Written questions by Athwal.

What steps he is taking to ensure the NHS Long Term Plan will focus on improving the respiratory health of people in (a) Redbridge, (b) Ilford South constituency and (c) England.

The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts the National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving respiratory health in all parts of the country. More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their long-term conditions, including respiratory conditions, closer to home. Moving from sickness to prevention will help us reduce the causes of the biggest killers, and provide treatment earlier, rather than only intervening when conditions deteriorate.In advance of the 10-Year Health Plan, NHS England has established 13 respiratory clinical networks across the country. These have been vital in providing clinical leadership for respiratory services and supporting services in primary care, including restoring spirometry, which is one of the tests used to diagnose pulmonary fibrosis.As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we have launched a significant public engagement process and we would encourage all those with an interest in respiratory health care services to take part in that process, so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. More information on the process is available at the following link:https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

What steps is she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support people to (a) purchase and (b) use electric vehicles.

The Government will provide £120m of additional funding to extend the Plug-in Van Grant and the Plug in Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Grant next financial year. Grants for motorcycles, taxis, and trucks are currently available until at least the end of this financial year. All grants are kept under review to ensure the best value for taxpayer’s money. Zero emission vehicles will receive favourable Benefit in Kind tax rates until at least 2030. They are also exempt from vehicle excise duty (VED) until April 2025, after which electric vehicles will still have preferential first year rates of VED in comparison to the most polluting vehicles. The Government is committed to accelerating the rollout of charging infrastructure, to ensure electric vehicles are easy to use. There are currently over 74,000 publicly available charging devices and the Government has introduced the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 to improve consumer experience of charging infrastructure.

What steps she is taking to provide support to victims of sexual and domestic violence.

This Government has set out an ambition to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade and will treat it as the national emergency that it is. We will deliver a cross-government, transformative approach, underpinned by a new VAWG Strategy published later this year. The Government has made several commitments to transform the criminal justice response to sexual offences. This includes embedding domestic abuse specialists into 999 control rooms as part of Raneem’s Law, rolling out Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, introducing free, independent legal advice for victims of adult rape and fast-tracking rape cases. The Ministry of Justice funds the 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line, providing free, confidential emotional support for all victims of rape and sexual abuse aged 16 and over in England and Wales. We also understand the importance of specialist and ‘by and for’ services in providing support to victims of VAWG, including domestic abuse. The Home Office have already confirmed a number of grants for organisations delivering vital frontline support to victims. On 28th November 2024, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced a funding increase of £30 million, meaning a total investment of £160 million in the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Grant in 2025/26. This will enable local authorities to invest in essential support for victims in safe accommodation.

Whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of funding levels for research into the (a) detection and (b) treatment of heart diseases.

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds research in response to proposals received from scientists rather than allocating funding to specific disease areas. The NIHR continues to welcome high quality applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including the detection and treatment of cardiovascular and heart diseases.Over the past five financial years, from 2019/20 to 2023/24, the NIHR has invested £145.4 million on cardiovascular and heart diseases and stroke research directly through NIHR research programmes. Our wider investments in NIHR infrastructure, by strengthening specialist facilities, workforce, and support services to enable research in the health and care system, have enabled significant cardiovascular and heart diseases and stroke research funded by other funders to take place.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase participation in women’s sport in Ilford South.

The Government is dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport. We want to break down the barriers that exist and prevent women and girls from being active including but not limited to kit, facilities, time and cost. This Girl Can, which recently celebrated its ten year anniversary, is an inspiring campaign that has promoted women’s sport, challenged prejudice and made clear that sport is for everyone.The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Separately, as a government, we are investing £123 million in inclusive grassroots sport facilities that will support more women and girls to take part in the sports that they love.In the last financial year, 2023-24, Sport England awarded over £75,000 to Ilford South constituency.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department taking to make government digital services as accessible as possible, including for those without strong digital skills.

The Government wants to put digital inclusion at the heart of how we deliver better designed, time-saving public services, to ensure as many people as possible can access public services digitally. Our ambition is for everyone in the UK to have the access, skills, support and confidence to participate in our modern digital society, whatever their circumstances.On accessibility, there is a globally recognised standard for accessibility for Web Content, and though digital accessibility is an important part of designing an inclusive service, meeting the standards does not guarantee an inclusive service. We will be exploring how to extend the scope of the standards beyond central government into the wider public sector and looking at revising them to include inclusive service design.Promoting digital inclusion is a priority for this Government, and we will be working closely with key partners in charities, businesses and local authorities to make sure that no one is left without the tools to engage fully in society. We hope to announce more on this soon.

What assessment he has made of the potential correlation between the number of fast food outlets opening and recent trends in the level of obesity in Ilford South constituency.

