Written questions by Pinkerton.

What steps his Department is taking to support the long-term resilience of pubs in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government recognises the significant pressures facing pubs, including those in Surrey Heath, and the Government is providing support through various measures to help ease these pressures. We’re investing £440,000 with Pub is The Hub to help rural pubs diversify, aiming to support rural communities, create new jobs and services. The government is delivering its commitment to rebalance the business rates system in England by introducing permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties with a ratable value under £500,000, worth nearly £900 million a year, which will benefit over 750,000 RHL properties. The Government is committed to reducing barriers to growth for hospitality businesses by rebalancing the licensing system. This is why the Chancellor announced a new National Licensing Policy Framework as part of her budget. This sets out a vision for a proportionate licensing system that supports good businesses while continuing to tackle bad operators.

What steps he is taking to support pubs with operating costs in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government recognises the significant pressures facing pubs, including those in Surrey Heath, and the Government is providing support through various measures to help ease these pressures. We’re investing £440,000 with Pub is The Hub to help rural pubs diversify, aiming to support rural communities, create new jobs and services. The government is delivering its commitment to rebalance the business rates system in England by introducing permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties with a ratable value under £500,000, worth nearly £900 million a year, which will benefit over 750,000 RHL properties. The Government is committed to reducing barriers to growth for hospitality businesses by rebalancing the licensing system. This is why the Chancellor announced a new National Licensing Policy Framework as part of her budget. This sets out a vision for a proportionate licensing system that supports good businesses while continuing to tackle bad operators.

What steps her Department is taking to improve passenger rail performance in Surrey Heath constituency.

Performance across the South Western Railway network, including in the Surrey Heath constituency, has been below the standard that passengers deserve. Under public ownership and with new leadership, South Western Railway and Network Rail Wessex are working together to address the issues inherited from the previous operator. On the Ascot to Ash Vale line which serves the Surrey Heath constituents, the top recent cause for cancellations is the availability of traincrew. To address this, South Western Railway has accelerated its driver recruitment. By the end of December 2025, South Western Railway will have recruited 124 trainee drivers in the calendar year, up from 67 the year before.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase access to (a) arts and (b) culture in (i) Surrey Heath constituency and (ii) Surrey.

Arts Council England (ACE) has provided over £11.5 million of funding between 2024 and 2025 to arts and cultural organisations and projects in Surrey. This includes support for projects like The Surrey Youth Arts & Culture Festival, a Surrey County Council partnership led project based in Camberley Library and Camberley Theatre which aims to raise aspirations and break down barriers to engagement for young people accessing creative skills development.In addition, organisations, such as Farnham Maltings in Surrey are in receipt of over £1.9 million per annum as part of ACE’s National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) programme. This NPO offers a wide range of inclusive events, including theatre, dance, crafts, and workshops to people of all ages and backgrounds across the area.In February, the Secretary of State announced a new £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund. This includes support to museums, arts and music venues across the country and is a critical step that this Government is taking to help create jobs, boost local economies, and expand access to arts and culture for communities.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase participation in sport for athletes with disabilities in (a) Surrey Heath constituency and (b) Surrey.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone should have access to, and benefit from, quality sport and physical activity opportunities, regardless of who they are.In England, the Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sports through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million.Sport England's ten-year Uniting the Movement strategy reinforces its commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for those from under-represented groups, including disabled people. Sport England has ensured that each of their programmes impact directly on disabled people and those with a long-term health condition, with initiatives like the 'We are Undefeatable' campaign and partnerships with Disability Rights UK, Activity Alliance, Aspire, and Sense.The Government is also committed to supporting a wide range of grassroots sports. This is why we are taking a place-based approach to increasing sport participation that ensures communities can participate in the sports they enjoy and get active in ways that work for them.To support this, in June, we announced that following the Spending Review at least £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK. As part of this funding, 40% of projects across the UK will be required to benefit a sport other than football, including netball, basketball and rugby league. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans.

Media and Sport, what support her Department is providing to local authorities to promote participation in less popular grassroots sports in (a) Surrey Heath constituency and (b) Surrey.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone should have access to, and benefit from, quality sport and physical activity opportunities, regardless of who they are.In England, the Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sports through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million.Sport England's ten-year Uniting the Movement strategy reinforces its commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for those from under-represented groups, including disabled people. Sport England has ensured that each of their programmes impact directly on disabled people and those with a long-term health condition, with initiatives like the 'We are Undefeatable' campaign and partnerships with Disability Rights UK, Activity Alliance, Aspire, and Sense.The Government is also committed to supporting a wide range of grassroots sports. This is why we are taking a place-based approach to increasing sport participation that ensures communities can participate in the sports they enjoy and get active in ways that work for them.To support this, in June, we announced that following the Spending Review at least £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK. As part of this funding, 40% of projects across the UK will be required to benefit a sport other than football, including netball, basketball and rugby league. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans.

