Written questions by McIntyre.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help reduce water bills in Gloucester constituency.

The Government committed to reforming the WaterSure affordability scheme and published its response to the public consultation on 6 March 2026.  Proposed changes will expand eligibility to include disability benefits – meaning a further 53,000 low-income households will see significant savings. The reforms will also alter the way the price cap is determined, with most existing recipients seeing further savings of up to £100. Together the changes will mean around 300,000 households will see substantial help with their bills. Water companies are also more than doubling social tariff support for vulnerable customers by 2030 and Government is working with industry to keep their schemes under review to ensure vulnerable customers receive the support they need. We are considering ways to drive more consistency and increase awareness of the support consumers can access. Defra also expects companies to hold themselves accountable for their public commitment to end water poverty by 2030.

Media and Sport, what recent steps she has taken to support grassroots Rugby in Gloucester constituency.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to and can benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities, including rugby. We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment of £16.9 million to the Rugby Football Union and £15.7 million to the Rugby Football League between 2022 and 2029, the National Governing Bodies for rugby to support grassroots participation. It also supports grassroots clubs and projects around the country, which has included support for rugby facilities at Spartans RFC in Gloucester in 2024/25. Since summer 2024, the Government has also provided £6.7 million into the Women’s Rugby World Cup Legacy Programme Impact 25, which has benefited 850 clubs across the country . These clubs have received investment which goes towards supporting girls of all ages to get involved in rugby. This includes clubs in the Gloucester constituency such as Drybrook RFC who received £10,000 towards improving facilities at the club.

What improvements have been made to ambulance response times in Gloucester constituency between 2024 and 2025.

Gloucester is served by the South-Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT). In the year 2023/24, average Category 2 response times were 42 minutes and 50 seconds. In the year 2024/25, average Category 2 response times worsened, to 45 minutes and 25 seconds.However, the most recent National Health Service performance figures for SWASFT show that the year-to-date, from April 2025 to February 2026, the average Category 2 response time has been 34 minutes and 50 seconds, showing considerable improvement this financial year.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the performance of secondary schools in Gloucester constituency.

Data shows that a significant Attainment 8 gap between selective grammar schools in Gloucester and non-selective schools, with a 30+ point gap between the highest (Denmark Road, 72.9) and lowest scoring (Gloucester Academy, 36.6) schools. Grammar schools drive the locally authority average (50.3 compared to the national average of 46). Schools with lower attainment 8 scores serve more disadvantaged populations locally.Overall secondary attendance trend in the Gloucester constituency is improving, increasing from 90.4% in 2023/24 to 90.9%, in 2024/25. Note the national average is 90.9% and local authority average is 91.5%.Overall, Ofsted ratings demonstrate an improvement trend in schools in Gloucester. Holmleigh Park and Gloucester Academy have improved from an ‘Inadequate’ Ofsted judgement, to ‘Good’. The department continues to work closely with local partners to closely monitor this continuing trend of improvement.

What recent steps he has taken to help tackle homelessness among veterans in Gloucester constituency.

This Government is fully committed to ensuring that veterans in Gloucester and across the UK have access to the support they need on housing. That is why we have committed an additional £12 million to ensure the continuation of the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme. Op FORTITUDE has also been extended, putting the service that has already supported over 1,000 veterans on a sustainable footing. These programmes will deliver three years of support services across the UK for veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness.In December last year, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published A National Plan to End Homelessness. The Ministry of Defence contributed to this strategy including committing to ensuring that all councils are aware of service provision in their area to support veterans at risk of homelessness.

What progress has been made on delivering specialist mental health provision in every school in Gloucester by 2029.

As of April 2025, 88% of pupils and learners and 76% of schools and colleges in Gloucester constituency were covered by a Mental Health Support Team (MHST), compared to 52% of pupils and learners and 41% of schools and colleges nationally. Further data for 2024/25 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision. This has been available since 16 May 2025 at national, regional and local authority level and since 10 July 2025 at constituency level.Around six in ten pupils nationally are expected to have access to an MHST by April 2026. Data on MHST coverage is collected annually.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help tackle dog attacks in Gloucester constituency.

