Written questions by Blackman.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of freezing the Local Housing Allowance on other areas of public expenditure.

The causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and often complex, they interact dynamically making it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors. We do however work closely with other departments, including MHCLG, to ensure the impacts of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) on homelessness are considered. This included consideration in last year’s Autumn Budget not to increase LHA rates for 2025/26. Rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, the fact that rates were increased in April 2024, and the wider fiscal context were all considered. The April 2024 one-year LHA increase cost an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25 and approximately £7bn over 5 years. We continue to work across Government on the development of the Homelessness and Rough-sleeping strategy. Any future decisions on LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the fiscal context. For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. DHPs can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. On other areas of public expenditure, we have announced the government will invest £2bn in social and affordable housing in 2026-27, to deliver up to 18,000 new homes. This will immediately allow housing associations and local councils to bring bids forward for new affordable housing developments in every part of the country.

What information his Department holds on the health outcomes for children born by IVF.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that its expert Scientific and Clinical Advances Advisory Committee monitors new studies relating to health outcomes in children conceived by IVF. They last discussed this topic in February 2025, and the associated paper and minutes can be found on the HFEA website, at the following link:https://www.hfea.gov.uk/about-us/our-authority-committees-and-panels/scientific-and-clinical-advances-advisory-committee-scaac/HFEA Register data is used in research studies which look at the effects of IVF on the health of children born, with further information about these studies, including details of current and previous projects, available on the HFEA website at the following link:https://www.hfea.gov.uk/about-us/data-research/

What information his Department holds on the success rate of IVF is in each of the last ten years for which information is available.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) publishes annual reports on their website which include success rates of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). The following table shows the success rate of IVF in each of the last ten years for which information is available:Year of treatmentBirth rate per embryo transferred202223%202123%202024%201924%201823%201723%201622%201521%201420%201319%Source: HFEA annual report on fertility treatment and the HFEA dashboard.Notes:live births for 2019 to 2022 are preliminary and quality assurance processes with clinics have not yet completed; anddata excludes embryos that have been previously frozen.

How many human embryos were discarded in each of the last ten years for which information is available; and what uses discarded embryos are put to.

The following table, provided by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), shows the number of human embryos discarded in each of the last ten years for which information is available:YearEmbryos discarded2022160,2852021172,6652020137,2962019173,1302018177,7652017175,6162016174,3272015175,4782014176,6612013170,654Source: HFEA.Notes:the data is as recorded by the HFEA on 16 October 2024, so these figures reflect the data on this day and are likely to change over time;data for 2019 to 2022 is preliminary and quality assurance processes with clinics have not yet completed. There is no further information collected by the HFEA after an embryo is discarded.

How many (a) autistic and (b) neurodivergent people will no longer be eligible to Personal Independence Payment following the proposed reforms.

The number will not be known until those affected have gone through their first award review after the reforms take effect, starting in November 2026. Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of freezing Local Housing Allowance rates on levels of homelessness.

The causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and often complex, they interact dynamically making it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors. We do however work closely with other departments, including MHCLG, to ensure the impacts of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) on homelessness are considered. This included consideration in last year’s Autumn Budget not to increase LHA rates for 2025/26. Rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, the fact that rates were increased in April 2024, and the wider fiscal context were all considered. The April 2024 one-year LHA increase cost an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25 and approximately £7bn over 5 years. We continue to work across Government on the development of the Homelessness and Rough-sleeping strategy. Any future decisions on LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the fiscal context. For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. DHPs can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. On other areas of public expenditure, we have announced the government will invest £2bn in social and affordable housing in 2026-27, to deliver up to 18,000 new homes. This will immediately allow housing associations and local councils to bring bids forward for new affordable housing developments in every part of the country.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's proposed reforms to health and disability benefits on people who are (a) autistic and (b) neurodivergent.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

How many people claiming the standard level of the Personal Independence Payment who did not score four points in any of the 10 descriptors are (a) autistic and (b) neurodivergent.

