Written questions by Pinkerton.

What steps his Department is taking to support the growth of the legal services sector.

The UK legal sector is a national asset and an engine of economic growth. As highlighted in the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, in 2024 alone, the UK legal sector contributed £42.6 billion to the economy and posted a trade surplus of £7.4 billion. The UK is the largest legal services market in Europe and is second only to the US globally. English law is vital to global trade and investment and governs 40% of cross-border business transactions, £11.5 billion in mediation cases and £80 billion in insurance contracts annually. The Ministry of Justice is committed to supporting the sector’s growth and to maintaining the UK’s position at the forefront of global legal services.As a catalyst for economic growth, legal services play an important role in the UK’s growth agenda. The Ministry of Justice works to support UK legal services across the globe, including in the European Union. My Department is working closely across government, with our EU counterparts and with the legal sector, to support the implementation of the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The Agreement includes a specific provision on legal services that entitles UK lawyers to practise home and international law across the EU without further qualification. This is helping to maintain the UK’s strong cross-border legal capability and ensuring continued access to European markets.To maintain the UK’s position at the forefront of global legal services, as part of the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, the Ministry of Justice has designed bespoke interventions to support growth across key areas of the sector. They focus on enhancing our court system and the attractiveness of the jurisdiction, supporting lawtech growth, demonstrating our commitment to the Rule of Law and maintaining the strength of English and Welsh law. As a major step in delivering our commitments, the Deputy Prime Minister launched the English Law Promotion Panel on 8 December 2025. Bringing together academics, and key legal, business and marketing experts, the Panel will focus on how to reinforce English and Welsh law’s status as a leading choice for international business. My Department also leads the GREAT legal services campaign, a long-standing initiative showcasing the strengths of English and Welsh law, promoting the UK as a leading hub for international dispute resolution and facilitating international engagement with overseas partners. I have joined GREAT trade missions including visits to Toronto in November 2025 and Chicago in April 2025 to personally champion UK legal services to a global audience.

What oversight arrangements are in place to safeguard people with learning disabilities in local care settings in Surrey Heath constituency.

In the statutory guidance of the Care Act 2014, it states that local authorities must ensure that the services they commission are safe, effective, and of high quality.Each integrated care board must have an executive lead for learning disability and autism who will support the board in addressing health inequalities, thereby supporting equal access to care across all health services and improving overall health outcomes.Under the Health and Care Act 2022, Care Quality Commission registered providers are required to ensure their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role, to provide safe and informed care.A Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag is being rolled out across health and care services to ensure that disabled people’s reasonable adjustments are recorded and shared, to enable tailoring of appropriate support. This is aided by e-learning for health and social care staff.

What steps his Department is taking to promote UK legal services within the European Union.

The UK legal sector is a national asset and an engine of economic growth. As highlighted in the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, in 2024 alone, the UK legal sector contributed £42.6 billion to the economy and posted a trade surplus of £7.4 billion. The UK is the largest legal services market in Europe and is second only to the US globally. English law is vital to global trade and investment and governs 40% of cross-border business transactions, £11.5 billion in mediation cases and £80 billion in insurance contracts annually. The Ministry of Justice is committed to supporting the sector’s growth and to maintaining the UK’s position at the forefront of global legal services.As a catalyst for economic growth, legal services play an important role in the UK’s growth agenda. The Ministry of Justice works to support UK legal services across the globe, including in the European Union. My Department is working closely across government, with our EU counterparts and with the legal sector, to support the implementation of the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The Agreement includes a specific provision on legal services that entitles UK lawyers to practise home and international law across the EU without further qualification. This is helping to maintain the UK’s strong cross-border legal capability and ensuring continued access to European markets.To maintain the UK’s position at the forefront of global legal services, as part of the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, the Ministry of Justice has designed bespoke interventions to support growth across key areas of the sector. They focus on enhancing our court system and the attractiveness of the jurisdiction, supporting lawtech growth, demonstrating our commitment to the Rule of Law and maintaining the strength of English and Welsh law. As a major step in delivering our commitments, the Deputy Prime Minister launched the English Law Promotion Panel on 8 December 2025. Bringing together academics, and key legal, business and marketing experts, the Panel will focus on how to reinforce English and Welsh law’s status as a leading choice for international business. My Department also leads the GREAT legal services campaign, a long-standing initiative showcasing the strengths of English and Welsh law, promoting the UK as a leading hub for international dispute resolution and facilitating international engagement with overseas partners. I have joined GREAT trade missions including visits to Toronto in November 2025 and Chicago in April 2025 to personally champion UK legal services to a global audience.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of legal services exports on economic growth.

