Written questions by Bennett.

Whether he plans to increase the proportion of carers who are provided practical support after they have undertaken a carer’s assessment.

Local authorities have a responsibility to support those caring for family and friends.Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities must provide a range of high-quality care services, including support for carers. They are required to conduct Carer’s Assessments for individuals who may need support and to meet their eligible needs upon request.We have already taken some steps to support carers. From April 2025, the Government will raise the Carer's Allowance earnings limit from £151 to £196 a week, the largest increase since the allowance was introduced in 1976.Additionally, the Accelerating Reform Fund has allocated £42.6 million over 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support innovation and improve services for unpaid carers. Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service calls for a fresh approach to supporting unpaid carers, to improve outcomes for carers, those receiving care, and the NHS. We will consider these findings in our 10-Year Health Plan and in shaping future adult social care reforms.The Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.The Commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

How the recently published policy framework for the Better Care Fund will support unpaid carers; and whether the Better Care Fund includes any ringfenced funding for supporting unpaid carers.

The Better Care Fund (BCF) includes funding that can be used for unpaid carer support, including short breaks and respite services for carers. As set out in the BCF policy framework published on 30 January 2025, to meet the objectives of the BCF, local areas should provide support for unpaid carers.Funding for supporting unpaid carers is not ringfenced within the BCF. Local authorities and integrated care boards agree the amount of BCF funding in their locality that will be committed to support carers, in the context of other sources of funding and with reference to their statutory duties to support unpaid carers. As a result, actual spend by local authorities on services to support carers may differ.

Whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the provision of specialists in female urology across England to ensure that women suffering from recurrent episodes of UTIs receive the highest levels of care.

No such assessment has been made by the Department. Such services are locally managed and commissioned in accordance with the population’s needs.

What information his Department holds on how much local authorities have spent on unpaid carers in each of the last five years.

The Department holds data on the number of unpaid carers over the age of 18 receiving direct support from local authorities (LAs) in England, and the cost of this support. Data is collected from LAs in the Short and Long Term data return and the Adult Social Care Finance Return, and published in the Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report, which is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/adult-social-care-activity-and-finance-report

Whether she has plans to change the classification of military compensation to bring it in line with civil compensation, in the context of what is categorised as a source of income for benefits means testing.

The receipt of War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) awards is already fully ignored when calculating eligibility for Universal Credit. This is in line with the treatment of civil compensation payments for personal injury, which are usually in the form of lump sum payments and are disregarded as capital. Periodic payments of civil compensation (i.e. income) in consequence of a personal injury either ordered by the court or under an agreement are fully disregarded. The first £10 per week of a War Pension or AFCS award is disregarded in: income-related Employment and Support allowance; income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance; and Income Support. Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in these benefits and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount. This contrasts with a benefit like Industrial Injuries Disablement benefit where there is no weekly disregard. Furthermore, these are legacy benefits, in the process of being replaced by Universal Credit, in which War Pensions and AFCS are ignored. By default, the first £10 per week of a War Pension or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme is disregarded in Housing Benefit. Furthermore, a discretionary scheme allows local authorities to fully disregard them. In relation to Pension Credit, the first £10 of any War Pension payments or AFCS award made due to injury or disablement is disregarded. Four additions to the War Disablement Pension are completely disregarded: Constant Attendance Allowance; Mobility Supplement; Severe Disablement Occupational Allowance; and dependency increases for anyone other than the applicant or her/his partner. War Pensions and AFCS awards are a qualifying income for the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit, which is available to those who reached State Pension age before April 2016. Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in Pension Credit and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of placing a new statutory duty on local authorities to ensure all unpaid carers are able to take regular breaks.

This Government is committed to ensuring families have the support they need. We want to ensure that people who care for family and friends are better able to look after their own health and wellbeing. Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers such as respite and breaks.The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.The Commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support. Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service is clear that a fresh approach to supporting and involving unpaid carers is required to improve outcomes for carers, people needing care and the NHS.We will carefully consider these findings as part of our 10-year plan for reforming and modernising the NHS and as we develop plans to reform adult social care, including through the National Care Service.Further, I recently met with employers and the Department for Business and Trade to discuss how employers are driving best practice in supporting working carers. The Government is committed to reviewing the implementation of Carer’s Leave and examining the benefits of introducing paid Carer’s Leave.

Whether she plans to review the commodity code classification for mobility scooters.

There are no plans to review the classification of mobility scooters. HMRC classify mobility scooters under the description of ‘Vehicles specially designed for travelling on snow, golf cars and similar vehicles’ under tariff heading 8703, which is in line with classification decisions issued in 2001 by the World Customs Organization.

Whether she plans to review the indexation of pensions paid by the Pension Protection Fund.

