The Rail Minister often tells me that the art of answering questions on transport is to have all the detail at your fingertips. I must disappoint the hon. Gentleman, as I do not have the specific answer he seeks, but I promise him that I will go away, find out and come back to him.

Cheltenham train passengers have a continual frustration with the turnaround time at Gloucester. There is also a new frustration: I wonder whether the Secretary of State or a Minister can tell me why so many trains due to terminate at Cheltenham unexpectedly terminate at Gloucester?

The Government acknowledges the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives, their relationships, and their participation in education and the workforce.

Endometriosis is identified as a priority condition in the Renewed Women’s Health Strategy, where women experience unacceptably long delays to diagnosis, pain being dismissed, and fragmented care.

Clinical pathways for heavy periods and pelvic pain, including endometriosis, will be redesigned to reduce repeat appointments, unnecessary referrals, and long waits.

The strategy also announces a new programme to improve education for girls about their menstrual health, investing an additional £1 million to support targeted work in schools and community settings to support girls’ knowledge about menstrual health and when to seek healthcare. This is an important factor in delays in diagnosis and treatment for endometriosis.

Menstrual problems, including those caused by endometriosis, are prioritised as one of the first pathways to be delivered through community-based services and the new virtual hospital, NHS Online.

These measures will support women across the country with endometriosis, including in Gloucester.

With over one million young people not in education, employment and training, this Government will not leave an entire generation of young people behind. The Government is investing an additional £2.5 billion over the next three years into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy. This investment will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn, including through expanded network of Youth Hubs, earlier intensive support in Jobs Centres through a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, additional work experience and training opportunities, a £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant and £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for employers, and a fully funded six month job for long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds.

We also recognise the crisis of participation that Alan Milburn has so clearly laid out in his interim report. We will use this interim report to continue to build our reforms and look forward to final recommendations in the Autumn.

No estimate is available of the number or proportion of people aged 16 - 24 years who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in constituencies. The survey used to estimate 16-24 NEETs has too small a sample to produce robust estimates at this level. Estimates of the 16-24 NEET rate in English regions are available at Get Britain Working: Labour Market Insights April 2026 - GOV.UK

The lifelong learning entitlement (LLE) will replace and transform the existing student finance system for higher education at Levels 4-6. It will support this ambition by making modular provision eligible for funding for the first time.

An equality analysis was published about the LLE in 2023 and is available on GOV.UK. A subsequent equality analysis was published alongside the Lifelong Learning (Fee Limits) Regulations 2026 that were laid before the House on 18 May 2026.

The department expects the LLE to have a positive impact on mature learners and for them to benefit from the ability to use their student finance entitlement more flexibly.

The department has not made an estimate of the impact on mature student enrolment, or local upskilling opportunities specifically in the Gloucester constituency.

In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24, as we have successfully rolled-out the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents.

30 hours per week of government funded childcare will save families using their full entitlement up to £8,000 per eligible child per year.

Coram–PACEY’s 2026 Childcare Survey shows the expansion of government funded entitlements in 2024/25 brought the cost of a part-time childcare place for eligible working parents back to what it was in 2005. It additionally found that the expansion of 30 hours of funded childcare significantly reduced costs for eligible working parents in England, in some cases making part time childcare effectively free during term time.

For 2026/27 the local authority funding rates per hour for Gloucester are:

Under 2-year-olds: £11.35, 2‑year‑olds: £8.37, 3 and 4‑year‑olds: £6.03.

A pre-evaluation assessment was conducted by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) to examine the feasibility of different evaluation designs for assessing the efficacy of the Turnaround Programme. It was concluded that despite considerable efforts it would not be possible to deliver a randomised controlled trial (RCT) or quasi-experimental design (QED) evaluation of the Turnaround programme as it was not possible to establish an appropriate comparator or control group. It has therefore not been possible to assess the impact of Turnaround on reoffending rates, either nationally or at constituency level. The YEF report is available at: https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Turnaround-Evaluation-Pre-Evaluation-Assessment.pdf

However, evidence from an independent implementation and process evaluation of the Turnaround programme shows that, as of December 2024, only 7% of children who completed Turnaround interventions across England and Wales had offended as proven by a judicial decision or caution within 12 months of completion. This figure is published in the Turnaround Programme – Independent process and implementation evaluation report available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/turnaround-programme-independent-process-and-implementation-evaluation-final-report

A regional breakdown of offending outcomes for children who took part in the Turnaround programme based on programme management information has also been published by the Ministry of Justice, covering the period of January – December 2023. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/turnaround-programme-management-information

The Government understands the importance of reliable bus services in enabling people to stay connected and access education, work and vital services. We are committed to delivering better bus services and the Bus Services Act 2025 puts passenger needs, reliable services and local accountability at the heart of local bus services by putting the power back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in Gloucester.

The Government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term in the Spending Review, confirming over £3 billion from 2026/27 to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services for millions of passengers. This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities under the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year, ending the short-term approach to bus funding and giving councils the certainty they need to plan ahead to improve services for local communities.

Gloucestershire County Council will be allocated £24.9 million under the LABG from 2026/27 to 2028/29, in addition to the £8 million they received in 2025/26. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, including expanding services and improving reliability.