The UK legal sector is a national asset and an engine of economic growth. As highlighted in the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, in 2024 alone, the UK legal sector contributed £42.6 billion to the economy and posted a trade surplus of £7.4 billion. The UK is the largest legal services market in Europe and is second only to the US globally. English law is vital to global trade and investment and governs 40% of cross-border business transactions, £11.5 billion in mediation cases and £80 billion in insurance contracts annually. The Ministry of Justice is committed to supporting the sector’s growth and to maintaining the UK’s position at the forefront of global legal services.As a catalyst for economic growth, legal services play an important role in the UK’s growth agenda. The Ministry of Justice works to support UK legal services across the globe, including in the European Union. My Department is working closely across government, with our EU counterparts and with the legal sector, to support the implementation of the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The Agreement includes a specific provision on legal services that entitles UK lawyers to practise home and international law across the EU without further qualification. This is helping to maintain the UK’s strong cross-border legal capability and ensuring continued access to European markets.To maintain the UK’s position at the forefront of global legal services, as part of the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, the Ministry of Justice has designed bespoke interventions to support growth across key areas of the sector. They focus on enhancing our court system and the attractiveness of the jurisdiction, supporting lawtech growth, demonstrating our commitment to the Rule of Law and maintaining the strength of English and Welsh law. As a major step in delivering our commitments, the Deputy Prime Minister launched the English Law Promotion Panel on 8 December 2025. Bringing together academics, and key legal, business and marketing experts, the Panel will focus on how to reinforce English and Welsh law’s status as a leading choice for international business. My Department also leads the GREAT legal services campaign, a long-standing initiative showcasing the strengths of English and Welsh law, promoting the UK as a leading hub for international dispute resolution and facilitating international engagement with overseas partners. I have joined GREAT trade missions including visits to Toronto in November 2025 and Chicago in April 2025 to personally champion UK legal services to a global audience.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of current visa arrangements for UK law graduates seeking (a) training contracts or (b) early-career experience in EU member states.

UK nationals travelling for the purposes of taking up work or providing a service in a Member State will need a visa and/or work permit to work in most EU countries. While the visa policy of EU Member States is a matter for those countries, the Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.

What assessment his Department has made of the (a) quality and (b) accessibility of health and care services for people with learning disabilities in Surrey Heath constituency.

Significant action is underway to improve the quality and accessibility of health and care services for people with a learning disability at a local level, helping to deliver the shift from treatment to prevention, outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-futureThe national Learning Disabilities Health Check Scheme is designed to encourage general practices to identify all patients aged 14 years old and over with a learning disability, and to offer them an annual health check and health action plan. Further information on the Learning Disabilities Health Check Scheme is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/learning-disabilities-health-check-schemeThe latest published data for Surrey Heath shows that 82.78% of people with a learning disability in the area had completed a health check, and that 80.19% of learning disability patients in Surrey Heath had a completed health action plan. The latest published data for Surrey Heath is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/learning-disabilities-health-check-scheme/england-march-2025According to recently published data on Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities, 81.5% of people with a learning disability had completed an annual health check in England. Further information on the recently published data on Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/health-and-care-of-people-with-learning-disabilities/experimental-statistics-2024-to-2025The Surrey All Ages Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Oversight Committee routinely monitors the following:- admissions and discharges for adults, and children and young people with a learning disability and any barriers to timely discharge;- mandatory training on learning disability and autism;- performance on Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews and commissioner oversight visits;- Dynamic Support Register governance; and- implementation of the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag.

What steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of children injured on roads in Surrey Heath constituency.

