Written questions by Anderson.

If she will increase the length of sentences for people who commit violent crime against retail workers.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts, and the courts have a range of sentencing powers to deal with each offender effectively and appropriately, including discharges, fines, community sentences, suspended sentences and imprisonment.The maximum penalty for an offence is set by Parliament and is designed to cover the most serious imaginable behaviours that may fall under that offence. We continue to keep maximum penalties under review to make ensure they reflect the seriousness of the offending behaviour.Under the previous Government, shop theft increased to an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this as everybody has a right to feel safe at their place of work.That is why, through our Crime and Policing Bill, we are introducing a new offence of assaulting a retail worker. The new offence will carry a maximum prison sentence of six months and/or an unlimited fine, matching the current sentence guidelines for common assault. It will also come with a presumption for a court to apply a Criminal Behaviour Order. This will prohibit the offender from doing anything described in the order, which might include a condition preventing specific acts which cause harassment, alarm or distress, or preventing an offender from visiting specific premises.The Crime and Policing Bill will also introduce new measures to address the perceived immunity for ‘low value’ shop theft. With this change, there will no longer be a threshold categorising shop theft of goods worth £200 and under as ‘low value’. Instead, all cases of shop theft will be taken seriously irrespective of the value of goods stolen, with a maximum custodial penalty of 7 years. Shop theft of any amount is illegal, and repealing this legislation will ensure everyone understands this.

What information her Department holds on the number of retail workers who have experienced violent crime at work in each of the last five years.

The Home Office publishes data on the number of incidents of violent crime recorded by the police in England and Wales. The latest data can be found here:Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UKThe data includes incidents of robbery of business property, which includes robbery of retail premises as well as other business premises. Other types of violent crime against retail workers will fall under other categories of violent crime, such as assault with injury. It is not currently possible to identify which of these incidents were committed against retail workers during the course of their work.In the Crime and Policing Bill, we are bringing forward a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.The offence will be allocated a specific Home Office Crime Recording Rule, which will help provide a more complete picture of the problem, in turn informing future policy decisions and enabling the police to respond accordingly.The Home Office has also published estimates from the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) on the proportion of retail premises which experienced at least one incident of violent crime. This data can be found here:Crime against businesses statistics - GOV.UK

How many seizures of (a) cigarettes, (b) hand rolling tobacco and (c) other tobacco products have been made by Border Force at (i) seaports, (ii) airports and (iii) postal services, in each of the last five years.

The below statistics from Border Force’s transparency data outline the number of cigarettes and weight of tobacco seized in each of the last five years, but are not broken down by the location where they were seized.2020 – 509,032,596 Cigarette sticks, 110,774.2kg Tobacco2021 – 961,939,889 Cigarette sticks, 136,835.9kg Tobacco2022 – 827,211,419 Cigarette sticks, 93,717.57kg Tobacco2023 – 823,818,908 Cigarette sticks, 67,730.03kg Tobacco2024 – 934,104,940 Cigarette sticks, 72,143.33kg Tobacco

How many (a) calls and (b) online submissions have been made to HMRC fraud hotline in relation to (i) illegal tobacco and (ii) illegal alcohol in each of the last five years.

The tables below show the number of contacts received by HMRC Fraud Reporting Gateway in relation to Alcohol and Tobacco: Alcohol: YearOnline SubmissionTelephone SubmissionTotal24/2531,7287,85739,58523/2427,4439,04536,48822/2330,6888,18438,87221/2221,10710,67431,78120/2127,2968,15235,448 Tobacco: YearOnline SubmissionTelephone SubmissionTotal24/257,6052,0949,69923/245,4161,8737,28922/235,6252,0607,68521/221,5582,4243,98220/211,9881,5353,523

If he will make it his policy to support future applications for sustainable mining of coal.

The Government has committed to not granting new coal licences and has set out its policy position in a written statement on 14th November 2024 https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-11-14/hcws215.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of school buildings in Ashfield constituency.

The department supports academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided bodies, who are responsible for managing the safety and maintenance of their estates, with capital funding, rebuilding programmes and guidance on effective estate management.We recently confirmed details of £2.1 billion of capital funding for the 2025/26 financial year to improve the condition of schools, up from the £1.8 billion committed for the 2024/25 financial year. Allocations 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 the continuing school rebuilding programme, which includes Ashfield Comprehensive School and Outwood Academy Kirkby in Ashfield constituency.The department also provides capital funding through the basic need grant to support local authorities meet their statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data.In March 2025, the department announced that Nottinghamshire County Council has been allocated just over £21.7 million to support it to create the mainstream school places needed by September 2028. This is on top of the just over £55 million we have previously allocated to support Nottinghamshire County Council provide the new school places needed over the current and next two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026.

What steps her Department is taking to increase SEND funding in Nottinghamshire.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Nottinghamshire County Council is being allocated over £130 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which is an increase of £10.8 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.Departmental officials regularly meet with representatives of special schools to discuss a wider variety of matters, including funding levels.

What steps is she taking to meet the demand for specialist SEND school places in Nottinghamshire.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision sits with local authorities.We recognise the vital role that special schools play in catering to those with the most complex needs. We also want more children and young people to receive the support they need to thrive in their local mainstream school, reducing the need for pupils to travel a long way to access a specialist placement. Many mainstream settings are already committed to delivering specialist provision locally, including through resourced provision and special educational needs units.The department has now published allocations for £740 million in high needs provision capital allocations for the 2025/26 financial year, to support local authorities to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.The funding can be used to adapt schools to be more accessible for children with SEND, to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.Nottinghamshire Council has been allocated £14 million for the 2025/26 financial year and it is up to the local authority to make decisions about the places they create and to prioritise this funding to meet local needs.

