Written questions by Ballinger.

Communities and Local Government, under what legislation developers are responsible for mitigating the risk of landslides in their property developments.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 46774 on 29 April 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what (a) financial and (b) any other support (i) is and (ii) will be available to Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, in the context of improvement notice and auditor evaluations.

My department continues to work closely with Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council to ensure strong oversight of progress against the requirements of the best value notice issued in July 2025. The council is leading its own improvement journey and has secured independent challenge and support through its Improvement and Assurance Board, the Local Government Association and other sector bodies. Through the multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement, Dudley will see an increase in Core Spending Power of 12% by 2028-29 compared to 2025-26, worth £44 million. We will also be maintaining their £5 million Recovery Grant allocation across the multi-year Settlement and they will benefit from the Recovery Grant Guarantee next year.

Communities and Local Government, how he plans to support Councils with low council tax bases and entrenched deprivation.

Following extensive consultation and engagement, we are realigning funding distributed through the Local Government Finance Settlement with need and deprivation. We will target a greater proportion of grant funding towards the most deprived places which need it most, ensuring the best value for money for government and taxpayers. These updates will account for local circumstances, including for different ability to raise income locally from council tax, and the variation in the cost of delivering services, including between rural and urban areas. By using the most up to date data available, the government will be able to assess local authorities' relative demand for services more effectively. This includes using the most up-to-date 2025 Indices of Multiple Deprivation in our assessment of need. We introduced the £600 million Recovery Grant in 2025-26 to support the most deprived local authorities which are least able to fund their own services through income raised locally. After years of funding cuts to local government, in which the most deprived places suffered the most, the recovery is not over. Following a large number of representations on the importance of Recovery Grant funding, the government has consulted on its plans to maintain the Recovery Grant across the multi-year Settlement, to enable these places to continue their recovery. The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of nationalising the M6 Toll road.

There are currently no discussions underway about nationalising the M6 Toll. The M6 Toll sits outside of the Strategic Road Network managed by National Highways and is owned and operated by private entity Midland Expressway Ltd (MEL).

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of financial penalties for social responsibility failings in acting as a deterrent.

Financial penalties are one element of the Gambling Commission’s regulatory toolkit. Action taken by the Gambling Commission is based on the need to gain compliance from gambling operators with the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice at the earliest opportunity. If breaches occur, financial penalties may be imposed. Since 2016/17, the Commission’s enforcement action has resulted in over £215 million in fines and regulatory settlements. As a result of the Commission’s compliance and enforcement work, in the last three years there have been fewer instances of extreme failings at gambling operators. However, the Commission continues to address any non-compliance through use of its enforcement powers and will continue to do so wherever necessary.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of gambling advertisements on children and young people; and whether she plans to introduce legislative measures to restrict or ban gambling marketing and sponsorship.

All operators advertising in the UK must comply with robust advertising codes, which are enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) independently of Government. These codes are regularly reviewed and updated and include a wide range of provisions designed to protect children and vulnerable adults from harm. The Government does not currently have plans to ban gambling advertising. However, we recognise that children and young people’s exposure to gambling advertising is an important issue and we continue to work closely with the gambling industry to further strengthen protections. We have welcomed the Premier League’s voluntary front of shirt ban on gambling advertisements from next season, which will reduce gambling exposure for children and young people. Additionally, we will redouble our efforts to work cross-government and with tech platforms to address illegal gambling advertising, which poses the most risk for children and young people.

How many investigations are being carried out by the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery; and how many of those investigations relate to the deaths of (a) members of the Armed Forces and (b) police officers.

We understand that there are currently 113 live investigations under the remit of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery. Within those 113 investigations, there were 35 victims who were military personnel and 16 police officers. This accounts for 44 of the 113 cases as some of these relate to multi-fatality incidents.

Whether she is taking steps to improve grace periods for parking fines and transparency for the appeal and enforcement process.

A 10-minute grace period became mandatory for all councils in England on 6 April 2015. It applies at local authority owned or operated car parks and at the end of paid-for and free on-street parking in England. The grace period only applies at the end of permitted paid-for or free parking to allow for accidental overstays beyond a driver's control. It does not apply at the start of a period of parking, nor in circumstances where the driver was not permitted to park (i.e. outside the hours of permitted operation of on-street parking). A requirement for transparency on matters relating to civil parking enforcement is enshrined in the Secretary of State's statutory guidance for local authorities in England on civil enforcement of parking contraventions.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of gambling harms among serving members of the Armed Forces.

