Written questions by Lewis.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Spending Review funding for (a) grassroots music venues, (b) music education and innovation and (c) the night-time culture economy.

My department talks to HM Treasury about a range of matters all the time, including support for the Creative Industries and music sector

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of funding pay increases from school budgets on levels of (a) teachers and (b) teaching assistants.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 2024/25. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion in 2025/26.Of this £2.3 billion increase, almost £1 billion is being allocated to high needs budgets. The outstanding £1.3 billion will cover the remaining mainstream costs of the 2024 teachers’ pay award in the 2025/26 financial year, as well as an increase to the mainstream schools national funding formula, and any increases to other elements of core funding.On 10 December 2024, the department published our written evidence to the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) to inform their recommendations for teachers’ pay in the 2025/26 academic year, which proposed a pay award of 2.8% for teachers. We expect that schools will also take into consideration the cost of support staff pay in the 2025/26 financial year. Schools will be expected to fund the 2025 teacher pay award from the additional investment provided at the Budget, alongside their existing funds. Most schools will need to supplement the new funding they receive with efficiencies in their budgets. The balance between new funding and efficiencies will vary at individual school level depending on their circumstances. It will continue to be for individual schools to decide how they spend their budgets, including on the balance between spending on teachers, support staff, including teaching assistants, and non-pay expenditure.To support schools towards identifying efficiencies, the department is developing a suite of new productivity initiatives in partnership with the sector. This will complement the free support already available to schools, including new support to make budgets go further across technology, procurement, banking services and energy contracts. For example, we have already seen from our pilot that the 400 schools who have participated in the department’s ‘Energy for Schools’ offer will save 36% on average compared to their previous energy contracts.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of Small Modular Reactors on water security.

Sustainable water usage is a crucial factor in the siting of any industry including energy generation by small modular reactors. Cooling options for small modular reactors and their abstraction requirements are still under consideration by the industry and regulators including direct wet cooling. Small modular reactors are one of the key industrial technologies being considered in the Environment Agency’s planning for water resource security. It has recently commissioned work to help improve the collaboration between the water and energy sectors and is advising the National Energy System Operator on environmental and water resource capacity and opportunities, as part of the development of the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor and report on water usage by Small Modular Reactors.

Sustainable water usage is a crucial factor in the siting of any industry including small modular reactors, and for enabling a low carbon, secure energy infrastructure. The Environment Agency regulates water abstraction in England. The information provided therefore relates to England only. Prospective operators of small modular reactors that plan to abstract water from inland or tidal waters are required, like any other operator, to apply to the Environment Agency for an abstraction licence (Apply for a water abstraction or impounding licence - GOV.UK). The Environment Agency will assess whether the water catchment can support the proposed abstraction at the pre-application stage. If it determines that the catchment can support the abstraction, then it will issue a licence to the prospective operator, which will require monitoring and reporting of abstraction volumes. This data is used by its environmental planning teams in the strategic assessment of water resource availability.

Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made on each reform set out in her Department's Written Ministerial Statement on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, of 21 November 2024, HCWS244.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).On 31 January 2025, provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 to remove the two-year qualifying period in relation to enfranchisement and lease extensions came into force.On 10 February, we laid regulations in Parliament to implement the reforms contained in the Act concerning the Right to Manage and these will come into force on Monday 3 March.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dental services.

We are determined to rebuild dentistry for the long term.We will deliver an additional 700,000 urgent dental appointments; reform the dental contract; and introduce supervised toothbrushing for three- to five-year-olds in the most deprived communities.We are working with the dental sector, including the British Dental Association, to deliver these shared ambitions.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking any steps to (a) identify and (b) tackle fraudulent activity by (i) landlords and (ii) freeholders.

The reforms introduced in the Renters’ Rights Bill will be underpinned by an effective, consistent and proportionate enforcement framework.We are extending councils’ powers to collect and retain revenue for future enforcement work from financial penalties against landlords in the private rented sector who flout the rules. Initial or minor non-compliance will incur a civil penalty of up to £7,000 and serious, persistent or repeat non-compliance a civil penalty of up to £40,000, with the alternative of a criminal prosecution.We are also providing local authorities with a range of new investigatory powers which will allow them to enforce our new reforms, including powers to require information from relevant persons and any persons and powers of entry to business and residential premises.The Remediation Acceleration Plan published in December 2024 committed the government to supporting regulators to hold bad actors – whether freeholders or landlords – to account in relation to fixing dangerous buildings, including via robust new powers to enforce remediation.Freeholders who breach the terms of their lease, or fail to hold service charge monies in a trust fund, may be challenged by leaseholders in the courts.

Whether she has received representations from Macquarie Group on increasing the number of flights (a) to and (b) from UK airports.

The Secretary of State for Transport has not received representations from Macquarie Group relating to increasing the number of flights to and from UK airports.

How many meetings the Child Poverty Taskforce has had with children and families living in poverty.

