Written questions by Milne.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Moroccan counterpart on the potential merits of a compensation scheme for UK citizens that lost their investments in the Paradise Golf and Beach Resort project; and whether he has taken other steps to help ensure adequate (a) financial and (b) other compensation for those affected.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office remains committed to helping all British investors affected by the failure of the Paradise Golf & Beach Resort (PGBR) development and will continue in its efforts to work with the Moroccan authorities to help them receive the compensation to which they are entitled. His Majesty's Ambassador to Rabat continues to seek opportunities to raise PGBR with his counterparts and relevant stakeholders in Morocco to encourage a satisfactory resolution to this longstanding issue. FCDO officials in London continue to raise the issue with their counterparts in the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco.

What steps her Department is taking to help reduce the level of dependence on emergency food parcels.

We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. On 30 July, the Secretary of State held a food poverty roundtable with key food poverty stakeholders to understand the key priorities in this area. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into food poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities. Additional steps include our plans to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers. In addition, on 17th July, we announced our joint ministerial taskforce, jointly chaired Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, to begin work on an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life. The Taskforce’s publication of 23 October ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’ sets out how we are developing the Strategy, exploring all available levers across Government to deliver an enduring reduction in child poverty this parliament. This is part of a 10-year strategy for lasting change which will be published in the Spring.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating an independent process to set benefit levels according to the cost of essentials.

No assessment has been made. The Social Security Administration Act 1992 requires the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to review benefit and State Pension rates each year to see if they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices or earnings. Where the relevant benefit or State Pension rates have not retained their value, legislation provides that the Secretary of State is required to, or in some instances may, up-rate their value. Following this review, benefit and State Pension rates are increased in line with statutory minimum amounts and others are increased subject to Secretary of State’s discretion. Following the Secretary of States’ up-rating decisions for 2025/26, DWP expenditure on state pensions and benefits will increase by £6.9 billion.

Whether she plans to publish research on the (a) Midlife MOT initiative and (b) digital Midlife MOT website.

The Midlife MOT initiative consists of three key work strands: the Job Centre Plus (JCP) Midlife MOT, the Private Sector Midlife MOT and the Digital Midlife MOT. The Private Sector Midlife MOT pilot programmes concluded at the end of June 2024. Findings from qualitative research, conducted in house by the Department for Work and Pensions, will be published in early 2025. The evaluation for the Job Centre Plus Midlife MOT is not yet complete but is planned for publication during 2025. The Digital Midlife MOT Website evaluation will start in February 2025, and we plan to publish once complete.

What proportion of defined contribution pensions were accessed after a Pension Wise guidance appointment in each of the last five years.

The information is not available. There are two sources which provide relevant data in relation to the request. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publish the number accessing a pension pot in the contract-based market (from 2015/16 to 2023/24) and whether this was accessed following financial advice, a Pension Wise appointment (and no financial advice), or no financial advice or guidance: Retirement income market data 2023/24 | FCA. The Money and Pension Service (MaPS) have previously published survey data on outcomes of Pension Wise appointments. A copy has been attached (see figure 12).

With reference to her Department's guidance entitled Pension freedoms and DWP benefits, published on 27 March 2015, what assessment she has made of the impact of that policy on defined contribution pension savers.

The Government is committed to enabling savers to achieve security in retirement. We’ve announced as part of the King’s Speech that the Pensions Bill will include measures to give savers the benefit of guided retirement products, with a retirement income; this will change the experience of Defined Contribution savers as our approach would provide a secure income over retirement as a default, unless the member chooses something different. We have also committed to assess adequacy for future savers as part of the second phase of the pensions review. We closely monitor the decumulation decisions of Defined Contribution savers. This has included research on retirement planning and decumulation decisions, such as Planning and Preparing for Later Life and analysis of Pensions Freedoms.Planning and Preparing for Later Life - GOV.UKPension Freedoms: a qualitative research study of individuals’ decumulation journeys - GOV.UK

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to fund research into lobular breast cancer.

The Government doesn’t ringfence funding for specific diseases but is committed to funding cancer research, including lobular breast cancer. The Department of Health and Social Care spent £121.8 million in 2022/23 on cancer research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology funds cancer research via UK Innovation and Research (UKRI). UKRI invests approximately £200 million annually into cancer research, of which £10m per year is for breast cancer research. Office for Life Sciences’ Cancer Healthcare Goals programme funds innovations at the earlier stages of the research and development pipeline. Such innovations will have the potential to diagnose multiple tumour types, including breast cancer. We have allocated £1.3 million of funding for a National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) project that will assess the effectiveness of a new form of MRI scan to detect breast cancers that have been missed by mammograms. Further NIHR research infrastructure funding supports Biomedical Research Centres and the NIHR Research Delivery Network, which has enabled delivery of 10 lobular breast-cancer studies.

If he will meet the hon. Member for Horsham and Dr Susan Michaelis, founder of the Lobular Moon Shot Project, to discuss his Department's work on invasive lobular breast cancer.

The Health Mission sets the objective of building a National Health Service fit for the future. As part of that work, and in response to the Darzi report, we have launched an extensive programme of engagement to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts, from hospitals to the community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. In addition, following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will develop a new national cancer plan. The cancer plan will include more details about how to improve outcomes for all tumour types, including lobular breast cancer, and ensure that patients have access to the latest treatments and technology. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be, and will provide updates on this, including on publication dates, at the earliest opportunity. We would encourage the Hon. Member for Horsham and Dr Michalis to input to the process, which would help to shape the national cancer plan.

