Written questions by Blundell.

What steps her Department is taking to help improve transport connectivity in (a) Heywood and (b) Middleton.

We are committed to maximising transport investment benefits for housing and regeneration across Greater Manchester, including in Middleton and Heywood. Working with Mayors and local leaders, we are developing local plans for new housing and jobs through better transport connectivity. We are providing substantial transport funding for the Greater Manchester region, including over £1bn from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) for 2022/23 – 2026/27. Additionally, an extra £200m for CRSTS was announced in October to further support transport in major city regions, including Greater Manchester. This supports tram, bus, and active travel improvements, such as tram-train infrastructure between Oldham, Rochdale, Heywood, and Bury. We're also backing Greater Manchester’s Bee Network with £66.3m for buses in 2025/26, protecting and supporting services, and delivering Bus Service Improvement Plans. Additionally, £15.8m will go towards highways maintenance in Greater Manchester in 2025/26.

What recent discussions she has had with officials in Greater Manchester on taking steps to protect victims of domestic abuse.

This Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade. We will use every tool within our power to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence, including domestic abuse. For instance, in November, we launched Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) in selected areas including Greater Manchester, to provide more protection for victims. Working closely with all our delivery partners in the Greater Manchester area has been critical to the successful pilot launch in this area, and we engage regularly with Greater Manchester Central Authority via our Greater Manchester DAPO Local Partner Steering Group.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help improve the quality of housing stock in Heywood and Middleton North constituency.

Everyone deserves to live in a decent, safe and warm home. The government is therefore bringing forward a consultation in early 2025, setting out plans for a reformed Decent Homes Standard that will apply to both the social and private rented sectors to ensure safe and secure housing is the standard across the country.The Renters’ Rights Bill will also drive significant improvements to conditions in the private rented sector. Ensuring landlords adhere to a legally binding Decent Homes Standard and extending ‘Awaab’s Law’ to private landlords will reduce the number of poor-quality privately rented homes and empower tenants to raise concerns about damp, dangerous and cold homes.Regarding new homes, the Building Safety Act created a power to mandate, for the first time, the requirement that all newly built homes be sold with a new build warranty. The government is carefully considering next steps regarding commencement of this power.

What steps he is taking to promote the Government’s Business Growth Service with small business owners in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) Heywood and Middleton North constituency.

We are engaging widely with stakeholders, including with entrepreneurs and small business owners, on the design and implementation of the Business Growth Service (BGS) to ensure that we deliver on our mission to make it easier for businesses to get the support they need to grow and thrive. We are working in partnership with the Combined Authority and the Growth Hub for Greater Manchester to coordinate and deliver local engagement on the BGS, including in the Heywood and Middleton North constituency.

What steps she is taking to tackle tax evasion by business in the hospitality sector who (a) fail to declare earnings and (b) pay cash in hand.

The Government recognises that sometimes businesses do not declare their cash income and thereby conceal their true earnings and is committed to creating a level playing field for all by ensuring that everyone pays the right amount of tax at the right time. Most taxpayers pay what they owe, but a small minority fail to register with HMRC or only declare a portion of their earnings. This small minority deprive our vital public services of funding, affect fair competition between businesses, and place unfair burdens on everyone else. It is vital these revenues are collected to fund our essential public services. Closing the tax gap and making sure that more of the tax that is owed is correctly paid is one of the Government’s top priorities for HMRC. HMRC is making it increasingly difficult for businesses to hide their earnings and have an extensive range of powers, including information gathering powers, that help build a picture of risk and identify those who are trying to abuse the system. HMRC’s approach to tax evasion aims to tackle current non-compliance and change future behaviours. Their activities include national campaigns and specialist task forces that incorporate intensive bursts of activity in targeted high risk trade sectors, such as the hospitality sector, and locations across the UK. This includes providing customer education highlighting the importance of keeping accurate records. Cash continues to be used by many people across the UK and is a legitimate means of paying for goods and services. It is the choice of a business whether to accept or decline any form of payment and is based on factors such as customer preference and cost. Where an individual or business is paid in cash, the onus is on them to ensure they meet their tax obligations, including registering for and paying the right taxes. The Government will continue to consider options to tackle cash-facilitated evasion and has indicated it will consult in the future on any measures in relation to tackling cash facilitated evasion.

