Written questions by Maguire.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the sources of PFAS pollution in UK rivers.

The Environment Agency (EA) has been co-ordinating a programme of work to better understand the presence of PFAS in the environment and develop a risk-based approach to manage identified risks.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of GPs expected to retire by 2030; and whether the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan accounts for shortages in (a) the South East and (b) other regions.

No estimate has been made of the number of general practitioners (GPs) expected to retire by 2030. A GP's decision to retire can be influenced by many factors. Therefore, we do not have the data to make forecasts.In May 2025, there were 691 more full time equivalent (FTE) GPs than in May 2024. Workforce shortages are greater in some, particularly deprived, areas.In August 2024, we announced an £82 million in-year funding boost to allow recently qualified GPs to be hired through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, and have so far recruited over 1,900 GPs, exceeding our target of 1,000.Through a 3% real terms growth in funding for the NHS over three years, we will train thousands more GPs and deliver millions more appointments.We will publish a 10-Year Workforce Plan to create a workforce ready to deliver a transformed service. They will be more empowered, more flexible and more fulfilled.The 10-Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the best care for patients, when they need it.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of suicide prevention training provided to police staff.

The College of Policing set the professional standards for police in England and Wales. The College’s core guidance includes the initial training for officers under the Policing Education Qualifications Framework which incorporates autism, learning disabilities, mental health and vulnerabilities. Through this, officers are taught to assess vulnerability and amend their approaches as required.The College further promotes the need for frameworks to assess vulnerability, to aid in consistent identification, support decision making, and to trigger appropriate safeguarding action.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Universal Credit Bill on claimants with (a) fluctuating conditions and (b) mental health conditions.

No such assessment has been carried out. The Bill will not alter the existing Work Capability Assessment.

What steps her Department is taking to increase train (a) affordability, (b) reliability and (c) frequency in Surrey.

As announced in January, Pay As You Go will be rolled out to 49 further stations in the South East, this year, including Ashtead and Leatherhead within the Epsom and Ewell constituency. This will give passengers simper, easier, and more flexible ways to travel, ensuring passengers pay the best price for the journey on the day of travel. South Western Railway is now under public ownership, and it has been tasked with developing a detailed plan to improve performance and introduce the new Arterio fleet. This new fleet will replace the aging Class 455 fleet and improve reliability. Following the rollout of the Arterio fleet, there will be an opportunity to look at the timetable and frequency of services to Surrey.

What the target HPV vaccination rate for Epsom and Ewell constituency was in (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25; what the actual vaccination rate was in those periods; and whether his Department plans to reach the World Health Organization vaccination target rate.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage is presented for England at national, National Health Service commissioning region, and local authority levels. Data is not gathered at constituency level. Vaccine coverage data for the routine school-aged HPV immunisation programme in England, including for the 2023 to 2024 academic year, is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#hpv-vaccine-uptakePlease refer to the supporting tables for local level uptake data.Given the global public health burden of cervical cancer caused by HPV, the World Health Assembly adopted the Global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem, with a target of 90% of girls being fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by 15 years old. This target focuses on the coverage of girls only. Further information on the strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer is available at the following link:https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240014107In March 2025, NHS England published the Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – for England, which outlines how the NHS will improve uptake and coverage across HPV vaccination and cervical screening. Further information on the Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – for England is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cervical-cancer-elimination-by-2040-plan-for-england/

Whether his Department has agreed a timeline by which the UK will be able to access the Security Action for Europe fund; and whether a proportion of contracts available to the UK has been agreed.

The UK and the EU have set out our joint ambition to swiftly explore the potential for enhanced cooperation under the SAFE instrument. The specific terms of UK participation will be subject to discussions on a bilateral agreement; we do not wish to pre-empt the outcome of any such negotiations.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to introduce legally binding targets for the reduction of untreated sewage discharges into chalk streams.

Our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan targets improvements at 75% of high-priority sites, including chalk streams. This ensures that they are prioritised for improvement from the £11 billion investment to upgrade nearly 3,000 storm overflows across the country. The Plan, alongside the Water (Special Measures) Act, strengthens enforcement by giving regulators greater powers to hold polluters accountable. This marks the biggest boost in enforcement in a decade, helping protect these iconic British habitats for future generations.

What steps her Department is taking to return the frequency of South Western Railway trains in Surrey back to pre-Covid levels following renationalisation.

Passenger demand has not yet grown back to pre-Covid levels. However, the Department and South Western Railway (SWR) are in regular discussion regarding service provision, which aim to balance the needs of both passenger and taxpayer. Following the introduction of the Class 701 Arterio fleet which will significantly increase capacity, there will be an opportunity to look at the South Western timetable.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that people who migrate from income-related Employment and Support Allowance to Universal Credit are not affected by reductions in Council Tax Support.

Councils are required to provide a Local Council Tax Support (LCTS) scheme to support low-income households. Support for working age households, including the treatment of benefits, is designed by councils in consultation with their residents, taking into account the needs and circumstances of their local communities. Each year, councils must consider whether to revise or replace their scheme. For pension age households, councils administer a centrally prescribed LCTS scheme, which is reviewed annually.

What steps his Department is taking to speed up the rollout of South Western Railway Arterio trains in Surrey following renationalisation.

The new Managing Director, Lawrence Bowman, has been tasked with drawing up a plan to introduce the new Class 701 Arterio fleet. South Western Railway (SWR) has accelerated the Arterio rollout with five additional units introduced since the transfer to public ownership (12 units in total) compared to only one additional unit being introduced in the six months prior to transfer. The Department is working with SWR to ensure the remaining fleet are introduced as soon as possible.

What steps his Department is taking to help reduce delays in adult social care assessments for hospital discharge.

