Written questions by Brewer.

What steps her Department is taking to provide new police officers with (a) tools and (b) training to tackle violent rural crime.

This Government is committed to ensuring there are consistent, high standards for training in the police. This will help to maintain public confidence in the police and ensure the workforce is equipped to respond to the crime challenges they face every day, including in rural communities.Rural and wildlife crimes can have devastating consequences for our natural environments and countryside communities. This Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and anyone exploiting or deliberately harming British wildlife or rural settings should face the full force of the law.Under our Safer Streets Mission, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping. We are also committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 to fend off the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting.

What steps her Department is taking to monitor train service improvements in North East Hampshire constituency.

Department officials are in regular conversation with South Western Railway regarding its service provision in response to demand. When reviewing train services, the Department needs to assess business cases and balance demand with value for the taxpayer in its considerations.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes to National Insurance employer contributions on hospices in North East Hampshire constituency.

We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, enabling the Spending Review settlement of £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.The employer National Insurance contribution rise will be implemented in April 2025, and planning guidance published on 30 January 2025 sets out the funding available to integrated care boards and the overall approach to funding providers in the next financial year. It considers a variety of pay and non-pay factors and pressures on the providers of secondary healthcare, including charitable hospices.  Further information on the planning guidance is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2025-26-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance/We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.We are pleased to confirm that the Government has released the first £25 million tranche of the £100 million of capital funding, with Hospice UK kindly allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England. An additional £75 million will be available from April 2025.In addition, I recently met the major palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, and long-term sector sustainability, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, was discussed at length.

Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure (a) sports clubs and (b) historical re-enactment groups have (i) safety rolled and (ii) spatulated tipped equipment delivered to them via delivery services.

The Department has not been approached by sport clubs on this issue.Under current legislation it is against the law to sell a bladed article to a person under the age of 18 and this includes swords. If the sale occurs online it is necessary for the retailer to carry out age verification at the point of sale and, if using a delivery company to deliver a bladed product, to ensure that the delivery company has arrangements in place to ensure that the product would not be delivered into the hands of a person under 18. Many delivery companies offer age verified delivery.Outside of mandatory requirements, decisions on items that delivery operators accept in their networks are for the company themselves.

What steps she plans to take to support small wine companies following changes to alcohol duty rates.

Following the end of the wine easement on 1 February some administrative work will be required for small wine companies, due to the need to make different calculations for wines of different strengths between 11.5% and 14.5% ABV to establish the level of duty. This extra step is one that was considered in detail during the consultation period.  To reduce small wine companies burdens, HMRC will accept the ABV on the label of the bottle for the calculation of duty. Whilst the new system of wine labelling allows product labelling to 0.1 per cent ABV, this is optional, and wine can still be labelled to the nearest 0.5 per cent ABV.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that children in kinship care receive adequate (a) education and (b) mental health support.

The department is committed to ensuring that children in kinship care get the support that they need to thrive. There are a number of ways in which we support their educational and mental health needs.From September 2024, the department expanded the role of virtual school heads on a non-statutory basis to include championing the education, attendance, and attainment of children in kinship care, ensuring that more children in kinship care receive the help they need to thrive at school. The department is now mandating this through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. This will ensure that all children in kinship care, regardless of whether they spent time in local authority care, will ensure they receive consistent support to improve their educational outcomes. This will also give kinship carers better access to and understanding of educational resources and support, which will increase visibility of these children in education and ensure they are not overlooked.In addition, the department is providing over £2.9 billion of pupil premium funding to improve the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils in England, including looked after and previously looked after children. Schools can direct pupil premium spending where the need is greatest, including to pupils with other identified needs, such as children in kinship care. Schools can also use pupil premium on whole class approaches that will benefit all pupils, such as on high quality teaching.This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to high and rising standards in schools and breaking down barriers to opportunity, helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education. The government will deliver on this commitment through providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.As of April 2024, NHS-funded mental health support teams covered 44% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England, and are expected to cover at least 50% by the end of March 2025. The department will also be putting in place new young futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.To support education staff, the department provides a range of guidance and practical resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. For example, a resources hub for mental health leads, and a toolkit to help schools choose evidence-based early support for pupils.The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund also helps adoptive and special guardianship order children and their families access therapeutic interventions related to trauma and attachment.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the most effective steps to protect copyright and the creative industries against the increase of AI usage.

