Written questions by Dhesi.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of endometriosis services 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.

What recent discussions she has had with Student Finance England on potential accommodations for students who have to pause studies for medical reasons.

Students who are absent from their course for more than 60 days due to illness and have agreed with their higher education (HE) provider to suspend their studies can apply to Student Finance England (SFE) to continue their cost of living support payments.The HE provider must notify SFE that the student is suspending their studies, giving the reasons for suspending and providing an agreed date of return, generally up to a maximum of one year’s absence or up to two years in exceptional circumstances. SFE will consider each case on its own merits, including the reasons for the absence, whether the student will face financial hardship during their absence, whether the student has dependants and the prospect of the student returning to the course.If a student needs to repeat a year of study due to compelling personal reasons (CPR), they may be entitled to an additional year of tuition fee funding in addition to their standard entitlement. SFE will request evidence to support a claim that the repeat year was for CPR. For instance, the student might be able to provide medical evidence from their GP. Ultimately, the decision is for SFE to make based on the evidence provided and the individual merits of each case.

If he will make an assessment of the availability of visual rehabilitation services in Slough constituency.

Ministers and officials in the Department of Health and Social Care meet regularly with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to discuss a range of issues.Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes supporting people with sight loss to develop practical skills and strategies to maintain independence.Regarding an assessment of the adequacy and availability of vision rehabilitation services, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is now assessing how local authorities are meeting the full range of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014. These assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for development, facilitating the sharing of good practice, and helping us to target support where it is most needed. This means that sensory services, including vision rehabilitation, form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care. In that context, the CQC will report on sensory services when there is something important to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement.

What steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for patients to receive mental health treatment in (a) Slough and (b) Berkshire.

We recognise that people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, including in Slough and Berkshire, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health. This includes recruiting 8,500 more mental health workers, introducing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, rolling out Young Futures hubs in every community, and modernising the Mental Health Act.

Whether she has taken steps to increase public awareness of legislation relating to access rights for (a) guide and (b) other assistance dog owners.

The Equality Act 2010 places a general duty on businesses and service providers to make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled people, including people with assistance dogs, access to goods and services so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people.The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act. It has published guidance - ‘Assistance Dogs: a guide for businesses and service providers’- to help those bodies understand what they can do to meet their legal duties to assistance dog owners.Duties and protections under the Equality Act are ultimately enforceable through the courts, and anybody who thinks that they have been discriminated against - including where access to an assistance dog has been refused - can take legal action to seek to resolve the issue. The EHRC will support people who have experienced discrimination through that process. Over the years, Ministers have held discussions with assistance dog charities about access refusals, and in particular with Guide Dogs UK, about their ‘Open Doors’ campaign which aims to achieve the fullest possible access for owners of guide dogs and assistance dogs. I fully support that campaign and the principle that Guide Dogs and assistance dogs should always be allowed access, except in the most exceptional circumstances.

What recent discussions he has had with the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the adequacy of the provision of vision rehabilitation specialists.

Ministers and officials in the Department of Health and Social Care meet regularly with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to discuss a range of issues.Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes supporting people with sight loss to develop practical skills and strategies to maintain independence.Regarding an assessment of the adequacy and availability of vision rehabilitation services, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is now assessing how local authorities are meeting the full range of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014. These assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for development, facilitating the sharing of good practice, and helping us to target support where it is most needed. This means that sensory services, including vision rehabilitation, form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care. In that context, the CQC will report on sensory services when there is something important to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of mental health workers in England.

The National Health Service workforce has been overworked for years, leading to staff becoming burnt out and demoralised and, while there has been growth in the mental health workforce over recent years, more is needed. That is why, as part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment. We recognise that bringing in the staff needed will take time. We are working with NHS England on options to deliver this commitment.More broadly, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. This plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed, to move healthcare from the hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. A central part of this will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.This summer we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need, when they need it.

What assessment her Department has made of the (a) accessibility and (b) ease of use of the delay repay systems used by each rail operator.

My Department conducts a bi-annual delay repay compensation survey which includes questions about accessibility and the ease of use of the system. The next survey is taking place this year and the results will be published in due course.

What recent discussions he has with Ofcom on Royal Mail's performance against their quality service targets.

