Written questions by Stephenson.

If she will make an estimate of the number of school students in Mid Bedfordshire constituency impacted by changes to funding for the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme.

Excellence in mathematics is one of the many skills needed to drive economic growth, and we are committed to ensuring all children and young people have opportunities to secure mathematical knowledge, regardless of background and socio-economic status.The Advanced Maths Support Programme (AMSP) is a vital government funded programme that continues to positively impact mathematics education across England. We are currently working with the AMSP supplier (MEI) to ensure that its important work evolves to better align with the government’s Opportunity Mission and skills for the future, such as AI and Data Science.More details on AMSP funding and the full offer for schools and colleges nationally and locally will be published in due course, on the AMSP website, which can be accessed here: https://amsp.org.uk/.

With reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, columns 631-634, if she will make an estimate of the savings to the public purse by reducing the amount spent on official development assistance as a proportion of gross national income.

We are facing a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of Europe and must increase our security and defence spending now. To fund this increase, the government has taken the difficult decision to reduce Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the equivalent of 0.3% of GNI by 2027. Future ODA allocations will be decided at Phase 2 of the Spending Review and the ODA savings trajectory will be set out in due course.

With reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, columns 631-634, if she will provide a breakdown of the funding sources for the proposed increase in defence spending.

The Prime Minister’s announcement in February is fully funded - we are reducing ODA to the equivalent of 0.3% of GNI to fund the additional spend required to ensure we reach 2.5% of GDP on defence spending in 2027-28.

Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the economic contribution of live theatre to the creative industry.

This Government recognises the importance of theatre in providing high-quality culture and stimulating growth. DCMS economic estimates of GVA provide a measure of the contribution made by the DCMS sectors to the UK economy. The Arts subsector, of which theatres are part, contributed £9 billion GVA and supported around 230,000 filled jobs in 2023. DCMS economic estimates do not separately measure the contribution of live theatre to GVA. According to a 2023 study by SOLT & UK Theatre, the theatre sector as a whole generated £2.39bn in GVA and generated a total turnover of £4.44 billion. Data collection plays an integral role in how the Department for Culture, Media and Sport assesses the economic contribution of its sectors to the UK economy. DCMS publishes official statistics (DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates) including data on Gross Value Added, employment and business demographics, which are available at national and regional levels. These data can be found on the DCMS website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2025 to Question 29563 on General Practitioners: Finance, what his planned timetable is for confirming funding for GP surgery projects.

Integrated care boards were informed of their allocations in the planning guidance issued on 30 January 2025. The final element to be confirmed is the operation of a small element of incentives funding.The Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund was announced during the 2024 Spending Review and provides new capital funding of £102 million for the 2025/26 financial year, to support improvements in the primary care estate.Systems have also received their indicative allocations relating to this specific fund through the planning guidance, and have submitted the priority schemes they wish to support to NHS England for assessment at the regional level. The assessments are due to completed by 31 March 2025, and the systems will be notified shortly afterwards about successful schemes.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's press release entitled Bureaucratic burden lifted to speed up building in growth agenda, published on 10 March 2025, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport,on the potential impact of removing the Theatres Trust as a statutory consultee on the creative industries.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's press release entitled Bureaucratic burden lifted to speed up building in growth agenda, published on 10 March 2025, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of removing the Theatres Trust as a statutory consultee on the creative industries.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's press release entitled Bureaucratic burden lifted to speed up building in growth agenda, published on 10 March 2025, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of removing Sport England as a statutory consultee on grassroots sport.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2025 to Question 29563 on General Practitioners: Finance, what his planned timetable is for confirming the allocations for integrated care boards.

Integrated care boards were informed of their allocations in the planning guidance issued on 30 January 2025. The final element to be confirmed is the operation of a small element of incentives funding.The Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund was announced during the 2024 Spending Review and provides new capital funding of £102 million for the 2025/26 financial year, to support improvements in the primary care estate.Systems have also received their indicative allocations relating to this specific fund through the planning guidance, and have submitted the priority schemes they wish to support to NHS England for assessment at the regional level. The assessments are due to completed by 31 March 2025, and the systems will be notified shortly afterwards about successful schemes.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of call waiting times for emergency support for suicidal people in Bedfordshire.

