Written questions by Maguire.

What steps her Department is taking to help support (a) pre-school, (b) primary school and (c) secondary school-aged children living in poverty other than through the provision of free school meals.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances for every child. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and to prosper.The Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce will harness all available levers to drive forward action across government to reduce child poverty. More detail on the approach and priorities for the strategy is set out in the publication ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’, which was published on 23 October and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-poverty-developing-our-strategy.The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will put children and their wellbeing at the centre of the education and children’s social care systems, and make sure every child has a fulfilling childhood, enabling them to achieve and thrive.Breakfast clubs will remove barriers to opportunity by ensuring primary school children, no matter their circumstance, are well prepared with a supportive start to the school day. This will help to drive improvements in behaviour, attendance and attainment, and provide families with more affordable childcare choices. This will also support families, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.This government sees the early years as central to our mission to give every child the best start in life and in the 2025/26 financial year expect to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, to help even more families access affordable, high quality childcare and early education. We have also announced a new £75 million expansion grant, to be allocated later this year, to support nurseries, childminders and other providers to deliver the 35,000 additional staff and 70,000 places required to meet demand for next September.High quality early education leads to better outcomes for all children, but is particularly impactful for those from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), where early identification of needs and support can help them to thrive.Families of 2 year olds in receipt of certain benefits can access 15 hours of early education and care per week, over 38 weeks a year, and all 3 and 4 year olds are eligible for 15 hours of early education. Further support for disadvantaged children is available through Early Years Pupil Premium. This government will also be delivering the largest ever uplift to the Early Years Pupil Premium, increasing rates by over 45% to up to £570 per eligible child per year. This unprecedented increase is an investment in quality early education for those children who need it most, in the areas that need it most.To respond to parents’ concerns about the cost of school, as committed in the King’s Speech, we will legislate to limit the number of costly branded items of uniform schools can require, ensuring uniforms make children smarter not families poorer.In addition to free school meals (FSM), schools continue to receive the pupil premium grant, worth over £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, to support the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils. Also this year, all 153 local authorities in England have continued to deliver the Holiday and Activities Food programme during Easter, summer and Christmas holidays. The programme provides heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. It is primarily targeted at children who receive benefits-related FSM, however local authorities also have the flexibility to use some of their funding to target other vulnerable children.

What steps his Department is taking to help encourage more people to become organ donors.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for organ donation across the United Kingdom. The Department works closely with NHSBT to identify opportunities to encourage people to record their wishes on the Organ Donor Register, as we know that approximately nine in 10 families support organ donation going ahead when they know that it is what their loved one wanted. Current examples include building registration into the UK driving licence application and passport renewal process, as well as providing links to the Organ Donor Register in the NHS App. Partnerships like these account for approximately 90% of registrations.NHSBT runs high profile, year-round campaigns, including Organ Donation Week, World Sight Day, and World Kidney Day, in partnership with a wide range of charities and community groups. NHSBT also funds a network of Organ Donor Ambassadors and provides grants to community groups who raise awareness at a local level.

How many service personnel were referred to mental health services in 2023.

3,444 UK Armed Forces personnel had an initial assessment at a Ministry of Defence Department of Community Mental Health centre between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023.

What steps his Department is taking to tackle the (a) mental health and (b) social needs of kidney patients.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing individuals’ care and support needs, including kidney patients, and where eligible, for meeting those needs. Where individuals do not meet the eligibility threshold, they can get support from their local authorities in making their own arrangements for care services, as set out in the Care Act 2014.Local authorities further have a duty to shape their care markets and commission a diverse range of care and support services that enables people to access quality care.We recognise that too many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health and that people, including kidney patients where appropriate, can be confident in accessing high-quality mental health support when they need it.As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on busy mental health services.The 10-Year Health Plan will ensure a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. On 21 October, we launched a national conversation on the future of the NHS, inviting views from across the country on how to deliver a health service fit for the future. Patients, staff, and organisations, including those with experience of or expertise in kidney disease, can make themselves heard by logging onto the online portal, which is available at the following link:www.change.nhs.uk

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his department is taking to help protect chalk streams from (a) pollution and (b) overextraction.

