Written questions by Stephenson.

If he will make an estimate of the number of face-to-face GP appointments in 2025/26.

This Government has committed to guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one. The National Health Service is clear that general practices must provide face-to-face appointments, alongside remote consultations, and patients’ input into consultation type should be sought and their preferences for face-to-face care respected unless there are good clinical reasons to the contrary. Since appointment types, whether face-to-face or remote, in any given year, including 2025/26, are determined based on patient preferences and clinical need, it is not possible to produce a reliable estimate for the number of face-to-face appointments for 2025/26.

With reference to the 10-Year Health Plan, what safeguards will be put in place to prevent hostile actors from accessing genomic data held by the NHS.

All organisations that have access to National Health Service patient data and systems must use the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) to provide assurance on an annual basis that they are practising good data security and that personal information is handled correctly. In September 2025, we introduced the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) to aligned DSPTs in order to raise DSPT requirements for genomics organisations as suggested by the Department. The CAF is the National Cyber Security Centre’s framework and focuses on outcomes and principles to guide good decision-making, and the CAF-aligned DSPT return is supported by an independent audit to the mandated framework.National cyber teams are tackling the changing cyber risk head-on through their ambitious Cyber Improvement Programme, expanding protection and services to better protect the health and care system, backed up with over £338 million of investment since 2017.Patients who are offered whole genome sequencing through the NHS can consent to having their genomic data stored in the National Genomic Research Library (NGRL) which is run by Genomics England. Data stored in the NGRL is de-identified and access to it is carefully controlled, including through an independent Access Review Committee, which ensures that only approved individuals from approved institutions have access to the data. Approved researchers can only access the data within a Secure Research Environment for health research purposes and are not allowed to extract data from the library.

If she will make an estimate of the number of people whose visa expired since 4 July 2025 who have not (a) renewed their visa and (b) left the UK; and how many and what proportion of those people have been detained for overstaying their visa.

Removals of those with no right to be here have risen significantly under this government, with over 35,000 people removed - 13% more than the same period 12 months prior. Of the total returns since 5 July 2024, 10,191 were asylum related returns. This is an increase of 28% compared to the same period 12 months prior.The Home Office only detains individuals when there is a realistic prospect of removal within a reasonable timeframe. As set out in legislation, an individual becomes liable to removal from the UK if "the person requires leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom but does not have it". The Home Office does not routinely categorise immigration offenders by the manner in which they became irregular, and a breakdown of those who have been detained after overstaying a visa could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

With reference to page 36 of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, published on 3 July 2025, how the cost of operating Neighbourhood Health Centres will be shared amongst (a) local government, (b) the voluntary sector and (c) the NHS.

As set out on page 36 of the 10-Year Health Plan, neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of health and care services on people’s doorsteps, joining up National Health Service, local authority, and voluntary services as a one-stop shop.Rollout of the neighbourhood health centres will be progressive over this Parliament, with early sites focused on areas of greatest need.We are developing a National Framework for Neighbourhood Health Plans and Model Neighbourhood to provide greater clarity and consistency for systems in developing and scaling neighbourhood health.This will provide a shared reference point to help shape and inform locally led approaches to neighbourhood health, which may include cost sharing amongst the systems and organisations involved in operating neighbourhood health centres.

Whether he plans to allow patients to access NHS dental care through the NHS App.

The Government currently has no plans to enable patients to access NHS dental care through the NHS App. However, NHS England routinely seeks opportunities to expand the functionality of the NHS App, and progress on including dental bookings in the functionality will depend on digital readiness and wider service commissioning provisions.

If he will make an estimate of the cost to (a) the NHS and (b) the public purse of the resident doctor strikes in 2025.

The five-day resident doctor strike in July 2025 had an estimated cost to the National Health Service of approximately £240 million and this was a starting estimate for the planned November strike. The costs were lower than in July 2024 as a result of lower turnout. We continue to update estimates as new data becomes available, in line with receiving business as usual financial data from NHS systems. The NHS has tried and tested plans in place to minimise disruption and will work with partners to ensure safe care for patients continues to be available and emergency services continue to operate.

Communities and Local Government, if her Department will publish a list of (a) new settlements and (b) urban extensions planned to contain more than 5,000 homes which have been commenced since 2000; and if her Department will indicate whether a GP surgery has been delivered within the development area.

The information requested is not held centrally.

How many people have been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain subsequent to having been convicted of an offence in the UK since 4 July 2024.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

What estimate she has made of the potential impact of changes to the VAT status of independent schools on the number of children enrolled in state schools in September 2025.

HM Treasury published a Tax Information and Impact Note on applying VAT to independent school fees, which includes the government’s estimates of the number of pupils expected to enter the state sector as a result of this policy. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/applying-vat-to-private-school-fees#who-is-likely-to-be-affected.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 62017 on Housing, whether his Department has made an estimate of the potential impact of Part O on internal temperatures.

