Written questions by Dinenage.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph 3.82 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October, how much of the flood resilience funding will be spent in Gosport constituency.

This Government is investing £2.4 billion over this year and next year to improve flood resilience by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. The list of projects to receive Government funding will be consented over the coming months in the usual way through Regional Flood and Coastal Committees, with local representation.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the level of the bus fare cap on rates of bus travel in Gosport constituency.

In the Budget on 30 October, the government confirmed it will invest over £150 million to introduce a new £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London from 1 January until 31 December 2025. Under the plans of the previous administration, the current £2 cap on bus fares had been due to expire on 31 December 2024, and prior to the Budget, there was no further funding available to maintain the cap beyond this point. Considering all its impacts, the fare cap is not financially sustainable for taxpayers and bus operators at £2. Capping fares at £3 will keep bus travel affordable while ensuring the cap is fair to taxpayers, helping millions of people access better opportunities, travel for less and protect vital bus routes, including in Gosport.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2024 to Question 10427 on Animal Experiments: Licensing, how many applications received by the regulator were returned to the applicant for reconsideration between 1 January 2023 and 30 September 2024; and how many applicants withdrew an application in response to feedback from the regulator in that period.

The Home Office Regulator for animals in science provides comprehensive guidance to project licence applicants and has a thorough and extensive application process; see Guidance at:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6700017e080bdf716392ee63/Guidance_on_the_operation_of_ASPA_-_December_2023.pdfApplicants may not apply for a licence unless they are doing so under an Establishment licence with all the associated requirements of the legislation, have demonstrable funding and can demonstrate appropriate availability of resources as well as having been through a rigorous process of local checks and balances. First time applications to the Regulator are therefore of general high conformity with legal requirements.The Regulator reports that project licence applications for 2024, to date, had a mean number of 2.4 iterations before granting. The Regulator does not collect data on the number of applications withdrawn, but reports that such occurrences are rare.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Historic England's High Street Heritage Action Zone programme on (a) local economic regeneration and (b) the maintenance of cultural assets.

We have not made such an assessment, but Historic England has commissioned an external evaluation of the High Streets Heritage Action Zone programme, which was designed to drive economic growth in places that need it the most. We await the report for this which will be published in March 2025.

Whether she will commit to the continued funding of the Heritage Schools programme.

Programme funding for the 2025/26 financial year is subject to the outcomes of the department’s business planning. This includes the Heritage Schools programme, led by Historic England. Details will be set out in due course.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the police allocation formula on (a) policing, (b) crime and (c) council tax in Hampshire.

The government will consider police funding, including the allocation of funding to forces including Hampshire Police, in the round as part of phase 2 of the Spending Review.Each year the Home Office produces a Police Grant Report which is published and voted on by Parliament and contains grant funding allocations for the following year to be paid out under the Police Act 1996.The funding formula used for distributing Home Office Police Main Grant divides funds between different activities that (a) the police undertake and (b) in tackling crime. (c) Setting the police council tax precept is a matter for Hampshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner who will take into account the views of the local community and the Police and Crime Panel.A copy of the most recent Grant Report for 2024-25 has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and can be found online:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b913a1ee7d49000d9849d4/E03063051_-_Police_Grant_Report__England_and_Wales__24-25_Accessible.pdf

With reference to Table 5.2 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, for what reason the estimated revenue from the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime in the 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29 financial years is lower than was set out in her Department’s Tax Information and Impact Note published on 29 July 2024.

The estimated revenue from the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime has been updated to reflect latest economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility and latest tax return data.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that large scale lotteries meet social responsibility requirements.

There are around 500 large society lotteries licensed by the Gambling Commission. The Gambling Act 2005 has licensing objectives that underpin the responsible functions that any Lottery must meet. These include:preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder, or being used to support crimeensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open wayprotecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.All Society and local authority lotteries licensed by the Gambling Commission are required to comply with the relevant conditions and codes of practice, which are set by the Gambling Commission. These licence conditions are set out at the time a licence is issued. Further information about social responsibility requirements are contained in the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice.The National Lottery is managed under separate legislation - the National Lottery Act 1993. This establishes a statutory duty on the Government to ensure it is run with due propriety, wide social value commitments, while contributing substantially to Good Causes across the UK and via the Lottery Duty.The Licence is awarded through a competitive process to an operator with an overriding duty to ensure the interests of every Participant in respect of playing, engaging with or being exposed to, the National Lottery are protected. This is supported through regulatory requirements overseen by the Gambling Commission.The current operator Allwyn has its own strategy of creating additional social value commitments in the way they operate their business and engage with all National Lottery partners. More information on Allwyn’s social value plan can be found here.

What estimate her Department has made of the potential revenue loss from large society lotteries who should be paying lottery duty due to not meeting social responsibility requirements but have not.

Exemptions are permitted from Lottery Duty including for lotteries run as Large Society Lotteries under the terms of the Gambling Act 2005. Regulatory responsibility for those lotteries lies with the Gambling Commission. Society lotteries require a licence to operate from the Gambling Commission and are tightly regulated.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of delays to fitness to practice investigations on dentists' mental health.

No assessment has been made by the Department. The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator for dentists and dental care professionals in the United Kingdom. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) is responsible for overseeing the work of the healthcare professional regulators. The PSA’s latest report on the GDC’s performance is available at the following link:https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/docs/default-source/publications/performance-reviews/monitoring-report-gdc-2022-23.pdf?sfvrsn=aa0b4a20_7

Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the open letter entitled Statement on AI Training, published on 23 October 2024.

