Written questions by Thomas.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of making care homes non-exempt from the High Value Council Tax Surcharge on care home financial viability, the level of care received by care home residents and local authority finances.

Awaiting answer.

(a) what steps he is taking in response to Tommy's recommendation of an implementation Graded Model of Miscarriage Care across England, and (b) what steps he is taking to increase support for people who have a miscarriage in Bromsgrove and the Villages.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her Department is taking to (a) ensure police forces pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry to avoid categorising victim-based offences cases as a evidential difficulties outcome prematurely and (b) support police forces to reduce the number of victim-based cases being categorised as a evidential difficulties outcome.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure ethical practices by major retirement housing providers in regard to leaseholder rights; and whether he plans to alter the retirement housing service charges system.

Awaiting answer.

What consideration she has given to exempting care homes from the High Value Council Tax Surcharge in line with social landlords.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of sharp edges on plastic collars of tethered bottle caps on the safety of people with pre-existing conditions.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of including anaesthetists on the National Maternity and Neonatal Task Force; what consultation was taken with representative bodies of anaesthetists when creating the National Maternity and Neonatal Task Force; and whether he plans to include anaesthetists on the National Maternity and Neonatal Task Force in the future.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to her Department's White Paper entitled Every child achieving and thriving, published on 23 February 2026, what consideration was given to education otherwise than in school or at school (EOTIS/EOTAS) provision when developing the White Paper; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes in the White Paper on children currently accessing EOTIS/EOTAS.

Awaiting answer.

How many victims of Modern Slavery with a positive conclusive grounds decision were eligible for Local Authority housing during the period 1st January 2025 to 31st December 2025.

I refer the Hon. Member to the response given to UIN 127995 on 21st April 2026.

Communities and Local Government, (a) when he will publish the analysis of responses regarding the ‘Strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services’ consultation launched 4 July 2025, and (b) what steps is he taking to help protect leaseholders in Bromsgrove and the Villages from management companies and landlords that do not deliver an adequate level of maintenance.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 123090 on 31 March 2026 and UIN 85213 on 4 November 2025.

Pursuant to Question 121253, what assessment has been made of the potential impact on beneficiaries of them paying a net tax rate of 68% when the pension holder passes away after the age of 75 resulting in a 40% inheritance tax and a 45% income tax charge on the remaining private pension.

More than 90 per cent of UK estates will continue to have no inheritance tax liability in 2030-31 following the reforms to the inheritance tax treatment of pensions. The reforms will only affect a minority of those with inheritable pension wealth. Income tax is only due from beneficiaries in certain circumstances. It is due at the beneficiary’s marginal income tax rate. Significant tax relief is provided on pension contributions when payments are made into a pension because the Government wishes to encourage pension saving to help ensure that people have an income, or funds on which they can draw, throughout retirement. In cases where income tax is due on pension benefits paid to a beneficiary, contributions into the pension scheme will have received this tax relief when they were made. If the pension benefits had been withdrawn by the original member, they would have been liable to income tax. If the original member died with the cash, or assets purchased with that cash, then this would then generally be included in the valuation of their estate for inheritance tax purposes too and inheritance tax paid if appropriate. Income tax will not be due on the amount of relevant death benefits equal to any inheritance tax due on that pension death benefit. This means the same value will not be subject to both inheritance tax and income tax. For example, if beneficiaries choose to withdraw their taxable benefits and pay income tax on the full amount, the legislation provides for them to reduce their taxable pension income by any inheritance tax paid. Guidance on this will be published in due course ahead of the changes taking effect in April 2027.

What steps he is taking to (a) improve ADHD diagnosis timeframes, (b) reduce the waiting list for ADHD medication and (c) improve support for patients and their families whilst undergoing the diagnostic process in Bromsgrove and the Villages.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including provision of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.The Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB is committed to wait times for ADHD assessment of less than 18 weeks, however, there are known waits for children and young people to access ADHD diagnostic assessment services due to an increase in demand. There are currently 1,600 children and young people waiting for an assessment via an NHS provider, with an average wait time of 60 weeks. For adults, ADHD assessments are conducted by Right to Choose providers only and these services typically have a waiting time below the 18-week standard.All patients, including children and young people, can access the Right to Choose pathway for ADHD assessments through their general practice, allowing them to select an alternative provider if the waiting time for NHS services exceeds 18 weeks at the point of referral. The ICB has put in place a number of contracts under Right to Choose to improve choice for patients and is working with its NHS commissioned services to reduce long waits. It has also commissioned additional capacity for those children waiting over 104 weeks in the NHS service in 2025/26 and will continue this in 2026/27.For children, medication is provided by the NHS commissioned service, and the waiting time is six to eight weeks for first medication reviews, and four to six months to initiate medication following diagnosis. It should be noted that NICE guidelines expect non-pharmaceutical interventions to be considered before medication for all children. The ICB is investing in the local NHS commissioned service to increase medication treatment capacity. For adults, the only pathway available for ADHD assessments is Right to Choose. The ICB advises that there is no waiting list for these patients as they will automatically be initiated and titrated for medication, where that is identified as an appropriate treatment.Furthermore, the ICB is at the end of a tendering process for a Neurodivergence Support Service for zero to 25 year olds and their families, and this should go live from September 2026. The ICB is considering commissioning a service for adults age 25 years old and over from April 2027.More broadly, NHS England issued advice to systems on ADHD service delivery and prioritisation on 7 October 2025. This advice includes guidance on managing service provisions, reviewing waiting lists, and providing patient support. The advice can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/adhd-service-delivery-and-prioritisation-advice-to-systems/Through the NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework, published 24 October 2025, NHS England has set clear expectations for local ICBs and trusts to improve access, experience, and outcomes for ADHD services over the next three years, focusing on improving quality and productivity. The framework was explicit that ICBs and providers are expected to optimise existing resources to reduce long waits for ADHD assessments and improve the quality of assessments by implementing existing and new guidance, as published.

