Written questions by Morello.

What steps her Department is taking to support councils (a) in West Dorset and (b) nationally to increase local special school places to reduce reliance on out-of-county placements for children with Education, Health and Care Plans.

The department knows that many children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) struggle to find a suitable school placement that is close to their home and meets their needs. This government is committed to addressing this by improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to children and young people with the most complex needs. The department wants more children and young people to receive the support they need to thrive in their local mainstream school, reducing the need for pupils to travel a long way to access a specialist placement. Many mainstream settings are already going above and beyond to deliver specialist provision locally, including through resourced provision and special educational needs units. The department is committed to ensuring special schools play a vital role in supporting those pupils with the most complex needs. The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to ensure there are sufficient school places for all pupils, including those with SEND. If a local authority identifies a shortage of special school places, resulting in a significant number of pupils needing to travel a long way to access a placement, they could consider creating or expanding provision. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced £740 million for high needs capital in 2025/26 to support children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This new funding can be used to adapt classrooms to be more accessible for children with SEND, create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs, alongside continuing to provide places to support pupils in special schools with the most complex needs. Departmental officials work closely with Dorset Council to strategically oversee SEND place planning and to see what support we can provide to ensure there are sufficient high-quality SEND places in the system. We will confirm local authority allocations to West Dorset for high needs capital funding in the spring.

What steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of theory driving tests in rural areas.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) network of theory test centres is designed to ensure that candidates across Great Britain are within 40 mins (urban) or 40 miles (rural) of a theory test centre. In 2021 the new theory test service increased the number of Great Britain test centres from 180 to 203. As a result, 100% of the population, are now within 40 mins (urban) or 40 miles (rural) of a test centre, compared to 97% previously. This means DVSA has equitable service provision across Great Britain and has made significant improvements to that provision in remote areas. DVSA carefully monitors test availability with its suppliers to continually review demand and increase capacity where possible and necessary.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure water companies prioritise investment in upgrading sewage treatment infrastructure in areas with high ecological sensitivity.

Ofwat published their final determinations for Price Review 2024 (PR24) on 19 December, which included a confirmed £104 billion of water company expenditure between 2025 and 2030 to deliver substantial, lasting, improvements for customers and the environment. During this period, around £12 billion will be invested in improving almost 3,000 storm overflows across England and Wales. This investment will be prioritised at storm overflows affecting the most sensitive sites for ecological and human health in line with the targets in the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan. The Plan requires that by 2050, water companies will only discharge from storm overflows where they can demonstrate that there is no adverse local ecological impact. Nutrient pollution from wastewater is another key pressure affecting the condition of our protected sites. This is why in areas where protected sites are particularly affected by nutrient pollution, over 140 wastewater treatment works must be upgraded by water companies to meet stringent nutrient removal levels in PR24.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of driving test waiting times on young people’s ability to access employment and education opportunities.

As acknowledged in the statement made on 18 December 2024 about car practical driving test waiting times, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) understands the potential impact high waiting times have on learner drivers, including younger drivers. In the same statement, DVSA set out further plans to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. These steps include recruiting 450 driving examiners and improving rules for booking driving tests. For practical driving test candidates, DVSA is still offering the Mobile Emergency Worker (MEW) process for those in critical roles. The process, which was implemented during the coronavirus pandemic, is only for candidates who are a critical worker in England or Wales and work for one of the following: the NHS - in health or social carethe emergency servicesa local council They must also: need to drive as part of their job (commuting not included)respond to ‘threats to life’ as part of their job DVSA has shared the MEW application process with all applicable emergency organisations. Candidates who meet this eligibility criteria and want a test, should talk to their employer, who will need to apply on their employee’s behalf. DVSA is committed to providing customers with the best service possible and continually reviews its estate, including in rural areas, to ensure it represents good value for money and is efficient.

What steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of practical driving tests in rural areas.

