Written questions by Gardner.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Water Restoration Fund on river quality in Staffordshire.

For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas. That is why we are placing water companies under special measures through the Water (Special Measures) Bill, including giving environmental regulators powers to impose penalties on the civil standard of proof, in addition to new automatic penalties. The regulators will also be able to recover costs for a much greater range of enforcement activities. For Price Review 2024, which runs from 2025 – 2030, Water companies will be delivering record levels of investment: £104 billion over the next five years. This gives the sector the opportunity for transformation, delivering better outcomes for customers and the environment In October 2024, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Welsh Government, also launched an Independent Commission on the water sector regulatory system. This is a wide-ranging review to fundamentally transform how our water system works and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good. Defra is evaluating how water company fines and penalties can be reinvested in improvements to the water environment. A final decision on this will be made later this year.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of removing VAT from veterinary care.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for public services, and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government took a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability. This stability is critical to boosting investment and growth, and to making people across the UK better off. One of the key considerations for any potential new VAT relief is whether the cost saving is likely to be passed on to consumers. Evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any savings from lower VAT rates, meaning that cutting VAT may not be an effective way to reduce prices for consumers.

What steps his Department is taking to improve outcomes for patients with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in Stoke-on-Trent.

The Department is working with NHS England to deliver interventions to improve outcomes for those with pancreatic cancer across England, including Stoke-on-Trent.As the first step to ensure faster diagnosis and treatment, we will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week.Early diagnosis is imperative to improving outcomes for all types of cancer, especially pancreatic cancer due to the non-specific nature of its symptoms. NHS England is providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk to identify lesions before they develop into cancer. NHS England is additionally creating pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms and is increasing direct access for general practitioners to diagnostic tests.NHS England is also funding a new audit into pancreatic cancer, aiming to provide regular and timely evidence to cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, to increase the consistency of access to treatments and to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients.

What steps her Department is taking to improve support for people being released from prison.

We are committed to ensuring pre-release plans are created for those leaving custody, to ensure their needs are identified early and individual robust plans are in place to address these.We are working closely with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and other Departments on the development of a new cross-government strategy to put us back on track to ending homelessness, as well as delivering our temporary accommodation service (CAS3), so all offenders leaving prison at risk of homelessness who are supervised by probation are offered up to 12 weeks of accommodation to provide a stable base on release.We are also working with prisons to improve offenders’ access to purposeful activity, including learning, to improve prisoners’ reading, numeracy and vocational training so that more prisoners are prepared for work on release. In addition, we have launched regional Employment Councils, which for the first time will bring businesses together with probation and the Department of Work and Pensions to support offenders in the community.To support prison leavers with a drug or alcohol need, over 50 Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators nationwide are improving links between prison, probation and treatment providers, and we have secure laptops to enable prisoners to meet with community treatment providers virtually, prior to release.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce ambulance waiting times in Stoke-on-Trent South constituency.

The Government recognises the pressures on the National Health Service during the winter period and the impact this is having on ambulance response times, including in Stoke-on-Trent.We are committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution but must be clear that there are no quick fixes.However, we are determined to turn things around through investment and reform. The Chancellor announced £25.6 billion of additional healthcare funding over the next two years, and we will set out a 10-Year Health Plan to radically reform the NHS and build a health service that is fit for the future.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of further restricting the (a) use and (b) sale of fireworks on animal welfare and wildlife.

Most people use fireworks in a responsible, safe, and appropriate manner and there are laws in place to address situations where fireworks are misused. The current regulatory framework is designed to support people to enjoy fireworks whilst lowering the risk of dangers and disruption to people, pets, and property. No assessment has been made of the potential impact of further restricting a) use and b) sale of fireworks on animal welfare and wildlife. To inform any future decisions the Government intends to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities to gather evidence on the issues and impacts of fireworks.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) provide support for and (b) increase capacity of drug and alcohol recovery services in Stoke-on-Trent.