What recent estimate he has made of the number of households experiencing food insecurity in Surrey Heath constituency.

Data on the number of households experiencing food insecurity by constituency is not available due to sample sizes. Statistics on the number of individuals living in households that are food insecure by region in the UK are published annually in the “Family Resources Survey” publication in “table 9_2” of “Household food security tables” at Family Resources Survey: financial year 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK. The latest statistics published on 27 March 2025 are for the financial period 2023/24. The latest available data can also be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to finance for pubs in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government recognises the significant pressures facing pubs, including those in Surrey Heath, and the Government is providing support through various measures to help ease these pressures. We are supporting pubs by expanding Start-up Loans to offer 69,000 new businesses the chance of finance and mentoring, boosting access to finance by committing to the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme for the longer term, and expanding the capacity of the ENABLE programme by £3 billion to £5 billion helping lenders unlock more finance options for small businesses. We are also offering £340m to help boost the availability of early-stage equity finance for innovative businesses across the UK, and working with private lenders on the appropriate use of Personal Guarantees, including a mandatory Code of Conduct for loans issued under the Growth Guarantee Scheme, to ensure their use is fair and transparent.

What recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the level of demand for food support services in Surrey Heath constituency in winter 2025-26.

We have not made a specific assessment of the potential implications for our policies of trends in the level of demand for food support services in Surrey Heath during winter 2025–26 but the Government is committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of families falling into poverty. Our Get Britain Working White Paper, backed by an initial £240 million investment in 2025/26, will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities. We have provided £742 million in England to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) until 31 March 2026. This enables Local Authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food, and develop their schemes to help prevent poverty locally and build local resilience. The Government also recognises that greater certainty helps local authorities to design and deliver sustainable plans for local welfare. This is why from 1 April 2026, we are introducing a new £1 billion Crisis and Resilience fund package. This is the first ever multi-year settlement for locally delivered crisis support. This longer-term funding approach aims to enable local authorities to provide preventative support to communities – working with the voluntary and community sector – as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis. Further, ahead of Child Poverty Strategy publication in the coming weeks, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty. The removal of the two child limit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures announced this year, such as the expansion of free school meals. These interventions will lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began. Finally, we have committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to, to make work pay and tackle poverty. We have already introduced the Fair Repayment Rate, reducing the Universal Credit overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s standard allowance, giving 1.2m households an average of £420 per year. In addition, we have also uprated benefit rates for 2025/26 in line with inflation, with 5.7 million Universal Credit households forecast to gain by an average of £150 annually.

What discussions her Department has had with local authorities to ensure that major transport infrastructure upgrades are delivered effectively in Surrey Heath constituency.

My officials hold regular meetings with Surrey County Council to discuss transport in Surrey. We will shortly announce the regional allocations for the majority of the transport funding announced in the Spending Review. We have informed Surrey County Council of their allocation of the Local Transport Grant which is £38.19 million for the period from April 2026 to April 2030 for local transport improvements.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help reduce the number of families in temporary accommodation in (a) Surrey Heath constituency and (b) Surrey.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 86837 on 10 November 2025.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of business rates on the financial viability of pubs in Surrey Heath constituency.

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values (i.e. the tax base) of properties remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base. At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties, including those in the hospitality sector as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest. For the pubs sector, the increase in rateable values will be 30%, which combined with the loss of the temporary RHL relief would lead to an increase in total bills paid by the sector of 45%. However, due to government intervention, the sector’s total bill will only increase by 4% next year. More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties. The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people waiting for NHS treatment in Surrey Heath constituency.

We are clear that the extent of waits for treatment is unacceptable, and that cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. We have committed to returning by March 2029 to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment.We are committed to transforming elective services to ensure patients get timely access to the care they need. This includes investing £6 billion of additional capital investment over five years for diagnostic, elective, urgent, and emergency capacity in the NHS.Between July 2024 and June 2025, we delivered 5.2 million additional appointments compared to the previous year, more than double our pledge of two million. This marks a vital first step towards delivering the constitutional standard.We promised change, and we have made good progress. As of the end of September 2025, 61.8% of pathways on the waiting list are within 18 weeks, an improvement of 3.3% since September 2024, and the number of waits over 18 weeks has reduced by almost 320,000 over the same period.Waiting list data is not available by constituency. In the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, which covers the Surrey Heath constituency, the waiting list size has fallen by over 17,000 since the Government took office in July 2024. The proportion of waits under 18 weeks has now also increased, up from 50.5% of patient pathways in July 2024 to 56.5% in September 2025, a 6.0% improvement.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of health services for men in Surrey Heath constituency.

