Written questions by Turner.

Whether the Valuation Office Agency has undertaken an assessment of the potential impact of Revaluation 2026 on the profit margins of public houses.

I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to UIN 101363.

Whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of measures in the Rhode Island Latex Gloves Safety Act 2024 to help prevent latex allergy harm in England.

The Department is working closely with a range of stakeholders across the Government, the National Health Service, voluntary organisations, and patient representative groups to consider how allergy care and support could be improved.The Expert Advisory Group on Allergy met most recently on 3 December and continues to bring together key stakeholders to inform policymaking and identify priorities in relation to the holistic care of people with allergies.In terms of the use of gloves for medical purposes, the NHS purchases examination and surgical gloves through NHS Supply Chain’s two national frameworks and, ultimately, it is the choice of NHS trusts which gloves they wish to procure. Regarding examination gloves, latex was once the most commonly used glove, but nitrile, latex-free, gloves are now the most common choice. There are also ‘specialist examination gloves’ available, which aim to provide a reduction in allergy irritation.Surgical glove purchase decisions are generally more clinically lead, and the choice of manufacturer and glove is usually made by the surgeon or consultant. There are latex and latex-free options available via the Surgical Glove Framework.

What recent assessment Network Rail has made of the potential impact of (a) the reopening of the Camp Hill Line and (b) the May 2026 timetable change on capacity constraints at Birmingham New Street.

West Midlands Combined Authority produced a Full Business Case for delivery of Moseley, Kings Heath and Pineapple Road stations on the Camp Hill line. The stations facilitate a range of transformational benefits to the region including job creation, new supply chains, economic growth, and decarbonisation by moving passengers from road to rail. The services for the new stations have been agreed via the usual Network Change process to ensure all stations affected, including Birmingham New Street, meet regulatory compliance requirements.

How many assaults by prisoners on (a) prison officers and (b) other prison staff were recorded at HMP Hewell in each of the last five years.

Please see the attached table showing the number of incidents of assault on (a) prison officers and (b) other prison staff at HMP Hewell in each of the last five years, and accompanying notes.

What the employee (a) vacancy and (b) turnover rates were at HMP Hewell in each of the last five years by (i) prison staff and (ii) prison officers.

The latest published workforce statistics for HM Prison & Probation Service cover the period up to 30 September 2025 and contain figures for the last five years for working days lost, average staff and average working days lost for each public sector prison and for different grades, but not by prison and grade combined. The published figures are for the 12 months to 31 March each year and latest figures are for the 12 months to 30 September 2025. These figures for HMP Hewell, split by band 3-5 prison officers and other prison staff, are given in the table below.Working days lost to sickness absence, for HMP Hewell, by band 3-5 prison officers and other staff – for 12 months to 31 March 2021 to 2025 and for 12 months to 30 September 2025.(Full Time Equivalent)12 months to given dateBand 3-5 prison officers1Other prison staffAll staff at HMP Hewell31-Mar-214,3442,1896,53231-Mar-224,3922,6777,06931-Mar-233,7062,1585,86431-Mar-243,8012,2666,06731-Mar-254,7012,1036,80330-Sep-2525,0732,7367,809 NotesBand 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.Figures relating to the most recent 12 months are provisional, and may be subject to change in the futureA comparison between target staffing levels and staff in post can be found in the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691da96221ef5aaa6543ef83/annex-prison-and-probation-officer-recruitment-Sep-2025_final.ods.Internal management information has long been used for workforce planning to monitor vacancies and other resource monitoring purposes. However, target staffing and parallel staff in post data has only been produced for the purpose of official statistics for the last few years. As a result, the full historic time series is not available in a consistent format for the grade breakdowns requested.Turnover rates1 at HMP Hewell for (i) band 3-5 officers2 and (ii) all other prison staff, in the 12 months to 31 March 2021-2025 and in the 12 months to 30 September 202512 months to given dateBand 3-5 prison officers (%)Other prison staff (%)All staff at HMP Hewell (%)31-Mar-2113.611.912.931-Mar-2214.49.812.631-Mar-2315.011.714.031-Mar-2414.28.011.631-Mar-2513.810.412.430-Sep-2514.68.912.2Notes:1. Turnover rates include all reasons for leaving and include both permanent and temporary staff. 2. Band 3-5 officers include: Bands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers3. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time and is dependent on staff completing the details correctly. The database itself is dynamic and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, or are incorrect then these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate and may not match local data.Figures relating to the most recent 12 months are provisional, and may be subject to change in the future.

