Ashley Dalton MP: speeches

Speeches

• 5 Nov 2025 · Drug-related Deaths · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington North (Charlotte Nichols) on securing this debate, and I thank all hon. Members from across the House for their wide-ranging interventions. They all raise a number of important points. The continued rise in drug-related deaths is deeply concerning, and my Department is committed to tackling it. I hope hon. Members will recognise that my presence at the Dispatch Box confirms this Government’s public health approach to drug-related deaths. I continue to work with my colleagues in the Home Office and others to bring forward measures to improve in this space. As my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington North mentioned, the latest Office for National Statistics figures show that more than 3,400 drug misuse deaths were registered in England in 2024, which is a continued increase on 2023 and over the past 12 years. In terms of the work across our four nations, I am proud to regularly attend the UK ministerial drug and alcohol forum, and I work closely with my counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, having recently met them just in September. I will continue to work with them in future. Many drug deaths are preventable, and this Government are committed, through our health mission, to ensuring that people live longer, healthier lives. Through our safer streets mission, we are also determined to make our communities safer, more secure and free from the violence caused by the illicit drugs market. We know that many people struggling with a drug problem are already at the sharpest end of inequality, often with multiple and complex needs; there are strong links between drug use, prison, deprivation and homelessness. The Government’s work to tackle drug-related deaths and to fund and improve drug treatment and recovery services can therefore also contribute to reducing social inequalities. We are committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug problem can access the help and support they need, and that they are provided with evidence-based, high-quality treatment. Treatment is protective, and is the safest place to be for anyone with a drug problem. In addition to the public health grant, in 2025-26 the Department of Health and Social Care is providing local authorities with an additional £310 million to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services. As a result of increases in funding, there are now nearly 345,000 people in structured treatment in England, which I am pleased to say is the highest number on record. However, patterns of drug use are always changing, and my Department remains alert to the need to tackle new threats. We recently launched a public awareness campaign informed by new patterns of drug use, focusing on the dangers presented by synthetic opioids, ketamine and THC vapes. That campaign includes online films and targets 16 to 24-year-olds, following a worrying rise in the number of young people being harmed by drugs. It highlights particular risks, including the potentially irreparable damage that ketamine can cause to the bladder; the danger of counterfeit medicines purchased online containing deadly synthetic opioids; and the risk from so-called THC vapes, which often contain dangerous synthetic cannabinoids such as spice rather than THC. We are distributing resources to local public health teams, drug and alcohol treatment services, youth services, schools and universities, and we remain alert to the wider threat posed by synthetic opioids. We are working with other Government Departments to enhance surveillance and early warning, improving our ability to respond to this threat. We have established new data streams, including collecting information on deaths linked to nitazenes through laboratory testing and ambulance call-outs in which naloxone was administered. As a result, we have a much closer to real-time understanding of current levels of prevalence and harms. In addition, we have provided data to local areas on factors related to drug and alcohol deaths, and we are developing a self-assessment toolkit that local areas can use to identify where to focus more on these issues and on interventions that are known to reduce the risk of drug-related deaths. The first quarterly report of data from those sources has now been published on the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System’s website, and a weekly report is released to local authorities. We also know that many people struggling with drug addiction have multiple and complex physical health needs. Together, these issues can be mutually reinforcing, making treatment and support much more complex and often increasing people’s risk of overdose. We are developing plans to improve care pathways between drug treatment and services for physical healthcare needs, such as heart and lung disease, as recommended by Dame Carol Black; and intervening earlier and treating co-occurring physical health conditions to reduce drug-related deaths and improve outcomes. We are also looking again at naloxone, the opioid reversal medication, which is a key pillar of the Government’s response to drug-related deaths. Last year, this Government made changes to legislation to enable more services and professionals across the UK to supply that medication without a prescription, making it easier for people at risk and their loved ones to access. We intend to consult soon on further steps to expand access to this lifesaving medication. I once again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington North for securing this debate on such a critical issue. The Government are committed to reducing the harms that illicit drugs cause to both individuals and wider society. The Department of Health and Social Care will continue to champion a harm reduction and public health approach to drug-related harms. Many of these deaths are avoidable, and I am confident that the steps we are taking will put us in a stronger position to tackle this complex issue. Question put and agreed to.