We know that we need to do more to improve health outcomes for men across the country, including men in Surrey Heath. On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy which aims to improve the health of all men and boys in England. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks, and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.This strategy is a crucial first step, laying the foundation from which we can learn, iterate and grow to create a society where all men and boys are supported to live longer, healthier and happier lives. As a first step, we will work with the Men’s Health Academic Network and voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to develop and publish a one-year-on report, highlighting the improvements made and where future efforts will need to be targeted.

What steps he is taking to ensure that the regulatory framework for the postal sector supports (a) reliable and (b) sustainable postal services in (a) Surrey Heath constituency and (b) Surrey.

Royal Mail is an independent business and therefore recruitment and retention policies are for its management. The government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s operational or commercial decisions.As the independent regulator for the postal sector, it is for Ofcom to oversee Royal Mail’s delivery of the universal service obligation and decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations. Ofcom takes compliance with its regulatory targets seriously and this involves conducting thorough investigations where failures have been identified.In October, Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21 million for failing to meet its quality-of-service targets and has told Royal Mail it must urgently publish and deliver a credible plan that delivers major and continuous improvement.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of Royal Mail's workforce (a) recruitment and (b) retention rates in (i) Surrey and (ii) Surrey Heath constituency.

Royal Mail is an independent business and therefore recruitment and retention policies are for its management. The government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s operational or commercial decisions.As the independent regulator for the postal sector, it is for Ofcom to oversee Royal Mail’s delivery of the universal service obligation and decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations. Ofcom takes compliance with its regulatory targets seriously and this involves conducting thorough investigations where failures have been identified.In October, Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21 million for failing to meet its quality-of-service targets and has told Royal Mail it must urgently publish and deliver a credible plan that delivers major and continuous improvement.

What data his Department holds on the (a) prevalence and (b) use of private ultrasound clinics.

The Department does not hold data on the prevalence and use of private ultrasound clinics. No recent discussions have taken place with regulatory bodies on the standards required of individuals providing ultrasound scans in non-National Health Service settings.While there are no legal requirements for those carrying out ultrasound in the Untied Kingdom to hold specific professional qualifications or registration, all providers in England who provide ultrasound scans must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and meet certain legal duties, which includes ensuring that anyone carrying out such activity has the appropriate skills, knowledge, and experience.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) care and (b) support for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis in Surrey Heath constituency.

We published the myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), final delivery plan on 22 July 2025. The plan focusses on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease, including those in the Surrey Heath constituency.The ME/CFS final delivery plan includes an action for the Department and NHS England to explore whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for people with very severe ME/CFS across England. Officials from the Department have commenced discussions with NHS England on how best to take forward this action.NHS England has also started its work on co-designing resources for systems to improve services for mild and moderate ME/CFS, including for patients in the Surrey Heath constituency. It will meet a group of key stakeholders to progress this in the coming weeks.To support healthcare professionals in the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS, as set out in the final delivery plan, the Department has worked with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes. All three sessions of the e-learning programme, with sessions one and two having universal access, whilst the third session is only available to healthcare professionals, are now available at the following link:https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/mecfselearning?nodeId=7288

What consideration his Department has given to the potential merits of introducing further (a) professional or (b) regulatory requirements for those undertaking ultrasound scans.

The Government has no plans to introduce further professional or regulatory requirements for those undertaking ultrasound scans. While there are no legal requirements for those carrying out ultrasound in the United Kingdom to hold specific professional qualifications or registration, all providers in England who provide ultrasound scans must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and meet its fundamental standards, which includes ensuring that anyone carrying out such activity has the appropriate skills, knowledge, and experience.

What discussions his Department has had with regulatory bodies on the standards required of individuals providing ultrasound scans in non-NHS settings.

The Department does not hold data on the prevalence and use of private ultrasound clinics. No recent discussions have taken place with regulatory bodies on the standards required of individuals providing ultrasound scans in non-National Health Service settings.While there are no legal requirements for those carrying out ultrasound in the Untied Kingdom to hold specific professional qualifications or registration, all providers in England who provide ultrasound scans must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and meet certain legal duties, which includes ensuring that anyone carrying out such activity has the appropriate skills, knowledge, and experience.