Defence recognises that gambling-related harms can have significant impacts on the health and wellbeing of Service personnel. In addition to the limits placed on gambling by Kings Regulations, active efforts are made to highlight both the harms of problem gambling and the available support, in awareness campaigns. Defence has worked with Swansea University to help understand gambling harms. This research and other academic work inform our current assessment of the levels of gambling harms specifically within the Serving population. Further initiatives to build understanding include the new Defence Primary Healthcare Gambling pathway, which has been developed by the Defence Medical Services to ensure there is robust clinical pathway for those at risk, but will also present an opportunity to collect information to inform targeted interventions. The Defence Public Health Unit engages proactively with Department of Health counterparts and will continue to work cross-Government to secure the best possible evidence and insight into how to support Service personnel with gambling issues. Alongside the Single Services, the Public Health Unit continues to work with external agencies and charities that offer support to Service personnel.

What steps she is taking to support access to finance for SMEs in the West Midlands.

The Government is committed to ensuring that businesses across the UK, including in the West Midlands, can access the capital they need to grow. Through the British Business Bank (BBB), we are delivering a range of targeted interventions, including loan guarantee programmes and equity investment, designed to address regional funding gaps and unlock investment opportunities. Businesses in the West Midlands already benefit from the £400 million Midlands Engine Investment Fund II (MEIF). This fund is increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses across the Midlands and enabling businesses that might otherwise not receive investment to access capital. The BBB’s 2025 Impact Report estimates that their investments supported 2,200 West Midlands SMEs in 2024/25, and created 2,000 jobs. This follows the 10 June milestone of more than £100 million having been provided to West Midlands businesses as part of the Start Up Loans programme. The Bank also hosted a ‘Meet the Investor’ event in partnership with Tech UK in Birmingham in March to help connect SMEs with potential investors. West Midlands businesses will also benefit from the recent Spending Review uplift, which increased the Bank’s total capacity to £25.6 billion. This uplift will enable the Bank to make annual investments of around £2.5 billion, supporting more high-growth and innovative UK businesses access finance across the UK.

Whether he plans to expand protected research time for NHS clinicians contributing to research.

The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future highlights the opportunities for improved care and innovation that comes from research and life sciences in the National Health Service. The upcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan is considering all aspects of the NHS workforce, including the research workforce. The 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future The Department, through the National Institute of Health and Care Research, funds protected time for research and research training as part of career development awards, allowing award holders to develop and utilise research skills alongside clinical practice. This includes Academic Clinical Fellowships and Clinical Lectureships, which are clinical academic training posts, primarily for doctors and dentists, that are undertaken alongside specialty training. The Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award provides funding for professionals to have protected time for research within their current practice roles. It is available to all professions, with priority given to those typically underrepresented in research. The Department is working with key stakeholders and the devolved administrations to develop a UK Research Workforce Strategy, to be published in the coming months. The strategy sets out a 10-year vision to embed research and innovation into core practice within the NHS, social care, and public health system, aligned with the 10-Year Health Plan, Life Sciences Sector Plan, and Office for the Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research reports. The ambition is to address barriers and build research capacity across all professions, settings, and geographies to lead and deliver high-quality research, as well as to routinely implement research findings to drive improved patient outcomes along with enhanced efficiency and productivity across the health, social care, and public health system.

What steps he is taking to ensure support is available for vulnerable people in poverty to have improved access to food banks.

Foodbanks are independent organisations and remain in control of who they provide support to and how people can access that support. However, our Work Coaches are adept at providing holistic support to customers, and use their knowledge of local provision to signpost vulnerable customers to the support they need, including Food Banks where appropriate. From 1 April 2026, we are introducing a new Crisis and Resilience Fund. 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, to support our ambition to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels.

What discussions he has had with the NHS on improving prevention and treatment of gambling harms among Armed Forces personnel and veterans.

