Written questions by Allin-Khan.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including breast density in medical data collection, in the context of diagnosing breast cancer.

The UK National Screening Committee is currently reviewing the evidence surrounding breast density in screening.Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including breast cancer, is a priority for NHS England. To support early detection and diagnosis, the National Health Service carries out approximately 2.1 million breast cancer screens each year in hospitals and mobile screening vans, usually in convenient community locations.

What assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of healthcare provision in HMP Wandsworth.

Healthcare services at HMP Wandsworth underwent inspection, jointly undertaken by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and the Care Quality Commission, in May 2024. The joint inspectorate noted that improvements had been made across the provision of healthcare since the last inspection. The full report is available at the following link: https://hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_reports/hmp-wandsworth-3/ NHS England continues to monitor service provision and the quality of the healthcare service, meeting with the healthcare provider on a quarterly basis to discuss quality and assurance matters. Quality and assurance visits to the service are also taking place, attended by the Lead Commissioner and Clinical Quality Lead.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the quality of healthcare provision across the prison estate.

NHS England’s Health and Justice Oversight Delivery Group is responsible for governance and oversight of delivery and continuous improvement in health and justice commissioned services. NHS England, via the regional health and justice teams, has regular meetings with prison healthcare providers to ensure the quality of the services that are provided.  These are also supplemented with local partnership boards, where governors, commissioners, and providers meet to discuss any issues, risks, and areas of concern. NHS England also works closely with the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman to identify themes, trends, and learning from recommendations made as part of the investigations into deaths in custody, and also takes learning and insights around preventable events from preventing future deaths reports and commissioner-led complaints. NHS England is undertaking a review of health and justice service specifications to ensure they remain fit for purpose in relation to patient needs, developments in health and justice, and the wider National Health Service. This review includes engagement with lived experience, commissioners, providers, clinical leads, partner organisations, and stakeholders, along with NHS England directorates. This review of service specifications may also provide opportunities for the improvement of the provision of services. It is expected that publication of the refreshed specifications will start in 2025, and will be fully complete by the end of March 2026.

With reference to the correspondence of 12 and 26 September 2024 from the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending to the hon Member for Tooting on HMP Wandsworth, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of installing protective netting in HMP Wandsworth to prevent drone incursions.

Additional netting is one of a number of measures that HMP Wandsworth is seeking to progress in the coming months, in order to address the shortcomings that have been identified by HM Inspectorate of PrisonsHM Prison & Probation Service is continuing to work collaboratively with the Metropolitan Police to ensure appropriate sharing of intelligence to support the apprehension of those involved in drone use.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of strengthening legal penalties for motorists at fault in hit-and-run incidents.

This Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My Department is developing our road safety strategy and will set out more details in due course.

What steps her Department is taking to improve road safety for (a) cyclists and (b) pedestrians.

This Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My Department is developing our road safety strategy, and will set out more details in due course.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department is taking steps with private mobile network operators to improve (a) mobile phone signal and (b) 5G coverage in London.

The Government wants all areas of the UK, including London, to benefit from reliable and good quality mobile coverage. Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030, and to increase 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass by the end of 2025.Vodafone, Virgin Media O2 and BT/EE have all launched standalone 5G services in London.We work closely with the mobile industry and are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition in the market.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the (a) acceptable and (b) achievable levels of S07b incident screenings for mammograms.

As part of the NHS Breast Screening Programme, S07b is the ‘screening standard’ whereby ‘incident screens’, that is any subsequent breast screen after first screen, are referred for further assessment.NHS England has advised that there is expected to be an initial light touch review of the breast screening standards by the end of March 2025, with a full review of all standards in screening year 2025/6. During the full review in 2025/26, the programme performance in ‘percentage referrals to assessment’ will be reviewed to determine whether the acceptable and achievable limits should be changed.However, increasing the thresholds for this standard, will mean that the number of women referred for follow up tests, namely biopsy, mammograms, and ultrasound, will increase, many of whom will have no cancer. Screening programmes must continue to maximise benefit while minimising harm.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the number of breast cancer diagnoses at mammogram or other early stages.

