Written questions by McMahon.

What cross government support is provided to local authorities to identify the location of, and those buried in, historic unmarked mass child graves in England such as those discovered in Royton, Oldham.

The Government recognises the distress caused to bereaved parents by these historic practices and we commend the work that families and charities have been doing to highlight this issue and support other bereaved parents. We are working across Government to better support parents searching for the final resting place of their child’s remains and will ensure they are given as much help as possible. Ministers from across Government will be meeting shortly to discuss this issue, to ensure effective cross-Government coordination and support for affected families.Tracing a baby’s grave or a record of cremation can be a very difficult time for people both mentally and emotionally. It is important, therefore, that parents searching for the final resting place of their child’s remains are given as much help as possible. The Government expects all hospitals and burial and cremation authorities to assist by providing all information and records available to them, to any parents that enquire about what happened to their stillborn babies and their final resting place, in a timely manner.The 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement makes available over £69 billion for local government. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced, recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.Standards from the mid-1980s onwards brought an end to the historic practice of placing the remains of stillborn babies’ bodies in unmarked graves. The current death certification process means that this historic practice is no longer possible.

Whether her Department expects bus usage in (a) England (b) Greater Manchester to return to pre-covid levels.

The Government is committed to helping local leaders improve local bus services and grow usage across England, including in Greater Manchester, whilst recognising that travel patterns have changed since the COVID pandemic. We are taking action to give local leaders the powers they need to deliver better bus services for passengers, including through the Bus Services Act 2025, and empowering them to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, strengthened Enhanced Partnerships or local authority bus companies.We are also investing over £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services in England outside London, of which £66.4 million has been allocated to Greater Manchester Combined Authority. This funding can be used to introduce measures to help increase bus usage, for example expanding services and improving reliability.

What estimate has been made of the proportion of GP practices with (a) AED defibrillators (b) ECGs (electrocardiogram) on the premises.

Data on the provision of this equipment is held by local integrated care boards.

What funding is provided to community based organisations in (a) Greater Manchester (b) Oldham to support men's mental health and wellbeing.

Mental health remains a core priority for England, including in Greater Manchester and Oldham. That's why nationally, we're investing £688 million to transform services, including £26 million to support people in mental health crisis. We are introducing Neighbourhood Mental Health Care for adults, which will bring together community, crisis, and inpatient mental health care into a single, seamless offer.On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community, and family networks, and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention.Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience. We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk of taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.Responsibility for onward commissioning of mental health services sits with integrated care boards (ICB). It is the role of local ICB decision-makers to consider the implications of mental health services, specific to each geography and including the perspectives of healthcare professionals, patient advocacy groups, and local authorities.

Whether he plans to introduce measures to prevent Members of Parliament receiving income for posted content from social media platforms.

The Government is committed to restoring a politics of service, consistent with the high standards expected of public officeholders. That is why, within a month of the election, the Government brought forward proposals to tighten the rules around MPs’ outside interests, and deliver on our manifesto commitment to ban paid advocacy. We welcome the ongoing work by the Committee on Standards to review the rules relating to MPs’ outside interests, and look forward to receiving its findings.

What estimate his Department has made of the cost of unused medication held by patients in England.

No assessment has been made of the cost of unused medication held by patients in England. The Government seeks to have a coordinated approach to prevent wastage as much as possible to improve inefficiencies and reduce costs for the taxpayer. Primary care networks are required to ensure that Structured Medication Reviews (SMRs) for high-risk cohorts are implemented. SMRs are an evidence based comprehensive review of a person’s medication, their views, concerns, and safety. The use of SMRs can reduce harmful polypharmacy and medicine wastage.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposals to introduce an automatic approval assumption for developments near train stations on (a) levels and (b) locations of houses in multiple occupation where Article 4 directives are in place; and whether he plans to include light rail tram stations alongside or in the definition of train stations.

The proposals in question do not involve granting automatic permission to suitable planning applications.They will cover development within a reasonable walking distance of well-connected tram stations, including light rail tram stations.The proposals will not affect existing permitted development rights or Article 4 directions.

Whether he plans to strengthen or update legal rights of the deceased.

The Government is currently reviewing the law in two respects which will strengthen and update the rights of deceased persons (and assist their families and beneficiaries).The first is in relation to responding to the Law Commission’s comprehensive report Modernising Wills Law, published earlier this year. The Government is giving careful consideration to the report and will be announcing next steps in the near future.Secondly, the Law Commission is currently undertaking a wide-ranging project on the law of burials, cremations and new funerary methods. The final strand of this project, Rights and Obligations relating to Funerary Methods, Funerals and Remains, will commence in early 2026 and is expected to consider whether funeral wishes should be binding, who should have the right to make decisions about the funeral, and how to resolve disputes. The Government will respond to the Law Commission’s recommendations once they are available.

How many (a) adults (b) children are not registered with a dentist in (1) Greater Manchester (2) Oldham.

Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend. Some dental practices may operate local waiting list arrangements. Therefore, data is not available on the number of adults and children not registered with a dentist in Greater Manchester and Oldham.The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton constituency, this is the Greater Manchester ICB.

Communities and Local Government, how many community assets were registered by local authorities for each year since 2015.

The assets of community scheme is administered by local authorities for their areas. Local authorities are responsible for maintaining and publishing their local list of assets of community value and the Government does not hold a central list of this information. You can find out information about your local scheme by contacting your local authority.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of digital inclusion of children living in temporary accommodation in England.

