Written questions by Byrne.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that all bereaved parents who need specialist psychological support following (a) pregnancy and (b) baby loss can access it (i) at any time and (ii) free of charge through the NHS.

Experiencing pregnancy or baby loss can be extremely difficult and traumatic. We are determined to make sure all bereaved parents, regardless of where they live, have access to specialist psychological support, free of charge through the National Health Service.Following the loss of a baby, all parents should receive timely, equitable, and culturally competent care. To support this, NHS England has provided funding to all integrated care boards to establish seven-day-a-week bereavement services across maternity settings in England, so that support is always available when families need it most. Currently, 38 out of 42 integrated care boards offer a seven day a week bereavement service, with coverage in 115 out of 120 trusts.Every trust in England has signed up to the National Bereavement Care Pathway. This pathway is designed to improve the quality and consistency of bereavement care for parents and families experiencing pregnancy or baby loss. NHS England is working closely with Sands to agree what steps are necessary to support faster and more consistent implementation of the pathway so that all parents, no matter where they are, receive the support they need at such a difficult time.As of July 2025, maternal mental health services are now available in all areas of England. These services provide specialist psychological support for women with moderate/severe or complex mental health difficulties arising from birth trauma or baby loss. More mothers than ever before, including those sadly affected by the loss of their baby or child, were able to access maternal mental health services or specialist community perinatal mental health services in the year to April 2025.Fathers and partners can receive evidence-based assessments and support through specialist perinatal mental health services, and some NHS trusts also work with Home Start UK’s Dad Matters project to support paternal mental health. Where mothers and partners may have a need for mental health support, but it is not a moderate or severe mental health condition, it is important they can be signposted to other forms of support through their general practitioner and NHS Talking Therapies.

If she will end the issuing of licences for experiments involving (a) dogs, (b) cats and (c) non-human primates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

This Government is committed to the development of non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy later this year. However, in limited circumstances where there is no non-animal alternative, procedures are required to deliver benefits to people, animals or the environment. In the most recent available statistics from 2023, less than 1 percent of all procedures were carried out on dogs, cats and non-human primates.The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides a robust and rigorous regulatory framework that protects animals used in science. It requires that the principles of the 3Rs - replacement, reduction and refinement - are followed so that animals are only used where there are no alternatives, the minimum number of animals are used, and the most refined procedures for using animals are employed to minimise harm.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s policies of allowing the practice of carrying chickens by their legs.

The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 resolved a discrepancy by bringing the legislation in-line with long-standing statutory guidance. The regulations reinforce the guidance that one-leg catching is unacceptable, by specifically prohibiting one-leg catching, and allow for two-leg catching of laying hens, meat chickens, and turkeys weighing 5kg or less. This does not lower animal welfare standards in practice as the GB poultry industries catch chickens by the legs and not upright by the body.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that the legal requirement to use non-animal methods where possible is being enforced in the licensing of animal experiments.

The Home Office ensures all licences are fully compliant with all sections of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).The responsibility of ensuring the principles of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) have been fully applied in applications belongs to the applicant. The role of the Home Office is to assure that the applicant has conducted extensive checks for each of the 3Rs and that they are maximally applied.Home Office Inspectors are specifically trained to assess licences rigorously and robustly and thereby assure compliance with the ASPA. The training package for Inspectors has been enhanced with a greater emphasis on replacement methodologies.

How much from the public purse has been spent on legal representation in public inquests and inquiries in each year between 2020 and July 2025.

For statutory inquiries, section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005 gives the Chair the power to award funding for legal representation subject to conditions imposed by the Sponsoring Minister. Details of these costs and of the cost of an inquiry’s legal support are available on individual inquiry websites. The Cabinet Office does not keep centralised records of expenditure on legal representation in public inquiries and inquests.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2025 to Question 49250 on Plants: Disease Control, what assessment he has made of the the potential impact of the UPOV 1991 convention on small holder and subsistence farmers globally?.

