Written questions by Thomas.

What steps his Department plans to take to reduce waiting times for specialist operations.

Tackling waiting lists, including for specialist operations, is a key priority for the Government. We have now exceeded our pledge to deliver an additional two million appointments, tests, and operations, having delivered 4.6 million more since July 2024. This additional 4.6 million includes specialist operations, consultations, diagnostic tests, and treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and endoscopy.The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.The plan includes wide ranging reforms to improve patients’ access to, and experience of care, in part by reducing unnecessary appointments in favour of faster and more local diagnostics.Dedicated and protected surgical hubs will transform the way the National Health Service provides elective care by focusing on providing high volume low complexity (HVLC) surgery, helping patients get quicker access to common surgical procedures. These surgical hubs help place HVLC surgeries away from the acute site, improving outcomes for patients, reducing pressures on hospitals, and improving capacity for more specialist procedures in the acute site. The Department is committed to increasing the number of hubs over the next three years, so that more operations can be carried out. Surgical hubs are endorsed by Getting It Right First Time, a national NHS England programme which undertakes reviews of specialities and identifies changes to improve how services are run, to create efficiencies and improve patient outcomes, including for surgical specialties.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle homelessness outside of large urban areas.

Homelessness levels are far too high. We must address this and deliver long term solutions in all parts of England. The government is looking at these issues carefully and is developing a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness.The government have already taken the first steps, including making a £1 billion investment in homelessness and rough sleeping services across England this year. This is a £233 million increase on the previous year to help prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping.

Whether she plans to increase the use of stop and search to tackle knife crime in the West Midlands.

Halving knife crime over the next decade is a central objective of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission and we are taking decisive action to achieve it.Stop and search is an important tool for tackling knife crime. Police officers have the power to stop and search individuals or vehicles for offensive weapons, provided they have reasonable grounds to suspect they will find the item.In addition, where serious violence has occurred, or where intelligence suggests it may occur, a senior police officer may authorise police officers to stop and search any individual or vehicle for weapons, with or without reasonable suspicion. These authorisations are limited to a particular area for a specific period of time, usually no longer than 24 hours but may be extended to up to 48 hours in certain circumstances.The operational use of stop and search is determined by individual police forces, based on local intelligence and priorities within local communities, and it must always be conducted fairly and appropriately.Beyond the use of stop and search, the Government is taking decisive national action on knife crime. This includes banning zombie-style knives, introducing legislation to prohibit ninja swords, tackling knife-enabled robbery and establishing new Prevention Partnerships to support those who are most at risk and divert them away from knife crime.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of prioritising NHS jobs for British citizens who have gained medical qualifications (a) within the UK and (b) from institutions within other European countries.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan published on 3 July, we will work across Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training.We will publish a new 10 Year Workforce Plan later this year to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.

How many breathalyser tests were carried out across West Mercia in the last 12 months; how many tested positive; and how many resulted in a prosecution.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on roadside breath tests for alcohol as part of its annual ‘Police Powers and Procedures: Roads policing’ statistical release. The latest data is available here Police powers and procedures: Roads policing, to December 2023 - GOV.UK and covers the calendar year ending December 2023.In 2023, West Mercia Police carried out 7,811 roadside breath tests for alcohol, of which 1,248 were positive or refused.The Home Office does not hold information on how many of these resulted in a prosecution.

How many fines were issued to parents for unauthorised school absence in (a) Bromsgrove constituency and (b) Worcestershire in the last 12 months.

The information is not held by the department at constituency level.Information on penalty notices for unauthorised absence is collected at local authority level. The latest available data, covering the 2023/24 academic year is available in the parental responsibility measures statistical release here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/parental-responsibility-measures/2023-24.The number of penalty notices issued in Worcestershire in the 2023/24 academic year is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e0dc750b-0698-49dc-a884-08ddb31391cd.

Whether she has made an assessment with the Secretary of State for Education of the potential impact of trends in the level of bus fares on school attendance.

The Department for Transport has made no such assessment. The government recognises the importance of affordable local bus services in facilitating access to education. We have acted to ensure bus services remain affordable by introducing the £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London, and at the Spending Review announced this would be extended by over a year until March 2027. 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. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country, of which Worcestershire County Council has been allocated £9.4 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce initiatives to reduce the cost of travel for young people. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to bus services in this Spending Review by confirming continued funding each year from 2026/27 to maintain and improve vital bus services, including taking forward bus franchising pilots in areas including York and North Yorkshire.

