Written questions by Macdonald.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has learned lessons from the implementation of Official Development Assistance reductions in 2020-21.

The Government has learned lessons from previous rounds of reductions to the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget.We recognise that the reduction demands significant shifts in the scale and shape of our ODA spending, which is why we are taking the time necessary to fully consider how we will reprioritise and refocus the ODA budget, in line with the shifts underway as we modernise our approach to development.We are taking a rigorous approach to value for money as we work through decisions as part of the ongoing Spending Review, in order to deliver the best outcome for both UK taxpayers and our partners.To improve predictability and certainty, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's ODA budget will no longer be exposed to the volatility of ODA spending by other departments, including asylum costs, providing greater predictability and certainty for our budgets.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether upholding the rights of women and girls is one of his Department's priorities.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is committed to putting women and girls at the heart of everything we do. This includes defending their rights and freedoms and tackling the rollback on gender equality globally. The recent appointment of Baroness Harriet Harman as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls highlights our ongoing commitment to protecting women and girls' rights in the UK and around the world.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the reorganisation of local government structures and devolution on the (a) (i) management and (ii) maintenance of existing affordable housing held by Local Authorities and Housing Associations and (b) the production of new affordable homes.

As local authorities plan for local government reorganisation (LGR) and consider the impact of greater devolution to Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities, it is essential that they continue to deliver their business-as-usual services and duties, and these duties will remain in place for any newly established authorities. This includes continuing to manage their homes in line with relevant regulatory requirements and ensuring that they are safe, decent, and warm.At the same time, we want local authorities to continue to come forward with ambitious plans to deliver the social and affordable homes that their local communities want and need, and which we are working to support. I have, for example, asked officials to explore whether the current threshold at which a local authority is required to open a Housing Revenue Account is set at the right level, or if a different threshold would help individual councils, including those affected by LGR, to increase housing provision.Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities will be given the ability to set the strategic direction of any future affordable housing programme in their area, including shaping the tenure mix and identifying priority sites for housing development to be supported by grant.At the Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. For further details on steps taken to contribute to this milestone, please see the answer given to Question UIN 40137 on 31 March 2025.More broadly, in the multi-year Spending Review later this year, the government will set out the details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent. Alongside wider investment across the Parliament, it will help deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2025 to Question 30835 on Miscarriages: databases, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on including a question on experiences of miscarriage in the annual health survey for England as a way of capturing miscarriage data (a) in healthcare settings and (b) outside of healthcare settings.

The Department has not held discussions with NHS England on specifically including a question on experiences of miscarriage in the annual health survey for England, as a way of capturing miscarriage data, either in healthcare settings or outside of healthcare settings.The reproductive health survey conducted by the Department in 2023 included a question on the experience of pregnancy loss, which including miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or stillbirth. The survey reached 52,000 women, and showed that among those between 30 and 40 years old, more than one in 10 reported experience of pregnancy loss or infertility in the last year. The Department will update on plans to conduct the survey again in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the accessibility of playgrounds; and what steps her Department is taking to help increase accessibility of playgrounds.

The government is firmly committed to creating better access to play areas, and parks more widely. They are an essential part of local social infrastructure which supports more connected, stronger communities.Local authorities must consider their obligations under the Equalities Act of 2010 in relation to work being done on play areas, this includes ensuring that they are accessible and inclusive.We will use our bold £1.5 billion Plan for Neighbourhoods to bolster community assets, including play areas. The plan will deliver up to £20 million of funding and support over the next decade into 75 communities across the UK, bringing together “neighbourhood boards” to develop local regeneration plans in partnership with local authorities.Furthermore, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that planning policies and decisions should aim to achieve healthy, inclusive and safe places.In addition to this, the National Design Guide demonstrates through ten characteristics for well-designed places how new development can promote inclusive design by creating buildings and spaces that are safe, social and inclusive, with an integrated mix of uses that are accessible for all. This should include spaces for comfort, relaxation and stimulation, including play.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) encourage people to access nature and (b) ensure visitors to the countryside are informed about the statutory guidance entitled The Countryside Code: advice for countryside visitors, last updated 26 May 2023.

The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and wellbeing and is working to ensure this is safe and appropriate. This is why we have set out our ambitious manifesto commitments to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England, expanding access to the great outdoors. We will make further announcements on plans to develop policy on access to nature in due course. The Government is also already delivering several policies to increase access to nature including:Working to complete the King Charles III England Coast Path which, at around 2,700 miles, will be the longest waymarked and maintained coast walking route in the world. Over 2,000 miles have now been approved as King Charles III England Coast Path, with over 1,000 miles already open. It will also create 250,000 hectares of new open access land within the coastal margin.Designating Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route across the north of England as a National Trail.Delivering the £16m ‘Access for All’ programme, which consists of a package of targeted measures in our protected landscapes, national trails, forests and the wider countryside to make access to green and blue spaces more inclusive. The Countryside Code was refreshed and relaunched in 2021 and a long-term campaign to promote the messages of the code began. In 2023, we also released a version of the Code for land managers. The Code sets out the rules that we all must follow to enjoy visits to the countryside safely and responsibly.

