Written questions by Botterill.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce the gender pay gap.

Women’s equality and economic growth go hand in hand, but in spite of reporting requirements, progress on closing the gender pay gap stalled under the previous administration. This government will Make Work Pay – including for women. As part of the Employment Rights Bill, we will require large employers to publish gender pay gap action plans alongside their figures. We are committed to working closely with partners both inside and outside government to make this a reality.

What financial support she is providing to local transport authorities and Mayors to improve local bus services in Yorkshire.

The government is committed to delivering the better, more reliable bus services that passengers deserve. In the Budget the government confirmed investment of over £1 billion to support and improve bus services and keep fares affordable. Local transport authorities (LTAs) in Yorkshire have been allocated over £76 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services. This includes £36 million allocated to West Yorkshire Combined Authority.In addition to funding for LTAs, eligible bus operators in Yorkshire can claim funding through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) and BSOG Plus, which supports bus service provision.All future funding for buses will be considered as part of the upcoming multi-year spending review. We have also committed to reforming bus funding to give local leaders more control and flexibility to allow them to plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the Mineworkers Pension Scheme on the living standards of the recipients of that pension in Ossett and Denby Dale constituency.

At the end of November last year, the first uprated payments for the Mineworkers Pension Scheme landed for over 100,000 miners and their families. This is an average increase of 32% on their monthly payments (or an average additional £28/week).

What steps she is taking to help ensure value for money in public spending.

At Autumn Budget, we launched the Office for Value for Money to realise benefits from every pound of public spending. The Chair of the Office for Value for Money will advise the Chancellor and I on decisions for the Spending Review. This will include an assessment of how to root out waste and inefficiency, value for money studies in high‑risk areas of cross‑departmental spending, and scrutiny of investment proposals to ensure they offer value for money. At launch of Phase 2 of the Spending Review, I asked each department to carry out a line-by-line review of existing day-to-day budgets, last undertaken 17 years ago, to identify where spending is no longer aligned with this government’s priorities or is poor value for money. Building on the 2% productivity, efficiency, and savings target the government set departments in Phase 1 of the Spending Review, departments are expected to identify a minimum of 5% savings and efficiencies against their current budgets freeing up funding to achieve the government’s priorities.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase the accountability of water company executives for water service failures.

The Water (Special Measures) Act will deliver on the Government’s commitment to put water companies under tough special measures, by strengthening regulation as a first legislative step towards improving the sector. The Act will:Strengthen regulation to ensure water bosses face personal criminal liability for lawbreaking.Give the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met.Introduce new powers to bring automatic and severe fines.Require water companies to install real-time monitors at every sewage outlet with data independently scrutinised by the water regulators.Give Ofwat the power to set rules to increase customer representation in decision-making to hold companies to account. Following public consultation, the Government confirmed on 17 December 2024 the introduction of new and increased statutory payment rates, which will ensure that customers get at least double the previous amounts or more when water service standards are not met. These reforms underscore this Government’s commitment to hold water companies to account for poor performance and to stand up for consumers who receive compromised water services. Water customers around the country will benefit from significantly higher payments to compensate them for water company service failures.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on using local growth funding to help increase economic growth in West Yorkshire.

The Department’s Ministerial team has had a range of discussions with Ministerial colleagues in His Majesty’s Treasury as well as the Mayor of West Yorkshire and the Combined Authority about their priorities and plans, as part of the Government’s mission to empower local leaders to drive economic growth. We are working with the area to identify shared priorities for growth through the Local Growth Plan and are providing West Yorkshire with over £1.14 billion of funding over 30 years to support growth and business investment.

What steps she is taking to improve opportunities for young people.

All young people should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter who they are, where they are from, or how much their parents earn.Through the Opportunity Mission and the Child Poverty Taskforce we will make sure that all young people thrive in education and will break the unfair link between background and success. After 14 years where children’s horizons have grown narrower and the disadvantage gap has persistently remained a chasm, we are putting education back at the heart of national life. Creating 3,000 new or expanded school-based nurseries, recruiting 6,500 additional teachers, and launching Skills England to transform opportunities and drive growth. We are also investing more in children’s services to set them on a sustainable trajectory and have announced new funding for kinship care and fostering to keep children safe and provide family security for our most vulnerable children.