The Government is committed to the protection and restoration of our cherished chalk streams. We have taken immediate action to clean up our waterways, including a new Water (Special Measures) Bill to ban the payment of unfair bonuses to polluting water bosses, and bring criminal charges against those who persistently break the law. In October we launched an independent commission into the water sector regulatory system to deliver transformative change to the water system. We are investing in initiatives to improve chalk streams including 55 projects this financial year through the Water Environment Improvement Fund. As part of the Water Resources Chalk Partnership Fund, this financial year, the Government will contribute £1m for chalk stream projects with partners on 30 projects, aimed at safeguarding these rare and irreplaceable habitats. We are committed to ending damaging abstraction of water from rivers and groundwater wherever possible. We will make full use of our existing powers to amend abstraction licences to protect and improve the environment and make sure water companies deliver the improvements in their current business plans, including licence reductions of around 100 million litres per day in chalk streams. Through the Price Review 2024, Ofwat will set out the next cycle of planned water company investment covering 2025-2030, which will include further actions to restore chalk streams. The exact funding is currently being determined by Ofwat, with final determinations due to be published on 19 December. Environmental requirements for abstraction reductions to improve chalk streams flows are part of the environmental planning scenarios that Regional Water Resources Groups and water companies have included in their planning to 2050.

How many of his Department's (a) computers, (b) laptops, (c) phones and (d) USB sticks were (i) lost and (ii) stolen in each month in 2023.

The table below shows the number of computers, laptops, phones and USB sticks which were either lost or stolen in each month in 2023.DateComputersLaptopsUSBsPhonesJan-2301329Feb-2301003Mar-23038210Apr-2301003May-230828Jun-23010112Jul-230968Aug-2305139Sep-230738Oct-230819Nov-2309011Dec-2303011We take the security of defence assets very seriously and have robust policies and procedures to prevent losses and thefts. Defence personnel are regularly reminded of their responsibilities to safeguard Defence assets.Proportionate security controls are used to protect electronic devices according to the classification and nature of the information which the asset can hold.

What funds the Government has committed to veterans charities in each of the last two years; and how much each such charity has received.

The information is not held in the format requested. Information held by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not differentiate between veterans’ charities; charities that generally support the Armed Forces community including veterans; and charities that have a wider remit but include support to veterans. For the MOD, the majority of grant programmes supporting veterans are administered via the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (AFCFT), and are listed on their website: https://covenantfund.org.uk During financial year (FY) 2022-23 the AFCFT awarded 134 grants, totalling just over £7 million to 112 different not-for-profit organisations towards projects to support veterans. During FY 2023-24 the AFCFT awarded 180 grants, totalling £23.8 million to 122 different organisations. In addition, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA), now part of the MOD, has also funded grant programmes to support veterans, some of which were awarded to charities. For OVA grants administered by the AFCFT, a total of £12 million has been allocated to the following programmes in FYs 2022-23 and 2023-24, some of which were awarded to charities: Veterans’ Capital Housing FundReducing Veteran Homelessness ProgrammeVeterans’ Employment Enhancement ProgrammeVeterans’ Mobility FundLGBT Support Fund In addition, during FY 2022-23 and 2023-24 the OVA has directly administered grants to veterans’ charities as detailed in the table below. CharityFY 2022-23FY 2023-24Blesma£50,000£150,000Bravo Victor£40,310£178,255Combat Stress-£65,000Dame Kelly Holmes Trust-£500Defence Medical Welfare Service£34,801£304,204Fighting with Pride£15,000£1,500Forward Assist£40,000£76,500LGBT Foundation£10,210£1,500Nuclear Community Charity Fund-£35,000Royal British Legion£250,000-Total£440,321£812,459

Whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of maintaining real-term levels of funding for the Holiday Activities and Food programme beyond March 2025.

Now that the department has been given its overall budget, we are working through the details of the budget settlement. Departmental budgets for 2025/26 will be confirmed in due course, including the exact funding available to support children, young people and families during the holidays.

If he will make an estimate of the proportionate change in (a) spending on service personnel in (i) real and (ii) cash terms and (b) the number of frontline service personnel in each financial year between 2015-16 and 2024-25.

The information you have requested is set out in the table below. The figures for financial year 2024-25 will be available once the accounts have been closed and audited. All personnel numbers are as at 1 April of the relevant financial year. Financial Year2015-162016-172017-182018-192019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24Spend on Service Personnel in Cash Terms (£million)9,3199,6239,6849,78510,69111,26911,18411,44911,954Spend on Service Personnel in Real Terms (£million at Constant 2023-24 prices)12,05012,16912,05611,93112,73412,73812,71612,15111,954Total UK Regular Forces153,724150,996149,366146,556144,428145,317149,280147,978142,556of which Royal Navy and Royal Marines32,73932,50232,54432,48332,53732,75533,84833,92932,840of which Army87,05885,03883,56181,11679,02979,62482,23180,73077,536of which Royal Air Force33,92733,45633,26132,95732,86232,93833,20133,31932,180

What recent discussions she has had with South Western Railway on the accessibility of their fleet.

