To enable faster diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and earlier access to treatment, access to spirometry tests in community diagnostic centres is growing and will continue to do so as more sites come online.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a key intervention to improve the health of people with COPD. NHS England has published commissioning standards for pulmonary rehabilitation and COPD, setting out the benchmarks for high-quality services. This includes reducing health inequalities and ensuring equitable access.

In addition, smoking is the number one preventable cause of COPD. The landmark Tobacco and Vapes Act will help deliver our ambition for a smoke-free United Kingdom.

The NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme is designed to detect lung cancer at an earlier stage in people at high risk of developing the disease.

The Government is advised on all screening matters by the independent UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). At its most recent review in June 2022, the UK NSC recommended targeted lung cancer screening for people aged 55 to 74 years old who are at high risk of developing lung cancer. The modelling that informed this recommendation did not include chronic respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

NHS England has introduced a national Incidental Findings Protocol to ensure clinically significant incidental findings are referred for appropriate investigation and follow-up through established National Health Service pathways.

In April 2026, the UK NSC concluded a three-month public consultation on screening for COPD. The outcome of this consultation will be published in due course. In addition, the UK NSC's annual open call for new evidence and proposals for screening programmes is currently open until 30 September 2026, providing an opportunity for individuals and organisations to submit proposals supported by evidence.

Reducing waiting lists, including for trauma and orthopaedic (T&O) services, is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission. As set out in the Plan for Change, 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. We are on track, hitting our first interim target of 65% in March 2026.

Since July 2024, performance in T&O services has improved, as the waiting list has reduced by 7,016 and the percentage of T&O pathways waiting within 18 weeks has increased by 3.0%. Despite this improvement, T&O performance against the 18-week standard, at 59.1%, remains below the national average, of 65.0%. We know that to meet our target of 92% we must see significant improvements across all specialties, including T&O, and we know that there’s more to do to drive that improvement.

The Elective Reform Plan sets out the productivity and modernisation efforts needed to reach the 92% standard by March 2029. This includes expanding the number of surgical hubs, where T&O is a key specialty, over the next two years to increase surgical capacity and deliver faster access to common procedures. Also, through the Getting It Right First Time programme, we are also supporting trusts to improve pathways, including through best practice guidance and multidisciplinary support for hip and knee replacement services.

The UK National Screening recommendation was for a targeted screening programme, involving prostate-specific antigen testing every two years, for men aged 45 to 61 years old who have a pathogenic, or able to cause disease, BRCA2 variant with a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, or prostate cancer.

It is estimated that approximately 1,500 men in England will be eligible for the targeted prostate cancer screening programme. Based on similar programmes for people with genetic risk factors, uptake is expected to be high.

The intention is to use the National Inherited Cancer Predisposition Register (NICPR), to identify men with a known BRCA2 gene variant. Individuals are added to the NICPR as their gene variants are identified, and this is usually through cascade screening or as the result of having cancer and their tumour being genotyped. No estimate has been made of the additional numbers that may be identified using this method.

The Department is not undertaking analysis of the costs associated with identifying additional BRCA variant carriers. The committee did not recommend proactively identifying more men with a BRCA variant, as this would constitute a separate screening programme. The committee recommended that the best method of identifying men with a BRCA2 gene variant should be evaluated over time.

The UK National Screening recommendation was for a targeted screening programme, involving prostate-specific antigen testing every two years, for men aged 45 to 61 years old who have a pathogenic, or able to cause disease, BRCA2 variant with a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, or prostate cancer.

It is estimated that approximately 1,500 men in England will be eligible for the targeted prostate cancer screening programme. Based on similar programmes for people with genetic risk factors, uptake is expected to be high.

The intention is to use the National Inherited Cancer Predisposition Register (NICPR), to identify men with a known BRCA2 gene variant. Individuals are added to the NICPR as their gene variants are identified, and this is usually through cascade screening or as the result of having cancer and their tumour being genotyped. No estimate has been made of the additional numbers that may be identified using this method.

The Department is not undertaking analysis of the costs associated with identifying additional BRCA variant carriers. The committee did not recommend proactively identifying more men with a BRCA variant, as this would constitute a separate screening programme. The committee recommended that the best method of identifying men with a BRCA2 gene variant should be evaluated over time.

We are supporting better care for patients with arthritis through the Getting It Right First Time Programme (GIRFT) for Rheumatology. The GIRFT rheumatology programme is supporting the National Health Service to deliver care more equitably across England and closer to patients’ homes, and improve services nationally.

As part of the GIRFT MSK Community Delivery Programme, GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for patients with arthritis, and improve referral pathways to wider support services.

As part of a major transformation of the NHS under the 10-Year Health Plan, patients with MSK conditions, such as arthritis, will also soon be able to directly access community services, including physiotherapy, pain management, and orthopaedics, in the NHS App. The landmark change will deliver faster treatment for the flare up of existing conditions, including arthritis, back pain, and joint pain, while enabling general practitioners (GPs) to focus on more complex cases, reducing pressure on hospitals and freeing up GPs.

