Written questions by Snowden.

How the expansion of school-based nurseries will contribute to increasing access to funded childcare, particularly in areas with limited provision.

High quality early years is central to our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity, give every child the best possible start in life and is essential to our Plan for Change. This government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, supporting school led provision and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers and childminders operating from school sites. Phase 1 is already delivering results, with £37 million successfully awarded to 300 primary phase schools creating up to 6,000 new childcare places. Schools reported that over 5,000 of these places were available from September 2025, helping thousands of families across the country. The programme secured almost £370 million for future phases. Phase 2, which closed on 11 December, has an increased focus on supporting families from disadvantaged areas which have less access to childcare, and will deliver at least 300 new or expanded nurseries through a £45 million fund. Successful schools will be announced in due course.Phase 3 is due to launch in early 2026, focussing on local authorities’ long-term strategic needs for their local communities.

What action her Department will take where local authorities are found to be retaining more than the permitted 3% of early years funding.

The passthrough requirement ensures that the great majority of government funding for the early years entitlements reaches providers so that they can deliver the entitlement offers. The passthrough rate is a statutory requirement set out in the Schools and Early Years Finance Regulations. The minimum passthrough requirement is 96% for financial year 2025/2026 and will increase to 97% in 2026/2027. The department monitors local authority compliance to the minimum pass-through requirement via section 251 budget returns each financial year and will query any returns that suggest a lower rate than required. In circumstances where an authority has failed to meet the minimum pass-through requirement, through retaining too much funding centrally or for any other reason, the department holds the right to claw back funding from local authorities.

What safeguards are now in place to prevent malpractice in English language proficiency tests used for university entrance, following the issues identified by Ofqual with Pearson’s PTE Academic Online test.

Universities are autonomous bodies, independent from government, and responsible for their own admissions decisions. Where English is not an applicant's first language, it is right that a provider assures themselves that the applicant has a reasonable likelihood of successfully meeting the academic requirements of the course. Universities are free to decide their entry criteria, including which language proficiency tests they require applicants to sit, with many higher education providers able to self-assess the English ability of their students. Additionally, the UK’s student visa arrangements specify the level of English required by those coming here to study. This standard is rigorously enforced by the Home Office. The online version of this test was introduced by Pearson in response to both the significant disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to international students and has since been discontinued.

What estimate she has made of the potential impact of increasing the bus travel fare cap from £2 in July 2024 to £3 on the accessibility of services in Fylde constituency.

The Department is currently undertaking an evaluation of the £3 bus fare cap and its impacts. This will include analysis of bus usage. The evaluation will focus on understanding the national impacts of the scheme. The final monitoring and evaluation report into the impact of the £2 bus fare cap, including analysis on bus usage, was published on 12 February. Trends in bus usage will continue to be monitored and reported through the Department’s national statistics which are published annually. The Department also publishes statistics on daily bus passenger journeys across local authorities in England outside London. This can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/developing-faster-indicators-of-transport-activity.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of Resident Doctor strikes on the delivery of healthcare services in Lancashire.

The Department has not made a formal assessment of the potential impact of resident doctor strikes on the delivery of healthcare services in Lancashire specifically.The National Health Service makes every effort through rigorous contingency planning to minimise disruption as a result of industrial action and to mitigate its impact on patients and the public. During the industrial action by resident doctors from 14 to 19 November 2025, data published by NHS England showed that the NHS met its ambitious goal to maintain 95% of planned care, surpassing the 93% protected during action in July, while still maintaining critical services, including maternity services and urgent cancer care. All hospitals are asked to do a pre-assessment ahead of strike action.To minimise the potential impact of the next round of resident doctor strike action, planned for 17 to 22 December, NHS England wrote to all trusts on 15 December asking them to prepare for planned industrial action. This includes conducting risk assessments and collecting data to estimate the impact on elective care. This letter is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/letter-industrial-action-by-bma-resident-doctors-17-22-december-2025/

What recent assessment she has made of the performance of free schools compared with maintained schools and academies in terms of educational outcomes.

Many free schools, run by strong trusts, have contributed to raising standards and achieved strong outcomes for their pupils. However, too many children and young people are still being left behind due to their educational needs or their background. The department is proceeding with mainstream projects that meet the needs of communities, respond to demographic and housing demand, and raise standards without undermining the viability of existing local schools and colleges. We are backing new schools that offer something unique for students who would otherwise not have access to it. For example, we will open two new maths schools, to give talented students in the North and the Midlands a fairer chance to pursue advanced mathematics.The department has also announced that we are investing at least £3 billion to create 50,000 new specialist places. To support this investment, we are not proceeding with some mainstream free school projects.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that consumers are provided with sufficient information to make informed choices regarding the method of slaughter used in producing meat sold in UK supermarkets.

