Written questions by Snowden.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 39625 on General Practitioners: Employers' Contributions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed increase to employers' National Insurance contributions on the level of employment in general practices.

We have made the necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. Resource spending for the Department will be £22.6 billion more in 2025/26 than in 2023/24, as part of the Spending Review settlement. The employers’ National Insurance rise was implemented in April 2025.General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the profession about what services GPs provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account of the cost of delivering services.We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 39625 on General Practitioners: Employers' Contributions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed increase to employers' National Insurance contributions on the number of general practices.

We have made necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. Resource spending for the Department will be £22.6 billion more in 2025/26 than in 2023/24, as part of the Spending Review settlement. The employers’ National Insurance rise was implemented in April 2025.General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the profession about what services GPs provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account of the cost of delivering services.We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes.

Whether she plans to encourage schools to celebrate (a) Easter and (b) other Christian holidays.

Easter and other Christian holidays provide good opportunities for schools to celebrate the traditions of our country, and the department supports schools taking those opportunities with their pupils.

What steps he is taking to increase his Department’s support for SMEs in the defence industry in Fylde constituency.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) make a vital contribution to economic growth and are a valuable source of technical innovation in defence. This is recognised in the Defence Industrial Strategy Statement of Intent, as well as the Department’s Social Value policies. We work with our largest suppliers through a network of their SME Champions, trade associations and SME representatives to ensure that SMEs have fair access to opportunities in our supply chain and that our prime contractors are adopting policies, such as fair payment practices, that support small businesses working in defence. We have announced the launch of a new hub to provide SMEs with better access to the defence supply chain and have committed to set direct SME spending targets for the Ministry of Defence by June this year, ensuring that thousands of small businesses in the UK, including those in the Fylde constituency, will benefit from the decision to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase to employers’ National Insurance contributions on the defence industry in Fylde constituency.

As individual suppliers and contractors will manage the changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions differently, it would be extremely difficult for the Department to estimate the impact this will have on the defence industry, including those based in the Fylde constituency.

What steps he is taking to support veterans who served in Northern Ireland in Fylde constituency.

This Government recognises the important contribution and sacrifice of those who served in Northern Ireland to keep us safe, and that of the families who enabled them to do so. Veterans who served in Northern Ireland are eligible for a range of support, wherever they reside in the United Kingdom. Veterans can additionally access tailored employment support via the Career Transition Partnership, which supports those leaving military service in search of new job opportunities, and Op ASCEND, a new employment pathway for veterans operating across the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, specialist care for physical and mental health conditions is available to veterans in Fylde via Op RESTORE and Op COURAGE respectively. For those who may be homeless or at risk of homelessness, housing guidance and support is available across the country via Op FORTITUDE, a single referral pathway to connect veterans with help and support. In Fylde specifically, UK Government funding enables Burnley FC In The Community to provide mentoring and capacity building to AFC Fylde, helping to develop their Armed Forces community engagement programmes. The funding is delivered through the Thrive Together programme, which is administered by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust on behalf of the Government. Additionally, Armed Forces Community HQ CIC in Wigan delivers Wigan Council’s Homes at Ease programme, which is funded through the Government’s Reducing Veteran Homelessness Fund. This ‘housing first’ solution for homeless veterans across the North West is making a tangible difference, to date housing 21 veterans across Lancashire and four within Fylde. Where historic investigations impact on veterans who served during Op BANNER, I have committed that the Ministry of Defence will continue to provide welfare and legal support to those affected. The Department is working with the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery to support its important work.

What steps he is taking to support cadet forces in Fylde constituency.

The Government is convinced of the benefits of cadets, not just for young people who participate, but for society. Participation in the Cadet Forces has significant positive impacts on young people, increasing their performance at school and improving their employment and career prospects. The Cadet Forces instil values and standards and provide the opportunity for young people to develop key skills including self-discipline, confidence, and resilience which equip them for life. The skills, confidence, and cultural capital that young people gain from being cadets improves their social mobility, and in terms of health and wellbeing alone, participation in the Cadet Forces produces an annual return on investment in the region of £120 million. Independent research has shown the cost of cadets is fully covered if the life outcomes of just 1% of cadets change each year so that they are in education, training, or employment. For all these reasons, we are committed to sustaining the Cadet Forces across the UK, including within the Fylde constituency, where there are currently nine separate Cadet Units.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase to employers National Insurance contributions on general practices in Fylde constituency.