Lord Darzi’s report has set out the scale of the challenges we face in fixing the National Health Service and the need to improve cancer waiting time performance and cancer survival, including for breast cancer. In particular, he has highlighted the need to improve the number of patients starting their treatment within 62 days of referral and to increase the number of patients diagnosed at an earlier stage.The Government is committed to meeting all three NHS cancer waiting time standards across England within the next five years. Meeting these will ensure no patient waits longer than they should for diagnosis or treatment.The NHS Breast Screening Programme offers all women in England from 50 years old up to their 71st birthday the opportunity to be screened every three years for breast cancer, to help detect abnormalities and intervene early to reduce the number of lives lost to invasive breast cancer.NHS England has also developed a national plan in collaboration with key stakeholders such as cancer alliances to improve uptake within the breast screening programme. The plan sets out the priorities, interventions and monitoring of impact and outcomes to be achieved to improve uptake through: Expanding access, data and analytics, reducing inequalities, contracting, communication and IT developments.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of regulating websites that promote (a) eating disorders, (b) suicide and (c) self harm.

The Online Safety Act requires all in-scope services to swiftly remove illegal content as soon as they become aware of it. This includes content that intentionally encourages or assists suicide and self-harm, including eating disorder behaviours. User-to-user services which are likely to be accessed by children must use highly effective age assurance to prevent children encountering this material.Search services also have targeted duties that focus on minimising the risk of all users encountering illegal suicide and self-harm search content, and children from harmful but legal suicide and self-harm content.

Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to regulate websites that promote (a) eating disorders, (b) suicide and (c) self harm.

The Online Safety Act requires all in-scope services to swiftly remove illegal content as soon as they become aware of it. This includes content that intentionally encourages or assists suicide and self-harm, including eating disorder behaviours. User-to-user services which are likely to be accessed by children must use highly effective age assurance to prevent children encountering this material.Search services also have targeted duties that focus on minimising the risk of all users encountering illegal suicide and self-harm search content, and children from harmful but legal suicide and self-harm content.

What steps his Department is taking to prevent fraudulent practices by online shopping sites

DBT is implementing the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act which strengthens consumer law enforcement by giving the CMA new administrative powers, and the CMA and courts the ability to impose significant monetary penalties. The Act also updates the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, setting out new ‘banned practices’ relating to the buying, selling, and publishing of fake consumer reviews and prohibiting ‘drip pricing’. The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill was introduced on 4 September and aims to address the gap in consumer protections which allow online marketplaces to facilitate the sale of unsafe and illegal products.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce and (b) prevent fraud against consumers.

DBT supports broader government efforts to tackle fraud through its funding of Citizens Advice and National Trading Standards to advise on and enforce consumer law, including fraud.DBT is also implementing the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which strengthens consumer law enforcement powers and introduces significant new monetary penalties to better deter wrongdoers.Through the Consumer Protection Partnership, Citizens Advice run an annual Scams Awareness campaign to give consumers the skills to identify scams, share their experiences and gain the confidence to report scams. The next campaign, focusing on financial scams launches on 21 October.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK Health Security Agency's response to the recent fire at the recycling centre on Weir Road.

The UK Heath Security Agency (UKHSA) provided expertise in local health protection and environmental hazards to support the response to this incident.UKHSA engaged with other stakeholders, including the London Fire Brigade and the Environment Agency, as well as the Directors of Public Health for both the London Borough of Wandsworth and the London Borough of Merton. UKHSA assessed the impacts on air quality to inform health advice for residents, and remained involved with the incident until the fire was extinguished.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the Environment Agency's response to the fire at the Weir Road recycling centre on Saturday 7 September 2024.

The Environment Agency are responsible for the regulation of the environmental permit held by Reston Waste Management at 77 Weir Road. After being notified of the fire late on Saturday 7 September by the London Fire Brigade (LFB), Environment Agency staff worked throughout the weekend with LFB to review potential impacts to air, land and water. As the incident continued, the Environment Agency provided advice to LFB and London Boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth regarding impacts to the environment and maintained input via multi-agency meetings. Environment Agency staff attended the site on Tuesday 10th September following a large number of complaints about the smoke from the fire. Their attendance ensured that waste was being managed appropriately and no longer causing a discharge to enter the River Wandle. Officers from the Environment Agency are in regular contact with the Cllrs in Merton and Wandsworth whose Wards were affected by the fire, along with officers from those boroughs. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Environment Agency, alongside those partners. They will be working with the fire brigade to understand the cause of the fire, and the reasons why it took so long to extinguish. The London Borough of Merton is leading a formal multi-agency review of the incident and the Environment Agency will feed into this review. Alongside this, the Environment Agency is assessing the actions taken by Restons Waste Management, to understand if any more could have reasonably been done to prevent or mitigate the effects of the fire.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of basing eligibility for Free Childcare For Working Parents on household rather than individual income.

