Written questions by Stephenson.

Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the total cost of employers’ National Insurance contributions in (a) London boroughs, (b) Metropolitan districts, (c) County councils, (d) Shire districts, (e) Unitary authorities, (f) the Greater London Authority, (g) fire and rescue authorities and (h) fire and rescue authorities in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority in (i) 2024-25 and (ii) 2025-26.

In the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced funding to help public sector organisations cover the additional costs associated with employer National Insurance Contributions. This funding has been allocated to departments and other public sector employers, with shares based on data covering headcount, wage and salary costs The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government allocated its share of the funding based on a measure of total service expenditure. The department published details of its methodology on the government website: Updated explanatory note on the Employer National Insurance Contribution Grant 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK.

Communities and Local Government, if she will implement the powers provided under section 113 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 23874 on 22 January 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press notice entitled Chancellor vows to go further and faster to kickstart economic growth, published on 29 January 2025, what her Department's timetable is for publishing the location of the submissions for sizeable new developments along the East-West Rail route.

The New Towns Taskforce will submit its final report this summer.

If she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of judicial reviews in (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22, (c) 2022-23, (d) 2023-24 and (e) 2024-25.

A judicial review challenge may be made against a wide range of public bodies, including Government Separtments, local authorities, police, NHS trusts, regulatory bodies, and certain courts and tribunals.There is no centrally held data on the total cost of judicial reviews across these different bodies.

Whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the cost of tourism in school holidays.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education regularly engages with ministers from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including through the government’s Opportunity Mission, where improving school attendance is a key focus. The cost of tourism in school holidays is a significant challenge for families, and we remain committed to tackling the cost of living.

If she will hold discussions with local leaders in Bedfordshire on the adequacy of bus capacity in the context of increased visitors to the Universal Bedfordshire project.

The Department for Transport will work with local authorities and bus operators to ensure that bus services reflect the needs of the local communities that rely on them. We believe local leaders know their areas best and so are best placed to make decisions about their bus networks. The Government is working towards delivering a major investment in infrastructure around the Universal site to support the delivery of the project and ensure it is well connected and easily accessible. Further details will be set out in due course.

If he will make an estimate of the total value of fossil fuels in the UK which have not yet been extracted.

The volumes, commercial recoverability and ultimate value of unextracted fossil fuels in the UK are all influenced by several factors and as such, a single figure of total value has not been calculated by the Department.

What support his Department plans to provide to rural communities that are off the grid to connect to mains Gas Distribution Networks.

Any new gas mains connections to rural communities are a commercial decision between the relevant gas distribution network and the connecting property or properties. There are currently no plans to introduce new government support schemes for new gas connections, but the Government is committed to ensuring energy is affordable for all households and is working closely with Ofgem to ensure that consumers are put first. The only way to guarantee our energy security and protect vulnerable households permanently is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards homegrown clean energy.

If she will make an estimate of the number of people in receipt of a pension in the (a) 2025-26, (b) 2026-27, (c) 2027-28 and (c) 2028-29 financial years.

The estimated total number of people in receipt of State Pension in the 2025-26 to 2028-29 financial years is available in the following table. This is from the latest Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables published following Spring Statement 2025. This covers State Pension recipients in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and outside the UK. Figures are rounded to nearest one thousand and represent a mid-financial year average. Source: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK As forecasts of private pension receipt are not produced, this response has reference to the State Pension only. Financial Year2025-262026-272027-282028-29Total State Pension Claimant Forecast (in thousands)13,19613,20913,07513,157

What proportion of her Department's funding for bus service improvements will be spent in Bedfordshire.

The Department for Transport has allocated £670 million to local transport authorities in 25/26 to support the delivery of Bus Service Improvement Plans as part of a more than £1 billion investment in buses confirmed at the Budget. Local transport authorities in Bedfordshire, consisting of Bedford Borough Council, Central Bedfordshire Council and Luton Borough Council, have collectively been allocated £11.4 million of this funding.

What estimate she has made of the expected return on investment for investments in the National Wealth Fund.

The National Wealth Fund will seek to make positive returns for the Exchequer across its whole portfolio, covering at least the government’s cost of borrowing and institutional overheads, in line with its Financial Framework.This will take time to achieve and should be balanced with the National Wealth Fund’s increased risk appetite.

What assessment she has made of (a) trends in the level of financial literacy in the UK and (b) the potential impact of improving young people's financial literacy on economic growth.

