Decisions on recruitment and employment are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are working closely with NHS England, employers, and educators to improve the transition into the workforce.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

Chichester, Fishbourne, Bosham, Nutbourne and Southbourne provide step-free access between the street and platform. Assistance is available for passengers requiring support, including the use of boarding ramps by station or onboard train staff where required.

At Chichester station, both platforms remain accessible via separate step-free entrances while the lifts connecting the platforms via the station subway are temporarily unavailable due to safety concerns. Work to install a secondary power supply is nearing completion and, once complete, the lifts are expected to return to service.

The Department for Transport has plans in place and underway with industry to adapt to, and mitigate, the risks of extreme weather caused by climate change. Network Rail, as the infrastructure manager of Britain’s railways, has the main responsibility for maintaining the integrity and safety of the rail network to ensure passenger and freight services can operate reliably.

Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2029, Network Rail will invest £2.6 billion in activities and technology that will help it better cope with extreme weather and climate change. Network Rail published its regional weather resilience and climate change adaptation (WRCCA) plans for 2024-2029 in April 2024. These explain how weather and climate change can affect its infrastructure at a more targeted, local level.

Information on these publications, including Southern's (which covers Chichester) can be found here:  https://www.networkrail.co.uk/sustainability/climate-change/climate-change-adaptation/.

Public ownership is not a silver bullet but a vital step towards rebuilding trust and pride in our railways. The Department expects all operators, both public and private, to deliver good performance for passengers.

Department for Transport Operator (DFTO) officials monitor service performance across all operators, including those returned to public ownership, and works with them to improve reliability, punctuality, and passenger experience on all routes including those serving the Chichester constituency. Due to seasonal variations, it will take time for the impact of public ownership to be fully reflected in performance trend data.

Train services at Chichester are operated by Greater Thameslink Railway (GTR) under its Service Agreement with the Department for Transport . Chichester often features in GTR’s social media and marketing activity. For the summer, their activity will encourage travel to south-coast destinations, including Chichester and the wider Arun Valley / West Sussex area, through spotlighting key attractions across the network such as Chichester Cathedral and the seaside. Campaigns will highlight some of the offers and ‘value for money positives’ available to customers aimed at making rail an attractive and affordable choice during the peak summer months.

Proposals to improve the A27 in Chichester were removed from the Third Road Investment Strategy’s pipeline of potential future major enhancements due to significant affordability and deliverability challenges.

The proposals had been developed over a number of years, and had taken account of responses to the 2016 public consultation by, among other things, including additional options such as technical consideration of a northern route.

The Department and National Highways recognise the importance of the A27 as a key route across the south coast of England, and National Highways will soon be refreshing its Route Strategies. These are the evidence base which underpins future investment planning, and they will consider the current pressures on, and future needs of, the route.

Proposals to improve the A27 in Chichester were removed from the Third Road Investment Strategy’s pipeline of potential future major enhancements due to significant affordability and deliverability challenges.

The proposals had been developed over a number of years, and had taken account of responses to the 2016 public consultation by, among other things, including additional options such as technical consideration of a northern route.

The Department and National Highways recognise the importance of the A27 as a key route across the south coast of England, and National Highways will soon be refreshing its Route Strategies. These are the evidence base which underpins future investment planning, and they will consider the current pressures on, and future needs of, the route.

Proposals to improve the A27 in Chichester were removed from the Third Road Investment Strategy’s pipeline of potential future major enhancements due to significant affordability and deliverability challenges.

The proposals had been developed over a number of years, and had taken account of responses to the 2016 public consultation by, among other things, including additional options such as technical consideration of a northern route.

The Department and National Highways recognise the importance of the A27 as a key route across the south coast of England, and National Highways will soon be refreshing its Route Strategies. These are the evidence base which underpins future investment planning, and they will consider the current pressures on, and future needs of, the route.

Proposals to improve the A27 in Chichester were removed from the Third Road Investment Strategy’s pipeline of potential future major enhancements due to significant affordability and deliverability challenges.