The Government has reconvened the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce to explore measures to promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. The taskforce is considering four themes: educating the public on how to stay safe around dogs, training for both dogs and their owners, enforcement, and improving data on dog attacks. The Government looks forward to receiving its findings and recommendations in due course.

What steps he is taking to help improve the uptake of diabetes checks in Gloucester constituency.

Gloucestershire has a county wide programme in place to improve diabetes care and increase uptake of these checks. Current actions include:a primary care Locally Enhanced Service for diabetes and diabetes champions, to support earlier intervention, more consistent reviews, and better diabetes management in general practices;a local diabetes performance dashboard that gives practices real time data to identify variation and target support;a community diabetes consultant, supporting increased access to specialist advice in community settings so people are able to access care closer to home and reducing pressure on hospital services; andactive involvement in NHS England’s regional diabetes oversight work to share learning and benchmark performance.These steps aim to support earlier diagnosis, more consistent monitoring, and better outcomes for people living with diabetes in Gloucester and across the county.The latest data from the quarterly National Diabetes Audit for 2025/26 indicates Gloucestershire’s steady improvement in both the delivery of key checks and the achievement of the recommended treatment targets for people with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

What recent steps he has taken to get young people into work in Gloucester constituency.

The Government’s ambition is to transform young people’s prospects, by ensuring every one of them has the chance to earn or learn through a Youth Guarantee. We have already taken the first steps towards delivering a Youth Guarantee, including launching Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in England, announcing funding to almost double Youth Hubs across Great Britain, and launching an Independent Report into Young People and Work, to identify potential areas for reform to better support young people with health conditions and disabilities. At the budget we announced the expansion of the Youth Guarantee, backed by a £820 million investment over the next three years to reach almost 900,000 young people across Great Britain. This includes expansion of Youth Hubs to more than 360 areas across Great Britain and a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, offering a dedicated session and follow-up support to 16-24-year-olds on Universal Credit. This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training. In addition, it will provide guaranteed jobs to around 55,000 young people aged 18-21. The Department works closely with local partners to ensure support for young people reflects local labour market needs. In Gloucestershire, this includes working with Gloucestershire County Council’s (GCC) Employment & Skills Hub, where the Department supported delivery of the 100 Futures initiative, targeting 100 young people for six‑week work placements to help young people build confidence, boost employability skills and move close to work. Gloucester Jobcentre Plus also works with GCC’s Step Forward programme to provide enhanced employability support for Care Leavers. This includes regular engagement with the Care Leavers Team, Work Coach drop-in sessions at the Hideaway (Shire Hall) and a pilot offering flexible learning opportunities to help Care Leavers gain Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) cards, with training funded by DWP and delivered by local Care Leaver Team staff. Gloucester Jobcentre Plus is also supporting young people through the Movement into Work placements and launched a mini–Youth Zone, bringing partner organisations directly into the 18–24-year-old workspace. This includes weekly engagement from local voluntary and community organisations (including SPEAR, Commercial Foundation, Young Gloucestershire, Healthy Lifestyles, Step Forward, Inclusion Gloucestershire), helping to provide a more holistic and accessible support for young people. In addition, the Department is supporting the local Integrated Care Board’s Widening Access Demonstrator programme, targeting 100 young adults (16–30) from deprived communities to enter work experience, volunteering, education or employment.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Diabetes One Stop Shop pilots in Cornwall and Sheffield; and whether these pilots are scalable.

This Government recognises the importance of innovation and new care models in tackling preventable ill health such as type 2 diabetes head-on. We thank those involved in the pilots in Cornwall and Sheffield for their support for those with diabetes by testing this innovative care model.NHS England has not made a specific assessment on the effectiveness or scalability of the Diabetes One Stop Shop pilots, as innovation and new care models are often shared via regional and clinical networks for integrated care boards (ICBs) to consider and implement where appropriate.Nationally, we continue to support programmes such as the Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme which has offered support to over 2.4 million people at risk of type 2 diabetes since its establishment in 2016, and the NHS Health Check, which aims to detect those at risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease aged between 40 and 74 years old.For those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, this Government continues to support the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme, ensuring those already living with the condition are identified and effectively treated.