Ministers and officials meet with Ofcom regularly to discuss a range of issues in relation to its role as the regulatory authority for the postal sector.As an independent regulator, it is for Ofcom to decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations. While the government does not have a role in Ofcom's regulatory decisions, in January, I met with representatives from Ofcom to discuss the proposed changes to the universal service obligation and the importance of Royal Mail's quality of service.

What recent steps her Department has taken to help prevent unlawful access refusals into business premises for customers who require a guide dog.

The Equality Act 2010 provides strong protection to disabled people with guide dogs in a range of settings, including when accessing business premises. It is highly likely that access refusals will be unlawful and strong remedies are available to disabled people who have experienced this and wish to enforce the law.A person who feels discriminated against may contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS), a Government-funded helpline, which is the initial point of contact for anyone with discrimination concerns. The EASS provides free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns. It also supports individuals to resolve issues using alternative informal dispute resolution and can advise on next steps when someone feels discriminated against. The EASS can also advise people who wish to take their complaint further, and can be contacted through their website at www.equalityadvisoryservice.com, by telephone on 0808 800 0082 or text phone on 0808 800 0084.Additionally, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has published guidance for businesses on their obligations under the 2010 Act - “Assistance dogs, a guide for all businesses” available at: www.equalityhumanrights.com/guidance/assistance-dogs-guide-businesses-and-service-providers

If he will take steps to increase the number of vision rehabilitation specialists in (a) Slough constituency and (b) Berkshire.

It is the responsibility of local authorities and the integrated care boards to commission therapy-led rehabilitation, reablement, and recovery services, including vision rehabilitation specialists, based on their assessment of local capacity and demand.The Government understands the importance of having effective rehabilitation services available for people who need them, to assist in recovery and to return to their day-to-day activities. Intermediate care and reablement support services, including vision rehabilitation, can play a key role in providing alternatives to hospital admission, and improve patient outcomes by providing appropriate rehabilitation and reablement options following a hospital discharge.

What recent steps her Department has taken to help prevent smart phone theft.

Set against soaring levels of snatch thefts and pickpocketing, crimes which often involve theft of mobile phones and which for too long have been neglected and not been effectively tackled, the Home Secretary recently brought together police, the National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, leading tech companies and others to drive more effective collaboration in breaking the business model of mobile phone thieves.The Summit was hugely constructive, resulting in clear commitments from attendees to work together to tackle the scourge of mobile phone theft and the organised criminality driving it. This includes significantly boosting the sharing of data and intelligence to build a comprehensive picture of the problem, driving joint solutions. All parties will re-convene in three months’ time.To aid police investigations and recovery of stolen goods, our Crime and Policing Bill includes a measure to give police the power to enter and search premises for stolen property which has been electronically geolocation tracked to those premises and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant without seriously prejudicing the entry and search purpose.The Home Office does not hold data on mobile phone theft at the level requested. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides national estimates of the number of victims of mobile phone theft in England and Wales, these data are not broken down to sub-national geographies. The latest CSEW estimates, in the year to March 2024, have been published by the Office for National Statistics can be found at the following link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables

Whether she has taken steps to record the number of access refusals to people accompanied by (a) guide and (b) assistant dogs from (i) businesses and (ii) services.

I am replying to this parliamentary question as I have responsibility for the Disability Unit which has overall policy responsibility for assistance dogs. The Disability Unit has not taken steps to record the number of access refusals of assistance dogs in businesses and services. Assistance dog charities produce some figures on numbers of access refusals although these have not been independently verified. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) also provided written evidence to the Women and Equalities Select Committee in May 2024, which included data on the number of reports received by the EHRC and the Equality Advisory and Support Service related to assistance dogs. It’s important to note that data is collected from individuals reporting incidents, therefore these figures may not accurately represent the real number of incidents.

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.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of smart phone thefts in (a) Slough and (b) the Thames Valley region in each of the last five years.

