Written questions by Lewis.

When he plans to introduce further regulations to enable the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to issue payments to the affected.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, I am aiming for the second set of Infected Blood regulations to be in force by 31st March 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2024 to Question 2947 on Water Companies: Accountability, when he expects the consumer water panels to be established.

For too long customers have not been at the heart of the objectives of water companies. This Government believes the interests of customers should be clearly represented and they should play a key role in holding water companies to account on their performance, which is why we have announced powerful new customer panels will be established. Through the Water (Special Measures) Bill, for the first time in history, customers will get new powers to hold water company executives to account and companies will be required to include customers in decision making. Ofwat will monitor how companies implement this, and customer panels will be vital in delivering accountability and better customer outcomes. An Ofwat statutory consultation in 2025 will finalise proposals, and further detail on when panels will be established will be set out in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department or water companies will appoint members to consumer water panels.

For too long customers have not been at the heart of the objectives of water companies. This Government believes the interests of customers should be clearly represented and they should play a key role in holding water companies to account on their performance, which is why we have announced powerful new customer panels will be established. Through the Water (Special Measures) Bill, for the first time in history, customers will get new powers to hold water company executives to account and companies will be required to include customers in decision making. Ofwat will monitor how companies implement this, and customer panels will be vital in delivering accountability and better customer outcomes. An Ofwat statutory consultation in 2025 will finalise proposals, and further detail on when panels will be established will be set out in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2024 to Question 17570 on Pension Funds: Environment Protection, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a legal obligation for UK-based pension schemes to divest from companies that are not compliant with the UK’s climate commitments.

As set out in our answer of 9 December to Question 17570, in line with their fiduciary duty trustees of pension schemes have a responsibility to consider and review their approach to investment, stewardship and voting in light of the climate risks to their members. The Government has no current plans to change legislation.

Pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2024 to Question 17571 on Fossil Fuels: Insurance, whether the Prudential Regulation Authority is responsible for enforcing the (a) development and (b) implementation of transition plans for (i) UK regulated financial institutions and (ii) FTSE 100 companies.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is responsible for overseeing the prudential regulation and supervision of financial institutions in the UK, ensuring their safety, soundness, and compliance with regulatory standards. Responsibility for regulatory requirements relating to transition plans sits with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who have set out their plans to consult on strengthened transition plan disclosure expectations for listed companies. The PRA and the FCA are both operationally independent regulators, who have the power to take action against financial services firms that do not comply with their rules.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of new housing targets on sewerage infrastructure.

I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 9948 on 23 October 2024.

Pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2024 to Question 17571 on Fossil Fuels: Insurance, whether her Department has taken steps with the Prudential Regulation Authority to ensure Lloyd’s of London’s underwriting activities are compliant with the UK’s legal climate commitments.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is responsible for overseeing the prudential regulation and supervision of financial institutions in the UK, ensuring their safety, soundness, and compliance with regulatory standards. Responsibility for regulatory requirements relating to transition plans sits with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who have set out their plans to consult on strengthened transition plan disclosure expectations for listed companies. The PRA and the FCA are both operationally independent regulators, who have the power to take action against financial services firms that do not comply with their rules.

If she will take steps to prevent insurers underwriting fossil fuel projects.

This Government is committed to delivering the UK’s legal and international climate commitments. Clean power by 2030 and accelerating to net zero is a key mission of this Government and essential to credible, long-term economic growth. Insurers make commercial decisions on their underwriting approach following their assessment of the relevant risks. However, it is imperative that the insurance sector aligns its operations with the United Kingdom’s national and international climate commitments, and insurers must operate within the framework set by the regulatory authorities. The Prudential Regulation Authority continues to work with Lloyd’s of London and other sector representatives to ensure their practices support the transition to a low-carbon economy.

What assessment her Department has made of whether the divestment of pension funds from insurance companies that are not compliant with the UK’s climate commitments is a part of fiduciary duty.