We have made the necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. Resource spending for the Department will be £22.6 billion more in 2025/26 than in 2023/24, as part of the Spending Review settlement. The employers’ National Insurance rise will be implemented in April 2025.General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the profession about what services GPs provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account of the cost of delivering services.We are investing an additional £889 million in through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes.

What steps he is taking to improve the safety of NHS maternity services in Fylde constituency.

The Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust entered the national Maternity Safety Support Programme (MSSP) in September 2022, following a Care Quality Commission inspection earlier that month which rated Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s maternity services in the Fylde constituency as ‘requires improvement’ overall. The programme provides intensive support to the trust to assist in the improvement of their maternity services, including a dedicated Maternity Improvement Advisor and support to implement a tailored improvement plan. A full diagnostic assessment has identified key areas of focus with an associated improvement plan and agreed exit criteria.The Local Maternity and Neonatal System arm of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board receives reports from the MSSP, so it can support the service with focused improvement work.A MSSP assurance visit on 27 January 2025 concluded that significant improvements had been made across a number of areas, with evidence of data demonstrating sustained improvement. The next review meeting for the service is to take place on 28 May 2025.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions on social care providers in Fylde constituency.

To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.The additional funding available to Lancashire in 2025/26 means that they will see an increase to their core spending power of up to 7.3% in cash terms.Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase to employers National Insurance contributions on hospices in Lancashire.

We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, enabling the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.The employer National Insurance contribution rise will be implemented in April 2025, and planning guidance published on 30 January 2025 sets out the funding available to integrated care boards and the overall approach to funding providers in the next financial year. It considers a variety of pay and non-pay factors and pressures on providers of secondary healthcare, including charitable hospices. Further information on the planning guidance is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2025-26-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance/We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are pleased to confirm that the Government has released the first £25 million tranche of that funding, with Hospice UK kindly allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England. An additional £75 million will be available from April 2025.We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.

What steps he has taken to increase NHS capacity for winter 2025-26 in Fylde constituency.

Local National Health Service winter resilience plans for the Flyde area specifically are an operational matter for NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) working in partnership with local NHS providers. The ICB’s planning for 2025/26 is ongoing, including the allocation of £24 million of capital funding to improve urgent and emergency care services.At national level, we have communicated priorities for urgent and emergency care this year through the NHS England mandate and the operational planning guidance for 2025/26. We will shortly set out further actions and improvements to be taken this year to support urgent and emergency care services.

What his planned timeline is for implementing gastroenterology reforms through the Elective Care Reform Programme; and how he plans to monitor progress.

We have prioritised cutting waiting lists and getting back to the standard that at least 92% of people should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment. We have delivered an extra 2.5 million operations, scans, and appointments between July and December 2024 compared to the same period in 2023; this means that last month we hit our committment seven months early.We recently published the Elective Reform Plan which sets out the reform and productivity efforts needed to return to the 18-week standard. One of the major commitments in the plan is to enhance clinically led pathways to shift care from hospital to community, including gastroenterology pathways.Specifically, the plan commits to pathway reform starting in five areas, with gastroenterology being one. The commitment is to develop an integrated pathway across primary, community and secondary care for common gastroenterology conditions. We will also drive the rapid adoption of remote monitoring in appropriate gastroenterology pathways, which reduces consultant-led outpatient appointments by over 50%. Work is underway, including with the Royal Colleges, and further information will be forthcoming as plans are developed.The plan also reinforces the Government’s commitment to work with patients, carers and their representatives to publish the standards patients should expect to experience while they wait for care, including for those waiting for gastroenterology services. We will continue to work with patients and carers to build on this work and establish a gold standard for experience.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support people to use electric vehicles in Fylde constituency.

The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of affordable and accessible charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle. As of March 2025, the Government and industry have supported the installation of 75,305 publicly available charging devices, up 32% on this time last year. Lancashire County Council, which includes Fylde constituency, have been allocated over £10.8m capital and resource funding through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to increase the number of local public chargepoints across the area. In total, the £381m LEVI Fund will support the installation of at least 100,000 local chargepoints across England.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Bus Services Bill on passengers with disabilities in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

The Government is committed to improving public transport services so they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. The Bus Services (No.2) Bill, which was introduced on 17 December, will give local leaders the freedom to take decisions to deliver their local transport priorities and ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them, including for disabled people. The Bill includes measures to make the design of bus and coach stations and stops more inclusive, and sets requirements for training for staff on disability-assistance and disability-awareness to ensure bus drivers and staff dealing directly with the travelling public are better informed of the rights and needs of disabled passengers. In addition to this, the Government announced in the budget that we will be investing over £1 billion to support and improve bus services. Lancashire County Council has been allocated over £27 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services. This funding can be used to improve services for passengers in whichever way they wish, including to improve access for disabled people.