What discussions his Department has had with NHS England on improving the recording of miscarriage data in cases where women have had contact with health services.

Some data on hospital stays related to miscarriage is collected, but the majority of baby losses occur outside of healthcare settings, and it is rightly the choice of the individual who has experienced the loss to disclose this information to healthcare professionals.Discussions between the Department and NHS England specifically about improving the recording of miscarriage data in cases where women have had contact with health services have not taken place.In line with the priorities outlined in NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, the Digital Maternity Record Standard (DMRS) Release 2 was updated in 2024 to improve the recording of miscarriage data in cases where women have had contact with health services. The new models of care to be added to the DMRS include women suffering from bereavement or loss. The new standard also recommends that a code for birth outcome, including miscarriage, is recorded, as well as information on previous miscarriage or pregnancy loss.

What discussions his Department has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Research on research into the feasibility of pre-12-week pregnancy loss data collection.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).While miscarriage hospital stay data is collected, the majority of baby losses occur outside of healthcare settings, and it is rightly the choice of the individual who has experienced the loss to disclose this information to healthcare professionals. It is therefore not possible to gather accurate and comprehensive data on miscarriages.The Department has not explicitly discussed the feasibility of pre-12-week pregnancy loss data collection with the NIHR, but further data is being collected to help fill the current gap. For example, the Digital Maternity Record Standard Release 2 was updated in 2024 and recommends that a code for birth outcome, including miscarriage, is recorded as well as information on previous miscarriage or pregnancy loss.The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of maternal health, including pregnancy loss.

What assessment he has made of the potential benefits of extending the funding for women's health hubs beyond March 2025.

At the Autumn Budget, the Government announced a £22.6 billion increase in day-to-day health spending and a £3.1 billion increase in the capital budget over this year and the next. Building a National Health Service fit for the future is one of the five missions of the Government.Women’s health hubs aim to improve access to and experiences of care, improve health outcomes for women, and reduce health inequalities. Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health care needs of their local population, which includes women's health hubs.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting lists for treatment for chronic migraines.

The Government does recognise that patients, including those with migraines, have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients are seen on time, and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.We have made a commitment that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment within our first term. This includes those waiting for treatment for migraines. As a first step to achieving this, we will deliver an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments across all specialities during our first year in Government, which is equivalent to 40,000 per week.  The Government announced £1.5 billion of new capital investment in the Autumn Budget, including investment for new diagnostic scanners and surgical hubs. This investment in scanners will build capacity for over 30,000 additional procedures and 1.25 million diagnostic tests as they come online.There are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with migraines in England, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit, and the Neurology Transformation Programme (NTP).The GIRFT National Specialty Report made recommendations designed to improve services nationally and to support the National Health Service to deliver care more equitably across the country. It makes several recommendations in relation to improving recognition and diagnosis of migraines by general practitioners. Additionally, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit sets out key priorities for improving care for patients with migraines, which includes correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders.The NTP has developed a model of integrated care for neurology services to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time, for all neurology patients, including providing care closer to home. The NTP has developed an online, interactive adult neurology dashboard to support systems to understand their local neurology landscape and benchmark against other integrated care boards in England. It sets out key metrics and visualisations for neurology services locally, providing information about the scope and quality of local neurology services using existing whole population, whole pathway data.The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed two e-learning modules about migraines and cluster headaches, which the aim to raise awareness amongst primary care clinicians about the different types of migraines and their associated symptoms, and how to differentiate.Over the last four years, a new class of drugs, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors, have been made available on the NHS for the prevention and treatment of episodic and chronic migraines. On 15 May 2024, Atogepant became the latest CGRP inhibitor for which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance. The NICE recommended Atogepant for use as a preventive medication for the treatment of migraines on the NHS in England.

What steps his Department is taking to fund research into new treatments for chronic migraines to (a) increase quality of life and (b) reduce the number of patients experiencing side effects.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research has funded a number of research projects on the prevention and treatment of chronic and episodic migraines. The relevant awards are named the Co-production and testing of an online resource to support the diagnosis and self-management of migraine, with an award number of NIHR202614, and the What is the comparative clinical and cost- effectiveness of pharmacological treatments for adults with chronic migraine?, with an award number of NIHR132803. Further information is available at the following links:https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR202614https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR132803

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of women’s health hubs.