Trustees have a fiduciary duty to make investment decisions in members’ best interests. Climate-related risk and opportunity is one of the major categories of financial factors of which trustees need to take account, in line with their fiduciary duty. The Department introduced new requirements for schemes in 2021, based on the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The legislation requires trustees of occupational pension schemes, with assets above £1 billion, to manage climate-related risks and explain how they have done so in an annual TCFD report. The Pensions Regulator is responsible for monitoring compliance with the requirements and reviewed a sample of reports in 2024. The findings are available here: Review of climate-related disclosures by occupational pension schemes: Year 2 | The Pensions Regulator. It is up to individual schemes, in line with their fiduciary duty, to choose whether to divest from companies that are not compliant with the UK’s climate commitments. In 2025, Government will consult on proposals for financial institutions, including insurance companies, to develop Paris Aligned Transition Plans which set out steps for reaching net zero. Pension schemes can utilise their stewardship approaches, namely voting and engagement, to nudge companies towards greener practices. There is no single approach to managing climate-related risk, but trustees typically use a combination of investment strategies and stewardship approaches to deliver the best outcomes for members.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15836, whether any F-35 components manufactured in Britain are designed specifically for use by the Israeli air force.

F-35 components are designed for use by all three variants of F-35 aircraft. The UK manufactures components for all F-35 variants.

Whether she is taking steps to help ensure that the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy supports the wider economy.

Financial services is central to the government’s modern industrial strategy due to the key role it plays in financing growth across the economy. The Chancellor’s Mansion House speech set out how the government will work with the sector to deliver sustainable, inclusive growth. This included publishing pension reform proposals to unlock billions of pounds of new investment into the UK economy and reforms that will help the sector support the Net Zero transition.

Media and Sport, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the proposed increase in the rate of employers' National Insurance contributions on (a) social enterprises and (b) voluntary and community sector organisations.

At the recent Budget, the government took a number of difficult decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the foundations on public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability.Ministers have met with representatives from the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector to discuss this issue and the department is aware of their concerns about the impacts of the increase to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs).The government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that more than half of businesses (including charities) with NICs liabilities will either gain or see no change next year.We are also expanding eligibility of the Employment Allowance by removing the £100,000 eligibility threshold, to simplify and reform employer NICs so that all eligible employers now benefit. Businesses and charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.The Government publishes Tax Information and Impact Notes (TIINs) for tax policy changes, which give a clear explanation of the policy objective and an assessment of the impacts. The TIIN for the employer NICs changes was published on 13 November 2024.Within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving. More than £6 billion in charitable reliefs was provided to charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs and their donors in 2023 to 2024. The biggest individual reliefs provided are Gift Aid at £1.6 billion and business rates relief at nearly £2.4 billion.

Whether F-35 components were sent from RAF Marham to Israel between October 2023 and August 2024.

At the request of the US led F-35 Programme, there were 14 transfers of F-35 components from RAF Marham to Israel between October 2023 and August 2024. The transferred components are the property of the US Department of Defense.In keeping with the Government's announcement on arms exports in September, there have been no exports of F-35 parts direct to Israel via RAF Marham since the licensing suspension.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government plans to respond to recent alleged reports of violence against ethnic Armenians by Azerbaijan.

We are not aware of any recent reports of alleged violence against ethnic Armenians by Azerbaijan. However, we are clear that peaceful negotiation is the only route to a lasting resolution of the longstanding conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and we stand ready to support them to achieve this. I conveyed this sentiment in calls with the foreign ministers of both Armenia (on 11 October) and Azerbaijan (on 31 October).

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the Government's policy is on (a) the right of return and (b) civil rights protections for ethnic Armenians displayed from the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The Government has encouraged the Azerbaijani authorities to provide clarity on the rights and security of ethnic Armenians displaced by conflict who wish to return to the region. We commend the efforts of the Armenian government, which has supported those displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to enable them to have a future in Armenia itself.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2024 to Question 9485 on Water Companies: Climate Change, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the adequacy of how Ofwat is carrying out this statutory duty.

