Written questions by Stephenson.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled £2 billion new investment to support biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, published on 25 March 2025, where the houses will be located.

At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549). The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes. We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent. Homes England and GLA will assess bids received in the usual way before awarding funding. Exact funding to different places and the locations of homes that will be built will depend on the bids received from local authorities and housing associations. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership. We have asked HE, GLA and bidders to prioritise homes for social rent, and will publish the number of homes delivered at each tenure in an annual report to Parliament. Local authorities are responsible for their own allocation scheme within the framework of legislation. By law, people who are homeless must be given ‘reasonable preference’ (priority) and local authorities can give ‘additional preference’ (high priority) to those who have urgent housing needs.

If he will publish his Department’s impact assessment on closing NHS England.

The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.It is only right that with such significant reform, we commit to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, as is due process. Evidence from these ongoing assessments will inform our programme as appropriate.The Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure that the public and parliamentarians are informed of the outcomes.

For what reason Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was not included in the Great British Energy Solar project.

NHS England received an extremely positive response to this scheme, with over 300 bids (covering 140 trusts) that could potentially have been taken forward.The Department worked closely with NHS England and our partners at Great British Energy to apply a rigorous evaluation process to this longlist. This included a thorough deliverability screening, value for money assessment, and final assurance process to ensure that all projects were focused on core estate (to ensure the expected lifetime of the building matched or exceeded that of the new assets), alongside careful verification of the funding, value for money, and delivery data provided by trusts.Regrettably, this meant that many projects missed out despite offering significant value.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 35444 on London Stock Exchange, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the 6.6% reduction in the number of firms listed on the London Stock Exchange between July 2024 to March 2025.

The UK has recently attracted several high-profile listings from firms taking advantage of our reforms to make it easier to raise capital and fund growth on UK markets. This includes IPOs from high-growth UK firms such as Applied Nutrition, as well as listings from prominent international firms such as Canal+ and CK Infrastructure. More broadly, in 2024, London raised over £25bn equity capital, which is more capital than the next three European exchanges combined.

What steps he is taking to support people who suffer with chronic urinary tract infections in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

There are nine pharmacists in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency area, and all offer the Pharmacy First service. This service builds on the NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service which has run since October 2019. The consultation service enables patients to be referred into community pharmacy for a minor illness or an urgent repeat medicine supply.The Pharmacy First service, launched 31 January 2024, adds to the existing consultation service and enables community pharmacies to complete episodes of care for seven common conditions following defined clinical pathways, including urinary tract infections.It is common for recurrent urinary tract infections to be treated with a longer-term course of antibiotics, following antimicrobial guidelines for primary care. Should symptoms continue then a referral may be made to a specialist urologist.

If he will estimate the cost to the public purse of (a) redundancies and (b) all other costs arising from the proposed abolition of NHS England.

We recognise that there may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake the integration of NHS England and the Department, but these costs and more will be recouped in future years because of a smaller and leaner centre. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.

Whether she has made a recent assessment of the international competitiveness of Air Passenger Duty rates.

Air Passenger Duty (APD) applies to airlines and is the principal tax on the aviation sector. It is expected to raise £4.2 billion in 2024-25. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced APD rates for 2026-27, including a partial adjustment to help compensate for two recent years of inflation that was higher than expected. APD rates are set in advance using forecasts of inflation, and so with actual inflation being significantly greater than forecast in 2022 and 2023, APD rates fell in real terms. The Government is clear that APD is an appropriate tax that ensures airlines make a fair contribution to the public finances, particularly given that tickets are VAT free and aviation fuel incurs no duty. Other countries also have different forms of aviation taxes. The Government keeps all taxes under review.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of business rates on the rate at which new (a) 5G and (b) 5GSA infrastructure is being rolled out.

Digital infrastructure will play a key role in the Government’s forthcoming 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, which will set out the long-term ambitions for rollout of 5G and Standalone 5G. Eligible plant and machinery used on 5G are exempt from business rates from 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2035. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government published a Discussion Paper setting out priority areas for business rates reform and inviting industry to co-design a fairer business rates system. In summer, the Government will publish an interim report that sets out a clear direction of travel for the business rates system, with further policy detail to follow at Autumn Budget 2025.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of her Department taking responsibility for (a) zoos and (b) aquariums.

The government acknowledges the significant impact that zoos and aquariums have on the Visitor Economy. Iconic and cultural attractions like Chester zoo, which was the third most visited paid attraction in England in 2023, draw in visitors from across the country and beyond, play a significant role in attracting families, supporting local tourism, and contributing to conservation efforts.While policy responsibility for the welfare and management of animals kept by zoos and aquariums, as well as the conservation work zoos and aquariums are required to undertake, sits with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), we remain engaged on cross-cutting matters where relevant to the UK’s visitor economy. Rather than moving things between departments, we believe it is better to get departments to work together.This includes ensuring the UK’s diverse visitor offer is promoted effectively through national tourism bodies, including VisitEngland and VisitBritain.Similarly, aquariums such as the 14 Sea Life Centres across the UK, including prominent sites in Blackpool and Scarborough, attract thousands of visitors to rural and coastal areas each year. The Sea Life Center London alone welcomes around 1 million visitors annually and serves as a key attraction for visitors.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the economic contribution of (a) zoos and (b) aquariums to the tourism sector.