• 30 Oct 2025 · Moles: Histological Testing · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) for this important debate and all hon. Members who have contributed. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Neath and Swansea East (Carolyn Harris) for raising the report by the APPG for beauty and wellbeing; I look forward to considering it in the new year. I thank the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson), for raising the issues of sun damage and sunbeds. I am exploring options with respect to those issues and will report to Parliament as necessary. Let me say how sorry I was to hear about the heartbreaking circumstances of Zoe’s story. My sympathies are with her family. I was honoured to meet them and hear their story at first hand earlier this month, and I am glad to see some of them in the Public Gallery today. I commend their campaigning in Zoe’s name. I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the personal experience of my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) with stage 2C malignant melanoma. I commend his courageous efforts to share Zoe’s story alongside his own. From awareness-raising, better regulation and improved diagnostics, all the way through to fundamentally reforming the NHS, we will seize every opportunity to learn from preventable and unnecessary tragedies like Zoe’s, to help to save the lives of others. The last time that I checked, the petition for Zoe’s law had received almost 40,000 signatures and many more people will have seen Zoe’s story in the news. Just a couple of weeks ago, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister paid tribute to Zoe’s family for their work. I commend all those who have raised awareness of skin cancers through Zoe’s story, because the faster and earlier that people are diagnosed with skin cancer, the faster they can begin treatment and the more effective that treatment can be. The Government are taking steps to promote awareness of signs and symptoms through the NHS’s “Help Us Help You” campaigns, which aim to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and encourage body awareness, helping people to spot symptoms earlier. Let me also take this opportunity to further promote the NHS’s clear and accessible information about how to check moles. That guidance is available to everyone on the NHS website and makes it easier for people to recognise when they should seek medical advice. Most importantly, however, Zoe’s story demonstrates that even when someone does the right thing and raises concerns with their GP, accurate referrals to cancer services need to be in place. Let me stress that every patient should receive the thorough, compassionate and safe care that they deserve. Our GPs also need support to catch potentially deadly illnesses, including skin cancer, sooner. That is why, as a number of hon. Members mentioned, we recently introduced Jess’s rule, a new patient safety initiative designed to support GPs in making timely diagnoses. In practice, it means that if a patient returns to their GP three times with symptoms that are either worsening or still undiagnosed satisfactorily, GPs are asked to reflect, review and rethink. The aim is to make sure that no warning sign is missed and that every patient receives the attention they deserve. I want to reassure hon. Members and others that the Government are committed to ensuring the highest standard of patient care by equipping healthcare professionals with the latest best practice clinical guidance. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence provides evidence-based guidance for the NHS on best practice. NICE has published several guidelines that include recommendations related to the diagnosis, assessment and treatment of skin cancer, including a guideline on referrals for suspected cancer, which was updated in May. Our commitment to best practice means that histological testing on excised moles is already routine practice in the NHS. There is not NICE guidance for the cosmetic industry, because it is not NHS-funded, but I know that the safety of the cosmetic sector is of significant interest to colleagues. Many Members will no doubt be all too aware of the devastating consequences of a wide range of unsafe cosmetic practices. Since I met Zoe’s family, my office has written to colleagues at the Department for Business and Trade to get a better sense of practice and to explore what it is possible for us to do in this space. My Department will also consider whether Zoe’s story can be incorporated into action that we are taking to improve the safety of the cosmetic sector as a whole. We are prioritising developing legal restrictions on high-risk cosmetic procedures, to ensure that they can be performed only by suitably qualified and regulated healthcare professionals who are working for providers registered with the Care Quality Commission. Additionally, we will introduce a local authority licensing scheme in England for lower-risk cosmetic procedures. Licensing will enable us to embed rigorous safety training and insurance standards in the sector, and enable action to be taken against practitioners who fail to comply with the requirements. These measures will allow people to be confident that the practitioner they choose to perform their procedure has the skills to do so safely. It is important to note that for the majority of skin cancer patients, diagnosis and treatment occur in a timely manner. To ensure that we continue to improve our strong performance and survival rates, we are spending £600 million of capital funding this year on diagnostics. That sum includes, for the first time, funding for the automation of histopathology laboratories to improve productivity. Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, we exceeded the faster diagnosis standard for skin cancer in August, when more than 80% of patients received an all-clear or a cancer diagnosis within 28 days. The 62-day cancer waiting time for skin cancer was 84.9%—the standard is 85%, so it was just shy—and the five-year survival rate for melanoma is now around 92%. However, we know there is more to be done. In the longer term, as part of our 10-year health plan, we are ensuring that the NHS is able to harness the power of technological innovation to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all cancers, including skin cancer. By using innovative technologies such as teledermatology, in which a high-resolution photograph is taken of the skin and sent directly to a dermatologist, we are increasing diagnostic productivity and reducing waiting times for skin cancer patients. We will ensure that no one waits longer than they should.