Communities and Local Government, if (a) she and (b) the Minister for Housing and Planning will meet the hon. Member for Horsham to discuss Horsham's Local Plan, the hearing process and water neutrality.

Due to the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in the planning system, it would not be appropriate for me to discuss the details of the Horsham Local Plan and its progress through examination. However, I am happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss general principles in relation to local development plans and water neutrality and I have asked my officials to contact his constituency office with a view to finding a mutually convenient date and time.

If he will take steps to ensure that the early access programme for people with Duchennes is made available across all NHS trusts.

Access to the Early Access Programme (EAP) for givinostat must be through one of the 23 NorthStar Centres in the United Kingdom. However, participation in the EAP is decided at an individual National Health Service trust level, and a North Star Centre will not be able to provide givinostat if its local trust has not approved participation. Under the EAP, givinostat is free to both patients taking part in it and to the NHS, although the NHS trusts must still cover the cost of administering it to patients. Only Duchenne muscular dystrophy clinicians can make requests for givinostat for their patients. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis for individual named patients aligned to eligibility criteria.

How many projects in the Teesside carbon capture and storage cluster are (a) existing projects being retrofitted and (b) new developments.

The Teesside Carbon Capture and storage cluster includes the projects mentioned below: NEP (Transport and Storage Network) - New network with Northern Endurance PartnershipNet Zero Teesside (NZT) - New dispatchable gas-fired power station with carbon capture technologyH2 Teesside - New build CCUS-enabled hydrogen production plantBOC - Existing industrial plant owned by BOC looking to add CCUS technology The NEP and NZT are included in the current funding envelope related to the funding announcement made in October 2024. H2 Teesside and BOC are currently a part of the Project Negotiation List (PNL). Following a period of assessment and due diligence, the Track 1 PNL was determined and published in March 2023. Projects that were most likely to be delivered within our required timeframes and budget and storage capacity were selected.

With reference to Prostate Cancer UK's research entitled Optimising the use of the prostate- specific antigen blood test in asymptomatic men for early prostate cancer detection in primary care: report from a UK clinical consensus, published on 25 July 2024, if he will take steps to implement the recommendation on reviewing guidelines on allowing primary care staff to proactively discuss (a) prostate cancer risk and (b) prostate specific antigen testing with men at highest-risk of developing that cancer.

The UK National Screening Committee is aware of the Prostate Cancer UK report, and this will be considered as part of its evidence review process, with further information available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process/uk-nsc-evidence-review-processThe Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme (PCRMP) provides general practitioners (GPs) with information and guidance to counsel men who have no symptoms, but wish to have a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test. It highlights the potential benefits and harms of PSA testing so that men, including those at higher risk, can make an informed decision about whether to have the test.Based on the current evidence, the PCRMP guidance is for GPs not to proactively offer a PSA to men without symptoms. This is because of the high level of inaccuracy of the PSA test which could lead to unnecessary tests and treatments that carry risks of life-changing harm, such as urinary and faecal incontinence, sexual dysfunction, as well as a smaller but serious risk of sepsis. Additionally, some prostate cancers may not produce elevated PSA levels, leading to false-negative results that provide deceptive reassurance.

Communities and Local Government, if she will meet the hon. Member for Horsham to discuss the obligations on Horsham District Council (a) to build more than 900 houses a year and (b) not to build new houses that do not meet the requirements of Water Neutrality.

Paragraph 60 of the National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that local authorities should plan for as much of an area’s identified housing need as possible, including with an appropriate mix of housing types for the local community.Addressing the impact of ‘water neutrality’ requirements on housing delivery is a cross-government priority. The way that water resources are planned for is being considered as part of a commission recently announced by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. As set out in the King’s Speech, we want to ensure development delivers positive environmental outcomes.

Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for publishing an updated version of the Housing Delivery Test.

The 2023 Housing Delivery Test outcomes will be published by the end of the year.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's closed consultation entitled Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, updated 24 September 2024, what her planned timetable is for publishing a revised National Planning Policy Framework; and whether she plans to proceed with the recommendation in paragraph 20.

The consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework closed on the 24 September and officials in my department are currently analysing responses with a view to publishing a government response before the end of the year.

Communities and Local Government, if she will amend planning regulations in situations where a tree is found to be endangering the foundations of an adjacent building so that local authorities may recommend options other than felling.

Existing procedures are designed to support options other than felling. The relevant guidance makes clear that applications to address tree-related subsidence damage are to be supported by appropriate information, and the standard application form requires evidence that the tree is a material cause of the problem and that other factors have been eliminated as potential influences so far as possible.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to designate (a) Fire and Rescue services, (b) the Environment Agency and (c) the Health and Safety Executive as statutory consultees in the planning process for Battery Energy Storage Solutions.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 5520 on 11 October 2024.

If he will take steps to introduce (a) new national standards for the construction of facilities and (b) operational safety regulations for battery energy storage systems.

The Government recognises the importance of having robust measures in place to manage battery energy storage system (BESS) safety. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulates BESS under a regulatory regime which requires BESS designers, installers, and operators to take the necessary health and safety measures throughout all stages of the system’s construction, operation and decommissioning.