Written questions by Blundell.

What steps she is taking to ensure the extension of visa for Ukrainian nationals in the UK who have fled the war since 2022.

On 1 September, the Government announced in parliament that the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) would be extended for an additional 24 months to enable those eligible to obtain a further period of permission following their initial permission under UPE. More detail will follow in due course.The UK Government has always been clear that our offer of temporary sanctuary under the Ukraine Schemes does not lead to settlement in the UK. However, the UPE extension reflects a generous and meaningful commitment to support those displaced by the conflict, while also respecting the Ukrainian Government’s strong desire for the future return of its citizens when it is safe to do so.There are other routes available for those who wish to settle in the UK permanently, if they meet the requirements.

What steps her Department is taking to help support local authorities in the North West to (a) process and (b) issue education, health and care plans for SEND children.

The department is working with a number of local authorities in the North West that have issues with education, health and care (EHC) plan timeliness. This involves working closely with NHS England and other partners to support improvement, including deploying special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) advisers, coordinating targeted interventions, and aligning efforts with other inspection frameworks.Where a local authority does not meet its duties, the department can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement. We offer universal, targeted and intensive support through Department for Education-managed programmes, including our sector-led improvement partners which provides peer-to-peer tailored support.Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission introduced a strengthened area SEND inspection framework in January 2023 leading to a greater emphasis on children and young people’s outcomes. It is the primary tool to maintain a focus on high standards in the SEND system across all partners.

What steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce class sizes and (b) provide focused support in maintained special schools.

Special schools are specially organised to support pupils with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The provision required will be specified in the pupils’ education, health and care plans, which the responsible local authority is statutorily required to secure.The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to keep the provision for children and young people with SEND under review, working with parents, young people and providers.Decisions about how to organise provision within a special school is for the headteacher to determine. Special schools will use a variety of staff deployment and grouping models based on the varied needs of their children.

What steps he is taking to assess the potential merits of flexible visa arrangements with the European Union for British nationals who face challenges with the Schengen rules.

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 within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period; this is standard for third countries travelling visa-free to the EU. There may be opportunities to apply for visas to stay for longer periods of time, in accordance with the rules of individual Member States. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.

What assessment she has made of the potential potential impact of bridleways on supporting active travel in urban areas.

Decisions on measures to support active travel, including through the use of bridleways, are a matter for local authorities. Active Travel England encourages local authorities to consult with local groups, such as equestrians, where any proposed active travel project involves the proposed use of a bridleway. This is appliable to both urban and rural areas.

What steps his Department is taking to implement a single patient record system across the NHS.

The Health and Social Care Act 2022, the Data (Use and Access) Act, and the Health and Social Care Information Standards (Procedure) Regulations 2025 introduced a new legislative framework for mandatory information standards for public and private health and adult social care providers and IT suppliers in the health and care system. This will provide the basis for ensuring interoperability between IT systems.The Government's 10-Year Health Plan commits to delivering a single patient record (SPR). The SPR will give staff and providers access to the information they need to provide health and care and will end the need for patients to repeat their medical history when interacting with different health and care providers. It will provide a comprehensive patient record, bringing together information from all of a patient’s medical records into one place.We have been engaging with the public to help shape our plans, including what information they would like to see included in an SPR, and we will continue to talk to the public and to health and care professionals as we design the SPR to ensure their needs are reflected. The SPR will begin to go live from 2028.

What steps his Department is taking to help improve information sharing between GPs and hospital trusts in Greater Manchester.

Information sharing within the Greater Manchester region is supported by the Greater Manchester Care Record (GM Care Record), a digital resource for 3.4 million citizens, that is used to help improve health and care services and save lives. It brings together information shared by National Health Service trusts, general practices, and care services across all 10 Greater Manchester boroughs into one joined up patient record. The GM Care Record is used by frontline health and care workers to ensure patients receive the care and treatment they need, at the right time, and in the right way.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure the timely sharing of patient information between hospital trusts with different IT systems.

The Health and Social Care Act 2022, the Data (Use and Access) Act, and the Health and Social Care Information Standards (Procedure) Regulations 2025 introduced a new legislative framework for mandatory information standards for public and private health and adult social care providers and IT suppliers in the health and care system. This will provide the basis for ensuring interoperability between IT systems.The Government's 10-Year Health Plan commits to delivering a single patient record (SPR). The SPR will give staff and providers access to the information they need to provide health and care and will end the need for patients to repeat their medical history when interacting with different health and care providers. It will provide a comprehensive patient record, bringing together information from all of a patient’s medical records into one place.We have been engaging with the public to help shape our plans, including what information they would like to see included in an SPR, and we will continue to talk to the public and to health and care professionals as we design the SPR to ensure their needs are reflected. The SPR will begin to go live from 2028.

What steps his Department is taking to improve patient safety across the NHS in Greater Manchester.

The Department has been informed that, in 2023, the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB) reviewed its approach to quality assurance and provider oversight and developed the Greater Manchester Quality Assurance and Escalation Framework. As a commissioner, the ICB has a provider oversight framework that operates alongside NHS England’s provider oversight framework to ensure that there is strong oversight in relation to patient safety. All providers’ boards are accountable for their workforce and organisational culture and report on areas such as safer staffing and workforce planning.We have been informed by the ICB that the measures being taken to improve patient safety across Greater Manchester are focused on the areas of quality assurance and provider oversight, winter planning, maternity and neonatal oversight, and mental health oversight.The Government is committed to advancing patient safety and a learning culture across the National Health Service. The changes we are making as part of the 10-Year Health Plan will improve quality and safety by making it clear where responsibility and accountability sits at all levels of the system. This will be reinforced by a new era of transparency, a rigorous focus on high-quality care, and a renewed focus on patient and staff voice.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing for people who have been diagnosed with PTSD in Greater Manchester.

The NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board is responsible for commissioning services to meet the mental health needs of people across Greater Manchester. Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing is recommended as a treatment option for adults with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. People with post-traumatic stress disorder may be able to access it through local NHS Talking Therapies services.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her Department’s policies of the recommendations of the article entitled Abuse of Women Runners: implications for the violence against women and girls policy agenda, published in November 2024.

This Government has been clear that the level of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in our country is intolerable, and we are treating it as the national emergency that it is. Everyone should both be and feel safe whilst going about their day-to-day lives – and we recognise the particular vulnerability that women runners may feel.We will go further than before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach to halve VAWG in a decade, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy, which we are aiming to publish in September.We are working across Government to use every tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence to keep all women safe.

With reference to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill and her Department's document entitled English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, whether she will bring forward legislative proposals for (a) Mayors to have a statutory role in (i) governing, (ii) managing and (iii) planning railways, and (b) an option for Mayors to control local railway stations and (c) the right for Mayors to request rail devolution.

These subjects will be addressed in the Railways Bill, to be introduced later in this parliamentary session, and with accompanying guidance on the right to request. Guidance will outline the process for Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities to make this request and the criteria that will be considered, such as national and regional network implications.

What steps she is taking to support bereaved families who have lost loved ones as a result of serious and violent crimes committed by reoffenders.

The Government is committed to ensuring families bereaved by homicide receive the support they need to help them build resilience to cope with the impact of these devastating crimes.Families bereaved by homicide have rights under the Victim’s Code, which sets out the minimum level of service that victims should receive. Under the Victims’ Code, they are entitled to be given information about and be referred to victim support services by the police. The Ministry of Justice also commissions a National Homicide Service, delivered by Victim Support, to provide a consistent level of support across England and Wales to families bereaved by homicide.Addressing reoffending is critical to public safety. We follow the evidence to tackle the root causes of reoffending by investing in a range of interventions. Serious Further Offences (SFOs) committed by offenders subject to probation supervision are rare but have a devastating impact on victims, which is why we conduct thorough investigations into each one. The findings of SFO reviews are shared with victims, as we recognise that it is vital that victims understand any improvement we need to make as a direct result of the SFO.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of bridleways on supporting active travel nationally.

Bridleways have an important role to play in enabling active travel across the country. To support local authorities seeking to deliver active travel schemes outside of towns and cities, Active Travel England is developing specific guidance for good practice application in rural contexts and expects to publish this later this year. The guidance will explore how best bridleways (and other elements of the Public Rights of Way network) can be incorporated and integrated into existing and proposed active travel networks to expand their reach and connectivity. This will potentially have benefits for a range of different path users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse-riders.

Whether her Department is taking steps to help support the long-term viability of community rail organisations in the context of (a) her Department's rail reforms and (b) the inception of Great British Rail.

As we move towards establishing Great British Railways (GBR), the Community Rail movement will be integral to helping us deliver our priorities and will continue to deliver for passengers and communities. We will continue to work closely with the Community Rail Network to identify opportunities to support the community rail sector ahead of the standup of GBR.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to protect bridleways in the context of changes to national planning regulations.

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should protect and enhance public rights of way and access, including taking opportunities to provide better facilities for users, for example by adding links to existing rights of way networks including National Trails. The government will consult on a new suite of national policies for decision making later this year and as part of that exercise we will consider whether any changes are needed to policy relating to public rights of way.

What steps she is taking to help improve the quality of probation services across the North West of England.

The Probation Service in the North West has developed a Quality Improvement Plan which prioritises and focuses improvement activity across Probation Delivery Units in the region, and at regional level, and includes actions derived from internal audits and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation reports. Progress is routinely monitored, assured and supported by regional and national, Performance, Assurance and Risk functions.We regularly publish performance ratings for each region of the Probation Service, which can be found at the following link: Community Performance Annual, update to March 2024 - GOV.UK.We are hiring 1,300 trainee probation officers by March 2026 in addition to the 1,050 already appointed last year. We are also investing in new technology to lift the administrative burden on probation officers so they can focus on what they do best – managing and rehabilitating offenders.Probation funding will increase by up to £700 million by the final year of the spending review – a 45% increase in the next three years. We will deliver thousands more tags, more staff, and more accommodation to ensure that offenders are tracked and monitored closely in the community.

What steps her Department is taking to support community rail in the north of England.

The Department continues to support the community rail sector across the north of England, including through funding for station adoption groups and Community Rail Partnerships. This support is delivered via train operating companies and through the Community Rail Network (CRN), who provide access to grants and resources to its members. As we move towards establishing Great British Railways, the role of Community Rail will be more important than ever. Community Rail will be integral to helping us deliver our priorities and will continue to deliver for passengers and communities in the north of England.

Whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that men’s mental health organisations in the north of England are consulted on the forthcoming men’s health strategy.

The Men's Health Strategy will seek to improve the health and wellbeing of all men in England and will be informed by a call for evidence that is open to the public, academics, health and social care professionals, and stakeholder organisations in England. The call for evidence closes on 17 July 2025. We encourage all men’s mental health organisations in the north of England to complete the call for evidence and have their say on ways to tackle the biggest health problems facing men. We will continue to engage with stakeholders during development of the strategy.

What steps her Department is taking to help support the wider community utility of rail stations in the north of England.

The Department continues to support the community rail sector across the north of England, including through funding for station adoption groups and Community Rail Partnerships. This support is delivered via train operating companies and through the Community Rail Network (CRN), who provide access to grants and resources to its members. As we move towards establishing Great British Railways, the role of Community Rail will be more important than ever. Community Rail will be integral to helping us deliver our priorities and will continue to deliver for passengers and communities in the north of England.