Written questions by Snowden.

What steps her Department is taking to support teachers in Continuous Professional Development programmes in state schools.

High quality teaching is the most significant in-school determinant of pupil outcomes and is essential to reducing the attainment gap. The department supports new and experienced teachers with continuous professional development (CPD) to ensure teachers remain highly skilled. We will introduce a new teacher training entitlement to ensure teachers stay up to date on best practice.The department offers National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) that help boost teachers and leaders’ existing knowledge and confidence as they progress in their careers. We are currently reviewing NPQ courses to ensure they align with the latest evidence and best practice.The department has also established a network of 87 Teaching School Hubs across the country, which act as centres of expertise for CPD.The department provides support across a range of subjects via networks of hubs that help build teacher capability and pupil access to subjects. Examples include English Hubs, Maths Hubs and the Advanced Maths Support Programme. We are continuing and expanding the Subject Knowledge for Physics Teaching Programme, and are moving to an online national CPD offer which can support all teachers in computing and languages.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on employment levels in the hospitality sector in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.The Office for Budget Responsibility also publishes Economic and Fiscal Outlooks (EFOs), which set out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.With all policies considered, the OBR's March 2025 EFO forecasts the employment level to increase from 33.6 million in 2024 to 34.8 million in 2029The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from the changes to employer NICs by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including financial education in the curriculum for GCSE Maths.

Currently pupils receive financial education through both the mathematics and citizenship curricula, for example covering compound interest in mathematics GCSE.The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review is looking into the current programmes of study within its work to ensure a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work.As set out in the Review Group’s interim report, they have heard consistently from children and young people and their parents that they want more focus on the applied knowledge and skills that will equip them for later life and work, such as financial education.The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published in the autumn, at which time the government will respond.

What steps she is taking to help improve the safety of train drivers in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

Ensuring the continued safety of train drivers across the national rail network remains a priority for my department. Train operators are subject to strict legal duties, which are enforced by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), to ensure that the train drivers they employ can work in safety. My department works closely with the ORR, the Rail Safety and Standards Board and the wider rail industry to keep these measures under review and to identify areas for improvement. This has included supporting research to improve the industry’s understanding of issues such as fatigue management and access to welfare facilities, and the development of improved standards and guidance to codify best practice.

How much his Department has spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last five years.

The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department. Heads of departments have agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service, as was the case under the previous administration.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has provided guidance to the police on the steps to take when the sale of single use vapes is reported to them.

The single-use vapes ban is enforced by Local Authority Trading Standards. The Government has worked closely with Trading Standards to ensure that they are prepared for the ban, this has included supporting training for Trading Standards Officers on the single-use vapes ban.

What steps he is taking to help reduce the number of mental health conditions among young people in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

The NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board is responsible for commissioning services to meet the mental health needs of young people in Fylde and across Lancashire.Nationally, the Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services by hiring more staff, delivering more early interventions, and getting waiting lists down so young people can have the best possible start in life. We will fulfil our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 staff across child and adult mental health services by the end of this Parliament, and 6,700 of these extra workers have been recruited since July 2024.We also want to intervene much earlier to support better outcomes for children and young people. That is why the 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will work with schools and colleges to better identify and meet children's mental health needs by expanding mental health support teams in schools to cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30 and by embedding mental health support in the new Young Futures hubs, to ensure there is no 'wrong front door' for people seeking help. At the end of March 2025, 55% of pupils and learners in Lancashire were covered by a mental health support team.Additionally, we are continuing to provide top-up funding of £7 million to 24 existing early support hubs, including hubs in Chorley and Blackburn, to expand their services and to take part in an ongoing evaluation of these services in 2025/26. This funding will enable the supported hubs to deliver at least 10,000 additional mental health and wellbeing interventions, so that more children and young people are supported.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the ban on single use vapes on the prevalence of vaping in schools.

The sale of vapes to under 18s is illegal, and the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will ban the sale of all consumer nicotine products to anyone under 18.Schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that sets out what is expected of all pupils, including what items are banned from school premises. The department supports head teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools.To support schools to do so, the 'Behaviour in schools' guidance supports schools to develop a behaviour policy that will encourage good behaviour and set out the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour, including vaping anywhere in school.Schools have the autonomy to decide which items should be banned from their premises, and these can include e-cigarettes or vapes. School staff can search pupils for banned items as outlined in the department’s Searching, Screening and Confiscation guidance.

Communities and Local Government, if she will require local planning authorities to publish (a) agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and (b) related compliance information in (i) standardised and (ii) accessible formats.

