Written questions by Thomas.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to agricultural property relief on the domestic dairy farming industry.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 gets the balance right between supporting farms and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992.The reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, in 2026-27 paying more inheritance tax. This means almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

How many licensed public houses were operating on (a) 5 July 2024 and (b) 31 January 2025 in Bromsgrove constituency.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 6th February is attached.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of bus services in Bromsgrove constituency.

The government knows that a modern public transport network is vital to providing access to services and keeping communities connected. The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December to put the power over local bus services back into the hands of local leaders. In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. Worcestershire County Authority have been allocated over £9 million of this funding, helping to improve bus services across the area, including Bromsgrove.

What steps his Department is taking to help promote retail entrepreneurship in Bromsgrove constituency.

The Government supports entrepreneurs, including those in Bromsgrove, through Start-up Loans via the British Business Bank and through programmes such as Growth Hubs in England and Help to Grow: Management across the UK. We will publish our Small Business Strategy later this year, which will signal a clear overarching ambition to promote entrepreneurship and articulate a new vision for business support, built around the new Business Growth Service. The strategy will enable scale-ups and other small businesses to grow, empowering entrepreneurs to innovate, export, and create new jobs. Our Industrial Strategy is unreservedly pro-business, engaging on complex issues that are barriers to investment, like skills, recruitment of international talent, data, R&D, technology adoption, access to finance, competition, regulation, energy prices, grid connections, infrastructure, and planning – all through the lens of promoting investment.

What changes have there been in the number of GPs working between 5 July 2024 and 31 January 2025 in Bromsgrove constituency.

General practice workforce data is available for the last working day of every month and is published approximately four weeks after collection. Therefore, we present data for 31 July 2024 and 31 December 2024.Between 31 July 2024 and 31 December 2024, the number of fully qualified general practitioners (GPs) in general practice in Bromsgrove constituency increased by 0.1 full-time equivalent (FTE). Including GPs in training grade, the number of doctors in general practice increased by 2.3 FTE over the same period.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of small businesses in Bromsgrove constituency (a) in July 2024 and (b) as of 6 February 2025.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 6th February is attached.

Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps with voluntary organisations to help increase the number of adult volunteers in (a) uniformed youth activity groups and (b) Scouts.

To date, the DCMS Uniformed Youth Fund has enabled Uniformed Youth organisations to recruit over 4,200 adult volunteers in hundreds of new or expanded units across England, and created over 20,500 new places for young people. This includes over 1,000 new volunteers who have been recruited by the Scouts.In line with the National Youth Strategy announcement in November 2024, the Government has committed to continue funding Uniformed Youth organisations in 2025/26 to ensure young people can continue to access opportunities outside of school in all parts of the country. More details will be shared in due course.

Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to increase youth services provision in Bromsgrove constituency.

Local Authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people in their area.We will be launching the Local Youth Transformation pilot this year, which will support local authorities to build back capability to ensure a youth offer which addresses the needs of young people and delivers on government priorities.This government has also committed to co-producing a new National Youth Strategy. As part of the Strategy, we will be consulting closely with young people and the youth sector. The Strategy will be published this summer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the risk of flooding in Bromsgrove constituency.

Communities at risk of flooding in the Bromsgrove constituency include Hagley, Hollywood, and Bromsgrove itself. At present, there have been no reports to the Environment Agency of property flooding in this constituency during the recent wet weather. The Environment Agency has been supporting Worcestershire County Council as the Lead Local Flood Authority and Bromsgrove District Council, to establish flood risk management projects on the 2021-2026 Flood and Coastal Risk Management Investment Programme. Over £300,000 has been invested to date with a further £1.2 million planned to be invested under the new Government. The projects aim to better protect over 100 properties from flooding through Property Level Resilience interventions across Bromsgrove and Redditch Council areas. The Environment Agency is engaging with the community at Hagley and Bromsgrove via flood action groups and responding to direct enquiries from residents. A Flood Warning Service is available to over 900 homes and businesses at risk of flooding from main rivers in the constituency. The Environment Agency will continue to collaborate with partners towards raising awareness of flood risk in the area to support community resilience.