The government acknowledges the significant impact that zoos and aquariums have on the Visitor Economy. Iconic and cultural attractions like Chester zoo, which was the third most visited paid attraction in England in 2023, draw in visitors from across the country and beyond, play a significant role in attracting families, supporting local tourism, and contributing to conservation efforts.While policy responsibility for the welfare and management of animals kept by zoos and aquariums, as well as the conservation work zoos and aquariums are required to undertake, sits with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), we remain engaged on cross-cutting matters where relevant to the UK’s visitor economy. Rather than moving things between departments, we believe it is better to get departments to work together.This includes ensuring the UK’s diverse visitor offer is promoted effectively through national tourism bodies, including VisitEngland and VisitBritain.Similarly, aquariums such as the 14 Sea Life Centres across the UK, including prominent sites in Blackpool and Scarborough, attract thousands of visitors to rural and coastal areas each year. The Sea Life Center London alone welcomes around 1 million visitors annually and serves as a key attraction for visitors.

If she will make an assessment of the average cost to a school of providing a meal to a child eligible for Universal Infant Free School Meals.

All pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England’s state-funded schools are entitled to universal infant free school meals. The department spends approximately £600 million per year ensuring that around 1.3 million infant pupils receive a nutritious lunchtime meal. Funding is not ring-fenced, meaning that schools have autonomy over delivery, including entering into contracts with suppliers and allocation of funding within their budgets. The department continues to work closely with the school food industry to monitor sector challenges. As with all government programmes, including universal infant free school meals, we will keep our approach under continued review.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Aggregates levy on the marine environment.

Aggregates Levy is an environmental tax which aims to encourage the more efficient extraction and use of all aggregates. There are no current plans to undertake a specific assessment of its impact on the marine environment, but the government keeps all taxes under review.

If he will make an assessment of the current average diagnosis time for endometriosis.

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health and improving the care for gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published an update to the guideline on endometriosis diagnosis and management in November 2024. This makes firmer recommendations for healthcare professionals on referral and investigations for women with suspected endometriosis, which will help women receive a diagnosis and treatment more quickly.For many women with symptoms of endometriosis, initial pharmacological treatment takes place in primary care and can be in parallel with a referral for further investigations. As a result, looking at diagnosis times alone is unlikely to be the only measure of whether women are receiving care for endometriosis in a timely matter. NHS England is looking into metrics that best reflect timely access to care and outcomes for women, including for endometriosis. This work will explore whether time to diagnosis is the optimum measure.An ongoing study by the Office for National Statistics is investigating the impact of endometriosis on women's labour market outcomes. One component of this study is linking primary and secondary care data to better understand diagnosis times for endometriosis.

If he will make an estimate of the potential economic impact on Bedfordshire of increased defence spending.

We are ensuring UK defence is on the cutting-edge of technology and innovation, with Defence spending meeting our military needs, supporting 434,000 jobs across the breadth of the UK and increasing the productive capacity of the UK economy to drive sustainable, long-term growth. The Ministry of Defence’s allocation of the 2.5% uplift will be agreed as part of the Spending Review.

With reference to her Department's press release entitled No child left behind in plans to narrow the digital divide in education, published on 21 March 2025, whether schools in areas without full fibre broadband will receive funding.

The government is investing £45 million to boost school infrastructure, including £20 million to upgrade fibre connections to a further 343 schools this year in areas without full fibre broadband, helping get schools online and boosting standards where it is most needed. This is the latest phase of funding for the programme that has so far improved connectivity for more than 1,000 schools.The department is going further, having launched a consultation to gather views on a long-term ambition for all schools and colleges to meet six core digital standards by 2030, which cover the foundations of good tech ensuring essential technology infrastructure and connectivity, digital security and leadership.

Whether he plans to appoint a dedicated Minister for Resilience.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has overall responsibility for resilience policy across government. He is supported by a number of ministerial colleagues with resilience responsibilities in their departments. The full List of Ministerial Responsibilities is available on GOV.UK here.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of Level 7 Apprenticeships on social mobility.

The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth supported by a strong skills system.This government has an extremely challenging fiscal inheritance. There are tough choices that need to be taken on how funding should be prioritised in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers, and the department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund a significant number of level 7 apprenticeships themselves outside of the levy-funded growth and skills offer.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of endometriosis on women in the workplace.

Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. We announced in the recent Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding.In addition to this work, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have launched the Keep Britain Working Review. This review will consider how to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more disabled people and people with health conditions; promote healthy workplaces and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. The Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Health and Social Care are committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including women with endometriosis, with their employment journey. The Disability Confident Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. A digital information service for employers, (Support with Employee Health and Disability), has been developed to offer guidance on making reasonable adjustments, supporting employees to remain in work, and understanding legal requirements.

With reference to the Regulatory Policy Committee's press release entitled Crime and Policing Bill: late publication of Home Office impact assessments, published on 10 March, for what reason those impact assessments were not published on 25 February 2025.

The Government has published four Economic Notes and two Economic Impact Assessments covering measures in the Crime and Policing Bill, which can be found here: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3938/publications.Two further Economic Impact Assessments, relating to the duty to report child sexual abuse, and the provisions in the Bill relating to SIM farms, the power to suspend IP addresses and domain names, and criminal liability of bodies corporate and partnerships, will be published soon.

With reference to her Department's news story entitled New powers for police to tackle neighbourhood crime, published on 25 February 2025, where the 13,000 new officers will be deployed by county.

The Government has committed to restoring neighbourhood policing through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. This includes putting thousands more police personnel on the beat in neighbourhood policing roles up and down the country. Every part of the country will benefit from this pledge, including Bedfordshire.The delivery model for 2025/26 is designed to create an initial increase to the neighbourhood policing workforce in a manner that is flexible and can be adapted to the local context and varied crime demands. As such, the 13,000 additional neighbourhood officers will be spread across England and Wales, with specific delivery profiles to be published in due course.