The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need, and we recognise the need for evidenced-based, high-quality treatment. In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department provides additional funding to support drug and alcohol services. In 2024/25, a total of £4,670,913 was allocated to Stoke-on-Trent. This included £2,906,020 for the Supplementary Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Grant, £939,906 for the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant, £589,429 for the Housing Support Grant, £165,719 for the Individual Placement and Support Grant (employment support), and £69,839 for the Inpatient Detoxification Grant. Future targeted funding for drug and alcohol treatment services beyond 2025 will be announced very shortly.The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) provides monitoring, data, guidance, and targeted support to help local authorities, such as Stoke-on-Trent, to support improvement of drug and alcohol treatment. For Stoke-on-Trent, this support includes regular meetings with the Director of Public Health, commissioners, and providers to discuss treatment and recovery delivery, site visits by OHID, and engagement in improvement support programmes, for example introducing innovation into treatment services to improve access and retention for people who use opiates.Additionally, OHID has published guidance for local authorities to support them in commissioning effective alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services in their areas, with more information available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commissioning-quality-standard-alcohol-and-drug-services The Department continues to work with all local areas to address unmet need and drug misuse deaths and to drive improvements in continuity of care. This includes the Unmet Need Toolkit which can be used by local areas to assess gaps in referral pathways. The toolkit also contains guidance on good practice to reduce the level of unmet need and target priority or underserved groups.

What steps her Department is taking to improve support for children with (a) autism and (b) SEND in mainstream settings in Stoke-on-Trent South.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. ​The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with Local Area Partnerships, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. To support this, the department has brought together a group of leading neurodiversity experts in a new Neurodiversity Task and Finish Group, led independently by Professor Karen Guldberg from the University of Birmingham, to work closely with the department to help improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream settings in a way that works for neurodivergent children and young people. Additionally, the department’s Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme brings together Integrated Care Boards (ICB), local authorities, and schools, working in partnership with parents and carers to support schools to better meet the needs of neurodiverse children and their families and enable an inclusive school environment. PINS deploys specialists from both health and education workforces into 10% of mainstream primary school settings, which is approximately 1680 schools. PINS is building teacher and staff capacity to identify and meet the needs of neurodiverse children, including those with speech and language needs, through whole-school interventions. The programme is being evaluated, and the learning will inform future policy development around how schools support neurodiverse children. The department’s Universal SEND Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuing professional development and support for the school and further education workforce. The programme aims to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those with autism. As part of the contract, the Autism Education Trust (AET) provides a range of training and support for staff on autism. Since the contract began in May 2022, over 200,000 professionals have received training from AET training partners. Following the last Ofsted SEND inspection in January 2024, officials have been working with Stoke-on-Trent City Council to closely monitor progress against the areas for improvement identified by inspectors.The areas were:Improve the timeliness of the identification, assessment, and implementation of support to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.Improve the visibility and engagement of children and young people with SEND within their communities while in education and their broader life experiences.Develop the timeliness and quality of education, health and care plans so they always accurately identify needs and clearly articulate the provision needed for the child and young person.Develop systems and processes to ensure that the voice of children and young people with SEND is heard and acted upon at an individual and strategic level.Improve the oversight of children and young people attending and quality assurance of alternative provisions and out-of-county placements, including residential settings.

What steps his Department is taking to improve provision of post-natal mental health care in Stoke-on-Trent.

Stoke-on-Trent is one of 75 local authorities that is receiving funding to provide bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme.However, more is needed. Access to these services varies across the country and too many people with mental health issues, including mothers in the 24 months postpartum, are not getting the support or care they need. NHS England is working to ensure that services are accessible to all women who need them.

What steps her Department is taking to improve support for care leavers in Stoke-on-Trent South constituency.

