Written questions by Snowden.

What steps his Department is taking to monitor the impact of Children and Young People’s Continuing Care on hospital admissions among children with complex health needs.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of services to meet the needs of their local populations. NHS England supports ICBs to implement the National Framework for Children and Young People’s Continuing Care, and it has now started to collect Children and Young People’s Continuing Care activity data as part of the All-age Continuing Care Patient Level Dataset which launched on 1 April 2025, and which is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/all-age-continuing-care-data-set/about-the-all-age-continuing-care-data-setNational data on Children and Young People’s Continuing Care is not yet available. NHS England data shows that the total number of adults aged 18 years old and over in England who are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) was 50,281 as of the last day of Quarter one of 2025/26. The CHC’s Statistical Press Release for Quarter one of 2025/26 is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/CHC_Statistical_Press_Release_Q1_2025_26_DQ55g.pdfThe relationship between Children and Young People’s Continuing Care and hospital admissions is not monitored nationally and the data on the numbers of children in receipt of Children and Young People’s Continuing Care packages and the cost of the packages by region is not held centrally. ICBs may hold relevant information as they have a statutory duty to meet the reasonable needs of an individual. For health services, the duty is that of Sections 3 to 6 of the NHS Act 2006 and accompanying regulations.

How many children and young people are in receipt of Children and Young People’s Continuing Care packages in the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board area.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of services to meet the needs of their local populations. NHS England supports ICBs to implement the National Framework for Children and Young People’s Continuing Care, and it has now started to collect Children and Young People’s Continuing Care activity data as part of the All-age Continuing Care Patient Level Dataset which launched on 1 April 2025, and which is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/all-age-continuing-care-data-set/about-the-all-age-continuing-care-data-setNational data on Children and Young People’s Continuing Care is not yet available. NHS England data shows that the total number of adults aged 18 years old and over in England who are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) was 50,281 as of the last day of Quarter one of 2025/26. The CHC’s Statistical Press Release for Quarter one of 2025/26 is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/CHC_Statistical_Press_Release_Q1_2025_26_DQ55g.pdfThe relationship between Children and Young People’s Continuing Care and hospital admissions is not monitored nationally and the data on the numbers of children in receipt of Children and Young People’s Continuing Care packages and the cost of the packages by region is not held centrally. ICBs may hold relevant information as they have a statutory duty to meet the reasonable needs of an individual. For health services, the duty is that of Sections 3 to 6 of the NHS Act 2006 and accompanying regulations.

What funding his Department has provided to prostate cancer public awareness campaigns in each of the last five years.

We recognise the importance of raising awareness of prostate cancer, to support earlier diagnosis. The Department does not ring-fence funding exclusively for prostate cancer public awareness campaigns. Awareness-raising is often supported via broader cancer or men’s health communication programmes, working in partnership with charities and National Health Service bodies.The NHS, and several other local and national organisations, published information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including prostate cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website, at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/prostate-cancer/symptoms/In January 2025, NHS England re-launched its Abdominal and urological symptoms of cancer phase of the Help Us Help You public awareness campaigns. These public campaigns aim to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner.Cancer Alliances receive a place-based funding allocation from the NHS Cancer Programme from which they can draw down to support local awareness and early diagnosis activity. This can be used to raise awareness for a range of cancers, including prostate cancer.

What the average annual cost is of a Children and Young People’s Continuing Care package by region.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of services to meet the needs of their local populations. NHS England supports ICBs to implement the National Framework for Children and Young People’s Continuing Care, and it has now started to collect Children and Young People’s Continuing Care activity data as part of the All-age Continuing Care Patient Level Dataset which launched on 1 April 2025, and which is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/all-age-continuing-care-data-set/about-the-all-age-continuing-care-data-setNational data on Children and Young People’s Continuing Care is not yet available. NHS England data shows that the total number of adults aged 18 years old and over in England who are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) was 50,281 as of the last day of Quarter one of 2025/26. The CHC’s Statistical Press Release for Quarter one of 2025/26 is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/CHC_Statistical_Press_Release_Q1_2025_26_DQ55g.pdfThe relationship between Children and Young People’s Continuing Care and hospital admissions is not monitored nationally and the data on the numbers of children in receipt of Children and Young People’s Continuing Care packages and the cost of the packages by region is not held centrally. ICBs may hold relevant information as they have a statutory duty to meet the reasonable needs of an individual. For health services, the duty is that of Sections 3 to 6 of the NHS Act 2006 and accompanying regulations.

