Written questions by Riddell-Carpenter.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of raising statutory maternity and paternity pay to match the National Living Wage.

The Government has committed to review the parental leave and pay system. All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements are in scope of the Parental Leave and Pay Review.

Whether she plans to respond to the consultation entitled Pavement parking: options for change, published on 31 August 2020.

The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support people affected by matricide.

Matricide is a terrible crime, which we are committed to tackling. Our VAWG strategy will set out how we will halve violence against women – including domestic abuse – over the next decade. A Government funded project is capturing information on domestic abuse related deaths from all police forces in England and Wales. This will improve our understanding of these awful deaths and help identify how the response can be improved in these tragic situations.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of regulations relating to private parking enforcement companies.

The government is aware of concerns about poor practice from a number of parking operators and is determined to raise standards. In accordance with the Private Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, the government is preparing a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. The government has recently consulted on its proposals for a new code of practice for private parking operators to follow. The consultation closed on 26 September, and the government will respond in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of qualified engineers to certify the construction of agricultural reservoirs; and what steps her Department is taking to increase capacity in this area.

Reservoirs capable of holding over 25,000m3 water above ground level are regulated under the Reservoirs Act 1975. Not all agricultural reservoirs will fall into this category. Anyone building one which does must appoint an engineer to oversee the construction. That engineer must be one who has been appointed by Ministers to a relevant panel. They are listed here. The Department strongly supports the need to boost the supply and capacity of reservoir panel engineers. Defra is working with the devolved governments and Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) to: enhance engineer training and development; improve access to engineers for smaller reservoir owners; reach out to adjacent engineering sectors to boost recruitment; and review the existing panel structure to support engineer career progression. This is part of a wider programme of reservoir safety reform Reservoir Safety Reform Programme | Engage Environment Agency.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that lower wholesale costs of renewable generation are reflected in consumer electricity bills; and whether he plans to review (a) the application of green levies on electricity compared with gas and (b) the market arrangements under which the price of electricity is linked to the cost of gas generation.

Delivering lower bills and a secure energy supply for families and businesses is at the heart of the Government’s sprint towards homegrown, clean energy. The quicker we transition to homegrown clean power, the quicker we can build a system that will bring bills down for good. Any decisions regarding green levies will be informed by robust research and analysis of the distribution of levies on energy bills. We will ensure we keep fairness and affordability at the forefront of our minds throughout this process. The ever-increasing participation of renewables in the wholesale market also means that over time, cheaper electricity produced by renewable technologies will determine the price more often, because we will not need gas to meet demand as frequently.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with local authorities on practical support for households affected by flooding.

Improving resilience to flooding is a priority for the government, as it recognises the devastating impact being flooding can have on households. The Government established the Floods Resilience Taskforce, which includes representatives from Local Authorities, in September 2024 to improve national preparedness. The Floods Resilience Taskforce has delivered a range of work including a review of the Flood Recovery Framework, led by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). This means if activated, it will now be easier and quicker for local councils to apply for business and community recovery grants. The Environment Agency has upgraded the ‘Get flood warnings’ service on GOV.UK to make it easier for households prepare for flooding. The new system provides improved mapping and greater choice of the warnings to receive. The Met Office and Environment Agency are also engaging with Local Resilience Forums to build preparedness for flooding during autumn and winter. Defra and the Environment Agency are also working with Local Authorities in Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) to review Multi Agency Flood Plans prepare their local response to flooding.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure effective coordination between energy infrastructure projects.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is taking a more strategic approach to energy infrastructure. Through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, we are ensuring National Policy Statements remain up to date and streamlining decision-making, while maintaining fairness and transparency. We are consulting on new guidance to strengthen community engagement. All large projects must address cumulative impacts as part of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime, with Local Impact Reports from authorities. The National Energy System Operator is developing the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (2026) and Centralised Strategic Network Plan (2027) to ensure holistic, coordinated planning across Great Britain.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that hospitals provide (a) (i) access to specialist support and (ii) appropriate medication management for people with Parkinson's disease and (c) staff training in Parkinson’s-specific needs.