Part O of the Building Regulations, which aims to address the risk of overheating in new residential buildings, came into force in June 2022. A transition period was put in place to minimise disruption to projects that were already underway and to allow industry time to adapt to the new Part O requirement. As a result, not all developments were immediately subject to the Part O requirement and the Department’s understanding of the impact of Part O is still developing.However, as part of the Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation, we sought evidence on whether Part O is appropriate or whether it requires amendment. As mentioned in response to Question 62017, the Government will set out the evidence it received on Part O during this consultation and its response to this later this year, when the Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation response will be published.

With reference to the OECD Economic Outlook, Volume 2025 Issue 1, published on 3 June 2025, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the OECD's growth forecast for the UK in 2025.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an independent international organisation. As part of ongoing engagement with many different stakeholders relevant to the conduct of economic and fiscal policy, the Government engages regularly and constructively with the OECD, and values their independent advice and forecasting in the Economic Outlook. The OECD's Interim Economic Outlook will publish updated forecasts on 23 September 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of granting National Trail status to the Icknield Way.

The Government remains committed to enhancing access to nature and will continue to work closely with Natural England, National Trails UK and relevant partners to understand and respond to the needs of our National Trails. We currently have no plans to create any new National Trails. We will be completing the King Charles III England Coast Path and Coast to Coast in 2026, as well as developing the nine new national river walks.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled Fairer funding for councils across the country in major reform, published on 20 June 2025, what steps he is taking to ensure the effectiveness of the formula used by his Department to calculate levels of funding based on rural deprivation.

This government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. The Fair Funding Review 2.0 ran from 20 June to 15 August 2025, and proposed reforming the local government funding system. The updated assessment which was consulted on more effectively captures variations in demand for services within a local authority. It also proposed to continue to apply Area Cost Adjustments to account for the different costs faced in delivering services, including in rural and urban areas. We will ensure our approach is informed by the latest data and evidence. We are currently considering responses to the consultation and will publish our response in the autumn.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to provide capital funding to local authorities on an annual basis.

The government has taken steps towards the simplification of capital local growth funding by consolidating the Levelling Up Fund, Town Deals and Simplification Pathfinders Pilot Fund into a single Local Regeneration Fund - providing greater flexibility and supporting local leaders to drive growth. The Fair Funding Review 2.0 set out our plans to consolidate revenue grants in at least four “thematic pots” from 2026/27. We will set out details of the revenue grants that will be consolidated, and our future plans for capital funding, at the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement.

How many visas have been issued where a public sector body is the sponsoring employer since July 2024; and how many of those visa holders are still employed by those bodies.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. You may be interested to note, information on sponsored work visas by occupation and visa route are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset in the Immigration System Statistics. This does not provide a sponsor breakdown. Information on Grants of extensions of stay in the UK, by previous category of leave are published in table ‘Exe_D02’ of the Extensions data tables in the Immigration System Statistics. This does not provide a breakdown of social care visa holders that have transferred to another visa type.

How many and what proportion of social care visa holders have transferred to another visa type since July 2024.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. You may be interested to note, information on sponsored work visas by occupation and visa route are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset in the Immigration System Statistics. This does not provide a sponsor breakdown. Information on Grants of extensions of stay in the UK, by previous category of leave are published in table ‘Exe_D02’ of the Extensions data tables in the Immigration System Statistics. This does not provide a breakdown of social care visa holders that have transferred to another visa type.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the average time since planning was granted for house building starts in each of the last five years.

The Department does not collect data on the time taken between the granting of planning permission for a residential development and the start of housebuilding within the development.The information that the Department routinely collects on house building starts does not include the date on which planning permission for the development was granted.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of planning permissions granted since July 2024 that have led to house building starts.

The Department does not collect data on the time taken between the granting of planning permission for a residential development and the start of housebuilding within the development.The information that the Department routinely collects on house building starts does not include the date on which planning permission for the development was granted.

What proportion of student visa holders attending universities are in the (a) top and (b) bottom quartile of education standards.

The department does not hold data on the proportion of student visa holders attending English universities who are in the top and bottom quartile of education standards. This data is not reported to the department by universities.

How many visas have been issued where the National Health Service is the sponsoring employer since July 2024; and how many of those visa holders are still employed by the NHS.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. You may be interested to note, information on sponsored work visas by occupation and visa route are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset in the Immigration System Statistics. This does not provide a sponsor breakdown. Information on Grants of extensions of stay in the UK, by previous category of leave are published in table ‘Exe_D02’ of the Extensions data tables in the Immigration System Statistics. This does not provide a breakdown of social care visa holders that have transferred to another visa type.