Written questions by Ballinger.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing the maximum amount that can be added to a cash ISA on small building societies.

The pricing of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. However, mortgage rates are influenced by a range of factors, including Base Rate, which has been cut five times since this Government came to power. ISAs incentivise saving and investment for future goals by providing tax advantages to individual taxpayers. The Government recognises the important role that cash savings play. The Government continues to consider reforms to ISAs and savings to achieve the right balance between cash savings and investment and ensure better outcomes for both savers and the UK economy.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing the maximum amount that can be added to a cash ISA on mortgage rates.

The pricing of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. However, mortgage rates are influenced by a range of factors, including Base Rate, which has been cut five times since this Government came to power. ISAs incentivise saving and investment for future goals by providing tax advantages to individual taxpayers. The Government recognises the important role that cash savings play. The Government continues to consider reforms to ISAs and savings to achieve the right balance between cash savings and investment and ensure better outcomes for both savers and the UK economy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reducing the maximum noise level for consumer fireworks from 120 to 90 decibels on the welfare of (a) horses and (b) other animals.

The Government is continuing to engage with animal welfare stakeholders, businesses, consumer groups and charities on the impacts of fireworks, to inform any future action.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support local authorities to tackle persistent cases of fly-tipping in the West Midlands.

Local councils are responsible for tackling fly-tipping in their area and have a range of enforcement powers to help them do so. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing and crushing of vehicles and prosecution action. We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers and are taking steps to develop statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support councils to consistently, appropriately and effectively exercise these existing powers. We are also conducting a review of council powers to seize and crush vehicles of fly-tippers, to identify how we could help them make better use of this tool.In our manifesto we committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.In the meantime, Defra continues to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities and the Environment Agency, to share good practice on preventing fly-tipping. Various practical tools are available from their webpage which is available at: https://nftpg.com/

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of commissioning research into the impact of firework noise on animal welfare.

The Government is continuing to engage with animal welfare stakeholders, businesses, consumer groups and charities on the impacts of fireworks, to inform any future action.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to help limit the impact of fireworks on (a) pets, (b) livestock and (c) other animals.

The Government is continuing to engage with animal welfare stakeholders, businesses, consumer groups and charities on the impacts of fireworks, to inform any future action.

What steps he is taking to improve enforcement laws relating to the (a) setting off of fireworks (i) in public places and (ii) outside permitted hours and (b) misuse of fireworks in general.

Enforcement powers exist for local authorities to act when fireworks are unsafe, sold illegally or misused. Local authorities and the police also have powers to tackle anti-social behaviour caused by the misuse of fireworks, including setting off outside permitted hours. It is for local areas to decide how best to deploy these powers and there are no current plans to change them.I have launched a public campaign for this year’s fireworks season. The campaign includes social media materials with information on current legislation and the penalties for illegal use, as well as the risks from the misuse of fireworks.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing (a) national guidance and (b) regulations on setting a minimum age for body piercings.

There are no plans to set a national minimum age for body piercings. The Department has produced model byelaws for cosmetic piercing under the Local Government Act 2003 and Local Government (miscellaneous provisions) Act 1982. The purpose of the model byelaws is to recognise and set nationally accepted standards that reduce the spread of infectious diseases and protect public health. Further, the Tattooing and body piercing guidance toolkit, a copy of which is attached, provides local authorities and businesses with information on good standards of practice. These national models and standards help local authorities create clear and consistent byelaws, which is beneficial for both local businesses and the public.

If she will make it her policy to publish a consultation on the adequacy of fail to stop provisions in the Road Traffic Act 1988.

This Government takes road safety seriously. We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads.We are considering a range of policies under the new strategy; the first for 10 years. This includes the case for changing motoring offences, such as reporting and failure to stop and report road traffic collisions.More details will be published in due course.

What steps she is taking to help reduce the number of young drivers killed in road traffic collisions.

We absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads and continue to tackle this through our THINK! campaign. We are considering measures to address this problem and protect young drivers, as part of our upcoming strategy for road safety - the first in over a decade.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to penalise offenders who fail to remain at the scene of a serious road traffic collision.

This Government takes road safety seriously. We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads.We are considering a range of policies under the new strategy; the first for 10 years. This includes the case for changing motoring offences, such as reporting and failure to stop and report road traffic collisions.More details will be published in due course.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of reducing the 24-hour time period allowed to report road traffic collisions.

This Government takes road safety seriously. We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads.We are considering a range of policies under the new strategy; the first for 10 years. This includes the case for changing motoring offences, such as reporting and failure to stop and report road traffic collisions.More details will be published in due course.

What steps her Department is taking to help ensure that (a) long and (b) lifetime driving disqualifications are enforced.

The Government takes road safety extremely seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. We have tough penalties and rigorous enforcement in place to deter offending behaviour.The police have a suite of powers at their disposal to enforce driving disqualifications. Penalties for driving whilst disqualified can include vehicle seizure, fines and custodial sentences.We expect individual Chief Officers to enforce road traffic law and manage how available resources are deployed, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to suspend driving licences immediately for people arrested on suspicion of driving offences carrying mandatory disqualification.

This Government takes road safety seriously. We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads.The Government is listening closely to the concerns of those affected by tragic cases of death or serious injury on our roads.We are considering a range of policies under the new strategy; the first for 10 years. This includes the case for changing motoring offences.More details will be published in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the Migration and Conflict Directorate in (a) preventing and (b) reducing conflict in priority contexts; what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of that Directorate in providing analysing to the (a) UK Integrated Security Fund and (b) other programmes.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 11 July 2025 to Question 64725.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has considered dissolving her Department's Migration and Conflict Directorate.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 11 July 2025 to Question 64725.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much official development assistance funding she plans to provide to Yemen in each of the next five years.

Specific funding allocations in future years for individual programmes and countries will be confirmed in the usual way in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much foreign aid she plans to grant to Yemen for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

Specific funding allocations in future years for individual programmes and countries will be confirmed in the usual way in due course.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of amending the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to include measures to prevent pavement parking.

The Department held a consultation in 2020 and is working through the policy options to tackle pavement parking and the appropriate means of delivering them. As soon as the Government is satisfied that an optimal solution to this complex issue has been identified, we will announce the next steps and publish our formal response.

If she will respond to her Department's consultation entitled Managing Pavement Parking, which closed on 22 November 2020, by 31 December 2025.

The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible.