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 help reduce regional variations in access to eye care services; and what discussions his Department has had with the optometry sector on increasing the use of community-based care.

Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.

Over the last 12 months I have met with a number of representatives across the eye care sector including The Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee, The Eyes Have It Partnership, as well as members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Eye Health and Visual impairment, which included the Hon. Member for Leicester South, to discuss primary eye care services. Officials in the Department also regularly meet with optometry stakeholders.