We know that digital exclusion is a complex issue and disproportionately impacts certain demographics.That is why we launched the Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February, which sets out our immediate actions to boost digital inclusion across the UK. Alongside our actions to widen access to devices, drive digital upskilling, break down barriers to participation and get support to people in their own communities, we are also developing robust headline indicators to monitor progress and inform future digital inclusion interventions.

What assessment his Department has made of the impact of the closure of armed forces recruitment centres on enlistment in those areas.

Defence assesses that the wide variety of available recruitment engagement options it provides affords opportunity for candidates to enlist, regardless of the presence of an Armed Forces Careers Office (AFCO) in any given geographic location. The Armed Forces regularly review their recruiting activities and associated resource in accordance with the requirement. Whilst AFCOs continue to provide core support to the Armed Forces' national recruiting activities, their geographic footprint across the UK is complemented by dedicated call centres and online recruiting operations. This ensures that members of rural or isolated communities have the same opportunity to apply to the Armed Forces as anyone else. In addition, the Services conduct outreach engagement programmes across the whole of the UK, delivering events such as career fairs and roadshows, supported by online services and social media campaigns. These recruitment activities are further supported through strategic partnerships such as with JobCentrePlus, which provides additional face-to-face touchpoints with potential applicants.

How much funding has been allocated to (a) Greater Manchester (b) Oldham for the installation of retrofit renewable energy.

The government implemented the first Integrated Settlements for Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities at the start of the 2025-26 financial year, which includes cover for building retrofits. For buildings’ retrofit, Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities received the first allocation of their combined £302 million devolved retrofit funding in April 2025. This allocation draws from the Warm Homes: Local Grant, the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, and the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. Oldham forms part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the benefits of co-operative enterprise in international development.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 1 April to Question 39533.

What assessment has been made of the effectiveness of checks on new company formation with Companies House.

Companies House has developed and is continuing to develop capabilities in data analysis and measures to prevent the registration of misleading information and to better understand what measures will prove effective in preventing the registration of misleading information.As of 31 October 2025, Companies has addressed 148,084 compliance issues involving 85,201 companies. Performance in this reporting period is on track to meet the ministerial target set out in Companies House’s 2025-2026 Business Plan to act against 150,000 companies.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with the university sector on research and development in universities; and what support her Department provides to help progress the commercialisation of research and development outcomes.

Recent engagement between the Department and university sector has focused on improving the sustainability of university research, improving the Research Excellence Framework, strengthening research and innovation partnerships and implementing recommendations from the 2023 spin-out review to accelerate commercialisation.The Department supports commercialisation with significant investment, including through the £280 million a year Higher Education Innovation Fund. Additional proof-of-concept funding of £40 million over five years helps researchers translate ideas into high-growth businesses, ensuring UK universities remain globally competitive in innovation and knowledge exchange.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the drivers of food and non-alcoholic drink price inflation and what steps are being taken to tackle them.

The Government monitors food prices closely. As outlined in the UK Food Security Report (December 2024), food price drivers are complex: global commodity prices influence domestic markets through trade and are affected by energy, labour, manufacturing costs, harvest quality, and Sterling exchange rates. On 19 November, our Secretary of State announced Defra’s collaboration with the Department for Business and Trade to launch a Food Inflation Gateway. This tool will assess the impact of new regulations on food businesses and prices, helping government coordinate and sequence policies to reduce costs, unlock investment, and apply downward pressure on prices. Alongside this, the Department’s Food Strategy aims to ensure access to affordable, nutritious food and strengthen resilience against short-term supply shocks and long-term risks, reducing the likelihood of future price spikes and supporting fair, stable prices for households.

What assessment has been made of the impact of social media algorithms on levels of extremism in the UK.

The Home Office invests resources in understanding extremism and radicalisation, including work with international partners and external academics. Through this we look closely at the impact of social media algorithms on levels of extremism in the UK, but it is difficult to prove empirically or universally. The Online Safety Act requires online platforms to consider, as part of their illegal content and child safety risk assessments, how their algorithms impact exposure to illegal content and content harmful to children.The Government is closely monitoring the implementation and effectiveness of the OSA and remains committed to strengthening our laws if it does not deliver the necessary protections to ensure a safer online environment.The Home Office is committed to countering extremism in all its forms where it divides communities and inflames tensions. Regardless of the worldview it draws from, if an ideology is causing harm by radicalising others into hatred, violence and extremism we will take action to prevent this and to safeguard susceptible individuals.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of funding to national park authorities in England.

We recognise that the Defra core grant is vital to support England’s National Park Authorities. In the 25/26 financial year, the government is providing £45.2 million of core funding to the 10 National Park Authorities, with a capital uplift of up to £15 million to support their contribution to protecting 30% of land by 2030. We have also extended programmes such as Farming in Protected Landscapes, providing £30 million to support projects in our National Landscapes and National Parks, until March 2026. We are also committed to working with Protected Landscapes organisations to unleash other income sources. Defra has invested over £2m in a ‘Green Finance Accelerator’ comprised of National Parks Partnerships and the National Landscapes Association to provide the capacity, tools and expertise needed to increase private investment in nature. Funding beyond April 2026 is being determined through an ongoing internal business planning process.

What was the cost to the public purse of installing new telephone systems in GP practices in England last year; and how many (a) systems (b) handsets were installed.

The Department does not hold data on the cost of installing new telephone systems in general practices, nor on how many systems and handsets were installed.As part of our ambition to end the 8:00am scramble, we want patients to contact their practice by phone, online, or by walking in, and for people to have an equitable experience across these access modes. Since 1 October 2025, practices are required to keep their online consultation tool open for the duration of core hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries, and admin requests.