Written questions by Baker.

What steps his Department is taking to increase uptake of breast cancer screening in Aldershot constituency.

In Aldershot at a local level, the team will soon start trialling an animated video to promote breast screening. This has been developed in partnership with Imperial College London.On a national level, NHS England has developed an improvement plan in collaboration with key stakeholders to support local and regional uptake, which includes: expanding access and reducing inequalities by increasing the use of evidence based and evaluated interventions, focusing on low uptake areas and groups; improved data and analytics by ensuring we have the availability of population level data to show insights into uptake and support services, to deliver targeted initiatives; IT developments to continue development of the breast screening IT systems, as part of the Digital Transformation of Screening programme, and by starting a programme of work to enable people to book appointments through the NHS App; contracting and service oversight, by strengthening contracting mechanisms and performance management to monitor impact and benefits; and communication, by ensuring the programme has appropriate inclusive and accessible communication mechanisms and materials.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of NHS dentists in Aldershot constituency.

From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. According to the 2024 GP patient survey results, 81% of people who tried to get a National Health Service dentist appointment in the last two years in Frimley ICB were successful compared to 76% in England. Of those who tried to get an appointment in the last two years, 87% of existing patients were successful compared to 35% of new patients.

What (a) financial and (b) other steps his Department is taking to tackle workforce shortages in the NHS in Aldershot constituency.

The National Health Service has been facing chronic workforce shortages for years and we have to be honest that bringing in the staff and investment the NHS needs will take time.We are determined to fix our NHS and restore it to a service we are proud of. We are committed to training the staff we need to get patients seen on time.The Government is committed to making sure the NHS has the staff it needs to be there for all of us when we need it and get staff in places where patients and the NHS need them and that will benefit not just Aldershot but the whole of the NHS in England.Local employers are best placed to understand the diverse needs of their communities and subsequently manage their own recruitment to ensure they have the right number of staff, with the right skill mix, to provide the safe and effective care that their patients need.

What steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for elective surgeries in Aldershot constituency.

Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government, as we get the National Health Service back on its feet. Equality of both access to care and outcomes will be at the heart of building an NHS that is fit for the future.We have committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by the end of this Parliament. As a first step to achieving this, we will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week across the country, and will increase the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests, that are needed to reduce elective and cancer waits.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of residential care homes that have closed in Aldershot constituency since 2010.

Since 2010, the total number of residential care homes that have closed in the Aldershot constituency is 29.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of face-to-face GP appointments in Aldershot constituency.

We know that patients are finding it increasingly difficult to see a general practitioner (GP). Patients cannot get through the front door of the National Health Service, so they aren’t getting the timely care they need.We have pledged to guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one. We will make sure the future of general practice is sustainable by training thousands more GPs, ensuring increased capacity across the NHS to deliver this commitment and secure a future pipeline of GPs.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of social care capacity in Aldershot constituency.

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why 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. In performing that duty, a local authority must have regard to the need to ensure that it is aware of current and likely future demand for such services, and to consider how providers might meet that demand.The Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund includes grant conditions which require each local authority to submit an adult social care capacity plan. These were submitted to the Department in June 2024. The hon. Member's local authority, Aldershot, submitted their 2024/25 capacity plan, which is currently undergoing processing and quality assurance.

What steps his Department is taking to provide support to young people with eating disorders in Aldershot constituency.

The Department is committed to working closely with NHS England to ensure that people with an eating disorder get the care and treatment they need, when they need it. The Department will focus on improving the performance of the existing waiting time standards for Children and Young Peoples’ Eating Disorder services including in Aldershot.This will be supported by recruiting 8,500 additional mental health staff across children and adult mental health services, ensuring every young person has access to a specialist mental health professional at school, and setting up Young Futures hubs in every community, offering open access mental health services for young people.

What steps his Department is taking to increase access to mental health services in Aldershot constituency.

People with mental health issues in Aldershot and across the country are not getting the support or care they deserve, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that mental health is given the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.We will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment which will also help ease pressure on hospitals. By cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier with more timely mental health support, we can get this country back to good health.

What steps his Department is taking to provide (a) resources and (b) other support to help GP surgeries to reduce (i) patient backlogs and (ii) workloads in Aldershot constituency.

