Written questions by Mierlo.

What information the UK National Screening Committee has provided on the (a) format, (b) scale and (c) duration of the upcoming in-service evaluation of newborn screening for Spinal Muscular Atrophy in the NHS.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is working with the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) partnership board to scope out the potential shape of the in-service evaluation into SMA. The partnership board includes clinicians, academics, patient representatives, the National Institute for Health and Research (NIHR), NHS England, and the UK NSC. The final decision on the exact format, scale, and duration will be determined following a successful NIHR tendering process. The timescale for the implementation of the SMA in-service evaluation will not be confirmed until after the 2025 Spending Review.The UK NSC is aware that screening for SMA and severe combined immunodeficiency uses the same test, and as such there may be saving opportunities through economies of scale, if the two conditions are determined to be suitable for a screening programme. This is still under consideration by the committee.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent overseas private equity investment in Thames Water.

There are no plans to introduce any such legislation at this time. More broadly, the Independent Water Commission is actively considering whether reforms are needed across the water industry, including with respect to economic regulation of water companies. Within this, the Commission is considering regulation of water companies’ financial resilience, investment and competition. The Commission is expected to publish its recommendations, following which the Government expects to bring forward further actions to ensure the water industry is delivering for customers and the environment.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will ensure that Ofwat's enforcement case investigation into Thames Water is (a) performed and (b) concluded in a timely manner.

It is not appropriate for the Government to comment on an ongoing investigation. We have a system of independent environmental and economic regulation, and the recently introduced Water (Special Measures) Act provides the most significant increase in enforcement powers for the regulators in a decade, giving them the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies in the next investment period. This includes powers for Ofwat to set rules on remuneration, governance, and financial reporting. The Government will continue to work with regulators to hold water companies to account on poor performance and to drive improvements which benefit customers and the environment.

If she will make an estimate of the impact of cutting weights of Volumetric Concrete Mixers on (a) lorry miles on concrete deliveries, (b) lorry journeys on concrete deliveries and (c) the tonnage of CO2 produced by lorry making concrete deliveries.

My Department engaged with hon. Members and industry stakeholders through correspondence prior to the announcement. Additionally, industry and interested parties were given the opportunity to present views and evidence on this topic as part of the Call for Evidence between October and December 2023.The call for evidence sought views on three potential options on weight limits for Volumetric Concrete Mixers (VCMs). The following factors were considered: reduction in payload per journey, increased waste, and increased vehicle mileage. Information received did not provide any compelling evidence for permitting a weight limit exemption specifically for VCMs. As part of its consideration of the evidence, the Department for Transport has assessed the potential environmental impacts in accordance with the Environment Act 2021 which requires Ministers of the Crown to have ‘due regard’ to the environmental principles policy statement when making policy.Current exemptions to weight limits for VCMs will expire in 2028. This policy is being maintained.

What discussions she has had with (a) hon. Members and (b) the trade associations who contributed to the volumetric concrete mixers review prior to announcing the findings.

My Department engaged with hon. Members and industry stakeholders through correspondence prior to the announcement. Additionally, industry and interested parties were given the opportunity to present views and evidence on this topic as part of the Call for Evidence between October and December 2023.The call for evidence sought views on three potential options on weight limits for Volumetric Concrete Mixers (VCMs). The following factors were considered: reduction in payload per journey, increased waste, and increased vehicle mileage. Information received did not provide any compelling evidence for permitting a weight limit exemption specifically for VCMs. As part of its consideration of the evidence, the Department for Transport has assessed the potential environmental impacts in accordance with the Environment Act 2021 which requires Ministers of the Crown to have ‘due regard’ to the environmental principles policy statement when making policy.Current exemptions to weight limits for VCMs will expire in 2028. This policy is being maintained.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the implementation of crayfish barriers in (a) brooks and (b) streams to help prevent the non-anthropogenic spread of established invasive crayfish populations.

The use of barriers as a strategic means of managing crayfish spread is currently not promoted by the Environment Agency (EA). This is because such barriers also impact migratory fish and macroinvertebrates. As part of Government efforts to prevent the spread of Signal Crayfish, they are listed as a ‘Species of Special Concern’ and is subject to the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019. This means that live specimens cannot be brought into Great Britain, kept, bred, transported, sold, used or exchanged, allowed to reproduce, grown or cultivated, or released into the environment.