• 30 Oct 2025 · Moles: Histological Testing · Hansard source

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  The majority of those services are provided through community diagnostic centres. I do not have any figures to hand but I am more than happy to write to the hon. Member with whatever figures we have available. Within those services, we have recently begun testing AI-based platforms to triage patients following referral from primary care. I have seen at first hand how useful AI can be in flagging potentially risky images so that the consultant can prioritise and explore them. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk takes a keen interest in those developments. Further roll-out of AI in the NHS for this purpose will be subject to assessments of clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, which are ongoing, but I can say from first-hand experience that it offers a very exciting opportunity and falls distinctly within our ambition for the shift from analogue to digital. Although immediate action is essential, we recognise that bold reform is needed if we are to rise to the growing challenge that cancers of all types present. We will publish the national cancer plan in the new year to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next 10 years. We have received over 11,000 responses to our call for evidence from individuals, professionals and organisations, and we are reviewing the submissions from skin cancer partners. Publication has been delayed by about six weeks to ensure that all the responses are properly considered in the plan. Our expansive engagement will allow the national cancer plan to have patients at its heart. The plan will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West again for bringing this important matter to the House, and I thank all Members who have contributed. I am pleased to assure them that we are undertaking immediate actions to learn from Zoe’s story. Combined with our bold reforms to create a health service that is fit for the future, we will reduce the number of lives lost to the biggest killers, including skin cancer.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  At national level, a number of initiatives support service improvement and better care for patients with migraine. The Getting It Right First Time neurology programme published a national specialty report that made several recommendations to improve recognition and diagnosis of migraine by GPs. Additionally, the RightCare toolkit sets out key priorities for improving care for patients with migraine, including correct identification and diagnosis, and NHS England has established a multi-year, clinically led neurology transformation programme—so, lots.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, and I offer my sympathy and best wishes to Jules and her family. Of course, I commend her awareness-raising work, which is really important. Her experience is one of the reasons why we are rolling out targeted lung screening and starting to use artificial intelligence to detect discrepancies in screening.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Acute Myeloid Leukaemia · Hansard source

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  Absolutely. The new progress, particularly around circulating tumour DNA, is really interesting, and we are moving forward with more investment in research so that we can bring forward more such treatment.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Acute Myeloid Leukaemia · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question and offer my best wishes to his constituent Ruth in her treatment. I thank him for bringing her story to my attention. I really do appreciate—perhaps more than most—the urgency of the matter. Although I am unable to comment on individual cases, I understand that one of my ministerial colleagues will be writing to the right hon. Gentleman directly on this matter in the very near future.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Acute Myeloid Leukaemia · Hansard source

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  This Government are committed to improving survival for blood cancers, including acute myeloid leukaemia. We are raising awareness, delivering more research, and improving early diagnosis. Blood cancer is the third biggest cancer killer, and the fifth most common cancer in the UK. That is why we are committed to developing a national cancer plan, with patients at its heart, covering the cancer plan from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care. Having consulted with key stakeholders and patient groups, I confirm that that plan will be published early in the new year.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Cancer Diagnoses · Hansard source

