Written questions by Dhesi.

Communities and Local Government, what recent steps she has taken to help support Slough Borough Council to provide adequate temporary accommodation to people who are eligible.

Homelessness levels are far too high which can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This increased funding will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and prevent rough sleeping. This brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26, a record level of funding.In December, MHCLG announced that £633.2 million will be provided to councils in England through the Homelessness Prevention Grant 25/26, of which £2,538,151 has been allocated to Slough Borough Council. This funding represents an uplift of £1,184,119 for Slough compared with 24/25 allocations, an increase of 87.5%.MHCLG’s homelessness advice and support team continue to work closely with local authorities under the highest pressures, including to develop B&B elimination plans, to reduce households being placed in bed and breakfast accommodation for longer than six weeks.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of support available to non-UK armed forces personnel.

There is a wide range of information and support available to non-UK recruits and Serving personnel on the Ministry of Defence website and intranet pages, from the single Services, the HIVE Information Centres, the Families Federations, Service Charities and on the Home Office website. This includes single Service guides and policy documents, briefings to personnel, articles in publications such as Welfare Matters and Soldier Magazine and information in: The Service Leavers Guide Service leavers' guide - GOV.UKJoint Service Publication 100: Defence Holistic Transition Policy Defence Holistic Transition PolicyDiscover My Benefits and the Families Hub Discover My BenefitsThe Home Office specific immigration rules for the Armed Forces and their families - the Appendix HM Armed Forces Immigration Rules - Immigration Rules Appendix HM Armed Forces - Guidance - GOV.UK. Information is kept under review and updated to ensure it is clear, concise and reflects current policy and rules.

What steps he is taking to reduce treatment times for musculoskeletal conditions in Slough.

Over 17 million people in England live with a musculoskeletal (MSK) condition.The Government is delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First Time MSK Community Delivery Programme, which will work directly with integrated care boards in England to further reduce MSK community waiting times, improve data, and enable referral pathways to wider support services. On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, setting out funding to boost bone density scanning (DEXA) capacity, to support improvements in early diagnosis and bone health. This is expected to provide an estimated 29,000 extra scans per year once all are fully operational. DEXA scans are a vital component for the early diagnosis of osteoporosis. The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System (ICS), along with the Frimley ICS, which together cover the Berkshire area, is also working with all providers of MSK management to reduce waiting times and improve positive outcomes and experiences for patients requiring MSK care.

What recent steps he has taken to reduce waiting times for treatment for musculoskeletal conditions in (a) Slough, (b) Berkshire and (c) England.

Over 17 million people in England live with a musculoskeletal (MSK) condition.The Government is delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First Time MSK Community Delivery Programme, which will work directly with integrated care boards in England to further reduce MSK community waiting times, improve data, and enable referral pathways to wider support services. On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, setting out funding to boost bone density scanning (DEXA) capacity, to support improvements in early diagnosis and bone health. This is expected to provide an estimated 29,000 extra scans per year once all are fully operational. DEXA scans are a vital component for the early diagnosis of osteoporosis. The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System (ICS), along with the Frimley ICS, which together cover the Berkshire area, is also working with all providers of MSK management to reduce waiting times and improve positive outcomes and experiences for patients requiring MSK care.

What recent assessment she has made of the accuracy of age determination processes at the UK border.

There is no single age assessment technique, or combination of techniques, able to determine age with complete precision, but the Government continues to work to establish the best available processes and techniques to improve the accuracy of our age assessment results.

What estimate she has made of the number of suspected age misidentifications at the UK border in each of the last five years.

There is no single age assessment technique, or combination of techniques, able to determine age with complete precision, but the Government continues to work to establish the best available processes and techniques to improve the accuracy of our age assessment results.

What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Home Affairs on the prevention of femicide.

The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government has set out a mission to halve these crimes over the next decade. This is an ambitious aim that will require a transformative approach to the way we work together across Government through the safer streets mission.We will be publishing a new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy later this year, which will cover all forms of violence and abuse which disproportionately impact women, including femicide.