What steps his Department is taking to improve access to healthcare for the elderly population in Ashfield constituency.

We recognise that patients are finding it difficult to see a general practitioner (GP), and we are committed to bringing back the family doctor so patients with complex conditions and the elderly population receive the care they deserve. We have invested an additional £889 million in GPs and, through the 2025/26 GP Contract, have incentivised primary care networks (PCNs) to improve continuity of care.The Enhanced Health in Care Homes framework is a key contractual requirement for PCNs, ensuring coordinated healthcare services for care home residents across the country. Under the terms of this framework, all residents must have a comprehensive assessment of need completed and personalised care and support plans put in place within seven days of admission or re-admission to a care home, and all care homes must have a weekly home round supported by a multidisciplinary team.

How many schools ban the use of mobile phones by pupils during the school day in Ashfield constituency.

Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the department’s ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance. The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.New research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England show that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.

What assessment she has made of trends in attainment levels between boys and girls in schools in Ashfield constituency.

All young people should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter who they are or where they are from. That is why, through our work to deliver the Opportunity Mission, this government will improve opportunities across the country for all children and young people.As in previous years, the latest attainment data shows girls continue to do better than boys across all headline measures. However, the gap has narrowed when comparing 2023/24 to 2018/19. The department publishes attainment data by sex on an annual basis in the autumn term, which can be broken down by specific local authorities, including Ashfield. The relevant data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/0b85fb67-0628-414c-95b1-08dd85738b16.High and rising standards across education are at the heart of this mission and are key to unlocking stronger outcomes and a better future for all children and young people, regardless of their gender. As one of the department’s first steps for change, we are committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 expert teachers. We have also introduced new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams and launched an independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review that is looking closely at the key challenges to attainment.

What steps she is taking to ensure teachers remain political impartiality in secondary schools in Nottinghamshire.

I refer the hon. Member for Ashfield to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43267.

How many SEN schools have informed her Department that they require additional funding in each of the last five years.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Nottinghamshire County Council is being allocated over £130 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which is an increase of £10.8 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.Departmental officials regularly meet with representatives of special schools to discuss a wider variety of matters, including funding levels.

If he will remove net zero targets for key strategic industries.

Our targets are there to help us seize the economic opportunity of the century – and we are absolutely committed to them. So, instead of leaving great British industries without a long-term plan for their future, we will help them become more secure and sustainable, creating and protecting hundreds of thousands of jobs across the UK.

Whether his Department is taking steps to help shorten waiting times for dementia diagnoses.

A timely diagnosis is vital to ensuring that a person with dementia can access the advice, information, care, and support that can help them to live well and remain independent for as long as possible.We remain committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7%. The Government is also committed to transforming diagnostic services, including the detection and diagnosis of dementia, and will support the National Health Service to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity, including magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography scanners.The Dementia Care Pathway: Full Implementation Guidance, commissioned by NHS England, outlines the dementia care pathway and the associated benchmarks to support improvements in the delivery and quality of care and support. It showcases good-practice examples of services that have successfully reduced their waiting times. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/nccmh/dementia/nccmh-dementia-care-pathway-full-implementation-guidance.pdfTo support recovery of the dementia diagnosis rates and implementation of the Dementia Care Pathway, NHS England has developed a dashboard for management information purposes. The aim is to support commissioners and providers of memory services with appropriate data and enable targeted support where needed.

If she will publish the Work Capability Assessment decisions made between January 2022 and November 2024, broken down by mental and behavioural disorders.

Statistics on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment decisions by grouped medical condition, including ‘mental and behavioural disorders’, are published on Stat-Xplore in the sections ‘ESA Work Capability Assessments’. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. Statistics on Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment decisions by grouped medical condition, including ‘mental and behavioural disorders’, are available at Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment statistics, April 2019 to December 2024 - GOV.UK in section 6 of the document and table 7 of the tables. Information on lower level conditions is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

If she will publish a breakdown of work capability assessment decisions by medical condition between January 2022 and November 2024.

Statistics on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment decisions by grouped medical condition, including ‘mental and behavioural disorders’, are published on Stat-Xplore in the sections ‘ESA Work Capability Assessments’. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. Statistics on Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment decisions by grouped medical condition, including ‘mental and behavioural disorders’, are available at Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment statistics, April 2019 to December 2024 - GOV.UK in section 6 of the document and table 7 of the tables. Information on lower level conditions is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

If she will publish a breakdown of work capability assessment decisions in each month between January 2022 and November 2024.

Statistics on Work Capability Assessment decisions by month of decision are published on Stat-Xplore in the sections ‘ESA Work Capability Assessments’ and ‘Universal Credit Work Capability Assessments’. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

Whether his Department plans to provide additional support to carers of people with Parkinson’s disease.

The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support that they need.Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers and carers of people with Parkinson’s disease.To support unpaid carers, on 7 April 2025 the Government increased the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This represents the largest increase in the earnings limit since the Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976.We are also providing support for unpaid carers. The Better Care Fund can be used for unpaid carer support, including short breaks and respite services for carers. The Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF) has also provided a total of £42.6 million to support innovation and scaling in adult social care. More than half of the ARF projects are focused on identifying, recognising, and supporting unpaid carers.

What steps is he taking to support the steel industry.

Steel is a top priority for this Government. As shown with the passing of the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act, this Government will not hesitate to take unprecedented steps to safeguard the future of steelmaking in the UK, protecting jobs, national security and supply chains. We have completed the roll out of the British Industry Supercharger, which from this month means our steel industry will save an estimated £320mn – £410mn this year. This is on top of continuing the network charging compensation scheme. We have taken action to make public procurement of UK-made steel easier and increased support for businesses to report unfair international trade practices. We have continued to develop the policy and approach for the steel strategy.