On 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035 and a 70% reduction in the number of children (under 16) killed or seriously injured on roads in Great Britain by 2035, using a 2022-2024 baseline. As part of the Road Safety Strategy, we are gathering feedback on introducing penalty points for failure to wear a seat belt, and additional penalty points for drivers who do not ensure child passengers wear seat belts. We will also support and work in partnership with local authorities, who have the legal responsibility for setting local speed limits, and detailed knowledge of their own local areas. This is important for the safety of vulnerable road users, including children. We will update our guidance to local authorities on ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’. We will also update our guidance to local authorities on ‘The use of speed and red-light cameras for traffic enforcement: guidance on deployment, visibility and signing’.

What steps her Department is taking to engage with road safety public awareness campaigns that educate children in schools in Surrey Heath constituency.

Through THINK!, the government’s flagship road safety campaign, we provide a wide range of free educational resources to help improve children's road safety. These are made available to schools and local road safety officers via the THINK! website, social channels and partnerships with organisations such as the Department for Education. https://www.think.gov.uk/education. In 2024, THINK! launched a ‘Safe Adventures’ campaign to help parents across the country prepare their children for independent travel ahead of moving to secondary school: https://www.think.gov.uk/campaign/safe-adventures/. This activity focuses on the risky behaviours assigned to child pedestrian casualties, which includes failing to look and distractions, finding a safe place to cross and being in a hurry. THINK! routinely engages with local authorities to assist them with using and promoting our campaigns, and we work closely with Road Safety GB who help disseminate and coordinate our outreach to their network of road safety officers and professionals.

What estimate his Department has made of the ambulance costs from road collisions in Surrey in the past five years.

No specific estimation has been made. Data on the number of road traffic collisions is collected and published by the Department for Transport.Ambulance services do not routinely report costs at the level of individual incident types. However, the most recent National Cost Collection indicates that the average cost of an ambulance ‘see, treat and convey’ response is approximately £489.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase opportunities for (a) children and (b) young people to participate in ice hockey in (i) Surrey and (ii) Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including children and young people, have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.The Government provides the majority of support for community sport through Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery Funding. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in grassroots sport, including ice hockey, providing more opportunities for children and young people to be active.In the last financial year, 2024-25, Sport England invested £314,995 into the Surrey Heath constituency to improve access to sport and physical activity. Local Authorities in Surrey received a combined total of £1.86m of Sport England Funding in 2024-25.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of houses in multiple occupation on public service infrastructure in Surrey Heath constituency.

My Department does not make assessments of the potential impact of Houses in Multiple Occupations (HMOs) on public service infrastructure in individual parliamentary constituencies. Local planning authorities already have planning powers to limit the concentration or proliferation of HMOs within their locality. They can remove the national permitted development right for smaller HMOs to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction which, once in place, requires all new HMO proposals to secure planning permission. We keep the powers to regulate HMOs under review.

Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the number of Homes in Multiple Occupation in Surrey Heath constituency.

Data on Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) is not collected by parliamentary constituency. Estimates of the number of HMOs by local authority in England can be found in Section F of the Local Authority Housing Statistics. Estimates for 31 March 2024 can be found on gov.uk here. Publication of estimates for 31 March 2025 has been pre-announced for 29 January 2026.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure water resilience during (a) storms and (b) periods of severe weather in Surrey Heath constituency.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 December to Question 96864.

What steps her Department is taking to use innovative modes of transport to improve road safety in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.

On 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035. This is underpinned through the four key themes of the strategy, one of which is taking advantage of technology, data and innovation for safer vehicles and post collision care. This details how we will make current vehicles safer, by mandating vehicle safety technologies and making use of both connected and automated vehicles to make our roads safer. All of this will be supported and monitored by a new Road Safety Board chaired by the Minister for Local Transport. Road safety is a shared responsibility, and this strategy reflects that. It considers action needed by government, local authorities, industry, emergency services and communities to tackle the causes of collisions and save lives. Partnership working and utilisation of local expertise will ensure that road safety improvements are seen across counties and constituencies, including Surrey and Surrey Heath. By investing in infrastructure, education, and enforcement, we are taking decisive steps to make our roads safer for everyone.