In January 2025 (latest available data), there were 8,200 claimants of Personal Independence Payment in England and Wales receiving the Standard Daily Living component who did not score at least four points in any of the 10 descriptors and had autism as their primary condition. There were 21,600 such claimants whose primary condition was a neurodivergent condition, including the 8,200 with autism. We have defined Neurodivergent claimants as those with the following primary conditions:- Autism- Dyslexia- Dyspraxia- ADHD / ADD- Tourette’s Syndrome There may be other claimants with neurodivergent conditions as a primary or secondary condition, but these are not identifiable from the readily available data. Behavioural responses on the part of claimants and assessors to the reforms planned to take effect from November 2026 will affect the outcomes of award reviews undertaken after that date.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the destruction of the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum.

The UK Government supports the Interim Government's agenda to restore law and order, ensure accountability and promote national reconciliation. While we have not had discussions with the Interim Government of Bangladesh regarding the destruction of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum specifically, we have encouraged all sides to work together to end the cycle of retributive violence. In February, Human Rights Ambassador Eleanor Sanders visited Bangladesh and met with the Interim Government and discussed a wide range of human rights concerns.  We continue to work with the Interim Government as it charts a peaceful transition to an inclusive and democratic future.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take legislative steps to introduce an immediate moratorium on import permits for hunting trophies of cheetahs.

The government committed to a ban on the import of hunting trophies of endangered animals in its manifesto and will deliver on this. Defra is currently engaging with a range of stakeholders in order to decide on the most effective approach.

What steps he is taking to ensure that community-based ear wax removal services are made available to patients in (a) Harrow East constituency and (b) England.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) have a statutory responsibility to commission cost-effective healthcare to meet the needs of their local populations. This includes the arrangement of services for ear wax removal. When ICBs exercise their functions, including commissioning healthcare services such as ear wax removal, they have a duty to reduce inequalities between persons with respect to their ability to access health services, and to reduce inequalities between patients with respect to the outcomes achieved for them by the provision of health services.Manual ear syringing is no longer advised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) due to the risks associated with it, such as trauma to their ear drum or infection, so general practitioners (GPs) will often recommend home treatment remedies to alleviate ear wax build-up.However, in line with the NICE’s guidance, a person may require ear wax removal treatment if the build-up of earwax is linked with hearing loss. A GP could then consider referring the patient into audiology services, which ICBs are responsible for commissioning.

With reference to her Department's report entitled The Buckland review of autism employment: report and recommendations, published 28 February 2024, how many recommendations of that report have been implemented.

The independent Buckland Review of Autism Employment reported to the last Government with recommendations to employers, third sector organisations and government on addressing barriers autistic people face when seeking and remaining in employment.This was a valuable piece of work. This Government is committed to raising awareness of neurodiversity (as a more inclusive concept including autism, ADHD and other conditions, recognising that these co-occur for many neurodivergent people) in workplaces. We have launched a review by an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity to build on the Buckland Review and advise on how we improve experiences for all neurodivergent people, including in recruitment and day to day workplace practices. Recommendations are expected in the summer. Although we have set a more ambitious and inclusive scope by expanding beyond the focus of the Buckland Review, several of the recommendations specifically to Government are already in progress. These include working with employers to reform Disability Confident to improve the scheme's outcomes and realise its full potential, promoting and enhancing the visibility of the Support with Employee Health and Disability Service (SEHD), and launching our new Supported Employment programme, Connect to Work, to support disabled people, those with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment to get into and stay in work. We have also collaborated with ACAS to promote updated neurodiversity guidance for employers.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Bangladeshi counterpart on the potential impact of (a) corruption and (b) money laundering on the economy of that country.

The UK is committed to assisting investigative, prosecuting and judicial authorities in combating international crime. Whilst we cannot comment on any individual asset recovery cases, we have robust illicit finance legislation and instruments which can be used to support asset recovery requests.  The UK is providing support to the Interim Government of Bangladesh through the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre hosted by the UK's National Crime Agency and the International Centre for Asset Recovery. We will continue to support these recoveries to the extent that we can.

If she will make it her policy to publish a target for the autism employment gap.