How many full-time equivalent days were lost to sickness absence at HMP Hewell in each of the last five years by (a) prison officers and (b) other prison staff.

The latest published workforce statistics for HM Prison & Probation Service cover the period up to 30 September 2025 and contain figures for the last five years for working days lost, average staff and average working days lost for each public sector prison and for different grades, but not by prison and grade combined. The published figures are for the 12 months to 31 March each year and latest figures are for the 12 months to 30 September 2025. These figures for HMP Hewell, split by band 3-5 prison officers and other prison staff, are given in the table below.Working days lost to sickness absence, for HMP Hewell, by band 3-5 prison officers and other staff – for 12 months to 31 March 2021 to 2025 and for 12 months to 30 September 2025.(Full Time Equivalent)12 months to given dateBand 3-5 prison officers1Other prison staffAll staff at HMP Hewell31-Mar-214,3442,1896,53231-Mar-224,3922,6777,06931-Mar-233,7062,1585,86431-Mar-243,8012,2666,06731-Mar-254,7012,1036,80330-Sep-2525,0732,7367,809 NotesBand 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.Figures relating to the most recent 12 months are provisional, and may be subject to change in the futureA comparison between target staffing levels and staff in post can be found in the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691da96221ef5aaa6543ef83/annex-prison-and-probation-officer-recruitment-Sep-2025_final.ods.Internal management information has long been used for workforce planning to monitor vacancies and other resource monitoring purposes. However, target staffing and parallel staff in post data has only been produced for the purpose of official statistics for the last few years. As a result, the full historic time series is not available in a consistent format for the grade breakdowns requested.Turnover rates1 at HMP Hewell for (i) band 3-5 officers2 and (ii) all other prison staff, in the 12 months to 31 March 2021-2025 and in the 12 months to 30 September 202512 months to given dateBand 3-5 prison officers (%)Other prison staff (%)All staff at HMP Hewell (%)31-Mar-2113.611.912.931-Mar-2214.49.812.631-Mar-2315.011.714.031-Mar-2414.28.011.631-Mar-2513.810.412.430-Sep-2514.68.912.2Notes:1. Turnover rates include all reasons for leaving and include both permanent and temporary staff. 2. Band 3-5 officers include: Bands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers3. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time and is dependent on staff completing the details correctly. The database itself is dynamic and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, or are incorrect then these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate and may not match local data.Figures relating to the most recent 12 months are provisional, and may be subject to change in the future.

Innovation and Technology, whether the broadband provider BRSK has recently contacted her Department regarding a customer data breach.

BRSK has not recently contacted my department regarding a customer data breach. I understand BRSK has reported a data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent regulator for the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).Under PECR, public electronic communications service providers are required to take appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard the security of their services. They are required to notify the ICO of any personal data breach without undue delay, and where feasible, not later than 72 hours after having become aware of the breach.

What information her Department holds on the number of ticket sales for season tickets from (a) Longbridge, (b) Northfield and (c) Kings Norton to (i) Birmingham stations, (ii) Redditch and (iii) Bromsgrove in the 2024-2025 financial year.

The number of season tickets is shown below OriginDestinationNumber Of Season TicketsLongbridgeBirmingham stations1,369LongbridgeBromsgrove162LongbridgeRedditch216NorthfieldBirmingham stations2,001NorthfieldBromsgrove15NorthfieldRedditch93Kings NortonBirmingham stations3,446Kings NortonBromsgrove43Kings NortonRedditch149 The Birmingham stations group includes Birmingham Moor Street, Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Snow Hill.

What recent progress has been made on the determination of the future of Birmingham's PFI roads contract.

