No formal assessment has been made. The Department does not hold data on waiting times for glaucoma treatment. However, for ophthalmology, which covers glaucoma treatment, as of May 2026, 74.1% of patient pathways were waiting within 18 weeks. This is an improvement of 3.9% over the past year.

We are committed to returning by March 2029 to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment across England, including for ophthalmology. We are investing in and modernising NHS services to support this, including through our new online hospital, NHS Online, which will help reduce patient waiting times across England by giving people on glaucoma pathways the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. NHS Online will deliver the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointment and assessments in its first three years across all specialities. We are also expanding the number of surgical hubs, which provide dedicated and protected elective capacity to drive improvement in six specialities, including ophthalmology.

The Home Office recognises the mental health challenges faced by people seeking asylum and has a strategic team focussing on asylum seeker mental health. This team works closely with accommodation providers, NGOs, health partners and lived experience groups to formulate a preventative approach.

We work carefully to ensure that the needs and vulnerabilities of those residing in asylum accommodation are identified and considered, including those related to mental health and trauma. We also work closely with UK health authorities to ensure asylum seekers have access to health care and that mental health matters are assessed and treated.

Decisions on whether to commission these services are for integrated care boards, which are responsible for assessing local population needs and determining how best to meet them.

The Department worked with the eye care sector to develop a standard clinical specification for the commissioning of Community Minor and Urgent Eye Care Services, and this was published in February 2024. The specification is available at the following link:

https://locsu.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/1.-CUES-Service-specification-vs-1.43-Feb-2024.pdf

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet the needs of their local populations. This can include community-based glaucoma services, delivered by high street optical practices.

The Department welcomed the publication of the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) glaucoma best practice guidance, which highlights a range of approaches to improving glaucoma care and reducing avoidable sight loss. These include making greater use of primary care optometry to undertake additional testing for patients suspected of having glaucoma to help reduce unnecessary referrals, and, where appropriate, supporting the monitoring of patients with glaucoma in the community.

The GIRFT team will be hosting a webinar for ICB commissioners on 28 July, to promote the guidance and encourage consideration of its recommendations. Decisions on the commissioning of local services will remain a matter for ICBs.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet the needs of their local populations. This can include community-based glaucoma services, delivered by high street optical practices.

The Department welcomed the publication of the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) glaucoma best practice guidance, which highlights a range of approaches to improving glaucoma care and reducing avoidable sight loss. These include making greater use of primary care optometry to undertake additional testing for patients suspected of having glaucoma to help reduce unnecessary referrals, and, where appropriate, supporting the monitoring of patients with glaucoma in the community.

The GIRFT team will be hosting a webinar for ICB commissioners on 28 July, to promote the guidance and encourage consideration of its recommendations. Decisions on the commissioning of local services will remain a matter for ICBs.

The Home Office regularly works in collaboration with local authorities and other partners including the police to ensure that accommodation sites are successfully managed and the impact upon the local community is minimised. This includes a comprehensive and ongoing approach to identifying and managing any public protection or safeguarding risks associated with individuals.

Community cohesion is fully considered in site selection. Military sites allow for dedicated on-site services, improved safeguarding, and greater oversight - reducing demand on local resources such as healthcare, reducing disruption to local communities and ensuring public safety.

As announced on 27 June, the refugee study and named community sponsorship routes will open to applications from prospective lead sponsors this autumn, with arrivals expected from autumn 2027 onwards. The new routes will operate alongside the existing UK Resettlement Scheme.

Arrivals under the new safe and legal routes will start small and build over time. The number of arrivals will be carefully managed to align with the UK’s capacity to support refugees.

The Government has introduced reforms to the protection system to ensure that protection is provided where it is needed, while also creating a fair and sustainable immigration system.

With regards to costs and legal aid provision, only people who stay on Core Protection will have their status reviewed every 30 months, with a 20-year route to settlement. Those who switch into the work and study route will be able to earn down the 20-year period.

The approach to reviewing status will be efficient and targeted; we will reassess where country conditions or personal circumstances have changed significantly. Renewal applications will be simple, negating the need for applicants to routinely require legal advice prior to applying.

We will build on efficiencies such as our policy search tool or case summarisation which are already assisting asylum decision makers. We will continue to monitor staffing levels and will deploy our workforce flexibly subject to business needs as we have done in the past.

The full details of the Core Protection offer, and the Protection Work and Study route, remain subject to further policy development which will be set out in due course.