Supporting local planning authorities (LPAs) to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth. The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery. At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026. Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice. On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480). On 12 March 2025, the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were made. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs. More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software. Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function. Planning practice guidance on planning obligations makes clear that it may be appropriate in some cases for LPAs to make use of collaborative agreements, skills of officers from other LPAs, or external third-party experts to ensure planning obligations can be agreed quickly and effectively. The relevant PPG also encourages local planning authorities to use and publish standard forms and templates to assist with the process of agreeing planning obligations. On 28 May 2025, the government published the Planning Reform Working Paper: Reforming Site Thresholds (which can be found on gov.uk here) which sought views on a number of specific proposals including standardised S106 templates and the rules relating to suitable off-site provision and/or appropriate financial payment. Local planning authorities are required to keep a copy of any planning obligation – together with details of any modification or discharge of that obligation – and to make these publicly available on their planning register. In addition, any local planning authority that has received a contribution from development through section 106 planning obligations is legally required to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement at least annually, which sets out how developer contributions are used to fund local priorities. On 26 June, the Chief Planner wrote to all LPAs reminding them of their statutory duty to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement where applicable. Authorities can charge a monitoring fee through section 106 planning obligations, to cover the cost of monitoring and reporting on delivery for the lifetime of that obligation. Authorities must report on monitoring fees in their Infrastructure Funding Statements. The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the value of financial contributions secured through agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in each of the last five years in (a) England, (b) Lancashire and (c) Fylde constituency.

Local Planning Authorities are required to publish an annual Infrastructure Funding Statement detailing developer contributions received through section 106 planning obligations or the Community Infrastructure Levy.Infrastructure Funding Statements for Fylde can be found here.There is no statutory requirement for a consolidated Infrastructure Funding Statement for England to be published, and one has not been published to date.

Communities and Local Government, how her Department monitors whether contributions from agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 are spent (a) within agreed timeframes and (b) on the purposes specified in those agreements.

Supporting local planning authorities (LPAs) to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth. The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery. At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026. Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice. On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480). On 12 March 2025, the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were made. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs. More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software. Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function. Planning practice guidance on planning obligations makes clear that it may be appropriate in some cases for LPAs to make use of collaborative agreements, skills of officers from other LPAs, or external third-party experts to ensure planning obligations can be agreed quickly and effectively. The relevant PPG also encourages local planning authorities to use and publish standard forms and templates to assist with the process of agreeing planning obligations. On 28 May 2025, the government published the Planning Reform Working Paper: Reforming Site Thresholds (which can be found on gov.uk here) which sought views on a number of specific proposals including standardised S106 templates and the rules relating to suitable off-site provision and/or appropriate financial payment. Local planning authorities are required to keep a copy of any planning obligation – together with details of any modification or discharge of that obligation – and to make these publicly available on their planning register. In addition, any local planning authority that has received a contribution from development through section 106 planning obligations is legally required to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement at least annually, which sets out how developer contributions are used to fund local priorities. On 26 June, the Chief Planner wrote to all LPAs reminding them of their statutory duty to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement where applicable. Authorities can charge a monitoring fee through section 106 planning obligations, to cover the cost of monitoring and reporting on delivery for the lifetime of that obligation. Authorities must report on monitoring fees in their Infrastructure Funding Statements. The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local planning authorities have adequate resources to (a) negotiate, (b) monitor and (c) enforce agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Supporting local planning authorities (LPAs) to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth. The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery. At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026. Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice. On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480). On 12 March 2025, the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were made. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs. More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software. Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function. Planning practice guidance on planning obligations makes clear that it may be appropriate in some cases for LPAs to make use of collaborative agreements, skills of officers from other LPAs, or external third-party experts to ensure planning obligations can be agreed quickly and effectively. The relevant PPG also encourages local planning authorities to use and publish standard forms and templates to assist with the process of agreeing planning obligations. On 28 May 2025, the government published the Planning Reform Working Paper: Reforming Site Thresholds (which can be found on gov.uk here) which sought views on a number of specific proposals including standardised S106 templates and the rules relating to suitable off-site provision and/or appropriate financial payment. Local planning authorities are required to keep a copy of any planning obligation – together with details of any modification or discharge of that obligation – and to make these publicly available on their planning register. In addition, any local planning authority that has received a contribution from development through section 106 planning obligations is legally required to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement at least annually, which sets out how developer contributions are used to fund local priorities. On 26 June, the Chief Planner wrote to all LPAs reminding them of their statutory duty to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement where applicable. Authorities can charge a monitoring fee through section 106 planning obligations, to cover the cost of monitoring and reporting on delivery for the lifetime of that obligation. Authorities must report on monitoring fees in their Infrastructure Funding Statements. The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the population of wild peacocks.

The Government does not hold data on the population of Indian peafowl (peacock) but is aware of recent data recorded by the British Trust for Ornithology that shows there were at least 9 confirmed breeding pairs in the UK in 2020, spread widely in Dorset, Cornwall, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Breconshire and Isle of Man. This data can be found in the UK Rare Breeding Birds Annual Report for 2020, found here: Annual Reports – UK Rare Breeding Birds Panel.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) securing and (b) verifying Biodiversity Net Gain credits on small and medium-sized developers.

