Written questions by Shannon.

What the average waiting time is for an emergency ambulance response.

The Government recognises that in recent years ambulance response times have not met the high standards patients should expect.We are determined to turn things around. Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/26 is backed by almost £450 million of capital investment, and commits to reducing category 2 ambulance response times to 30 minutes on average this year.The latest data from December 2025 for ambulance response times in England shows progress, with category 2 incidents responded to in 32 minutes 43 seconds on average, this is 14 minutes and 43 seconds faster than the same period last year.

What financial support is available for the installation of solar panels in UK domestic settings.

Solar is an important part of the Government’s strategy for increasing energy performance of buildings and contributes to meeting the government’s fuel poverty targets. The Warm Homes Plan will deliver £15 billion of public investment helping households take up measures like solar panels, heat pumps, batteries and insulation. Homeowners will soon be able to apply for government-backed, low and zero interest loans to assist with upfront costs for solar.

How many (i) prosecutions and (ii) convictions there were for the use of a mobile phone while driving in each of the last five years.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions and convictions for a wide range of criminal offences including using a mobile phone when driving in England and Wales within the Outcomes by Offences data tool.This can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of further and higher education funding.

The department has increased investment in 16-19 education by £400 million in the 2025/26 financial year. From the Spending Review, we will invest nearly £800 million extra in 2026/27, including and fully consolidating the £190 million boost to 2025/26 funding provided in May.The department is investing in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), spending £1.4 billion in the 2025/26 academic year. The ASF fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to support adults to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning.To support long‑term stability in higher education, the department is increasing maximum tuition fees in line with inflation, by 2.71% in 2026/27 and 2.68% in 2027/28, in addition to the 3.1% increase delivered for the current academic year. The government provides £1.31 billion in Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) funding for the 2025/26 academic year to support teaching, high‑cost subjects and disadvantaged students, and we are working with the Office for Students to reform the SPG to better target priority skills needs and access and participation.

How many Universal Credit claimants were overpaid cost of living payments in 2025; and what is the total amount of the overpayments identified in 2025.

The Department publishes fraud and error statistics annually and the data for FYE 2025 can be found here: Fraud and error in the benefit system, Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2025 - GOV.UK.

What steps she is taking to help tackle educational underachievement.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed, but too many face barriers holding them back, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.The government’s Plan for Change sets our intention to give every child the best start in life, setting a milestone of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn, backed by investment close to £1.5 billion over the next three years, subject to the spending review.High and rising standards are the key to strengthening outcomes for every child. The department is driving standards in every school through regional improvement for standards and excellence teams, a refreshed high quality curriculum and assessment system, and recruiting an additional 6,500 additional teachers.The Schools White Paper will build on our existing work to drive school standards and improve outcomes for all children.This is alongside wider work to improve outcomes for all children, including tackling child poverty and our Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provision for the police.

The 2026–27 final police funding settlement provides up to £21.0 billion for the policing system in England and Wales.This is an increase of up to £1.3 billion compared with the 2025–26 settlement, representing a 6.7% cash increase and a 4.4% real terms increase. Total funding to police forces will be up to £18.4 billion, an increase of up to £796 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. This equates to a 4.5% cash increase and a 2.3% real terms increase in funding.

How much his Department spent on legal costs in the last five years.

The following table shows the total legal fees for the core Department per the audited annual reports from 2020/21 to 2024/25, rounded to the nearest thousand:2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/21£46,087£37,975£35,799£37,482£39,694 The legal fees for the departmental group can be found in the Annual Report and accounts in the following links:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025#https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-to-2022https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the holiday parks industry.

DCMS recognises the significant value that the holiday parks industry provides in supporting our rural and coastal economies. The Government is committed to ensuring their long-term viability by modernising the business rates system and providing targeted marketing to overseas visitors.From April 2026, we are replacing temporary reliefs with permanently lower business rate multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties. This structural shift provides long-term certainty and is worth nearly £900 million annually. To protect businesses from sudden valuation shocks, we have introduced a £3.2 billion Transitional Relief scheme, which caps bill increases at 15% for most businessesThe Government has set out a package of pro-growth regulatory changes for the retail and hospitality sectors, including the first National Licensing Policy Framework, which supports the flexible growth of hospitality services within holiday parks.DCMS and VisitBritain are actively working to boost visitor numbers and extend the tourism season for coastal and rural operators. The ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign uses the UK’s film and television heritage to drive international visitors into rural destinations, increasing the profile of areas where many premier holiday parks are located.The forthcoming Visitor Economy Growth Strategy will cement these measures, providing a long-term plan to increase visitor flows, maximise sector value, and deliver sustainable growth for our coastal and rural communities.