What discussions he has had with the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board on steps to reduce the number of patients awaiting treatment in Heywood and Middleton North constituency.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are accountable to NHS England. The NHS Oversight Framework outlines NHS England’s approach to overseeing and monitoring ICB performance, and NHS England regional teams have regular review meetings with ICBs, the frequency of which will vary according to the governance arrangements, but they should be at least quarterly.More broadly, the Government is working to reduce the number of patients awaiting treatment across the country, including those in Heywood and Middleton North. The Elective Reform Plan, launched as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, sets out how we will get back to the NHS Constitutional Standard, that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment (RTT) by the end of this Parliament, and will also ensure patients have the best possible experience of care.We have set an ambition for 2025/26 that we reach 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks nationally, and for all trusts to deliver a minimum 5% improvement by March 2026. We will also publish minimum standards of care that patients can expect to experience, and will make digital improvements, including to the NHS App, to provide patients with greater choice, control, and flexibility.Across the country, dedicated and protected surgical hubs are transforming the way the National Health Service provides elective care, by focussing on high volume low complexity surgeries. In the Heywood and Middleton North constituency, there are two such surgical hubs serving patients, the Fairfield General Hospital Elective Surgical Hub, and the Rochdale Infirmary Elective Surgical Hub.

What steps her Department is taking to increase road safety for vulnerable road users.

The Government treats road safety with the utmost seriousness, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My department is developing our road safety strategy and will set out more details in due course.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of a reciprocal agreement between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to accept pensioners' bus passes.

Concessionary travel is a devolved policy area so the administrative arrangements in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ from those in England. There are no plans at present to introduce such an arrangement.

What steps her Department is taking to make it easier for women to report abuse experienced when they have been exercising in public.

This Government has set out an unprecedented ambition to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade, and we are determined to use every lever available to us to deliver on that aim.That means working across Government departments to tackle ...

If he will take steps to provide funding for respite care for people with disabilities away from their care setting.

The Government is providing at least £600 million of new grant funding for social care, as part of the broader estimated real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of approximately 3.2%. Local authorities are responsible for how they use th...

What steps she plans to take to protect (a) workers who support the night time economy, (b) shift workers, (c) NHS workers, (d) people enjoying a night out and (e) other people travelling at night who are at risk of (i) violence and (ii) sexual violence.

This Government will treat tackling violence against women and girls as a national emergency and will use every tool to target perpetrators and address the root causes of violence on our streets.We want women to feel safe and will use every lever to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade, across the whole of government, with policing and other experts.To make our streets safe, we must drastically reduce serious violent crime and violence against women and girls, increase confidence in the police, stop young people falling into crime, and make our criminal justice system work for victims.No one should ever have to face the risk of violence or harassment when travelling. This government is taking action to make sure our transport network is safe for all. The Department for Transport is working closely with transport partners, including the British Transport Police, on a range of initiatives to address the problems faced by different users, including women and girls, on the transport network.

With reference to the Draft Greater Manchester Rapid Transit Strategy, published by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on 10 July 2024, whether she is taking steps to support (a) the extension of the Metrolink to Middleton and (b) delivery of a tram-train link to Heywood.

The Government has committed to investing £5.7bn in the transport networks of eight city regions in England until 2027 through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS). This includes £1.07bn for Greater Manchester. CRSTS supports investments in public and sustainable transport across a range of modes including rail, bus, tram, and walking and cycling. The Greater Manchester CRSTS programme includes the development of a tram-train link to Heywood.