establishments to be delivered by the Catering Services branch.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether police and fire call handlers are required to have working knowledge of (a) What Three Words and (b) the NATO phonetic alphabet.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police Call Handlers are not required to have working knowledge of What Three Words and the Nato Phonetic Alphabet. This is an operational matter for Chief Constables.
For matters regarding the Fire Service, I would direct my Rt Hon friend to the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government, which is responsible for fire policy.