Written questions by Robertson.

What steps are being taken to ensure that legislation, funding and incentives actively enable HealthTech adoption at scale across the health system.

The Department, alongside NHS England, is working to improve the conditions for the adoption and scaling of healthcare technology (HealthTech) across the National Health Service.The Department has developed a National HealthTech Access Programme to provide a clearer national route to funding and adoption for high impact technologies. This draws on existing evaluation and assurance processes, helping to reduce variation following pilot activity. The focus is on technologies with the potential to rapidly improve NHS services and patients' lives, nationwide. The first two technologies to be evaluated by this mechanism are already underway and have the potential to transform early diagnosis of oesophageal, prostate, and breast cancer.In parallel, the Department and NHS England are supporting trusts to make more consistent procurement decisions through Value Based Procurement standard guidance for medical technology, which is currently at its pilot stage. This enables wider value considerations, alongside cost, to be taken into account during local procurement exercises.The Department continues to work closely with partners, including NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the NHS Supply Chain, and industry representative bodies to improve, scale, and embed adoption of HealthTech in the NHS.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she will place in the Library a breakdown of NO2 Programme expenditure by project, including spend to date and forecast costs for each scheme.

A breakdown of the NO2 programme expenditure on local authority grants will be placed in the House of Commons library.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2026 to Question 120645 on Competition and Markets Authority: Costs, what expenditure the Competition and Markets Authority has incurred on (a) consultants, (b) research and (c) external contracts in support of the Sustainability Taskforce since its establishment.

The Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has not incurred expenditure on (a) consultants, (b) research and (c) external contracts in support of the Sustainability Taskforce.Since its establishment, the expenditure for the Sustainability Taskforce is as follows: FYStaff CostsNon-Staff CostsTotal CostFull-Time Equivalent2023-24£418,715.01£3,335.36£422,050.375.42024-25£342,306.01£677.18£342,983.193.9 Non-staff costs cover other programme expenditure such as travel and subsistence.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2026 to Question 119471 on the Vehicle Certification Agency: Fees and Charges, whether there is a timeline to eliminate the Agency’s financial deficit; and what steps her Department is taking to monitor the delivery of deficit reduction.

The VCA is currently analysing responses to the consultation on increasing certain fees, which closed earlier this month. If taken forward, the fee increase would require secondary legislation before it can be implemented (subject to Parliamentary approval). We are therefore unable to set out a specific timeframe for elimination of the deficit at this stage. Work on efficiencies is ongoing and reduction of the VCA’s deficit is regularly monitored and reported on via the VCA and Department for Transport’s internal governance processes. It is also reported annually as part of the VCA’s Annual Reporting and Accounts, which are published on their website.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 118043, what steps the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is taking to improve its ability to evaluate the effectiveness of recruitment activity for driving examiner roles.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) monitors the performance of recruitment campaigns, including: monitoring pass rates for each of the stages in the recruitment process and comparing these between campaignsaverage times between advert and job offers being made, and offers being made and start date. The performance in these areas have improved in the past 12 months. For example, before November 2025, the average time DVSA took to advertise and onboard potential driving examiners (DE) into training was 16 weeks. In December 2025, DVSA improved its recruitment process and the average time DVSA now takes to onboard potential DEs is 13 weeks. Further proposals should see this reduce by another 2-3 weeks for future campaigns.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2026 to Question 120007 on High Speed 2 Line: Finance, whether the Department expects any reduction in the maximum speed of High Speed Two trains to contribute to meeting the Department’s capital expenditure limits set out in the Spending Review.

The Spending Review settlement for the current period is not dependent on the outcome of the Strategic Speed Study.

Whether SEND practitioners will be provided with training on how to support children with speech, language and communication.

I refer the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East to the answer of 23 March 2026 to Question 121271.

Whether she has made an assessment of the comparative costs of greenhouse gas emissions reporting across the Government estate relative to the emissions reductions achieved as a result of those activities.

This information is not available. GPA do not manage the greenhouse gas emissions data and reporting across all of the government estate.

In which month she expects East West Rail services to commence from Oxford Parkway to Bicester.

The Department continues to work closely with Chiltern Railways and other partners to confirm a start date for the first EWR services between Oxford and Milton Keynes. For passenger services to commence, trains will need to have been modified and fully tested, and driver training will need to have been completed. Winslow station also needs to be fully handed over, and future staffing arrangements also remain to be agreed. Appointment of Chiltern Railways as operator was delayed by the General Election in July 2024, and consequently they were not appointed until March 2025.

Whether the professional overview board of the National Inclusion Standards will include (a) speech and language therapists and (b) other experts on speech, language and communication.

I refer the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East to the answer of 23 March 2026 to Question 121270.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government Fleet Commitment in increasing the proportion of zero emission vehicles in departmental vehicle hire fleets, in the context of the proportion of electric vehicles rented by departments.