The Government is committed to ensuring that individuals have the financial capability to manage their money well. While the Government does not hold specific data quantifying the economic benefits of this, we recognise the importance of financial literacy in people’s economic participation and have taken a number of steps to promote this, including among young people. Financial education is currently incorporated into the national curriculum in England through mathematics at key stages 1 to 4 and citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which together cover personal budgeting, saving for the future, managing credit and debt and calculating interest. The Government has established an independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review to ensure it is fit for purpose and meeting the needs of children and young people. In addition, the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) is supported by the Government to provide comprehensive guidance for each stage of consumers’ financial lives. It’s MoneyHelper website offers a range of tools and calculators to help consumers with issues around benefits, everyday money, family and care, home finance, money troubles, pensions and retirement, savings and work (https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/tools-and-calculators). The Government recognises that there is still more that can be done to further improve financial literacy. That is why Financial Education and Capability has been made an area of focus within the Financial Inclusion Strategy. The strategy will aim to tackle barriers to individual and households’ ability to access affordable and appropriate financial products and services, including financial literacy. The Financial Conduct Authority’s nationally representative Financial Lives Survey gathers insights into the financial behaviour, attitudes and experiences of adults aged 18 and over across the UK. The survey covers a wide range of topics, including financial capability.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help protect Ministers' (a) social media and (b) personal email accounts from cybersecurity threats.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the UK government’s national technical authority for cyber security, works with colleagues across government to provide Ministers and others with regular security briefings, guidance and advice, including advice on protecting their online accounts, personal data and mitigating common cyber threats.In addition, the NCSC provides individual cyber defence services to high-risk individuals, including Ministers, to help protect their online accounts and personal devices.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding available to Highways England for the maintenance of flood resilience infrastructure.

National Highways undertakes flood resilience work on England’s motorways and trunk A roads through a combination of ongoing maintenance and renewals activity that extends the life of, or replaces, existing roads and structures. The Department has set the budgets for the financial year 2025/26 as part of the Autumn Budget 2024. This allocated £1.455 billion to operations and maintenance, and a further £1.951 billion to renewals as part of a wider £4.842 billion interim settlement for National Highways. Funding beyond this financial year will be confirmed through the ongoing Spending Review which is due to complete in late Spring 2025.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the planned Universal Studios theme park on passenger numbers on (a) East-West Rail and (b) Thameslink services.

Expected demand for the Universal Studios theme park is being analysed by East West Rail Co. and Network Rail as part of the Outline Business Case for East West Rail, to ensure the right infrastructure is delivered. East West Rail Co. and Network Rail will be asked by the Department for Transport to analyse the capacity and performance of the Thameslink and Midland Main Line route to make best use of capacity.

What capital funding will be made available to (a) Network Rail and (b) Great British Railways for Access for All schemes in each of the next five years.

In December, the Chancellor launched the second stage of the Spending Review. This is a zero-based Spending Review, to ensure every line of spending – including the Access for All programme and wider transport infrastructure portfolio – delivers the Plan for Change and provides good value for taxpayers.

Whether she plans to provide additional funding to Bedfordshire’s road network to manage increased traffic from the planned Universal Studios theme park.

As part of the Plan for Change, the government is working towards delivering a major investment in infrastructure around the site to support the delivery of the project and ensure it is well connected and easily accessible. The details of negotiations between private investors and the Government are currently confidential. Further information on plans for infrastructure investment around the site will be set out in due course.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of Great British Railways providing direct shuttle services for Universal Studios visitors between Luton Airport and Wixams station.

The service pattern for the Midland Main Line will be decided by Great British Railways in advance of the Universal Studios theme park opening in 2031. The Department for Transport will additionally ask Network Rail to analyse the capacity and performance of the route to make best use of capacity.

What estimate her Department has made of the proportion of young people who have been auto-enrolled in a pension since October 2012; and what their median expected annual pension payments will be.

Automatic enrolment has succeeded in transforming pension saving with over 11 million employees having been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension since 2012. These statistics are available from The Pensions Regulator and are updated on a monthly basis. However, this is not split by ageAutomatic enrolment declaration of compliance report. DWP publish statistics annually on pension participation by age. The latest statistics show 86% of 22-to-29-year-olds who are eligible for Automatic Enrolment are saving into a workplace pension as of 2023, up from 35% in 2012 (when AE was being rolled out). This is comparable to a participation rate of 88% for all eligible individuals aged (22 to 66). Further data on workplace pension participation and saving trends are available on GOV.UK. Future pension income depends on many individuals factors across an individual’s life time, further analysis on future pensioner incomes by year of retirement are available on GOV.UK.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Over 1,500 extra GPs recruited to fix front door of the NHS, published on 8 April 2025, how many of those GPs will be deployed in (a) Mid Bedfordshire, (b) Bedfordshire and (c) rural areas.

As at 31 March 2025, 26 GPs had been recruited through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme in NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB. The number of full time equivalent ARRS GPs working in the ICB was 13.5 as at 28 February 2025.Data on the number of roles recruited to rural areas is not held.