Written questions by Amos.

What the average time taken is for the Child Maintenance Service to adjust liability following notification of a change in care arrangements.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) works to ensure that liability adjustments following changes in care arrangements are processed as quickly and accurately as possible. These changes can vary in complexity, and the time taken depends on factors such as the availability of corroborating information from both parents and whether there is agreement on the new arrangements. Where there is disagreement or insufficient evidence, additional checks are required, which can extend the timescale. The CMS is expanding digital channels and online messaging to allow parents to submit information more quickly, helping to reduce delays. The Department for Work and Pensions does not currently publish an official average timescale for adjustments to child maintenance liability following notification of a change in care arrangements (for example, shared care or main carer modifications). Therefore, the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, CMS remains committed to improving timeliness and accuracy in processing changes by investing in service modernisation, enhancing digital tools, and streamlining processes to deliver a faster and fairer service for all customers.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has plans to review the legislation governing Class F council tax exemptions, specifically the treatment of inherited properties that were occupied at the time of death and vacated more than six weeks later; and whether he will consider extending exemptions to cover the probate process and up to 12 months after probate is granted, regardless of occupancy status at the time of death.

Properties which are unoccupied because the occupant has passed away, and probate has been granted on their estate, are exempt from council tax from the point of death until six months after the grant of probate or the signing of letters of administration (a class F exemption). Where the property remains occupied by another person, it is liable for council tax in the same way as any other property. The Government has no plans to amend class F council tax exemption.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to allocate funding to support the Great South West Partnership from April 2026.

Following a four-week public consultation, in March 2025 the Government announced its intention to end funding for Pan-Regional Partnerships, with an exceptional, time-limited award of £281,250 for the Great South West Pan-Regional Partnership for the 2025/26 financial year. Pan-Regional Partnerships, including the Great South West, have made a valuable contribution, supporting collaboration between local authorities and government and taking forward a breadth of work on shared growth opportunities. However, as our English Devolution White Paper sets out, we are now moving to a different model of regional collaboration, where we are keen to support new models driven by local leaders.

What assessment his Department has made of the impact of economic factors and the consumption of ultra-processed foods on the prevalence of diet-related illnesses and mental health conditions, and what steps are being taken to address these upstream determinants of public health.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) considered the evidence on the impact of processing on health, including mental health, in 2023 and 2025. The SACN concluded that the observed associations between higher consumption of processed and ultra processed foods and adverse health outcomes are concerning. The SACN noted that studies to date appear to inconsistently account for important factors such as socioeconomic status.The SACN recommend that on balance, most people are likely to benefit from reducing their consumption of processed foods high in energy, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, and which are low in fibre. These recommendations align with existing policies for supporting healthier diets and advice to consumers. The SACN will keep the topic of food processing and health under review.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ 2024 report on Food Insecurity also considered inequalities in access to a healthy sustainable diet. Data from the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey report shows that participants in higher income households, and households in less deprived areas, were closer to meeting some dietary recommendations. However, where diets failed to meet recommendations, this was consistent across the range of income and deprivation.The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to develop their cross-Government Food Strategy, which aims to improve affordability and access to healthier food, to help both adults and children live longer, healthier lives.Earlier this year, the Government committed to reviewing the School Food Standards to reflect the most recent Government dietary recommendations. Free school meals will also be extended to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026.Healthy Start provides funding to pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households to support a healthier diet. In April 2026, the value of weekly payments will increase by 10%.The Department is working closely with the Child Poverty Taskforce to develop and deliver an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of clarifying whether regulation 25A of the Building Regulations that relates to Approved Document L includes extensions where the new wall or roof area adds 25% to the surface area of the building.

Regulation 25A of the Building Regulations 2010 concerns the use of high-efficiency alternative systems in new buildings and does not apply to extensions. The energy efficiency standards that apply to extensions to existing dwellings are set out in Approved Document L: Conservation of fuel and power, Volume 1 (dwellings), Section 10.

What steps he is taking to ensure seamless patient care for communities living on county boundaries, such as those between Somerset and Devon; and if he will take steps to (a) ensure interoperability of clinical records between NHS trusts and (b) issue guidance to Integrated Care Boards to prevent treatment restrictions based on administrative boundaries.

The Government's 10-Year Health Plan includes the objective of delivering a single patient record. This will allow staff, wherever they deliver care, to access the key information they need, from all of an individual’s medical records. Mandatory information standards, which all providers have to follow, will ensure the interoperability of systems within the National Health Service.NHS England’s Who Pays? guidance sets out a framework for establishing which NHS organisation has responsibility for commissioning an individual’s care and which has responsibility for paying for that care. It came into effect from 1 August 2025 and can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/who-pays-determining-which-nhs-commissioner-is-responsible-for-commissioning-healthcare-services-and-making-payments-to-providers/The Strategic Commissioning Framework for integrated care boards (ICBs) seeks to ensure that ICBs take a consistent approach to commissioning services, to secure the best outcomes for their population. It can be found at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/strategic-commissioning-framework/ ICBs are responsible for undertaking health needs assessments to understand the health and wellbeing needs of their local population, including identifying inequalities and planning services accordingly.

