Written questions by McMahon.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of invasive weed removal from publicly owned land in England.

Various public bodies and local authorities undertake removal activities for invasive non-native weed species as part of their land management responsibilities. Natural England investigates complaints about the threat of injurious weeds spreading to agricultural land. An assessment of the effectiveness of these interventions on publicly owned land has not been made.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Ofwat on its effectiveness at regulating (a) bonuses (b) dividends (c) inter company management charges (d) company debt (e) consumer bills for water customers in England.

The Secretary of State regularly meets with stakeholders including Ofwat to discuss a range of issue, all of which is published on gov.uk.

What assessment has been made of the (a) adequacy of support services for families of patients detained or likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act, and (b) benefits of developing a single point of contact service to remove the occasions where multiple calls to numerous agencies are required to secure the required support.

While no specific assessment has been made of support services for families, we know that families play a vital role in supporting people with mental health needs through their treatment and recovery.The Mental Health Bill includes measures that aim to ensure that people who care for the patient’s welfare, such as family or carers, are consulted by clinicians and kept informed throughout the patient’s care, treatment, and discharge.Guidance on what information and support should be provided to families throughout the discharge process is set out in the Discharge from mental health inpatient settings statutory guidance and the Mental Health Act Code of Practice. Engagement with families, carers, and close friends should also be standard practice in community mental health services.Integrated care boards and local authorities are also expected to work in partnership to support carers, in line with statutory guidance and local priorities. Many areas also have dedicated carers' support organisations that help connect families with resources and advocacy services, and signposting at the point of discharge from inpatient care.

What assessment has been made of the adequacy of advocacy voice and weight given to representations made by family members of patients over 18 years old who are detained or likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act.

While no such specific assessment has been made, we recognise the value of representations made by family members of adult patients who are detained or likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act. That is why the Mental Health Bill, which is in its final stages, will give patients the right to appoint a nominated person to represent their interests and greater access to advocacy when they are detained.The reforms in the bill also recognise the critical role that families and carers can play in keeping patients safe, providing insight and knowledge of their loved one’s wishes and preferences and an understanding of what keeps them safe. The bill will strengthen the rights of families and carers through changes to the nominated person role, and will require clinicians to consult with others close to the patient as they make decisions around their care where appropriate or where the patient wishes.

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the number of complaints made to Ofgem about solar installation and network feed in as previously experienced with companies such as A Shade Greener since 2015.

We inherited a fragmented assurance framework for the installation of measures that improve the energy efficiency of homes. We are currently reviewing the broader consumer protection landscape and will bring forward wider system reforms to ensure consumers can have confidence in the quality of installations and protections when upgrading their homes.

What discussions have taken place with highway authorities in England on the potential impact of yellow box enforcement on congestion and pollution on the road network.

No such discussions have been held with highway authorities. Primary legislation requires local authorities with designated powers to have regard to the Secretary of State's statutory guidance on moving traffic enforcement, which includes box junction markings. This guidance includes measures to reduce congestion, enabling walking and cycling, reduce rat-running, create more pleasant places to live and work in and improve road safety.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the UK’s independent forecaster and the Government is fully committed to the OBR’s independence and its vital role as a core part of our fiscal framework. That is why one of the first Acts of this Parliament introduced the fiscal lock so that the OBR could never be sidelined.On 26 November 2025, the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook was accessed prematurely ahead of the Budget. The OBR’s investigation into this incident was published on 1 December. HM Treasury will work closely with the OBR to ensure robust security arrangements are in place for all future forecasts.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the progress in rolling out additional neighbourhood police in (a) England (b) Greater Manchester.

We have made £200 million available in 2025/26 to support the first steps towards delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of this parliament, including up to 3000 additional neighbourhood officers by the end of March 2026.The Government has committed to publishing neighbourhood policing numbers every six months, alongside the official police workforce statistics, with the next update due at the end of January 2026 setting out the numbers in neighbourhood policing roles as at the end of September 2025.Based on their £11,556,938 allocation from the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, Greater Manchester are projected to grow by 176 FTE neighbourhood police officers in 2025/26.

What assessment has been made of the potential impact of average speed cameras on the number of accidents and casualties.