As acknowledged in the statement made on 18 December 2024 about car practical driving test waiting times, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) understands the potential impact high waiting times have on learner drivers, including younger drivers. In the same statement, DVSA set out further plans to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. These steps include recruiting 450 driving examiners and improving rules for booking driving tests. For practical driving test candidates, DVSA is still offering the Mobile Emergency Worker (MEW) process for those in critical roles. The process, which was implemented during the coronavirus pandemic, is only for candidates who are a critical worker in England or Wales and work for one of the following: the NHS - in health or social carethe emergency servicesa local council They must also: need to drive as part of their job (commuting not included)respond to ‘threats to life’ as part of their job DVSA has shared the MEW application process with all applicable emergency organisations. Candidates who meet this eligibility criteria and want a test, should talk to their employer, who will need to apply on their employee’s behalf. DVSA is committed to providing customers with the best service possible and continually reviews its estate, including in rural areas, to ensure it represents good value for money and is efficient.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2025 to Question 23243, if he will publish a breakdown of spending on brain cancer research in 2023-24, including UK Research and Innovation funding bodies.

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department of Health and Social Care invests over £1.5 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24. Cancer is a major area of NIHR spend, reflecting its high priority.In 2023/24, total NIHR spending on direct research awards on brain cancer was £2.1 million spent across 22 active studies with a total lifetime value of £11.8 million. In the same year our wider infrastructure investments, which enable the country’s leading experts to develop and deliver high-quality translational, clinical, and applied research funded by ourselves, charities and industry partners, allowed an additional 1,107 people to participate in potentially life-changing brain cancer research in the National Health Service. Information about research projects funded through NIHR Research Programmes, including on brain cancer, is available at the following link:https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/The NIHR works closely with other Government funders, including UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which conducts research through its nine research councils. UKRI figures for spending on brain cancer research in 2023/24 have yet to be finalised.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that planning reforms (a) take full account of environmental and animal welfare considerations and (b) empower local authorities to (i) reject and (ii) amend applications for new or expanding factory farms that may cause harm.

The Department works closely with the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government to deliver planning reforms with regular discussions on how the impacts of development can be fully considered and planning can improve outcomes for nature whilst enabling farmers and rural businesses to build the infrastructure they need. New or expanding farms permitted under the Town and Country Planning Act are subject to the National Planning Policy Framework which clearly sets out that if significant harm to biodiversity resulting from a development cannot be avoided, adequately mitigated, or, as a last resort, compensated for, then planning permission should be refused and that planning policies and decisions should prevent new and existing development from contributing to, being put at unacceptable risk from, or being adversely affected by, unacceptable levels of soil, air, water or noise pollution or land instability. The animal welfare considerations for buildings and accommodation used for farmed animals are set out in The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 with further guidance set out in the relevant species-specific welfare code of practice.

What steps she is taking to support local authorities in rural regions to (a) develop and (b) maintain dedicated cycling lanes.

The Department for Transport has established Active Travel England (ATE) as an executive agency to provide dedicated funding and support for all authorities in England outside London, including in rural areas. ATE’s support includes training for local authority staff on to enable delivery of high-quality walking and cycling schemes, as well as design workshops and design assurance reviews of schemes under development. Dedicated funding is provided to urban and rural areas of England using a formula based on population and capability level, with revenue funding to boost capability. Additionally, the Department provides funding for highways maintenance, which also includes maintenance of cycleways and footways, and is based on length of highways in constituent authorities. In 2024, ATE also provided £1 million to the ten National Parks in England to help them develop better links to rural towns and villages. ATE is developing specific guidance for good practice application in rural areas and expects to publish this shortly.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of rural road conditions on (a) cycling and (b) horse rider safety.

The Government agrees that the condition of our local road network, both in rural and urban areas, has suffered as the result of a decade of underinvestment by the previous government. Poor road conditions can be particularly dangerous for cyclists and horse-riders, because they can cause vehicles to swerve at the last minute and because the consequences of hitting a pothole can be far worse for cyclists and horse-riders than for motorists. To enable local authorities in rural areas and elsewhere to start to get on top of the highway maintenance backlog and deliver smoother, safer roads for all road users, the Government has already announced a £500 million funding uplift for local highway authorities for next financial year. Funding allocations to individual highway authorities were announced on 20 December, and Dorset is set to receive up to £25 million, a funding uplift of nearly £7 million compared to the current financial year. It is up to each local authority to decide how best to spend this funding, and in planning their maintenance programmes they should consider the needs of all road users, including cyclists, pedestrians and horse-riders.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that road network infrastructure is equipped to utilise safety technology in modern vehicles effectively.

The Department is aware of the growing availability of ADAS Advanced Driver Assistance Services in new vehicles and the data and connectivity applications that support them. The Department has supported a number of research and development activities in recent years to develop the standards required for ‘vehicle to infrastructure’, (V2I) communications and services that will enable infrastructure-based safety systems, and continues to work with the automotive and highway authority sectors to ensure that the technology used in highway network management will support V2I services as they become available in new vehicles.