The Pension Protection Fund rules on indexation have been the subject of much discussion. I will continue to consider this issue, and the valuable report of the Work and Pensions Select Committee report from March 2024. The Government will respond fully to its recommendations in the coming months.

Whether she plans to reform the benefit system for young people living in supported accommodation to ensure that the taper rate for Housing Benefit does not disincentivise them from working.

The income taper in Housing Benefit ensures people in work are better off than someone wholly reliant on benefits. The Department acknowledges, however, there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those living in Supported Housing or Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department will consider the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders. Notwithstanding these positive outcomes from work, the Department acknowledges there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those residing in Supported Housing or Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department will consider the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to change pesticide maximum residue level regulations in Great Britain to align with the EU regime still in place in Northern Ireland.

GB operates a pesticides regime based on assimilated EU law and continues to base decisions on the use of pesticides on careful scientific assessment. This includes maximum residue levels, which are set below, and usually well below, the level considered to be safe for people to eat. Defra keeps the GB pesticides regulatory framework under continued review so that the regime is efficient and effective in ensuring pesticides will not harm human health or pose unacceptable risks to the environment.

If he will make a comparative assessment of levels of access to Enhertu for cancer patients in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Scotland.

No assessment has been made, as health is a devolved matter and decisions on the availability of medicines in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are a matter for their own administrations.Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are made on the basis of recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), following an evaluation of a treatment’s costs and benefits. These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is important that they are made independently and on the basis of the available evidence.NICE published guidance in July 2024 on the use of Enhertu for the treatment of HER-2 low metastatic and unresectable breast cancer and was unfortunately unable to recommend it for routine NHS funding. I understand that NICE and NHS England have sought to apply as much flexibility as they can in their considerations of Enhertu for HER2-low breast cancer, and have made it clear to the companies that their pricing of the drug remains the only obstacle to access.Ministers met with the manufacturers of Enhertu, AstraZeneca, and Daiichi Sankyo in November 2024, to encourage them to re-engage in commercial discussions with NHS England. Despite NICE and NHS England offering unprecedented flexibilities, the companies were unable to offer Enhertu at a cost-effective price. NICE’s guidance, published in July 2024, will therefore remain unchanged. Although the deadline for a rapid review has now passed, NICE has reassured me that the door remains open for the companies to enter into a new NICE appraisal if they are willing to offer Enhertu at a cost-effective price.

With reference to Coroner Deborah Archer's report entitled Maeve Boothby O’Neill: Prevention of Future Deaths Report, reference 2024-0530, dated 7 October 2024, what steps he has taken to ensure that the (a) care for patients and (b) training available for (i) GPs, (ii) hospital doctors and (ii) other health workers on treating patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome is adequate.

We are committed to improving care and support for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). We recognise how devastating the symptoms can be, and the significant impact they can have on patients and their families.The Department has reconvened the ME/CFS Task and Finish Group, including senior Department and cross-Government officials, ME/CFS specialists and representatives from NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the devolved administrations, and ME/CFS charities and organisations. With stakeholder engagement via the ME/CFS Task and Finish Group, we are developing the final delivery plan for ME/CFS, which we aim to publish by the end of March. The plan will focus on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease.The Department is also working with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes. Sessions one and two of the e-learning programme are now available. The third session will become available later in 2025.The Medical Schools Council will promote the NHS England e-learning programme on ME/CFS to all United Kingdom medical schools, and encourage those medical schools to provide undergraduates with direct patient experience of ME/CFS. The General Medical Council (GMC) is the regulator of medical schools, and it is important that education is reenforced at different stages of medical training. Royal colleges play an important role in this. The GMC has included ME/CFS in the content map for the new national exam, so all medical schools will need to teach it as a subject.NHS England is currently undertaking a stocktake, commissioned in September 2024 and due at the end of January 2025, that will provide a more accurate, in-depth overview of the position of post-COVID-19 services across England. The scope of this commission has been extended to include ME/CFS services.

Whether she plans to take steps to support the used electric vehicle market.

The Government is fully committed to the transition to electric vehicles and a strong second-hand market for EVs plays an important role in this.The Company Car Tax regime helps support the used electric vehicle markets, where electric company cars are sold after the end of their lease. The majority of cars are bought in the UK’s second hand markets. At Autumn Budget the Government announced new Company Car Tax rates for 2028-29 and 2029-30 which will maintain very generous incentives to support electric vehicle take-up, and therefore the entry of electric vehicles into the second-hand market.More widely, the UK has a range of measures to support people to transition to zero emission vehicles. At Autumn Budget we announced £2.3bn of funding for the automotive sector up to 2030 to support the transition. We also announced support including investment in the plug-in grant for vans, favourable taxation rates, and funding for charging infrastructure across all of England. The UK’s charging network continues to grow at pace – there are now over 73,000 public chargepoints - a year on year increase of over 37%.

