Written questions by Naismith.

Whether she plans to introduce a central job-matching platform for displaced workers.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) stands ready to support anyone affected with our Rapid Response Service (RRS) offer. This is a service designed to give support and advice to employers and their employees when faced with redundancy. This service is co-ordinated nationally by the Strategic Relationship Team (SRT) and is managed by Jobcentre Plus. Delivery partners include The National Careers Service, local training providers, Money Helper and the skills bodies in England. These services are offered by equivalents in the devolved administrations. In Scotland this is delivered by PACE on behalf of the Scottish Government and in Wales by ReACT. Redundancy support in Northern Ireland is devolved with separate funding and delivery arrangements. The range of support available from Jobcentre Plus and partners may include:Connecting people to jobs in the labour market.Help with job search including CV writing, interview skills, where to find jobs and how to apply for them.Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps (linked to the local labour market).What benefits they may get and how to claim.

What steps she is taking to ensure providers are held accountable for supporting displaced workers already in the UK.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) stands ready to support anyone affected with our Rapid Response Service (RRS) offer. This is a service designed to give support and advice to employers and their employees when faced with redundancy. This service is co-ordinated nationally by the Strategic Relationship Team (SRT) and is managed by Jobcentre Plus. Delivery partners include The National Careers Service, local training providers, Money Helper and the skills bodies in England. These services are offered by equivalents in the devolved administrations. In Scotland this is delivered by PACE on behalf of the Scottish Government and in Wales by ReACT. Redundancy support in Northern Ireland is devolved with separate funding and delivery arrangements. The range of support available from Jobcentre Plus and partners may include:Connecting people to jobs in the labour market.Help with job search including CV writing, interview skills, where to find jobs and how to apply for them.Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps (linked to the local labour market).What benefits they may get and how to claim.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support for displaced care workers.

The Department of Health and Social Care has made up to £12.5 million available this financial year for 15 regional partnerships to continue to support displaced international care workers. The international recruitment regional fund aims to prevent and respond to exploitative employment practices of internationally recruited care staff. This includes support for individuals impacted by their sponsor’s license being revoked to find alternative, ethical employment.As of July 2025, over 1,600 people have been directly supported into new sponsored employment by the regional partnerships. This data has not been independently verified by the Department or UK Visas and Immigration, and these figures do not provide a complete picture as workers are under no obligation to report their employment outcomes back to their regional partnership. Regional partnerships are also currently supporting thousands more displaced workers, including support with CV writing and interview techniques, introducing workers to ethical providers with appropriate vacancies, and offering pastoral support to workers who have experienced unethical or exploitative practices.We have commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce to undertake an independent evaluation of the 2024/25 international recruitment regional fund. We expect the final report of this evaluation to be published by King's College London in 2026.

Whether he has had discussions with his (a) French and (b) EU counterparts on the potential merits of allowing home owners in foreign countries to stay in their homes for more than 90 days in every 180.

HMG officials and Ministers, including myself, regularly engage EU and EU Member State counterparts on a range of issues affecting UK nationals. The UK and the EU allow for visa-free, short-term travel in line with their respective arrangements for third country nationals. UK nationals can travel visa-free in the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period. UK nationals planning to stay longer will need permission from the relevant Member State. In France, a long-stay visa is available. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.

Whether she has had discussions with pension funds on investing in infrastructure improvements in (a) towns, (b) Crewe and (c) Nantwich.