What contingency plans his Department has put in place in the event of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of a closure on energy security in the UK.

Oil and gas markets are well supplied and functioning normally. Though they have responded to events in the Middle East, prices remain within the bounds we have seen over the last year. We have not witnessed any material reduction of traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz. DESNZ will continue monitoring closely for any future impacts. The UK holds oil stocks that can be released onto the global market collectively with releases by other International Energy Agency member countries in the event of a global oil supply disruption. The Government's Clean Energy Superpower Mission, supported by the largest investment in home-grown clean energy in British history, will enhance energy security by boosting our energy independence, protecting billpayers, and reducing exposure to global supply shocks.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase participation in sport for (a) adolescent girls and (b) all adolescents.

The Government believes that opportunities to play sport and get physically active should be available to everyone and we recognise that there are barriers which prevent some people from getting active, with women and girls less likely to be active than other groups.The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England, which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. One of the key pillars in their “Uniting the Movement” strategy is to focus on positive experiences for children and young people. Their “This Girl Can” campaign, which recently celebrated its ten year anniversary, has promoted women’s sport, challenged prejudice and made clear that sport is for everyone.The Government is committed to ensuring as many people as possible have access to high quality grassroots sports facilities, with a particular focus on providing for under-represented groups, such as women and girls.That is why we are investing £100 million through the Multi Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to build and upgrade high-quality grassroots sports pitches and facilities in the communities across the UK that need it most, including children and young people.On 20 June 2025, the Culture Secretary announced that following Spending Review, at least £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans. I also attended a roundtable in Parliament this week on getting girls active.

What steps he is taking to improve palliative care in the context of assisted dying.

Irrespective of any legislation on assisted dying, we must continue to work towards creating a society where every person who needs it receives high-quality, compassionate palliative and end of life care. The Government will shift the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community and we recognise that it is vital to include palliative care and end of life care in this shift.Palliative care services are included in the list of services that integrated care boards (ICBs) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England for 2024/25 and 2025/26 to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. Additionally, we are providing children and young people’s hospices with £26 million of revenue funding for 2025/26.Earlier this year, I met with key palliative care and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format, with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of a public holiday to commemorate the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Government recognises the remarkable legacy of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.We regularly receive requests for additional bank and public holidays to mark a variety of occasions. While an additional bank holiday may benefit some communities and sectors, the cost to the economy remains considerable. The latest analysis estimates the cost to the UK economy for a one-off bank holiday to be around £2 billion.For these reasons, the Government currently has no plans to change the well-established pattern of bank holidays.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote beekeeping.

In 2024 the annual Hive Count exercise produced a figure of 252, 647 honey bee colonies in the UK which indicates that there continues to be interest in keeping bees. There are over 52,700 beekeepers in England, Wales and Scotland registered on BeeBase, the voluntary register managed by the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit (NBU). Defra encourages all beekeepers to have good husbandry skills, including recognition of pests and disease and husbandry practices which can minimise the risk of introducing and spreading disease within an apiary.

How many Government bodies use the Government Car Service; and what the average number of journeys has been in each Department in the last 12 months.

Since April 2012, the Government Car Service has provided a Departmental Pool Car (DPC) service to several Government Departments for their ministerial travel, whereby the official car is contracted to a Department rather than allocated to an individual. The use made of these services based at Departments is therefore not held by the Cabinet Office.As is longstanding practice for security reasons, specific details regarding the allocation of vehicles are also not disclosed.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme in Bromsgrove.

Agreements under the Countryside Stewardship scheme in the Bromsgrove Parliamentary Constituency area contain 2,139 hectares of land as of 2024. The scheme supports a range of enhanced environmental outcomes from restoring wildlife habitats, creating woodlands to managing flood risk. Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier is expected to continue to deliver a range of environmental benefits to farmers when it opens to new applications.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to promote the use of redundant churches for (a) cultural, (b) community and (c) educational purposes.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Arms-Length body the Churches Conservation Trust is the national charity that saves redundant historic churches at risk, and has a portfolio of over 350 churches that have been kept open and now used to serve the local communities. These are now enjoyed as cultural, social, tourism and educational resources with over 4000 community, arts and educational events taking place within them per year.Additionally, redundant churches may be eligible for wider DCMS Heritage funding to support their use by the community. In February my Department announced new funding worth almost £20 million for 2025/26. The Heritage at Risk fund will restore local heritage and is targeted towards areas of higher deprivation. The Heritage Revival Fund empowers local people to take control of and look after their local heritage, supporting community organisations to own neglected heritage buildings and bring them back into good use.

