Written questions by Rosindell.

What assessment she has made of the economic impact of the 20mph speed limit on Welsh roads.

The Welsh Government has been clear that the primary objective of this policy is to save lives and reduce casualties.From April-June 2024, both collisions and casualties on 20mph and 30mph roads have fallen by almost a quarter compared to the same period of 2023.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many officials of his Department have visited Pitcairn Island in each of the last 12 months.

The current resident Administrator is recruited by the FCDO. There have been two visits by FCDO officials within the last 12 months. The Deputy Governor (based in Auckland, New Zealand) visited the island in October 2023 and there was a visit by a Technical Works Officer in December 2023. The Governor visited in 2023. FCDO officials are in regular contact with their counterparts on Pitcairn Island. FCDO sponsored programmes are providing support virtually on matters such as healthcare and through visiting teams on issues such as environmental protection. I recently spoke to the Mayor and look forward to welcoming him to the JMC this month.

How many (a) officials from her Department and (b) police officers have visited Pitcairn Island in each of the last 12 months.

I can confirm that no officials from the Home Office or UK police officers have visited Pitcairn Island in the last 12 months.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of raising of the bus fare cap in England on working families.

The government knows how important it is to provide affordable bus travel, particularly in rural communities and towns where there is heavy reliance on buses. Under the inherited plans of the previous administration, funding for the current cap on bus fares had been due to expire at the end of 2024 – with no plan in place to ensure passengers had access to affordable, reliable bus services. That is why the Prime Minister confirmed on 28 October that the government will invest £151 million to introduce a £3 cap on single bus fares from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. This cap on fares will ensure millions of people can continue to access affordable bus tickets, including potential savings of up to 80% on some routes, while ensuring good value for the taxpayer.

Communities and Local Government, how much funding has been provided through the Disabled Facilities Grant in Romford constituency in each year since 2022.

Romford constituency is part of the Havering London Borough Council area. Government provided the following Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) funding to Havering London Borough Council for each financial year since 2022-2023.DFG Funding2022-20232023-20242024-2025£2,056,802£2,056,802£2,242,458This information is publicly available on the Foundations website: Disabled Facilities Grant Annual Allocations.

What steps she is taking to help fill job vacancies in Romford constituency.

The Romford Jobcentre team deliver a bespoke service to employers, including candidate matching and screening, employer interviews on site, and group information sessions to help customers into work, as well as job fairs targeting specific sectors and customer groups, such as events for older workers, National Care Leavers Week, and Disability Confident. The team also arrange employer-led insight days and webinars, such as the current collaboration with Voice, an adult social care provider, to boost awareness and interest in this sector. In the constituency and across the London Borough of Havering, Romford Jobcentre partners with both local and national employers to meet their recruitment needs, creating Sector Based Work Academy Programmes tailored to their requirements, including pre-employment training and work experience placements, allowing employers to assess whether the participant is a good match for the role and the company. The weekly job club at Romford Jobcentre supports residents in CV preparation, job applications, interview preparation, and techniques. We also host information sessions on topics to aid customers in finding employment, including insights into different job sectors, childcare advice, support for individuals with additional health needs, and motivational sessions. The Romford team work closely with the London Borough of Havering, recently co-hosting two job fairs. More job fairs are planned, including those with money management and cost of living support. We actively engage with the Local Authority Regeneration Team, sharing local labour market intelligence and collaborating with further education providers and local independent providers to shape provisions that meet the current and emerging demands of employers.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help prevent persecution of Christians in China.

The environment for freedom of religion or belief across China is restrictive, which includes the persecution of Christians.This Government stands firm on human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief. The Foreign Secretary has raised human rights in every meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, including during his recent visit to China on 18 October.More broadly, this Government will champion freedom of religion or belief for all abroad. We will work to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through our position at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora, and through bilateral engagement.

Communities and Local Government, what recent progress her Department has made on simplifying the planning process for house building.

We recently consulted on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system. The consultation closed on the 24 September and officials in my department are currently analysing responses with a view to publishing a Government response before the end of the year. As set out in the King’s Speech, the Government intend to introduce a Planning and Infrastructure Bill to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an estimate of the proportion of green belt land that could be re-designated as grey belt land in (a) Romford constituency and (b) Havering.

In our consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and other changes to the planning system, it was suggested that grey belt land be defined as Green Belt land which makes a limited contribution to the Green Belt's purposes, as set out in paragraph 143 of the current NPPF. The Government is proposing that assessments of what land is identified as grey belt be undertaken by local planning authorities themselves, informed by relevant guidance. As such, the department is unable to provide the estimate requested.

What steps she is taking to help reduce the number of drug-related deaths.

Drug-related deaths are tragically at record highs and this government is committed to gripping this problem.The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is actively working to reduce the number of drug-related deaths and has invested an additional £267 million in drug and alcohol treatment this year, improving the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment services in England.This is supporting delivery of a national action plan to prevent a greater number of drug and alcohol-related deaths. The plan has five priorities around improving: treatment practice; local systems; toxicology and surveillance; stigma; and poly-drug and alcohol use. Guidance was published in September 2024 Preventing drug and alcohol deaths: partnership review process - GOV.UK to help local partnerships set up and evaluate their review processes for drug-related deaths, alcohol-related deaths and near-fatal overdoses.Alongside this, the Home Office is providing funding to law enforcement partners to target the organised crime groups and county lines gangs supplying harmful drugs to our streets.A further part of our response is addressing the threat from synthetic drugs, including synthetic opioids like nitazenes, as well as synthetic cannabinoids and benzodiazepines, which have been linked to drug related deaths in the UK. The Home Office, DHSC, National Crime Agency, Border Force and the National Police Chiefs Council are working with local partners to proactively monitor the situation, tracking drug related deaths and other intelligence to ensure a quick response to respond to the threat as required. This includes expanding access to naloxone, a life-saving medicine that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, including synthetic opioids.Through our mission-driven government, we will continue to work with partners across health, policing, devolved governments and wider public services to coordinate and drive down drug use and build a fairer Britain for all.