Diagnosis Connect, which was announced in July 2025, will ensure that patients are signposted to trusted charities and support organisations when they are diagnosed with a long-term condition, providing personalised advice, information, and guidance to help them manage their condition and feel more in control. This support is designed to complement, not replace, their usual NHS care. A national partnership has now been developed, with NHS England, the Richmond Group of Charities, which includes Arthritis UK, and wider voluntary, community, and social enterprise partners working together to bring this vision to life. This is being backed by a £10 million investment.

Initial testing will begin with one condition being diagnosed in primary care. This testing will provide an opportunity to demonstrate what is possible before expanding to other conditions. Following initial testing, other conditions will be added to the programme.

We are supporting better care for patients with arthritis through the Getting It Right First Time Programme (GIRFT) for Rheumatology. The GIRFT rheumatology programme is supporting the National Health Service to deliver care more equitably across England and closer to patients’ homes, and improve services nationally.

As part of the GIRFT MSK Community Delivery Programme, GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for patients with arthritis, and improve referral pathways to wider support services.

As part of a major transformation of the NHS under the 10-Year Health Plan, patients with MSK conditions, such as arthritis, will also soon be able to directly access community services, including physiotherapy, pain management, and orthopaedics, in the NHS App. The landmark change will deliver faster treatment for the flare up of existing conditions, including arthritis, back pain, and joint pain, while enabling general practitioners (GPs) to focus on more complex cases, reducing pressure on hospitals and freeing up GPs.

Diagnosis Connect, which was announced in July 2025, will ensure that patients are signposted to trusted charities and support organisations when they are diagnosed with a long-term condition, providing personalised advice, information, and guidance to help them manage their condition and feel more in control. This support is designed to complement, not replace, their usual NHS care. A national partnership has now been developed, with NHS England, the Richmond Group of Charities, which includes Arthritis UK, and wider voluntary, community, and social enterprise partners working together to bring this vision to life. This is being backed by a £10 million investment.

Initial testing will begin with one condition being diagnosed in primary care. This testing will provide an opportunity to demonstrate what is possible before expanding to other conditions. Following initial testing, other conditions will be added to the programme.

I refer the Hon. member to PQ 14088.

This Government is introducing comprehensive policing reforms to strengthen neighbourhood policing and ensure forces have the capability to respond to the crimes that matter most to their communities, including in rural areas.

Through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, every community, rural or urban will have named, contactable officers and stronger local policing presence, with forces supported to deliver an additional 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales. Local forces retain flexibility to determine the workforce needed to meet their specific crime demands.

Alongside this, we are strengthening specialist national capability. We are providing over £800,000 of funding to the National Rural Crime Unit and National Wildlife Crime Unit this financial year. These units provide specialist operational support to police forces, improve coordination and partnership working, and share best practice across the country.

The National Rural Crime Unit plays an important role in supporting forces to tackle organised criminality affecting rural communities, including theft of machinery and livestock. By improving coordination across forces and partners and supporting targeted operations, the Unit is strengthening the collective response to serious and organised crime and helping to disrupt the criminal networks that operate across regional and national borders.

Together, these reforms and specialist capabilities ensure police forces are equipped to maintain and strengthen their response to rural crime, including tackling the organised criminal networks that drive it.

This Government is introducing comprehensive policing reforms to strengthen neighbourhood policing and ensure forces have the capability to respond to the crimes that matter most to their communities, including in rural areas.

Through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, every community, rural or urban will have named, contactable officers and stronger local policing presence, with forces supported to deliver an additional 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales. Local forces retain flexibility to determine the workforce needed to meet their specific crime demands.

Alongside this, we are strengthening specialist national capability. We are providing over £800,000 of funding to the National Rural Crime Unit and National Wildlife Crime Unit this financial year. These units provide specialist operational support to police forces, improve coordination and partnership working, and share best practice across the country.

The National Rural Crime Unit plays an important role in supporting forces to tackle organised criminality affecting rural communities, including theft of machinery and livestock. By improving coordination across forces and partners and supporting targeted operations, the Unit is strengthening the collective response to serious and organised crime and helping to disrupt the criminal networks that operate across regional and national borders.

Together, these reforms and specialist capabilities ensure police forces are equipped to maintain and strengthen their response to rural crime, including tackling the organised criminal networks that drive it.

Online abuse and harassment has no place in our society. Under the Online Safety Act, services must have proportionate systems and processes in place to prevent users from encountering illegal content including online harassment and to protect children from harmful content.

For large user-to-user platforms, known as ‘Category 1’ services, it will also provide adult users with more protections from hate speech by offering them more choice over the types of content they engage with, filter content from non-verified accounts and hold platforms to account for their terms of service. Ofcom aims to publish its final policy statements and guidance in 2027.