The Chancellor routinely engages with a wide range of stakeholders – including pension funds – to ensure that government policy is robust and deliverable. The government introduced the Pension Schemes Bill on 5 June 2025. The Bill provides the necessary legislative framework to implement the government's ambitious reforms for the pensions market. We will expect to see benefits for both members and the wider economy through productive investment. These reforms include measures to drive scale and consolidation in the defined contribution workplace pensions market and the Local Government Pension Scheme (England and Wales). These reforms will unlock billions of pounds in investment for productive assets, improve efficiency in the LGPS, and deliver better returns for savers. As part of these reforms, each LGPS Administering Authority will be required to specify a target allocation for local investment , which their asset pool will be expected to implement. Pools will also be required to work in partnership with Local and Mayoral Combined Authorities in identifying investment opportunities in support of local growth. The measures in the Pension Schemes Bill will also ensure pension schemes have the scale and expertise to access a wider range of investments. The Chancellor is clear that she wants to see more investments flowing into high growth companies and infrastructure. Additionally, on 13 May, 17 of the largest workplace pension providers signed the Mansion House Accord and voluntarily committed to invest at least 10 per cent of their defined contribution main default funds in private markets by 2030, with at least half of that invested in UK private assets. This is expected to unlock £50 billion of additional private market investment by 2030, including £25 billion for the UK. As providers work towards meeting these commitments, they will be investing more in private, illiquid assets such as infrastructure projects.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes in funding for (a) fifth year medical students and (b) above on the NHS.

The Government reviews and updates the NHS Bursary rules annually and keeps the funding arrangements for all medical students under close review to ensure they meet the needs of students and the National Health Service.As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, we will explore options to improve financial support for students from the lowest socioeconomic background so that they are able to thrive at medical school.

Whether his Department plans to (a) abolish and (b) reform the standing charge.

The Government knows that, for many consumers, too much of the burden of the bill is placed on standing charges. We are committed to lowering the cost of standing charges and have worked constructively with the regulator, Ofgem, on this issue. Firstly, Ofgem have been working to ensure that domestic consumers can choose tariffs with low or no standing charges Ofgem took a further step towards this goal this week, announcing proposals to require suppliers to offer their customers low or no standing charge tariffs from early 2026. Secondly, Ofgem have been reviewing how ‘fixed’ costs, which tend to be funded through standing charges, should be recovered in the future energy system. This includes whether those fixed costs could be recovered in more progressive ways, and we are working closely with the regulator on this.

If she will take legislative steps to require cyclists to wear helmets.

The Government strongly encourages cyclists to wear helmets, and this is reflected in The Highway Code, but there are no plans to mandate this. A previous review of this matter concluded that the safety benefits of mandating helmets would be likely to be outweighed by the fact that it would put some people off cycling, thereby reducing the wider health and environmental benefits.

What steps her Department is taking to increase the number of available driving tests in Cheshire East.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain.Further information on these actions and progress of DVSA’s plan to reduce driving test waiting times, which was announced in December 2024, can be found on GOV.UK. Cheshire East is served by a cluster of test centres including, Macclesfield, Buxton, Newcastle Cobridge and Crewe. DVSA also has a remote site at Northwich, which is resourced with driving examiners (DE) from Chester. From recent recruitment campaigns, for the Macclesfield and Buxton cluster of test centres, two potential DEs are undertaking training with a further two awaiting confirmation of availability for a training course. For the Crewe and Cobridge cluster of test centres, two potential DEs are ready to start training, with one starting on 14 July. DVSA has also made offers to two more potential DEs who will start their training at the earliest opportunity.

Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's timetable is for ending the badger cull.

Work has begun on a comprehensive new bovine TB strategy to reduce disease rates and end the badger cull by the end of this Parliament.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has reviewed the level of fees charged by property management companies on the (a) sale and (b) remortgage of a home.

It is unacceptable for property management companies to charge unreasonable fees before providing leaseholders with the information they need.The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 contains measures to protect leasehold homeowners, including specific measures to improve the home buying and selling process by ensuring information required to sell a leasehold home is accessible at a reasonable cost.We will be consulting on the secondary legislation that is required to switch on these measures in due course.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) English Devolution and (b) the statutory roles of Mayors on (i) rail freight paths and (ii) access.