The government recognises that care leavers have some of the worst outcomes in society and is committed to ensuring that children leaving care have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships and are engaged in education, employment and training (EET).To address the challenges care leavers face, the department has established a care leaver Ministerial Board, chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Deputy Prime Minister, which brings together Ministers from key departments to improve support for care leavers across government. We have also introduced the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to drive forward our commitments on children’s social care, including placing new duties on local authorities to provide ‘Staying Close’ support to care leavers up to the age of 25, where their welfare requires it, and requiring each local authority to publish information about the arrangements it has in place to support care leavers in their transition to adulthood and independent living.To support care leavers to engage in EET, those who start an apprenticeship are entitled to a £3,000 bursary. Further, local authorities must provide a £2,000 bursary for care leavers who go to university, and care leavers are a priority group for the 16 to 19 bursary if they are studying in further education.To help care leavers secure and maintain safe and affordable housing, the department is funding local authorities to support care leavers who wish to stay living with their foster families up to the age of 21, and have increased support for young people leaving residential care, with move-on accommodation and ongoing support from a keyworker provided through the ‘Staying Close’ programme.The department knows that a stable support network and loving relationships are crucial to supporting care leavers to thrive. We are funding family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes across 45 local authority areas, including Stoke-on-Trent, to help care leavers to identify and reconnect with important people in their lives and create safe, stable, loving relationships.To enable better access to mental health services, the department committed to recruit 8,500 new mental health staff and we are also updating the statutory guidance on promoting the health and wellbeing of children in care and care leavers.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to ban the (a) sale and (b) use of shock collars for dogs.

The Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation and will bring forward plans in due course. Ministers will be considering available evidence around the use of hand-controlled e-collars and their effects on the welfare of animals.

What steps she is taking to expand bus service provision in rural (a) villages and (b) other areas.

Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities. The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England, including in rural areas. The government has committed to increasing accountability by including a measure on socially necessary services so that local authorities and bus operators have to have regard for alternatives to changing or cancelling services. In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce waiting lists and (b) expand provision for pain management services in Stoke-on-Trent.

Tackling waiting lists and expanding provision is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government. We have committed to getting back to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients should be seen within 18 weeks of referral to treatment by the end of this Parliament.On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, part of the Government’s Plan for Change, which sets out a whole system approach to reducing waiting lists and hitting the 18-week target by the end of this Parliament. The plan sets out the efforts needed to ensure that patients are seen on time and have the best possible experience during their care, including those using the National Health Service in Stoke-on-Trent.We have set an ambition to make progress on the 18-week standard in 2025/26 so that 65% of patients nationally wait no longer than 18 weeks and set a target for all Trusts to improve on their current performance on this standard by a minimum of five percentage points by March 2026.Currently, the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, on average, runs 11 clinics each week in the main outpatient department at Royal Stoke University Hospital for pain management. The trust also host the Stoke-on-Trent Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC). The CDC is open and delivering more timely, accessible, and additional diagnostic tests for patients in Stoke-on-Trent. Under our plan, we expect all CDCs to open 12 hours per day, seven days a week, to deliver additional diagnostic capacity for local populations.

What steps he is taking through the implementation of an alcohol strategy to tackle problem drinking.

Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms.

What steps he is taking to fund improved provisions for addiction support services in Stoke-on-Trent South.

In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department provides additional funding to support drug and alcohol services. In 2024/25 a total of £4,670,913 was allocated to Stoke-on-Trent. This included £2,906,020 for the Supplementary Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery grant, £939,906 for the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant, £589,429 for the Housing Support Grant, £165,719 for the Individual Placement and Support Grant (employment support), and £69,839 for the Inpatient Detoxification Grant. This funding is provided at a local authority level and information on funding at a constituency level is not available. Future targeted funding for drug and alcohol treatment services beyond 2025 will be announced very shortly.The Government is providing £70 million of additional funding for local authority-led Stop Smoking Services in England in 2024/25, building on existing funding made available via the Public Health Grant. The Government will also provide a further £70 million funding for Stop Smoking Services in 2025/26. As part of this additional funding Stoke-on-Trent has been allocated £381,688 for Stop Smoking Services in 2025/26.The Department remains focused on ensuring those experiencing gambling-related harm can access the right care at the right time. The introduction of a new statutory levy on gambling operators will provide increased, independent funding to support the improvement and expansion of treatment and support services, with NHS England acting as the main treatment commissioner.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of (a) adults and (b) children living in temporary accommodation in Stoke-on-Trent South constituency.

