Written questions by Dhesi.

What steps his Department is taking with (a) the NHS and (b) stakeholders to help increase awareness of ovarian cancer.

NHS England runs the Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, and to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, including symptoms of ovarian cancer, as well as encouraging body awareness to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point. Previous phases of the campaign have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer.NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found at the NHS website.

How many people have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer through the non-specific symptoms pathway.

The Department does not hold information on the number of people diagnosed with ovarian cancer through non-specific symptom cancer pathways in the last five years. Data on cancer incidence is published by NHS England and the National Disease Registration Service, with further information available, respectively, at the following two links:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/cancer-registration-statisticshttps://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/

What recent assessment her Department has made of the level of food insecurity in (a) England and (b) the South East.

This government is committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. Statistics on the proportion of people living in food insecure households at regional level are published annually in the Households Below Average Income statistics Households below average income (HBAI) statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).

What recent steps he has taken to increase the uptake of cervical screening appointments.

A range of national improvements and innovations have been implemented to help increase uptake in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. In some areas cervical screening appointments can now be made in any primary care setting rather than just at an individual’s own general practice, with appointments being made available during evenings and on weekends and via integrated sexual health clinics. In addition, laboratories that analyse samples can now operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to accommodate surges in capacity.

What proportion of Community Diagnostic Centres are operated by private healthcare providers.

The independent sector is involved in the delivery of community diagnostic centres (CDCs), in line with the role they play in supporting the NHS as trusted partners to recover elective services. There are 170 approved CDCs, 13 of which are fully owned and operated by private healthcare providers. A further 25 of the 170 are jointly operated by the private healthcare providers and the National Health Service.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of trained radiologists within Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust as of October 2024.

NHS England publishes monthly Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. These report staff working for hospital trusts and other core organisations. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the human resources system for the National Health Service, and is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statisticsThe latest available published data, which is for June 2024, shows there are 40 full time equivalent (FTE) consultants, two FTE specialty doctors and further 11 FTE speciality registrars working in the radiology speciality group at the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust.

What assessment she has made of the current availability of fire appliances in (a) Slough and (b) Berkshire.

It is the responsibility of each fire and rescue authority to determine how to allocate funding based on its analysis of risk and local circumstances, including the availability of fire appliances. Decisions on future local authority funding will be a matter for the next Spending Review and Local Government Finance Settlement.

What steps his Department is taking to work with (a) the NHS, (b) stakeholders and (c) charities to increase awareness of ovarian cancer.

NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, including symptoms of ovarian cancer, as well as encouraging body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an early point. Previous phases of the campaign have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer.NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website.

What steps he is taking to (a) reduce disparities in access to cervical screening, (b) increase cervical screening rates and (c) improve cervical cancer outcomes within high-risk populations.

A range of national improvements and innovations are being implemented to help address disparities, and increase uptake in cervical screening. In some areas appointments can now be made in any primary care setting rather than just your general practice, are available during evenings and on weekends, and can be made via integrated sexual health clinics. In addition, laboratories that analyse samples can now operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to accommodate surges in capacity.We are currently working to see if an offer of self-sampling for cervical cancer screening would improve the uptake of people screened. As this method may reduce barriers that prevent people from engaging with the screening offer, including availability of appointments, physical disability, and past trauma.The YouScreen study which has recently been published, provides evidence on offering a self-sampling test to non-attenders in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) plans to review this study once evidence has been collated.In addition, an in-service evaluation is being commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Care Research to determine whether self-sampling could be offered as an option to everyone eligible for cervical screening. The findings from this evaluation will be used to inform any recommendations made by the UK NSC.Through cervical screening and through our human papillomavirus vaccination programme we aim to reduce cervical cancer numbers in line with the World Health Organization’s commitment for the elimination of cervical cancer.

How many service personnel receive the Continuity of Education Allowance.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the unique circumstances faced by our serving personnel and that frequent mobility can disrupt children’s education. The Continuity of Education Allowance helps by providing the children of serving personnel with a stable education that would not otherwise be available in the state-maintained day school sector, due to their family’s mobility. For Academic Year 2023-24, the MOD paid £88.6 million for Continuity of Education Allowance to support the education of 4,005 children for 2,666 Service personnel.

What information his Department holds on the number of people who have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer through the non-specific symptoms cancer pathway in the last five years.

The Department does not hold information on the number of people diagnosed with ovarian cancer through non-specific symptom cancer pathways over the last five years. Data on cancer incidence is published by NHS England and by the National Disease Registration Service, and is available respectively at the following two links:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/cancer-registration-statisticshttps://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/

What the annual cost to the public purse is of the Continuity of Education Allowance.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the unique circumstances faced by our serving personnel and that frequent mobility can disrupt children’s education. The Continuity of Education Allowance helps by providing the children of serving personnel with a stable education that would not otherwise be available in the state-maintained day school sector, due to their family’s mobility. For Academic Year 2023-24, the MOD paid £88.6 million for Continuity of Education Allowance to support the education of 4,005 children for 2,666 Service personnel.

How many children are educated with financial assistance from the Continuity of Education Allowance.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the unique circumstances faced by our serving personnel and that frequent mobility can disrupt children’s education. The Continuity of Education Allowance helps by providing the children of serving personnel with a stable education that would not otherwise be available in the state-maintained day school sector, due to their family’s mobility. For Academic Year 2023-24, the MOD paid £88.6 million for Continuity of Education Allowance to support the education of 4,005 children for 2,666 Service personnel.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of sending targeted letters directly to people who are potentially eligible to claim Pension Credit.

In November we will be writing to approximately 120,000 pensioners who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit. We will be inviting these pensioners to claim Pension Credit by the 21 December, which is the latest date for making a successful backdated Pension Credit claim and still qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment.