Written questions by Kearns.

Communities and Local Government, if his Department will engage in a public consultation with residents of Rutland before deciding which Local Government Reorganisation plan to approve.

Following the commitment made in the English Devolution White Paper in December, all two-tier councils and their neighbouring small unitary councils were invited in February to make proposals for unitary local government. Proposals for unitary local government are due to be submitted to Government by 28 November for the two invitation areas of i) Leicestershire, Leicester, Rutland and ii) Lincolnshire. Following the submission of proposals, the Government will decide which, if any, to implement, following a statutory consultation, to which the Hon. Member’s constituents will be able to respond.

Communities and Local Government, if his Department will engage in a public consultation with the residents of Leicestershire prior to deciding which Local Government Reorganisation plans to approve.

Following the commitment made in the English Devolution White Paper in December, all two-tier councils and their neighbouring small unitary councils were invited in February to make proposals for unitary local government. Proposals for unitary local government are due to be submitted to Government by 28 November for the two invitation areas of i) Leicestershire, Leicester, Rutland and ii) Lincolnshire. Following the submission of proposals, the Government will decide which, if any, to implement, following a statutory consultation, to which the Hon. Member’s constituents will be able to respond.

Communities and Local Government, if his Department with engage in a public consultation with the residents of South Kesteven before deciding which Local Government Reorganisation plan to approve.

Following the commitment made in the English Devolution White Paper in December, all two-tier councils and their neighbouring small unitary councils were invited in February to make proposals for unitary local government. Proposals for unitary local government are due to be submitted to Government by 28 November for the two invitation areas of i) Leicestershire, Leicester, Rutland and ii) Lincolnshire. Following the submission of proposals, the Government will decide which, if any, to implement, following a statutory consultation, to which the Hon. Member’s constituents will be able to respond.

If he will review the offer of two seat convertible Mazda MX-5 cars as part of the Motability Scheme.

Motability Foundation is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations. The Department works closely with Motability Foundation and are responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme. As Motability is independent of government, the management of the scheme including the choice of vehicles rests with them and their respective Boards of Governors. We are however committed to ensuring that the Motability scheme is fair for both users of the scheme and the taxpayer.

Whether the National Security Advisor discussed the case on Chinese espionage recently dropped by the CPS with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Beijing on 14th July 2025.

The Government has a clear and consistent policy to not comment on the NSA’s meetings to protect sensitive information pertaining to this country’s national security. This has been the case under successive governments.

Whether minutes were taken of the meeting between the National Security Advisor and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on 14th July 2025.

The Government has a clear and consistent policy to not comment on the NSA’s meetings to protect sensitive information pertaining to this country’s national security. This has been the case under successive governments.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question HL4889 on Knee Replacements: Waiting Lists, what specific steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for (a) knee replacements and (b) other orthopaedic operations.

As of August 2025, the waiting list for Trauma and Orthopaedics, which includes patients waiting for knee replacements and other orthopaedic operations, stood at 866,426. Performance against the 18-week referral to treatment standard was 58.8%.The Department is taking a range of specific steps to reduce waiting times for these procedures. To continue to expand and enhance surgical capacity, we have allocated £1.65 billion in capital funding in 2025-26 to support NHS performance across secondary and emergency care. As of September 2025, 123 surgical hubs are operational across England and we are committed to ramping up the number of hubs over the next three years, so more operations can be carried out. These dedicated and protected surgical hubs focus on high volume low complexity surgeries, with the majority of hubs undertaking trauma and orthopaedics procedures.We are improving efficiency within existing capacity. Theatre utilisation within elective surgical hubs has shown a steady improvement from around 79% in August 2024 to an average of around 81% in August 2025, enabling a greater number of procedures to be undertaken across all specialties.As part of the Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, we are also optimising perioperative care to ensure patients are ready for surgery sooner. This includes encouraging patients waiting for surgery to engage in prevention health measures such as smoking cessation and weight management, ensuring more patients are assessed as fit to proceed to surgery, and therefore leave the waiting list faster. This Government is committed to putting patients first and tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission. These measures have already contributed to increased elective activity. We exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra 2 million operations, scans, and appointments in our first year, having delivered 5.2 million more appointments. This marked a vital First Step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of extending employer National Insurance contribution relief to (a) employees aged under 25 and (b) individuals returning to work from welfare on levels of (i) employment and (ii) job creation in the hospitality sector.

