Written questions by Stephenson.

What proportion of Secure English Language Tests were obtained via remote testing in 2024-25.

The current Secure English Language Testing contract is one that was tendered and awarded for physical test sites therefore, remote testing is not currently offered as part of the Secure English Language Test service.

If he will make it his policy to ensure that hospices receive the funding required to raise staff pay in line with nationally agreed NHS pay rises.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.Hospices, as independent organisations, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment and, therefore, it is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate, and how to recoup any additional costs they face, including what contractual arrangements are reached with their commissioners.NHS England uprates national allocations in line with the pay rises for ICBs. It is down to the local contractual arrangements, whether this includes the increases for pay rises or not, as to what the hospice can afford. There is, therefore, no single model which is consistent across England.The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end-of-life and enable ICBs to address challenges in access, quality and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care.We will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements as part of our MSF. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting ICBs to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087 I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to publish guidance for planning inspectors on how to approach local authorities which allocate housing sites later designated as new towns in emerging local plans.

In advance of the government confirming new town locations, local planning authorities for areas in which a new town may be located should continue with plan-making and continue to approach planning applications in these locations in a positive and proactive manner.

Communities and Local Government, what changes he made to Departmental budgets in the Autumn Budget 2025 to fund the a) infrastructure and b) services required for new towns.

I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the effectiveness of the application of planning legislation relating to flooding, in the context of appeals (a) APP/D0121/W/24/3343144 and (b) APP/V2255/W/24/3350524.

Due to the quasi-judicial role of MHCLG Ministers in the planning system, I am unable to comment on the details of specific planning applications or appeals. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 100731 on 5 January 2026.

If she will direct National Highways to upgrade Junction 13 of the M1 in the context of the Milton Keynes New Town.

The Department recognises the importance of this junction as a key connection between the M1, the A421 corridor, and the wider Milton Keynes and Bedford area. National Highways is considering options for major improvements to it as part of future investment planning to inform future Road Investment Strategies. The work is at an early stage and is focused on options for improving the operation of the three roundabouts that form the junction to increase capacity and strengthen safety, whilst supporting regional growth.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of taxation of salary sacrifice pension contributions on levels of pensions saving.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to pensions salary sacrifice. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) set out in their November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook that they do not expect a material impact on savings behaviour as a result of Budget 2025 tax changes. The government supports all individuals to save into pensions through a generous system of income tax and NICs reliefs worth over £70 billion a year.  Employers must also meet their automatic enrolment obligations.

Whether he has made an (a) estimate of the age of inheritance for the next five decades and (b) assessment of the potential impact of increased longevity on the adequacy of assets held at state pension age for comfortable retirement.

The Department for Work and Pensions has published analysis on the number and proportion of working age individuals who are undersaving for retirement. This analysis is published here: Analysis of Future Pension Incomes 2025 - GOV.UK This analysis looks at Target Replacement Rates, the percentage of pre-retirement earnings an individual would need to replace to meet an adequate income in retirement, and also at expenditure-based measures of income adequacy in retirement. This analysis includes estimates of longevity as part of assessing the level of savings needed to achieve the various levels of income. No specific assessment has been made of the age of inheritance. The Government has also revived the Pensions Commission, with a broad and comprehensive remit to consider the long-term future of our pension system, to ensure it delivers financial security in retirement through a framework that is strong, fair and sustainable. This includes exploring the long-term questions of adequacy and how to improve retirement outcomes for future generations of retirees.

What the take up rate is amongst targeted pupils for free breakfast clubs.

Free Breakfast Clubs are for all pupils to give children life chances and parents work choices. Through our free breakfast club early adopter schools, we have served more than 5 million meals, and we are expanding the programme by further funding an additional 2,000 schools this year, benefitting half a million more children.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect Best and Most Versatile agricultural land from development.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) underlines the importance of the Best and Most Versatile agricultural land which is the land most valuable for food production. Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be used in preference to that of higher quality.

Pursuant to the answer of 3 October 2025 to written question 74972, if she will list the eleven schools in Bedfordshire.

The department has published details of successful projects and applicants to the Condition Improvement Fund for the 2025/26 financial year, including the local authority and constituency. This list can be found on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/condition-improvement-fund-2025-to-2026-outcome.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled Reed: Government to cut sewage pollution in half by 2030, published on 19 July 2025, what proportion of the £104bn funding has been allocated to Bedfordshire.

The Government has secured £104 billion of investment which includes over £10 billion to reduce sewage discharges from over 2,500 storm overflows in England and £4.8 billion to reduce phosphorus pollution. This will deliver on cleaning up our rivers, lakes, and seas. Further information on Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) actions for water companies to deliver within the 2025-2030 period is available for the public here: Price Review 2024 Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) App. This can be filtered by Local Authority.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the operational costs of a) Mayors and b) Council Leaders enacting Police and Crime Commissioner functions.

