Written questions by Mierlo.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent changes to National Insurance contributions on the financial viability of early years settings.

It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life.Despite tough decisions to get public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest in supporting early education and childcare providers, including social enterprise nurseries, with the costs they face.In the 2025/26 financial year, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements, rising to over £9 billion in 2026/27. We are also providing the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45%, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. The department is also providing £25 million in respect of additional National Insurance contributions (NICs) costs through the Early Years NICs and Teachers Pay Grant, for public sector employers in the early years. This is in addition to a further £75 million through the early years expansion grant to support the sector as it prepares to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of recent changes to stamp duty thresholds on the number of first time buyers entering the property market.

Recent changes to stamp duty thresholds on 1 April 2025 were the result of policy introduced by the previous government. HMRC analysis estimates that there will be 4,000-6,000 fewer first-time buyer transactions per year between 2025/26-2029/30 as a result. At Budget 2024, the Government increased the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) for additional dwellings by two percentage points from 3% to 5%. This measure will help to 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.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the requirement upon Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to make savings of £99 million this year on the delivery of health services in Oxfordshire.

Like many other trusts, the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust overspent against their own plan in 2024/25, despite receiving significant additional support to deliver that plan. We can no longer accept overspends as standard. It is critical that all National Health Service organisations maximise every penny available to them and deliver the plans that they agree to. All efficiency savings will be used by organisations such as the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to reinvest in services and deliver on their plans. All systems have agreed breakeven financial plans for 2025/26, requiring £11 billion of efficiencies and other savings, or 7.1% of total allocation. While ambitious, NHS England has provided detailed efficiency and productivity support during 2025/26 planning and will continue to do so through a new finance improvement programme to ensure efficiency and financial plans are met without adversely impacting service delivery or patient care. As of the second month, the trust reports that it is on track to deliver the efficiencies set out in their plan for 2025/26.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating SEND funding to schools on the basis of their current cohort of pupils rather than the cohort in a previous academic year.

The schools national funding formula (NFF) operates on a lag, where schools are funded based on their pupils in the previous October census. This helps to give schools more certainty over funding levels, to aid their planning, and is particularly important in giving schools that see year-on-year reductions in their pupil numbers time to re-organise their staffing and costs before seeing the funding impact.Schools are expected to meet from their core funding the additional support costs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities up to £6,000 per pupil per annum. When those support costs exceed £6,000, the authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This funding comes from the authority’s high needs budget, and is based on the needs of current pupils.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 64334 on Roads: Noise, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of the installation of noise cameras, following the 2022 trial.

The Department for Transport conducted roadside trials of noise camera technology between October 2022 and February 2023. Reports of these trials, including detailed assessment of the technology’s performance and potential merits, were published on 17 March 2024. Overall, the trials demonstrated that noise cameras currently have the potential to be used for enforcement, but only when accompanied by human review of the recorded evidence, which is likely to lower the cost effectiveness of deploying the technology in many circumstances. A link to these reports can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/noise-camera-technology-roadside-trial.

What steps she is taking to simplify early years funding for parents and guardians.

It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving opportunity for every child and work choices for every parent. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school.The department is expanding the childcare entitlements so that from September 2025, eligible working parents can access 30 hours of early education and childcare a week, over 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their child turns 9 months until they start school.Parents can find information on early education entitlements and other childcare offers at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.On Monday 7 July, the department published its strategy to give every child the Best Start in Life. We will look across the early education and childcare support provided by different parts of government to identify ways to make it simpler for providers and parents, improve access and increase the overall impact of government spending on children and families. We will look at how to improve outcomes for children from low-income families and at the requirements on households to access different childcare entitlements.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Highways England's roadside litter clearing duties.

The Government sets National Highways performance targets on litter as part of its Road Investment Strategies. These are based on the percentage of the Strategic Road Network where litter conditions are graded at B or above under the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Litter Code of Practice. Progress towards the targets is monitored by the Office for Road and Rail, including through annual reports to Parliament. In 2023-24 National Highways' performance improved when compared to the previous year, and 59.2% of its network met the target. The ORR is continuing to challenge NH on the actions it is taking to address litter on the Strategic Road Network. Further details on litter management by National Highways can be found here: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/environment/communities/litter-on-motorways-and-major-a-roads/.