How many assessments for Personal Independence Payment were carried out by Capita by telephone in 2025.

Capita delivers Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the Midlands and Wales, and on behalf of the Department for Communities (DfC) in Northern Ireland. Information relating to the Midlands and Wales is not currently published by DWP; however, we intend to include this data in a future statistical release. If your query concerns Northern Ireland, responsibility for this information rests with the DfC. This data is not held by DWP.

How many households are in receipt of benefits in excess of £28,000.

The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is an annual report that provides facts and figures about the incomes and living circumstances of households and families in the UK. The FRS uses a nationally representative sample of UK households and includes data on benefit receipt, at both individual and family levels. The latest FRS is available for 2023/24 and, in the ‘Income and state support data tables’, Table 2.14a shows the number of benefit units in the UK by the total amount of annual state support received for that financial year, plus the two preceding years. This data is also available in the ‘FRS Family 2’ table in the Family (Benefit Unit) Dataset on Stat-Xplore. Please read the notes which accompany these tables. The number of families who received in excess of £28,000, can be extracted from the Family (Benefit Unit) Dataset on Stat-Xplore by using the custom range functionality (which is available to registered users) on the Family (Benefit Unit), total, annual amount of Income received from State Support, in bands, in latest prices (CPI-adjusted real terms) data by using the ‘Range’ option in the ‘Measures’ section. You can register or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required. In addition there is also the FRS Stat-Xplore User Guide.

What the a) longest and b) shortest custodial sentence handed down for possession of a Class B drug with intent to supply was in each of the last five years.

The data requested is published by the Ministry of Justice.The Sentencing Council’s guideline on ‘Possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply’ can be found here: https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/guidelines/supplying-or-offering-to-supply-a-controlled-drug-possession-of-a-controlled-drug-with-intent-to-supply-it-to-another/ which sets out the relevant factors for courts to consider when sentencing for this offence.

Communities and Local Government, what funding is available to faith-based organisations to help them support communities.

The Government works closely with faith and belief groups and organisations to support communities, and there are a wide range of potential sources of support available to them. The Common Ground Resilience Fund is providing over £3m funding to local communities in England to insulate them against threats to local social cohesion and resilience. Through the Common Ground Award, which forms part of this Fund, we are supporting the voluntary and community sector organisations - including faith-based organisations, with capital investments into the infrastructure and equipment which enables them to serve communities. The Government also supports interfaith activities through which faith and belief organisations work with their wider communities. The Government supported Inter Faith Week 2025 by providing £141,720 of funding to ensure the Week remains a key part of the national calendar for dialogue, learning, and connection between people of different faiths and beliefs.MHCLG has allocated up to £515,000 for the current financial year to fund the Near Neighbours programme in England, which is delivered by the Church Urban Fund. This programme brings together communities from diverse backgrounds and faiths to build relationships of trust and work together on initiatives that improve their communities. Faith‑based organisations across England are also eligible to apply to the annual Windrush Day Grant Scheme, funded by MHCLG. Since 2019, the scheme has funded 268 projects, awarding a total of £3.75 million. Faith‑linked groups may receive funding where proposals align with the scheme’s aims of raising awareness of the Windrush story and strengthening community cohesion. Supporting faith and belief communities’ physical buildings may help them in their work with communities. A new £92 million fund called the Places of Worship Renewal Fund will replace the £23 million Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme and bring these important buildings into line with other heritage assets. It will give them access to the same level of financial support from the Government as historic houses, monuments and other heritage sites.

What steps he is taking to raise awareness of blood donation events.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood services in England. In the last financial year, NHSBT delivered over 700 donor recruitment events, resulting in 17,000 new registrations and more than 8,000 blood donation appointments booked. Current activity to raise awareness of donation opportunities across England includes:- high-profile campaigns aligned with events such as National Blood Week, World Blood Donor Day, Black History Month, Pride, and University Freshers’ Fairs. These are supported by radio, social media, billboards and bus stops, as well as through partnerships with commercial organisations, charities, and the public sector. NHSBT is also piloting advertising on TikTok to reach younger audiences who are under-represented in the donor base;- targeted activities, including local donor recruitment events, community television, and radio advertising, and the Community Grants Programme which funds trusted local organisations to engage with communities where specific blood types are most needed. Further information on the Community Grants Programme is available at the following link: https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/how-you-can-help/get-involved/community-grants-programme/;- direct marketing to previous donors, including phone calls, emails, and text messages, to raise awareness of local sessions and to encourage them to book appointments and return to donate; and- a recent partnership between the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and NHSBT to encourage learner drivers, especially much needed younger people, and motorists renewing their driving licences to sign up and become regular donors.