How many victims of Modern Slavery with a positive conclusive grounds decision were eligible for local authority housing during the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025.

The Home Office does not hold or publish data on whether victims of modern slavery with a positive Conclusive Grounds decision were eligible for local authority housing, as housing eligibility decisions are made by local authorities and are not recorded in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) datasets.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her department is taking to introduce minimum animal welfare standards for all food imports that are in line with British animal welfare standards for domestic farmers.

I refer the Hon. Member to the reply given to Mr Lee Dillon on 4 February 2026 to PQ UIN 109910.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that efforts by local authorities to encourage the restoration of empty dwellings by providing exemptions from long-term empty home premiums do not result in buildings becoming more derelict.

Local authorities have discretionary powers to change additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The Government recognises that there are circumstances where it may not be appropriate for a premium to apply and we have introduced a number of statutory exemptions to premiums. These include 12 months exemption for empty homes undergoing major repairs or structural alterations to support bringing empty homes back into use and to prevent buildings becoming more derelict. The taxpayer will have to apply for the exception, and provide supporting evidence to the relevant local authority. It is for the local authorities to decide where it is appropriate to apply the premium, taking into account a number of factors, including local circumstances and government guidance.

What plans he has to introduce additional incentives for non-domestic buildings to use building energy management systems, with consideration to energy costs, carbon emissions and building occupants health.

Building Energy Management Systems can help landlords meet their obligations under the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015. The Energy Systems Catapult has guidance on Building Energy Management Systems, available to all public sector organisations at https://es.catapult.org.uk/tools-and-labs/public-sector-decarbonisation-guidance/all-tools-and-tutorials/

What assessment her Department has made of the number of nurseries in England restricting free childcare hours due to cost and availability; what steps her Department is taking to ensure parents receive the full free childcare hours they are entitled to; and what support her Department is giving with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to nurseries to sustainably deliver funded places.

It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.Local authorities have a statutory duty to secure free early education and childcare for eligible children in their area. Eligible children are entitled to 570 or 1,140 hours of free early education and childcare over the calendar year from when they become eligible.Providers should set out how many free hours parents are getting per day and per week, to ensure parents understand what free hours they are receiving over the calendar year from when their child first becomes eligible.Providers can also charge parents for any additional, private paid hours according to their usual terms and conditions provided taking up private paid hours is not a condition of accessing a free place.In 2026/27, we are expecting to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, investing over £1 billion more this year compared to 2025/26 to deliver a full year of the expanded entitlements and an increase to entitlements funding rates.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2026 to Question 121184 on Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Apprentices, how many of the Department's 57 apprentices were recruited in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.

The department offers apprenticeships to internal staff as part of our learning and development offer. Since the original PQ, our records have updated to reflect an additional apprenticeship completion in 2025. We therefore now have 58 members of DSIT staff that are either currently undertaking an apprenticeship or have completed an apprenticeship between 2023 and 2025. (GOV.UK). This information is obtained from our Apprenticeship Employer Account on GOV.UK.Year by year breakdown:YearApprenticeships (live and completed)2023No records due to creation of the department from fBEIS, CO and DCMS20247202551Total58

Whether his department is taking steps to develop a dedicated lung health plan for respiratory conditions and lung disease.

As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, we are rolling out lung cancer screening, and the world-leading Tobacco and Vapes Bill will help deliver our ambition for a smoke-free United Kingdom. We are also expanding access to spirometry tests in community diagnostic centres to enable faster diagnosis of lung conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.The Government will consider long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks (MSFs), including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future MSFs will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. After the initial wave of MSFs is complete, the National Quality Board will determine the conditions to prioritise for new MSFs as part of its work programme.

Whether she has considered changing the basis for determining Vehicle Excise Duty rates on motorcycles in line with other vehicles; and whether her Department plans to reduce Vehicle Excise Duty on motorcycles.

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a tax on vehicles used or kept on public roads. Different rates apply to cars, vans and motorcycles, and the rate for each vehicle is calculated according to a range of factors, such as date of first registration, engine size, and CO2 emissions. VED for motorcycles is based on engine size. Zero emission motorcycles now pay the lowest VED rate which applies to the smallest engine size of 150cc or less (currently £26, and increasing to £27 from 1 April 2026 in line with the Retail Price Index). The government does not currently have any plans to reform the VED system for motorcycles.The Government annually reviews the rates and thresholds of taxes and reliefs to ensure that they are appropriate and reflect the current state of the economy. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the public finances.