What steps she is taking to increase the powers of (a) enforcement and (b) collection of the Child Maintenance Service.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to ensuring separated parents support their children financially, taking robust enforcement action against those who do not. If someone chooses not to pay their maintenance themselves, the CMS has administrative powers which means CMS officials can deduct maintenance directly from a paying parent’s wages, from their bank account, or from their benefits. The CMS has a range of strong enforcement powers that can be used against those who consistently refuse to meet their obligations to provide financial support to their children including forcing the sale of a property. The Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 proposed regulations to support the introduction of administrative liability orders (ALOs), removing the requirement to obtain a court issued liability order. Introducing this process should enable the CMS to take faster action against those paying parents who actively avoid their responsibilities and get money to children more quickly. We are working with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Government to establish a process for implementing ALOs and plan to introduce regulations to Parliament by the end of this year.

What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the collection of late payments by the Child Maintenance Service.

The Government is dedicated to ensuring parents meet their responsibilities to provide their children with financial support and the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to pay their child maintenance, the CMS will not hesitate to use its enforcement powers, including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families. Statistics on child maintenance arrangements and collections are part of the CMS quarterly statistics published on gov.uk in tables 4 and 5 of the National Tables.  The below information is from the latest publication for data up to March 2025. In the 12 months up to March 2025 the CMS arranged £1.5 billion child maintenance, an increase from £1.4 billion during the previous 12 months. In March 2025, 57% of all CMS arrangements used Direct Pay, with a total of £1.1 billion arranged through the Direct Pay service in the last 12 months (we do not measure the compliance of Paying Parents on the Direct Pay service). In March 2025, 41% of all CMS arrangements used the Collect and Pay service and since March 2024, the percentage of parents paying something towards their maintenance through this service has remained level at 69%. In the period April 2024 to March 2025, £376.1 million was arranged through the Collect & Pay service:£266.9 million was paid£109.1 million was unpaid The CMS has a low percentage of unpaid maintenance with 7% (£713.1 million) of the total maintenance due to be paid since the CMS began in 2012, still to be collected through Collect & Pay. This has steadily fallen since the 17% due to be paid in March 2015.

What steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS occupational therapists involved in Disabled Facilities Grants for (a) children and (b) other people.

Occupational therapists play an important role in delivering the Disabled Facilities Grant at a local level by assessing older and disabled people’s needs, recommending home adaptations, and ensuring the suitability of proposed solutions.Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level ensuring they have the right number of staff in place and with the right skills mix, to deliver safe and effective care. These staff include Allied Health Professionals such as occupational therapists.The Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, to ensure that we retain more of our skilled and dedicated staff. NHS England is leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.

What estimate her Department has made of the levels of noise pollution on roads (a) in Oxfordshire and (b) nationally.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is responsible for creating noise maps as part of implementing the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006. The Department for Transport has not therefore made its own estimates. DEFRA’s latest round of noise mapping, published in October 2024, was undertaken using a new geospatial noise model to calculate noise exposure levels with a higher level of accuracy and coverage than ever before. The latest maps of road noise take into account all public roads in England and the details on road noise can be found online at https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/6c7a54b5-bb79-4c90-923a-d3a33d0a3d9a/environmental-noise-directive-end-noise-mapping-agglomerations-england-round-2

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 62450 on Vamorolone, which NHS Trusts have submitted prior approval forms.

The National Health Service trusts which have submitted prior approval forms are as follows:Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust;Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust;Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust;Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust;The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust;University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust; andUniversity Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he has made an assessment of the potential impact of reopening Bathing Water applications before changes including (a) core reforms and (b) wider reforms are implemented.

The reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations will modernise the system so that it reflects how and where people use bathing waters. We have taken the decision to reopen applications this year and published interim guidance for applicants wishing to apply for designation in 2026. To manage this transition to the reformed Regulations we shall enact a triage system for new applications submitted in 2025: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bathing-waters-apply-to-designate-or-de-designate/designate-a-bathing-water-guidance-on-how-to-apply. For the wider reforms, we have begun policy development and research, including epidemiological studies, to determine how best to implement these reforms in the future, considering any potential environmental, societal and access impacts.