The Department has commissioned research and undertaken analysis to assess the effectiveness of women’s health hubs.The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In 2023, a rapid mixed methods evaluation was undertaken by the NIHR’s Birmingham RAND and Cambridge Evaluation Rapid Evaluation Centre to explore the current state and experiences of delivering and using women’s health hubs. It identified 17 women’s health hubs in England which were established between 2001 and 2022. The final report was published in September 2024, and is available at the following link:https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/hsdr/JYFT5036#/abstractThe Department has published a cost benefit analysis, which estimated that for every £1 spent on implementing a primary care network-sized hub, there are estimated to be £5 of benefits. The cost benefit analysis is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/womens-health-hubs-information-and-guidance/womens-health-hubs-cost-benefit-analysisThe Department and NHS England are also committed to learning from the ongoing two-year women’s health hubs pilot programme, in 2023/24 and 2024/25. For example, the NIHR has commissioned two projects through the Policy Research Unit in Reproductive Health and the Policy Innovation Unit, which will explore mechanisms for commissioning women’s reproductive health services in England and what influences choice of, access to, and satisfaction with these services, including women’s health hubs.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of seeking fertility treatment on women in the workplace.

Data from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) states that around 52,500 patients had in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and 3,000 had donor insemination (DI) treatment, at HFEA licensed fertility centres in the UK in 2022. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not hold any additional data on how many of those individuals were working, either nationally or by region. DBT has not specifically assessed the potential impacts on women in the workplace of seeking fertility treatment, however, the Government recognises how important that treatment is to individuals and couples undertaking it. We have set out our immediate priorities for reforming employment law in the Plan to Make Work Pay, and while the Plan does not include any specific measures on fertility treatment, our plan aims to deliver change so that people are more able to balance working life with their personal circumstances.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of women being able to access paid leave for fertility treatment on the economy.

Data from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) states that around 52,500 patients had in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and 3,000 had donor insemination (DI) treatment, at HFEA licensed fertility centres in the UK in 2022. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not hold any additional data on how many of those individuals were working, either nationally or by region. DBT has not specifically assessed the potential impacts on women in the workplace of seeking fertility treatment, however, the Government recognises how important that treatment is to individuals and couples undertaking it. We have set out our immediate priorities for reforming employment law in the Plan to Make Work Pay, and while the Plan does not include any specific measures on fertility treatment, our plan aims to deliver change so that people are more able to balance working life with their personal circumstances.

What data his Department holds on the number of women seeking fertility treatment whilst at work (a) nationally and (b) by region.

Data from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) states that around 52,500 patients had in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and 3,000 had donor insemination (DI) treatment, at HFEA licensed fertility centres in the UK in 2022. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not hold any additional data on how many of those individuals were working, either nationally or by region. DBT has not specifically assessed the potential impacts on women in the workplace of seeking fertility treatment, however, the Government recognises how important that treatment is to individuals and couples undertaking it. We have set out our immediate priorities for reforming employment law in the Plan to Make Work Pay, and while the Plan does not include any specific measures on fertility treatment, our plan aims to deliver change so that people are more able to balance working life with their personal circumstances.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of community accessible covered tennis courts in underserved communities.

The Government is committed to doing more to ensure that everyone from all backgrounds have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.Sport England, the Government’s arm’s length body for grassroots sport, provides long term investment to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the National Governing Body for tennis in Britain. The LTA is receiving up to £10.2 million for five years, to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit everyone, including disabled people, women and girls and older people.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department last raised the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan in the (a) UN Human Rights Council and (b) General Assembly.

The government continues to call for the human rights of all Afghans to be protected. We condemned the Taliban's actions against women and girls in a statement at the UN Third Committee on 8 October and in a statement on Afghanistan at the 57th UN Human Rights Council on 9 October. The future of Afghanistan as a country at peace with itself, its neighbours and the international community, relies on there being human rights for all.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle global hunger.

We are urgently addressing catastrophic forms of hunger through diplomatic and humanitarian channels. The Foreign Secretary recently committed to doubling our aid for those affected by war in Sudan. Last week, the Prime Minister announced the UK’s Board-level role in the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. This will pool resources and expertise for long-term solutions, backed by new £70m UK support, including for climate-resilient food production.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provision of health services for women.

Women’s health is a priority for this government. We are considering how to take forward the Women’s Health Strategy and aligning our work on women’s health with the forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan.Work continues to improve health outcomes for women, including the £25 million women’s health hubs pilot, new NICE guidance on endometriosis and menopause and extending the Baby Loss Certificate service.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of NHS dentistry for (a) pregnant women and (b) new mothers; and what steps he is taking to increase the availability of that treatment.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.The responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Norwich North constituency, this is the NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB.Pregnant women and new mothers are entitled to free NHS dental care. The following table show the total number of Courses of Treatment delivered nationally to new mothers and pregnant women over the last five years:Patient type2019/202020/212021/222022/232023/24Expectant mother304,536104,659204,229215,528211,935Mother of child born in the year before treatment started471,033144,737289,624330,000321,718Source: data is published by the NHS Business Services Authority, and can be found at the following link: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324We do not hold data for each region.