Statutory credits are a last resort way of achieving biodiversity net gain (BNG). They are different from biodiversity units, which are sold in the offsite market. If developers buy statutory credits, this is because it is not possible to restore habitats on-site or units are not available for purchase in the offsite market. Statutory Biodiversity Credits are sold by Defra to ensure developers can meet their BNG obligation in the few instances where suitable units are not available from the market. Defra can review and amend credit prices. Low volumes of Statutory Biodiversity Credits sales suggest that the private market for units is functioning as intended with good availability of a range of habitat types across England. Biodiversity Units differ in their availability and pricing. Defra is monitoring the availability and pricing of BNG units. Defra’s consultation on BNG regulations and implementation in January 2022 sought views on the impact of implementing BNG on small and medium-sized developers. Results from the consultation suggested that these developers should remain in scope of the BNG policy but with a simplified process. The department is currently holding a consultation seeking views on improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development.

Food and Rural Affairs, what mechanisms exist for (a) developers and (b) local planning authorities to appeal the (i) availability and (ii) cost of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain credits in cases where viable alternatives are limited.

Statutory credits are a last resort way of achieving biodiversity net gain (BNG). They are different from biodiversity units, which are sold in the offsite market. If developers buy statutory credits, this is because it is not possible to restore habitats on-site or units are not available for purchase in the offsite market. Statutory Biodiversity Credits are sold by Defra to ensure developers can meet their BNG obligation in the few instances where suitable units are not available from the market. Defra can review and amend credit prices. Low volumes of Statutory Biodiversity Credits sales suggest that the private market for units is functioning as intended with good availability of a range of habitat types across England. Biodiversity Units differ in their availability and pricing. Defra is monitoring the availability and pricing of BNG units. Defra’s consultation on BNG regulations and implementation in January 2022 sought views on the impact of implementing BNG on small and medium-sized developers. Results from the consultation suggested that these developers should remain in scope of the BNG policy but with a simplified process. The department is currently holding a consultation seeking views on improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of trends in regional differences in the (a) availability and (b) pricing of Biodiversity Net Gain credits.

Statutory credits are a last resort way of achieving biodiversity net gain (BNG). They are different from biodiversity units, which are sold in the offsite market. If developers buy statutory credits, this is because it is not possible to restore habitats on-site or units are not available for purchase in the offsite market. Statutory Biodiversity Credits are sold by Defra to ensure developers can meet their BNG obligation in the few instances where suitable units are not available from the market. Defra can review and amend credit prices. Low volumes of Statutory Biodiversity Credits sales suggest that the private market for units is functioning as intended with good availability of a range of habitat types across England. Biodiversity Units differ in their availability and pricing. Defra is monitoring the availability and pricing of BNG units. Defra’s consultation on BNG regulations and implementation in January 2022 sought views on the impact of implementing BNG on small and medium-sized developers. Results from the consultation suggested that these developers should remain in scope of the BNG policy but with a simplified process. The department is currently holding a consultation seeking views on improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to publish a publicly accessible register of biodiversity net gain credit schemes with information on (a) location, (b) pricing and (c) habitat type to support market functionality and planning decisions.

Statutory credits are a last resort way of achieving BNG. They are different from biodiversity units, which are sold in the offsite market. If developers buy statutory credits, this is because it is not possible to restore habitats on-site or units are not available for purchase in the offsite market. Defra does not intend to maintain a register of schemes in receipt of income from the sale of statutory credits; however the department is required to publish an annual report detailing income received from the sale of Statutory Biodiversity Credits, how that income was spent and (if applicable) the projected biodiversity value of the measures funded by that expenditure. The first annual report is publicly available on gov.uk. Demand for Statutory Biodiversity Credits has been low, suggesting that the offsite units market is working as intended.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an estimate of the cost of introducing a not for EU labelling scheme for agri-food businesses in Fylde constituency.

Defra has published an impact assessment which sets out the likely costs to businesses. Due to the scope of products that need to be labelled from 1 July, and uncertainty as to the extent to which these products may be removed from sale in Northern Ireland and hence the scale of any requirement in Great Britain, it includes a ‘range’ for the potential cost to businesses. As is set out in the Impact Assessment, the indicative cost to business of applying ‘not for EU’ labelling to a subset of product lines is significantly less than the whole scope and will vary depending on the product. We made the decision to introduce a targeted power, as opposed to a mandatory requirement for all goods, in order to prevent some of these costs to businesses.Moreover, the non-monetised benefits - particularly safeguarding food security in Northern Ireland - will be a crucial part of maintaining a strong economy.

Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps with the Secretary of State for Defence to improve mobile signal at military sites.

The Government wants to ensure that all areas of the UK benefit from reliable and high-quality mobile connectivity. This includes wanting those who serve, live or work at our military sites being able to access the same mobile services that others are able to. There are a number of considerations to consider, however, including access and deployment of digital infrastructure on or near key military sites. The Member may wish to attend the next Telecoms MP surgery I host, where he can set out any specific concerns.

What her policy is on recording the (a) DNA and (b) fingerprints of migrants who arrive in the UK illegally.

As per the practice under successive governments, the Home Office collects biometric data, in the form of facial images and fingerprints, from all people who enter the UK illegally where they are aged over five, for the purpose of verifying identity and evaluating risk to public safety.