Written questions by Snowden.

What estimate she has made of the potential impact of implementing the policies in the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 29 May 2025, on the number of additional people in employment in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.

The Department does not produce forecasts at parliamentary constituency, county or local authority level. However, we have evidence that delivering better and more tailored employment support can get more people off welfare, and into work - alongside a higher expectation to engage with that support. Therefore, we are investing £1 billion a year by the end of the decade in new employment, health and skills support – one of the biggest packages of new employment support for sick and disabled people ever.

Communities and Local Government, how many projects have benefitted from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Lancashire.

We do not hold constituency level data, but Fylde Borough Council received a UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) allocation between 2022-25. For 2025-26, in line with new devolution deals, funding will be allocated to Lancashire Combined Authority for the area. In Fylde Council, thirteen projects were supported by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) between 2022-25 and three new projects are forecasted to receive funding in 2025-26. Across Lancashire Combined Authority, 380 projects were supported by UKSPF between 2022-25 and 57 new projects are forecasted to receive funding in 2025-26.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to take steps to help support community groups to (a) maintain and (b) promote local (i) green and (ii) blue spaces in Fylde.

The government is committed to improving access to parks and green spaces for all, recognising their role in fostering stronger communities. Community groups are a key component in helping people to connect with their local parks through community engagement and volunteering. The government’s Green Flag Awards scheme sets quality standards for green spaces, focusing on community engagement, increased access, and addressing health and environmental priorities. There is a Green Flag award specifically for community groups that aims to celebrate groups that appropriately manage and meet the needs of the communities that they serve. Impressively, Fylde borough received a green flag award for six parks last year including Lytham War memorial park and the Promenade Gardens. Furthermore, the government’s Parks Working Group collaborates with key stakeholders to enhance park quality and sustainability, including representatives of the UK’s 6,000-plus friends groups.The government is working to improve access to blue spaces, including through the King Charles III England Coast Path, which will significantly enhance coastal access in Fylde. Proposals for the Cleveleys to Pier Head stretch — which includes a section passing through Fylde — have been approved, and work to establish the route is currently underway.

What discussions her Department has had with police forces on tackling phone theft.

The Home Secretary has been clear that tackling mobile phone theft is a priority. On 6 February the Home Secretary brought together police, the National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, local government representatives, leading technology companies and others to drive greater collaboration in breaking the business model of mobile phone thieves. The Summit resulted in clear commitments from attendees to work in partnership, including to significantly boost the sharing of data and intelligence on mobile phone theft to build a comprehensive picture of the problem, better understand the role of organised crime networks and identify the most effective means of tackling these crimes. The Home Office continues to regularly engage with the police and other stakeholders to progress work to tackle this criminality and the Home Secretary will reconvene this group shortly to agree further actions. Through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee we will place thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers in neighbourhood policing roles to provide a more visible and effective service to the public, with each neighbourhood having a named, contactable officer dealing with local issues, including the theft of mobile phones. In addition, the Crime and Policing Bill includes a measure to give police the power to enter and search premises for stolen property that has been electronically geo-location tracked to those premises, where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant without seriously prejudicing the entry and search purpose.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle car theft in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.

This Government is determined to reduce vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police, including working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on the issue, to ensure the strongest response possible. I have recently met the NPCC vehicle crime lead, ACC Jenny Sims, as well as other law enforcement representatives and representatives from industry, to discuss how we work together to tackle these damaging crimes.Working with the recently established National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, we are focusing on prevention and deterrence of theft of and from vehicles. This includes training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles.In the Crime and Policing Bill we also have banned electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying them. This will support the changes manufacturers continue to make to ensure their vehicles as secure as possible.In addition, we provided £250,000 funding in the financial year 2024-25 to help support work at the ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad, including providing additional staff and specialist equipment.

Communities and Local Government, how many projects received Community Ownership Fund funding in (a) Fylde constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) each NUTS region of the UK.