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  This Government are investing an extra £26 billion in the NHS, opening up community diagnostic centres at evenings and weekends and delivering 5 million more appointments to catch cancer earlier. We are making progress: 135,000 more patients have already had cancer diagnosed or ruled out within the 28-day target compared with the previous year—a lot done, and a lot more to do.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Cancer Diagnoses · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, but I think he might be mistaken. We are opening more CDCs than ever before—I have lost count of the amount of CDCs we have been invited to open—and we are making sure that people have access to diagnostics in their community, from hospital to community, with the most access that there has been for some years.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Cancer Diagnoses · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her question and her well wishes. We are taking cancer detection seriously in general practice, and there is work to do. It is why we have recently launched Jess’s rule, which is a patient safety initiative that means when patients return three times with worsening or undiagnosed symptoms, GPs must reflect, review and rethink. That could include a second opinion, episodic continuity of care or ordering additional tests. I wish her constituent the very best and offer her my sympathies in her diagnosis.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme · Hansard source

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  I reiterate my deepest sympathies to all those who have experienced harm following vaccination and to their families. I recognise many of the concerns that campaigners have raised regarding the vaccine damage payment scheme. Their input will shape our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme and I will keep Parliament updated as appropriate.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme · Hansard source

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  The vaccine damage payment scheme is not a compensation scheme but a one-off payment. It is important to state that. As I have said, we recognise that there are concerns, which campaigners have raised, and their input is shaping our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme. All vaccines in the UK are authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which is an independent body recognised globally for its high safety standards. This Labour Government base our decisions on scientific fact, unlike Reform, which has still not apologised for platforming dangerous anti-vax conspiracy theories. I can only assume that it is less interested in protecting people than it is in alarming folk for political advantage.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Postural Tachycardia Syndrome · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. As we know, guidelines are only as strong as the evidence and research that they are based on. We need systematic, robust data to determine which treatments and interventions are most effective. While we are backing our life sciences sector to come up with tomorrow’s treatments for long-term conditions, we are also directly funding research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The NIHR is currently backing a study, known as the LOCOMOTION study, with more than £3 million to examine the connection between long covid and autonomic nervous system disorders, especially PoTS. The NIHR funds research proposals through open competition, based on their scientific quality, value for money and impact on patients. The NIHR welcomes research proposals, and I appeal to any researchers to apply with proposals for PoTS-related research that this Government could fund. We want to see proposals and fund those that can be brought forward. Those researchers’ work could be life-changing for thousands of people across our country. Locally developed care pathways are clearly important for supporting people with PoTS, because they help to address the condition’s unique challenges.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Postural Tachycardia Syndrome · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member pre-empts the end of my speech, where I was going to say that I would be more than happy to meet specialists in this area to discuss how we can move forward. It is important that today’s debate is the beginning of our conversation, not the end of it. The Government are focused on standardising and co-ordinating care across different settings so that local pathways can address systemic challenges, especially the inconsistent referrals that many people with PoTS face, as has been raised today.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Postural Tachycardia Syndrome · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre (Cat Smith) for bringing forward this important issue. This place is vastly enriched by our experiences, and it is nothing short of inspiring how my hon. Friend’s diagnosis has led her to become a passionate advocate for the PoTS community, raising awareness and holding the Government to account. I thank her for sharing her story and Elise’s case with me. I assure my hon. Friend and Elise that tackling health inequalities is my No. 1 priority as the Minister for Public Health and Prevention. I also thank many hon. Members for their interventions and for sharing their constituents’ stories. Given this short debate, there is not time to respond to each intervention—I will not even attempt to do so—but I assure hon. Members that their points have been noted and that their presence today is testament to the importance of the issue for hon. Members on both sides of the House. I recognise that people with PoTS wake up and confront every day through sheer willpower, and that showering, cooking and walking to the corner shop each become small expeditions that need endless rest and planning. We are determined to help improve their lives. Postural tachycardia syndrome, more commonly known as PoTS, is not a rare condition. It affects around 120,000 people in the UK. It is a debilitating, multi-system disorder that can significantly impact someone’s quality of life. As my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre points out, the path to a PoTS diagnosis is often a long and arduous one, filled with frustration and misdiagnosis as patients fight to be heard. Even after a diagnosis is made, patients may struggle to access the services that they need due to a lack of specialist care and limited understanding among health professionals. That results in long delays in treatment, often leaving those affected unable to work or live their lives. I turn to the specific issues raised by my hon. Friend, starting with guidance. For too long, patients have faced systemic barriers to care and an unacceptable postcode lottery for support. It cannot be right that in modern Britain, where someone happens to be born determines the care that they receive. She rightly points out that that inequality is rooted in the lack of clear national guidance for healthcare professionals. Without guidance from bodies such as NICE, clinicians often lack the confidence and know-how to identify and manage this complex condition effectively. There are some reasons for the difficulty in providing such guidance, including the amount of available evidence, the fact that PoTS is often managed with lifestyle changes, and the overlap with other conditions such as long covid and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, which can bring similar debilitating symptoms. All those issues can make the development of clearcut guidelines challenging. However, in its clinical knowledge summary on blackouts and syncope, NICE sets out in black and white a clear definition of PoTS with the right tests to diagnose it, and symptom-based management. NICE has also published guidance that mentions PoTS in relation to other conditions, such as its guideline on ME/CFS, which acknowledges the overlap between these syndromes. Several other organisations, including PoTS UK and the international Heart Rhythm Society, provide information too. Services for long-term conditions such as PoTS are commissioned locally through integrated care boards. That approach gives local clinicians the flexibility that they need to tailor services to the specific needs of their communities. Providing a PoTS specialist service is a fundamental part of the ICBs’ statutory role in planning and delivering health to the people they serve, and when an ICB fails to meet its statutory functions, NHS England has a range of proportionate enforcement powers. Let me be clear: we expect NHS England to hold ICBs to account by demanding that they provide clear assurance on how they are meeting their responsibilities, and where they are failing people with PoTS—let me say this very clearly, publicly, now—we expect them to rectify it.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Postural Tachycardia Syndrome · Hansard source

