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 access to sexual health services in Slough constituency.

Local authorities in England, including Slough Borough Council, are funded through a ring-fenced public health grant (PHG) to commission comprehensive, open access sexual health services. Therefore, it is the responsibility of local authorities to decide on spending priorities based on the blend of service access that best suits the needs of their population.

For 2025/26, we are increasing funding through the PHG to £3.858 billion. This is a cash increase of £198 million compared to 2024/25, providing local authorities with an average 5.4% cash increase and 3.0% real terms increase. This represents a significant turning point for local health services, marking the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending between 2016 and 2024.