Media and Sport, how her Department plans to define a library for the purposes of eligibility under the new primary school library funding scheme.

As funding for this initiative will come from the Dormant Assets Scheme over which the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has responsibility, your question has been transferred to my Department.It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils, including whether to employ a qualified librarian.Funding for this programme will come from the £132.5 million that was allocated to increasing disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability.The Government will work with The National Lottery Community Fund to co-design the programme and will announce further details in due course, including definitions, eligibility and funding.

What estimate she has made of the number of children in (a) England, (b) Lancashire and (c) Fylde constituency impacted by the national rollout of free breakfast clubs.

The government has made a manifesto commitment to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with children on roll from reception to year 6. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstances, has a supportive start to the school day. This means that approximately 4.6 million children in England, 97,600 children in Lancashire and 6,500 children in Fylde will be able to benefit from free breakfast clubs once they are rolled out in their area.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she plans to take to encourage continued private investment in rural broadband infrastructure.

In July, we published our draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services that sets out the Government’s view on infrastructure sharing in the fixed telecoms sector, including asking Ofcom to demonstrate greater transparency in how they calculate and set PIA prices.The draft Statement also sets out how Ofcom can continue to support private investment across the UK, including in rural areas, by promoting competition.

With reference to her Department's press notice entitled Childcare offer exceeds target, benefiting over 500,000 children, published on 24 September 2025, how many children by (a) income, (b) ethnicity, (c) disability, (d) rural location and (e) urban location are (i) receiving and (ii) not receiving 30 hours of childcare.

The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.The department cannot provide figures on Eligibility Checking System (ECS) entitlement code validation broken down by income, ethnicity, disability, rural location and urban location. This is because detailed demographic data on children is not collected by the system used in the publication of ECS codes. The department also does not hold comprehensive detailed information on the children who do not receive funded childcare.The early years and school censuses are publications separate from the ECS that disaggregate children in receipt of entitlements by disadvantaged status, ethnicity and special educational needs provision. The first early years and school censuses to collect data on the number of children registered for the expanded 30-hour entitlement since the September 2025 rollout will be based on the January 2026 period. Their provisional release date is July 2026.

What criteria she plans to use to prioritise schools for the expansion of free breakfast clubs.

The department expects to provide further information, including specifics on eligibility, funding and expectations for schools, later in the autumn term.

If his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of digital ID on levels of registration for the organ donors' register.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is the organ donation organisation for the UK responsible for the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR), which is available at the following link:https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/register-your-decision/For the purposes of this response, Digital ID has been assumed to refer to the potential introduction of a citizen ID as recently announced by the UK Government.Presently, NHSBT has made no formal assessment on the potential impact of the introduction of Digital ID on levels of ODR registration. The appropriateness of this will be monitored going forward.

Whether she plans to extend free breakfast clubs beyond primary schools.

The rollout of free breakfast clubs prioritises primary-aged children, as this is where the evidence of impact is strongest. A report published by the Education Endowment Foundation found that attainment improved in primary-aged children who attended a breakfast club, and teachers also marked an improvement in pupil behaviour.

What data her Department holds on the number of animals killed or injured on UK roads in each of the last five years.

This data is not held by the Department.

When the Ethics and Integrity Commission will be established.

The Ethics and Integrity commission was established on 13 October 2025. Further information is in my Written Ministerial Statement, 'Government of Service', published the same day.

What proportion of the £448 million public investment announced under the UK SHORE programme will be allocated to (a) Fylde and (b) other coastal constituencies in Lancashire.

The UK SHORE programme in the Department for Transport will primarily allocate funding through open competitions, delivered by Innovate UK. Competition scopes and assessment criteria will be published alongside competition announcements between 2026 and 2030.We are committed to supporting projects across the UK. UK SHORE has previously allocated £240m for clean maritime. This has supported organisations in all UK nations and regions, including around £30m allocated to projects in the North West.