What steps she is taking to ensure that investment in cycling infrastructure is equitably distributed to rural areas.

The Department for Transport has established Active Travel England (ATE) as an executive agency to provide dedicated funding and support for all authorities in England outside London, including in rural areas. ATE’s support includes training for local authority staff on to enable delivery of high-quality walking and cycling schemes, as well as design workshops and design assurance reviews of schemes under development. Dedicated funding is provided to urban and rural areas of England using a formula based on population and capability level, with revenue funding to boost capability. Additionally, the Department provides funding for highways maintenance, which also includes maintenance of cycleways and footways, and is based on length of highways in constituent authorities. In 2024, ATE also provided £1 million to the ten National Parks in England to help them develop better links to rural towns and villages. ATE is developing specific guidance for good practice application in rural areas and expects to publish this shortly.

What steps she is taking to help provide safe cycling infrastructure for residents of rural areas.

The Department for Transport has established Active Travel England (ATE) as an executive agency to provide dedicated funding and support for all authorities in England outside London, including in rural areas. ATE’s support includes training for local authority staff on to enable delivery of high-quality walking and cycling schemes, as well as design workshops and design assurance reviews of schemes under development. Dedicated funding is provided to urban and rural areas of England using a formula based on population and capability level, with revenue funding to boost capability. Additionally, the Department provides funding for highways maintenance, which also includes maintenance of cycleways and footways, and is based on length of highways in constituent authorities. In 2024, ATE also provided £1 million to the ten National Parks in England to help them develop better links to rural towns and villages. ATE is developing specific guidance for good practice application in rural areas and expects to publish this shortly.

What steps her Department is taking to help reduce fatality rates of cyclists on rural roads.

The Highway Code was updated in 2022 to improve road safety for cyclists and pedestrians, by strengthening pedestrian priority on pavements and at crossings and introducing the Hierarchy of Road Users, which places those road users most at risk in the event of a collision, at the top of the hierarchy. The Highway Code makes it clear that those in charge of vehicles that can cause the greatest harm in the event of a collision bear the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger they pose to others, and highlights the need to take care and be particularly aware of young cyclists and pedestrians. The Department has awarded local authorities £185.8 million of funding between 2017 and 2024 through the Safer Roads Fund to improve the safety of England's most high risk 'A' roads. To date, it has funded 445.3 miles of rural roads which make up 62.4% of all funded routes. Additionally, Active Travel England works with rural authorities to provide funding and to support the delivery of high-quality walking and cycling schemes, including segregated cycle lanes and junction improvements. This includes training for local authority staff, as well as design workshops and design assurance reviews of schemes under development.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of repatriating former British nationals from (a) al-Hol and (b) al-Roj prison camp in Syria to prevent (i) further radicalisation and (ii) escape.

Our priority remains to ensure the safety and security of the UK. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect the UK from those who pose a threat to our security. All requests for consular assistance from Syria are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all relevant circumstances including, but not limited to, national security.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with international partners on the long-term (a) security and (b) management of (i) al-Hol and (ii) al-Roj prison camp in Syria.

The UK continues to promote security and stability in Syria, to ensure Daesh's territorial defeat continues and they can never resurge. We remain in close contact with the authorities in North-East Syria and with international partners as part of the Global Coalition Against Daesh, including on mitigating the extant Daesh threat emanating from detention facilities and camps, including al-Hol and al-Roj. The Foreign Secretary attended the International Contact Group on Syria in Riyadh on 12 January where he emphasised the need for a political solution in North-East Syria, and for partners to co-operate closely to tackle the threat from Daesh.

What steps her Department is taking to support first-time buyers in rural constituencies with (a) mortgage rates and (b) stamp duty.