Eligibility is assessed on a per person rather than per household basis because the application is made by the individual, it aligns to the existing boundary in the tax system and means there is no incentive for the lower earner in the household to reduce their income in order to be eligible. The eligibility criteria are kept under review.

What steps her Department is taking to improve the affordability of childcare for families ineligible for free childcare for working parents.

Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high quality childcare is a priority for this government. Our focus in reforming the system will be to ensure that there are greater and more equal opportunities to access early education for every family, and that there are greater opportunities for children to thrive and develop. As an initial step, we are progressing work to deliver new places in 3,000 nurseries through upgrading space in primary schools.Families that are not eligible for the childcare entitlements for working parents may be entitled to other forms of support, including the 15 hours entitlement for disadvantaged two year olds and the 15 hours universal entitlement for three and four year olds. The universal entitlement is available to all parents of three and four year olds, regardless of income or immigration status. In terms of the disadvantaged two year olds entitlement, parents do not need to work to claim this entitlement. However, they will need to be claiming certain benefits and have a household net income of less than £15,400 per year. All two year olds with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, those in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and looked after children are eligible regardless of household income. Some two year olds with ‘no recourse to public funds’ immigration status may also be eligible subject to different income thresholds.Working families claiming universal credit can also claim up to 84% of the childcare costs back through Universal Credit Childcare. This offer can be used alongside the entitlements set out above.We will be undertaking a comprehensive evaluation programme of the expansion of childcare entitlements for working parents which will explore how families not eligible for the new entitlements experience finding and accessing childcare, including the associated costs. Further, the impact evaluation will assess how the expansion has impacted upon the quality of childcare provision and children’s development, for all children, and wider family outcomes. As per Government Social Research guidelines, evaluation findings will be available within 12 weeks of the projects being finalised. We expect the first to be available from spring 2026.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the supply of methylphenidate hydrochloride in pharmacies.

The Department has been working hard with industry and NHS England to help resolve supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved. All strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.We are continuing to work to resolve medicine supply issues, where they remain, for some strengths of methylphenidate. We are engaging with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to assess the challenges faced, and their actions to address them. We are also directing suppliers to secure additional stocks, expedite deliveries where possible, and review plans to further build capacity to support continued growth in demand for the short and long-term. It is anticipated the methylphenidate supply issues will be resolved by October 2024.In parallel, the Department has worked with specialist clinicians, including those within the National Health Service, to develop management advice for the NHS clinicians to consider prescribing available alternative brands of methylphenidate prolonged release tablets. We would expect ADHD service providers and specialists to follow our guidance to offer rapid response to primary care teams seeking urgent advice or opinion for the management of patients, including those known to be at a higher risk of adverse impact because of these shortages.To aid ADHD service providers and prescribers further, we have widely disseminated our communications and continually update a list of currently available and unavailable ADHD products on the Specialist Pharmacy Service website, helping ensure that those involved in the prescribing and dispensing of ADHD medications can make informed decisions with patients. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.sps.nhs.uk/articles/prescribing-available-medicines-to-treat-adhd/

When he plans to respond to the correspondence of 7 August 2024 from the hon. Member for Tooting on children's cancer services in the South East.

We replied to the hon. Member’s letter on 16 September 2024. We apologise for the delay in replying, as this was due to Conference.

What steps she is taking to improve neighbourhood policing.

Neighbourhood policing sits at the heart of the British policing model. It is a critical building block in helping communities feel safe.That is why we are introducing the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, restoring patrols to town centres and recruiting thousands of extra police officers, PCSOs and Special Constables, and we will set out further details in due course.