Those who need to seek immigration advice from an immigration adviser for help regarding permission to stay in the UK (including how to check the eligibility for legal aid which can help pay for legal advice) can find information here: Find an immigration adviser - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Legal aid is overseen by the Ministry of Justice.

The Asylum and Immigration Bill provides powers to require adults who have received asylum support and accommodation to make a contribution towards those costs where they are financially able to do so. Detailed design of the scheme, including repayment thresholds, exemptions, repayment rates, mechanisms for collection and operational delivery, will be set out in secondary legislation following Royal Assent. As these elements have not yet been finalised it would be premature to provide an estimate of future revenue. The Government will set out further information in due course.

The Government has introduced reforms to the protection system to ensure that protection is provided where it is needed, while also creating a fair and sustainable immigration system.

With regards to costs and legal aid provision, only people who stay on Core Protection will have their status reviewed every 30 months, with a 20-year route to settlement. Those who switch into the work and study route will be able to earn down the 20-year period.

The approach to reviewing status will be efficient and targeted; we will reassess where country conditions or personal circumstances have changed significantly. Renewal applications will be simple, negating the need for applicants to routinely require legal advice prior to applying.

We will build on efficiencies such as our policy search tool or case summarisation which are already assisting asylum decision makers. We will continue to monitor staffing levels and will deploy our workforce flexibly subject to business needs as we have done in the past.

The full details of the Core Protection offer, and the Protection Work and Study route, remain subject to further policy development which will be set out in due course.

Those who need to seek immigration advice from an immigration adviser for help regarding permission to stay in the UK (including how to check the eligibility for legal aid which can help pay for legal advice) can find information here: Find an immigration adviser - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Legal aid is overseen by the Ministry of Justice.

The Asylum and Immigration Bill provides powers to require adults who have received asylum support and accommodation to make a contribution towards those costs where they are financially able to do so. Detailed design of the scheme, including repayment thresholds, exemptions, repayment rates, mechanisms for collection and operational delivery, will be set out in secondary legislation following Royal Assent. As these elements have not yet been finalised it would be premature to provide an estimate of future revenue. The Government will set out further information in due course.

The Government has introduced reforms to the protection system to ensure that protection is provided where it is needed, while also creating a fair and sustainable immigration system.

With regards to costs and legal aid provision, only people who stay on Core Protection will have their status reviewed every 30 months, with a 20-year route to settlement. Those who switch into the work and study route will be able to earn down the 20-year period.

The approach to reviewing status will be efficient and targeted; we will reassess where country conditions or personal circumstances have changed significantly. Renewal applications will be simple, negating the need for applicants to routinely require legal advice prior to applying.

We will build on efficiencies such as our policy search tool or case summarisation which are already assisting asylum decision makers. We will continue to monitor staffing levels and will deploy our workforce flexibly subject to business needs as we have done in the past.

The full details of the Core Protection offer, and the Protection Work and Study route, remain subject to further policy development which will be set out in due course.

Those who need to seek immigration advice from an immigration adviser for help regarding permission to stay in the UK (including how to check the eligibility for legal aid which can help pay for legal advice) can find information here: Find an immigration adviser - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Legal aid is overseen by the Ministry of Justice.

The Asylum and Immigration Bill provides powers to require adults who have received asylum support and accommodation to make a contribution towards those costs where they are financially able to do so. Detailed design of the scheme, including repayment thresholds, exemptions, repayment rates, mechanisms for collection and operational delivery, will be set out in secondary legislation following Royal Assent. As these elements have not yet been finalised it would be premature to provide an estimate of future revenue. The Government will set out further information in due course.

We expect a phased transition, in which the First Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) continues to hear existing appeals, in parallel with the new Independent Immigration Appeals Authority taking on new cases. This will ensure continuity and help address backlogs as quickly as possible.

Health services are a devolved matter and arrangements for the commissioning and delivery of primary eye care services differ across the United Kingdom, although the Government recognises the value of learning from the different approaches to the delivery of eye care services across the United Kingdom.

In England NHS funded sight testing services are widely available for eligible groups, including children, people aged 60 years old and over and individuals on income related benefits. Integrated care boards can also commission enhanced eye care services from optical practices, including minor and urgent eye care services and glaucoma services.

The Ministry of Justice is taking forward the development of an Older Prisoners Strategy, in line with the recommendation of the recent Independent Sentencing Review. As part of this work the Department is engaging closely with NHS England, health and social care partners, third sector organisations, academics and scrutiny bodies. This includes engagement with providers, organisations and practitioners involved in end of life and palliative care, alongside consideration of frameworks such as the Dying Well in Custody Charter. This engagement is helping to inform how services can better meet the needs of older prisoners, including those approaching the end of their lives.