The Government expects industry to provide consumers with information on which to make an informed choice about their food. Any information provided on the method of slaughter must be accurate and not misleading to the consumer.

Whether the Department has assessed the potential benefits of enabling GPs to issue automatic repeat prescriptions for patients on stable, long-term medication.

Responsibility for prescribing, including the issue of repeat prescribing and the duration of prescriptions, rests with the prescriber who has clinical responsibility for that particular aspect of a patient’s care.Electronic repeat dispensing is already implemented in the National Health Service and allows prescribers to authorise and issue a batch of repeat prescriptions for up to 12 months with just one digital signature. Since April 2019, the GP Contract has stated that electronic repeat dispensing should be used for all patients for whom it is clinically appropriate.Prescriptions for longer periods of time may be more appropriate and more convenient for some patients with stable long-term conditions. However, for some patients, issuing shorter prescriptions may be appropriate to give the prescriber the opportunity to review the patient’s medicines, which is important for some treatment courses that require greater scrutiny or monitoring to be managed appropriately.

What estimate he has made of the number of hospital admissions due to acute influenza across Lancashire; and how this compares to the same period last year.

Data on hospital admissions due to flu at a county level is not published. Between 25 November and 7 December 2025, there was a daily average of 346 adult general and acute beds occupied by flu patients in acute trusts in the North West. This was higher than over the same period last year when there was a daily average of 142 adult general and acute beds occupied by flu patients. NHS England began publication of Winter Situation Reports, which includes flu-specific bed occupancy at a regional level, from 24 November 2025 and from 25 November in 2024. These figures are published in the NHS England Winter Situation Reports, which are available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/uec-sitrep/urgent-and-emergency-care-daily-situation-reports-2025-26/

What steps he is taking to reduce transmission of influenza in Lancashire.

Our flu vaccination campaign started in September, and is helping to keep people out of hospital. The UK Health Security Agency is also working closely with colleagues in NHS North West and local integrated care boards (ICBs). There continues to be sustained multi-agency communications and marketing across the localised area and work is ongoing to promote and amplify prevention measures. Work continues to encourage prevention through targeted communications using local data to both the public and stakeholders whilst work is ongoing, as in every winter season, to show trends locally to allow the local health family to act accordingly via shared data and intelligence. The ICB has stepped up public messaging around getting the flu vaccine for eligible groups and the importance of choosing the right service. This has included promoting a bespoke winter campaign in the local area as well as press releases, social media, and broadcast interviews at a local and regional level.Some local hospitals have made it mandatory for staff to wear a surgical mask in any areas with suspected or confirmed influenza patients, and those patients who are suspected as having influenza on triage may also be asked to wear a mask. Masks are also available to patients and relatives in waiting areas.

How many small boat crossings have taken place in each of the last ten years, including 2025.

The Home Office publishes daily statistics on detected small boat arrivals to the UK in the Small boat activity in the English Channel - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab) release.More detailed published data on small boat arrivals to the UK are provided in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release(opens in a new tab)’, with the nationality, age grouping and sex of arrivals shown in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets(opens in a new tab)’, with the latest data up to the end of September 2025.

What measures will be put in place to prevent any widening of attainment gaps between students with differing levels of access to digital technology when on-screen assessments are introduced.

Ofqual is consulting on a controlled approach to any further adoption of on-screen assessment that protects standards, fairness and teachers’ ability to prepare students effectively. Under its proposals, most GCSEs, AS and A levels will continue to be assessed with pen and paper. Each exam board would be limited to introducing a maximum of two new on-screen specifications, but not in the most popular subjects.It will be entirely optional for schools and colleges to offer on-screen assessments if they are confident in their ability to deliver them fairly. To support fairness, Ofqual is proposing that exam boards must offer separate specifications for paper-based and on-screen qualifications and maintain standards to ensure that it is no easier or harder to achieve a given grade, regardless of which specification is taken.Students will not be permitted to use their own laptops for exams to prevent unfairness arising from differences in device quality or access. Ofqual has published an equality impact assessment alongside the consultation and will refine it following analysis of consultation responses.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what engagement her Department has had with counterparts in Sri Lanka regarding Storm Ditwah.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 18 December in response to Question 99464.

