Written questions by Webb.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the value of the Government grant-in-aid to the British Council was in each financial year from 2004–05 to 2024–25; and what assessment she has made of the real-terms change in value over that period.

The level of grant funding provided in each financial year from 2004-05 to 2024-25 can most readily be found in the British Council's archive of annual reports and accounts. No assessment is currently available of the real-terms change in the value of those grants over the period in question.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many items of correspondence relating to the British Council her Department has received since 5 July 2024.

Regarding items of correspondence, the requested information could only be accurately collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

What steps she is taking to ensure transitional arrangements in post-16 qualification options before V-levels are fully implemented.

We have recently closed a consultation on Post-16 Level 3 and Below Pathways. As part of this, we are considering transition arrangements to reach the new qualifications landscape set out in the Post-16 Skills White Paper, and will set out plans in due course.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.

We have published our transformative VAWG Strategy, which sets out an ambitious cross-government vision and concrete commitments to halve VAWG in a decade. I chair a cross-government ministerial Board with Minister Davies-Jones to oversee the implementation of these commitments. We have already delivered a pilot for the Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in five forces and £13.1 million of funding for the National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection to improve the policing response to these crimes. We have also appointed Richard Wright KC to lead the Stalking Legislation Review ensuring the criminal law on stalking is fit for purpose.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that people in Blackpool receiving Personal Independence Payments due to a psychiatric disorder are adequately supported.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provides a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition. Entitlement to PIP focuses on the functional impacts of a person’s health condition or disability on their daily life, including the impacts from mental health disorders, and is assessed on the basis of needs arising and not on the condition itself. PIP is non-contributory, non-means-tested and can be worth up to £9,747.40 a year, tax free. Individuals can choose how to use the benefit, in the light of their individual needs and preferences. The benefit can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, help with travel costs to appointments. It can also act as a passport to additional support such as premiums and additional amounts paid within certain benefits, Carer’s Allowance for an informal carer or the Blue Badge scheme. The benefit has been consistently uprated in line with inflation since it was introduced and was last increased by 1.7% from 7 April 2025.

What proportion of the NHS budget was spent on primary care dentistry net of patient charge revenue in each year since 2010-11.

Prior to 2023/24, there was no specific dental budget allocation and dentistry formed part of a wider budget including community pharmacy and optometry. NHS England accounts show the total spend on General Dental Service (GDS) and Personal Dental Service (PDS) contracts, and the income from patient charges. Some community care is delivered through PDS contracts but in general this figure is a proxy for primary dental spend.The following table shows GDS and PDS spending, less patient charge revenue, in each year since 2014/15 for which accounts have been published, as a proportion of the total National Health Service budget: Financial YearGDS and PDS spending as percentage of total NHS budget2014/152.39%2015/162.47%2016/171.95%2017/181.89%2018/191.76%2019/201.78%2020/211.83%2021/221.61%2022/231.41%2023/241.36%Source: NHS England Note: The timeseries of the NHS budget is not comparable prior to 2014/15 so earlier years have not been provided.

What steps her Department plans to take to help ensure that school food standards contribute to reducing childhood obesity levels.

To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for children, the department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance and the Standards support strategies around health.The department is looking at the impact of the School Food Standards on obesity levels amongst children. More widely, the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) provides robust school age health and inequalities data to assess and monitor the impact of polices and plan services at a local level. NCMP data on child obesity prevalence in Blackpool is not available at Parliamentary Constituency level but is available at the local authority level.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of school food standards on obesity levels among children in Blackpool South constituency.

To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for children, the department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance and the Standards support strategies around health.The department is looking at the impact of the School Food Standards on obesity levels amongst children. More widely, the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) provides robust school age health and inequalities data to assess and monitor the impact of polices and plan services at a local level. NCMP data on child obesity prevalence in Blackpool is not available at Parliamentary Constituency level but is available at the local authority level.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many visitors accessed the Environment Agency’s Swimfo bathing water quality information platform in each of the last three years; and what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of public engagement with that service.

The Environment Agency (EA) has provided the following figures for use of their Swimfo website in the previous three calendar years. 202220232024Views (number of times the website has been accessed)402,624830,6371,635,221Users (number of people accessing the website)93,920193,243308,567 There has been a significant increase in the public’s engagement with the EA’s Swimfo website over the last three years, totalling almost 2.9 million views over that period. In 2022, there were 402,624 views from 93,920 users. In 2023, the website was viewed 830,637 times by 193,243 users. In 2024 these figures increased to 1,635,221 views with 308,567 users. These figures were collected from users who allow cookies, which indicates that usage is expected to be significantly higher than the numbers suggest. The Environment Agency has begun a programme of work to redevelop the Swimfo website over the next few years to improve the provision of information to the public.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of levels of public awareness of where to find bathing water quality test results; and whether it plans to improve the (a) visibility and (b) accessibility of this information at bathing sites and online.

