Written questions by Snowden.

Communities and Local Government, what support is available for leaseholders that are unable to obtain a landlord certificate from freeholders due to the freehold owners becoming insolvent.

When a landlord has gone into administration, it is normally the case that an Insolvency Practitioner/Administrator is appointed to handle their affairs and may provide leaseholders with a landlord's certificate when it is requested. If the appointed insolvency practitioner does not provide a valid landlord’s certificate which complies with the requirements outlined in the guidance, they will be unable to pass on the costs of remediating a relevant defect to the leaseholder who has requested the certificate.

How many prisoners failed drugs tests in each of the last 12 months.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Data on the total number of random mandatory drug tests carried out is published as part of the HMPPS Annual Digest. The most recently released version confirms that in the 12 months to March 2025, there were 53,341 random mandatory drug tests, however, the data is currently not sufficient to robustly estimate the percentage positive. The Digest can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmpps-annual-digest-april-2024-to-march-2025. Statistics regarding needs, rather than use, are included in the 'Identified offender needs, custody and community, 31 October 2024'. This shows the level of drug misuse need amongst the prison population. It can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/identified-offender-needs-custody-and-community-31-october-2024/identified-needs-of-offenders-custody-and-community-31-october-2024. We conduct targeted drug testing in custody to help keep people safe and identify individuals who may benefit from a treatment referral, or inform disciplinary action. To drive down demand for drugs and support recovery, there are also 85 prisons with Incentivised Substance Free Living Units. These provide a dedicated, supportive environment for any prisoner who wants to live drug-free in prison. To bring together this rehabilitative and security focused approach to tackling drug use, 54 Drug Strategy Leads in key prisons are working to ensure that local drug strategies are effectively implemented.

Media and Sport, whether the Independent Football Regulator will have the power to retrospectively investigate incumbent owners or directors in instances where new information comes to light after their appointment.

The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) will have the ability to test incumbent owners and officers where it has grounds for concern over their suitability. If an incumbent owner or officer is found to be unsuitable, the IFR has a strong suite of powers to remove them. This approach reduces unnecessary burdens on suitable owners and proportionately targets testing where there is a risk of harm to clubs.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Independent Sentencing Review on the population of open prisons.

A formal assessment has not yet been made. This will form part of the operational implementation planning over the coming months.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of automatically transferring prisoners in open prisons who fail drugs tests to Category C prisons.

Prisoners held in open conditions can be re-categorised to higher security conditions at any time if their risk increases, if there is a material change in circumstances that impacts security risk, or information (including existing information not considered before) is identified that indicates that the prisoner cannot safely be managed in the current security conditions. The purpose of categorisation is to ensure that those sentenced to custody are assigned the lowest security category appropriate to managing their risk.

Media and Sport, whether the Independent Football Regulator will be required to publish an annual report detailing the number of (a) individuals and (b) entities it assessed under the ownership and directorship tests.

Section 14 of the Football Governance Act requires the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) to publish an annual report, to include a summary of activities undertaken that year. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport can direct the IFR to include specific information. Details of the exact content of the IFR’s annual report are being considered by the organisation and are not yet finalised.

If she will conduct a review of the quality of rehabilitation of prisoners released from an open prison, in comparison with prisoners released from other penal settings.

Prisons of different categories shape their rehabilitation offer to meet the needs of the prisoner cohorts they accommodate.In open prisons, the intention is for carefully risk-assessed prisoners to participate in activities in the community under Release on Temporary Licence. Suitable, risk assessed prisoners may be allowed out during the day to work, attend college, attend an interview or re-establish links with their family. This helps them develop responsibility and gain valuable skills.Before moving to the open estate, prisoners will have spent time in prisons of other categories, so it is not straightforward to compare the quality of rehabilitation and attribute outcomes (for example education achievement, employment after release or reoffending rates) to the services in any one prison.

What meetings her Department has had with (a) prison officers, (b) prison officers' unions and (c) other representative bodies of prison staff to discuss assaults in open prisons in the last 12 months.