On what date he expects the final report of the independent ADHD taskforce to be published.

The ADHD taskforce's final report is expected to be published later this year.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the South East allowance for police officers in Thames Valley Police.

The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) and Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) make recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers.The pay review bodies gather and invite parties to submit evidence to inform their decisions. This includes both written and oral evidence from the Government, police employers and police staff associations. They weigh the evidence, consider independent research, and formulate detailed recommendations.We are committed to the Pay Review Body process and the Government appreciates and values the independent, expert advice and contribution that the pay review bodies make.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of overall funding allocated to Thames Valley Police; and whether she plans to review regional difference in police (a) pay and (b) allowances as part of future funding settlements.

The 2025-26 final police funding settlement provides an overall increase of up to £1.2 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement. Thames Valley Police will receive up to £627.4 million, an increase of up to £40.8 million from 2024-25.The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) and Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) make recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers.The pay review bodies gather and invite parties to submit evidence to inform their decisions. This includes both written and oral evidence from the Government, police employers and police staff associations. They weigh the evidence, consider independent research, and formulate detailed recommendations.We are committed to the Pay Review Body process and the Government appreciates and values the independent, expert advice and contribution that the pay review bodies make.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that early years providers are not disadvantaged by restrictions on charging flexibility for funded childcare hours.

It is this government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.Government funding for the entitlements does not cover consumables like meals, nappies or sun cream or additional activities, such as trips, so providers are able to ask parents to pay for these things.However, in line with a recent high court judgment, these charges must not be mandatory or a condition of accessing a funded place. The high court judgement is accessible here: https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/admin/2025/224. The government’s guidance sets out requirements for the delivery of the early education and childcare entitlements in line with the law.The statutory guidance emphasises transparency at the heart of how the entitlement should be passed on to parents, including that any costs should be clearer on invoices and websites. Providers have until January 2026 to update their information in line with transparency requirements.

What steps she is taking to increase workforce numbers in the early years sector.

The early years workforce is at the heart of the government’s mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver the Plan for Change.The department is supporting the sector to attract talented staff and childminders to join the workforce by creating conditions for improved recruitment. Our national recruitment campaign is urging the public to ‘Do Something BIG’ and start a career working with small children. A dedicated website is helping people to find out more about gaining qualifications and to search for existing job vacancies. To further boost recruitment in early years, we are continuing to offer £1,000 financial incentives.We are creating new routes into the workforce through skills bootcamps for the early years which lead to an accelerated apprenticeship, and also funding early years initial teacher training as a route for new and existing staff to gain early years teacher status. Our commitment to grow the early years skills pipeline can also be seen through the expansion of the Levelling Up Premium payments. To support childminders to join and stay in the profession we have implemented new flexibilities to work with more people and spend more time working from non-domestic premises.

What assessment her Department has made of the level of administrative workload placed on early years providers in implementing the early years funding system; and whether she is taking steps to streamline (a) reporting and (b) funding claim processes.

Local authorities are responsible for paying early years providers to deliver the early education and childcare entitlements. The department does not provide guidance to local authorities on how they pay providers as each local authority will have its own local process for making funding payments.Local authorities must enter into arrangements with childcare providers for the delivery of free early education and childcare to ensure the providers comply with legislative requirements.As set out in our statutory guidance, local authorities should be clear in their agreements with providers about how and when providers will be paid and the documentation required from providers in order to receive payment.The department will continue to work closely with the sector to continue to look at how the system is working, and ensure every child gets the best start in life.

Whether she plans to revise the funding formula used to allocate the dedicated schools grant in areas which have a high cost of living but low area cost adjustment.

The department uses the schools national funding formula (NFF) to distribute core funding for 5 to 16 year-old pupils (reception through to year 11) in mainstream state-funded schools in England.The area cost adjustment (ACA) means that funding allocations to schools are adjusted to reflect the geographic costs they face. Importantly, because the department uses the hybrid methodology, schools’ funding allocations reflect differences in both general labour market costs and teacher salaries.The ACA takes into account the four geographical pay bands for teachers, as well as regional variations in the labour market for non-teaching staff.The department will continue to keep the NFF, including the operation of the ACA, under review for 2026/27 and beyond.