The Child Poverty Taskforce has prioritised hearing directly from children and families in the development of the child poverty strategy.Ministers, special advisors and government officials have taken part in several sessions with children and families to inform the strategy. This has been supported by a number of partners, including the Changing Realities project and Save the Children, and has included discussion of a wide range of issues, including the effects of poverty on single parents, and the experience of children with special educational needs and disabilities.The details of the Taskforce’s engagement and supporting research with children and families will be published in the strategy.

What discussions on the Child Poverty Engagement Plan in which regions the Child Poverty Taskforce has had with (a) devolved governments, (b) elected mayors, (c) academia, (d) businesses and (e) civil society.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is engaging with devolved governments, elected mayors, academia, businesses and civil society, as well as children and families across the regions and nations of the UK to shape and inform the Child Poverty Strategy.The Taskforce regularly discusses its engagement approach with ministers from all four nations, and key child poverty stakeholders such as Save the Children, IPPR, Citizens Advice, Child Poverty Action Group, Barnardo’s, the End Child Poverty Coalition, and the National Children’s Bureau, who arrange events on our behalf. We also have an Analytical Expert Reference Group, which brings together independent external expertise.The full details of our engagement plan will be set out when we publish the Child Poverty Strategy.

What the planned timetable is for the publication of the Child Poverty Strategy; and whether an (a) interim report and (b) update will be published.

The Taskforce is on track to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in spring this year as set out in our framework ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy’.

If she will publish the methodology for engaging with children and families living in poverty under the Child Poverty Strategy.

The Child Poverty Taskforce has prioritised hearing directly from children and families in the development of the child poverty strategy.Ministers, special advisors and government officials have taken part in several sessions with children and families to inform the strategy. This has been supported by a number of partners, including the Changing Realities project and Save the Children, and has included discussion of a wide range of issues, including the effects of poverty on single parents, and the experience of children with special educational needs and disabilities.The details of the Taskforce’s engagement and supporting research with children and families will be published in the strategy.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of proposed plans to make it easier to build data centres on levels of water usage.

As part of the Government’s commitment to reduce the use of public water supply by 20% by 2037/38, Defra continues to work with the Department for Science Innovation and Technology, the Department for Business and Trade and the Environment Agency (EA) to determine how water efficiency and demand in data centres can be improved.

Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to monitor the water usage of data centres built in AI Growth Zones.

As part of the Government’s commitment to reduce the use of public water supply by 20% by 2037/38, Defra continues to work with the Department for Science Innovation and Technology, the Department for Business and Trade and the Environment Agency (EA) to determine how water efficiency and demand in data centres can be improved.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of amending planning permission regulations to make the local water supplier a statutory consultees in applications to build data centres.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 15758 on 3 December 2024. The hon. Member may also wish to know that we will be introducing secondary legislation later this year to prescribe data centres, gigafactories and laboratories as types of business or commercial development capable (on request) of being directed into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects consenting regime.

How many compensation payments were made by the Infected Blood Compensation Authority between 17 October 2024 and 31 December 2024.

Between 17 October and 31 December 2024, the Infected Blood Compensation Authority invited 45 people to make a claim for compensation, comprising the initial group of 20 invitees and a further group of 25 at the end of December. The Authority made the first compensation offers to 10 people with a total value of more than £13 million, and so far 4 of those offers have been paid out.

How many members of the infected blood community were invited to start their claim for compensation between 17 October 2024 and 31 December 2024.

Between 17 October and 31 December 2024, the Infected Blood Compensation Authority invited 45 people to make a claim for compensation, comprising the initial group of 20 invitees and a further group of 25 at the end of December. The Authority made the first compensation offers to 10 people with a total value of more than £13 million, and so far 4 of those offers have been paid out.

On what date the Infected Blood Compensation Authority compensation scheme will open for members of the infected blood community to make claims.

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority opened the compensation scheme to a small number of people in October 2024 as part of the initial development and testing of the compensation payment service. This will increase to around 250 people by March of this year, increasing to larger numbers after that. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority is responsible for the operational delivery of the scheme, including the management of the application process.

How many times prisons in Norfolk operated an (a) amber and (b) red regime in each the last 10 years.

As this information demonstrates, the new Government inherited a criminal justice system in crisis, with prisons on the point of collapse.All public sector prisons have systems in place for the day-to-day management of staff resources and regime delivery, to ensure that regimes are safe, decent, secure, resilient and sustainable.The recorded information relating to regimes in prisons in Norfolk is available from September 2022 onwards, and is as follows:Red Regime – NoneAmber/Red – 151 timesGreen/Amber – 450 times.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the (a) governance and (b) performance of the water industry in England meets the UK's obligations under the Aarhus Convention.

The Government is committed to the effective implementation of our international obligations under the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters. The United Kingdom is not currently subject to any water industry related compliance recommendations concerning its obligations under the Convention.