We have maintained regular and structured engagement with staff and their recognised trade union representatives on this matter. All prison governors in the open estate routinely hold local staff engagement forums, providing frontline officers with the opportunity to raise concerns or share feedback. His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) ensures that the safety statistics, which are published, reviewed, and discussed quarterly with recognised trade unions, including the POA. These meetings form part of HMPPS’s formal engagement and allow unions to raise concerns on safety matters. There are also more frequent open-estate trade union stocktakes to provide additional engagement opportunities on this issue, and other matters of concern to members. HMPPS headquarters officials meet every two weeks with governors of open prisons, and convene quarterly forums specifically focused on open prison operations, where safety is a standing agenda item. These engagements reflect our continuing commitment to transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement in custodial safety.

Whether her Department has considered reviewing the standard police caution to include a reference to the potential impact of legal advice to remain silent on a defendant’s defence.

A review of the standard police caution is not being considered for the reasons set out in my earlier answer to written question UIN 73157.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of employees who work alone in retail environments; and what steps her Department is taking to monitor trends in lone working practices.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has the policy lead for workplace health and safety in Great Britain. However, the primary responsibility for managing risk to health and safety lies with employers. An employer is the person or organisation that is legally responsible, under health and safety law, for managing and controlling risks created by their work activities. It is for the employer to determine the best way to manage those risks taking account of the circumstances of their business and work activity and to take appropriate action if employees report any health and safety concerns. Local authorities are responsible for the regulation of health and safety in most retail businesses. They can use criteria such as injury rates, trends, numbers and demographics of people at risk and implementation of effective control measures to inform their interventions, and ensure compliance with regulations. HSE does not collect this data centrally. There may be greater risks for lone workers without direct supervision or someone to help them if things go wrong, and an employer must identify the risks to lone workers and put control measures in place to protect them. HSE provide guidance on lone working: Lone working: Protect those working alone - HSE which includes advice on violence in the workplace. This guidance was updated in 2022 and remains fit for purpose. HSE has no plans to commission a review or discuss with retailers the safety of lone workers in stores.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential health and safety risks associated with increased lone working in retail.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has the policy lead for workplace health and safety in Great Britain. However, the primary responsibility for managing risk to health and safety lies with employers. An employer is the person or organisation that is legally responsible, under health and safety law, for managing and controlling risks created by their work activities. It is for the employer to determine the best way to manage those risks taking account of the circumstances of their business and work activity and to take appropriate action if employees report any health and safety concerns. Local authorities are responsible for the regulation of health and safety in most retail businesses. They can use criteria such as injury rates, trends, numbers and demographics of people at risk and implementation of effective control measures to inform their interventions, and ensure compliance with regulations. HSE does not collect this data centrally. There may be greater risks for lone workers without direct supervision or someone to help them if things go wrong, and an employer must identify the risks to lone workers and put control measures in place to protect them. HSE provide guidance on lone working: Lone working: Protect those working alone - HSE which includes advice on violence in the workplace. This guidance was updated in 2022 and remains fit for purpose. HSE has no plans to commission a review or discuss with retailers the safety of lone workers in stores.

What the average waiting time is for a first appointment with a consultant in NHS trusts in Lancashire.

Tackling waiting-lists is a top priority for the Government. We have exceeded our pledge to deliver over two million more elective care appointments. More than double that number, 4.9 million more appointments, have now been delivered in England.On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, which sets out a whole system approach to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the National Health Service constitutional standard, by March 2029.Across trusts in Lancashire, 67.1% of people are waiting for first attendance within 18 weeks as of 27th July 2025. This includes the Lancashire and South Cumbria Community Trust, at 93.8%, Morecambe Bay, at 76.3%, Mersey and West Lancashire, at 73.7%, East Lancashire, at 64.3%, Blackpool, at 61.0%, and Lancashire Teaching, at 60.7%.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help tackle fraud in car parks.

The government is aware of concerns about the poor practice and behaviour of some parking operators and is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector. The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. My department is currently consulting on standards within the new Code and its compliance framework. The Private Parking Code of Practice Consultation is available on gov.uk here. The consultation closing date has recently been extended to 26 September 2025. Fraud investigations, however, are matter for the police.

What criteria her Department used to allocate the funding for the national expansion of the TOEX Capabilities Environment.