A 2016 study conducted by the RAC Foundation in partnership with Road Safety Analysis examined 50 Average Speed Camera (ASC) sites across Great Britain. After adjusting for factors such as regression to the mean and national casualty trends, the analysis found:36.4% reduction in fatal and serious collisions (KSI)16% reduction in all injury collisions The full report is available atAverage_speed_camera_effectiveness_Owen_Ursachi_Allsop_September_2016.pdf

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what value and tonnage of UK government aid to Gaza is assessed as (a) delivered, (b) awaiting delivery and (c) not delivered for each month from October 2023 to date.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 29 October to Question 84625.

How much was spent on community payback services in (a) Greater Manchester (b) Oldham for each year from 2015 to date.

The data below shows the annual spend for Community Payback services in the Greater Manchester Probation Region since 2021. 2021-222022-232023-242024-25 £m£m£m£mGreater Manchester Unpaid Work1.403.934.704.46 To note: Data cannot be broken down below regional level.Data prior to July 2021 is unable to be reported on, due to probation regions being under the management of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). The unification of CRCs and the National Probation Service (NPS) in England and Wales took place on 26 June 2021, marking a significant restructuring of the probation system.

What assessment has been made of the (a) effectiveness of the legal and regulatory framework and (b) use and coverage of facial recognition technology by police forces in England.

The Government supports the wider adoption of facial recognition technology across all police forces.Although there is a legal basis for police use of facial recognition, we want to bring forward a new bespoke legal framework, to build public trust and enable the wider, responsible use of facial recognition across police forces. To help shape this, the Home Office launched a public consultation on 04/12/2025 on the use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies. The consultation responses we receive will inform the development of this new bespoke framework.In terms of existing coverage, retrospective facial recognition is already used by all UK police forces. There are over 25,000 searches carried out each month on the Police National Database (PND) to help identify suspects after an incident or event.Live facial recognition is used on a regular basis by some forces and is available to all forces via a small national capability made up of 10 mobile units.The Home Office invested £12.6 million in facial recognition last year, with £2.8 million spent on national live facial recognition capabilitiesThis year, £6.6 million is being spent supporting the adoption, evaluation, and responsible rollout of facial recognition technology. This includes £3.9 million for the development of a new, national facial matching service.

How many (a) water pumps and (b) generators his Department disposed of for each year from 2015 to date.

The number of water pumps and generators disposed of through the Defence Recycling and Disposals Team (DRDT) from January 2024 to date is as follows: Water pumpsGenerators2024110320251192 In line with Ministry of Defence policy, records related to disposals are retained for a period of seven years. Consequently, it is not possible to provide information on disposals through the DRDT prior to 2018. Additionally, due to the way information was recorded by the DRDT prior to September 2023, details on the total number of water pumps and generators disposed of between 2018 and September 2023 could only be provided at disproportionate cost. It should also be noted that not all disposals are conducted through the DRDT. Identifying the total number of water pumps and generators disposed of through other routes would similarly exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

What estimate has been made of the value of the tourism levy by mayoral combined authority area.

The precise design and scope of the power for Mayors to introduce a visitor levy if they so choose is still under development.The Government has published a consultation running until 18 February 2026, so that the public, businesses, and local government can shape the design of the power to introduce a levy that will be devolved to local leaders.The impacts of the levy, including how much it will raise, will largely be determined by local decisions. Mayors will decide whether to introduce a levy and, if so, consult on specific proposals. We expect Mayors to engage constructively with businesses and their communities to hear their concerns. This will inform their decisions regarding whether and how a levy will be applied and how any revenue is raised. Giving this power to local leaders who best understand their region enables them to tailor it to growing their local economies.

What estimate she has made of the number of young people who have been off-rolled by schools and colleges while awaiting Education, Health and Care Plans in England.

The department does not hold data on the number of children or young people who have been off-rolled while waiting for an education, health and care plan assessment.This government is clear that off-rolling in any form is unacceptable, and we will continue to work closely with Ofsted to tackle it.Pupils may leave a school roll for many reasons, including permanent exclusion, transfer to another school, or change of circumstances. All schools are legally required to notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is removed from the admissions register.The law is clear that a pupil’s name can only be deleted from the admission register on the grounds prescribed in Regulation 9 of the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024.Our ambition is that all children with special educational needs (SEN) receive the right support to succeed. We are committed to strengthening the accountability system and to providing earlier intervention in mainstream schools for pupils with SEN.

