Written questions by Jones.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Patients and pupils to benefit from school and hospital repairs, published on 30 May 2025, how that funding will be delivered to the NHS; and how much funding each Integrated Care Board will receive.

The £750 million Estates Safety Fund is part of the overall 2025/26 capital allocation announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the Autumn Budget last year, and is an essential first step towards addressing the poorest quality estates across the National Health Service.Integrated care systems have prioritised this funding between their organisations to deliver maximum safety benefits. Funding will be issued to NHS trusts on the basis of individual schemes. Descriptions of the planned works and funding allocations, grouped by integrated care board, are available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68398c46c99c4f37ab4e86ef/estates-safety-fund-2025-to-2026.csv/preview.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Electoral Commission on the recording of cryptocurrency donations.

The rules around political donations must be abided by regardless of the type of donation made, which includes donations made using cryptocurrency. Political donations can only be accepted from permissible sources, and the recipients of donations must make an honest assessment of the value of the donation at the time they receive it. The Electoral Commission provides guidance on donations, including for non-standard donations such as those made in cryptocurrencies.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of political donation regulations for cryptocurrency.

The rules around political donations must be abided by regardless of the type of donation made, which includes donations made using cryptocurrency. Political donations can only be accepted from permissible sources, and the recipients of donations must make an honest assessment of the value of the donation at the time they receive it. The Electoral Commission provides guidance on donations, including for non-standard donations such as those made in cryptocurrencies.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Electoral Commission on accounting for the fluctuating value of cryptocurrencies.

The rules around political donations must be abided by regardless of the type of donation made, which includes donations made using cryptocurrency. Political donations can only be accepted from permissible sources, and the recipients of donations must make an honest assessment of the value of the donation at the time they receive it. The Electoral Commission provides guidance on donations, including for non-standard donations such as those made in cryptocurrencies.

With reference to her Department's press release entitled Patients and pupils to benefit from school and hospital repairs, published on 30 May 2025, how much funding will be allocated to schools in each (a) constituency and (b) local authority.

This government has increased investment for improving our school buildings to £2.1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, almost £300 million more than last year. As part of that, close to £470 million has been made available to eligible schools and sixth-form colleges through the Condition Improvement Fund.The department has published details of successful projects and applicants to the Condition Improvement Fund for the 2025/26 financial year, including by local authority, and constituency. We do not, however, publish amounts of funding awarded at project, school, constituency or local authority level to protect the commercial interests of schools in getting best value from the market. We have published the aggregated amount allocated to projects at regional level.

With reference to the APPG for Less Survivable Cancer's report entitled Inquiry into earlier detection and faster diagnosis published in June 2025, what steps he is taking to ensure GPs identify less survivable cancers.

It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including rare and less common cancers, earlier, in order to improve outcomes, including survival rates.We are streamlining referral routes and increasing the availability of diagnostic capacity through the roll-out of more community diagnostic centres. Additionally, we are streamlining referral routes through the implementation of a non-specific symptom pathway, for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms which do not clearly align to a tumour type.We are also investing an additional £889 million in general practices (GPs) to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.The National Cancer Plan, which will complement the 10-Year Health Plan and support delivery of the Government’s Health Mission, will set out further actions to improve early diagnosis, including GP referral for suspected cancer. The plan will also consider how we can better identify and monitor people at increased risk of developing cancer.

With reference to his Department's policy paper entitled General terms for the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Economic Prosperity Deal, published on 9 May 2025, whether he will publish a strategic approach on ongoing trade negotiations with the United States.

On 8 May, we concluded a landmark economic deal with the US. The US has committed to further negotiations to tackle barriers to trade not related to tariffs and that have the potential to cut red tape for exporters. There will now be a process of formal negotiations with the US on a binding legal framework. MPs will have the chance to scrutinise the treaty when it is agreed and presented to the House. We will continue to act in Britain’s national interest – for workers, for business and for families.

With reference to his Department's policy paper entitled General terms for the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Economic Prosperity Deal, published on 9 May 2025, what information his Department will share with Parliament on (a) agricultural trade and (b) digital trade negotiations.

The Government is not seeking to change the process of the ratification of any treaty. MPs will have the chance to scrutinise the treaty when it is agreed and presented to the House. This includes detail on agricultural trade and digital trade negotiations.

What discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on the imposition of rare earth export restrictions.

The Department for Business and Trade is regularly engaging with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on their export controls of Critical Minerals, and DBT continues to explore ways to ensure supply to industry of these minerals is uninterrupted. HMG is committed to supporting UK businesses affected by these export controls and ensuring barriers to trade causing additional monetary and time costs are removed.

With reference the New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation, published 20 January 2025, how much funding his Department plans to allocate for the construction of the Royal Berkshire Hospital; and what proportion of that funding will be from (a) public dividend capital, (b) land sales and (c) charitable donations.

We have put the New Hospital Programme (NHP) on a sustainable footing, with a timeline that can be met, and a budget that is consistent with the fiscal rules under which the Government is operating. We are backing this plan with investment which will increase to up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging approximately £3 billion a year from 2030. The exact profile of funding will be confirmed in rolling five-year waves at regular Spending Reviews, as with all government capital budgets in future.As set out in the NHP Plan for Implementation, the cost estimate of the Royal Berkshire Hospital is expected to be £2 billion or more; however, the final individual amount for the scheme will only be confirmed once its Full Business Case has been approved, as set out in the HM Treasury Green book and is standard for large infrastructure projects. The proportion of funding, including those from additional sources such as land sales and charitable donations, will be confirmed through this business case process.

