Written questions by Carden.

Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of betting duty harmonisation on the promotion of online gaming products by bookmakers.

The consultation on the tax treatment of remote gambling is a matter for HM Treasury. I would encourage all interested stakeholders to respond to this consultation, which runs until 21 July. If any legislative changes are made to gambling duty following the consultation, they will be accompanied by a tax information and impact note from HM Treasury, as is standard practice.The Government recognises the significant contribution horseracing makes to our regional economies and our country’s cultural life. DCMS will continue to meet with racing stakeholders to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for the sport.The issue of illegal gambling is a concern for this government and we are working closely with the Gambling Commission to ensure that illegal gambling, in all its forms, is addressed. The Crime and Policing Bill, introduced in Parliament on 25 February 2025, will grant the Gambling Commission with new powers to more quickly and effectively take down illegal gambling websites.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposals in her Department’s consultation on the harmonisation of gambling duties on the British horseracing industry.

The Government is consulting on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one. The Government is committed to engaging with all stakeholders, including representatives of the horseracing industry, as part of the consultation process. The Government recognises the significant cultural and economic value of British horseracing, both as a major sporting tradition and as an important contributor to rural economies across the country. The Government encourages all interested parties to participate in the consultation.

Whether an assessment has been made of the potential impact of betting duty harmonisation on the level of advertising of online gaming products.

The Government is consulting on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one. The Government is committed to engaging with all stakeholders, as part of the consultation process. We encourage all stakeholders to engage with the consultation to help ensure that all views are properly considered.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential impact of proposed proposals on the harmonisation of gambling duties on the British horseracing industry.

The consultation on the tax treatment of remote gambling is a matter for HM Treasury. I would encourage all interested stakeholders to respond to this consultation, which runs until 21 July. If any legislative changes are made to gambling duty following the consultation, they will be accompanied by a tax information and impact note from HM Treasury, as is standard practice.The Government recognises the significant contribution horseracing makes to our regional economies and our country’s cultural life. DCMS will continue to meet with racing stakeholders to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for the sport.The issue of illegal gambling is a concern for this government and we are working closely with the Gambling Commission to ensure that illegal gambling, in all its forms, is addressed. The Crime and Policing Bill, introduced in Parliament on 25 February 2025, will grant the Gambling Commission with new powers to more quickly and effectively take down illegal gambling websites.

Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of betting duty harmonisation on levels of black market gambling.

The consultation on the tax treatment of remote gambling is a matter for HM Treasury. I would encourage all interested stakeholders to respond to this consultation, which runs until 21 July. If any legislative changes are made to gambling duty following the consultation, they will be accompanied by a tax information and impact note from HM Treasury, as is standard practice.The Government recognises the significant contribution horseracing makes to our regional economies and our country’s cultural life. DCMS will continue to meet with racing stakeholders to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for the sport.The issue of illegal gambling is a concern for this government and we are working closely with the Gambling Commission to ensure that illegal gambling, in all its forms, is addressed. The Crime and Policing Bill, introduced in Parliament on 25 February 2025, will grant the Gambling Commission with new powers to more quickly and effectively take down illegal gambling websites.

What steps his Department is taking to improve (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment for Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections.

The Department recognises the importance of raising awareness of conditions such as paediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) and paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcus (PANDAS) among healthcare professionals, and improving the health and care system for the people living with them.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent, expert body that develops evidence-based guidelines for the National Health Service on best practice. While the NICE currently has no plans to issue guidance on PANS and PANDAS, should the evidence base develop further, we would look to the NICE to update clinical policy.In the meantime, integrated care systems are responsible for planning care for their populations’ conditions, and clinicians will want to take account of any new research and developments in guidance, such as those being overseen by the PANS PANDAS Steering Group, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to their patients.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of abolishing standing charges for energy.

Standing charges recover ‘fixed’ costs that do not vary by energy use. This includes suppliers’ fixed operational costs of serving each customer, the cost of network upgrades and maintenance necessary to keep all consumers connected and fund investment in clean energy infrastructure. It also includes the cost of providing Warm Home Discount payments to eligible customers. However, we are committed to lowering the cost of standing charges and have worked constructively with the regulator, Ofgem, on this issue. As part of their update on standing charges, Ofgem announced it will be undertaking a broad review of system costs considering how costs are allocated and recovered across domestic and non-domestic consumers. On 20 February, Ofgem launched a consultation ‘Introducing a zero standing charge energy price cap variant’ - https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consultation/introducing-zero-standing-charge-energy-price-cap-variant. The consultation seeks views on the introduction of an option - within the price cap – for a tariff that does not have a standing charge, providing households with more choice over how they pay for their energy. It also explores different ways a zero standing charge tariff could work, with options on a single unit rate, as well as block tariff options where the unit rates go up or down once a certain amount of energy is consumed. Ofgem has not proposed moving people automatically onto a zero standing charge tariff because of the risks to vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities, who have high energy use. We were clear that we would not support changes to standing charges that would disproportionately affect people with higher energy costs. The consultation closed on 20 March and we stand ready to continue to work with Ofgem on this matter.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the clean energy transition on (a) workers and (b) communities.