What steps he is taking to improve community health services in Gloucester constituency.

Community health services are a fundamental part of the health and care system and an essential building block in developing a neighbourhood health service. That is why we have set a clear ambition for community health services through our Medium Term Planning Framework.For the first time, we have set a target for systems to work to reduce long waits for community health services. By 2028/29 at least 80% of community health services activity should take place within 18 weeks, bringing community health services in line with targets for elective care.To support the shift to neighbourhood health, we have published for the first time an overview of the core community health services, via Standardising Community Health Services, that integrated care boards should consider when planning for their local populations to support improved commissioning and delivery of community health services.In Gloucestershire, we remain committed to the principle of joined up services and support being delivered in neighbourhoods and communities where possible. In line with the 10-Year Health Plan, we will continue to support integration from the bottom up through our dedicated and innovative work in primary care networks and further development of integrated neighbourhood teams.Community health services in Gloucester continue to be strengthened through the development of primary care networks and integrated neighbourhood teams. These bring together general practices, community clinicians, social care, and voluntary sector partners to provide more joined up and proactive support.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Millions more appointments as more than 2,000 extra GPs recruited, published on 24 July 2025, how many additional GP appointments have been delivered in Gloucester constituency in the current financial year to date compared to the previous financial year at that point.

From December 2024 to December 2025, we have delivered 6.8 million more general practice appointments for patients in England than during the same period in the previous year.In the Gloucestershire constituency, between April 24 and December 24, a total of 578,193 appointments were delivered. However, during the same period the following year, from April 25 to December 25, the number of appointments dropped to 564,172, indicating a decrease of 14,021.

What steps his Department is taking to help support independent high street businesses in Gloucester constituency.

This government is focused on ensuring that high streets are great places for independent businesses to thrive and support local economic growth. Through the Small Business Plan, the government sets out its vision to support small businesses operating on high streets and within the everyday economy.Independent high street businesses in Gloucester can use face-to-face support from The Growth Hub Gloucestershire and benefit from national measures including action to tackle retail crime, reduce vacancies and make support easier to access through our Business Growth Service. Later this year we’ll publish a new High Streets Strategy that will build on the £5bn Pride in Place Programme to renew our neighbourhoods and high streets.

What steps her Department is taking to help improve teacher retention rates in Gloucester constituency.

Retaining more skilled teachers is key to delivering our pledge to recruit 6,500 additional teachers. Our ‘Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service, developed alongside school leaders, provides a range of resources for schools to review and reduce workload, and improve staff wellbeing.We are also providing targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for early career teachers in key subjects, with three schools eligible for this in the Gloucester constituency and 18 in the wider local authority. These incentives are available alongside a pay rise of nearly 10% over two years for all teachers.We lose too many female teachers from the profession. We will fund schools to double the period of full maternity pay from four weeks to eight weeks.We are also funding a programme focused on embedding flexible working, an important driver for teacher retention, in schools and multi academy trusts (MATs). These schools and MATs champion flexible working and provide bespoke peer support to other local schools.The flexible working ambassador school for the South West, including Gloucester, is Malmesbury School and can be contacted through the programme website: https://flexibleworkingineducation.co.uk/about-fwams.

What steps her Department is taking to end the use of the Ibis Hotel in Gloucester constituency as accommodation for asylum seekers.

This Government inherited a broken asylum system, with tens of thousands stuck in a backlog and claims not being processed, wasting millions in taxpayer money. We will empty asylum hotels as soon as possible, and by the end of this Parliament. That is a complex process that must be delivered through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work. For the safety, security, and wellbeing of those we accommodate, we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office, nor do we provide details of those we accommodate at any site. The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area. These statistics can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of childhood obesity in Gloucester constituency.