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  As the hon. Member is probably aware, the Government are working hard to develop policies to support people, particularly people with health conditions, into work. These issues are being raised through the “Get Britain Working” plan, which my right hon. and hon. Friends in the Department for Work and Pensions are bringing forward. Working to support people with any long-term health condition, including PoTS, is a crucial part of the Government’s effort to improve the economy and get Britain working. The hon. Member’s comments are noted. We are determined to improve patient outcomes and ensure more tailored and efficient care that acknowledges the complexity of PoTS, beyond just a single specialty. The Government’s 10-year plan for health not only deals with prevention, but offers potential for people with PoTS through the increased focus on community-based rather than hospital care, through the better integration of services, and through our analogue to digital shift and improvement of digital tools. Given that PoTS is frequently co-morbid with ME/CFS, the final delivery plan for ME/CFS, which the Government published this summer, will have a positive impact for many PoTS patients too. I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre for securing the debate. As I said, I hope that this is the beginning of our conversation, and that we can continue to discuss how we can ensure we are delivering for people with PoTS as we work towards building an NHS that is fit for the future. Question put and agreed to.

• 2 Sept 2025 · Defibrillators · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank all hon. Members who have contributed to the debate. It has been really well attended, with over 20 Back-Bench contributions. I also thank the Front-Bench spokespeople for their contributions. I will try to respond to all the issues raised, but there have been a tremendous number, so if I cannot respond to them all, I will write to hon. Members on any that I do not cover. I recognise the individuals who have been honoured by hon. Members, particularly Tom Sharples, Naomi Rees-Issitt, Dylan Rich and his family, and Andrew and Jeanette, all of whom have been appropriately recognised. I also particularly thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) for securing the debate. I was sorry to hear how his mum needed emergency resuscitation when he was a child, and I offer my deepest sympathies on the death of his friend and colleague, George Smith. A cardiac arrest can be an incredibly frightening experience for a person and their loved ones. My hon. Friend knows that rapid access to defibrillators can be the difference between life and death. As he said, early defibrillation within three to five minutes of collapse can increase a person’s chances of survival by as much as 50% to 70%. Thanks to data collected by the British Heart Foundation, we know that AEDs are only used around one in 10 times where they could have saved a life. I am pleased to update the House on what the Government are doing to drive that figure upwards. Our 10-year plan for health is shifting the focus of our NHS from hospitals to community. It is right that local communities are leading the way through public bodies, businesses and charities. I commend the hard work of London Hearts, AED Donate and the Community Heartbeat Trust and other organisations raised today. Forgive me if I miss some of them: Hearts for Herts, Lucky2Bhere, Stargate & Crookhill Community Centre, Lechlade Lions, Friends of Frome Hospital, the Daniel Berg Foundation, Southport Saviours, the Paul Alan Project, Evanton Residents’ Association and Lauren’s campaign. There are many more organisations and projects working hard to improve access to AEDs for all. There are now more than 110,000 AEDs across the UK registered on the Circuit, the independent AED database backed by the NHS. The Circuit continues to see a regular increase in the number of defibs registered. I was delighted to hear hon. Members talk about encouraging defib guardians in their areas to register. More than 30,000 have been added in the past two years alone and we look forward to more. As my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland highlighted, more than 3,000 were provided by the Department of Health and Social Care’s community defibrillator fund. My hon. Friend also rightly pointed out gaps in provision across the UK. As someone who represents a rural constituency, I completely understand his position and that of hon. Members from other rural communities, many of whom spoke in today’s debate. That is why we have partnered with Smarter Society, which has helped us get AEDs to communities with the greatest need where they have the greatest impact. That includes remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and hotspots for cardiac arrests, such as sporting arenas, venues for vulnerable people and deprived areas. We fully funded the first 100 devices distributed by the Smarter Society, and have committed to supporting communities by matching the funds they spend on defibrillators pound for pound. Local communities will determine where defibs are kept for the best response to the needs of their communities. Unfortunately, defibs sometimes get stolen and communities are best placed to decide whether