The Urgent and Emergency Care plan for 2025/26, published by NHS England, has set a priority that hospitals should tackle the delays in patients waiting to be discharged. The plan asks systems to set local performance targets by discharge pathway and eliminate internal discharge delays of more than 48 hours in all settings.For 2025/26, £9 billion is available through the Better Care Fund to provide services, including those which help reduce delayed discharges. All health and wellbeing boards are required to set goals to reduce discharge delays, which will be used to monitor performance and drive accountability throughout 2025/26.

What recent assessment he has made of how close Iran is to making nuclear weapons; and what discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts on this.

The Government is carefully monitoring the current situation in Iran, and continues to work closely with our allies. The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) published its report on national security issues relating to Iran on 10 July 2025 which includes information on Iran’s Nuclear programme https://isc.independent.gov.uk/publications/. As is usual, the Government will also provide a full response to the ISC's report in due course.

Whether his Department has set a target number of days by which individual applications to the LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme need to have been assessed by.

Due to the unique nature of each application, and the need to assess each on a case-by-case basis, the Ministry of Defence is unable to set a target number of days by which individual applications to the LGBT Veterans Financial Recognition Scheme need to have been assessed. The assessment process is complex, and processing times will vary based on the specific circumstances of each Veteran’s application. This work must be conducted thoroughly to ensure fair and accurate outcomes for applicants and the responsible management of public funds. We have been prioritising payment to the elderly and those with serious health conditions to ensure they receive support as quickly as possible, with the first payments issued as planned within 15 weeks of the Scheme going live to these prioritised groups.

What estimate his Department has made of the potential cost of dismantling Pressurized Water Reactor nuclear reactors on redundant submarines at (a) Devonport and (b) Rosyth dockyards; and what recent discussions the Defence Nuclear Enterprises has had with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority on decommissioning those nuclear reactors.

It is not possible to provide an assured cost estimate to dismantle the Pressurised Water Reactors on the decommissioned submarines at Devonport and Rosyth. Once the demonstrator submarine, SWIFTSURE, has achieved full dismantling in 2026 the Department will have a better understanding of cost estimates for the submarine dismantling process, subject to future commercial negotiations. The Defence Nuclear Enterprise continues to work closely with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to ensure collaboration on submarine disposal.

What estimate she has made of the number of children eligible for free school meals who are not currently receiving them in Epsom and Ewell constituency.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.Providing over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day will also lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.The department publishes data on FSM eligibility and the number of eligible pupils taking a free school meal on school census day in the annual 'Schools, pupils and their characteristics' accredited official statistics. These statistics can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2024-25.

What steps he is taking to help mitigate the environmental impacts of AI data centres in relation to the target of Net Zero by 2050.

The Government’s forecasts for data centre demand to 2030 are consistent with its Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. The Government expects to be able to meet this demand through its plans to increase renewable power capacity, other low carbon generation and flexible and dispatchable power.

Whether she has considered making relationships, sex and health education mandatory in (a) sixth form colleges and (b) other further education institutions.

Relationships and sex education (RSE) is at the core of the personal development tutorial system in post-16 settings that enables students to discuss important issues relating to their lives as active adult citizens.As well as learning about British values, resilience, financial literacy and how to navigate the world of work, students participate in debates about respect, consent, coercive control, misogyny, domestic abuse and stereotyping, considering the impact of negative behaviours.Ofsted’s inspection regime includes personal development. Its judgement evaluates a college’s intent to provide for the personal development of learners and the quality of the way it does this, and education in healthy relationships is one of the areas of focus.The department has engaged an expert college leader and former Chair of the National Association of Managers of Student Services to develop a RSE toolkit to help colleges deliver high-quality, consistent lessons. This will provide delivery advice and tutorial materials, giving both sixth form college staff and general further education college staff the confidence and skills to deliver on personal development effectively, and to tackle misogyny head on. The toolkit is due to be launched in November.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending existing provisions for mandatory Relationships, Sex and Health Education under the Children and Social Work Act 2017 to ensure everyone under the age of 18 can access (a) guidance and (b) support.

Relationships and sex education (RSE) is at the core of the personal development tutorial system in post-16 settings that enables students to discuss important issues relating to their lives as active adult citizens.As well as learning about British values, resilience, financial literacy and how to navigate the world of work, students participate in debates about respect, consent, coercive control, misogyny, domestic abuse and stereotyping, considering the impact of negative behaviours.Ofsted’s inspection regime includes personal development. Its judgement evaluates a college’s intent to provide for the personal development of learners and the quality of the way it does this, and education in healthy relationships is one of the areas of focus.The department has engaged an expert college leader and former Chair of the National Association of Managers of Student Services to develop a RSE toolkit to help colleges deliver high-quality, consistent lessons. This will provide delivery advice and tutorial materials, giving both sixth form college staff and general further education college staff the confidence and skills to deliver on personal development effectively, and to tackle misogyny head on. The toolkit is due to be launched in November.

Food and Rural Affairs, what support is available to local environmental groups undertaking citizen science river testing.

The Environment Agency (EA) recognises the value of citizen science data, and the additional insight it can provide to complement its monitoring and assessment work. With Spending Review funding, the EA is collaborating with citizen science groups in observing and measuring the environment. The data that is captured complements the EA’s own monitoring efforts and further increases understanding of water quality. This collaboration is already creating strong relationships with citizen science groups, and improving data integration. The recently published Technical Advisory Framework guides best practice in citizen science monitoring which can be found on the Environment Agency Water Hub. To get involved with citizen science including river testing it encourages all interested communities to contact their local catchment partnership - details on how to do this can be found in the Technical Advisory Framework.