The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts, and Tourism and I held roundtables with the creative, media and AI sectors last month and our departments continue to engage with those stakeholders to inform our approach. The Statement on AI Training provides the views of individual creators and performers from across the sector and will also inform our approach alongside our engagement with the AI and broader creative industries sectors.The Government is committed to supporting the growth of the creative industries and AI sectors while recognising the value of human-centred creativity. Whilst clarity is needed, this is a complex topic, and we must take the time to hear stakeholder views and give them careful consideration.

Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of a text and data mining exception to copyright legislation.

We recognise the important role that the UK copyright framework plays in supporting investment into the creative industries and ensuring that talent and creativity are rewarded. Finding the right balance between rewarding human-centred creativity, fostering the potential of AI to open up new creative frontiers and ensuring legal certainty for all those working in these fields is going to be complex and challenging, but addressing it is a priority of this Government. My department is working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to address this issue.This work requires thoughtful engagement with the creative industries and with AI developers including widespread consultation. DCMS and DSIT chaired roundtables with AI developers and representatives of the creative industries to discuss AI and IP issues on 17 September. The Government will continue to work closely with a range of stakeholders on this topic, and will set out next steps soon. These would need to address a range of issues in the round, including transparency.

Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to hold a consultation on a text and data mining exception to copyright legislation.

We recognise the important role that the UK copyright framework plays in supporting investment into the creative industries and ensuring that talent and creativity are rewarded. Finding the right balance between rewarding human-centred creativity, fostering the potential of AI to open up new creative frontiers and ensuring legal certainty for all those working in these fields is going to be complex and challenging, but addressing it is a priority of this Government. My department is working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to address this issue.This work requires thoughtful engagement with the creative industries and with AI developers including widespread consultation. DCMS and DSIT chaired roundtables with AI developers and representatives of the creative industries to discuss AI and IP issues on 17 September. The Government will continue to work closely with a range of stakeholders on this topic, and will set out next steps soon. These would need to address a range of issues in the round, including transparency.

Media and Sport, whether her Department has had recent discussions with representatives of the creative industries on proposals for a text and data mining exception to copyright legislation.

We recognise the important role that the UK copyright framework plays in supporting investment into the creative industries and ensuring that talent and creativity are rewarded. Finding the right balance between rewarding human-centred creativity, fostering the potential of AI to open up new creative frontiers and ensuring legal certainty for all those working in these fields is going to be complex and challenging, but addressing it is a priority of this Government. My department is working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to address this issue.This work requires thoughtful engagement with the creative industries and with AI developers including widespread consultation. DCMS and DSIT chaired roundtables with AI developers and representatives of the creative industries to discuss AI and IP issues on 17 September. The Government will continue to work closely with a range of stakeholders on this topic, and will set out next steps soon. These would need to address a range of issues in the round, including transparency.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2024 to Question 6049 on Pension Credit: Gosport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the survey sample sizes for entitled non-recipients of Pension Credit.

The take-up statistics which include the estimated number of entitled non-recipients for Pension Credit, are based on survey data from the Family Resources Survey. The Family Resources Survey is designed to produce robust regional estimates and does not include all local authorities each year so is not suitable for analysis at, or below, the Local Authority level [PQ 74999, Emma Lewell-Buck]. There is not currently an intention to increase the achieved sample size. Further detail on the upcoming sample size of the Family Resources Survey can be found here: Family Resources Survey: release strategy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2024 to Question 7738 on General Practitioners: Gosport, what steps he plans to take to introduce Neighbourhood Health Centres in Gosport constituency.

We have committed to trialling Neighbourhood Health Centres to bring together a range of services, ensuring healthcare is closer to home and patients receive the care they deserve. This is part of our broader ambition to move towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered in local communities to spot problems earlier.I thank my Rt. Hon. friend for their suggestion of Gosport as a trial location. We are working with officials to explore options for how best to trial Neighbourhood Health Centres.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the publication entitled Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2023, published on 11 September 2024, what steps he plans to take to (a) increase funding for the further development and uptake of human-specific methods that can replace the use of animals in medical research and testing and (b) support scientists to transition to these approaches.

The Government has committed to partnering with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the requirements for phasing out of animal testing and we are currently engaging with the sector as to how to take this commitment forward.The Government 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 non-animal approaches. The NC3Rs receives additional funding from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) for specific programmes and substantial in-kind support from companies for their CRACK IT innovation programme.

Communities and Local Government, if she will amend the Future Homes and Buildings Standards to ensure that all newbuild homes include solar photovoltaic panels.

Future standards next year will set our new homes and buildings on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels and ensures they are fit for a net zero future. This will support our ambition that the 1.5 million homes we will build over the course of this parliament will be high quality, well designed and sustainable. That is why the Deputy Prime Minister and I are clear that rooftop solar should play an important role, where appropriate, as part of the future standards for homes and buildings.  Responses to the recent Future Homes and Buildings standards consultation are being reviewed, and government will publish a response in due course.

Whether she plans to review the police funding formula.

Any future changes to the funding and resourcing of police forces in England and Wales will be considered and awarded in the normal way.

How many applications for project licences to conduct experiments on animals under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were refused permission between 1 January 2023 and 30 September 2024.

From 1 January 2023 to 30 September 2024, no applications for a project licence under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 have been refused.The Government publishes extensive guidance for the regulated sector on applying for project licences. Applications are internally reviewed by an establishment’s Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body before being submitted to the regulator for assessment.Applications received by the regulator are frequently returned to the applicant for reconsideration. Applicants may amend or withdraw an application in response to feedback from the regulator.Generally, the number of applications refused is not an indicator for the robustness of the regulatory regime.