Written questions by McMahon.

How many additional urgent dentist appointments will be provided in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) Oldham this year.

We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from April 2025.Appointments are available across the country, with specific expectations for each region. These appointments are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. Data on delivery of urgent dental care, including additional delivery, will be published annually as part of the NHS Dental Statistics England Official Statistics series. These statistics are released each August and are the primary source of data on the delivery of NHS dental care.

What assessment has taken place of the effectiveness of measures to tackle the resale of dangerous part worn tyres.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s Market Surveillance Unit works closely with local Trading Standards teams to carry out checks on garages selling part worn tyres, enforcing sanctions where necessary. Any retailer selling part-worn tyres which fail to meet these requirements is breaking the law under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and could be subject to a substantial fine or prison sentence. Tyres are safety-critical components and are checked as part of the MOT test, ensuring tyres have adequate tread depth and are free from cuts or bulges. Any vehicle with defective tyres will fail an MOT test and is not permitted to be driven on the road.

What assessment has taken place on the post covid trends in levels of concessionary bus travel among pensioners and disabled people; and its impact on health, loneliness and social isolation.

The Department for Transport’s concessionary travel statistics show that there were 624 million older and disabled concessionary bus journeys in England in the year ending March 2025, an increase of 4% compared with the year ending March 2024. While this is still below pre-COVID levels, concessionary bus journeys have been increasing year-on-year since the pandemic. The Government recognises the importance of local bus services in keeping communities connected, including for concessionary bus passengers. The Government is taking action to help improve local bus services across the country. We have introduced the Bus Services Act 2025 to put the power over local bus services back into the hands of local leaders. The Act also includes measures to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of bus networks. In addition, the Government has confirmed over £1 billion for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. Greater Manchester Combined Authority have been allocated £66.4 million of this funding. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, this could include expanding services and improving reliability, which are currently significant obstacles for too many people.

Whether the government has plans to improve parking, access and customer experience at Mills Hill and Moston train stations; and whether there any plans to bring forward a programme to reopen previously closed stations such as the former Middleton Junction station.

The Rail North Partnership between the Department and Transport for the North has regular discussions with Northern, which manages Mills Hill and Moston train stations, on its performance, customer experience and improving services. There are no proposals or plans regarding the reintroduction of Middleton Junction station. Between 2022-23 and 2026-27, we are providing £1.07bn of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement funding to Greater Manchester to invest in their local transport network. Beyond that, we have confirmed a £2.5billion Transport for City Regions settlement for Greater Manchester providing funding up to 2031-32. It is for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to decide how to invest the funding locally.

How many copies of each UK daily newspaper did the government purchase for each year from 2015 to date.

The information requested is not held centrally.

How many patients does the government assess will be impacted by its decision to freeze prescription charges in England.

Approximately 40% of people who receive prescriptions are not entitled to exemption from National Health Service prescription charges and will therefore benefit from the decision to freeze charges for the second successive year, keeping the cost of a prescription below £10 and the cost of a prepayment certificate at just over £2 a week.The remaining approximately 60% of patients receiving prescriptions are entitled to exemption from charges. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, whether they have a qualifying medical condition, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.

How many adults are assessed as having an unmet social care need in England.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing individuals’ care and support needs and, where eligible, for meeting those needs, as set out in the Care Act 2014. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how local authorities in England are meeting the full range of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including how local authorities assess people’s needs. Formal assessments commenced in December 2023 and as of November 2025, the CQC has published over 80 local authority assessments. Reports are available on the CQC’s website at the following link:https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reportsThe Government is supporting the sector to help people live independent and dignified lives. The Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector in making improvements. We are also providing £172 million across this and the last financial year, for approximately 15,000 home adaptations, and are introducing new national standards and trusted guidance for care technologies.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate has been made of levels of glass house food growing capacity for each year from 2015 to date.

Defra’s statistical estimate of the total glasshouse area used for growing food (vegetables, salad and fruit) in England on 1 June 2025 is 549ha, down from 671ha on 1 June 2015. The complete timeseries is below and available at Agricultural land use in England - GOV.UK. 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025Glasshouse area on 1 June used for growing vegetables, salad or fruit (ha)671733697680684661652603591566549

What assessment has been made of the pull and push factors driving taxi license holders from obtaining licenses out of their area of residence and operation, such as to Wolverhampton Council.

Ministers and officials regularly engage with the taxi and private hire vehicle sector. Differing licensing requirements, processing times and costs are often cited as reasons why licences are sought from authorities other than that in which the applicants intend to work. Though there is a high degree of consistency in requirements relating to safety, for example all licensing authorities in England require an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service and barred lists check for drivers, the Government is taking action to ensure even greater consistency in licensing. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks to introduce powers to set national minimum standards for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing. If passed, national minimum standards would enable government to set robust standards for licensing across England, to keep vulnerable children and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel. It would also help reduce the variability of licensing standards across the country, which is a significant factor in inducing out-of-area working.

What assessment has been made of recent trends in levels of illegal agriculture red diesel use.

Rebated fuels must be supplied by Registered Dealers in Controlled Oil who are approved by HMRC to ensure that fuel is only obtained by those entitled to use it.Rebated fuels can only be used in eligible vehicles and machines when they are being used for a qualifying purpose, which includes agricultural activities.

Media and Sport, what support has government provided to grass roots rugby in encouraging the participation of young people.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including children and young people, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in grassroots sport, including rugby, providing more opportunities for young people to be active. Sport England provides long term investment to the Rugby Football Union (£13.9 million from 2022-27) and Rugby Football League (£11.9 million from 2022-25), the National Governing Bodies for rugby to support grassroots participation. Since last summer, the Government has also provided £6.7 million into the Women’s Rugby World Cup Legacy Programme Impact 25 which has benefited 850 clubs across the country. These clubs have received investment which goes towards supporting girls of all ages to get involved in rugby.