A decision on publication of the strategy will be taken in due course.

This Government recognises the vital role that legal aid and mediation plays in supporting individuals to resolve their family disputes. We know that the civil and family legal aid market, including family mediation, is facing challenges and we are taking steps to address these.

We are undertaking a programme to transform the delivery of legal aid and the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) systems over this Parliament. The programme seeks to deliver flexible, secure services designed around the end-to-end legal aid user journey and to reduce administrative burdens for legal aid providers.

Last year, the Government spent £854 million on family legal aid, and we continue to keep family legal aid policy under review.

Alongside legal aid, we are also committed to supporting more families reach agreement outside of court through mediation, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. The Family Mediation Voucher Scheme, introduced in April 2021, is available to families across England and Wales. The scheme offers up to £500 towards mediation costs.

The LAA does not hold information about the number of individual mediators able to provide family legal aid mediation services as it contracts with providers at an organisational level. The LAA publishes data on the number of contracted providers delivering legal aid services as part of its official statistics - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2025. Statistics for the most recent published period show there are 87 providers with a family mediation contract. Although contracts may be linked to a single office, mediation providers operate multiple outreach arrangements through which services are delivered. Unlike other civil categories of law there are no defined geographic procurement areas, so providers can operate across England and Wales. Some providers include large numbers of outreach locations on their schedules, in some cases running into the hundreds. Details of the outreach locations for each mediation provider can be found in the published Directory of Legal Aid Providers - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers.

Procurement for legal aid contracts, including family mediation contracts, is operated under the ‘always on principle’ so that the procurement remains open during the life of the contract. This means providers can apply for a contract or expand their services at any time, rather than waiting for a fixed tender period. This flexible approach is designed to maintain and grow the supply of legal aid services by encouraging further supply into the market, alongside quicker process times for bids and simplified documentation, reducing barriers to entry.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all those engaging in mediation can obtain the services of a suitably qualified mediator and has recently confirmed continued funding for the Family Mediation Voucher Scheme.

This scheme gives all those who qualify, including separating and divorcing couples, a £500 single use voucher to spend on family mediation, provided that their dispute or application involves a child. The mediation can only be carried out by Family Mediators who are accredited by the Family Mediation Council.

Since the scheme was established in 2021, 58,670 vouchers have been approved (as of 18 June 2026).

The Ministry of Justice works closely with the Family Mediation Council (FMC) to ensure that the information provided to all eligible couples when they enter the Family Court system regarding the benefits of non-court dispute resolution, including family mediation, is complete and up to date.

The Ministry of Justice and the FMC also work together to facilitate and support the use of family mediation more generally, for example by ensuring that guidance remains useful and effective.

Information on non-court dispute resolution including mediation, is included as part of the recently updated Gov.UK pages and online tools designed to help separating parents: Making child arrangements if you divorce or separate: Other ways to agree without going to court - GOV.UK.

The Ministry of Justice has co-operated with the FMC to ensure the effective running of the Family Mediation Voucher Scheme, which requires participating mediators to be accredited by the FMC. This scheme gives all those who qualify, including separating and divorcing couples, a £500 single-use voucher to spend on family mediation, provided that their dispute or application involves a child.

Since the scheme was established in 2021, 58,670 vouchers have been approved (as of 18 June 2026).

This Government recognises the vital role that legal aid and mediation plays in supporting individuals to resolve their family disputes. We know that the civil and family legal aid market, including family mediation, is facing challenges and we are taking steps to address these.

We are undertaking a programme to transform the delivery of legal aid and the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) systems over this Parliament. The programme seeks to deliver flexible, secure services designed around the end-to-end legal aid user journey and to reduce administrative burdens for legal aid providers.

Last year, the Government spent £854 million on family legal aid, and we continue to keep family legal aid policy under review.

Alongside legal aid, we are also committed to supporting more families reach agreement outside of court through mediation, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. The Family Mediation Voucher Scheme, introduced in April 2021, is available to families across England and Wales. The scheme offers up to £500 towards mediation costs.

The LAA does not hold information about the number of individual mediators able to provide family legal aid mediation services as it contracts with providers at an organisational level. The LAA publishes data on the number of contracted providers delivering legal aid services as part of its official statistics - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2025. Statistics for the most recent published period show there are 87 providers with a family mediation contract. Although contracts may be linked to a single office, mediation providers operate multiple outreach arrangements through which services are delivered. Unlike other civil categories of law there are no defined geographic procurement areas, so providers can operate across England and Wales. Some providers include large numbers of outreach locations on their schedules, in some cases running into the hundreds. Details of the outreach locations for each mediation provider can be found in the published Directory of Legal Aid Providers - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers.