People experiencing suicidal thoughts can access emergency support through a variety of services. These include accident and emergency, mental health crisis services via NHS 111, the police, mental health street triage services, ambulance services, general practitioners, and voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations.While waiting times data is published by NHS England across many of these services, information on the reason for the call is not available.

If she will make it her policy to introduce a ban on pavement parking in non-metropolitan areas.

The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the consultation in 2020 and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. As soon as the Government has decided its preferred way forward, we will announce the next steps and publish our formal response. In the meantime, local authorities can make use of existing powers to manage pavement parking.

What steps he is taking to ensure adequate support for people with postural tachycardia syndrome in Bedfordshire.

Improving health outcomes for people who live with long-term conditions, including postural tachycardia syndrome, is a key part of the Government's mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future.The integrated care boards (ICBs), including the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB, which serves Bedfordshire, are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their population. The Government expects ICBs to take account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines and other best practice in designing their services to meet the needs of their local populations.The NICE publishes guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of long-term conditions for use by healthcare professionals and commissioners. The NICE has produced a clinical knowledge summary on the clinical management of blackouts and syncope, which sets out how clinicians should assess and diagnose postural tachycardia syndrome.This was last updated in November 2023, and is available at the following link: https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/blackouts-syncope/diagnosis/assessment/

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2025 to Question 27313 on Private Education: Special Educational Needs, if she will make a separate assessment for SEN pupils.

HM Treasury has published a tax information and impact note on applying VAT to independent school fees, which includes pupils with special educational needs.

If she will make an estimate of the number of teachers employed in state schools in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers employed in state-funded schools, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication. This publication is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.As of November 2023, the latest date for which data are available, there were 468,693 full-time equivalent teachers employed in state-funded schools in England.Figures for the 2024/25 academic year will be published in June 2025 at the link above.Each year, the department calculates the number of trainees needed via postgraduate initial teacher training to meet future teacher demand. As part of these calculations, the department’s model makes a short-term estimate of future teacher numbers required. The most recently published version, that makes such estimates for 2023/24 and 2024/25 respectively, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets-2024-to-2025.An updated version, for 2025/26 recruitment targets will be published later this year.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of planned housing developments in Bedfordshire on Thameslink services.

Any assessment on the impacts of housing developments on public transport is a matter for local partners through development of their local plans.

If she will make an estimate of the number of fast-tracked passport applications taking longer than one week.

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.

If she will make an estimate of waiting times for visas on (a) the super priority service and (b) other processes.

As outlined on GOV.UK, using the ‘super priority service’ for visa and settlement applications means a decision is usually made by the end of the next working day.Using the ‘priority service’ means a decision is usually made within 5 working days, or 30 working days for Family visa applications from outside the UK.If there is a delay, for example due to the information provided not being accurate or further evidence being required, the customer will be notified of this within the current processing times.Visa processing times are published on the UKVI website at Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK Visa processing times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK and Visa decision waiting times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK.

If she will make an estimate of the number of SEN children fined for school absences in the last academic year.

The information requested is not held by the department.The department collects aggregate data on penalty notices from local authorities in England through the annual ‘parental responsibility measures’ attendance census. Information is not collected on the characteristics of the children concerned.The available data are published in the following statistical release: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/parental-responsibility-measures.The most recent data was published in January 2025.

If she will make an estimate of the number of passport applications taking longer than three weeks.

The information you have requested is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/passports-and-citizenship-data-q4-2024.

If she will make an assessment of the adequacy of waiting times at the Passport Office.

His Majesty’s Passport Office consistently exceeds the performance indicator for its standard service within the UK, with over 98.5% of customers receiving their passport within three weeks where no further information is required.Information about the performance of HM Passport Office can be found within the latest transparency data release, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/passports-and-citizenship-data-q4-2024.