No overall assessment has been made yet of the full operational costs for Strategic and Local Authorities of taking on functions from Police and Crime Commissioners. We will be working with authorities to assess those costs as the details of the new system are developed and legislated for. We will work with the Home Office to ensure that the new arrangements are fully funded.

Pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2025 to written question 79794, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of residents in Mid Bedfordshire constituency who live within one mile of a post office.

Post Office’s performance against the Government’s Access Criteria is assessed at a national level rather than by individual constituencies. Information on how the Post Office measures network performance against these criteria is published annually in its Network Report, which is available on the Post Office’s website.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to open an Embassy in Palestine.

It is the longstanding position of the UK Government that Jerusalem should be a shared capital of two states, with its final status determined as part of a negotiated, peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians, respecting the access and religious rights of all peoples. The future status of the British Consulate General in Jerusalem will be decided in light of progress towards this historic goal.

With reference to the press release entitled Fresh drive to boost Pension Credit take-up as new figures reveal large regional gaps in those receiving benefit worth around £4,300 a year, published on 30 October 2025, if he will publish constituency level analysis.

Ad-hoc statistics on households potentially eligible for Pension Credit were published by DWP for the financial year 2023 to 2024 and are available at: Households potentially eligible for Pension Credit, 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK. Table 4a provides a breakdown of eligible households in receipt of Pension Credit, potentially eligible households and Pension Credit receipt rate by parliamentary constituency. These are estimates based on administrative data and are not derived from the official statistics (available here: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2024 - GOV.UK). The official statistics should be used for estimates of Pension Credit take-up at the Great Britian level, with the ad-hoc statistics providing breakdowns at lower levels of geographical areas.

What guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on prioritising a) reactive and b) proactive road maintenance interventions.

Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. There are occasions where potholes need to be repaired quickly for safety reasons, but the Department encourages local authorities to also focus on long-term preventative maintenance to ensure that roads are fixed properly and potholes prevented from forming in the first place. This is also more cost-effective than the repeated and reactive patching of potholes. This year, the Government made available an additional £500 million for local highway authorities to maintain their highway network. A portion of the additional funding is contingent upon local highway authorities complying with criteria aimed at driving best practice and continual improvement in highways maintenance. This includes local highway authorities having to demonstrate to Government how much they are spending on highways maintenance, including the balance of spend between preventative and reactive maintenance. In this context, the department has written to all local highway authorities to emphasise that when determining the balance between preventative and reactive maintenance, authorities should adopt the principle that prevention is better than cure, as also set out in the Code of Practice for well-managed highway infrastructure, available online, at: https://www.ciht.org.uk/ukrlg-home/code-of-practice/

How many visas a) his Department, b) the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, c) the UK Health Security Agency, d) the Care Quality Commission, e) the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, f) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, g) NHS Blood and Transplant, h) NHS Business Services Authority and i) NHS Resolution have sponsored since 4 July 2024.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 December 2025 to Question 96902.

How much the NHS has spent on agency staff by employment type in each of the last five years.

Temporary staffing allows the National Health Service to meet workforce demand fluctuations without the need to increase capacity above that which is required on a sustained basis. NHS England publishes the total agency spend for providers on a quarterly basis. This includes all employment types, as NHS England does not hold a split of spend by employment types. The latest data is available up to September 2025 which can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publications/financial-performance-reports/In addition, the following table shows total agency spend each year for the last five yearsQuarter 2 2025/26 (3 months July 25 to September 25)£674 millionQuarter 1 2025/26 (3 months April 25 to June 25)£360 millionQuarter 4 2024/25 (12 months April 24 to March 25)£2,074 millionQuarter 4 2023/24 (12 months April 23 to March 24)£3,024 millionQuarter 4 2022/23 (12 months April 22 to March 23)£3,463 millionQuarter 4 2021/22 (12 months April 21 to March 22)£2,960 millionQuarter 4 2020/21 (12 months April 20 to March 21)£2,436 million

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the average cost per elector of elections for a) Police and Crime Commissioners and b) Mayors.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publishes detailed reports on the cost of running Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections, including the average cost per elector. These reports are available on gov.uk here. It is intended that a report on the cost of the 2021 PCC elections will be published in due course. The cost of the 2024 PCC election is subject to future publication once all the costs relating to that poll have been finalised and settled. For combined authority mayoral and local authority mayoral elections, costs are met by the relevant local authorities. MHCLG does not hold any data on the cost of these elections.