What steps her Department is taking to assess the environmental impact of a weight limit on Volumetric Concrete Mobile plants by 2028.

My Department engaged with hon. Members and industry stakeholders through correspondence prior to the announcement. Additionally, industry and interested parties were given the opportunity to present views and evidence on this topic as part of the Call for Evidence between October and December 2023.The call for evidence sought views on three potential options on weight limits for Volumetric Concrete Mixers (VCMs). The following factors were considered: reduction in payload per journey, increased waste, and increased vehicle mileage. Information received did not provide any compelling evidence for permitting a weight limit exemption specifically for VCMs. As part of its consideration of the evidence, the Department for Transport has assessed the potential environmental impacts in accordance with the Environment Act 2021 which requires Ministers of the Crown to have ‘due regard’ to the environmental principles policy statement when making policy.Current exemptions to weight limits for VCMs will expire in 2028. This policy is being maintained.

Communities and Local Government, what percentage of the new 1,500,000 homes will be (a) social housing and (b) affordable housing.

The government has not set an affordable housing target to date, but we are committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549). The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes. We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent. The government has also announced the £450m third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund, followed by an uplift of £50m, enabling councils to grow their housing stock. We also confirmed a range of new flexibilities for councils and housing associations, both within the Affordable Homes Programme and in relation to how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts. Having reduced Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels, we have allowed councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales. The government recognise that Registered Providers need support to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. Between 30 October 2024 and 23 December 2024, the government consulted on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement, to give Registered Providers the certainty they need to invest in new social and affordable housing. The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes a number of changes that make the planning system more supportive of affordable housing, in particular Social Rent homes. These include new Golden Rules for development on the Green Belt. Prior to development plan policies for affordable housing being updated in accordance with the revised NPPF, the affordable housing contribution required to satisfy the ‘Golden Rules’ is 15 percentage points above the highest existing affordable housing requirement that would otherwise apply to the development, subject to a cap of 50%. We estimate that under this model, the median Green Belt local planning authority affordable housing requirement will be 50%.

Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding to support the growth of innovative UK businesses.

Supporting innovative businesses is a key objective of the government’s growth mission. My department regularly engages with business organisations to understand the needs of their members, and significant support is available through Innovate UK. Over the last six months, Innovate UK has launched £276m of competitions, and annually it supports over 10,000 businesses on their innovation journey. This is in addition to significant work underway to increase the availability of growth capital, which includes increasing the National Wealth Fund’s capitalisation to £27.8bn, reforms to the British Business Bank, and new pension reforms aimed at unlocking £80 billion of investment.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief, (b) Sustainable Farming Incentive and (c) other financial subsidies on the mental health of farmers.

This Government is committed to supporting the mental health of those working in farming and agriculture. The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses and fixing the public finances in a fair way. With the reforms, those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The Government continues to fund the Farmer Welfare Grant. This currently funds three charities to deliver projects which support mental health and build resilience in local farming communities.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the amount of funding that farmers receive for school (a) visits and (b) education.

Educational access features as part of the wider Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme (FiPL) provides grant funding for farmers and land managers to work in partnership with National Parks and National Landscape bodies in England to deliver projects achieving positive outcomes for climate, nature, people, and place. Between July 2021 and March 2024, the programme delivered over 3,400 educational access visits and engaged over 600 schools to create more opportunities for diverse audiences to explore, enjoy and understand farming in these unique landscapes.

When he plans to publish the report on economic review into community pharmacy.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. This work is now complete and was published on 28 March 2025 on Frontier Economics’ website.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward regulations on the composition of bread marketed as sourdough.

The Government has no current plans to introduce regulations to specifically cover the composition of ‘sourdough bread’. The UK maintains high food standards including on requirements relating to food labelling and information. Existing legislation ensures the labelling and marketing of food, including sourdough products, does not intentionally mislead consumers.

What steps he is taking to ensure sufficient energy supply to meet demand in the next 10 years.

Great Britain is expected to have sufficient supplies of electricity and gas to meet consumers’ demands over the short and long-term (Statutory Security of Supply Report 2024). The government’s mission is to secure our energy supply with home-grown, clean power – and we have set out the steps to achieve this in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. These include: cleaning up a dysfunctional grid system by prioritising the most important projects; speeding up decisions on planning permission by empowering planners to prioritise critical energy infrastructure; and expanding the renewable auction process to stop delays and get more projects connected.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Household Support Fund after March 2026.

This Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to drive up opportunity and drive down poverty across the UK. That is why we are providing £742 million in England to extend the Household Support Fund by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. This will enable Local Authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, and develop their schemes to help prevent poverty locally and build local resilience. However, no decision has been made at this stage on funding beyond the end of March 2026. As with all other government programmes, any such funding will be considered in the round at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.

What steps he is taking to support British bakeries.

We intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties from 2026 - 27. Ahead of these changes being made, we have extended retail, hospitality, and leisure relief for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business and frozen the small business multiplier.The Government will protect the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that 865,000 employers will pay no National Insurance Contributions at all. We are also working with businesses to understand their barriers to growth and High Streets will be a key pillar of our forthcoming Small Business Strategy.

Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 40119 on Members: Correspondence, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of a reduction in access to UK’s National Trails on the work of (a) VisitBritain and (b) VisitEngland.

DCMS has not specifically undertaken a formal assessment of the impact of any potential reduction in access to the UK’s National Trails on the work of VisitBritain or VisitEngland.However, we recognise that access to National Trails plays a role in supporting rural tourism and promoting the natural and cultural assets of England, which are central to the work of VisitEngland. VisitBritain also promotes outdoor and nature-based tourism as part of its international marketing activity to showcase the UK’s diverse visitor offer.While responsibility for public access and National Trails policy rests with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), DCMS continues to work closely with Local Visitor Economy Partnerships, including Experience Oxfordshire, to ensure England’s natural landscapes can support the growth of a sustainable and resilient visitor economy.

How much funding was allocated to dementia research by (a) the National Institute for Health and Care Research, (b) UK Research and Innovation and (c) other public bodies in each of the last five years.

The Government’s responsibility for delivering dementia research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).The following table shows NIHR and UKRI spend data for dementia research across five financial years, from 2019/20 to 2023/24:YearNIHRUKRITotal2019/20£29,000,000£56,600,000£85,600,0002020/21£21,900,000£63,700,000£85,600,0002021/22£30,300,000£56,000,000£86,300,0002022/23£35,100,000£64,800,000£99,900,0002023/24£42,800,000£96,300,000£139,000,000Total£159,100,000£337,400,000£496,400,000 Spend for dementia research is calculated retrospectively, with a time lag due to annual reporting cycles, therefore 2023/24 is the most recent year for which we have data. The Department does not centrally hold data on dementia research funding from other public bodies.The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including dementia. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. All NIHR programmes welcoming applications on dementia enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

How many phase (a) one, (b) two and (c) three dementia clinical trials there have been in the UK in each of the last ten years; and how many participants were recruited for each of those trials.

The Department delivers dementia research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The Department does not hold information centrally on clinical trials hosted in Wales and Scotland. The Department is therefore unable to provide how many phase one, phase two, and phase three clinical trials for dementia have taken place in Wales and Scotland in each of the last 10 years.The following table shows the number of phase one, two, and three trials in England for dementia, supported by the NIHR Research Delivery Network, from 2014/15 to 2023/24:YearPhase 1Phase 2Phase 32014/15-12172015/16115182016/17-12242017/18114262018/19112182019/2021362020/211882021/22213112022/23411112023/244139In addition, the following table shows the number of participants recruited into phase one, two, and three trials in England for dementia, supported by the NIHR Research Delivery Network, from 2014/15 to 2023/24:YearPhase 1Phase 2Phase 32014/15-7556632015/16108431,1652016/17-4646252017/1834154712018/19125777,4732019/2046004402020/21248462021/22635612022/23468752023/2415123190Note: studies are sometimes conducted across multiple phases, for example a study may cross phase one/two or phase two/three. Therefore, figures cannot be totalled.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Macquarie Bank’s involvement in UK infrastructure development; and what steps she plans to take to ensure the stability and sustainability of essential services.

The government is committed to delivering a cross-cutting 10 Year Strategy for the UK’s social, economic and housing infrastructure to support a flourishing modern economy, drive growth, deliver net zero and support improved public services. The government has been engaging openly with industry as it develops this Strategy to ensure that it is credible and deliverable.