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected.We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government is looking at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. In December, MHCLG announced that £633.2 million will be provided to councils in England in the 25/26 financial year through the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG), of which £1,747,686 has been allocated to Stoke-on-Trent. These figures represent an additional £635,096 in funding for over 24/25 allocations, a 57.1% uplift, and will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping.This brings total spend on homelessness services to nearly £1 billion in 25/26, a record level of funding.More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including: delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament; and abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.In addition, MHCLG’s dedicated team of homelessness advisers work regularly with local authorities, including Stoke-on-Trent, to support them in delivering their statutory duties.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she has taken to help support the regeneration of town centres in Stoke-on-Trent South constituency.

This Government is fully committed to rejuvenating our high streets and supporting the businesses and communities that make our town centres successful. This means addressing anti-social behaviour and crime, working with the banking industry to roll out 350 banking hubs, stamping out late payments, empowering communities to make the most of the vacant properties, strengthening the Post Office network, reforming the apprenticeship levy, and business rates.Furthermore, the Government is investing in local growth with local allocations for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2025-26 now announced, which places may choose to invest in regenerating town centres. Stoke-on-Trent has been allocated £4,476,723. Stoke-on-Trent has additionally received funding from the Levelling Up Fund and Levelling Up Partnerships, which will also support local growth.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to provide support for veterans who are homeless and rough sleeping in Stoke-on-Trent South constituency.

This is a government of service committed to ensuring our veterans have access to the housing support they need.As announced at the Budget, £633.2 million will be provided to councils in England in the financial year 2025 to 2026 through the Homelessness Prevention Grant, to support them to deliver services to tackle and prevent homelessness, including veteran homelessness. This includes an uplift of £192.9 million compared to 2024 to 2025. Stoke-on-Trent City Council is receiving a total of £1,747,686 over 2025-26. All Homelessness Prevention Grant allocations for 2025-26 can be found here.On 8 November the Government committed a further £3.5 million to the Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme from March 2025, including Op FORTITUDE, the homelessness pathway for homeless veterans, including those rough sleeping. This is in addition to £8.55 million of funding made available to support veterans into housing over 2023-25.

What steps her Department is taking to support people with a criminal record to find employment.

This Government understands the challenges a criminal record can bring to finding a job and also recognises that employment significantly reduces the risk of reoffending. The recently published Get Britain Working White Paper sets out Government’s proposals to reform employment, health and skills support to tackle economic inactivity. This includes support for people with a criminal conviction. DWP provides a range of support to help ex-offenders find employment. This includes around 200 prison work coaches based in prisons across Great Britain who provide employment, training, and benefit support before release. Upon release, our jobcentre work coaches can offer individually tailored employment and training support, including access to DWP employment programmes such as Restart and Sector-based Work Academies. DWP’s Strategic Relationship Team works with around 300 national employers and partners, and 80 trade associations across a wide range of labour market sectors to generate employment opportunities for claimants including ex-offenders. The Civil Service wide Social Mobility Recruitment Schemes such as Going Forward into Employment provide fixed-term appointment opportunities within the Civil Service for people who face barriers to work, including ex-offenders. The National Partnership Agreement between MoJ, DWP and the HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) sets out how we are jointly driving rehabilitation and reducing reoffending. This includes DWP working alongside HMPPS’s New Futures Network, which brokers partnerships between prisons and employers in developing local agreements to enhance joined-up working for continuity of support on release. I refer the Hon. Member to the previous parliamentary question response 18064 on 9 December from Sir Nicholas Dakin. A criminal record should not be a barrier to finding stable employment and having a positive future. Employers are encouraged to delay disclosure of convictions during job applications through the ‘Ban the Box’ scheme to give people with a criminal record a better chance to show their suitability and commitment to a job role. DWP is a proud member of the scheme.

What steps she is taking to increase recruitment of firefighters in Stoke-on-Trent South.

Firefighters play a vital role in keeping the public safe and we are grateful for the work undertaken by fire and rescue services across the country in support of their local communities.The Government is committed to ensuring fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work. Overall, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.87 billion during 2024/25. Standalone FRAs will see an increase in core spending power of £95.4m during 2024/25. This is an increase of 5.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2023/24.Individual fire and rescue authorities are responsible for ensuring that fire and rescue services are meeting the needs of their local community and will direct resources where they are needed most.