NHS England has established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care to support integrated care boards (ICBs) to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with Parkinson’s. This focuses on providing access equitably across the country, care as close to home as possible, and early intervention to prevent illness and deterioration in patients with long-term neurological conditions. A toolkit is being developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model, which will include components on delivering acute neurology services, improving health equity in neurology, and improving community neurology services.Hospital providers are responsible for ensuring that patients within hospital settings, including those with Parkinson’s, receive the appropriate medication on time, and that there are a variety of different mechanisms that can be used to support timely administration. These include:training on time critical medications, which is part of the delivery of safe and effective medicine optimisation, through the operation of each organisation’s medicines policy;electronic prescribing and medicines administration, which continues to be rolled out in the National Health Service in England. This is recognised to be essential to record compliance with time critical medications; andself-administration, which may help some patients, following a shared risk assessment and where providers have the space and facilities to offer patients personalised secure storage for their medicines and where there is facility to monitor when doses have been taken independently.Furthermore, NHS England is leading the Medicines Safety Improvement Programme, as part of the wider NHS Patient Safety Strategy. A focus on time critical medicines has been agreed as a priority for this programme and work is underway involving 80 NHS trusts, with 48 of them receiving active support for innovation and improvement.The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it, including for patients with Parkinson’s.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Environment Agency regulation on farm reservoirs, and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that on-farm water storage can be developed (a) effectively and (b) safely to support food production.

The National Framework for Water Resources sets out the potential scale of action to secure sustainable levels of abstraction. Many abstraction licences reservoirs are sustainable because they include conditions to protect the water environment. If not, the Environment Agency works collaboratively with abstractors to identify solutions, potentially removing the need for changes to abstraction licences, aiming to work with licence holders to allow adaptative measures to be implemented first where legally possible. Reservoir safety regulation concerns ensuring reservoirs, their dams and embankments are safe. Government will consult on proposals to reform reservoir safety regulation, including tailoring requirements closer to the level of hazard. Government supports farmers and growers with a Defra-funded programme of Local Resource Option studies to help them identify, screen and rank options to improve water supply resilience.

Whether his Department is taking steps to reduce the price disparity between electricity and gas.

I refer my hon Friend to the answer given to my hon Friend the Member for Stroud (Dr Simon Opher) on 20th October to question UIN (14374).

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking through the Building Digital UK programme to improve broadband access in rural areas; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of progress towards achieving universal gigabit-capable coverage in communities most at risk of digital exclusion.

Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans.According to the independent website, Thinkbroadband.com, 89% of premises in the UK already have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection. To extend this further and achieve our goal of 99% coverage by 2032, more than £2.4 billion of Project Gigabit contracts have already been signed to connect over one million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband.These are premises that fall predominantly in rural areas, many of which may otherwise be at risk of digital exclusion due to lack of access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection via commercial delivery.Building Digital UK (BDUK) reports on delivery progress through its annual report and quarterly official statistics. The latest annual report was published on 23 October 2025.

Whether her Department plans to take steps to ensure that (a) kinship and (b) foster carers have the same employment leave rights as (i) adoptive, (ii) maternity and (iii) paternity carers.

The government has committed to conducting a review of the whole parental leave system. This review was launched on 1 July and represents a much-needed opportunity to consider our approach to the system of parental leave and pay.The department will also consider whether the support available meets the needs of other working families who do not qualify for existing leave and pay entitlements, such as kinship carers.Foster carers who combine fostering with paid employment have a range of existing workplace rights and legal entitlements to help manage their dual responsibilities, including the right to request flexible working from day one, introduced through the Employment Rights Bill, and adoption leave where applicable. The department also supports The Fostering Network’s ‘Fostering Friendly Employers’ campaign.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with farming representatives on the potential impact of water security on domestic food supply.

The Environment Agency’s recently published National Framework for Water Resources sets out the pressures on each of the water using sectors, including the food industry. It sets out how we are engaging with the sector and promotes actions to support the sector as it adapts to growing pressure on water resources. This includes establishing collaborative Water Abstractor Groups, helping to identify options to improve water supply resilience and the promotion of smart farming.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to provide (a) guidance and (b) support to farmers on water efficiency measures to help protect future food supply.