This government is committed to supporting young people to earn or learn. That is why the Chancellor has recently announced that we will offer a guaranteed job to young people on Universal Credit who are unemployed for over 18 months. This forms a key part of the government’s Youth Guarantee, building on existing employment support and sector-based work academies, with more details to come at Autumn Budget. We are committed to supporting all people on welfare who can work into work. At the recent Spending Review, we increased funding for employment support to over £3.5 billion by 2028-29, helping people to access the skills they need to progress, tackling inactivity and ensuring more people are in better jobs. There are a wide range of factors to take into consideration when introducing a tax relief. These include how effective the relief would be at achieving the policy intent, how targeted support would be, whether it adds complexity to the tax system, and the cost. The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process. The Chancellor will announce any changes to the tax system at fiscal events in the usual way.

What his planned timetable is for publication of the solar roadmap.

The Solar Roadmap was published on 30th June. It is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/solar-roadmap.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many referrals were made to her Department's (a) Pro Bono Medical Panel and (b) Pro Bono Legal Panel in relation to (i) prisoner welfare and (ii) human rights in each year since May 2020.

All referrals to the Pro Bono Legal Panel were in relation to the human rights of detainees:2020 - fewer than 5 referrals2021 - no referrals2022 - fewer than 5 referrals2023 - fewer than 5 referrals2024 - fewer than 5 referrals2025 - no referralsAll referrals to the Pro Bono Medical Panel were in relation to prisoner welfare:2020 - 8 referrals2021 - 9 referrals2022 - No records2023 - 6 referrals2024 - fewer than 5 referrals2025 - fewer than 5 referrals

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of enabling GPs and hospital consultants to issue temporary blue badges to patients with severe mobility limitations who are experiencing long NHS waiting times for major surgery, with such badges to be reviewed at six-month intervals.

The aim of the Blue Badge scheme is to help people with substantial and enduring mobility problems caused by visible and non-visible (‘hidden’) disabilities to access goods and services, by allowing them to park close to their destination. Blue Badges may therefore be awarded to an individual with a disability that is expected to endure in some way for the three-year badge issue period. As set out in legislation, the scheme is administered locally by the respective local authority, who are responsible for determining and implementing the administrative, assessment, and enforcement procedures which they believe are in accordance with the governing legislation. The Government has no plans to change how the scheme is administered at a local level.

Communities and Local Government, whether statutory consultation on devolution is required for (a) the establishment of mayoralties and (b) all other local government reorganisation.

Statutory consultation requirements apply to the establishment of a Mayoral Combined Authority or Mayoral Combined County Authority, as set out in the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 and the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, respectively.The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, introduced to the House of Commons on 10 July 2025, includes provisions to make it quicker and simpler for local areas to agree and implement mayoral devolution arrangements in the future.Local government reorganisation is a separate process and we have invited proposals for unitary councils from councils in the 21 two-tier areas in England. There is a requirement for the Secretary of State to consult with affected councils and such other persons as he considers appropriate before implementing a proposal.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the date for publication of the Critical Minerals Strategy.

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office has engaged extensively with other Departments, particularly the Department for Business and Trade, on the development of this strategy, and it will be published in the normal way in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many new allegations of (a) torture and (b) mistreatment were received by her Department in relation to British nationals in 2024.

In 2024, there were 186 new allegations of mistreatment or torture made to consular officers by or on behalf of British nationals detained overseas.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much money has been granted to Inter Mediate (a) in what years and (b) for what purposes.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer of 25 September to question 70453.

What assessment his Department has made of the public health impact of removing people with Type 1 diabetes from eligibility for the NHS autumn COVID-19 booster vaccination programme; and what clinical advice informed the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s recommendation on that eligibility.

