Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of NHS provision for children and young people with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder and other restrictive eating difficulties associated with autism and other forms of neurodiversity.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Nationally, NHS England’s Children and Young People’s Eating Disorder Commissioning Guidance sets out expectations for provision for children and young people with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and other restrictive eating difficulties. It broadens the scope of specialist community eating disorder services to include ARFID and expects integrated care boards to develop whole-pathway approaches, with close collaboration between community eating disorder, mental health, paediatric, and neurodevelopmental services.
The guidance emphasises personalised care and reasonable adjustments for autistic children and young people and those with other disabilities or neurodevelopmental conditions. Services should consider restrictive eating difficulties associated with food textures, sensory experiences, and trauma.
For children and young people whose eating difficulties do not meet the eligibility criteria for specialist eating disorder services, appropriate assessment, treatment, and support should be provided through collaboration with wider services. NHS England’s guidance specifically sets out that specialist children and young people’s eating disorder services should work with wider children and young people’s mental health services, community child health services, primary care, schools, and the voluntary sector to support those whose disordered eating behaviours do not meet current diagnostic thresholds for an eating disorder.
Disordered eating can be clinically significant and require intensive support even without a formal eating disorder diagnosis. This collaborative approach should help ensure that difficulties are addressed early and that children and young people receive support through the most appropriate care pathway.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that appropriate assessment, treatment and support are available to those who do not meet the eligibility criteria for children and young people’s eating disorder services.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Nationally, NHS England’s Children and Young People’s Eating Disorder Commissioning Guidance sets out expectations for provision for children and young people with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and other restrictive eating difficulties. It broadens the scope of specialist community eating disorder services to include ARFID and expects integrated care boards to develop whole-pathway approaches, with close collaboration between community eating disorder, mental health, paediatric, and neurodevelopmental services.
The guidance emphasises personalised care and reasonable adjustments for autistic children and young people and those with other disabilities or neurodevelopmental conditions. Services should consider restrictive eating difficulties associated with food textures, sensory experiences, and trauma.
For children and young people whose eating difficulties do not meet the eligibility criteria for specialist eating disorder services, appropriate assessment, treatment, and support should be provided through collaboration with wider services. NHS England’s guidance specifically sets out that specialist children and young people’s eating disorder services should work with wider children and young people’s mental health services, community child health services, primary care, schools, and the voluntary sector to support those whose disordered eating behaviours do not meet current diagnostic thresholds for an eating disorder.
Disordered eating can be clinically significant and require intensive support even without a formal eating disorder diagnosis. This collaborative approach should help ensure that difficulties are addressed early and that children and young people receive support through the most appropriate care pathway.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of General Optical Council guidance on ensuring high street opticians offer patients all clinically appropriate lens options, including short distance varifocals.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The choice of lens supplied to a patient is a matter for the optical professional and patient, taking account of the individual's clinical needs and preferences. General Optical Council standards require optical professionals to recommend appliances that are clinically justified, in the patient’s best interest, and to provide patients with information about all the relevant options in a way they can understand, to support informed decision making.
Patients who are assessed as requiring cataract surgery should be referred in accordance with relevant clinical pathways and local commissioning arrangements. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence cataract guideline, reference code NG77, is clear that access to cataract surgery should be based on clinical need and the impact of cataracts on a person's daily life. The guideline can be found at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng77
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure commercial eye care providers refer patients for NHS cataract surgery without delay.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The choice of lens supplied to a patient is a matter for the optical professional and patient, taking account of the individual's clinical needs and preferences. General Optical Council standards require optical professionals to recommend appliances that are clinically justified, in the patient’s best interest, and to provide patients with information about all the relevant options in a way they can understand, to support informed decision making.
Patients who are assessed as requiring cataract surgery should be referred in accordance with relevant clinical pathways and local commissioning arrangements. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence cataract guideline, reference code NG77, is clear that access to cataract surgery should be based on clinical need and the impact of cataracts on a person's daily life. The guideline can be found at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng77
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of whether the PE and School Sport Partnerships Network will provide equivalent school-based support to that previously funded through the Primary PE and Sport Premium, including the delivery of PE lessons, after-school clubs, sports teams and swimming provision.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Coventry South to the answer of 21 August 2026 to Question 11571.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of replacing school-based PE funding with partnership-based provision on children whose participation in organised sport is limited by financial barriers, transport availability or a lack of local sports provision.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Coventry South to the answer of 21 August 2026 to Question 11573.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of ending the Primary PE and Sport Premium on the provision of PE, extra-curricular sport and physical activity in primary schools, including where schools have used that funding to employ sports apprentices or coaches.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Coventry South to the answer of 21 August 2026 to Question 11571.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has undertaken an equality impact assessment of the decision to end the Primary PE and Sport Premium.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Coventry South to the answer of 26 June 2026 to Question 11067.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide direct funding to primary schools to enable them to continue employing sports apprentices, coaches or other staff to support PE and extra-curricular sport following the end of the Primary PE and Sport Premium.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Coventry South to the answer of 8 June 2026 to Question 4355.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in geographical variations in the availability of specialist Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome services; and whether his Department monitors disparities in access between Integrated Care Board areas.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Department recognises that there is variation across integrated care boards (ICBs) in terms of the delivery of services for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and that this affects the accessibility of specialist services. ICBs are expected to commission services that meet the needs of their local populations. Where local services are not available, people with symptoms of ME/CFS should see their general practitioner, who will be able to refer them to alternative existing services depending on their clinical needs and symptoms.