Communities and Local Government, whether the government intends to review planning laws to increase support for farming business diversification in rural areas.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 95296 on 4 December 2025.

How many active Neighbourhood Watch schemes were in place for each year from 2015 to date in England.

The Home Office does not hold information on the number of active Neighbourhood Watch schemes in England for each year from 2015 to date.Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) is a long-established, volunteer-led movement that supports safer, stronger and more connected communities across England and Wales.Schemes are locally run and independent, led by volunteers who decide how best to tackle issues affecting their neighbourhoods. There is no requirement for schemes to register with government, and they operate autonomously.The Home Office values the important contribution made by volunteers involved in Neighbourhood Watch in helping to reduce crime, improve community resilience, and strengthen public confidence.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of the compliance of private parking companies using contract breach terms to apply a penalty when there is no option for the driver to decline to enter into the contact, for instance where signage setting out contract terms is only placed within an area where charges are automatically applied on entry.

Private parking operators are regulated through their membership of the two main trade associations. These are the British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC). The BPA and IPC have launched a single industry Code of Practice which their members must follow. The industry Code of Practice requires private parking operators to provide a consideration period to allow a motorist the time to read the terms and conditions and decide whether to accept or reject them before a parking charge can be issued. The industry consideration periods vary from 1 minute to 10 minutes depending on the size of car park. The trade associations currently monitor compliance with its Code of Practice. The Government is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector. The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. My department recently ran a consultation outlining its proposals to raise standards across the private parking sector (available from gov.uk here). The consultation included proposals for a minimum consideration period of 5 minutes to be included in the new Government Code of Practice. All responses are now being analysed and the Government will publish a response, together with the new code, in due course. Our consultation proposed that compliance with the Government Code of Practice would be monitored by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies, who would report compliance figures to the Government.

Media and Sport, what estimate has been made of the number of (1) grass and (2) artificial football pitches in (a) England (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham for each year since 2015.

According to Sport England’s Active Places database, as of December 2025 there are 59,794 grass football pitches and 6,634 artificial grass pitches in England. In Greater Manchester, there are 1,796 grass football pitches and 380 artificial grass pitches. In Oldham, there are 113 grass football pitches and 30 artificial grass pitches. The Government is investing £98m in grassroots facilities across the UK through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2025/26, funding projects such as new artificial grass pitches, grass pitch improvements and pitch maintenance equipment.

What information his Department holds on the assessed domestic (a) brick (b) roof tile (c) steel (d) aggregate (e) plasterboard (f) construction grade timber production capacity for each year from 2015 to date.

The Department does not hold data on assessed domestic production capacity for bricks, roof tiles, steel, aggregates, plasterboard or construction-grade timber. Information on building materials is published in our official statistics - Building material and components: monthly statistics – GOV.UK, UK Manufacturers’ sale by product – Office for National Statistics, World Steel in Figures and 2025 - 2: UK-Grown Timber - Forest Research.

What is the total capital cost to the government of customs check posts since the UK EU withdrawal.

The information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.

What criminality data informs efforts to clamp down on the establishment of (a) vape shops (b) barber shops in England.

Addressing cash-based money laundering is one of the strategic priorities of the National Economic Crime Centre, which sits within the National Crime Agency. In March 2025, the NECC led a three-week intensification campaign (Operation MACHINIZE) against barbershops and other cash intensive businesses which saw 380 premises visited, 84 warrants, 35 arrests, and the seizure of illicit goods.This was followed by a second phase of activity (Operation MACHINIZE 2) throughout October which involved every UK police force and Regional Organised Crime Unit, Home Office Immigration Enforcement, Trading Standards, HM Revenue & Customs and Companies House. The operation saw: 2734 premises visited and raided, 924 individuals arrested, over £10.7m of suspected criminal proceeds seized and over £2.7m worth of illicit commodities destroyed.The Home Office is working closely with partners to use the learning from this operation to build on and develop long-term solutions.

What estimate has been made of the number of recorded incidents of (a) verbal abuse (b) physical assault (c) sexual assault and (d) harassment against staff in (i) GP practices (ii) pharmacies (iii) dentists in England.

The Department does not hold data on the number of recorded incidents in these settings, which are each independent contractors to the National Health Service.We know how challenging disgraceful incidences of abuse and violence can be for staff. The Government is clear that there is never a justification for this unacceptable behaviour towards healthcare staff, who have the right to work free from fear of abuse or assault.There is a range of NHS commissioned services available to support the mental health and wellbeing of staff across settings.Incidents of criminal behaviour should be reported to the police. In May 2025, the Crown Prosecution Service updated guidance to prosecutors which will bring swifter justice against those that assault our frontline workers.

What estimate has been made of the number of reports of child (a) sexual (b) criminal exploitation safeguarding failings at (1) private (2) local authority children’s homes in England since 2015.

All registered children’s homes, whether privately run or local authority-operated, must notify Ofsted, the regulator for children’s social care, about certain serious incidents that happen to children in their care living with them and what they have done in response. The published data, available from April 2023, includes a category of ‘sexual exploitation’, which shows:01 Apr 2024 – 31 Mar 2025: 42,500 notifications of which 560 (1.3%) related to sexual exploitation.01 Apr 2023 – 31 Mar 2024: 34,481 notifications of which 535 (1.5%) related to sexual exploitation.This data does not distinguish between private or local authority run homes and does not specify data on criminal exploitation.Ofsted review the notifications received to ensure homes have acted to protect the child from immediate harm, and the information contained in the notifications informs their risk assessment and inspection scheduling.