they should be in locked cabinets. Some charities, such as the British Heart Foundation, insist that devices they provide are kept unlocked. My hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Douglas McAllister) made the interesting suggestion that the theft or damage of a defib should be a specified offence, which I will raise with relevant Ministers. If the defibrillator is registered on the Circuit, the national AED network, the guardian will receive regular reminders to record checks on the AED. To support maintenance, the Circuit sends guardians notifications and records when an AED is used, so as to notify the guardian that pads will need to be replaced. Many hon. Members referred to training. AEDs are designed to be simple yet lifesaving devices that anyone can use without formal training. That said, training can help people use defibrillators with greater confidence. The NHS runs training sessions on first aid, CPR and the use of defibrillators in communities and schools, to support Resuscitation Council UK’s “Restart a Heart” initiative. The NHS England has trained more than 35,800 adults and children in CPR and defibrillation in the past 13 years, and more than 2,100 people since January 2025. NHS England also runs workshops in harder-to-reach communities and ethnically diverse groups, training more than 400 people this year. I was interested to hear the shadow Minister’s comments about women, and some people’s reluctance to use defibs. I will speak to the Minister responsible for women’s health about how that can be improved. Many Members raised ambulance response times, which the Government are determined to improve so that people can be reassured that help is on the way. Our urgent and emergency care plan commits to reducing ambulance response times for category 2 incidents to 30 minutes on average this year. We are tackling unacceptable handover delays by introducing a maximum 45-minute standard, ensuring that ambulances are released more quickly and get back on the road to treat patients. I am pleased that in the region of my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland the latest figures show that average response times for category 1—the most serious, life-threatening cases—were six minutes and 13 seconds, which is faster than the national standard of seven minutes. The hard work of paramedics, clinicians and NHS staff makes that possible, and I commend them for that. We will continue to do all we can from Government to support those improvements and reduce variation in response times across the country. Many hon. Members who spoke today raised the issue of VAT on devices and parts. I do not want the provision of defibrillators in communities to be a matter of cost—I will discuss that with Treasury colleagues. Decisions on VAT are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor. I will make sure that Treasury colleagues are aware of the issues raised in this debate today. The Government will continue to keep the matter under review. My hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland spoke powerfully about the prevention issues. Anyone who has read our 10-year plan for the NHS will know that he is pushing at an open door on that with this Government, because our ambition to cut premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by a quarter within a decade is a key tenet of our 10-year plan. We are making that shift from treatment to prevention. While we are tough on treating cardiac arrest, we will act on what public health doctors call the “causes of the causes”, with action on smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and access to green spaces for exercise. This year we have set targets for integrated care boards to increase the percentage of patients with GP-recorded CVD who have their cholesterol levels managed to safer levels. Almost nine in 10 people with GP-recorded hypertension in England had their blood pressure checked in the last year, and more than two thirds had their blood pressure treated to target in the last year. The NHS health check programme engages over 1.4 million people and, through behavioural and clinical interventions, prevents around 500 heart attacks or strokes a year. We are also making the shift from analogue to digital. To improve the programme’s uptake and engagement we are developing the NHS health check online, which will be available through the NHS app. The Opposition’s shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson), spoke about the national curriculum review. I will ensure that the issues are raised with my colleagues in the Department for Education. I was very interested to hear the ideas and thoughts of the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for Chichester (Jess Brown-Fuller), on innovation; I commit to exploring that further. I once again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland for securing this important debate. I look forward to working with him long into the future to get stuff done. I hope we have shown that the Government are committed to shifting the focus from hospital to community, moving care closer to people through community-based initiatives and targets, and embracing the digital transformation of the NHS. Together those shifts will mean healthier communities, more lives saved and an NHS fit for the future.