The Government wants to bring decision making as close as possible to the communities those decisions impact. That is why we will give mayors a statutory role in governing, managing, planning and developing the Great British Railways (GBR) network. This will ensure they will be appropriately consulted on GBR’s activity (including the development of railway plans, strategies and services), are able to scrutinise GBR’s performance. GBR will also be required to have due regard to devolved transport strategies. An enhanced role for mayors will be balanced with GBR's role as the directing mind for the national network. The establishment of GBR will bring together responsibility for managing allocation of capacity and management of the infrastructure. GBR will therefore be able to make the best use of the rail network and provide a seamless service for passengers and freight users.

Whether foreign nationals on UK work visas will (a) be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after five years and (b) have (i) provisions and (ii) routes for fast-tracking permanent residency for skilled workers in key sectors; and whether undertaking postgraduate studies alongside employment will impact eligibility for settlement.

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at that time.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of electrifying rail routes.

This government expects electrification to play an important role to achieve our Net Zero 2050 target and, as such, we will continue to invest in electrification projects which will deliver value for money for the taxpayer. Electrification can also have wider benefits for the railway including increased reliability, cheaper operating costs and quicker journeys compared to diesel vehicles. Our strategy will be to focus on being more efficient with where we deliver electrification by leveraging the recent progress in battery technology. This will help to reduce the amount of electrification infrastructure that needs to be delivered to achieve our Net Zero target.

Whether the children of parents who have relocated to the UK are able to obtain funding to enrol at UK universities.

Generally, to be eligible for student support a student must be ordinarily resident in England and have ‘settled’ status or a recognised connection with the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course. They must also have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for the three years prior to that date.It is important that the limited public funds available for student support are targeted on those categories of persons with a lawful and substantial residential connection to the UK and who are likely to remain indefinitely.

What assessment he has made of the potential role of (a) railways and (b) rail freight in supporting the forthcoming industrial strategy.

The Government recognises that the supply chain is crucial for the day-to-day running, maintenance, and development of the railway.Under the strategic leadership of Great British Railways, there will be more coordination between track and train, a centralised point of contact and more certainty for rail suppliers, but equally the Government requires a resilient and productive rail supply chain that invests in skills, technology, and innovation to reduce costs and increase competitiveness.The Industrial Strategy Green Paper, Invest 2035, identified eight growth-driving sectors. All sectors will benefit from wider policy reform, including rail, through the Industrial Strategy’s cross-cutting policies alongside the broader Growth Mission. This will create the pro-business environment for all businesses to invest and employ, with growth that supports high-quality jobs and ensures that the benefits are shared across people, places, and generations.

What plans she has to review the age cap on funding for (a) Level 6 and (b) Level 7 apprenticeships.

This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity.From January 2026 the government will no longer fund level 7 apprenticeships except for young apprentices under the age of 22. This will enable apprenticeships opportunities to be rebalanced towards young people and create more opportunities for those entering the labour market, who need skills and training to get on in their careers.Level 6 apprenticeships will continue to be funded for all ages (16+) by the government.

Whether there is an external right of appeal for people who believe they have been discriminated against when applying for doctorates at universities in the UK.

Higher education providers (HEPs) are autonomous from government and are responsible for their own admissions decisions. The department has no legal remit to become involved in disputes between prospective students and their university.Responsibility for handling applicant complaints and/or appeals, in the first instance, is a matter for the relevant HEP and each university has formal complaints and appeal processes.If a complainant has exhausted the official process and the matter has not been resolved to their satisfaction, they are free to consider bringing a claim for judicial review or for discrimination under the Equality Act.Another route available to dissatisfied applicants is through the higher education regulator, the Office for Students (OfS). While the OfS cannot become involved in individual complaints, applicants can notify the OfS if they think that a university has broken its conditions of registration.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to publish the long-term housing strategy.

The government intends to publish a long-term housing strategy later this year.

What (a) support and (b) funding his Department provides for renewable energy innovation to entrepreneurs in Cheshire East.

The Government supports renewable energy innovation through a range of measures including the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies in power, buildings and industry. Over 2021-25, approximately £91 million has been invested in the Northwest of England through this programme. For example, in East Cheshire, funding has been provided to innovators like Aerofoil Energy to improve energy and temperature performance in retail refrigeration.