The Ministry of Defence takes problem-gambling very seriously and works closely with Armed Forces personnel and Veterans who require support. The comprehensive Defence Primary Health Care Gambling pathway within the Defence Medical Services, assesses and supports Service personnel who come forward with a gambling issue and, when required, refers them to specialist NHS gambling services and clinics. Service personnel can also self-refer into these services. This pathway includes an assessment of gambling addiction using recognised validated assessment tools such as the Problem Gambling Severity Index. Data collected from these assessments can be used to help Defence monitor and understand the scale of gambling harms within Service personnel. Defence engages routinely with NHS colleagues delivering specialist gambling prevention and treatment services. The Public Health Unit within Defence engages proactively with Department of Health counterparts and will continue to work cross-Government to secure the best possible evidence and insight into how to support Service personnel with gambling issues. Veterans are eligible for gambling addiction treatment through the NHS. The Office for Veterans' Affairs in the Ministry of Defence regularly works with the third sector and academia to ensure veteran-specific needs are understood.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of long-term, stable funding models for cancer research projects.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s Medical Research Council (MRC) delivers a substantial portfolio of researcher-led projects, building on long-standing partnerships, including with Wellcome and CRUK, to fund investments such as the Francis Crick Institute, where over 40 groups work on research directly relevant to cancer.UKRI takes a strategic, long-term approach to investing in infrastructure that will underpin future discovery research, including a £29 million award to the University of Nottingham in 2022 to establish the UK’s most powerful MRI scanner, facilitating patient cancer studies. It also includes UK Biobank, which is enabling researchers to investigate the impact of lifestyle on cancer.The MRC Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE), provides long term funding to tackle transformational research questions, and will enhance approaches to the prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, including cancer.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to support research teams undertaking long-term cancer prevention and early-detection research.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology invests approximately £200 million annually in cancer research via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spent £141.6 million in 2024/25 via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The Office for Life Science’s Cancer Healthcare Goal Programme has invested over £16 million to support development of early detection innovations, such as multi cancer detection tests. DHSC will be publishing a National Cancer Plan for England in the new year. This will set out the Government’s long-term strategy to improve outcomes for cancer patients, including prevention and early-detection R&D.

What steps he is taking to support SMEs in the West Midlands to access the Growth and Skills Levy.

To support SMEs to access apprenticeships, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers (essentially SMEs) for all eligible people aged under 25 from the next academic year. This change will make it easier for those employers to engage with apprenticeships across the country, including in the West Midlands, by cutting costs and reducing bureaucracy for both them and their training providers. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16 to 21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care. We also provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care. The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises 2,500 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England, including the West Midlands, through nine regional networks. These networks provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure more children are able to cycle safely to school.

Active Travel England provides funding to The Bikeability Trust to deliver Bikeability cycle training to children in England (outside London). In addition, active travel revenue funding can be used by local authorities to deliver cycle training and engagement programmes outside of Bikeability. On 19 November 2024, Active Travel England and the Department for Transport published guidance for local authorities in England on how to set up and manage a School Streets scheme. School Streets can improve the experiences of a school’s pupils, staff, visitors, and neighbours alike at peak school arrival and departure times.In the joint statement (issued 2 July 2025) on walking, wheeling and cycling, the Mayors of England’s Combined Authorities committed to transforming the school run by delivering high-quality, safer routes in neighbourhoods nationwide.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of adult gaming centres on trends in the level of gambling harms in deprived areas .

We do not hold official data on the relationship between deprivation and participation in gambling at adult gaming centres. As part of the Pride in Place Strategy, published on 25 September, the Government reaffirmed its commitment to introducing cumulative impact assessments (CIAs) for gambling licensing when parliamentary time allows. The introduction of CIAs, alongside the broad range of powers already available to local authorities, will enable local authorities across England to take data-driven decisions on premises licences, particularly areas identified as vulnerable to gambling-related harms. It will allow authorities to take account of a range of factors, including deprivation, when making licensing decisions. This will empower local authorities to better shape their streets and neighbourhoods.

Media and Sport, whether she will assess the potential merits of reviewing the aim to permit duty under the Gambling Act 2005 to strengthen the ability of local authorities to limit gambling harms.

Local authorities are vital partners in the regulation of gambling and have a range of powers to influence the operation of gambling premises and limit gambling harm. These include site inspections, restrictions on opening hours, and suspending or revoking a gambling premises licence if premises are found to be non-complaint with the licensing objectives. While the Government does not have any plans to review the ‘aim to permit’ provision in the Gambling Act at this time, we recognise that some authorities do not always feel that the tools at their disposal are fully effective in shaping local areas. As outlined in the Pride in Place Strategy, the Government will boost local authorities’ existing powers to influence the location and density of gambling outlets by introducing Cumulative Impact Assessments, when parliamentary time allows. This will give licensing authorities powers to determine whether the cumulative impact of the number or density of gambling premises in a local area undermines the licensing objectives, particularly in areas that have been identified as vulnerable to gambling-related harms.

Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential merits of including public health officials in the gambling license process.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has not had discussions on this matter with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.There are several ways that public health officials at local authorities contribute to the gambling licensing process. For example, as noted in the Gambling Commission’s Guidance to Licensing Authorities, public health teams can advise licensing authorities on their Licensing Statement of Policy for gambling, to help ensure it reflects current risks and knowledge. Public health teams can also contribute to the development of ‘local area profiles’. These can be used to identify higher-risk areas where gambling premises must implement mitigation measures to address risk, and the Gambling Commission and Local Government Association have encouraged licensing authorities to produce them.We recognise some stakeholders have noted it is unclear whether the Gambling Act designates public health officials as a responsible authority in the licensing process. We will consider the best available evidence to inform any future decisions in this area.