Written questions by Maguire.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to ratify the UN Global Ocean Treaty.

The Government is completely committed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the "High Seas Treaty" or "Global Oceans Treaty"), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Work is in hand on the measures needed to implement the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement before the UK can ratify.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that heat pumps are a viable option for homes and businesses currently off the gas grid.

We expect most off-grid properties will ultimately transition to heat pumps as these are a proven technology. We are supporting deployment through a range of other policies including supporting growth in the supply chain through the reformed Clean Heat Market Mechanism, investing in new heat pump manufacturing capacity through the Heat Pump Investment Accelerator, and helping installers train up through the Heat Training Grant. Our Boiler Upgrade Scheme also offers consumers £7,500 in grant funding for a heat pump, enabling consumers to purchase a heat pump at an increasingly comparable price to a gas boiler.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the UK’s electric vehicle infrastructure keeps pace with the increasing number of electric vehicles on the road.

The Government continues to provide funding to local authorities, small businesses, schools and residential properties to support the installations of tens of thousands of public and domestic electric vehicle chargepoints. The Government is also making it easier, quicker and cheaper to install chargepoints. In December the Government announced: further changes to planning legislation to facilitate off-street chargepoint installations and to allow the use of street works permits for quicker charger deployment; guidance to help local authorities with cross-pavement charging solutions; and guidance to address common issues around EV infrastructure and grid connections.

What steps his Department is taking to address regional disparities in access to public electric vehicle charging points to ensure equitable access across the UK.

The £381 million Local EV Infrastructure Fund supports local authorities to work with industry and transform the availability of EV charging for drivers without off-street parking. The funding, backed by substantial private investment, will support the installation of tens of thousands of local chargers, ensuring the rollout continues at pace to support drivers in every part of the country.

If his Department will undertake a review of the prescription charge exemption list to include more (a) chronic and (b) lifelong conditions.

There are no current plans to review the list of prescription charge exemptions, or the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate.There are extensive arrangements in place in England to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone. Approximately 89% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in the community in England, and there is a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place, for which those with long term or chronic conditions may be eligible. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, whether they have a qualifying medical condition, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.People on low incomes can apply for help with their health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme. Prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) are also available. PPCs allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost, with three-month and 12-month certificates available. The 12-month PPC can be paid for in instalments.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the tax allowance for pensioners to £15,000.

The Government is committed to keeping taxes as low as possible for pensioners while ensuring fiscal responsibility, which is why it is not extending the freeze on personal tax thresholds that was implemented by the previous government, and is instead allowing them to rise with inflation from April 2028. At Autumn Budget, the Government announced that the basic and new State Pension will increase by 4.1% from April 2025. This means those on a full new State Pension will receive an additional £470 a year.

If he will take steps to support small businesses with the costs of compliance with (a) EU general safety and performance requirements and (b) EU regulations.

UK businesses exporting medical devices to the EU should comply with EU General Safety and Performance Requirements (GSPR), which outline the criteria for medical and in vitro diagnostic devices marketed in the EU. These apply under the EU Medical Device Regulations (MDR) and the In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR), which came into force in 2017.Responsibility for interpreting and providing guidance on EU legislation rests with the European Commission. For detailed guidance, businesses should refer to the European Commission's website. UK Government continue to assess implementation milestones of MDR and IVDR. Businesses experiencing EU market access issues, may seek support via the UK Export Support Service.

What assessment his Department has made of the impact of the EU General Product Safety Regulation on UK small businesses exporting to the EU.

I appreciate that for some businesses, the updated EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) will require changes, and we take these concerns very seriously. Government is supporting small businesses to understand GPSR and is engaging directly with businesses to assess the regulation’s impact.We have published guidance on GPSR’s application in Northern Ireland, which we will keep under review. The responsibility for interpreting EU legislation lies with the European Commission. The Commission have published their own business guidance and impact assessment of the regulation.Small businesses exporting to the EU may also wish to contact the Government’s Export Support Service.

If he will make an assessment of the potential (a) merits and (b) impact on trade barriers of re-joining the EU (i) single market and (ii) customs union.

The Government is resetting the relationship with our European friends to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to trade. We have been clear that there will be no return to the customs union or the single market.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate the recycling of blister packs.

Waste is a devolved policy, and the devolved administrations have their own arrangements for household and business recycling and waste collections. There are currently no plans for blister packs to be included in the list of materials to be collected at kerbside through Simpler Recycling reforms. Modulation of pEPR fees, which will be introduced in from year 2 of the scheme, will be used to disincentivise packaging formats that are not readily recyclable.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of people waiting for NHS dental appointments in North Cornwall constituency.

This Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population is delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For North Cornwall constituency, this is the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB. The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB is taking actions to make NHS dental care more accessible, including the commissioning of additional urgent dental care appointments across the South-West, a dental helpline for urgent advice; and an access pilot project in Cornwall to support the most vulnerable people to access an NHS dentist.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) expanding the base money supply and (b) other alternative monetary policy.

Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England. This includes decisions on Bank Rate and the stock of UK government bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility. It is for the MPC to judge how it uses its tools to maintain price stability and Bank Rate is the MPC’s primary macroeconomic tool. The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK’s economic framework, so the government does not comment on the conduct or effectiveness of monetary policy.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the NHS dental contract to (a) make appointments more accessible and (b) to tackle the backlog of people waiting for NHS dental appointments.

To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists. There are no perfect payment systems and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.

If he will commission an independent review of alternative renewable energy technologies.

The Secretary of State does not intend to commission a separate independent review of alternative renewable energy technologies. DESNZ monitors new developments through the Net Zero Innovation Programme. Additionally, since 2012 the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund has received proposals for alternative technologies, which are reviewed independently. The link to more of the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-entrepeneurs-fund

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of rises in fuel duty on rural communities.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned inflationary increase for 2025/26, meaning rates will remain frozen at the levels set in March 2022. This support represents a total saving for drivers in 2025/26 of around £3 billion, or £59 for the average car driver. Vans will see an average saving of £126 and heavy goods vehicles will see an average saving of nearly £1,100. Those driving more than average, which includes drivers in rural communities, will generally experience larger savings. The Rural Fuel Duty Relief Scheme provides a 5p reduction to motorists buying fuel in certain areas. The areas included in the scheme demonstrate certain characteristics such as: pump prices much higher than the UK average; remoteness leading to high fuel transport costs from refinery to filling station; and relatively low sales meaning that retailers cannot benefit from bulk discounts.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of legislating to increase the minimum percentage of affordable housing requirement when hew housing developments are (a) planned and (b) built.

The golden rules introduced through the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 require that development on the Green Belt delivers 15 percentage points more affordable housing than the existing local plan affordable housing requirements, up to a maximum of 50% (except where the local plan requirement is already higher). We estimate that the median affordable housing target in the Green Belt will be 50%.Outside of the Green Belt, it is for local authorities to assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require affordable housing, and to reflect this in planning policies. We will consider what further steps we can take to support social and affordable housing as part of our intent to produce a set of national policies for decision making later this year.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that rural communities remain connected following the digital switchover.

The digital switchover is an industry led programme. Customers in rural communities will not have their landlines migrated to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) without an available stable internet connection (VoIP only requires a minimum speed of 0.5mbps).The Government has taken several initiatives to boost rural connectivity and mobile coverage throughout the UK, including Project Gigabit, the Shared Rural Network deal with the industry, and publishing the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy 2023.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing the Environment Agency with ring-fenced funding from the proceeds of fines placed on water companies for breaching sewage dumping regulations.

The Water (Special Measures) Bill will deliver on the Government’s commitment to put water companies under special measures. It will drive meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry as a first important step in enabling wider, transformative change across the water sector. Through the new cost recovery power in the Bill, we will enable the Environment Agency to fully recover costs for the full extent of their water company enforcement activities including prosecutions and civil sanctions, revocation notices of permits and pollution incidents. The Water Restoration Fund, which launched in April 2024, was established to reinvest water company environmental fines and penalties into projects to improve the water environment. Defra is continuing to work with His Majesty’s Treasury regarding continued reinvestment of the water company fines and penalties on water environment improvement. A final decision on this will be made when the Spending Review concludes later this year.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department plans to take to tackle private parking companies issuing penalties to customers for taking too long to purchase a ticket due to (a) queues at the parking payment machine and (b) limited mobile phone/internet signal.

The Government is committed to driving up standards across the private parking sector for the benefit of motorists.The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities.We hope to announce our proposals regarding the code as soon as possible.

What steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of families dependent on food banks.

The Government has committed to producing a Food Systems Strategy which will provide an opportunity to set out how the food system can deliver for growth, health and the environment. A particular focus will be ensuring that families in poverty can afford healthy food which will improve child welfare, reduce the burden on the NHS, and benefit UK productivity in the long term. Moreover, the Child Poverty Taskforce is working to publish a comprehensive strategy to tackle child poverty. This includes consideration of how the Government can tackle the key drivers of essential costs for low-income families, such as food. The Government has put in place several measures to support the households who face the greatest hardship, including the Fair Repayment Rate for debt deductions in Universal Credit, which means approximately 1.2 million families will keep more of their award each month. The Household Support Fund in England has also been extended until 31 March 2026, which will mean those most in need can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as food, energy and water. We are investing over £30 million in the rollout of free breakfast clubs in every primary school, so that every child is well prepared for the school day and can achieve their full potential.