Written questions by Morris.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the value for money of supporting the Rail Supply Group.

The Rail Supply Group (RSG) provides a forum for government and the rail industry to discuss overarching rail supply chain issues and to lead targeted work to address government and industry priorities. Industry members give their time for free, but the group has received limited funding from the Department for Transport (since financial year 2022/23), the Department for Business and Trade, Network Rail, industry members and the Rail Industry Association to support the group’s activities. The Department for Transport provided £75,000 in grant-funding, via the Rail Delivery Group, to RSG for the financial year 2022/23.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the recommendations in the Urban Transport Group's report entitled The rail and urban transport review, published on 21 August 2024.

The expert-led rail and urban transport review provided a comprehensive assessment of the challenges and opportunities we face in delivering transport infrastructure in Britain. The government welcomes this report and is reviewing its recommendations.

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the (a) governance and (b) oversight structure of the Network Rail board.

In line with the Network Rail Framework Agreement, an external independent Board Effectiveness Review of Network Rail took place earlier this year, the findings report was shared with the Network Rail Board in September and subsequently with the Department for Transport.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes by train operating companies managed by DfT OLR Holdings Ltd to contracts with rail suppliers on (a) cost risk and (b) performance.

The Department expects all train operators to manage suppliers appropriately and deliver reliable services for passengers while minimising costs for taxpayers, whether they are in the private or public sector.

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the separation between Network Rail’s (a) executive (b) non-executive functions.

In line with the Network Rail Framework Agreement, an external independent Board Effectiveness Review of Network Rail took place earlier this year, the findings report was shared with the Network Rail Board in September and subsequently with the Department for Transport.

Whether she plans to (a) commission and (b) update rail passenger (i) growth and (ii) demand forecasts.

In line with our published guidance, the Department has developed and maintains a number of possible rail demand forecasts in both the medium and long term which we update at regular intervals. As part of this, the Department considers and includes a wide range of evidence.

How much her Department has spent on outsourced services in prisons in the last 12 months.

For the period covered the 1 August 2023 – 30 August 2024, the Ministry of Justice spend with 3rd Party Suppliers for HMPPS as the operating unit is £3.2 billion.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of granting rights of access to rivers to (a) kayakers and (b) swimmers.

Inland waterways such as canals and rivers are categorised as regulated (mostly canals and some larger rivers, owned by a navigation authority) and unregulated (mostly smaller rivers and no canals, owned/managed by riparian landowners along their length). If the waterway is owned or managed by a navigation authority, access can be obtained through the navigation authority’s licensing regime. If the waterway is unregulated then access should be negotiated with the relevant landowners through local voluntary access agreements, to ensure the interests of all parties concerned are considered. Legislating on this issue is not (currently) Government policy. To formally designate a site as a bathing water, an application must be submitted to Defra. Defra welcomes applications for both coastal and inland waters such as lakes and rivers. Local authorities, groups and individuals can apply for sites to be designated. Defra encourages this by writing to local authority Chief Executives, and stakeholders like Swimming Associations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment has he made of the potential merits of opening up green belt land to responsible public access.

The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and wellbeing.We are actively working on initiatives that enhance access to nature in other areas. We will create nine new National River Walks, plant three new National Forests and empower communities to create new parks and green spaces in their communities with a new Community Right to Buy.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to implement the aims of the Right to Roam campaign.

Our countryside and green spaces are a source of great national pride, but too many across the country are left without access to the great outdoors. That is why the last Labour Government expanded public access by introducing the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which provides the public with access to large areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land, and coastal margin in England. The Department will continue to enhance public access by creating nine new National River Walks, planting three new National Forests, and empowering communities to develop new parks and green spaces through a new Community Right to Buy. Further details on our plans will be announced in due course

If he will return blood and diagnostics tests taken after detonation to UK nuclear test veterans.

I have met with representatives of the nuclear test veteran community and am committed to continuing that engagement to consider the concerns raised, including looking into questions raised on medical records. Nuclear test veterans can request access to their personal information held by the Ministry of Defence about their time in the military, including Service and Medical records. To do so they need to submit a Subject Access Request (SAR) under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).