Set against soaring levels of snatch thefts and pickpocketing, crimes which often involve theft of mobile phones and which for too long have been neglected and not been effectively tackled, the Home Secretary recently brought together police, the National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, leading tech companies and others to drive more effective collaboration in breaking the business model of mobile phone thieves.The Summit was hugely constructive, resulting in clear commitments from attendees to work together to tackle the scourge of mobile phone theft and the organised criminality driving it. This includes significantly boosting the sharing of data and intelligence to build a comprehensive picture of the problem, driving joint solutions. All parties will re-convene in three months’ time.To aid police investigations and recovery of stolen goods, our Crime and Policing Bill includes a measure to give police the power to enter and search premises for stolen property which has been electronically geolocation tracked to those premises and it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant without seriously prejudicing the entry and search purpose.The Home Office does not hold data on mobile phone theft at the level requested. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides national estimates of the number of victims of mobile phone theft in England and Wales, these data are not broken down to sub-national geographies. The latest CSEW estimates, in the year to March 2024, have been published by the Office for National Statistics can be found at the following link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of continually accrued student loan interest on students when they pause their studies due to unforeseen circumstances.

UK higher education creates opportunity, is an engine for growth in the economy, and supports local communities. The department is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university.Student loans are subject to interest to ensure that those who can afford to do so contribute to the full cost of their degree.Interest is charged from the first payment of the student loan is made until the loan has been repaid in full or cancelled, with interest added to the principal balance each month. Interest will continue to accrue even if a student suspends or withdraws from their course, including for students pausing their studies due to unforeseen circumstances. Borrowers will be liable to repay after leaving study only when earning over the relevant student loan repayment threshold.After study, unlike commercial loans, student loans carry significant protections for borrowers. Regular student loan repayments are based on a borrower’s monthly or weekly income, not the interest rate or amount borrowed, and no repayments are made for earnings below the relevant student loan repayment threshold. Any outstanding debt, including interest built up, is written off at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower.

What estimate his Department has made of the adequacy of waiting times for talking therapies in (a) Slough, (b) Berkshire and (c) England.

The latest NHS Talking Therapies data for England show that as of December 2024, 91.2% of people completing treatment waited less than six weeks for their first appointment, against a target of 75%. Additionally, 98.4% of people completing treatment waited less than 18 weeks, against a target of 95%.Waiting times data for NHS Talking Therapies are not held at constituency or county level but are available at integrated care board (ICB) level through the NHS Mental Health Dashboard, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-mental-health-dashboard/Despite the challenging fiscal environment, the Government has chosen to prioritise the funding to deliver expansions of NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement & Support schemes, demonstrating our commitment to addressing the root cause of mental health issues and providing support for people with severe mental illness to contribute to the economy by remaining in or returning to work.

If she will hold discussions with the Sentencing Council on the adequacy of the Sentencing Guidelines for voyeurism offences.

Sentencing guidelines are developed and reviewed by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so. The guidelines produced provide the Court with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how culpable the offender is. As an independent body, the Council decides its own work plan and priorities. As such, the Government cannot require the Council to review particular guidelines, and it is at the Council’s discretion whether to review particular guidelines, in line with its published criteria for developing or revising guidelines. This is available on its website at: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/sentencing-and-the-council/about-the-sentencing-council/our-criteria-for-developing-or-revising.

What steps she is taking to ensure adequate support is provided to victims of rape and serious sexual offences in (a) England and (b) Berkshire.

The Ministry of Justice provides funding for vital victim and witness support services, including community-based domestic abuse and sexual violence services, in addition to core funding for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to allocate at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need.I am maintaining 2024-25 funding levels for ringfenced sexual violence and domestic abuse support in 2025-26. The Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund provides c.£20 million to specialist sexual violence support organisations across England each year, including £700,000 for activities in the Thames Valley PCC area.We have committed to introduce free independent legal advisors for victims of adult rape to help them understand and uphold their legal rights.Beyond March 2026, the Spending Review will prioritise delivering the Government’s missions.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of support provided to (a) witnesses and (b) victims by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau’s Witness Service in (a) England and (b) Berkshire.

The Ministry of Justice commissioned Witness Service has been available in all criminal court locations since 2003. The service provides practical and emotional support and information to help witnesses (including victims) give their best evidence. The Witness Service has been delivered by Citizens Advice under grant arrangements since 2015. There are rigorous and appropriate oversight mechanisms in place, and the Department is satisfied that Citizens Advice is delivering an effective and consistent service across England and Wales in line with the requirements of the grant.