Written questions by Naish.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of closing the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) on those employed by it.

ECO4 has played a part in delivering clean heat technologies; however, issues identified by the NAO and PAC support a shift to a more direct, publicly-funded approach focused on technologies that cut bills and accelerate the transition to clean heat such as heat pumps, solar PV and batteries.The government is providing an additional £1.5 billion—taking planned capital investment to almost £15 billion—to upgrade low‑income homes and scale clean home‑energy technologies. Deployment will be further supported through wider policies and details of this will be set out soon in the Warm Homes Plan.

What steps he is taking to end the blanket use of body mass index thresholds to determine eligibility for joint replacement surgery.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 November 2025 to Question 89688.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce elective care waiting times, including for joint replacement surgery.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 November 2025 to Question 89685.

What steps her department are taking to help lower charging costs for electric vehicles at public charging points.

The Government is committed to ensuring public charging is affordable and accessible for all. As announced at the Autumn Budget, the Government is reviewing the cost of public EV charging, looking at the impact of energy prices, wider cost contributors, and options for lowering these costs for consumers. Furthermore, at the Autumn Budget, the Government committed an additional £200 million to support the rollout of charging infrastructure. As well as this funding, we are making changes to planning permissions, licensing, and addressing other barriers to make it faster, cheaper and easier to install chargers and ultimately drive down costs for the user.

What recent progress he has made in meeting the 18-week referral-to-treatment standard.

The Government is committed to returning, by March 2029, to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment (RTT). NHS England’s Operational Planning Guidance for 2025/26 set a target that 65% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks by March 2026, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum 5% improvement on current performance over that period. To achieve this interim March 2026 target, we expect the size of the total waiting list to reduce. We have already made significant progress on this. As of October 2025, the waiting list had reduced by over 225,000 since the Government came into office, and performance against the RTT standard has improved by 2.9%, reaching 61.8%. This has been supported by the delivery of 5.2 million additional appointments between July 2024 and June 2025 compared to the previous year, more than double the Government’s pledge of two million. This marks a vital First Step towards delivering the constitutional standard.

What steps her Department is taking to help improve levels of mandatory trauma accreditation within professionals working with adopted children.

The department has funded Adoption England with £8.8 million in the 2025/26 financial year to help develop national approaches for adoption services. This will help ensure the consistency of high quality adoption services across the country. This includes the development of a new framework of support, ‘Becoming a Family’, for the first 12 to 18 months of placement. Adoption England’s work also involves increasing awareness of trauma informed practice across its workforce and with key partners including schools. We also recently consulted on new standards for social workers, which include recognising and responding to trauma. We will respond to the consultation shortly, and the new standards will underpin a strengthened early career support training offer for newly qualified social workers.

What steps her Department is taking to help improve adoption services.

The department has funded Adoption England with £8.8 million in the 2025/26 financial year to help develop national approaches for adoption services. This will help ensure the consistency of high quality adoption services across the country. This includes the development of a new framework of support, ‘Becoming a Family’, for the first 12 to 18 months of placement. Adoption England’s work also involves increasing awareness of trauma informed practice across its workforce and with key partners including schools. We also recently consulted on new standards for social workers, which include recognising and responding to trauma. We will respond to the consultation shortly, and the new standards will underpin a strengthened early career support training offer for newly qualified social workers.

When he plans to respond to his Department's consultation on parental leave and pay review which closed on 25 August 2025.

The Parental Leave and Pay Review launched in July 2025 alongside a Call for Evidence which ran until 25 August 2025. We received almost 1500 responses to this Call for Evidence which are currently being analysed with the findings going on to inform the Review. The Government will publish the Review’s findings and a roadmap at its conclusion in early 2027. This will include next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of easing regulatory rules to allow more pets to fly in-cabin on flights.

All pets travelling into Great Britain are checked for compliance with the necessary health and documentary requirements prior to entry to safeguard our biosecurity. When travelling to Great Britain by air, pets currently travel as manifest cargo to facilitate these checks upon arrival. The only animals that are authorised to travel in the cabin of a commercial aircraft into Great Britian are Recognised Assistance Dogs. We have no current plans to change the process by which pet cats, dogs and ferrets may enter Great Britain in aircraft. When travelling with a pet abroad, pet owners and assistance dog users should seek guidance as to whether their pet is permitted to travel in the aircraft from the relevant competent authority and airline.

Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on the 30by30 action plan, published on 29 October 2024.

The UK Government is committed to protecting 30% of land and sea in the UK by 2030 (30by30). Progressing this target on land in England means ensuring that our most important and wildlife-rich habitats are benefiting from effective, long-term conservation and management. In October 2024 we set out our vision for progressing 30by30 on land in England and the criteria for land and inland water areas which can count towards this target. Our 30by30 Action Plan will set out how we will lead, support, and inspire action across England to deliver this vision. We will publish this in due course.