What discussions her Department has had with Surrey County Council on embedding safety into road design in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department has held no such discussions. Local traffic authorities are responsible for making decisions about their own roads, based on their knowledge of the area and taking into account local needs and circumstances. It is for them to ensure roads are designed in a way that helps fulfil their road safety duties. Good design can have a significant impact on road safety. The Department has long advocated street design that improves safety through guidance and good practice advice, in particular the Manual for Streets. As set out in the Road Safety Strategy, an update of the Manual is underway to ensure it continues to provide advice that enables authorities to deliver safer streets.

What steps her Department is taking to improve road safety education for young motorcyclists in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.

On 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035. Road safety is a shared responsibility, and the strategy reflects that. It considers action needed by government, local authorities, industry, emergency services and communities to tackle the causes of collisions and save lives. By investing in infrastructure, education, and enforcement, we are taking decisive steps to make our roads safer for everyone. The strategy is an opportunity to reflect on the changes and challenges faced by all motorcycle riders and the government has announced a consultation on an ambitious package of reforms to the training, testing and licensing regime for Category A moped and motorcycle licences in Great Britain. As our road environment and technologies evolve, providing education for all road users throughout their lifetime is vital to improving road safety. To support a Lifelong Learning approach in the UK, the government will publish for the first time national guidance on the development and delivery of road safety education, training and publicity. Alongside this, the government will publish a manual to support the implementation of a Lifelong Learning approach for road safety. Local authorities are responsible for delivering road safety education and have a statutory duty to take steps both to reduce and prevent collisions.

What assessment she has been made of potential correlation between proposals to introduce a six-month learning period for learner drivers and efforts to reduce driving test waiting times.

The Road Safety Strategy, published on the 7th January, includes consulting on a Minimum Learning Period before learner drivers can take their practical test. A Minimum Learning Period is designed to prepare people better for a lifetime of safe driving by giving them more time to build up essential skills. With more preparation for their test more people may pass first or second time, which could help reduce the waiting time for tests by reducing demand from learners booking to retake their test. Introducing a minimum learning period could raise driving test pass rates and for every 1% increase in pass rate sustained over a year, around 40,000 test slots are freed up over the course of the year. Research suggests that a Minimum Learning Period may increase the pass rate by up to 7 percentage points.

Whether her Department will consider increasing funding to improve the (a) security and (b) enforcement of vehicle registration marks.

On 7 January 2026, the Government published its Road Safety Strategy, which sets out plans to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on Great Britain’s roads, including through a focus on robust enforcement.The Strategy also sets out the Government’s intention to consult on addressing the growing problem of illegal number plates, including ‘ghost’ number plates. The Department for Transport has published a consultation on proposed changes to penalties for motoring offences, including the use of illegal number plates designed to evade detection. Separately, the DVLA has been engaged in work to strengthen the relevant number plate standard and officials are considering options to support more robust application and audit processes for number plate suppliers.

What consideration is given to infrastructure deliverability, including transport links, utilities, and local road capacity, when selecting sites for new hospitals under the New Hospital Programme.

I can confirm that since August 2024, the New Hospital Programme (NHP) has been supporting the trust with their site selection process to ensure it is transparent and robust. This has included broadening search criteria and “blind scoring” of sites to establish a short-list of options for further consideration. No decision has yet been made on the location of the new Frimley Park Hospital, part of Wave 1 of the NHP. Any final decision on location will require a business case to be assured and approved through the standard business case process.Following Government guidance, all trusts are required to undertake appropriate levels of due diligence on potential sites as part of a site selection process. The selection process is designed to allow trusts to identify a smaller number of sites to investigate further and therefore it is expected that trusts will complete additional work on short-listed sites as part of the business case process to assess infrastructure deliverability including transport, utilities, and access.

If her Department will consider the potential merits of increasing funding for pavement parking enforcement in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department for Transport recognises the importance of safe and accessible pavements for all road users. Local authorities are responsible for enforcing pavement parking restrictions under existing civil parking enforcement powers, and statutory guidance advises that these operations should be self-financing. While we keep enforcement policy under review, there are currently no plans to provide additional central funding for pavement parking enforcement in Surrey or Surrey Heath. New devolved pavement parking powers were announced on 8 January 2026 and we will work with local government to develop the approach to implementation.