There are no Community Ownership Fund (COF) projects in the Fylde constituency. The Department awarded over £900k to three COF projects in the Lancashire County Council area. These projects are Whitworth Leisure Centre, Elmfield Hall and Mercer Hall. In each region, the Department awarded: £9.2m to 29 projects in the East Midlands.£5.6m to 22 projects in the East of England.£6.7m to 13 projects in London.£4.3m to 19 projects in the North East.£12.8m to 33 projects in the North West.£11m to 38 projects in Northern Ireland.around £21.2m to 55 projects in Scotland.£15.8m to 41 projects in the South East.£16.8m to 53 projects in the South West.around £9m to 31 projects in Wales.around £8.8m to 30 projects in the West Midlands.around £12.5m to 39 projects in Yorkshire and the Humber. A full breakdown of funding is available on the COF successful bidders page on GOV.UK.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 47125 of 22 April 2025 on Community Assets; Finance, what estimate she has made of the difference in funding availability; and what steps she is taking to ensure a smooth transition for communities relying on such support.

The government has now announced funding for up to 350 deprived communities, including the 75 places named in the Plan for Neighbourhoods in March 2025. 25 trailblazer neighbourhoods will receive up to £20 million over the next decade as part of a new fund announced at the Spending Review. Detailed guidance will be provided in due course; however, the programme will adopt a flexible approach offering areas a broad range of options to address the unique challenges in their local area. This could include funding for community assets such as youth clubs, libraries, and cultural venues. Areas will receive investment over the next decade, with funding starting from April 2026. Further information will be published in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer to Question 55130 on Farmers: Mental Health Services, what steps he is taking to help ensure that rural agricultural communities have equitable access to the 8,500 new mental health support workers.

National Health Service metrics and evaluation frameworks set up to measure effectiveness in mental health services do not specifically assess interventions in farming communities. NHS England currently publishes access and waiting time metrics in line with national standards for NHS Talking Therapies, children and young people with an eating disorder and Early Intervention in Psychosis. In addition, since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to increase transparency and drive improvements in the quality of data and help services to target the longest waits. We have confirmed our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 additional mental health staff by the end of the Parliament. We continue to work with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment alongside a refreshed workforce plan, to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade. There are a wide range of factors that will affect this future growth of the NHS mental health workforce, and we will provide an update in due course. With regard to the roll out Young Futures hubs in communities in England, these will be designed with local areas, leveraging local understanding of services in each area. Young Futures Hubs will develop from existing buildings and provision, identified by local areas. This will make best use of existing local assets and the successes of existing provision, partnerships and support.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 56537 on Long Covid, how many long COVID clinics are operational in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire; and he plans to open further clinics in 2025.

Since April 2024, the commissioning of long COVID services has been the responsibility of local integrated care boards, following the closure of the national long COVID programme. For the Fylde constituency and Lancashire more widely, this is the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB).From 1 May 2025, the long COVID services in Lancashire and South Cumbria will no longer be commissioned as stand-alone services. These services have now closed to new referrals, and the way in which patients with long COVID access support will change.This decision was taken by the ICB on 26 March 2025 due to a significant drop in referrals, and a change to the national funding from 1 April 2025.The average number of referrals per month over the last 12 months across Lancashire and South Cumbria was 47. This is in comparison to an average of 72 referrals per month in 2023, 146 per month in 2022 and 172 per month in 2021.Anyone currently accessing the long COVID service in Lancashire and South Cumbria will be contacted directly by their provider to let them know what will happen next and how they can continue to be supported.People with long COVID symptoms should see their general practitioner, who will be able to refer them to alternative existing services depending on their clinical needs.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 55130 on Farmers: Mental Health Services, what (a) metrics and (b) evaluation frameworks are being used to assess the effectiveness of current mental health interventions in farming communities.

National Health Service metrics and evaluation frameworks set up to measure effectiveness in mental health services do not specifically assess interventions in farming communities. NHS England currently publishes access and waiting time metrics in line with national standards for NHS Talking Therapies, children and young people with an eating disorder and Early Intervention in Psychosis. In addition, since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to increase transparency and drive improvements in the quality of data and help services to target the longest waits. We have confirmed our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 additional mental health staff by the end of the Parliament. We continue to work with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment alongside a refreshed workforce plan, to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade. There are a wide range of factors that will affect this future growth of the NHS mental health workforce, and we will provide an update in due course. With regard to the roll out Young Futures hubs in communities in England, these will be designed with local areas, leveraging local understanding of services in each area. Young Futures Hubs will develop from existing buildings and provision, identified by local areas. This will make best use of existing local assets and the successes of existing provision, partnerships and support.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 56537 on Long Covid, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure equitable access to long COVID (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment services in (i) rural and (ii) coastal Lancashire.