If she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the time taken to introduce Class 701 rolling stock on the Waterloo–Reading line on costs to the public purse.

My Officials are keeping the position under active review and will look into overall costs of the delays to the Class 701 introduction programme at the appropriate time.

Whether (a) she or (b) Treasury ministers have met with (a) the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and (b) other members of the automotive sector to discuss the taxation of the employee car ownership scheme.

At Autumn Budget 2024 the government announced plans to close loopholes in the legislation around employee car ownership schemes (ECOS) at a future fiscal event, to prevent them being used by employers to circumvent the employee’s Company Car Tax (CCT) liability and the Employer NICs liability. Private use of a company car is a valuable benefit to an employee, and it is right that Company Car Tax is paid on it and ensures fairness with other taxpayers. Ahead of publishing draft legislation, I and my officials have met with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and my officials have met their members, in line with normal practice

With reference to the press release entitled Trial encourages low-income pensioners to apply for extra financial support, published on 17 July 2023, whether she plans to publish the results of this trial.

The results from the ‘Invitation to Claim’ trial were published in October 2024 on GOV.UK and are available at: Pension Credit 'Invitation to Claim' Trial - GOV.UK

When she expects the Class 701 Arterio rolling stock to be operational on the Waterloo to Reading line.

South Western Railway services transferred into public ownership on Sunday 25 May. This was a watershed moment in our work to return the railways to the service of passengers. The new Managing Director of SWR is now developing a detailed plan to get the new trains into service.

When her Department expected the Class 701 Arterio trains to be introduced on the Waterloo–Reading line at the time of procurement.

South Western Railway entered into the current rolling stock lease contracts in 2017, with the new Class 701 fleet due to be delivered 2019-2021. The Class 701 introduction has been significantly delayed and I am disappointed with how long it has taken.

Whether her Department has imposed contractual penalties on South Western Railway in relation to the time taken to deploy the Class 701 trains.

My Department have not imposed contractual penalties on First MTR South Western Railway Trains Limited in relation to the time taken to deploy the Class 701 trains. I am extremely disappointed with how long the Class 701 introduction has taken and the Secretary of State and Rail Minister met with the former private sector owners to challenge them.

Whether her Department has set a revised timetable for the introduction of the full Class 701 fleet on the Waterloo–Reading line.

South Western Railway services transferred into public ownership on Sunday 25 May. This was a watershed moment in our work to return the railways to the service of passengers. The new Managing Director of SWR is now developing a detailed plan to get the new trains into service.

Whether his Department prepared an impact assessment on the trade agreement between the US and the UK, announced on 8 May 2025.

We are currently implementing the first phase of the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal. This deal protects almost 45% of UK goods exports to the US. We are committed to continuing talks with the US, looking at increasing digital trade, enhancing access for our world-leading services industries and improving supply chains. Impact assessments are completed at the conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the introduction of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s severity modifier on the availability of cancer medicines.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) carried out a review of the severity modifier in 2024 and found that it is operating as intended. Since its introduction, the severity modifier has resulted in a higher approval rate for cancer medicines than under the NICE’s previous methods, and has also allowed greater weight to be applied to non-cancer medicines.The NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future methods’ reviews, but the severity modifier is unlikely to change in the near future, and any future changes would need to be consistent with the principle of cost neutrality.In 2024, the NICE reported that where the new severity weighting had been used, there had been a higher proportion of positive recommendations, 84.4%, compared with the end-of-life modifier, 82.7%.The proportion of positive cancer recommendations was also higher, at 80%, than with the end-of-life modifier, at 75%, and the proportion of positive recommendations for advanced cancer treatments was also higher, at 81% compared to 69%.Further information on the severity modifier and the impact that it has had on the health and care system is available at the following link:https://indepth.nice.org.uk/what-is-nices-severity-modifier/index.html

What steps he plans to take through the NHS 10 Year Plan to improve early diagnosis in (a) ovarian cancer and (b) other women’s health conditions.

The Department is committed to improving early diagnosis of all cancer types, including ovarian cancer.The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving early diagnosis and support for women’s health conditions in all parts of the country.As a first step, the NHS is now delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, to ensure early diagnosis and faster treatment, including for women with ovarian cancer. NHS England is continuing the roll out of community diagnostic centres to ensure that patients can access the diagnostic tests they need as quickly as possible. The NHS is also improving pathways to get people diagnosed faster once they are referred, including non-specific symptom pathways for patients who do not fit clearly into a single urgent cancer referral pathway. Combined, these interventions will help to improve the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer and reduce misdiagnosis, with further actions to be outlined in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan, which will follow the 10-Year Health Plan.The Department is also committed to improving the diagnosis of women’s health conditions more broadly by taking urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan, supporting innovative models offering patients care closer to home, and by piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres. Moreover, the Department supports the use of clinical guidelines that help healthcare professionals identify and manage these conditions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidelines on a range of women’s health conditions, including heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis, and menopause.