Written questions by Smith.

Whether the Licensing Taskforce requested assessments of the potential impact of post-pandemic changes to drinking patterns on (a) crime, (b) violence and (c) anti-social behaviour; and whether those assessments were provided to the taskforce.

The Licensing Taskforce did not request assessments of the potential impact of post-pandemic changes to drinking patterns on (a) crime, (b) violence and (c) anti-social behaviour; however its membership included the National Police Chiefs Council’s lead for Alcohol Harm. Since the Taskforce reported, a cross-government team has been established to review its findings and a Call for Evidence was launched. This is open until 6 November. We continue to seek a wide range of views and evidence to inform the development of a modern, proportionate and enabling licensing system. Any legislative reforms will be subject to impact assessment, consultation and parliamentary scrutiny.The Call for Evidence is currently open until 6 November in order to gather views and evidence to inform proposals for reforms to licensing. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/reforming-the-licensing-system.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the recommendations in his Department's policy paper entitled Licensing policy sprint: joint industry and HM government taskforce report, published on 31 July 2025, on the (a) ill health to prevention workstream of the Health Mission Board and (b) specific priority of tackling alcohol harm within the Health Mission Board.

Following the Licensing Taskforce, which was jointly let by the Department for Business and Trade and industry, the Government is considering which recommendations to take forward. As part of this, the Government is inviting views and evidence to inform the development of a modern, proportionate, and enabling licensing system, including public health considerations. This work is being led by the Department for Business and Trade and the Home Office with support from other departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care.A Call for Evidence is currently open until 6 November in order to gather views and evidence to inform proposals for reforms to licensing. This is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/reforming-the-licensing-systemPublic health considerations will be kept under review. Any legislative changes will be subject to an impact assessment, consultation, and parliamentary scrutiny.We will continue to work across Government to consider what other measures might be needed to reduce the negative impact that excessive alcohol consumption is having on health, crime, and the economy.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of plastics industry lobbyists on the UK Government’s position at at the United Nations plastics treaty negotiations (INC-5.2).

The UK has been a strong advocate for an ambitious and effective global plastics treaty and is a founder member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution. During the resumed 5th session of the negotiations (INC5.2), we continued to work closely with ambitious countries to push for a treaty covering the full lifecycle of plastics. The UK has consistently argued that an effective treaty must be based on the best available science. The Government is committed to an open and transparent process and has engaged widely with industry and other stakeholders to gather a broad range of views to inform the UK’s negotiating position. This includes engagement through the UK National Treaty Dialogues on Plastic Pollution which facilitated discussions with industries at all stages of the plastics value chain as well as NGOs and academia. The reports from these sessions can be found here. The UK’s negotiating position seeks to balance the interests of all stakeholders and is not determined by any single group.

Whether she has considered joining the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force.

The Government is committed to helping deliver global climate finance, including the New Collective Quantified Goal agreed at COP29 of at least $300bn per year to developing countries by 2035, and responding to the wider call on all actors to increase climate finance to developing countries to £1.3trn per year. As part of that effort, we are pressing for faster and more ambitious reforms to the global financial system to deliver much more and higher quality climate and development finance. Alongside this, we are supportive of exploring revenue raising mechanisms for climate action. We recognise the work being undertaken by the Global Solidarity Levies Taskforce and will consider their proposals and those of other organisations on a case-by-case basis.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much her Department spent on bilateral water, sanitation and hygiene projects in the 2024-25 financial year.

UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) for water supply and sanitation, which includes hygiene, is released annually in the UK Government Publication Statistics for International Development. The latest report, published in September 2025, shows that UK bilateral ODA spent on water supply and sanitation totalled £80million in the 2024 calendar year. The Statistics for International Development publishes data on an annual basis rather than by financial year.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections, published on 17 July 2025, what progress has been made on testing (a) digitally enabled and (b) convenient approaches to electoral registration.

The government is actively exploring a range of approaches to improve electoral registration, including making it easier for people to register to vote. User research is undertaken throughout the policy and digital service development process.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing the Government's Strategy and Policy Statement for the Electoral Commission.

The existing Strategy and Policy Statement for the Electoral Commission does not reflect this Government’s priorities and will not remain in place. On 17 July, we published our strategy for modern and secure elections which included proposals to give significant new powers and responsibilities to the Electoral Commission to strengthen the enforcement of political finance rules. In light of these new responsibilities, we intend to designate a new Strategy and Policy Statement for the Electoral Commission to reflect this Government’s priorities for elections and the Commission’s increased roles and responsibilities.

For what reason she decided to use NHS pay bands instead of local authority pay bands when determining income requirements for overseas social workers applying for a skilled workers visa.

We use Office for National Statistics (ONS) data to set salary requirements for occupations, except where a national pay scale exists. In the case of social workers, the NHS Agenda for Change is the only available national scale, as Local Authority rates vary. Using Agenda for Change means the salary requirements are lower than they would be if we used ONS data.On 2 July we asked the independent Migration Advisory Committee to advise on future salary requirements for Skilled Worker visas. We look forward to receiving their recommendations in due course.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of linking salary requirements to NHS pay scales on overseas social workers with skilled worker visas employed by local authorities.

