Written questions by Reynolds.

What discussions her Department has had with Transport for London on taxi and private hire driver licence renewals.

Transport for London is the taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authority for London and is responsible for administering the licensing regime in London. The Department discusses a range of licensing matters with them.

Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring television manufacturers to include a dedicated BBC iPlayer button on remote controls in line with existing buttons for commercial streaming services.

The Government recognises the need to ensure that public service broadcasters’ (PSB) services and content remain easy to find as viewers increasingly shift online.That is why we are getting on with implementing the Media Act 2024 which introduces a new online prominence regime. This new regime will ensure that PSB apps, like BBC iPlayer, are carried and given appropriate prominence on major TV platforms. The Government will consider the case for further reforms following the publication of Ofcom’s Public Service Media review later this year.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of air quality levels in Maidenhead constituency.

Local authorities review and assess air quality in their areas and publish an annual report on their actions to improve local air quality including local monitoring data.The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead have reported continued reductions in concentrations of NO2 and PM10 over recent years and continued compliance with the Air Quality Objectives set by central Government. The council has begun to monitor local concentrations of PM2.5 and are likely to report on this pollutant later this year; Defra’s modelling for PM2.5 shows that background concentrations are also well below the annual mean Air Quality Objective in this council’s area.The most recent national air quality compliance assessment for 2023 presented air quality modelling data and measurements from national air pollution monitoring networks across the UK. The assessment was published in September 2024 on Defra’s UK-AIR website. No exceedances were reported of the limit and target values for NO2, PM10 or PM2.5 in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for adolescent mental health services in Berkshire.

We know children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need and that waits for mental health services are too long across England, including Berkshire. We are determined to change that as part of our shift to prevention and earlier intervention and in line with our Plan for Change.The Department’s Spending Review settlement means that annual National Health Service day-to-day spending will increase by £29 billion in real terms, representing a £53 billion cash uplift, by 2028/29 compared to 2023/24.In the Spending Review announcement, we have confirmed that we will fulfil the Government’s commitments to recruit an additional 8,500 additional mental health staff by the end of the Parliament and expand mental health support teams in schools in England to cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a seven-day Community Diagnostic Centre at St Mark's Hospital in Maidenhead.

Slough Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) is currently delivering temporary activity at St Mark’s Hospital in Maidenhead, and has done so since January 2024, in addition to activity at the permanent site at Upton Community Hospital, whilst the new facility is being completed. Once the new facility at Upton Community Hospital is completed later in 2025, all diagnostic activity will move to Upton Community Hospital, where it is expected that Slough CDC will be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week.The Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025, sets out that we will increase the number of CDCs offering services 12 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as delivering additional CDC capacity in 2025/26 by expanding a number of existing CDCs and building up to five new ones.NHS England is working with local National Health Service systems to identify the most appropriate locations for investments, including new CDCs. A key factor they will consider is that new CDCs are positioned in a location which addresses local need and will address health inequalities. Details will be set out in due course.

What assessment her Department has made of the reliability of Elizabeth Line services (a) to and (a) from Maidenhead in the last 12 months.

Statistics published by the Office of Rail and Road show that 4% of Elizabeth Line services scheduled to stop at Maidenhead station in the year ending 26 April 2025 were cancelled. Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor, and TfL has overall responsibility for the management of the Elizabeth Line which is operated by their contractor GTS Rail Operations Limited.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to improve broadband speeds in rural parts of Maidenhead constituency.

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 99% of homes and businesses in the Maidenhead constituency can access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and over 87% have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection (>1000 Mbps).To improve this coverage further, CityFibre is delivering a Project Gigabit contract across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and East Berkshire, targeted at bringing gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas that are unlikely to be otherwise reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout. Approximately 2,000 premises in the Maidenhead constituency are currently expected to benefit from this contract. The vast majority of these premises are in rural parts of the constituency.

Media and Sport, what funding her Department has allocated to grassroots sports clubs in Maidenhead in the last 12 months.

The Government provides the majority of our funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. £283,300 has been invested in the constituency of Maidenhead in the last financial year.Future grassroots sport facilities funding is subject to the ongoing Spending Review process and we will announce further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the number of homes in Maidenhead that are below EPC band C.

The information requested is available on the Open Data Service here.

How many school buildings in Maidenhead are classified as requiring urgent repair under her Department’s Condition Data Collection.

From 2021 to 2026, the Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) programme is visiting every government-funded school and college in England to collect data about the condition of their buildings. This is providing an updated and comprehensive picture of the condition of the school estate in England to support our capital funding policy and programmes.School reports, setting out the condition of building elements, are shared with each school and their responsible body while the CDC2 programme is in progress, so that schools and responsible bodies have access to the latest assessment of their site.Information on the condition of schools, as assessed by the predecessor programme (CDC1), can be found at: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2285521/details.Responsible bodies, such as local authorities, voluntary-aided school bodies, and multi and single academy trusts, have the responsibility to make regular assessments of the condition of schools in their estate to inform programmes of maintenance works.The department has increased funding to improve the condition of the estate for the 2025/26 financial year to £2.1 billion, up from £1.8 billion last year. Allocations are published on GOV.UK and are partly informed by consistent data on the condition of the estate collected by the department, reflecting the relative need of schools. This is in addition to our continued investment in the current School Rebuilding Programme.