Defra works closely with the Environment Agency on water resourcing and smart farming. The Environment Agency’s recently published National Framework for Water Resources sets out how water efficiency is being promoted in collaboration with farmers and growers. Smart farming makes use of technology to help to make better use of water when it is available and better protect the environment when it is not. By using technology to understand where and when water is needed, to ensure every drop can be made to count.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the accurate communication of the responsibilities of physician associates to (a) patients, (b) healthcare professionals and (c) the general public.

Individual employers and professionals are responsible for ensuring that patients and other healthcare professionals understand their role. Professor Leng published her review into the safety of the physician assistants and physician assistants in anaesthesia (still legally known as physician associate and anaesthesia associate roles) and their contributions to multidisciplinary healthcare teams in July. Recommendation 7 sets out the importance of being able to identify roles and as part of taking this recommendation forward, NHS England is working with stakeholders, including NHS Employers, to review existing guidance for employers. The Department and NHS England will work closely and collaboratively with partners from across the National Health Service, the clinical professions, and their representative bodies to implement the Leng Review recommendations whilst ensuring that patients receive safe, effective, and compassionate care in line with the relevant legal and clinical processes. Following the publication of the review, NHS England published a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ document, setting out what the Leng Review recommendations mean for employees and employers, both in the immediate and longer term. This is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/leng-review-nhs-england-faqs-on-actions-for-nhs-organisations.pdf

How many job vacancies there were for (a) Foundation Year 1 doctors, (b) Foundation Year 2 doctors and (c) specialty training posts in (i) England and (ii) Suffolk NHS region at the most recent date for which data is available.

The Department does not hold information on the number of vacancies for Foundation Year 1, Foundation Year 2, and specialty training posts in England or in the Suffolk National Health Service region.NHS England collects and publishes data relating to the fill rates for training places in medical specialties. These are for the entry point of the initial recruitment processes for the specific training programme, rather than a measure of total vacancies at a given point in time. Further information is available at the following link:https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/fill-rates

What steps he is taking to support communities that are affected by energy infrastructure projects.

In the Clean Power Action Plan, we made it clear that where communities host clean energy infrastructure, they should feel tangible and enduring benefit of doing so. The Government has already announced bill discounts for communities living nearest to new electricity transmission infrastructure and published guidance on community funds for electricity transmission infrastructure and onshore wind in England. Solar Energy UK is also expected to publish guidance this year. In addition, in May, the Government published a working paper on mandatory community benefits and facilitating shared ownership and is in the process of reviewing responses.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the role of (a) parish and (b) town councils in the context of Local Government reorganisation; what assessment he has made of the potential merits in maintaining their statutory role in representing local communities on planning applications; and what steps he is taking to ensure parish councils remain integral to local democratic accountability.

Town and parish councils are not in scope for local government reorganisation and will continue to operate as they do now. Councils may wish to collaborate with their town and parish councils to determine how they can most effectively contribute to the delivery of services in future arrangements. In doing so, they may wish to consider the support town and parish councils will require to do so effectively.We recognise the important role that parish and town councils play in the planning process. Planning law allows parish councils and neighbourhood fora to require local planning authorities to consult them on any relevant planning applications in their area, and notify them of the decision. This will not change in the context of LGR. The government continues to value the role of town and parish councils in driving forward the priorities of their communities and delivering effective local services.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage investment in on-farm (a) water storage and (b) irrigation infrastructure.

The Environment Agency’s National Framework for water resources highlights a number of actions that will help farmers and growers improve water supply resilience. These include: Promoting and facilitating the establishment of Water Abstractor Groups to enable a better understanding of future pressures and of business risks around access to water. Supporting farmers and growers with a Defra-funded programme of Local Resource Option studies to help them identify, screen and rank options to improve water supply resilience. These are costly investments, and we want to take time to make sure the support is targeted at the most effective solutions. Supporting the implementation of “smart farming”, where technology is used to:o understand near-real time water availability, to enable abstractors to take water when it is there.o improve irrigation scheduling and sensors to optimise water use.