The Department has taken careful note of the High Court ruling relating to the previous Government’s decision not to support the PFI arrangements for Birmingham City Council’s highway maintenance services.The Department has subsequently conducted a consultation with the Council about the PFI contract and we have been carefully reviewing the Council’s detailed representations, with the Council’s support on clarification questions.We are continuing to engage with the Council on the PFI with a view to confirming the decision on whether or not to support the continuation of the PFI contract as soon as possible.I am committed to working together with Birmingham City Council to find a way forward which is in the best interests of the people of Birmingham and the taxpayer.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment the Government has made of the feasibility of replacing animal testing in the UK with Non-Animal New Approach Methodologies (NAMs); and if this will be reflected in the upcoming strategy to phase out animal testing.

I refer the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield to the answer of 01.12.2025 to Question 92600.

Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential merit of redirecting existing funding and resources to support the transition to Non-Animal New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to support the phasing out of animal testing.

The Government’s publication “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” is supported by new funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology including £30 million to set up a translational hub and £30 million for the UK centre for the validation of alternative methods. £11.4m has also been committed by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Innovate UK’s core budgets and £4.5m from the Wellcome Trust to support strategy implementation to build a world-class UK research system by enhancing investment.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to monitor and report on its progress towards phasing out animal testing; and whether industry stakeholders will be involved in assessing the effectiveness of the strategy once implemented.

We will establish governance structures to oversee strategy delivery, including a cross-governmental Ministerial group on alternative methods, chaired by the Science Minister, key performance indicators (KPIs) and a publicly available dashboard of progress against the strategy’s key deliverables. From 2026 we will also report biennially on updated research and development priorities, alternative methods accepted by regulatory agency and priorities for future development and validation. We will work closely with experts from across many fields including regulators, academics, industry and civil society organisations, to ensure that this strategy remains up to date, focused on the key issues and delivers on track.

With reference to item 2.1 of the minutes of the 25 April 2025 meeting of the Advisory Panel on Consumer Prices (Stakeholder), what recent progress the Office for National Statistics has made on evaluating the potential impact of the use of groceries scanner data on the headline rates of (a) CPI, (b) CPIH and (c) RPI.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 1st December is attached.

What recent progress the Office for National Statistics has made on the development of the Household Costs Indices.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 1st of December is attached.

What the cost of an annual standard class rail season ticket was between Rochdale and Manchester stations in (a) 2010 and (b) 2024.

The standard class annual rail season ticket between Rochdale and Manchester was (a) £900.00 in 2010 and (b) £1,396.00 in 2024.

What recent progress has been made on the reopening of the Camp Hill line in Birmingham.

My officials are in regular contact with West Midlands Rail Executive and the West Midlands Combined Authority, who are reopening the Camp Hill line with three new stations at Moseley, Kings Heath and Pineapple Road.Construction is close to completion; the stations are expected to be open for public use early next year.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to prevent the importation of factory farmed octopus food products.

We have no current plans to prevent the import of farmed octopus products to the UK.

Whether the National Rail Fares Manual database is free to use by the general public through (a) download and (b) programmatic query.

The National Rail Data Portal provided by National Rail allows registered users to access railway data on fares. Where users are requesting high volumes of data, the Terms and Conditions outlines that charges apply for high volume usage in some instances.

With reference to Network Rail's spreadsheet published on 2 February 2022 entitled Payments for disruption on the railway, if Network Rail will publish an updated version of that table.

Network Rail publish information to meet their statutory obligations and where it would be valuable to the public. They aim not to duplicate information published elsewhere (for instance on their Safety Central site, their Annual Report and Accounts, or through the Rail Data Marketplace).Annual Schedule 8 payment figures are published in Network Rail’s Regulatory Financial Statements.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83545 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, if he will publish a version of that table covering each year for which his Department holds equivalent data.

The spend by the Department for Work and Pensions on the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme is included for the available years in a table below. Financial yearCost (£000s) in nominal terms1993/94261994/95171995/96-1996/9791997/98121998/99-1999/00602000/0160,7342001/026,5252002/035682003/044782004/054292005/065002006/073892007/082002008/09-2009/102922010/11922011/12-2012/13-2013/1402014/151002015/162402016/172402017/183602018/192002019/203002020/21240 Source: outturn-and-forecast-tables-spring-statement-2025.xlsx