Whether he plans to increase the UK's explosive ordnance disposal capacity.

The Ministry of Defence has a world leading Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search (EOD&S) capability, providing critical support not just to military operations, but also to UK resilience and security through established arrangements in support of the Home Office. Future force designs of the Royal Navy and British Army will be part of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) so it would be inappropriate to provide further detail until SDR decisions have been made.

What recent steps her Department has taken to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade.

We are committed to going further than ever before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach to tackling violence against women and girls, which will be underpinned by a new VAWG strategy later this year. We are investing £13.1 million pounds next financial year (25/26) to set up a new National Policing Centre for VAWG and Public Protection to transform the police response to these devastating crimes. Alongside that, we have begun the roll-out of domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms as part of Raneem’s Law, and launched new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in selected police forces and courts.We recently launched a package of six new measures to tackle stalking, including plans to give stalking victims the right to know the identity of online stalkers, following the formidable campaigning of Nicola Thorp.Our Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a new criminal offence of spiking, new laws to tackle intimate image abuse, and stronger arrangements for the management of sex offenders.These are just some of the crucial first steps we are taking as part of our unprecedented mission to halve VAWG in a decade.

What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the potential impact of untreated musculoskeletal conditions on levels of lost workdays.

Over 17 million people in England live with a musculoskeletal (MSK) condition, which are a leading cause of ill-health related economic inactivity, with 23.4 million working days lost across the United Kingdom in 2022 due to this. Improving health and work outcomes will help deliver the Government's missions to build a National Health Service fit for the future and kickstart economic growth. The Get Britain Working white paper sets out the Government’s plans to reform employment, health, and skills support, to tackle rising economic inactivity levels. The white paper announced the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First Time MSK Community Delivery Programme, which has been working directly with integrated care boards in England to reduce MSK community waiting times and enable referral pathways to wider support services. As part of the mission led Government, regular cross Government collaboration takes place at both a ministerial and official level.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) accessibility and (b) consistency of information on (i) rights and (ii) entitlements available to non-UK recruits.

There is a wide range of information and support available to non-UK recruits and Serving personnel on the Ministry of Defence website and intranet pages, from the single Services, the HIVE Information Centres, the Families Federations, Service Charities and on the Home Office website. This includes single Service guides and policy documents, briefings to personnel, articles in publications such as Welfare Matters and Soldier Magazine and information in: The Service Leavers Guide Service leavers' guide - GOV.UKJoint Service Publication 100: Defence Holistic Transition Policy Defence Holistic Transition PolicyDiscover My Benefits and the Families Hub Discover My BenefitsThe Home Office specific immigration rules for the Armed Forces and their families - the Appendix HM Armed Forces Immigration Rules - Immigration Rules Appendix HM Armed Forces - Guidance - GOV.UK. Information is kept under review and updated to ensure it is clear, concise and reflects current policy and rules.

What recent discussions she had with local police forces on smartphone thefts.

I refer the Hon. Member to my response to UIN 33968 and 33969 on 7th March 2025.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Pakistan on freedom of expression in Pakistan.

The UK is clear that the freedom to express views without censorship, intimidation or unnecessary restriction is a cornerstone of democracy. I raised the importance of upholding freedom of information when I met Pakistan's Human Rights Minister on 19 November 2024 and discussed the safety of Pakistani journalists in Parliament on 28 November 2024. The UK also runs the Chevening South Asia Journalism Fellowship to support South Asian journalists. The UK is committed to promoting human rights and democratic norms in Pakistan - a commitment I discussed with representatives from the UK-Pakistan diaspora on 18 February 2025. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to uphold the right to freedom of expression in accordance with international standards.

What recent discussions she has had with universities on (a) support and (b) accommodations for students who receive a cancer diagnosis during their studies.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Slough to the answer of 29 March 2025 to Question 34303.