Department officials have regular conversations with the operator seeking to improve accessibility across South Western Railway’s fleet. Improvements include the new fleet of Class 701s with fully accessible toilets replacing the Class 455s which do not have toilets, an App with Artificial Intelligence generated British Sign Language and a planned rollout of improved Passenger Information Screens on services between Waterloo and Exeter. South Western Railway also has guards on all of its fleet providing assistance for all passengers who require it.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that youth homelessness is included in the cross-government strategy to end homelessness.

The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, including young people. We will consider youth homelessness as we develop our long-term cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country, to get us back on track to ending homelessness.We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.

What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on improving public engagement with politics.

Following the general election, the Prime Minister was clear that he wanted national renewal and a return of politics to public service. The Government is committed to ensuring the public has diverse opportunities to take part in our vibrant democracy. The Government is taking steps to ensure meaningful public involvement in the work of government, including as part of mission-driven government and the broader toolkit for policy development and public engagement. In addition to regular national and local elections, the public can engage in our political system and the policy-making process through various avenues. These include writing to their MP or to a government department, attending constituency surgeries, signing a petition which may end up the subject of debate in Parliament, taking part in a consultation (see the GOV.UK website for current consultations) or a parliamentary call for evidence, and of course taking part in politics directly by, for example, standing for office. The public are also encouraged to come and visit the UK Parliament to meet with their representatives and see the work of politics in action.

In which constituencies are each (a) base, (b) garrison and (c) barracks located for each of the armed forces in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland; and which of those bases are designated for use by (A) NATO and (B) US visiting forces.

The information required to answer the hon. Member’s question is not held centrally. Officials are working to produce a consolidated response. I will write to her by late December 2024, and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

If he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of NATO's readiness, in the context of potential changes in policy from the incoming United States administration.

NATO is the world’s most successful alliance. It represents 50 per cent of the world’s military capability, with 500,000 troops now on high readiness As NATO allies, the UK-US special relationship is built on a foundation of our deep security partnership and unique historical ties. We look forward to working closely with the new US administration to ensure the Alliance will continue to support the security of the Euro-Atlantic.

If his Department will make an estimate of planned defence spending in the next two years as a share of GDP using NATO's definition of defence expenditure.

Based on the OBR's latest GDP projections, defence spending is currently expected to be 2.29% of GDP in financial year (FY) 2024-25 and 2.30% in 2025-26. Future FYs' figures are subject to the outcome of the second phase of the Spending Review.

Whether she has made an estimate of the number of armed forces veterans who will no longer be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment as a result of proposed changes to eligibility criteria.

We have made no such estimate and are not able to do so as we do not collect specific data on veterans over pension age receiving benefits and pensions. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 and over. This means that the Winter Fuel Payment will be better targeted to low-income pensioners who need it. The UK Government wants those eligible for Pension Credit but not currently claiming it to receive the benefits they are entitled to, including their Winter Fuel Payment.

What steps she is taking to help increase the (a) availability and (b) affordability of childcare in Epsom and Ewell constituency.

It is the department’s ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving the life chances for every child and the work choices for every parent. From September 2024, eligible working parents of children aged nine months and above can access 15 hours government funded childcare a week over 38 weeks a year. From September 2025, this will be extended so eligible working parents will be able to access 30 hours per week (over 38 weeks a year) for children from the age of 9 months to when they start school. The government has committed to continue to roll out the expanded childcare entitlements for eligible working parents of children aged from nine months. The department is also growing the provision of wraparound before and after school provision of childcare for primary school children. In 2024/25, the department expects to provide over £1.7 billion to support local authorities and providers to deliver the childcare expansion. In Surrey, the hourly rate for government funded childcare entitlements for 3 to 4 year olds is £6.77, which is an increase of 5.8%. For two year olds, this figure is £9.61 per hour and for under 2’s, £13.04 per hour. The government has also committed to upgrading unused space in primary schools to create much needed places in 3,000 nurseries by working in partnership with all parts of the sector and local authorities. In addition to the entitlements, parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit. Parents can check what childcare support they are entitled to via the Childcare Choices website. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing, including supporting them through its childcare delivery support contract where appropriate. The government is committed to delivering a modern childcare system from the end of parental leave to the end of primary school, providing every child with a firm foundation which sets them up for life and ensures parents are able to work the jobs and hours they choose to effectively break down the barriers to opportunity for every family.