We recognise the current disability employment gap. As set out in the King’s Speech last July, the government is committed to making the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people and introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers.Addressing disability pay gaps will play a key role in boosting opportunity and household income for disabled people, as we deliver our programme for national renewal set out in the Plan for Change.Disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting will provide transparency and vital data to help businesses identify and close pay gaps within their workforces. We also know that the current disability employment gap stands at 28 percentage points as of December 2024 and that for autistic people in particular the gap may be even more substantial.We are committed to supporting all neurodivergent people in their employment journeys and reducing the employment gap, and on 29 January this year, we launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity to advise us on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work. Recommendations are due in the late summer.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to increase funding for the development of non-animal human-relevant testing methods.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are considering funding into alternatives for animal testing as part of the Spending Review and cannot commit funding amounts in advance of this process.The Government already invests £10m annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to accelerate the development and adoption of 3Rs approaches. The NC3Rs is currently undergoing a five year funding review that will determine future allocation of resources. A significant amount of research funding in the UK also goes to underpinning technologies that have the potential to deliver the 3Rs.

Whether the Propriety and Ethics Team has (a) carried out investigations into and (b) provided the Prime Minister with advice on (i) allegations of and (ii) the alleged involvement of Ministers in corruption in Bangladesh in the last 12 months.

Following a self-referral by the former Economic Secretary to the Treasury, the Hon Member for Hampstead and Highgate, the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards undertook a fact-finding process relating to recent media allegations about the former minister. Advice from the Independent Adviser was provided to the Prime Minister and published on gov.uk on 14 January 2025. As has been the case under successive administrations, it is a long-standing principle that Civil Service advice is given and treated in confidence. This includes detailing whether or not advice has been given and by whom.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will meet with representatives of the school milk supply chain to discuss the classification of school milk as a household waste.

I am responding to these PQs as the Minister who is responsible for Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR). In autumn last year my department published an assessment of the impacts of implementing pEPR, including on inflation, when the regulations were laid in parliament, however, this impact assessment does not include an assessment of the impact on specific sectors/products. The governments of the four nations of the United Kingdom will monitor the effectiveness and impact of the regulations and will amend them when and where appropriate.I will politely decline the meeting as I am aware of the issues around the definition of household packaging and its impact across a number of sectors. However my officials, who have been working with stakeholders on assessing the possibility of amending the household packaging definition, would be happy to meet representative of the milk supply chain.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of including school milk cartons in the Extended Producer Responsibility obligations on (a) Government and (b) school spending.

I am responding to these PQs as the Minister who is responsible for Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR). In autumn last year my department published an assessment of the impacts of implementing pEPR, including on inflation, when the regulations were laid in parliament, however, this impact assessment does not include an assessment of the impact on specific sectors/products. The governments of the four nations of the United Kingdom will monitor the effectiveness and impact of the regulations and will amend them when and where appropriate.I will politely decline the meeting as I am aware of the issues around the definition of household packaging and its impact across a number of sectors. However my officials, who have been working with stakeholders on assessing the possibility of amending the household packaging definition, would be happy to meet representative of the milk supply chain.

What steps she is taking to improve the compliance of license holders with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

All establishments licensed to breed or supply animals, or to carry out regulated procedures on animals under ASPA in Great Britain, are subject to the full requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).The Regulator conducts audits to assure establishments’ compliance with the terms of their licences, the Code of Practice and with ASPA. Each establishment will receive an audit at least every three years if it does not hold special species and at least every year if it holds specially protected species.The Regulator is presently undertaking a structured programme of reforms. This will increase the total number of Inspectors from 17 at the end of 2023, to 22 by end of 2025.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) suppression of the freedom of (i) religion or (ii) belief, (b) persecution of people who convert to Christianity and (c) the targeting of house churches on Christians in Iran.

We condemn Iran's severe repression of Freedom of Religion or Belief including against Christians. The UK was integral to the delivery of the Iran human rights resolution, adopted by the UN Third Committee in November 2024, which called on Iran to cease monitoring individuals on account of their religious identity, to release all religious practitioners imprisoned for their membership in or activities as part of a religious minority group, and to ensure religious rights are upheld. We will continue to raise human rights issues directly with the Iranian government, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.