Apprenticeship starts in Gloucester so far for the 2025/26 academic year (August 2025 to January 2026), along with earlier full academic year data, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/cb43461e-e56d-4442-3041-08dec5ee8a21

These figures are published in the Apprenticeships statistics publication, which can accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships

The department is investing to expand support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) across the system, with a focus on strengthening inclusive mainstream provision. This includes £1.6 billion over three years through the Inclusive Mainstream Fund, alongside over £200 million to train all staff to better identify and meet pupils’ needs.

This investment will help settings deliver high‑quality, adaptive teaching and put in place early, evidence‑based support, ensuring children can access the help they need without delays.

In addition, we are investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships to develop a new ’Experts at Hand’ offer, strengthening mainstream education through improved access to specialist advice and support such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists. Gloucestershire has been allocated £4,605,308 in year one.

The Government and the National Health Service are taking steps to ensure that all people in England living with cancer can access timely and quality care, including in Gloucester.

NHS England aims to empower individuals with choice and control over their health and care through personalised care, focusing on promoting independence, good health, and well-being. This includes provision of information, empowering people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer. Where appropriate, every person diagnosed with cancer, including in Gloucester, will have access to personalised care, including a needs assessment, a care plan, and health and wellbeing information and support.

The National Cancer Plan, published in February 2026, aims to redesign cancer services around people’s lives, not just around hospitals, recognising that more people are living for longer with and beyond cancer and need ongoing, coordinated support. More cancer care and support will be delivered closer to home, including a universal digital-first prehabilitation offer, expanded supportive oncology, greater use of virtual monitoring, with growing opportunities for treatment and follow-up in community settings where safe and appropriate. In addition, the NHS will ensure patients have a named neighbourhood lead to help coordinate their care locally, working alongside hospital specialists to provide continuity, reduce fragmentation, and make it easier for people to navigate services.

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 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.

Local authorities are responsible for handling fly-tipped waste on public land that is less than 20 tonnes or a tipper load of waste.

The Environment Agency focuses on large-scale illegal waste activity and will use the £45 million to strengthen enforcement capability, including operational capacity, partnership working and digital tools.

The Government’s Safer Streets Mission sets a clear expectation for policing to deliver safer communities and improved public confidence. An effective, well-supported police service is central to achieving this.

Published statistics show that Gloucestershire Constabulary had a total of 1,349 full-time equivalent police officers at 30 September 2025.

This data is collected by police force area only; more specific information, such as officer numbers in each parliamentary constituency, is not collected.

It is for Chief Constables, directly accountable to the relevant Police and Crime Commissioner or Mayor, to make operational decisions on how best to allocate and deploy the resources at their disposal to provide an effective service.

The Government’s £30million crackdown to tackle cash intensive businesses such as barber shops, vape stores, mini-marts and sweet shops is empowering law enforcement agencies, local authorities and community partners to protect our high streets. This includes disrupting criminal activity such as money laundering and illegal working, and supporting local businesses. The package will improve multi-agency enforcement capability and operational coordination across partners.

In parallel, the High Street Organised Crime Unit is developing a long- term strategic response to stop this criminal activity from happening in the first place. Monitoring and evaluation will be implemented where appropriate and proportionate as the Unit’s policies develop.

Services may be cancelled altogether or terminated short for a number of reasons, including infrastructure issues, trespass, inclement weather, or issues relating to the train operator such as crew shortages.

In most instances, terminating services short at Gloucester will be to minimise wider disruption for customers, and where Great Western Railway, CrossCountry and Transport for Wales services run frequently to Cheltenham to allow customers to complete their journey.

Between 1 Jan 2025 and 30 May 2026, 6,357 services were planned to run between London Paddington and Cheltenham. 210 (3.30%) services terminated short, of which 190 (2.99%) were terminated short at Gloucester.

Gloucester is served by the South-Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT). In the year 2023/24, average Category 2 response times were 42 minutes and 50 seconds. In the year 2024/25, average Category 2 response times worsened, to 45 minutes and 25 seconds.

However, the most recent National Health Service performance figures for SWASFT show that the year-to-date, from April 2025 to February 2026, the average Category 2 response time has been 34 minutes and 50 seconds, showing considerable improvement this financial year.

Data shows that a significant Attainment 8 gap between selective grammar schools in Gloucester and non-selective schools, with a 30+ point gap between the highest (Denmark Road, 72.9) and lowest scoring (Gloucester Academy, 36.6) schools. Grammar schools drive the locally authority average (50.3 compared to the national average of 46). Schools with lower attainment 8 scores serve more disadvantaged populations locally.

Overall secondary attendance trend in the Gloucester constituency is improving, increasing from 90.4% in 2023/24 to 90.9%, in 2024/25. Note the national average is 90.9% and local authority average is 91.5%.

Overall, Ofsted ratings demonstrate an improvement trend in schools in Gloucester. Holmleigh Park and Gloucester Academy have improved from an ‘Inadequate’ Ofsted judgement, to ‘Good’. The department continues to work closely with local partners to closely monitor this continuing trend of improvement.