What steps his Department is taking to increase help access to weight loss injections for people with long-term health conditions.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 November 2025 to Question 89687.

What steps her Department is taking to increase training and funding for police firearm licensing authorities.

The College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs Council have developed national training on firearms licensing. The Statutory Guidance on firearms licensing for Chief Officers of Police, most recently revised and strengthened on 5 August 2025, makes it clear that the training is mandatory for all police forces in England and Wales.The Government has taken action to increase the fees for firearms and shotgun licensing applications that are charged by police forces. On 5 February 2025, increased fees came into effect to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications processed by police forces. The extra income from fees will help police forces to better resource and train their firearms licensing teams. This was the first increase in fees for 10 years since 2015 and we intend to conduct more regular reviews of fees in the future.

When he plans to announce the next phase of the Modern Service Frameworks.

Early priorities for Modern Service Frameworks will include cardiovascular disease, sepsis, severe mental illness and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. As advised by the National Quality Board, the Government will consider other conditions for future phases of MSFs and has recently announced an MSF on palliative and end-of-life care.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to introduce restrictions on the number of wood burning stoves permitted per residential property; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of multiple wood burning stoves in a single property on neighbouring residents.

We have no plans to introduce restrictions on the number of wood burning stoves permitted per residential property. In the recently published Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 we committed to consult on new measures to cut emissions from domestic combustion.

Whether her Department has considered reclassifying date rape drugs such as flunitrazepam and gamma-hydroxybutyrate as weapons.

Gamma-Hydroxybutyric Acid (GHB) and Flunitrazepam are controlled drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. GHB, and the related substances Gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL) and 1,4-Butanediol (1,4-BD), were reclassified from Class C to Class B in 2022, in line with advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (‘ACMD’). Flunitrazepam is controlled as a Class C drug in common with other benzodiazepines. Ministers are obliged to consider advice from the ACMD before making to changes to the classification of drugs. The Government has no current plans to reclassify these drugs.

Whether her department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the beginning of the statutory time period of 9.30am nationally during weekdays for concessionary bus pass holders.

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age. The ENCTS costs around £795 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations, such as extending the travel times, would need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability. However, local authorities in England have the power to offer concessions in addition to their statutory obligations, including by extending travel times. These are additional local concessions provided and funded by local authorities from local resources. The Government is investing in bus services long-term and has confirmed over £3 billion from 2026/27 to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services over the remainder of the spending review period. This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities under the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year. The East Midlands Combined Authority will be allocated £65.5 million under the LABG from 2026/27 to 2028/29, in addition to the £21.7 million they are already receiving this year. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, including funding discretionary concessions.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing in vicarious liability for landowners to reduce grouse shooting.

The introduction of new regulation, such as vicarious liability, requires evidence that it will be effective. Vicarious liability occurs where one person can be held liable for the actions of another person. With regards to grouse shooting, this could mean a manager or employer would be held criminally liable for an unlawful act perpetrated by a member of their staff, for example the unlawful killing of birds of prey. Vicarious liability for such acts has been introduced in Scotland but so far there is no compelling evidence to show that its introduction has had a significant deterrent effect on those who persecute wildlife. We will continue to monitor the situation in Scotland to consider whether vicarious liability is a necessary and proportionate approach in tackling wildlife crime in England.

Whether her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of new immigration rules on people who arrived under the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme.

In line with our Public Sector Equality Duty, Equality Impact Assessments are undertaken for new policies to ensure that there are no unintended or disproportionate impacts on people with protected characteristics. This includes consideration of nationalities.

Whether her Department will consider introducing discretionary provisions within home tuition fee eligibility criteria for British nationals living abroad who can demonstrate genuine and ongoing connections to the UK but were unable to relocate prior to their children commencing university.

To qualify for automatic home fee status and higher education student support, students must normally be settled in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for at least three years before their course begins. However, if a student has spent time overseas due to their own or a specified family member’s temporary employment abroad, this does not interrupt their ordinary residence in the UK, providing flexibility for those who have not made a long-term decision to live outside the UK. Decisions on whether a student meets the criteria for home fee status rest with higher education providers, which are independent and autonomous bodies. Student Finance England makes decisions about eligibility for student finance.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of home tuition fee eligibility rules on British citizens who relocated to EU member states while the UK was part of the European Union; and whether she plans to review these rules to account for decisions made whilst the UK was still a member of the EU.

UK nationals and their children living in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, who wish to study in the UK, will be eligible for automatic home fee status and student support for courses starting up to seven years from the end of the transition period.The seven-year period ensures that eligible UK nationals and their children, whose normal place of residence is in the EEA or Switzerland but wish to undertake higher education in England, will still be able to access home fee status and student financial support immediately on their return to the UK during this time.From 1 January 2028, UK nationals and their children must normally have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for at least three years immediately before the start of their course to qualify for automatic home fee status and student support.