As an independent regulator, Ofwat carries out its statutory duties autonomously from the Government and instead is directly accountable to Parliament. The department therefore does not routinely monitor or assess how Ofwat carries out its duties. An Independent Commission into the water sector regulatory system was launched by the UK and Welsh Governments on Wednesday 23 October. Through this review, we will look at long-term, wider reform of the water sector as a whole. This includes considering and clarifying the roles of regulators, as well as how to ensure water company infrastructure is secure and resilient to short- and long-term pressures.

On what date applications for interim payments of £100,000 to the estates of deceased people whose deaths have not yet been recognised by a previous interim payment will open.

The process under which estates can apply for interim compensation payments opened on 24th October. These payments are to be made to the estates of deceased infected persons, where interim payments have not already been received, in those cases where the deceased infected person was registered with an existing or predecessor scheme on or before 17 April 2024. Details on how to make an application can be found on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/infected-blood-compensation-estates

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 8935 on Hospices: Children, what his planned timetable is for a decision on the future of that funding.

While 2023/24 marked the final year of the Children’s Hospice Grant in its previous format, in 2024/25, NHS England continued to provide an additional £25 million of funding for children and young people’s hospices, maintaining the level of grant funding from 2023/24. For the first time, this funding was distributed by integrated care boards (ICBs), on behalf of NHS England, rather than being centrally administered as before.The Department and NHS England are aware that the shift to ICB distributed funding in 2024/25 has not been as smooth a transition as we would have hoped. However, we are working closely with NHS England to resolve any remaining issues with the 2024/25 funding. Furthermore, I am working very closely with NHS England to get the funding arrangements for 2025/26 confirmed as a matter of urgency.I recently met NHS England, Together for Short Lives, and one of the co-chairs of the Children Who Need Palliative Care All-Party Parliamentary Groups, Lord Balfe, to discuss children’s palliative and end of life care, and this funding stream was discussed at length at that meeting.

If she will publish the evidential basis supporting her statement that trials of employment advisers giving CV and interview advice in hospitals has produced dramatic results.

Based on over 20 years of research, the Individual Placement and Support employment model is internationally recognised as the most effective way to support people with mental health problems to gain and keep paid employment. Individual Placement and Support services offer intensive, individually tailored support to help people to choose and find the right job, with ongoing support for the employer and employee to help ensure the person sustain their employment. Randomised Control Trials demonstrated that Individual Placement and Support can achieve up to twice as many job outcomes for people with severe mental illness than traditional programmes. For example, in 2013, 55% of clients were found to be in competitive employment for at least one day compared to 28% of clients in the control group. Individual Placement Support has been subject to several impact evaluation Randomised Control Trials. All trials have shown significantly better results, in terms of achieving competitive employment for Individual Placement Support participants, compared to conventional vocational rehabilitation services. On average, people who receive Individual Placement Support show employment rates of 30-40% compared to rates in the control group of 10-12%. The severe mental illness Individual Placement Support programme aims to support an additional 140,000 people living with severe mental illness to access the services by 2028/29. This programme aims to reduce economic inactivity and increase labour market participation and retention for people with severe mental illness. In August, 38,704 people had accessed Individual Placement services in the previous 12 months, meaning we are above our trajectory to meet the end of year target of 40.500 people accessing these services.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of requiring Ofwat to monitor climate adaptation and mitigation requirements for water companies.

Under section 2 of The Water Industry Act 1991, Ofwat must carry out their statutory duties to further their resilience objectives: to secure the long-term resilience of water companies’ water supply and wastewater systems; and to secure that they take steps to enable them, in the long-term, to meet the need for water supplies and wastewater services. Published on 11 July, Ofwat’s draft determinations on water company investment from 2025-30 included a total expenditure of £88bn across the sector, including £6bn for climate adaptation measures such as securing water supplies, progressing 9 new reservoirs and developing 7 large-scale water transfer schemes.