We use Office for National Statistics (ONS) data to set salary requirements for occupations, except where a national pay scale exists. In the case of social workers, the NHS Agenda for Change is the only available national scale, as Local Authority rates vary. Using Agenda for Change means the salary requirements are lower than they would be if we used ONS data.On 2 July we asked the independent Migration Advisory Committee to advise on future salary requirements for Skilled Worker visas. We look forward to receiving their recommendations in due course.

How many social workers are working in the UK on a (a) skilled workers visa and (b) health and care visa.

The Home Office publishes data on sponsored work visas by occupation in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release. Data on grants of visas are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the ‘sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2021 up to the end of June 2025.

How much ringfenced funding will be provided to children’s hospices in each year from 2026-7 to 2029-30.

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.We cannot yet confirm what the funding for 2026/27 and beyond will be, or how it will be administered.The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.Officials will present further proposals to ministers over the coming months, outlining the drivers and incentives that are required in palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams.

Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects the research her Department has commissioned into tackling gaps in the scientific evidence on the potential impact of various catching methods for farmed poultry to conclude.

Research into assessing the impact of poultry catching and handling methods on animal welfare and catching durations in Great Britain is expected to be completed in 2028, after which the Government will consider its findings.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much her Department spent on bilateral water, sanitation and hygiene projects in each year between 2020-21 and 2024-25.

UK bilateral Official, Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is published annually in the Statistics on International Development. The latest report shows UK bilateral ODA for WASH totalled £37 million in 2023, £45 million in 2022, £78 million in 2021, and £110 million in 2020. Figures for 2024 will be published on the 18th of September 2025.In parallel with this reduction, we have changed our approach to WASH, moving away from the direct delivery of WASH services at scale, to working in partnership with governments to strengthen the systems needed to provide and sustain WASH services. This can also help secure additional resources, including domestic funding, climate finance and private investment, extending our overall impact.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help prevent the Israeli Government’s E1 settlement plan going ahead.

I refer the Hon Member to the joint statement issued by the UK and 26 international partners on 21 August condemning the E1 settlement development, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/occupied-palestinian-territories-joint-statement-21-august-2025.

Whether her Department subsidises inspections of independent schools undertaken by Ofsted.

Ofsted inspects around 50% of the 2,496 (July 2025) registered private schools in England. There is disparity between the fees charged for inspections and full cost recovery. Private school inspections carried out by Ofsted cost around £6.5 million per annum (2024/25), whilst only around £2.2 million will be recovered from fee income.Government policy is that costs associated with inspections by government bodies should be recoverable. This will reduce the need for government subsidy. The government is considering options to close the gap.

With reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention of 27 March 2025 in the debate on Hughes Report: First Anniversary, Official Report, column 472WH, if he will publish (a) her letter and (b) the response from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women's Health and Mental Health.

Following the debate on Hughes Report: First Anniversary, I met and put on record my discussion with the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women's Health and Mental Health (Baroness Merron), who confirmed that the Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. The Department does not plan to publish the letter, and it did not require a response from Baroness Merron. This is a complex issue involving input from different government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s Report.

How much funding her Department has provided for the (a) running of the Independent Schools Inspectorate and (b) cost of inspections undertaken by that inspectorate in each financial year since March 2015.

The department does not provide funding to the Independent Schools Inspectorate, and does not cover the cost of inspections undertaken by the inspectorate.

What her policy is on whether people receiving Personal Independence Payment would stay within the existing system in instances where their case is reviewed or renewed.

As I set out in the House of Commons on 1 July 2025, this Government has listened to the concerns raised by Members from across the House regarding the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).Clause 5 of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill would have amended the legal framework underpinning PIP assessments, specifically by changing the eligibility criteria through adjustments to the activities and descriptors used to determine entitlement.In light of the concerns raised, I confirmed during the debate that we are going to remove clause 5 from the Bill in Committee.(Hansard, 1 July, col 219)

What assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of the health-related findings in the Institute of Alcohol Studies report entitled Spin the Bottle: How the UK alcohol industry twists the facts on harm and responsibility; and what steps he is taking to ensure that engagement with industry stakeholders aligns with the Principles for Engaging with Industry Stakeholders published by Public Health England.

The Department has noted the publication of the Institute of Alcohol Studies’ report. It will consider its findings and reflect on the relevant policies, as necessary.External engagement is a fundamental part of what United Kingdom ministerial Government departments do. We recognise the importance of promoting transparency through engagement and the need to take a balanced approach. Details of ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on the GOV.UK website.

If (a) he and (b) the Minister for Public Health and Prevention will meet the hon. Member for Lancaster and Wyre to discuss further safety issues to prevent avoidable harm from Sodium Valproate in pregnancy.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is taking proactive steps to inform the public on the very latest safety issues relating to sodium valproate in pregnancy. The MHRA has, most recently in May 2025, approved updated safety and educational materials to support the implementation of the pregnancy prevention programme and the regulatory measures announced in the November 2023 National Patient Safety Alert, as well as the September 2024 Drug Safety Update. We would welcome the Hon. Member to write to the Department, where we can provide due consideration to any points raised.