The government’s initial assessment of the challenges of building the skilled workforce to deliver the Clean Energy Superpower Mission has been outlined in the Clean Power Action Plan. The Plan includes an Evidence Annex which provides a basis for government to better understand the 2030 workforce requirements and support targeted skills planning. By 2030, the clean energy transition could create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, benefiting communities across the UK representing the economic opportunity of the century.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the human rights situation in Egypt.

Egypt is a human rights priority country for the UK. This informs our policies towards the country, and we do not shy away from raising our human rights concerns with the Government; our strong relationship with Egypt enables us to do so. The Prime Minister raised a human rights concern with President Sisi on 28 February. The National Security Advisor raised a human rights concern with the Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 2 March. The UK participated in the Universal Periodic Review of Egypt at the UN Human Rights Council on 28 January, expressing concern about the arbitrary detention of journalists, activists and human rights defenders, recommending that Human Rights Defender Alaa Abd El-Fattah be released, that all detainees held for exercising their right to freedom of expression are released, that restrictions on news and social media websites be lifted, and that the new Criminal Procedures Code guarantees fair trial standards, and ends the practice of 'rotating' detainees in pre-trial detention.

What steps his Department is taking to improve diagnosis times for young people with cancer.

The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so that more patients survive this horrible set of diseases, including children and young people. To achieve this, the NHS has delivered an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment.On 4 February 2025, the Department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for children and young people with cancer.The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including for children and young people with cancer, and will highlight how we aim to improve diagnosis rates for people across England.

Whether her Department plans to renew the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Liverpool Walton to the answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 26025.

What plans her Department has to increase the number of children and young people reading for pleasure.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Liverpool Walton to the answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 29850.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of central funding for fire and rescue services in (a) Merseyside and (b) England.

Overall, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.87 billion in 2024/25. Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each fire and rescue authority based on its analysis of risk and local circumstances.The Home Office will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure fire and rescue services have the resources they need to protect communities.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of Common Wealth's briefing, entitled Housing Coalitions of the Future, published on 18 January 2025.

The government has made no formal assessment of the potential implications for MHCLG policies of the briefing in question.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the findings of the Autonomy Institute's report, entitled Transforming Employment and Support Infrastructure, published in February 2025.

The findings from the Autonomy Institute's report, entitled ‘Transforming Employment and Support Infrastructure’, demonstrates the importance of reforming Jobcentres and the difference this can make to citizens. Through the Get Britain Working White Paper published in November 2024, the government set out our vision to reform Jobcentre Plus and create a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access employment support, aligned more effectively with skills and careers. We recognise that people are individuals with different support needs, and we want everyone who wants it to be able to access tailored support, not just those on benefits. We are taking a test and learn approach to developing the new service and are committed to working with users of the new service, and organisations representing their needs, throughout the design process to ensure the new service is inclusive, accessible, and works for everyone. We want to shift the focus of the customer-work coach relationship away from compliance and box-ticking around these requirements to make room for more constructive, personalised, career-focused conversations. As we set out in the White Paper, we have committed to develop the work coach profession and the careers adviser profession in England. Further building our work coaches’ capabilities is essential to delivering our ambition for the new service. We will launch a coaching academy that will upskill our teams and ensure they can deliver the high-quality, personalised, action-oriented coaching conversations.

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies of Common Wealth's report, entitled Public Coordination of a Just North Sea Transition, published on 10 January 2025.

The Government is committed to a fair, orderly and prosperous transition in the North Sea to boost Britain’s energy security and ensure good, long-term jobs. That is why we have already launched Great British Energy, begun the biggest ever investment in offshore wind, and are moving ahead with new North Sea industries like carbon capture and storage and hydrogen.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of funding for SEND provision in (a) Liverpool and (b) England.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to £11.9 billion in England. Of that total, Liverpool City Council is being allocated over £103 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which is an increase of £10 million on this year’s DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 10% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.In addition to the DSG, local authorities will also receive a separate core schools budget grant (CSBG), and funding in respect of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, in 2025/26. This CSBG continues the separate grants payable this year, which are to help special schools and alternative provision with the costs of teachers’ pay and pension increases, and other staff pay increases. Individual local authorities’ allocations for both grants for 2025/26 will be published in due course.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 24125 on Parish and Town Councils: Employers’ contributions, what discussions her Department is having with parish and town councils about these issues.

I refer my hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 27565 on 7 February 2025.

Whether his Department has had discussions with (a) dentists and (b) dentist representatives on the recent dentist pay award.

The Department formally consults with the British Dental Association on the details of contract uplift proposals before these are implemented, as the recognised representative body for dentists. We consulted the British Dental Association on the proposed uplift for 2024/25, as we do each year.The Government implemented the overall uplift to contract values on 29 January. Uplifted payments will be made in March, backdated to 1 April 2024.

What recent discussions his Department has had with the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) on proposals to transfer the BCSSS investment reserve to members.

I refer the honourable member to my response on 29 January 2025 (UIN 25410).