We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP), and we are committed to fixing this crisis in GPs to secure the long-term sustainability of the National Health Service. Aldershot sits within the NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board, where 84.8% of appointments were delivered within two weeks of booking, 2.1% higher than the national average.The Government has committed to fixing the front door to the NHS by shifting the focus from hospitals and into the community. We know that if patients can’t get a GP appointment, they will end up in accident and emergency, which is worse for them, and more expensive for the taxpayer.NHS England is working to address training bottlenecks, so the health service has enough staff for the future, and we have provided £82 million to fund the recruitment of over 1,000 newly qualified GPs, to increase capacity and reduce workloads.We are pleased to announce that newly qualified GPs will be included in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment, with additional funding over 2024/25.

What steps he is taking to increase access to NHS dentistry in Aldershot constituency.

This Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

What steps his Department is taking to enable GP surgeries to provide additional services in Aldershot constituency.

General practices are able to provide Directed Enhanced Services and Enhanced Services by opting in, and will receive payment for these services separately to global sum payments. As commissioners of primary care, integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning Local Enhanced Services, which are not agreed nationally and can vary in scope and funding to fit local needs.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) GP and (b) dental provision in Aldershot constituency; and what plans he has to improve that provision.

We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP) or National Health Service dentist, and we are committed to fixing the the crisis in primary care to secure the long-term sustainability of the NHS, and increase access to local services including those in the Aldershot constituency. Aldershot sits within the NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB), where the percentage of GP appointments delivered within two weeks of booking is 3.2% lower than the national average. Our annual statistics show that in 2023, only 40% of the adult population in the Frimley ICB were seen by an NHS dentist in the last two years, compared with 41% nationally.Our plan to restore GPs will require both investment and reform. We have committed to training thousands more GPs, ending the 8:00am scramble for appointments by introducing a modern booking system, and trialing new neighborhood health centers to bring community health services together under one roof. Furthermore, the Government will also bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to see the same patient. The Government will also tackle the immediate dental crisis with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and to recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most.

If she will make a comparative assessment of the adequacy of school funding per pupil in (a) Aldershot constituency and (b) the rest of the country.

The overall core schools budget will total £61.8 billion in 2024/25. Average per pupil funding in England, as allocated through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), is £5,957. The DSG is allocated at local authority level, and as such the equivalent figures are not available for Aldershot constituency. For Aldershot constituency, the notional national funding formula (NFF) average per-pupil funding is £5,447. That is calculated based on the notional schools NFF allocations for all mainstream schools in the constituency. The allocations that schools within a constituency actually receive are determined by the local funding formula in their area. The funding figures for Aldershot constituency are based on the constituency boundaries before the July 2024 general election. All of the figures provided include premises funding, but exclude growth funding. The figures do not include the additional grant funding that schools in the Aldershot constituency and across the country have received to support pay and pensions increases in 2024/25. Schools in Aldershot constituency have a lower proportion of pupils who attract deprivation funding through the NFF than the national average. The precise funding that individual schools in Aldershot constituency and across the country receive depends on each school’s unique circumstances and the decisions that it has made about how to deploy its funding.

Whether she plans to provide (a) financial and (b) other support to local community organisations to help tackle anti-social behaviour in their area.

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.We will put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can go to when things go wrong and will set out further measures in due course.The Safer Streets Fund is a crime prevention programme, helping to prevent neighbourhood crime, violence against women and girls (VAWG) and anti-social behaviour (ASB) in public spaces to ensure the public is better protected.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of armed forces accommodation in Aldershot constituency; and what plans he has to improve that accommodation.

There are 3,406 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties in Aldershot, and it is assessed that 3,290 (96.6%) of these currently meet or exceed the Government wide Decent Homes standard. However, the Ministry of Defence recognises poor quality housing is an issue for Service Families and continues to champion investment to improve this. There are 4,657 Single Living Accommodation (SLA) bedspaces in Aldershot, of which 3,077 (66%) are assessed as Grade One (the highest grade) for condition. SLA within Aldershot is maintained in good condition under the Project Allenby Connaught Private Finance Initiative. SLA at Gibraltar Barracks is maintained in good condition under the Holdfast Training Services Public Private Partnership. An SLA Expert Group, including Defence Infrastructure Organisation and Top Level Budget representatives is continuing to evolve Defence Minimum Standard measures to improve the quality of SLA. There are no major works planned on SFA or SLA in the current financial year.