Written questions by Hack.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to outdoor sports facilities during school holidays.

Everyone, including children and young people, should have the opportunity to play sport and do regular physical activity. The Government has committed to continued funding for grassroots facilities which will ensure that communities have access to high-quality, inclusive facilities, no matter where they live. The Government recently announced £100 million additional funding for the UK-wide Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme which funds new and upgraded pitches, facilities, and equipment, so that sites can provide a more inclusive and sustainable offer throughout the year, including the school holidays. More widely, the Government has confirmed more than £200 million of funding for the Holiday, Activities and Food (HAF) programme over the 2025/26 financial year. The HAF programme provides healthy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families over the school holidays, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the offence of assaulting a retail worker to wholesale workers operating in business-to-business premises.

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level with ever greater numbers of offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers as part of their crime. We will not stand for this. Everybody has a right to feel safe at their place of work.Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have therefore introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores, sending a strong message to offenders and would-be offenders that violence against retail workers will not be tolerated. The Bill is making its way through Parliament and committee stage started on 27 March.As introduced, the definition of a ‘retail worker’ does not include wholesale workers operating in business-to-business premises, but it does include wholesale workers operating in premises that provide retail sales to the public. Keeping a tight definition provides legal clarity and ensures there is less ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker and impacted during their job. Workers whose roles are not included are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, such as actual bodily harm (ABH) and grievous bodily harm (GBH).That said, the purpose of the parliamentary process is to scrutinise the provisions in the Bill and we will, of course, consider carefully any proposed amendments and supporting evidence.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of formally extending the scope of the Holiday Activities and Food Programme to include all children in households with below-average resources.

The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme supports disadvantaged children and their families with enriching activities, providing them with healthy food, helping them to learn new things, improving socialisation and benefiting their health and wellbeing during school holidays.The HAF programme, although aimed at those children in receipt of benefits related free school meals (FSM) is not exclusively for them. As set out in the HAF guidance, while the majority of funding that local authorities receive should be used for holiday club places for children in receipt of FSM, local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of benefits-related FSM, but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF provision.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of index-linking all future funding with the Holiday Activities and Food Programme to ensure it (a) keeps pace with inflation and (b) continues to effectively support children experiencing holiday hunger.

The government is committed to the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme and the impact it has on children, young people and families. The department is very pleased that the overall funding for the HAF programme in 2025/26 will again be more than £200 million, with delivery across England taking place at Easter, summer and Christmas.Funding beyond March 2026 is subject to the multi-year spending review and any decisions will be made as part of the spending review taking place later this year.

How many unused animals originally acquired for scientific procedures were euthanized in 2023 due to (a) a surplus to requirement and (b) any other reason.

The Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain 2023 was published on the 11 September 2024. The statistics provide full details on the number of licensed procedures carried out, the species of animals and the purposes for which the procedures have been undertaken.The 2023 Annual Statistics show that 2.68 million scientific procedures involving living animals were carried out in Great Britain in 2023; this is a decrease of 3% on last year and the lowest number since 2001.In 2017, the Home Office published additional statistics covering the number of non-genetically altered animals that were bred for scientific procedures but were killed or died without being used in procedures; and the number of animals (genetically altered and non-genetically altered) subject to tissue sampling for the purposes of genotyping. That data is available at: Additional statistics on breeding and genotyping of animals for scientific procedures, Great Britain, 2017. The additional statistics are not presently routinely collected. Future publication of this data is under review.

How many animals housed in (a) UK laboratories, (b) breeding centres and (c) universities were not used in scientific procedures in 2023.

The Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain 2023 was published on the 11 September 2024. The statistics provide full details on the number of licensed procedures carried out, the species of animals and the purposes for which the procedures have been undertaken.The 2023 Annual Statistics show that 2.68 million scientific procedures involving living animals were carried out in Great Britain in 2023; this is a decrease of 3% on last year and the lowest number since 2001.In 2017, the Home Office published additional statistics covering the number of non-genetically altered animals that were bred for scientific procedures but were killed or died without being used in procedures; and the number of animals (genetically altered and non-genetically altered) subject to tissue sampling for the purposes of genotyping. That data is available at: Additional statistics on breeding and genotyping of animals for scientific procedures, Great Britain, 2017. The additional statistics are not presently routinely collected. Future publication of this data is under review.

What steps his Department is taking to help reduce waiting times for ambulances in the East Midlands.

The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution, including for ambulance response times.As a first step, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for...

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that at least 50% of all food purchased by the public sector is (a) locally produced and (b) sustainable.

The Government has an ambition to be able to supply half of all food into the public sector from British producers or certified to higher environmental standards, whilst being in line with World Trade Organisation and domestic procurement obligations. Off...

Whether her Department plans to take further steps to ensure that Government Food Standards are adhered to in (a) locally maintained and (b) Multi Academy Trust schools.

It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating. The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at lunchtime and at other times of the scho...

If she will conduct a review of the funding model for school meals in (a) locally maintained and (b) Multi Academy Trust schools.

An uplift to the per-meal rate for universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) and further education (FE) free meals was announced on 4 December 2024. The uplifted meal rate will be increased from £2.53 to £2.58 for 2024 to 2025, backdated to the start of ...

With reference to the guidance entitled School food standards: resources for schools, published on 26 March 2019, what recent steps her Department has taken to ensure that this guidance is being followed in all

It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating. The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at lunchtime and at other times of the scho...

When she plans to announce the rates that will be paid to (a) locally maintained and (b) Multi Academy Trust schools for universal infant free school meals this academic year.

An uplift to the per-meal rate for universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) and further education (FE) free meals was announced on 4 December 2024. The uplifted meal rate will be increased from £2.53 to £2.58 for 2024 to 2025, backdated to the start of ...

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to implement a national food strategy.

Defra is developing an ambitious food strategy which will set the food system on the path for long-term success, ensuring it is able to feed the nation, realising its potential for economic growth, boosting our food security, improving our health, and ens...

Communities and Local Government, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce backlogs of cases before the Planning Inspectorate.

The Planning Inspectorate has been performing well across a number of key areas such as local plan examinations, nationally significant infrastructure project applications, s62a applications and planning appeals proceeding by hearings and inquiries. It is...

What steps her Department is taking to help ensure that children born prematurely are not disadvantaged in education.

The government is determined to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure the best start in life for every child, including those who are born prematurely.The early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework sets the standards and requirements that all e...

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department holds data on phone-only Voice over Internet Protocol products available for consumers.

The Government engages regularly with communications providers to ensure that the industry-led switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) proceeds safely and with minimum inconvenience for end users. ...

Innovation and Technology, what information his Department holds on whether customers who are required to transition from Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) landline phones to Voice over Internet Protocol (

The Government engages regularly with communications providers to ensure that the industry-led switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) proceeds safely and with minimum inconvenience for end users. ...

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure those switching from public switched telephone network landline phones to Voice over Internet Protocol landline phones are not sold unneces

The Government engages regularly with communications providers to ensure that the industry-led switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) proceeds safely and with minimum inconvenience for end users. ...

What data her Department holds on the percentage of driving test bookings where the initial driving licence number on the booking form was subsequently changed in each month since January 2019.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests. DVSA is experiencing some of the highest demand for dri...

What data her Department holds on the number of driving test bookings where the initial driving licence number on the booking form was subsequently changed in each month since January 2019.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests. DVSA is experiencing some of the highest demand for dri...