Data is not available by parliamentary constituency but is available at a local authority district level.The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects data on children aged four to five years old, namely those in Reception, and 10 to 11 years old, namely those in Year 6. It provides detailed trend data on children’s weight status, including childhood obesity.Data on obesity prevalence from the NCMP for the four academic years 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25 is provided in the attached table, with 2024/25 being the most recent year for which data is available. For the Gloucester local authority district, the prevalence of obesity in 2024/25 for both children aged four to five years old, and those aged 10 to 11 years old is similar to the values for 2021/22.Data for England is also included in the table for comparison. For children aged four to five years old, prevalence of obesity in Gloucester has been similar to the prevalence in England between 2021/22 and 2024/25. For children aged 10 to 11 years old, the prevalence of obesity was higher in Gloucester compared to England in 2022/23 and 2024/25, and similar to England in 2021/22 and 2023/24.Data for Gloucester on child obesity for children in Reception is available on Fingertips at the following link:https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/obesity-physical-activity-nutrition/data#page/4/gid/8000011/pat/6/par/E12000009/ati/501/are/E07000081/iid/90319/age/200/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1/page-options/map-ao-1_car-do-0Data for Gloucester on child obesity for children in Year 6 is available on Fingertips at the following link:https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/obesity-physical-activity-nutrition/data#page/4/gid/8000011/pat/6/par/E12000009/ati/501/are/E07000081/iid/90323/age/201/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1/page-options/map-ao-1_car-do-0

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to tackle damp and mould issues in housing association properties in Gloucester constituency.

Housing association homes must be free from dangerous damp and mould.The first phase of Awaab’s Law, which came into force on 27 October 2025, requires all social landlords to repair emergency hazards within 24 hours and fix dangerous damp and mould within fixed timescales.My Department published a response to our consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for social and privately rented homes on 28 January 2026. It can be found on gov.uk here. As part of the new Decent Homes Standard, landlords will need to ensure that their homes are free from damp and mould.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of home to school transport for pupils with SEND in Gloucester constituency.

The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for eligible children. This includes children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem.We know that challenges in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system are creating pressures on home-to-school travel. We have committed to reform the SEND system to enable more children to thrive in local mainstream settings. These reforms will be set out in the upcoming Schools White Paper.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle anti-social behaviour in Gloucester city centre.

Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are strengthening the powers available to police and other relevant agencies to tackle ASB, including introducing new Respect Orders to give local agencies stronger enforcement capability to crack down on the most relentless ASB perpetrators.Under the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, we are putting neighbourhood officers back into communities, both urban and rural, and restoring public confidence by bringing back community-led, visible policing. By the end of this parliament there will be 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales, including up to 3,000 additional neighbourhood officers by the end of March 2026. Gloucestershire Constabulary’s projected growth over 2025 to 2026 will be 23 police officers (FTE).Gloucestershire Constabulary participated in the Safer Streets Summer Initiative, as part of activity to tackle anti-social behaviour, retail crime and street crime across six town centres. The force is currently participating in the Winter of Action, which builds on this work and covers twelve town centres, including Gloucester City Centre, with activity focused on anti-social behaviour, retail crime, offending linked to the night-time economy, and violence against women and girls. The full list of locations Gloucestershire has been focusing on as part of the Winter of Action can be found here: Winter of Action: location list - GOV.UK

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of health services available to children with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder in Gloucester constituency.

The Department does not routinely make assessments of the effectiveness of health services at a constituency level, and has therefore not made an assessment of the effectiveness of health services available to children with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in Gloucester. The planning and delivery of National Health Services are the responsibility of local integrated care boards, which assess the needs of their local populations and commission services accordingly. NHS England continues to work with eating disorder services and local commissioners to improve access to assessment and treatment for all children and young people with a suspected eating disorder, including those presenting with ARFID. Lessons from previous pilots commissioned to improve access to support and develop training on ARFID has contributed to this work. In January 2026, NHS England also updated guidance on children and young people’s eating disorders, including ARFID, that seeks to strengthen early identification and intervention of eating disorders, whilst ensuring swift access to specialist community eating disorder services as soon as an eating disorder is suspected. Community children and young people’s eating disorder services across England provide assessment and treatment for eating disorders, including ARFID, and local areas are able to commission training and adapt care pathways to ensure services meet the needs of patients with this condition.