If he will set out whether any military bases within the UK are being used for non-military purposes.

Currently, three military bases have been made available to the Home Office to support their efforts in providing accommodation for asylum seekers.In addition, the Ministry of Defence permits third parties to use its bases for activities, provided these are compatible with military operations. This arrangement also generates income for the Department.

What the current level of availability is for service family accommodation; how this level has changed over the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Afghan resettlement programme on those levels of availability.

The Department did not record data to accurately determine stock availability until April 2023. As this information cannot be gathered retrospectively, data prior to this date is unavailable. The table below shows a year-on-year comparison of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) availability from April 2023 to April 2025, including current availability as at November 2025. Apr 23Apr 24Apr 25Nov 25Total SFA47,79347,77047,63847,697Number of available vacant properties1,978 (4.14%)1,372 (2.88%)2,213 (4.65%)2,745 (5.76%) The allocation of SFA for the Afghan Resettlement Programme has been carefully planned to minimise the impact on Service families. This involves utilising surplus SFA, properties earmarked for disposal, and void properties requiring refurbishment. Refurbishing otherwise unfunded void properties not only supports SFA demand but also delivers a lasting benefit to the Ministry of Defence.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy that Core Reform 3 of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 will not be used for (a) the purposes of cost cutting and (b) to change the classification of a bathing water.

Core Reform 3 introduces discretion to set more locally tailored bathing seasons and monitoring periods that better reflect bathing water usage. To amend a site’s bathing season, there would need to be a robust evidence base to support this action including that due account had been taken of all public comments and suggestions. Details of implementation will be worked through in partnership with the Environment Agency through a small-scale pre-implementation research project. Following this analysis, we will publish guidance and expand stakeholder engagement to further develop this reform.

What steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken to process tax refund applications by HMRC; and if she will make a statement on measures to improve efficiency and accountability in HMRC’s service delivery.

HMRC recognise that repayments are important for customers. They prioritise them to ensure they are processed as quickly and securely as possible. HMRC balance the provision of prompt payments to eligible customers with effective revenue protection from fraudsters. For Self Assessment repayments for example, once the repayment is created it goes through automated fraud and compliance checks. In 2024-25, after these checks, 93.1% of the repayments were paid automatically within a few days. HMRC continues to invest in automation and to review their internal processes to ensure repayments are issued as quickly as possible. HMRC recognise too the importance of keeping the customer, and where appropriate the customer’s representative, informed of progress and are exploring ways of doing that more effectively. In the meantime, HMRC’s online ‘Where’s My Reply’ tool can help customers understand when they can expect to receive a response.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure the methodology for Core Reform 2 of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 will be subject to effective scrutiny.

The consultation on reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 ran from 12 November to 23 December 2024. We are committed to working with stakeholders to ensure that feasibility and disproportionate cost are assessed through transparent and robust modelling and analysis.

What estimates his Department has made of the time it will take to get all service family accommodation up to the Decent Homes Standard.

As set out in the recommendations of the Defence Housing Strategy, the Defence Housing Service will develop proposals to address the condition and standards of overseas family homes. As a baseline, we are using the 2006 Government’s Decent Homes Standard for all Defence family homes in the UK, regardless of location. Where needs differ as a result of property location, proposals will be developed as part of the ongoing work of the Defence Housing Strategy. This Government’s historic £9 billion Defence Housing Strategy will deliver a generational renewal of military homes, with nine in 10 Defence homes modernised or upgraded.Work to raise the minimum standard of 1,000 of the worst military family homes has proceeded at pace across the UK since April 2025, with works due to complete by the end of December 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department plans to take to help ensure that new towns adopt approaches that incorporate (a) high-quality and (b) environmentally resilient green places.

The government has been clear that the next generation of new towns must be well-connected, well-designed, sustainable, and attractive places where people want to live and have all the infrastructure, amenities, and services necessary to sustain thriving communities. On 28 September 2025, the government published the independent New Towns Taskforce report as well as its initial response to that report. Both can be found on gov.uk here. Chapter 3 of the Taskforce’s final report sets out placemaking principles. The government initial response welcomed the Taskforce’s emphasis on ensuring new towns are designed in line with a placemaking approach which should form the building blocks of any new towns, ensuring that they are places where people are proud to live and work.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to ensure that (a) high-quality (i) landscape design and (ii) green infrastructure proposed in planning applications are protected during construction and (b) long-term funding models for (A) management and (B) maintenance are provided through the planning process.