The government recognises the importance of the UK’s copyright regime to the economic success of the creative industries, one of eight growth-driving sectors as identified in our Industrial Strategy. We are committed to supporting rights holders by ensuring they have control over and receive fair payment for their work, especially as technology advances to include AI. We are actively working with stakeholders to ensure copyright protections remain robust and fit for purpose.Our 10-week consultation, which was published on Tuesday 17 December and closed on 25 February, engaged AI and creative industries stakeholders widely on the impact of AI on the copyright regime. The aims of the consultation were to seek views on how the copyright framework should apply in the context of AI. Key topics under review include text and data mining, transparency and labelling, computer generated works and digital replicas.The consultation was published alongside an accompanying options assessment. The consultation sought to gather further evidence on the potential impact on the creative industries of any change to the copyright regime in the context of AI training. We will now consider the full range of responses we have received through our consultation to determine the most effective next steps. If legislative changes are needed, a full economic impact assessment will be undertaken.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Soft Power Council on levels of funding for the British Council.

The Soft Power Council will advise the Government on the development of a Soft Power Strategy, including how to support the UK's soft power assets, and how to harness them through international interventions in support of foreign policy priorities.The Soft Power Council does not have a formal role in respect of British Council funding.

What recent discussions she has had with train operating companies on (a) train drivers' salaries and (b) performance.

Ministers continue to meet with train operating companies to hold them to account. Since the start of 2025, the Secretary of State has held meetings with Avanti West Coast and Northern Trains regarding the operators' performance. The Rail Minister also held meetings with Northern Trains, Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry in January to discuss their performance in depth. Other topics, including drivers’ salaries, have been discussed at previous meetings between Ministers and train operating companies.

Whether her Department plans to review the Lifetime ISAs property price limit.

Data from the latest UK House Price Index) shows that while the average price paid by first-time buyers has increased, it is still below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for London, where the average price paid is affected by boroughs with very high property values. The Government keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to expedite the removal and remediation of dangerous cladding on properties; and what steps she plans to take to ensure that properties that previously qualified for the Building Safety Fund are remediated in a timely way.

The Remediation Acceleration Plan (RAP) sets out key measures to fix buildings faster, identify remaining buildings still at risk and ensure that residents are supported through the remediation process.No leaseholder in a high-rise residential building should wait a day longer for remediation than necessary, and under our plan by the end of 2029 all 18m+ (high-rise) buildings with unsafe cladding in a government funded scheme will have been remediated. In addition, every building of 11m+ with unsafe cladding will either have been remediated, have a completion date, or the landlord will be liable for severe penalties. Our plan will drive the pace of remediation through new proposed legal duties and powers, new funding, new resources and new partnerships.By July 2024, we had moved 124 buildings (18m+) from the Building Safety Fund to the Cladding Safety Scheme. All 124 buildings now have a signed Grant Funding Agreement.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of an increase in the rate of employers' National Insurance contributions on (a) hairdressers and (b) other small to medium-sized high street businesses that do not qualify for business rates relief.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to supportpublic services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The Government published a Tax Information and Impact Note on 13 November which sets out the impact of the employer NICs changes. The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all next year, more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package, and all eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.

What account his review of the frequency of infant head measurements will take of (a) research by Harry’s Hydrocephalus Awareness Trust and (b) the experience of other developed countries.

It is vitally important that babies are diagnosed as early as possible, so treatment can be provided. Current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance recommends measuring the head circumference of babies in the first week, at approximately eight weeks old, and at other times only if there are concerns. The baby’s general practitioner, or nominated primary care examiner, has a responsibility for ensuring the six-to-eight-week newborn infant physical examination screen, where head size is measured, is completed for all registered babies. The Department is seeking advice from the NICE and the royal colleges on the value of a clinical review of the current guidelines surrounding infant head circumference.The Healthy Child Programme sets out the requirements for health visiting services, including five mandated reviews where the child’s health and development is assessed. This includes when the baby is 10 to 14 days old and at six-to-eight-weeks old, and additional contacts depending on need, providing an opportunity to identify any health or development concerns and to make the appropriate referrals.

Whether he has taken steps to introduce the measurement of infant head circumference to existing health visits since his meeting with Harry’s Hydrocephalus Awareness Trust on 6 November 2024; and whether he has set a deadline for commissioning a clinical review into infant head circumference measurement.

It is vitally important that babies are diagnosed as early as possible, so treatment can be provided. Current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance recommends measuring the head circumference of babies in the first week, at approximately eight weeks old, and at other times only if there are concerns. The baby’s general practitioner, or nominated primary care examiner, has a responsibility for ensuring the six-to-eight-week newborn infant physical examination screen, where head size is measured, is completed for all registered babies. The Department is seeking advice from the NICE and the royal colleges on the value of a clinical review of the current guidelines surrounding infant head circumference.The Healthy Child Programme sets out the requirements for health visiting services, including five mandated reviews where the child’s health and development is assessed. This includes when the baby is 10 to 14 days old and at six-to-eight-weeks old, and additional contacts depending on need, providing an opportunity to identify any health or development concerns and to make the appropriate referrals.