• 22 Jul 2025 · Metachromatic Leukodystrophy Screening · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising this matter. Lily’s story really lays bare the heartbreak that rare diseases can bring and the vital role that early diagnosis can play. I am happy to meet my hon. Friend and Lily’s family. May I suggest that we meet when the UK National Screening Committee has completed its review, so that the Government have received advice on this important matter? We can then discuss that advice together.

• 22 Jul 2025 · Metachromatic Leukodystrophy Screening · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue and congratulate his constituent David Kiddie on the 190-mile walk he completed earlier this year to raise awareness and funds for those with MLD and their families. The Government are committed to listening to those with MLD and their families and acting with compassion and care to support them. The UK National Screening Committee, which advises the Government on all screening matters, is consulting on the outcomes of an evidence review looking at whether to screen for MLD.

• 22 Jul 2025 · Metachromatic Leukodystrophy Screening · Hansard source

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  As the hon. Lady points out, for Teddy and Lily it is sadly too late for that treatment. That is why we are looking at screening. I would be delighted to meet with Teddy’s family once we have the outcome from the screening review.

• 22 Jul 2025 · 10-Year Health Plan: Prevention of Ill Health · Hansard source

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  We are already delivering. As I have said, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is making its way through Parliament at the moment. We are tackling the obesity crisis through tackling junk food advertising to children. We are working on school food standards, and we are also bringing in rules around planning for junk food establishments near schools. We are supporting people to make healthier choices when it comes to alcohol, and we are tackling air pollution, which particularly affects working-class communities. The list goes on and on, and I would be more than happy to give the hon. Member another list if he needs one.

• 22 Jul 2025 · 10-Year Health Plan: Prevention of Ill Health · Hansard source

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  There is nothing covert about the decisions on the Fleming Fund. It has been perfectly open and clear that the existing funding has been cut. Having said that, the work and partnerships that have been developed on AMR continue. The UK continues to be a global leader on this issue, and our ambassador, Dame Sally, continues to do sterling work on it.

• 22 Jul 2025 · 10-Year Health Plan: Prevention of Ill Health · Hansard source

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  The 10-year health plan sets out how we are transforming our approach to preventing ill health through a set of ambitious measures that make the healthy choice the easy choice. Among those measures is our mandatory partnership with food businesses, through which we will make shopping baskets across the country healthier, and our landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill, to help deliver our ambition for a smoke-free UK by gradually ending the sale of tobacco products across the country.

• 22 Jul 2025 · 10-Year Health Plan: Prevention of Ill Health · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her question and commend the work she has done on this issue and her wonderful contribution to the Westminster Hall debate that I responded to recently. It is a really important issue and something we are keen to explore further. The Secretary of State and I would be delighted to meet with her and other campaigners.