Since April 2024, the commissioning of long COVID services has been the responsibility of local integrated care boards, following the closure of the national long COVID programme. For the Fylde constituency, and Lancashire more widely, this is the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board.From 1 May 2025, the long COVID services in Lancashire and South Cumbria will no longer be commissioned as stand-alone services. These services have now closed to new referrals, and the way in which patients with long COVID access support will change.Anyone currently accessing the long COVID service in Lancashire and South Cumbria will be contacted directly by their provider to let them know what will happen next and how they can continue to be supported.People with long COVID symptoms should see their general practitoner, who will be able to refer them to alternative existing services depending on their clinical needs.Examples of alternative services, dependent on individual patient need, include:talking therapies;pain management services;respiratory/pulmonary rehabilitation services; andcommunity therapies, such as occupational therapy and physiotherapy.Referrals can also be made to:other specialties, including cardiology, rheumatology, gastroenterology, neurology;local wellbeing and support organisations; andlocal social prescribing services.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 55130 on Farmers: Mental Health Services, will the national network of Young Futures hubs include rural-focused outreach to help tackle the challenges faced by young people growing up in farming families.

National Health Service metrics and evaluation frameworks set up to measure effectiveness in mental health services do not specifically assess interventions in farming communities. NHS England currently publishes access and waiting time metrics in line with national standards for NHS Talking Therapies, children and young people with an eating disorder and Early Intervention in Psychosis. In addition, since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to increase transparency and drive improvements in the quality of data and help services to target the longest waits. We have confirmed our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 additional mental health staff by the end of the Parliament. We continue to work with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment alongside a refreshed workforce plan, to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade. There are a wide range of factors that will affect this future growth of the NHS mental health workforce, and we will provide an update in due course. With regard to the roll out Young Futures hubs in communities in England, these will be designed with local areas, leveraging local understanding of services in each area. Young Futures Hubs will develop from existing buildings and provision, identified by local areas. This will make best use of existing local assets and the successes of existing provision, partnerships and support.

What estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) health-related and (b) disability benefits in (i) Fylde constituency and (ii) Lancashire from 2025-26 to 2029-30 inclusive.

The Department does not produce forecasts of benefit expenditure at parliamentary constituency, county, or local authority level. Forecasts for health-related and disability benefits, such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and Universal Credit (UC) are produced at a national level and are published every Autumn and Spring in our Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables. These forecasts are based on national caseload trends, policy assumptions, and economic conditions. While constituency and county-level data is available for some benefits, it is not used to produce localised expenditure forecasts as numerous forecast assumptions would need to be made at these localised levels, requiring local intelligence and knowledge of local factors, vastly increasing the amount of resource needed to produce such forecasts.

What steps she is taking to ensure bachelors degree courses represent value for money.

Students and the taxpayer rightly expect a good return on their significant investment in higher education (HE). However, the Student Academic Experience Survey report 2025, published this month by the Higher Education Policy Institute and Advance HE, shows that only 37% of students think they are getting ‘good’ or ‘very good’ value for money.Value for money is also about ensuring graduates contribute to the economy and society through the skills they acquire, and we know from the September 2024 report from Skills England, ‘Driving Growth and Widening Opportunities’, that many of England’s businesses are dependent on graduate skills. Yet the latest release of the Graduate Labour Market Statistics shows that only 67.9% of working age graduates are in high skilled employment.This government is determined to change this and to ensure that our HE system delivers value for money. Sir David Behan’s Independent Review of the Office for Students (OfS) recommended that the OfS refocus its work on four key priorities: the quality of HE, the financial sustainability of HE providers, acting in the student interest, and protecting how public money is spent. The government has accepted the Review’s recommendations and will continue to work with the OfS to hold providers to account for the quality of students’ experiences and the outcomes they achieve.

What estimate she has made of the number of jobs at risk in the holiday parks sector as a result of the proposed changes to inheritance tax reliefs.