Communities and Local Government, how many buildings have registered for the Cladding Safety Scheme in Romford constituency.

To date, there have been four applications to the Cladding Safety Scheme that have been started for buildings located within the Romford constituency.Two applications are at Apply for Grant stage where information is being gathered and submitted by one applicant. The other application is currently undergoing an eligibility check. Once this process has been finalised, we will confirm eligibility in no more than 10 days.The remaining two applications are at Grant Funding Agreement stage. Both Grant Funding Agreements have been issued, one has so far been returned by the applicant.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to visit Woburn Safari Park to see the new-born Eastern Mountain Bongo.

Defra ministers have no plans to visit Woburn Safari Park but we congratulate Woburn Safari Park on the birth of one of the most critically endangered animals on the planet, an Eastern Mountain bongo calf and the work they are doing to protect this beautiful species.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to promote the heritage of county Essex.

His Majesty’s Government is committed to promoting local heritage for the benefit of present and future generations.Historic England (HE), the government’s expert advisor on heritage, works closely with heritage organisations in Essex, such as the Thomas Plume Library and Maldon Town Council. HE has provided funding of £67,962 towards the grade I listed library in Maldon’s town centre for the removal and replacement of the ceiling, as well as repairs to the external masonry and windows. This work was completed in 2021.The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded significant grant funding to support heritage organisations in Essex, such as The Pioneering Sailing Trust in Brightlingsea, which was awarded £2.3 million this April (2024) to restore historic vessels and create an apprenticeship scheme.

What steps she is taking to improve access to artificial intelligence training.

This Government is committed to delivering an efficient and effective future transport sector. To do that we need to ensure that the sector and the public servants which support it are equipped to use, regulate, guide and assure AI systems effectively. My department is working with experts in this sector to develop internal training which will be broadly available to staff members, senior leaders and even ministers to help the whole department, its arms-length bodies and agencies improve their understanding of what AI can offer and how to go about supporting its development.

What steps she is taking to improve access to artificial intelligence training.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Romford to the answer of 15 October 2024 to Question HL1654.

How much funding his Department has provided for the early detection of breast cancer in the 2024-25 financial year.

Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including breast cancer, is a priority for the Government. There are a number of National Health Service initiatives and funding streams across the NHS in England that support the early detection of breast cancer, and many organisations across the health service are involved. As a consequence, NHS England does not hold all the information on the initiatives and funding streams in 2024/25 as they are split across many budgets. Integrated care boards, supported by Cancer Alliances, provide funding for symptomatic pathways.The NHS Breast Screening Programme is funded via a portion of the overall £1.8 billion funding across public health services, including NHS screening and vaccination, child health information services, wider health and justice and armed forces.

Whether the Coal Authority plans to award new licences for the (a) mining and (b) extraction of coal.

Our manifesto was clear on our intention to not grant new coal licences, and we are exploring avenues to achieve this. We want to end coal licensing to support our net zero ambitions and our priority to lead on international climate action, based on our domestic achievements.

Whether the North Sea Transition Authority plans to award new licences for the (a) production and (b) extraction of oil and gas.

The Government will consult later this year on the implementation of our manifesto position not to issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields.The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has independently paused issuing any invitations to apply for new licences (including out-of-rounds invitations) pending the finalisation of the process related to delivery of the manifesto commitment and the plans for new environmental guidance for oil and gas firms.

What plans her Department has to increase the number of daily sitting hours by Crown Court judges.

There are no current plans to extend the standard sitting hours of the Crown Court.The Lord Chancellor has a statutory duty to ensure there is an effective and efficient system to support the carrying on of the businesses of the courts, and that appropriate services are provided for those courts.Alongside this, the way in which an individual sitting day is used with regards to the scheduling and sequencing of cases at the Crown Court is at the discretion of the independent judiciary. In addition to time spent hearing cases in the court room, at either end of the day judges will spend time on other judicial business including reading case files in preparation for the hearing and other aspects of case management. As a result, the hours of a given sitting day can vary from day to day.We recognise that the Crown Court outstanding caseload remains one of the biggest challenges facing the Criminal Justice System and we are committed to reducing the caseload and bringing waiting times down.This Government has increased the number of Crown Court sitting days to 106,500, more than in six out of the last seven years. And we will soon extend magistrates’ sentencing powers from 6 to 12 months, freeing up 2,000 days in the Crown Courts to handle the most serious cases.Alongside this, we invest consistently in the recruitment of c.1,000 judges and tribunal members across all jurisdictions annually. Crown Court recruitment has been a particular priority and we have successfully increased the number of Circuit judges and Recorders in recent years.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision not to issue North Sea oil and gas licences on employment in Scotland.

We are transitioning towards a clean energy future, but oil and gas production in the North Sea will be a key part of the UK energy landscape for many years to come. Scotland has the heritage, expertise and world-class workforce to help win this global race for high-quality green energy jobs. This Government is working closely with industry, including to introduce a new skills passport for oil and gas workers, to ensure we take the opportunities that this transition provides.