What assessment he has made of the potential contribution of Chinese manufacturing in delivering the Government's Clean Power 2030 goal.

As set out in the Integrated Review Refresh, a positive trading relationship benefits both the UK and China, and we continue to recognise the importance of trade and investment from China where it is safe, reciprocal and mutually beneficial. The Government works closely with industry to maintain a detailed picture of foreign involvement in critical national infrastructure. Foreign involvement in critical national infrastructure undergoes the highest levels of scrutiny, with the government and industry working alongside each other to monitor and mitigate the security risks in the energy sector and its supply chain.

What provision she has made for the costs associated with the proposed Treaty with Mauritius on the future sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory in her Departmental Budget; and from which Departmental budget will the settlement be paid.

The FCDO and the MOD are the lead departments for this agreement. Any financial obligations, including departmental budgetary responsibilities, will be managed responsibly within the government’s fiscal framework, including through the upcoming Spending Review.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with hon. Members from Worcestershire on local government reform.

The Secretary of State has not had discussions with Members from Worcestershire on local government reform.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of building a westerly relief road around Bromsgrove.

It is for the local authority to identify which local road schemes should be proposed and progressed as part of their strategic transport plans. It would therefore be for Worcestershire County Council to bring forward any plans for a westerly bypass for Bromsgrove, should it wish to do so.

What steps she is taking to tackle crime that crosses police force boundaries.

The Government is committed to ensuring that law enforcement has the resources it needs to tackle crime effectively, including when crime crosses police force boundaries.When it does, the National Crime Agency (NCA), which leads the UK's fight to cut serious and organised crime, and policing’s Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) network, have specialised intelligence and investigative teams that are deployed across the full range of threats to bring offenders to justice. This includes tackling ‘borderless’ serious crimes including fraud, cyber-enabled criminality, online child sexual exploitation and abuse and County Lines.Both the NCA and ROCU network have been allocated significant resources to enhance their capacity and capability to continue tackling serious crime at both national and regional levels.The Home Office is also funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response to County Lines. This is vital in strengthening the law enforcement response and enabling police forces to work together to tackle this complex issue.

How many state school teachers were employed in Bromsgrove constituency on (a) 5 July 2024 and (b) 6 February 2025.

Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers in each school, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.As of November 2023, the latest date for which data is available, there were 943 full-time equivalent teachers employed in the 38 state-funded schools in Bromsgrove constituency.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support local museums.

Local museums animate towns, high streets and rural communities across the country. Their programmes and activities promote education, entertainment and wellbeing, and play an important role in delivering the government’s agenda.The Government, with Arts Council England (ACE), supports local museums through the ACE 2023-26 National Portfolio supporting 80 museum organisations with £37m annually, and a further £3m annually is invested in the Museum Development Network. The Government also funds regional museums maintenance through the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND), with £86.6 million committed to date, and provides tax incentives through both the Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief, and the VAT Refund Scheme for museums. We hope to announce more soon.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent trends in the level of funding for the Listed Places of Worship Scheme on the VAT rebate threshold for large church restoration projects.

On the 22nd of January, I was pleased to announce that the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme would continue from March 2025 to March 2026 with a budget of £23m.Further details can be found here in the Written Statement.As I said in his Westminster Hall debate on the subject, based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by the change.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of cooperation between state and independent schools on state schools.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education does not plan to make an assessment of the potential impact of cooperation between state and private schools on state schools.Many of the schools involved in cross sector partnership working carry out their own impact assessments of the activities they are involved in, though the department does not endorse or assure such assessments.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of negotiating a free trade agreement with the United States.

The UK-US trading relationship is already worth around £300 billion, supporting over a million jobs and representing 17% of total UK trade. This government's priority is economic growth and increasing trade with international partners is a major part of that. The Prime Minister had a warm call with President Trump on 26 January where they discussed trade and the economy and agreed to meet soon for further discussions.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of access to greenbelt countryside in north Worcestershire on the health of residents in local communities.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 29375 on 18 February 2025.