The Government has received a number of representations about inheritance tax changes from business organisations since the Autumn Budget. The Government has been listening to the different views on this subject and continues to believe its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting businesses and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The Government is not abolishing either agricultural property relief or business property relief. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. The Government has set out that around 1,500 estates only claiming business property relief are expected to be affected in 2026-27, with around 1,000 of these expected to only hold shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as the Alternative Investment Market. The remaining 500 estates will include business assets from sectors across the economy, that are eligible for business property relief. These reforms mean that around three-quarters of estates claiming business property relief in 2026-27 (excluding those only relating to holding shares designated as “not listed”) will not pay any more inheritance tax in 2026-27. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified the costing of these changes at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the (a) management and (b) outcomes of people with diabetes in (i) Fylde constituency and (ii) Lancashire.

Annual diabetes reviews are associated with reduced emergency admissions, amputations, retinopathy, and mortality. Following a significant decrease in routine care delivery that was associated with the pandemic, the proportion of people with type 1 diabetes receiving all eight care processes in England had recovered back to 43.3%, and 62.3% for type 2 diabetes, in 2023/24, compared to 27% and 37%, respectively, in 2020/21. Information has been provided at the national level as it is not available at the constituency level.NHS England is supporting integrated care boards (ICBs), including Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB, to improve treatment and care for their populations and reduce variation by supporting systems’ awareness of national data and insights, through benchmarking and by promoting good practice. NHS England has provided £3 million of funding to systems to provide clinical leadership to ensure that clinical diabetes metrics, such as care processes and treatment targets, are reviewed at an ICB level, so that unwarranted variation can be identified. A resource hub of materials has been set up on Future NHS, which includes examples of innovation and best practice for the improvement of care process delivery, and for the achievement of treatment targets.

Whether she has made an assessment of the impact of the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on family-run holiday parks in (a) rural and (b) coastal communities.

The Government has received a number of representations about inheritance tax changes from business organisations since the Autumn Budget. The Government has been listening to the different views on this subject and continues to believe its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting businesses and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The Government is not abolishing either agricultural property relief or business property relief. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. The Government has set out that around 1,500 estates only claiming business property relief are expected to be affected in 2026-27, with around 1,000 of these expected to only hold shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as the Alternative Investment Market. The remaining 500 estates will include business assets from sectors across the economy, that are eligible for business property relief. These reforms mean that around three-quarters of estates claiming business property relief in 2026-27 (excluding those only relating to holding shares designated as “not listed”) will not pay any more inheritance tax in 2026-27. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified the costing of these changes at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact.

Whether she has had discussions with the British Holiday & Home Parks Association on proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief.

The Government has received a number of representations about inheritance tax changes from business organisations since the Autumn Budget. The Government has been listening to the different views on this subject and continues to believe its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting businesses and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The Government is not abolishing either agricultural property relief or business property relief. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. The Government has set out that around 1,500 estates only claiming business property relief are expected to be affected in 2026-27, with around 1,000 of these expected to only hold shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as the Alternative Investment Market. The remaining 500 estates will include business assets from sectors across the economy, that are eligible for business property relief. These reforms mean that around three-quarters of estates claiming business property relief in 2026-27 (excluding those only relating to holding shares designated as “not listed”) will not pay any more inheritance tax in 2026-27. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified the costing of these changes at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of Carer’s Allowance for unpaid carers.

Many people will care for friends or family members at some point in their life, and it is right that we recognise the vitally important role of carers. Carer’s Allowance (CA) provides a measure of financial support and recognition for unpaid carers who are unable to work full time due to their caring responsibilities. The DWP provides over £4 billion of financial support per year through CA to unpaid carers. Between 2025/26 and 2029/30 real terms expenditure on CA is forecast to rise by over 6% - around £285 million. By 2029/30, the Government is forecast to spend over £4.7 billion a year on CA. Further CA caseload and expenditure information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2025 In addition to CA, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit. These benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the carer element and the additional amount for carers respectively. Currently, the Universal Credit carer element is £201.68 per monthly assessment period. The additional amount for carers in Pension Credit is £46.40 a week. These are worth £2400 a year in additional benefit.

Media and Sport, with reference to the Written Statement of 9 June 2025 on Grassroots Sport Facilities, HCWS689, how many projects have been funded by the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of where they live, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.Our Muli-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme invests in new and upgraded facilities across the UK to benefit communities and help get people active. In 2024/25, Fylde received £10,108 across three projects, and Lancashire received £1,872,565 across 49 projects. In March, DCMS confirmed an additional £100 million investment over the coming year (of which £98m falls in Financial Year 2025/26). .Beneficiaries of this 2025/26 funding are still to be confirmed and will be announced in due course.