The National Planning Policy Framework emphasises the importance of a network of high-quality open spaces for the health and wellbeing of communities and the environment. The National Design Guide, which supports the Framework, makes clear that well-designed places consider management and maintenance regimes from the early stages of the design process and document them in a management plan. A Local Planning Authority (LPA) can attach conditions to the grant of planning permission. These could be used to secure the implementation and protection of landscape design and green infrastructure within a development. LPAs can also use planning obligations to restrict or prescribe the use of land, require specific activities to be carried out in relation to a development, and require payment to a local authority. Planning obligations could include requiring a developer to make payments towards the management and maintenance of green infrastructure.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of mandatory digital filing requirements on Community Interest Companies (CICs); and what steps he is taking to support CICs to (a) file annual accounts in iXBRL format using compliant software and (b) comply with director identity verification.

CICs file accounts to Companies House in the same way as other companies. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 Impact Assessment assesses impacts of removing paper accounts filing. We are reviewing our proposed changes in filing requirements at Companies House, to ensure they strike the right balance between tackling economic crime and avoiding undue burden on business.Identity verification is designed to be straightforward. Individuals can verify digitally through One Login, via an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, or in-person at the Post Office. Companies House contact centre is available for users requiring assistance.

What his planned timetable is for the completion of the review of medical entry standards; and what interim (a) guidance and (b) appeal mechanisms are available to applicants to the armed forces with well-managed asthma.

Defence is committed to a diverse workforce, seeking to ‘select in’ rather than ‘select out’ and is focused on work to review the current policies for Armed Forces recruiting. An update to Joint Service Publication (JSP) 950 Leaflet 6-7-7, which sets out the medical entry standards for the Armed Forces, was published in August 2024 following an intensive period of review undertaken by clinical experts, Defence personnel staff, and the recruiting agencies. The updated JSP 950 Leaflet 6-7-7 is now in use and in the case of asthma confirms candidates may now be able to join the Armed Forces providing they meet certain criteria. Defence Medical Services continue to monitor and consider all emerging medical evidence to inform medical entry standards. There is an executive waiver process where the employing Service may, exceptionally, recruit someone who is below the normal medical entry standards. This may include individuals with unique specialist skills that outweigh any functional limitations they might have.

What assessment has he made of the adequacy of the current eligibility criteria for the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for Regular Officers who were (a) discharged before 29 July 2014 and (b) served the same qualifying period as those who have received the medal under the revised rules; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending those criteria to ensure that all veteran officers are given equal recognition for their service, in the context of the Armed Forces Covenant.

This Government has the utmost admiration and appreciation for the loyal service of all our Armed Forces Veterans, however, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has no current plan to recommend that the eligibility criteria for the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal are amended to include Regular Officers who served in the Armed Forces before 29 July 2014. In any case, the MOD cannot unilaterally amend the eligibility criteria for the medal, and any recommendation in this respect would be subject to endorsement by the Committee on the Grant of Decorations, Honours and Medals, and approval by His Majesty The King.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Universal Credit savings threshold for disabled claimants who are permanently unable to work and need to pay for (a) mobility equipment, (b) vehicle repairs, (c) respite care and (d) other disability-related costs; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (A) introducing exemptions to and (B) increasing the Universal Credit savings threshold for disabled people who are unable to work.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provides a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition. PIP is non-contributory, and non-means-tested. Individuals can choose how to use the benefit, in the light of their individual needs and preferences. The benefit can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, and help with travel costs to appointments. It can also act as a passport to additional support such as premiums and additional amounts paid within certain benefits, Carer’s Allowance for an informal carer or the Blue Badge scheme. The benefit has been consistently uprated in line with inflation since it was introduced and was last increased by 1.7% from 7 April 2025. The current system allows people to continue to receive benefit even though they may have an amount of capital from £6,000 by gradually reducing the level of their entitlement. The capital limit above which Universal Credit entitlement ends is above £16,000. Whilst we keep all policies under review there are no current plans to change the capital limits for disabled customers.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that disabled people who are (a) unable to work and (b) on Universal Credit awaiting a Work Capability Assessment are not left in financial hardship for extended periods due to the time taken (i) by her Department to undertake that Assessment and (ii) to access additional support elements.

People on low, or no income or earnings who have a health condition or disability which restricts the amount of work they can do, can claim UC. They must provide medical evidence to support their claim - most commonly a Statement of Fitness for Work, usually referred to as a fit note.  Claimants whose health condition or disability continues for four weeks or more are referred for a work capability assessment (WCA). Universal Credit awards include a standard allowance, which is the core component of any award and is paid according to age and household unit. The purpose of the standard allowance is to provide towards basic living costs. Additional amounts are added to provide for individual needs such as housing, children, disability, and childcare costs.  Demand for initial WCA assessments has risen so we continue to prioritise initial claims. This enables us to ensure that claimants receive the right level of benefit, and we establish capability for work at the outset of a claim.

What steps he plans to take to prohibit new onshore fossil fuel extraction.

The Government has committed to not issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields while managing existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan. On 1 October, the Secretary of State announced legislation to end new onshore oil and gas licensing in England. The Government’s consultation which closed earlier this year, sought views on how it should implement these commitments. It will respond in due course.