The Department has not made an assessment of the potential correlation between the number of fast food outlets opening and recent trends in the level of obesity in the Ilford South constituency. However, children living in the most deprived areas see five times more fast food outlets on their high streets and are also over twice as likely to be living with obesity compared with the least deprived areas The food environment can influence dietary choices. Meals eaten outside of the home tend to be associated with higher calories, and portion sizes tend to be bigger. In addition, people who eat more food from the out of home sector tend to have a poorer quality diet and a higher weight for height. The food environment is an important modifiable determinant of dietary behaviour and obesity, and the revised National Planning Policy Framework for local government published last December gives stronger, clearer powers to block new fast food outlets near schools and where young people congregate The Department publishes breakdowns of child and adult obesity prevalence and the number of fast food outlets per 100,000 population at a local authority level. Information is not available for Ilford South, but it is available for the London Borough of Redbridge, which includes Ilford South. In 2024, Redbridge had 127 fast food outlets per 100,000 population, which is an increase from 69.9 per 100,000 in 2017, as per the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ (OHID) 2025 Public Health Profiles. The following table shows the obesity prevalence in the London Borough of Redbridge, from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) academic year 2006/07 to 2023/24:NCMP academic yearObesity prevalence for children in Reception, from age four to five years oldObesity prevalence for children in Year 6, from age 10 to 11 years old2006/0710.6%20.4%2007/0811.3%20.9%2008/0911.3%21.3%2009/1011.8%21.3%2010/1112.0%23.5%2011/1211.4%23.6%2012/1310.1%21.5%2013/1410.4%22.9%2014/1510.8%23.3%2015/169.8%23.5%2016/1711.6%23.7%2017/1811.4%25.0%2018/199.9%24.1%2019/2011.2%25.0%2020/21No dataNo data2021/2211.5%27.9%2022/239.9%26.7%2023/248.9%24.6%Source: National Child Measurement Programme.In addition, the following table shows adult, those aged 18 years old and over, obesity prevalence in the London Borough of Redbridge, from 2015/16 to 2022/23:YearAdult obesity prevalence2015/1618.1%2016/1720.4%2017/1820.9%2018/1923.9%2019/2018.3%2020/2122.6%2021/2224.1%2022/2325.3%Source: Active Lives adult survey, OHID analysis of data from Sport England.

Whether he has made an assessment of the link between life expectancy and trends in the level of poverty.

Health inequalities in the United Kingdom are stark, with life expectancy differing dramatically between and within communities. People living in the most deprived areas are likely to die earlier and spend more years in ill health than those living in the least deprived areas.We are taking a cross-Government mission-led approach to tackle the root causes of health inequalities, including addressing the social determinants of health, which include housing, poverty, fair opportunities, and education.

If he will make an estimate of the level of obesity in the (a) richest and (b) poorest areas of Ilford South constituency; and if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the impact of poverty on obesity.

The data is not available in the format requested. Prevalence of obesity for children aged four to five years old and 10 to 11 years old is available from the National Child Measurement Programme. The Department publish breakdowns of obesity prevalence by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile at a local authority level. Information is not available for Ilford South, but it is available for the London Borough of Redbridge, which includes Ilford South. The following table shows the obesity prevalence by IMD quintile and school year for the London Borough of Redbridge:IMD quintileObesity prevalence for children in Reception, aged four to five years oldObesity prevalence for children in Year 6, aged 10 to 11 years oldMost deprived quintile 115.4%30.6%212.1%28.9%310.8%26.2%48.1%23.1%Least deprived quintile 55.4%17.4%Source: National Child Measurement Programme, five years of data combined for academic years ending 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024.The prevalence of obesity in adults by local authority or parliamentary constituency and deprivation is not available.Poverty is wide determinant of health. Although poverty is not a direct cause of specific health conditions, poverty can be a risk factor for malnutrition, obesity, ill mental health, and tooth decay. The Department is working closely with the Child Poverty Taskforce to develop and deliver an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life. An important part of this will be alleviating the negative experiences of living in poverty through supporting families and enhancing public services.Under the Health Mission, the Government is committed to prevention and to tackling obesity, creating a fairer, healthier food environment. This will contribute to the mission goals of fewer lives lost to the biggest killers and a fairer Britain where everyone lives well for longer.The Government has already laid secondary legislation to restrict the advertisement of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online from 1 October 2025, announced changes to the planning framework for fast food outlets near schools, and is committed to banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16 year olds.Existing initiatives such as the Healthy Start scheme, introduced in 2006, encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. Pregnant women and families with children aged over one years old and under four years old each receive £4.25 every week, and families with children under one years old each receive £8.50 every week. Healthy Start can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fresh, frozen or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried and tinned pulses, milk and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries also have access to free Healthy Start vitamins.Disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as 16 to 18-year-old students in further education, are entitled to receive free meals on the basis of low income. In addition, all children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 in England's state-funded schools are entitled to universal infant free school meals.  The Government also supports families through the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides free childcare places, enriching activities, and healthy meals to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing, and learning throughout the school holidays.At a local level, officials in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ regional teams work closely with local partners, including local authorities and the National Health Service, to support them with local initiatives to promote a healthy lifestyle and tackle obesity. All of our polices and their impacts are kept under review.

If he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the difference in diabetes rates amongst the (a) white and (b) BAME population in Ilford South constituency.

NHS England has given £3 million of funding to systems to provide clinical leadership to ensure that clinical diabetes metrics, such as the eight key diabetes care processes and treatment targets, are reviewed at an integrated care board level and unwarranted variation identified. A resource hub of materials has been set up on Future NHS, including examples of innovation and best practice for improvement of care process delivery, and achievement of treatment targets.NHS England has established a focused engagement campaign, using social media and more traditional approaches, to raise awareness and boost uptake from these groups as part of its approach to address the poorer outcomes for those of south Asian and black ethnicity.NHS England is aware that standard approaches to diabetes prevention and care can miss high risk individuals or be less effective for those who do not fit the demographic profile that these interventions were originally designed for. Redbridge Place Partnership, near Ilford, is an example of the local National Health Service taking a culturally sensitive and tailored approach to improve outreach in communities that have historically shown lower engagement with mainstream health services.Redbridge Place is collaborating with system-wide partners, including the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector, to identify South Asian residents and other high-risk groups vulnerable to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and renal conditions. The aim is to reduce risk factors and ensure early intervention through optimised care pathways and national prevention programmes by improving access, integrating community engagement, and creating culturally sensitive health promotion strategies that reduce the diabetes gap.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of lifting the onshore wind ban on energy prices.

The Government is committed to radically scaling up deployment of technologies such as onshore wind, as demonstrated by our lifting of the planning ban earlier this year.A clean power system will protect consumers from global gas prices and fluctuations w...