What steps he is taking to increase the availability of histotripsy treatment on the NHS.

Histotripsy is a non-invasive ultrasound treatment that destroys tumours without the need for surgery or radiation. It was one of eight transformative technologies supported through the Government’s Innovative Devices Access Pathway (IDAP) pilot. This programme aimed to streamline patient access to medical devices that address an unmet clinical need in the National Health Service.Through the IDAP, an Unmet Clinical Need Authorisation was granted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, exempting the manufacturer from certain regulatory requirements under specific conditions given the critical unmet need of liver cancer, allowing early market access. Histotripsy is now available for conditional use in the NHS for patients with liver tumours. NHS treatments will begin in October 2025 as a first in Europe, strengthening the United Kingdom’s position as a global leader in medical innovation.

What criteria her Department is using to decide which coastal ports or dry docks will receive UK SHORE funding.

The UK SHORE programme in the Department for Transport will primarily allocate funding through open competitions, delivered by Innovate UK. Competition scopes and assessment criteria will be published alongside competition announcements between 2026 and 2030.We are committed to supporting projects across the UK. UK SHORE has previously allocated £240m for clean maritime. This has supported organisations in all UK nations and regions, including around £30m allocated to projects in the North West.

With reference to the press release entitled Record-breaking £150bn investment unveiled during US State Visit, published on 17 September 2025, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that business investment on economic growth.

No such formal separate assessment will be made, but we expect these investments to have significant economic benefits across the whole of the UK.

How many people were unable to benefit from the Residence Nil Rate Band due to not having direct descendants in the most recent year for which data is available.

The residence nil-rate band was introduced under the previous Government in April 2017. The then Government set out in a tax information and impact note at the time of its introduction that there was no evidence to suggest that this policy would have significant adverse impacts on those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. The tax information and impact note is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/inheritance-tax-main-residence-nil-rate-band-and-the-existing-nil-rate-band/inheritance-tax-main-residence-nil-rate-band-and-the-existing-nil-rate-band. HMRC publishes annual statistics about the use of nil-rate bands, reliefs and exemptions. 30,600 estates used the residence nil-rate band in 2022-23, and £7.72 billion of chargeable estate value was removed from an inheritance tax charge as a result. HMRC does not collect comprehensive data about the reasons for an estate not using the residence nil-rate band.

If her Department will conduct an equality impact assessment of the Residence Nil Rate Band in relation to inheritance tax.

The residence nil-rate band was introduced under the previous Government in April 2017. The then Government set out in a tax information and impact note at the time of its introduction that there was no evidence to suggest that this policy would have significant adverse impacts on those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. The tax information and impact note is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/inheritance-tax-main-residence-nil-rate-band-and-the-existing-nil-rate-band/inheritance-tax-main-residence-nil-rate-band-and-the-existing-nil-rate-band. HMRC publishes annual statistics about the use of nil-rate bands, reliefs and exemptions. 30,600 estates used the residence nil-rate band in 2022-23, and £7.72 billion of chargeable estate value was removed from an inheritance tax charge as a result. HMRC does not collect comprehensive data about the reasons for an estate not using the residence nil-rate band.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Million Hours Fund on organisations in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.

The Million Hours Fund provides youth organisations with funding to deliver over a million additional hours of positive activities for young people in areas where they may be at risk of anti-social behaviour.DCMS and The National Lottery Community Fund launched Phase 3 of the Million Hours Fund on 30th July 2025. This is a £19 million joint investment (£12 million from DCMS and £7 million from The National Lottery Community Fund). The Fund will run until 31 March 2027 and is now closed to applications. The list of wards eligible for funding in Fylde and Lancashire can be found here: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/funding-programmes/million-hours-fund-2025-to-2027/eligible-ward-areas.Nine organisations based in the constituencies of Fylde and Lancashire are receiving up to £406,541 worth of funding as part of previous phases of the Million Hours Fund.An evaluation of the Million Hours Fund is being conducted, which will assess the impact of the Fund on organisations and young people.