In September 2022, the previous government announced a change to the level at which purchasers of residential property start paying Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), from £125,000 to £250,000. This change was made temporary in November 2022, and the rate will revert to £125,000 on 1 April 2025. For first-time buyers, the nil-rate band is currently £425,000 and the purchase price limit for accessing the relief is currently £625,000. After the rates revert, first time buyers will still benefit from paying no SDLT up to £300,000 and will be able to claim relief on purchases up to £500,000. At Autumn Budget 2024, the higher rates of SDLT for additional dwellings were increased by two percentage points from 3% to 5%. This measure will ensure that those looking to move home, or purchase their first property, have a greater advantage over second home buyers, landlords, and companies purchasing residential property. The OBR certified costing estimates that increasing the higher rates of SDLT by two percentage points is expected to result in 130,000 additional transactions over the next five years by first-time buyers and other people buying a primary residence. Regarding the impact of SDLT on local business sustainability, lower, non-residential rates of SDLT apply to purchases of commercial properties and are not affected by the upcoming reversion of the main rates and first time buyer rates on 1 April 2025. The Government will introduce a permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme to help buyers who are struggling to save for a large deposit. As set out in the Autumn Budget, we will announce further details of the scheme in Phase 2 of the Spending Review On housing more broadly, the Government has committed to delivering 1.5 million new homes as part of its mission to achieve economic growth across the country. The Government is reforming the National Planning Policy Framework to get Britain building, including by reintroducing mandatory housing targets and changing Green Belt policy to bring low-quality land into scope for development.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to (a) support residential mobility and (b) ensure adequate housing in areas with high rates of under-occupation.

The government’s Plan for Change includes a hugely ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million new homes in England in this Parliament. We intend to deliver housing of all tenures in the right places, supporting our towns and cities to grow, and providing the homes people want near to businesses and employment opportunities.We also want to see efficient use of existing housing stock. When it comes to social housing, local authorities and housing associations are encouraged to support under-occupiers to transfer to smaller properties, including through mutual exchanges. We are also empowering local authorities to bring empty properties back into use. Where funding, tax, and informal approaches are ineffective, local authorities can use formal enforcement levers to bring homes back into use. The government is also considering recommendations from the Older People’s Housing Taskforce on how to improve housing choices for older people.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to improve the rollout of broadband in rural areas under Project Gigabit.

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 86% of premises in England have access to gigabit-capable broadband. To improve broadband connectivity further, we have put in place over 30 Project Gigabit contracts that are set to deliver fast, reliable broadband to over 1 million rural and hard-to-reach premises that would otherwise not be reached by the commercial market alone.There are multiple contracts being delivered across the South West, including in Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. We recently announced new Project Gigabit contracts with Openreach that will also bring gigabit-capable broadband to premises in Devon and Somerset.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) help mitigate security threats posed by former British nationals in the (i) al-Hol and (ii) al-Roj prison camps in Syria.

As the present situation in Syria unfolds, we are working closely with partners to monitor any threats, including through our work with the Global Coalition Against Daesh. Our priority remains to ensure the safety and security of the UK. We will not hesitate to take action to protect the UK from those who pose a threat to our security. This can, where appropriate, include the exercise of powers to disrupt the travel to the UK, of individuals who are assessed to pose a threat.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing the stamp duty tax-free threshold for first-time buyers on rural housing affordability in West Dorset constituency.

In September 2022, the previous government announced a change to the level at which purchasers of residential property start paying Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), from £125,000 to £250,000. This change was made temporary in November 2022, and the rate will revert to £125,000 on 1 April 2025. For first-time buyers, the nil-rate band is currently £425,000 and the purchase price limit for accessing the relief is currently £625,000. After the rates revert, first time buyers will still benefit from paying no SDLT up to £300,000 and will be able to claim relief on purchases up to £500,000. At Autumn Budget 2024, the higher rates of SDLT for additional dwellings were increased by two percentage points from 3% to 5%. This measure will ensure that those looking to move home, or purchase their first property, have a greater advantage over second home buyers, landlords, and companies purchasing residential property. The OBR certified costing estimates that increasing the higher rates of SDLT by two percentage points is expected to result in 130,000 additional transactions over the next five years by first-time buyers and other people buying a primary residence. Regarding the impact of SDLT on local business sustainability, lower, non-residential rates of SDLT apply to purchases of commercial properties and are not affected by the upcoming reversion of the main rates and first time buyer rates on 1 April 2025. The Government will introduce a permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme to help buyers who are struggling to save for a large deposit. As set out in the Autumn Budget, we will announce further details of the scheme in Phase 2 of the Spending Review On housing more broadly, the Government has committed to delivering 1.5 million new homes as part of its mission to achieve economic growth across the country. The Government is reforming the National Planning Policy Framework to get Britain building, including by reintroducing mandatory housing targets and changing Green Belt policy to bring low-quality land into scope for development.