Signatories to the 1991 UPOV convention are part of a global plant variety protection system. UPOV’s mission is to encourage the development of new plant varieties for the benefit of society. The assurance that intellectual property will be respected encourages plant breeders to invest in new varieties, critical for all in the face of climate change and food security. Requirements under UPOV91 apply to new varieties and not existing traditional varieties. The protection of new varieties is voluntary and is a decision made by the plant breeder. To become a member, regulations must align to UPOV91, but there is some degree of flexibility in how national policies are implemented, allowing for local needs to be reflected. Furthermore, Article 15(2) of the convention contains an optional exception to the Breeder’s Right, allowing farmers to use seed collected from their own crops for their own use with enforcement via domestic legislation. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Department for Business & Trade, and Defra are working together to find a balance between protecting plant breeders’ rights, the need for smallholder farmers to have access to better seed varieties, and the sovereignty of informal seed systems, upon which many smallholder and subsistence farmers rely.

What recent estimate he has made of the (a) the number and (b) the percentage of people over 60 presenting at A&E who waited over 12 hours to be (a) transferred, (b) admitted or (c) discharged in the last 12 months.

NHS England publishes data on the number of accident and emergency attendances and admissions by age. Data is also published on 12-hour accident and emergency attendances, although this is not available by age.

What estimate he has made of how many and what proportion of patients aged over 75 presenting at A&E in England were screened for general frailty in the last 12 months.

The information requested is not available centrally.

What estimate he has made of how many and what proportion of patients aged over 75 presenting at A&E in England were screened for delirium in the last 12 months.

The information requested is not available centrally.

What estimate he has made of how many and what proportion of patients aged over 75 presenting at A&E in England were screened to assess their risk of falling in the last 12 months.

The information requested is not available centrally.

With reference to her Department's publication entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published in March 2025, how the £1 billion employment, health and skills support package will be spent.

We are delivering the biggest investment in support for disabled people and those with health conditions in at least a generation. Our Pathways to Work Guarantee will provide work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out of work benefits. We are increasing funding each year up to £1billion a year by the end of the scorecard. This includes additional funding in 2026/27 to ensure that those affected by benefit changes in England, Scotland and Wales will be offered support with their work, health and skills needs. We anticipate this support will include: access to a conversation about needs, goals and aspirations from one of our 1,000 dedicated Pathways to Work advisors; an offer of one-to-one follow-on support; and help to access additional work, health and skills support through dedicated programmes. As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the longer-term design of the Pathways to Work guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we are seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector providers, employers and potential users. We will confirm further details in due course after we have completed our consultation process.

If she will make the eligibility criteria for the holiday activities and food programme the same as that for free school meals.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Liverpool West Derby, to the answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57800.

What steps her Department is taking to include older women in her Department's (a) policies and (b) decision-making processes.

The Government is clear that equality and opportunity for all are at the heart of our programme of national renewal. This includes actively considering the needs of older women and ensuring that they are not discriminated against. The Government recognises the challenges some older women can face and is committed to ensuring that support systems are in place. These include improving older people’s participation online through the new Digital Inclusion Action plan, employment support through Jobcentres, and addressing healthcare inequality in the 10 Year Health Plan, to ensure the NHS is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of bringing water companies into public ownership on (a) bills and (b) infrastructure investment.

Independent research commissioned by the Consumer Council for Water found substantial change to the industry and company ownership would not address the main problems experienced. Nationalising a water company would cost billions of pounds, and it would take years to unpick the current ownership model. It would frankly slow down our reforms, leave the sewage pollution only to get worse and stall much needed investment. The Independent Water Commission is looking at the ownership, governance, and management of private water companies and whether more needs to be done to support transparency and accountability, which could include stronger duties for management. Further recommendations will follow in the final report.

What steps his Department is taking to improve diabetes (a) prevention, (b) care and (c) treatment.