What his Department's planned timetable is for publishing its plans to reduce the time taken for patients to receive mental health treatment.

Long waits for mental health services are being driven by increasing demand to a system in desperate need of change. The Government is already responding by delivering new and innovative models of care in the community. We are piloting innovative models of care in the community, including six neighbourhood adult mental health centres that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and bring together community, crisis, and inpatient care.NHS England Planning Guidance for 2025/26 makes clear that for this year, to support reform and improvements, we expect all providers to reduce the variation in children and young people accessing services and improve productivity. We are also improving data quality so we can support providers to understand demand across their areas. Since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to help services to target the longest waits.It is important that mental health services within the National Health Service work closely with the voluntary sector to deliver new models of care. The 10-Year Health Plan will be published shortly, and this will set out how the overall health system will run.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered introducing custodial sentences for people found guilty of illegal hunting under the provisions of the Hunting Act 2004.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans in a generation to improve animal welfare and that is exactly what we will do. The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs, except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act, and completely bans hare coursing. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law. The Government has committed to a ban on trail hunting. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and further announcements will be made in due course.

What steps his Department is taking to accelerate the uptake of non-animal New Approach Methodologies in (a) regulatory testing and (b) scientific research.

National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding is focused on translational, clinical, and applied health and care research. We therefore do not fund basic research or work involving animals, animal tissue, or both. However, the NIHR does work in close partnership with the Medical Research Council, which funds animal research in carefully defined circumstances and recognises the need for the robust application of the 3Rs, the replacement, reduction, and refinement of animal use in research.The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation, and uptake of alternative methods in basic, applied, translational, and regulatory research and testing later this year.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of legislation that exempts the conversion of buildings to nursery use from requiring planning permission on the adequacy of the locations of nurseries.

The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 groups together uses which have similar land use impacts into classes, allowing flexibility to change between uses within each class without the need for an application for planning permission. Since 2020, children’s nurseries are in the broad Class E ‘Commercial Business and Service’ class allowing a wide range of uses commonly found on high streets to move to use as a nursery without the need for a planning application, bringing new uses to the high street and providing additional nursery places including near to where people work.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing British citizens to transmit their citizenship to their children born abroad.

There are already provisions in sections 2 and 3 of the British Nationality Act 1981 for children born abroad to British citizens to acquire citizenship, either automatically, or by registration where the child or parent can demonstrate a connection to the UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the inclusion of decapod crustaceans in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in the context of their recognised sentience under the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.

The Government is committed to an evidence-based approach to improve welfare standards for decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs, and Defra has commissioned research and will seek expert opinion to inform any future policy decisions. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.

What steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dental services in Maidenhead.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments from April 2025 and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.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 Maidenhead constituency, this is the NHS Frimley ICB.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure academic consistency between (a) GCSEs and (b) iGCSEs; and whether she has held discussions with (i) teachers and (ii) parents on perceptions of the differences between those qualifications.

International GCSEs, which includes iGCSEs, and GCSEs in England are different qualifications. Unlike GCSEs, international GCSEs are not developed by the department, regulated by Ofqual or funded for use in state schools. International GCSEs have also not counted in school performance tables since GCSEs were last reformed.International GCSEs were introduced to serve the large international market for British qualifications and are also offered by some independent schools. The awarding organisations that offer international GCSEs decide the content for these qualifications and how that content is assessed. The department has no role in setting grading standards for these qualifications.

Whether his Department plans to increase core funding for GP practices.

We are investing an additional £889 million into core funding for general practice (GP) to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes.

What steps he is taking to reduce levels of GP unemployment.

We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.Under recently announced changes to the GP Contract in 2025/26, the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) will become more flexible to allow primary care networks (PCNs) to respond better to local workforce needs. The two ARRS pots will be combined to create a single pot for reimbursement of patient facing staff costs. There will be no restrictions on the number or type of staff covered, including GPs and practice nurses.In a drive to recruit GPs via the ARRS and to bring back the family doctor, the salary element of the maximum reimbursement amount that PCNs can claim for GPs will be increased from £73,113 in 2024/25, the bottom of the salaried GP pay range, to £82,418, an uplift of £9,305, representing the lower quartile of the salaried GP pay range, as some GPs will be entering their second year in the scheme. Proportionate employer on-costs will also be included within the overall maximum reimbursement amount which PCNs will be able to claim.Our commitment to growing the GP workforce includes addressing the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encouraging them to return to practice. We know that high workloads can be a key driver for GPs reducing their contracted hours or leaving the profession altogether. That’s why we are tackling morale through drivers such as growing the workforce and reducing bureaucracy through our Red Tape Challenge, to improve job satisfaction and reduce the risk of burnout.