Whether she plans to review the rates paid by employers of (a) Statutory Maternity Pay, (b) Statutory Paternity Pay and (c) Statutory Shared Parental Pay for parents of (i) twins and (ii) higher order multiple births.

We want new mothers to be able to take time away from work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth, in the interests of their own and their baby’s health and wellbeing. Maternity pay is paid for each pregnancy, not in respect of each child. For paternity pay, it is also paid at the statutory rate, even if you have more than one child, for example twins. Parental pay is reviewed annually at the discretion of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. From April 2025, the rate will increase by September 2024's CPI figure of 1.7%, subject to parliamentary approval, from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.Parental pay is only one element of the support available for parents. Depending on individual circumstances, additional financial support, for example, Universal Credit, Child Benefit and the Sure Start Maternity Grant (a lump sum payment of £500) may also be available.The Sure Start Maternity Grant is a grant of £500 to provide help with the costs associated with the expenses of a baby (or babies in the event of a multiple birth) expected, born, adopted, or the subject of a parental or residence order or other similar arrangements if there are no other children under the age of 16 in the claimant’s family. You might be entitled to more than one payment in the event of a multiple birth.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of exempting the transfer of property between co-habiting siblings from inheritance tax.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 3433.

What steps he is taking to ensure the universal provision of Fracture Liaison Services by 2030.

The Government and NHS England support the clinical case for services which help to prevent fragility fractures and support the patients who sustain them. According to the Fracture Liaison Service Database 2022, at least 60 trusts in England had access to a Fracture Liaison Service. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is committed to rolling out fracture liaison services across every part of the country by 2030.

Whether he has had discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the licensing process for the drug sipavibart.

Department officials regularly discuss a range of topics with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), including progress with specific appraisals, such as for sipavibart.The NICE started its appraisal of the medicine sipavibart for preventing COVID-19, ahead of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) decision on whether it should be licensed in the United Kingdom, with the aim of publishing guidance as soon as possible, if a licence was granted. At present, the NICE appraisal is suspended as AstraZeneca has been unable to provide an evidence submission as planned. The NICE is currently awaiting notification from AstraZeneca on when it can make a submission, and will update stakeholders in due course.If sipavibart is recommended as clinically and cost effective by the NICE, the National Health Service in England will be legally required to fund sipavibart for eligible patients in line with the NICE’s recommendations, normally within three months of final guidance being published.

If he will have discussions with representatives of Forgotten Lives UK on access to (a) preventative treatments and (b) support services for immunosuppressed people.

Ensuring that the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a top priority for the Government, and we are embedding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic within our approach to pandemic preparedness.Whilst we cannot predict the exact timing or characteristics of a future pandemic, the Department acknowledges the disproportionate impact of pandemics on particular groups, including the immunocompromised and those who are otherwise clinically vulnerable.The Department’s new strategic approach to pandemic preparedness recognises that pandemic planning needs to take account of all health inequalities.COVID-19 tests and treatments are a National Health Service role at the present time. The UK Health Security Agency and NHS partners have met recently to discuss system wide communications on the testing and treatment pathways for COVID-19, to ensure that those who are eligible can access these without delay.There are currently no discussions planned with representatives of Forgotten Lives UK.

If she will take steps to provide additional funding to non-academised sixth form colleges for increasing the pay of teachers to the same level as teachers in academised sixth form colleges.

The government is not responsible for setting or making recommendations about teacher pay in further education (FE) colleges, including sixth form colleges which unlike 16-19 academies are part of the statutory FE sector.The Autumn Budget 2024 set out the government’s commitment to skills, by providing an additional £300 million revenue funding for FE to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs. The department recognises the vital role that FE teachers and providers play in equipping learners with the opportunities and skills they need to succeed in their education. The department will set out in due course how this funding will be distributed.This builds on our investment to extend targeted retention incentive payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas, including in sixth form colleges. The department is also delivering funding to support those young people who do not pass mathematics and English GCSE at 16, who are predominantly studying in FE.The department has continued to offer financial incentives for those undertaking teacher training for the FE sector in priority subject areas. For the 2024/2025 academic year, training bursaries are worth up to £30,000 each, tax free, with further information about schemes for future years in due course. Additionally, we are supporting industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through our Taking Teaching Further programme.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a time limit for claiming Council Tax exemption under Class F.

This exemption will apply until probate is granted (or letters of administration are signed) and while the dwelling remains unoccupied. A further 6-month exemption may apply following probate, so long as the dwelling remains unoccupied and has not been sold or transferred. The government does not have any plans to change this exemption.