Preventing diabetes is a complex task, and requires multi-faceted action. Prevention involves collaboration in order to tackle the underlying issues such obesity, poor diets, and lifestyle issues. We have several programmes in place to help reduce the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, such as the NHS Health Check, England’s flagship cardiovascular disease programme for those aged 40 to 74 years old, which aims to identify people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes as well as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and some cases of dementia, in order to signpost them to behavioural support such as weight management and clinical treatment if needed.Furthermore, those identified of being at risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be referred to the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, a nine-month programme that supports people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes to reduce their risk through changing their behavior. The programme is highly effective, cutting the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 37% for people completing the programme, compared to those who do not attend.For those young adults, those aged 18 years old and over, who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and who are overweight or obese, the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme is also available. The programme supports individuals to lose weight, improve their blood sugar levels, reduce diabetes-related medication, and put their diabetes into remission. 32% of patients who completed this programme had put their type 2 diabetes into remission following participation. Further information on the programme is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/diabetes/treatment-care/diabetes-remission/ For patients with established diabetes, NHS England achieved their long-term plan objective that 20% of all type 1 diabetes patients are in receipt of flash glucose monitoring as of April 2021. Progress continues to be made for patients with type 1 diabetes, with over 65% of people currently using flash glucose monitoring to help manage their condition. NHS England can confirm that over 200,000 eligible people living with diabetes benefit from real-time continuous glucose monitoring. Furthermore, following the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) recommendations on access to hybrid closed loop (HCL) technology last year, NICE and NHS England agreed on a phased implementation period for HCL over five-years, with roll-out commencing in April 2024.All adults with diabetes are recommended, as prescribed by NICE, to enroll in the eight annual health checks, which include: blood sugars (HbA1c); blood pressure; cholesterol; foot examination; kidney function; urinary albumin; body mass index; and smoking. Adherence to these checks have been associated with reduced emergency admissions, amputations, retinopathy, and mortality. The proportion of people with type 1 diabetes who are receiving all eight care processes had recovered back to 43.3% in 2023/24 and 62.3% for type 2 diabetes, compared to 27% and 37%, respectively, in 2020/21.

What assessment has she made of the potential merits of making the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund permanent.

I refer my hon. Friend, the member for Liverpool West Derby, to my written statement of 22 April 2025, which is available here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-04-22/hcws589.

What steps his Department is taking to support local pubs.

Hospitality businesses, including pubs, are at the heart of our communities and play a vital role in supporting economic growth. We've launched a licensing taskforce aimed at cutting red tape and removing barriers that hinder progress. The Government also plans to permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with a rateable value under £500,000.Additionally, we've introduced a £1.5 million Hospitality Support Scheme to co-fund projects aligned with Department for Business & Trade and Hospitality Sector Council priorities. This includes helping those furthest from the job market into employment and boosting productivity across the sector.

What assessment her Department has made of the decision to freeze Local Housing Allowance on rates of poverty.

No assessment has been made using current economic assumptions and methodological practices.However, the department has previously produced a poverty impact assessment using OBR economic assumptions from 30 October 2024 on an outdated version of the model. Using this methodology, the department has estimated the poverty impact of uprating the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to the 30th percentile of rents in a broad rental market area compared to freezing it. Uprating the LHA to the 30th percentile in each year has been estimated to decrease the number of individuals in relative poverty after housing costs by 50,000 (0.1%) individuals in 25/26 and 100,000 (0.1%) individuals in 28/29 compared to freezing it at April 2024 levels.Estimates have been rounded to the nearest 50,000 and are on a UK basis. The poverty impacts are independent of the underlying trends in poverty, so they are not an estimate of the total change in poverty over time.Since this version of the model, the welfare policies announced at Autumn Budget and Spring Statement have been incorporated into the model and the economic assumptions have been updated to OBR's March 2025 assumptions.At last year’s Autumn Budget, the Secretary of State’s decision to maintain LHA at current levels for 2025/26 was taken after a range of factors were considered, including rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, rate increases in April 2024, and the wider fiscal context. The April 2024 one-year LHA increase cost an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25, and approximately £7bn over 5 years.Any future decisions on LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing, and the fiscal context.For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. DHPs can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of social housing.

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.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.

What steps she is taking to ensure state schools have adequate levels of funding.

The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning that it will total £65.3 billion, compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25. This is a 6% overall increase, which against the backdrop of a challenging fiscal picture, demonstrates the government’s commitment to enabling every child to achieve and thrive through delivery of the Opportunity Mission.