The Home Office is providing the Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) programme with £8.8 million this year to increase law enforcements capability to respond to organised exploitation, including by providing dedicated intelligence, analytical and technical expertise.In August 2025, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls announced an additional £426,000 this year, which will enable all forces in England and Wales to access the cutting-edge digital tools that TOEX have developed to support police in detecting and investigating organised exploitation. This includes child sexual exploitation, alongside other organised exploitation crimes including modern slavery, organised immigration crimes, and criminal exploitation.The additional funding will allow for the expedited roll out of the of the Capabilities Environment, to ensure all police investigators in England and Wales have access to the full array of TOEX’s AI-enabled and time-saving toolsThe TOEX programme has already contacted all forces in England and Wales to provide information on how they can access the TOEX tools. In addition to the 15 police forces which are already utilising TOEX tools, since the Minister’s announcement in August, a further 10 forces are currently onboarding. TOEX will continue to engage with additional forces.TOEX is also a critical component in supporting the delivery of Baroness Casey’s recommendation to establish a new national police operation for group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse (Operation Beaconport).

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the consumption of high caffeine energy drinks on health services in Lancashire.

On 3 September 2025, the Government published its consultation on banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years in England, an important step towards fulfilling our Plan for Change commitment to create the healthiest generation of children ever.We estimate the proposals could reduce childhood obesity rates by the equivalent of 40,000 children and deliver health benefits worth £7.7 billion through improved health outcomes. In addition, we estimate the proposals could provide NHS savings of £127 million, social care savings of £84 million, and reduced premature mortality is expected to deliver an additional £1.2 billion of economic output.The Department of Health and Social Care has not assessed the potential impact of the consumption of high-caffeine energy drinks on health services in Lancashire.The consultation and accompanying impact assessment are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/banning-the-sale-of-high-caffeine-energy-drinks-to-children.

What the scope of Operation Beaconport is.

Operation BEACONPORT is the name assigned by operational partners to the National Police Operation, overseen by the NCA, as recommended by Baroness Casey in her report that followed her Independent Audit of Group Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (GBCSEA), published in June this year.The operation will address the elements identified by Baroness Casey in recommendations 2 and 8, by bringing together all the relevant policing partners under one operation, to ensure a swift and specialist law enforcement response to GBCSEA.Further details on Operation BEACONPORT will be provided by operational partners shortly.

What steps his Department is taking to help prevent the (a) sale and (b) production of skimming devices used fraudulently steal card details.

The Home Office announced that an expanded fraud strategy will be published later this year, as part of the government’s Plan for Change, with a key focus of the strategy being combatting tech-enabled fraud.

By what date she expects all police forces in England and Wales to have full operational access to the TOEX Capabilities Environment.

The Home Office is providing the Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) programme with £8.8 million this year to increase law enforcements capability to respond to organised exploitation, including by providing dedicated intelligence, analytical and technical expertise.In August 2025, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls announced an additional £426,000 this year, which will enable all forces in England and Wales to access the cutting-edge digital tools that TOEX have developed to support police in detecting and investigating organised exploitation. This includes child sexual exploitation, alongside other organised exploitation crimes including modern slavery, organised immigration crimes, and criminal exploitation.The additional funding will allow for the expedited roll out of the of the Capabilities Environment, to ensure all police investigators in England and Wales have access to the full array of TOEX’s AI-enabled and time-saving toolsThe TOEX programme has already contacted all forces in England and Wales to provide information on how they can access the TOEX tools. In addition to the 15 police forces which are already utilising TOEX tools, since the Minister’s announcement in August, a further 10 forces are currently onboarding. TOEX will continue to engage with additional forces.TOEX is also a critical component in supporting the delivery of Baroness Casey’s recommendation to establish a new national police operation for group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse (Operation Beaconport).

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the consumption of high caffeine energy drinks on (a) schools and (b) educational outcomes.

The government has committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever to provide them with a better and more prosperous future. That is why the government’s manifesto committed to a ban on the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 in England, and we are consulting on bringing this into effect. We know they can have a detrimental impact on educational outcomes by lowering educational wellbeing and negatively impacting school attendance and academic achievement.Energy drinks are not permitted within the school food standards. School governing boards are responsible for setting their school food policies, including on food and drinks brought in from home. We encourage schools to have a whole-school approach to healthy eating, and some schools already ban energy drinks brought in from home.

What recent assessment has the government made of the impact of increasing the cap on a single bus fare from £2 to £3 on bus journeys across England.

The Department is currently undertaking an evaluation of the £3 single 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.