Procurement for legal aid contracts, including family mediation contracts, is operated under the ‘always on principle’ so that the procurement remains open during the life of the contract. This means providers can apply for a contract or expand their services at any time, rather than waiting for a fixed tender period. This flexible approach is designed to maintain and grow the supply of legal aid services by encouraging further supply into the market, alongside quicker process times for bids and simplified documentation, reducing barriers to entry.

This Government recognises the vital role that legal aid and mediation plays in supporting individuals to resolve their family disputes. We know that the civil and family legal aid market, including family mediation, is facing challenges and we are taking steps to address these.

We are undertaking a programme to transform the delivery of legal aid and the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) systems over this Parliament. The programme seeks to deliver flexible, secure services designed around the end-to-end legal aid user journey and to reduce administrative burdens for legal aid providers.

Last year, the Government spent £854 million on family legal aid, and we continue to keep family legal aid policy under review.

Alongside legal aid, we are also committed to supporting more families reach agreement outside of court through mediation, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. The Family Mediation Voucher Scheme, introduced in April 2021, is available to families across England and Wales. The scheme offers up to £500 towards mediation costs.

The LAA does not hold information about the number of individual mediators able to provide family legal aid mediation services as it contracts with providers at an organisational level. The LAA publishes data on the number of contracted providers delivering legal aid services as part of its official statistics - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2025. Statistics for the most recent published period show there are 87 providers with a family mediation contract. Although contracts may be linked to a single office, mediation providers operate multiple outreach arrangements through which services are delivered. Unlike other civil categories of law there are no defined geographic procurement areas, so providers can operate across England and Wales. Some providers include large numbers of outreach locations on their schedules, in some cases running into the hundreds. Details of the outreach locations for each mediation provider can be found in the published Directory of Legal Aid Providers - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers.

Procurement for legal aid contracts, including family mediation contracts, is operated under the ‘always on principle’ so that the procurement remains open during the life of the contract. This means providers can apply for a contract or expand their services at any time, rather than waiting for a fixed tender period. This flexible approach is designed to maintain and grow the supply of legal aid services by encouraging further supply into the market, alongside quicker process times for bids and simplified documentation, reducing barriers to entry.

This Government recognises the vital role that legal aid and mediation plays in supporting individuals to resolve their family disputes. We know that the civil and family legal aid market, including family mediation, is facing challenges and we are taking steps to address these.

We are undertaking a programme to transform the delivery of legal aid and the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) systems over this Parliament. The programme seeks to deliver flexible, secure services designed around the end-to-end legal aid user journey and to reduce administrative burdens for legal aid providers.

Last year, the Government spent £854 million on family legal aid, and we continue to keep family legal aid policy under review.

Alongside legal aid, we are also committed to supporting more families reach agreement outside of court through mediation, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. The Family Mediation Voucher Scheme, introduced in April 2021, is available to families across England and Wales. The scheme offers up to £500 towards mediation costs.

The LAA does not hold information about the number of individual mediators able to provide family legal aid mediation services as it contracts with providers at an organisational level. The LAA publishes data on the number of contracted providers delivering legal aid services as part of its official statistics - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2025. Statistics for the most recent published period show there are 87 providers with a family mediation contract. Although contracts may be linked to a single office, mediation providers operate multiple outreach arrangements through which services are delivered. Unlike other civil categories of law there are no defined geographic procurement areas, so providers can operate across England and Wales. Some providers include large numbers of outreach locations on their schedules, in some cases running into the hundreds. Details of the outreach locations for each mediation provider can be found in the published Directory of Legal Aid Providers - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers.

Procurement for legal aid contracts, including family mediation contracts, is operated under the ‘always on principle’ so that the procurement remains open during the life of the contract. This means providers can apply for a contract or expand their services at any time, rather than waiting for a fixed tender period. This flexible approach is designed to maintain and grow the supply of legal aid services by encouraging further supply into the market, alongside quicker process times for bids and simplified documentation, reducing barriers to entry.

This Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors and the benefits of blue spaces for people’s health and wellbeing.

As set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, Defra will explore the feasibility of increasing access onto unregulated inland waterways and will consult on this in the Access to Nature Green Paper to be published during this Parliamentary term. Defra is committed to working with stakeholders as this work develops.