The Environment Agency (EA) recently commissioned research on behaviours and attitudes of people involved in water activities and included a question on where people accessed information. This revealed that the most popular sources were signs at beaches, the EA’s Swimfo website and Gov.UK online. The EA is committed to improving the provision of bathing water information to the public and has used the research findings to inform re-development of its Swimfo website which will be delivered over the next few years. The project is currently at its scoping stage and aims to modernise Swimfo and to provide bathers with targeted information on bathing water quality. There are no plans to change beach signage at this stage.

What data his Department holds on the number of (a) hospital admissions and (b) reported illnesses associated with exposure to (i) Vibrio, (ii) Campylobacter and (iii) Pseudomonas aeruginosa in UK bathing waters in each of the last five years.

Information is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number of admissions with a primary diagnosis related to vibrio, campylobacter, and pseudomonas, from 2019/20 to 2023/24:Primary diagnosis2023/242022/232021/222020/212019/20Cholera due to Vibrio cholerae 01, biovar cholerae11---Campylobacter enteritis5,5204,3414,6853,7193,994Pneumonia due to Pseudomonas1,1451,009863586990Congenital pneumonia due to Pseudomonas21001Source: Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity, available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activity The above data does not record the underlying causation, including any illness associated with United Kingdom bathing waters.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to collaborate with (a) VisitBritain, (b) local authorities and (c) tourism boards to measure the impact of water quality on destination attractiveness.

This Government has reset the water sector; we are stopping the sewage scandal and transforming the water industry from one of decline to one of opportunity. The Government has frequent discussions with a wide variety of stakeholders on its policies. For example, various Local Authorities and local tourist office responded to the consultation process for the Reform of the Bathing Waters Regulations 2013. Our bathing waters bring important social and health benefits to the local communities surrounding them, and help coastal towns prosper by attracting tourists from across the UK and the world.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many bathing waters were classified as poor in each of the last ten years, and what estimate his Department has made of the potential impact on domestic tourism trends.

The following table shows the number of bathing waters classified as poor over the previous 10 years. Year Number of bathing waters classified as poor and notes. 201512201662017720189201972020Classifications were not produced in 2020 due to the pandemic20214202212202318202437

What proportion of eligible families were in receipt of Healthy Start in Blackpool South constituency on 9 June 2025.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start and does not currently hold data on the number of people eligible for Healthy Start. The NHSBSA does not hold data on local constituencies. The table below shows the number of people on the digital scheme in the relevant local authorities as of 23 May 2025:Local authorityNumber of people on the digital schemeBlackpool1,434City of Bristol2,778County of Herefordshire736Southampton1,677Worthing348Brighton and Hove1,041East Suffolk1,129

Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of implementing the Equality and Human Rights Commission's revised code of practice for services, public functions and associations on voluntary organisations.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport welcomes the development of new guidance in the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s code of practice that provides legal clarity and practical support for organisations to ensure that the rights of all are protected under the law.The Equality and Human Rights Commission is currently consulting on revisions to its code of practice for services, public functions and associations in light of the recent UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland v the Scottish Ministers. We encourage voluntary sector organisations that have an interest to participate in the consultation, which is due to close on 30 June 2025.

Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of implementing the Equality and Human Rights Commission's revised code of practice for services, public functions and associations on infrastructure costs for sports facilities.

A public consultation on the EHRC’s Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations is now underway. We would encourage people to ensure their views are heard by submitting a response to the consultation. The Government will consider the EHRC's updated draft Code of Practice once it has been submitted and engage the EHRC to ensure it provides the certainty and clarity service providers need, in line with the Supreme Court ruling.

Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of implementing the revised EHRC Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions, and Associations to football stadiums.

A public consultation on the EHRC’s Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations is now underway. We would encourage people to ensure their views are heard by submitting a response to the consultation. The Government will consider the EHRC's updated draft Code of Practice once it has been submitted and engage the EHRC to ensure it provides the certainty and clarity service providers need, in line with the Supreme Court ruling.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of reviewing the regulatory framework applying to coaches.

The UK coach sector was deregulated by the Transport Act 1980 and services are operated on a commercial basis without receiving government funding. Where coaches provide local bus services, they may be required to comply with the relevant legislation governing those services. Operation of buses and coaches requires a Public Service Vehicle Operator’s Licence and there are currently no plans to change that overarching regulatory framework.We are continuing to review the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000, seeking to understand how well the Regulations serve disabled coach passengers.

What steps his Department is taking to support coach access to major domestic tourism destinations; and whether he is working with local authorities to improve (a) parking, (b) drop-off facilities and (c) infrastructure for coach operators serving the domestic visitor economy.

Issues relating to domestic tourism are a matter for DCMS. It is for local authorities to decide on local transport policies for their area, and we encourage local authorities to consider all modes of transport, including facilities for coaches. We will publish the Integrated National Transport Strategy later this year, which will focus on how transport should be better designed, built and operated to serve the people who use it. It will also enable local leaders to get on and deliver good transport that is right for their communities, as they know best in terms of the opportunities and barriers facing their areas.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the long-term sustainability of palliative and end of life care services.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.As part of the work to develop the 10-Year Health Plan, we will be carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners.Additionally, in February, 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.