The Government’s policy on groups eligible for vaccination programmes is based on the advice of the independent expert body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Over time, the risk from COVID-19 has reduced across the United Kingdom population, through exposure to the virus, changes in the virus and vaccination.The JCVI carefully considered the latest evidence on the risk of illness, serious disease in specific groups, as well as cost-effectiveness analysis, to provide the Government with advice on the autumn 2025 programme. The evidence indicates that whilst the risk from COVID-19 is now much lower for most people, adults aged 75 years old and over, residents in care homes for older adults, and those who are immunosuppressed are those at highest risk of serious COVID-19 disease. A more targeted vaccination programme, aimed at individuals, with a higher risk of developing serious disease, and where vaccination was considered potentially cost-effective, was advised for autumn 2025.Whilst current COVID-19 vaccines provide good protection against hospitalisation and/or death for those at highest risk, they provide very limited protection against acquiring COVID-19 infection or mild illness, meaning any potential public health benefit of reducing transmission is much less evident.Long term health consequences following COVID-19 infection, including post-COVID syndromes, such as long COVID, have been discussed at meetings of the JCVI. It remains uncertain whether getting extra COVID-19 vaccine doses has any effect on the chances of developing long COVID, how it progresses, or how it affects people.The JCVI has proactively published an updated list of Research Recommendations, encouraging future investigations on the exploration of data and evidence on the benefit of vaccination amongst post-COVID syndromes, and those with underlying medical conditions who are not currently eligible.The JCVI keeps all vaccination programmes under review. Accordingly, the Government will consider any additional advice from the JCVI in due course. Further information on the details of the modelling and analysis considered are within the 2025 and spring 2026 advice, on the GOV.UK website.Information is collected on hospital bed occupancy and on the reason for hospital admissions. It is, however, not possible to determine which admissions associated with COVID-19 were for individuals who were eligible for vaccination in autumn 2024 but no longer eligible in autumn 2025.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with her Serbian counterpart on recent protests in Serbia.

The Foreign Secretary and I look forward to meeting Foreign Minister Djuric at the Berlin Process meeting of Western Balkans Foreign Ministers, that the UK will host next month. In visits to Serbia across the year, the former Foreign Secretary, UK Special Envoy to the Western Balkans, Dame Karen Pierce, and I have stressed to the Serbian leadership that all action to manage protests should be proportionate, legal, and respect fundamental rights to peaceful freedom of expression and assembly. Noting with concern recent violent clashes, including with the police, we have continued to be clear - including in our contact through our Embassy in Belgrade - that incidents should be fully investigated and perpetrators of crimes held to account.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many countryside stewardship agreements are due to conclude without replacement in Rutland and Stamford constituency in the next year.

We are aware of the concerns raised by farmers and stakeholders regarding farmers whose current agreements expire at the end of the year and are considering how we can support the continued delivery of environmental outcomes through environmental land management schemes.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a (a) single, (b) centralised and (c) digitised firearms licensing body to replace the current system of 44 separate licensing authorities.

The Government has no plans to introduce a new national body for firearms licensing. The Firearms Act 1968 places statutory responsibility for firearms licensing on the Chief Officer of Police of each individual force in England, Wales and Scotland.This framework is supported by Statutory Guidance to Chief Officers of Police issued by the Home Secretary in respect of firearms licensing and by Authorised Professional Practice issued by the College of Policing.

Whether she has considered the potential merits of extending the access to work scheme to fund train tickets.

Access to Work contributes to the disability-related extra costs of working faced by disabled people and those with a health condition in the workplace that are beyond standard reasonable adjustments. It does not replace an employer’s duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments. The grant provides personalised support and workplace assessments, travel to work, support workers, and specialist aids and equipment. Access to work funding is used to support people’s ability to travel to work, it can fund a support worker, such as a travel buddy, to help on train journeys. Access to Work pays for the practical support that enables a person with eligible disabilities or health conditions to travel. Access to Work wouldn’t normally consider making payments to a customer if they can use suitable public transport but consideration will be made on disability, illness or health condition that may improve or get worse over time. The support that a customer will receive from Access to Work is dependent upon their needs and circumstances at the time they make an application. Case managers will use the current guidance to ensure Access to Work principles are considered when making a decision on support.