The proposals had been developed over a number of years, and had taken account of responses to the 2016 public consultation by, among other things, including additional options such as technical consideration of a northern route.

The Department and National Highways recognise the importance of the A27 as a key route across the south coast of England, and National Highways will soon be refreshing its Route Strategies. These are the evidence base which underpins future investment planning, and they will consider the current pressures on, and future needs of, the route.

Approximately 4,650 premises in the Chichester constituency were included in the initial scope of the Project Gigabit contract for East and West Sussex, which is being delivered by CityFibre.

Building Digital UK (BDUK) and CityFibre have since agreed not to progress with the later stages of the contract which are not yet in delivery. This is due to commercial coverage extending further than suppliers had previously indicated, meaning fewer premises now require public subsidy and therefore, the contract was redesigned to minimise overlap with commercial plans and ensure best use of public money.

Following this decision, almost all premises in Chichester have been descoped from the contract. Of the descoped premises, approximately 1,760 already have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection and around 400 are currently included in future commercial delivery plans.

As with other areas, BDUK is working to put in place alternative coverage solutions as soon as possible for the remaining premises which still require support. A market engagement consultation for suppliers was published on 1 June to confirm supplier interest in relation to the premises that still need coverage in the affected areas.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning continence services in their areas. These services include assessment, treatment, and, where clinically appropriate, the supply of continence products.

For Chichester residents, the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust (SCFT) is commissioned to provide continence care for both housebound and ambulatory patients. For ambulatory patients, SCFT is actively seeking an additional service location so that patients with catheters are able to access catheter care at a venue most suitable to them.

SCFT works closely with general practices in the area to understand those patients who need support at home. The continence care service is provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week by SCFT's community nursing teams, Urgent Community Response, and overnight service.

The Surrey and Sussex ICB and SCFT continues to work together to monitor performance and ensure this important support is available for local people.

No assessment has been made of the adequacy of access to miscarriage services in the Chichester constituency.

The University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust operates a recurrent miscarriage clinic across all its sites, including at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester.

The recurrent miscarriage service is delivered as part of the trust’s gynaecology outpatient pathway, and patients are referred via their general practice and triaged to the most appropriate clinic and site within the trust. The recurrent miscarriage service is typically available for patients who have experienced recurrent miscarriage as per National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, but in practice, referral decisions may also consider clinical judgement and individual risk factors.

The Government recognises that, for children and young people in distress or experiencing mental health difficulties, such as situational mutism, timely access to high-quality, early support is essential.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including for Children and Young People Mental Health Services (CYPMH) in the Chichester constituency. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning CYPMH for local populations. In doing so, ICBs are expected to be evidence-based, by assessing and responding to the needs of their local communities, and to ensure services are provided equitably.

More widely, as prioritised in our Medium-Term Planning Framework, we are taking action to reduce the longest waits for specialist mental health support, tackling regional disparities, and expanding access, by making services more productive and reducing waiting times. Further to that, we are taking action to improve community mental health support, including through accelerating the rollout of mental health Support teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029, and investing in hubs.

Finally, the new Mental Health Strategy for England will be published later this year. We have launched a Call for Evidence to inform the development of the strategy, which is open for eight weeks and will close on Friday 10 July.

According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations reporting, as of January 2026, 81% of premises in Chichester have access to gigabit coverage, an increase from 72% in January 2025.

For the remaining premises within East and West Sussex that are not within the scope of suppliers’ commercial plans, including those in Chichester, BDUK is working to put in place coverage solutions as soon as possible through Project Gigabit, in line with the government’s commitment to achieve nationwide gigabit coverage by 2032. A market engagement consultation for suppliers was published on 1 June to confirm supplier interest in relation to the premises that still need coverage in this area.

My Department does not hold data on average service charges in Chichester.

I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 27 January 2026 (HCWS1278) and to the draft Impact Assessment for the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill which can be found on gov.uk here.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.