Data on vehicles used by Government departments, including vehicles hired for 6 days or more, can be found online at Greening Government Commitments April 2021 to March 2024 report - GOV.UK. However, the data does not break down owned fleet and hired vehicles. The Government Fleet Commitment was included in the Greening Government Commitments (GGCs) framework for the period between April 2021 to March 2025. The GGCs are currently under review to ensure that they remain aligned with Government priorities. Departments are expected to continue to take action to reduce their impact on the environment, including for example working with lease operators and hire companies to minimise the carbon intensity of their fleets and rental vehicles.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 118042, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Government Recruitment Service applicant tracking system on the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency's ability to access applicant referral source data.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) uses the Government Recruitment Service's applicant tracking system, but this does not provide information on how applicants learned about vacancies.DVSA advertises all driving examiner vacancies on Civil Service Jobs(opens in a new tab) on GOV.UK. DVSA also uses posters in driving test centres and external online job sites to reach a wider pool of applicants.For campaigns up to November 2025, DVSA used the data available from the Civil Service recruitment standard applicants survey. This shows which advertising routes generate candidates, however the information is limited and does not give 100% coverage.In December 2025, DVSA introduced a DVSA specific survey. This is sent to everyone who is offered an interview. This is then followed by another survey sent to anyone who successfully moves onto training. The data will be crossed referenced, however DVSA currently only has data for one complete and one ongoing campaign. For DVSA social media advertising, the current click through rate as of February 2026 was 1.4%. For DVSA direct communications that have been sent to subscribers of jobs at DVSA over the last 12 months, the average click through rate was 4%. It is not possible to say what number of these click throughs resulted in completed applications.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 118043, what assessment the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has made of the effectiveness of different recruitment channels used to attract applicants for driving examiner vacancies.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) uses the Government Recruitment Service's applicant tracking system, but this does not provide information on how applicants learned about vacancies.DVSA advertises all driving examiner vacancies on Civil Service Jobs(opens in a new tab) on GOV.UK. DVSA also uses posters in driving test centres and external online job sites to reach a wider pool of applicants.For campaigns up to November 2025, DVSA used the data available from the Civil Service recruitment standard applicants survey. This shows which advertising routes generate candidates, however the information is limited and does not give 100% coverage.In December 2025, DVSA introduced a DVSA specific survey. This is sent to everyone who is offered an interview. This is then followed by another survey sent to anyone who successfully moves onto training. The data will be crossed referenced, however DVSA currently only has data for one complete and one ongoing campaign. For DVSA social media advertising, the current click through rate as of February 2026 was 1.4%. For DVSA direct communications that have been sent to subscribers of jobs at DVSA over the last 12 months, the average click through rate was 4%. It is not possible to say what number of these click throughs resulted in completed applications.

What information his Department has provided to members of the Northern Ireland Assembly on the relationship between the UK ETS maritime extension and potential CBAM impacts prior to the Assembly’s consideration of the relevant statutory instrument.

The Common Understanding published in May 2025 following the UK-EU Summit with the EU to work towards establishing a link between the UK ETS and the EU ETS. This sets out the parameters for a linking agreement, including that the link should apply in respect of domestic and international maritime. It also states that linking will facilitate an exemption from the EU CBAM, removing a major barrier to trade and lowering costs for UK businesses. UK exports of goods in scope of EU CBAM are worth almost £7bn, and without a CBAM exemption, UK exporters could face large administrative and direct costs.

What criteria were used to determine exemptions from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme maritime extension; and for what reason Isle of Wight ferry services were not included in the exemptions.

There is a high bar for exemptions as these undermine the policy objectives. However, the Government agreed to exempt ferries serving Scotland’s islands because of the unique and pressing challenges they face, alongside the legal duties to consider island populations under the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018.

Pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2026 to Question 120007, how much of the average annual real-terms reduction in HS2 capital spending between 2025-26 and 2029-30 will be achieved through (a) efficiency savings, (b) reprofiling of expenditure, (c) changes to project scope and (d) changes to the delivery timetable.

The HS2 Spending Review settlement reflects the scope of work that the HS2 programme plans to deliver over the period 2026/27 to 2029/30. The average annual real-terms growth rate of -7.9% detailed in the Spending Review report reflects changes in annual spend over this period, based on the expenditure profiles HS2 Ltd agreed with the Department for Transport to deliver Phase 1 scope. It reflects the stages of the programme and supports the reset of the programme Mark Wild is conducting.

What estimate his Department has made of current battery costs per kWh; and what assumptions underpin projections for future cost reductions.

My Department does not publish an official estimate and for benchmarking we reference internationally trusted, independent sources.Battery technology is becoming increasingly important for our national resilience. Global demand for batteries is surging, the battery value chain from raw material extraction to cell production is very concentrated.We work closely with international partners to improve security of supply, and the Industrial Strategy published last year clearly shows the importance of building a competitive domestic battery supply in delivering economic resilience and growth for the UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to WPQ 119491, whether the Department holds a project-level financial breakdown of NO2 Programme expenditure as part of its reporting to the Government Major Projects Portfolio.

Appropriate programme level reporting of spend and forecasts are provided regularly to the Government Major Projects Portfolio in line with agreed reporting requirements.

What the average domestic electricity standing charge is; and how this has changed since 2021.

The department publishes statistics on the cost of domestic electricity and gas.Annual domestic energy bills - GOV.UK This includes tables (2.2.4 for electricity and 2.3.4 for gas) outlining the average fixed cost (standing charge) in £/year for the United Kingdom and by region, alongside the average unit price in £/kWh. These are calculated using data supplied directly to the department by a sample of domestic energy suppliers.

What the latest electric vehicle market share is as a proportion of new car registrations; and what projections her Department has made for that figure.

The zero emission vehicle share of new cars registered in 2025 was 22.9% according to DfT's faster indicators of transport activity, updated March 2026: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/developing-faster-indicators-of-transport-activity#:~:text=Cars%20and%20light%20goods%20vehicles%20registered%20for%20the%20first%20time%20by%20body%20type%20and%20fuel%20type The Government last published projections for new zero emission vehicle sales in the Cost Benefit Analysis for the Vehicle Emissions Trading Schemes (Amendment) (No.2) Order 2025. The Government regularly updates its analysis to account for changes in the market environment.