How many cyber attacks were conducted by (a) Russia and (b) Russian-sponsored actors against (i) Government and (ii) Government-affiliated systems in the last 12 months.

The UK Government does not comment upon operational security matters.

What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on increasing economic growth in Wales.

Kickstarting economic growth is at the heart of our Plan for Change. Since coming into government, I have worked with UK and Welsh Government colleagues to drive over £1.5 billion in private investment from the likes of Eren Holding and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners into Wales, creating hundreds of jobs and laying the ground for thousands more.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the care available to young people diagnosed with cancer in Slough.

The Department recognises that cancer in children and young people is different to cancer in adults, and should be treated as such, particularly in regard to treatment, diagnosis, and wider support.The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, so that more patients survive, including children, teenagers, and young adults (CTYA).NHS England has published service specifications that set out the service standards required of all providers of CTYA cancer services. The requirements include ensuring that every patient has access to specialist care and reducing physical, emotional, and psychological morbidity arising from treatment for childhood cancer. The specifications are available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-b/b05/The Department has also relaunched the Children and Young People’s Cancer Taskforce. Dame Caroline Dinenage and Professor Darren Hargrave have been appointed as its co-chairs, alongside Dr Sharna Shanmugavadivel as vice-chair. The taskforce will examine clinical and non-clinical ways to improve outcomes and patient experience for children and young people with cancer. This will feed into the Department’s wider work on the national cancer plan in England.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with supermarkets on reducing food waste.

No recent discussions have taken place on the subject of food waste prevention between retailers and the Secretary of State. This Government is committed to setting a clear roadmap to a circular economy – a future where our resources are used as efficiently and productively as possible for as long as possible, and waste is reduced. We are reviewing policies to address the challenges associated with tackling food waste in the supply chain and we are working with businesses, including supermarkets, to drive down food waste and make sure food is put on the plates of those in greatest need. This includes supporting surplus food redistribution to charities and programmes to help citizens reduce their food waste.

What recent discussions he has had with NHS trusts on the rollout of (a) HIV and (b) hepatitis opt-out testing in A&E departments in (i) Slough constituency and (ii) Berkshire .

Two hospitals within Berkshire, namely the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, and the Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, are involved in the second wave of the highly successful National Health Service emergency department blood borne viruses opt-out testing programme, and are planning to go live on 12 March 2025. Both will be testing for HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C.We have extended the HIV opt-out testing scheme to approximately 90 hospitals based in extremely high and high prevalence areas to March 2026, with an additional £27 million investment. Decisions for offering opt-out HIV testing in emergency departments are based on HIV prevalence levels in local areas, in accordance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s recommendations on HIV testing.

What recent steps he has taken to reduce endometriosis diagnosis times in (a) Slough and (b) Berkshire.

Patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. At the end of December 2024, the Referral to Treatment (RTT) gynaecology waiting list, which includes those waiting for endometriosis treatment, stood at 586,013 across England, with 55.4% of patient pathways waiting within 18 weeks.As set out in the Plan for Change, we have committed to return to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients, including those waiting for endometriosis treatment, wait no longer than 18 weeks from RTT by March 2029. We provided additional investment in the Autumn Budget that has enabled us to deliver an additional two million appointments as a First Step to achieving this, seven months ahead of schedule.There are a range of efforts underway, nationally and in Slough and Berkshire, to reduce the time patients spend waiting for gynaecological care, as set out in the Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025.For diagnostics, this includes innovative models that offer care closer to home and in the community, and piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres (CDC) for patients with post-menopausal bleeding. In Berkshire there are four CDCs delivering activity. We have committed to build up to five additional CDCs by March 2026.We have also committed to increasing the relative funding available to support the gynaecology procedures with the largest waiting lists, including for certain endometriosis pathways, and reviewing support options from the independent sector.NHS England is also improving pathways by rolling out a series of educational webinars for primary care staff, delivered jointly by the women’s health clinical lead and specialist consultants, to embed improved management. This will support better management in primary care and appropriate referrals to specialist consultants.