What steps will be taken to ensure that school leaders, exam officers, teachers, parents and students are fully consulted during the 12-week consultation on regulating on-screen assessments.

The department recognises the importance of securing responses from teachers, school leaders, exams officers, parents and students, and Ofqual is committed to achieving diverse representation. To support this, Ofqual is engaging these groups through targeted briefings with representative bodies, dedicated stakeholder sessions and a clear communications campaign. This includes a teacher focused blog and social media activity, alongside proactive media briefings ahead of launch which generated widespread national, local and sector coverage. The department is also promoting the consultation via its own channels and stakeholder networks, and is planning to support Ofqual with stakeholder engagement activities during its consultation period. Ofqual has also published a comprehensive evidence base reflecting views from these groups, which informed its proposals. It will monitor responses and adapt outreach to ensure strong participation.

Pursuant to the written answer of 9 December 25 to question 96953 on Child Benefit, how many of the 23,500 compliance enquiries (i) were confirmed to be eligible, (ii) were found to have been incorrectly receiving the benefit and (iii) are yet to receive an outcome.

HMRC has now completed its review of Child Benefit compliance cases where a PAYE check had not been undertaken. As of 30 November 2025, out of the 23,794 cases opened between August and October 2025, 14,994 Child Benefit customers have been confirmed to be eligible to Child Benefit. Of the remaining 8,800 cases, 1,019, have been determined to have been incorrectly receiving Child Benefit, and 7,781 enquiries remain open as the customer has not yet provided evidence to enable a final determination of residency. The data from the 23,794 cases is not comparable with the pilot. Recognising the issues with the implementation of the expansion, HMRC put in place an expediated process for customers that varied from the way it applied checks in the pilot. The information from the pilot remains HMRC’s best assessment of the effectiveness of the activity using international travel data to reduce error and fraud.

Media and Sport, when she expects to announce whether the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will be renewed beyond 31 March 2026.

Future funding beyond March 2026 will be considered as we work through the output of the Spending Review and Departmental business planning process. An announcement will be made once this decision is finalised.

Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December to Question 95479, on Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme: VAT, how many applications to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in the last 12 months exceeded the new £25,000 cap.

Since 1 December 2024, the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme has received a total of 222 applications that exceeded a value of £25,000, with a combined requested value of £12,442,052. Of these, 162 claims totalling £8,793,024 were subsequently approved for payment. All approved claims relate to the 2024/25 financial year, before the new cap came into effect.A total of 38 applications with a value in excess of £25k have been submitted since 1st April 2025. However, the value of grant award approved for payment against these claims was capped at £25k. I can confirm that since the annual cap of £25,000 per listed place of worship came into effect from 1 April 2025, no applicant has received funding above this £25,000 limit.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the online Self Assessment Time to Pay system in reducing the number of late payment penalties.

HMRC’s Time to Pay (TTP) arrangements help taxpayers to pay their liabilities in affordable and sustainable instalments. Late payment penalties do not apply provided the plan is agreed before penalty trigger dates and instalments are paid on time. HMRC’s online TTP service for Self Assessment offers taxpayers the option to set up their own payment plans for Self Assessment debts up to £30,000. HMRC publishes data on TTP arrangements as part of its quarterly performance updates and in its Annual Report and Accounts. Over 90% of TTP arrangements are completed successfully, demonstrating their effectiveness in supporting compliance and reducing penalties.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 Oct 2025 to Question 81532 on Taxis: Licensing, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the powers available to local licensing authorities for ensuring the effective enforcement of private-hire vehicles that are licensed in one authority but predominantly operate in another.

The Department for Transport is legislating to tackle inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle licensing. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill would enable the setting of national minimum standards in licensing.We are considering further options including in relation to out of area working and enforcement powers. In the interim, as recommended in the Department’s guidance to licensing authorities in England, enforcement officers should be jointly authorised by authorities where there is a need. The guidance also highlights that licensing authorities can seek further powers from their local police chief constables under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS).

What recent discussions she has had with the brewing and pub sector on business rates affordability following the November Budget.

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base. At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest. More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties, including those on the high street. The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit. Treasury Ministers and officials engaged with a wide range of stakeholders across the pub and hospitality sector ahead of the Budget to discuss business rates.