What steps she is taking to help reduce the cost of rail services in Fylde constituency.

Most regulated rail fares increased by 4.6 per cent on 2 March 2025. This was the lowest absolute increase in three years and delivers a fair balance between taxpayers and passengers. This increase will support the Government’s long-term plans to achieve financial sustainability of the railway. Whilst it is our ambition through railway reform to deliver a more affordable railway, any long-term changes or concessions made to rail fares policy require balancing against the potential impacts on passengers, taxpayers and the railway.

Which areas of gastroenterology he plans to prioritise in the Elective Care Reform Programme.

We have prioritised cutting waiting lists and getting back to the standard that at least 92% of people should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment. We have delivered an extra 2.5 million operations, scans, and appointments between July and December 2024 compared to the same period in 2023; this means that last month we hit our committment seven months early.We recently published the Elective Reform Plan which sets out the reform and productivity efforts needed to return to the 18-week standard. One of the major commitments in the plan is to enhance clinically led pathways to shift care from hospital to community, including gastroenterology pathways.Specifically, the plan commits to pathway reform starting in five areas, with gastroenterology being one. The commitment is to develop an integrated pathway across primary, community and secondary care for common gastroenterology conditions. We will also drive the rapid adoption of remote monitoring in appropriate gastroenterology pathways, which reduces consultant-led outpatient appointments by over 50%. Work is underway, including with the Royal Colleges, and further information will be forthcoming as plans are developed.The plan also reinforces the Government’s commitment to work with patients, carers and their representatives to publish the standards patients should expect to experience while they wait for care, including for those waiting for gastroenterology services. We will continue to work with patients and carers to build on this work and establish a gold standard for experience.

What plans NHS England has to consult with patient organisations on gastroenterology reform in the Elective Care Reform Programme; and how he plans to include patients in decision-making.

We have prioritised cutting waiting lists and getting back to the standard that at least 92% of people should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment. We have delivered an extra 2.5 million operations, scans, and appointments between July and December 2024 compared to the same period in 2023; this means that last month we hit our committment seven months early.We recently published the Elective Reform Plan which sets out the reform and productivity efforts needed to return to the 18-week standard. One of the major commitments in the plan is to enhance clinically led pathways to shift care from hospital to community, including gastroenterology pathways.Specifically, the plan commits to pathway reform starting in five areas, with gastroenterology being one. The commitment is to develop an integrated pathway across primary, community and secondary care for common gastroenterology conditions. We will also drive the rapid adoption of remote monitoring in appropriate gastroenterology pathways, which reduces consultant-led outpatient appointments by over 50%. Work is underway, including with the Royal Colleges, and further information will be forthcoming as plans are developed.The plan also reinforces the Government’s commitment to work with patients, carers and their representatives to publish the standards patients should expect to experience while they wait for care, including for those waiting for gastroenterology services. We will continue to work with patients and carers to build on this work and establish a gold standard for experience.

What steps she is taking to improve road infrastructure in Fylde constituency.

In 2024 National Highways completed the £162m Windy Harbour to Skippool off-line bypass around the village of Little Singleton, removing a major bottleneck on the A585 into Fleetwood. Other routes serving the region, such as the M55 have been considered as part of National Highways South Pennines Route Strategy, and this will form the evidence base for future investment planning decisions for the strategic road network in the region. Investment on the local road network in the region is the responsibility of Lancashire County Council, who will benefit from their share of an extra £500 million for highways maintenance during 2025/26 as announced at the Autumn Budget.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the number of farmers who will be affected by changes to (a) agricultural property relief and (b) business property relief in (i) Fylde constituency and (ii) Lancashire.

Assessing the impact of the new Inheritance Tax policy, which comes into force from 6 April 2026, relies on a number of factors such as ownership structure and debt levels. Without such information, which the Government does not hold at that level, area level assessments cannot be made. This Government is aware that each farm is different, and so we encourage farmers to speak to their tax advisors and agents to understand how these changes may impact their specific situation and how to plan for the future. As an outcome of the October 2024 Spending Review, we have committed £5 billion in the agricultural budget over the next two years – the biggest ever budget for sustainable food production and nature recovery in this country’s history. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector.