Over the past couple of weeks, two of my key priorities have been cancer screening and social housing standards. In this column, I want to share an update on the work I’ve been doing in both areas.

For World Cancer Day, I was proud to host Walk the Walk in Parliament, a national cancer charity based right here in Woking. Since its founding, Walk the Walk has raised more than £146 million to fight cancer and promote healthy living – a truly astonishing amount of money!

I’m grateful that I have also been able to highlight the charity’s work in the House of Commons, cheekily suggesting that the Secretary of State for Health join me – in our favourite bras of course – on a MoonWalk.

MoonWalks, organised by Walk the Walk, are unforgettable night-time events. Participants wear decorated bras or bra T-shirts as they take to city streets – from London to Camino – raising vital funds and awareness for breast and other cancers.

More importantly, I pressed the Health Minister on the need to expand access to mammogram screening to women under 40 and over 70, groups who can currently face limited routine access.

The Minister confirmed that the Government is exploring ways to expand breast cancer screening and is monitoring new research, including trials focused on improving screening for women with dense breast tissue and those at higher risk.

I will continue pushing in Parliament to ensure screening and early detection improve even further.

But protecting residents’ health does not stop at cancer screening – right across Woking constituency social housing is a huge issue that residents contact me about every day.

As a member of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee I’m pleased to have helped draft a cross-party report entitled “Housing Conditions in the Social Rented Sector” that was published just last week.

We found that nationally social housing standards have barely improved since the pandemic. Whilst most social homes provide tenants with warm, safe and decent places to live, the minimum standard of what is considered a decent home has not changed in 20 years.

Just under 430,000 social homes fail to meet even this basic standard. Far too many people living in social housing suffer from appalling housing conditions and do not have their complaints treated seriously.

Here in Woking, things are getting better. Woking Borough Council spent £13.1 million in 2025-26 and intends to spend a further £16 million in 2026-27 in capital investment on fire safety and Decent Homes improvements.

This represents a significant increase compared with the previous Conservative administration, which spent around £4 million per year – but clearly there is still more work to do.

In the report, we have recommended the Government establish a new, modern Decent Homes Programme that supports social landlords to raise the standard of social homes, including a pooled fund for improvements to social homes and a single housing quality framework.

I am committed to ensuring every Woking resident has a safe, warm place to call home, and I’m proud to have helped shape a report that sets out the path forward.

However, I know that long-term plans do not solve immediate problems. If you are experiencing poor housing conditions, please get in touch with me and my team. We will do everything we can to help.

Stay in touch: [email protected] https://www.willforster.co.uk/; Instagram @forster_will; Facebook.com/WillforWoking; X @WillForster