How many recorded incidents there have been involving scramblers in the last three years.

This information is not held in the format requested. NHS England publishes data on the cause of hospital admitted patient care activity. However, this does not distinguish between types of motorcycle vehicles. The following able shows the number of Finished Admission Episodes in each of the past three financial years specifically for injuries to motorcycle riders and pedestrians hit by motorcycles: External cause2022/232023/242024/25Pedestrian injured in collision with two- or three-wheeled motor vehicle346345377Motorcycle rider injured in collision with pedestrian or animal9990115Motorcycle rider injured in collision with pedal cycle193842Motorcycle rider injured in collision with two- or three-wheeled motor vehicle305253286Motorcycle rider injured in collision with car, pick-up truck or van2,9903,1043,211Motorcycle rider injured in collision with heavy transport vehicle or bus9797119Motorcycle rider injured in collision with railway train or railway vehicle323Motorcycle rider injured in collision with other nonmotor vehicle211817Motorcycle rider injured in collision with fixed or stationary object806876946Motorcycle rider injured in noncollision transport accident3,6343,7894,057Motorcycle rider injured in other and unspecified transport accidents802812884Total8,7769,0799,680Source: Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity, available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activityNote: this may not cover all incidents in which a motorcycle rider or pedestrian is injured, as these could also be recorded under more general transport-related causes such as: “Motor- or nonmotor-vehicle accident, type of vehicle unspecified”. This also does not include any admissions due to injuries in other vehicles which were involved in a collision with a motorcycle.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of biopsy waiting times.

From February 2026, the percentage of histopathology cases reported within ten days will be published at national, regional, integrated care board, and National Health Service trust levels. These histopathology cases will include biopsies in the overall figures, but data is not collected by test type.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to tackle deepfakes online.

The Online Safety Act requires services to tackle illegal content and protect children from harmful content, including where it is AI generated ‘deepfakes’.Building on this, the offence of creating intimate images without consent, including using AI, will come into effect in the coming weeks and this will be made a priority offence under the Act, giving users the strongest protections from such content. We are also criminalising nudification apps – making it illegal for companies to supply such tools.We are also running Deepfake Detection Challenge 2026 a programme aimed at strengthening capabilities to detect and mitigate synthetic media threats.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of vaccine uptake in schools.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors uptake of childhood and adolescent vaccinations via the school-based programmes and publishes this in annual coverage reports. Uptake across the programmes has shown a decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, with some evidence of stabilisation during the academic year 2023/24. The reports are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptakeNHS England, in conjunction with regional colleagues, has produced a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination school-aged immunisation improvement and uptake plan for internal operational National Health Service use, as part of their commitment to improving vaccine coverage.In addition, NHS England has improved digital communications on vaccinations, including expanding the NHS app, and has improved access to the HPV vaccine outside of schools through community clinics at convenient times and locations.

When his Department plans to launch the Contingent Decision route for members of the Partnership Pension scheme.

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. The Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) launched the Contingent Decision process for members who opted out of the scheme in July 2025. However, the process for members who switched to the Partnership pension scheme involves additional complexity, requiring the reconciliation of contributions between defined contribution and defined benefit arrangements. Planning is underway to define the process and timeline, and we aim to open the process later in 2026.

How many children in the UK have Kawasaki Disease.

NHS England holds records of hospital activity, and not the number of patients who have a particular condition. Therefore, the number indicated from hospital admissions gives an indication since Kawasaki disease is treated in hospital. Between the years 2020 to 2025, 2,188 patients aged between zero to 17 years old were admitted with a primary diagnosis of Kawasaki disease. The National Disease Registration Service does not hold data on Kawasaki disease. NHS England estimates approximately eight in every 100,000 children develop Kawasaki disease in the United Kingdom each year. The NHS England Kawasaki disease page also includes information on symptoms, diagnosis, management, as well as links for further support, and is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/kawasaki-disease/