Whether he plans to expand the cadet forces in state schools with limited provision.

We want every young person to have the opportunity to enjoy the many benefits that can be gained from the cadet experience. The joint Ministry of Defence and Department for Education Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP) has already increased the number of cadet units in schools to over 500, with the focus on improving provision in state schools. Prior to CEP, 75% of school cadet units were in independent schools; now around 60% are in the state sector. We are exploring how we can increase the size and the offer of the Cadet Forces, both in schools and the community, and have been engaging widely to consider how best to deliver this growth. This work is aligned with the recent Strategic Defence Review which recommends expanding the Cadet Forces by 30% by 2030.

Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of local authority planning decisions have been overturned by the Planning Inspectorate in the last 12 months.

Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 the Planning Inspectorate overturned 4,747 planning decisions made by Local Planning Authorities (LPAs). These represent 31% of the 15,344 decisions made by the Planning Inspectorate on LPA planning cases in this period. Note these figures are taken from administrative data and so are subject to minor revisions. The most recent published MHCLG statistics help put the 4,747 decisions in context (noting the different time periods covered). Between January to December 2024: 316,715 planning decisions were made by LPAs – so roughly 1.5% of these are overturned by the Planning Inspectorate.44,479 planning applications were refused by LPAs – so approximately 11% of refused LPA decisions are overturned by the Planning Inspectorate.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the resilience of the UK’s digital economy in the event of disruption to undersea data cables.

The Government recognises the critical role of undersea data cables in the UK’s digital economy. Individual subsea cables can be vulnerable to disruption. There is an average of 12 breaks a year from fishing, anchor drag, landslides and other causes. Most breaks have minimal impact on digital services due to resilience in the UK network. The UK has a large number of cables relative to other island nations. They are also geographically dispersed so data can be rerouted in the event of most disruptions. However, DSIT lead work on emergency preparedness and response in the event of a serious incident, as described in the National Risk Register.

What steps her Department has taken to tackle (a) anti-social behaviour and (b) shoplifting in Wythall.

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.The Government’s Plan for Change details our commitment to reduce ASB, including delivery of a dedicated lead officer in every police force in England and Wales working with communities to develop a local ASB action plan. We are also delivering on our commitment to restore and strengthen neighbourhood policing, ensuring thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers are out patrolling in our town centres and communities to make the streets safer.Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are strengthening the powers available to the police and other relevant agencies to tackle ASB, including introducing new Respect Orders to tackle persistent adult ASB offenders, and extending the maximum exclusion period for dispersal directions from 48 to 72 hours. Other measures in the Bill include enhancing the powers for the police to seize nuisance off-road bikes, and other vehicles which are being used in an anti-social manner, without having to first give a warning to the offender.In the same bill, we are repealing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, which means it can only be tried in a magistrate’s court, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously. In addition, we have brought a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.The Home Office is also providing £66.3 million funding in 2025-26 to forces in England and Wales to deliver high visibility patrols in the areas worst affected by knife crime, serious violence, and anti-social behaviour. West Mercia police will receive £1,000,000 of this funding.We will continue to crack down on the organised gangs targeting retailers. We will provide £5 million over the next three years to continue to fund Opal, the National Policing Intelligence Unit for serious organised acquisitive crime.We will also invest £2 million over the next three years in the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime.I am committed to chairing the Retail Crime Forum which brings together the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement agencies to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration, share best practice and to work collectively to tackle the serious issue of retail crime. This includes the development of a new strategy to tackle shop theft published by policing, retail sector representatives and industry as part of collective efforts to combat shop theft. The strategy builds on previous progress made by police and retailers but provides a more comprehensive and intelligence-led approach to tackle all perpetrators of shop theft – not just organised criminal gangs.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of charging VAT on independent school fees on cadet force partnerships between state and independent schools.

Both independent schools and state schools with established Combined Cadet Force contingents continue to play an important role in supporting junior partners. There are currently 45 ‘junior partnerships’ where independent schools are supporting state schools to set up and run their cadet units. Changes to VAT on independent school fees came into effect in January 2025, midway through the school academic year. There is no current evidence of impact. Given the fantastic benefits which can be gained from the cadet experience the Government wants more young people to be able to become cadets. The recently published Strategic Defence Review recommended an expansion of Cadet Forces across the country by 30% by 2030.