Following the recent National Living Wage increase announced in the Budget, what assumptions have been made on future wage differential compression for social care workers currently earning just above the current National Living Wage.

When assessing National Living Wage (NLW) increases, we assume that individuals earning at or near the NLW will receive a pay increase equivalent to the full NLW uplift, whilst pay growth for higher earning workers will increase in line with forecasts for average earnings. This assumption is based on robust external evidence on the impact of increases in the NLW on pay in the United Kingdom labour market. However, employers are ultimately responsible for the implementation of NLW increases and impacts may therefore vary locally.The Government is committed to transforming adult social care and supporting adult social care workers, turning the page on decades of low pay and insecurity. That is why we plan to introduce the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in 2028, backed by £500 million of funding to improve pay and conditions for the adult social care workforce. This represents the most significant investment in improving pay and conditions for adult social care staff to date.

What is the current working assumption for the Casey review into adult social care to start and conclude.

The Independent Commission into Adult Social Care (the Commission), chaired by Baroness Louise Casey, formally began in April 2025. The Commission is in two phases: phase one will report in 2026, focusing on medium-term improvements using existing resources; and phase two will conclude by 2028, when the Commission publishes their report setting out long-term recommendations for transforming the system.

What assessment his Department has made of current inpatient capacity and waiting times for secure mental health placements for individuals detained under the Mental Health Act in (a) England (b) Greater Manchester (c) Oldham.

Nationally, NHS England collates information from annual contracts to understand the commissioned and available capacity across all adult forensic services, including high, medium, and low secure. A change notification process is managed nationally to capture in-year changes to this capacity and to monitor provider-reported activity via the Mental Health Services Dataset. NHS England does not hold information about waiting times for all individuals detained under the Mental Health Act who require admission to an adult forensic service except where the individual is transferred from prison to hospital. NHS England and the Greater Manchester Adult Secure Provider Collaborative continue to work closely with National Health Service trusts and independent sector organisations to monitor capacity and demand for secure mental health beds for the population of Greater Manchester. Whilst work is in progress to achieve more timely transfers into secure mental health facilities for prisoners, and work with providers around reducing overall secure length of stay, based on current demand there are sufficient adult secure beds across Greater Manchester and the wider North West region, including Oldham, to meet demand against the national adult secure specification. Waiting list numbers are stable and consistent which indicates that commissioned provision is sufficient to meet need. As waiting lists are managed on a clinical priority basis and due to the low volumes of people requiring secure mental health services, it is difficult to provide a meaningful statistic about waiting times for admission.

What assessment has been made of the adequacy of multiagency responses to bullying in schools, online and through messaging platforms which disrupt the learning of young people and cause distress and harm.

Bullying is unacceptable and must be tackled to ensure schools are supportive environments where pupils can thrive. We know that evidence suggests that cyberbullying is often linked to face-to-face bullying.All schools are legally required to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying. It is for schools to decide when to involve external agencies. Schools should contact the police where they believe an offence may have been committed.The government is providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding mental health support teams.To support schools further with preventing and tackling bullying, the department has recently launched procurement for an expert, evidence-led review of anti-bullying best practice to inform a practical resource for schools.Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence Attendance and Behaviour Hubs will focus on supporting senior leaders in schools to develop cultures with high expectations for attendance and behaviour, with robust processes for following up poor behaviour.

What estimate she has made of the number of children who have an unmet SEND need in England.

The requested information is not held by the department.The department publishes information on the number and proportion of pupils with special educational needs as at January each year. The latest information available indicates that 19.5% of pupils have special educational needs (SEN) support or an education, health and care (EHC) plan. This publication, from January 2025, is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2024-25.It may also be useful to note that the Education Policy Institute has conducted research on a longitudinal dataset that gathers information on SEN support and EHC plan status for pupils who started school in 2008 and reached Year 11 in 2019. This research indicates that 37% of these pupils were recorded as having SEN support or an EHC plan at some point during this period. Their report is available at: https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/SEND-Final-Report-version-FINAL-04.02.2024-2.pdf.