Written questions by Anderson.

What steps her Department plans to take to provide (a) educational and (b) training support to apprentices, in the context of of recent trends in the level of Level 7 funding.

This government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth with the support of a strong skills system. The government is reforming the current apprenticeship offer to ensure that more young people can benefit from high quality training.The new growth and skills offer will deliver greater flexibility for both learners and employers in England and will be aligned with the government’s industrial strategy, creating routes into good jobs in growing industries. As a first step, the department will be introducing new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships, in targeted sectors. These flexibilities will provide high quality entry pathways for young people, help more people learn new high quality skills at work and fuel innovation in businesses across the country. The department will set out more detail in due course.This government has an extremely challenging fiscal inheritance. There are tough choices that need to be taken on how funding should be prioritised in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers. The government will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund a significant number of level 7 apprenticeships themselves. The department is taking advice from Skills England, who engaged with employers on funding for level 7 apprenticeships over the autumn, and the department expects to make a final decision on affected apprenticeships shortly. Learners who have started these apprenticeships will be funded through to completion.

What steps he is taking to improve access to (a) healthcare services, (b) GPs and (c) mental health support in (i) Ashfield and (ii) Mansfield constituencies.

Since June 2022, the 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) across England have been responsible for arranging National Health Service healthcare services that meet the clinical needs of their respective populations, with the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB being responsible the Ashfield and Mansfield constituencies.However, we know that patients are struggling to see a general practitioner (GP) and we are committed to improving access to GP appointments across the country, including in the Ashfield and Mansfield constituencies. That’s why, in October 2024, we provided an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, enabling the recruitment of 1,000 newly qualified GPs across England. This will increase the number of GPs employed and the number of appointments delivered in GPs, benefitting thousands of patients that are struggling to receive the care they desperately deserve. Additionally, we have announced a proposed £889 million uplift to the GP Contract for 2025/26, the largest uplift in years, with a rising share of total NHS resources going to GPs. We are currently consulting the profession on key proposals to improve access, continuity of care, and GP recruitment.We recognise that many people in the Ashfield and Mansfield constituencies are not getting the mental health support or care they need. As part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers nationally to reduce wait times and provide faster treatment. We will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England, roll out Young Futures hubs in every community, and modernise the Mental Health Act.

If he will make an assessment of the sustainability of energy produced by Drax power station in the last 12 years.

The Government supports biomass as a low carbon source of energy only where relevant sustainability criteria are met. Drax must demonstrate compliance with these criteria to Ofgem as the independent regulator. Evidence provided is independently audited. Ofgem recently published their conclusions on an investigation into Drax’s compliance with sustainability standards on 29 August 2024. The investigation found that whilst Drax complied with the standards, it failed to report data accurately. Government expects full compliance with all regulatory obligations and the size of Drax’s redress payment, £25m, underscores the robustness of the regulatory system.

Whether the Government plans to continue providing subsidy payments to the Drax power station.

A consultation was held under the previous administration on whether a transitional support mechanism should be introduced for large-scale biomass generators when their current support ends. Government is considering the responses to that consultation and no final decision has been taken as to whether alternate future support arrangements will be introduced.

What steps the Government is taking to support (a) vocational training and (b) apprenticeship programs in Ashfield constituency.

This government is working to create a clear, flexible, high-quality skills system that supports people of all ages, breaking down the barriers to opportunity and driving economic growth.The department has established Skills England to ensure we have the highly-trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade. It will ensure the skills system is clear and navigable for both young people and older adults, strengthening careers pathways into jobs across the economy.The department’s levy-funded growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at its heart, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers across England, including in Ashfield, and is aligned with our industrial strategy to create routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country and providing high quality entry pathways for young people.Latest data provided by West Nottinghamshire College confirms a total of 1343 apprentices in learning. Of this, 522 apprentices are either living or employed in Ashfield District, which is around 39% of the total. The sectors with the most apprentices either living or are from Ashfield are Building and Construction (128), Engineering (118), Manufacturing Technologies (93) and Administration (59).Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) support the department’s long term priority to drive local economic growth by reshaping the skills system to better align provision of post-16 technical education and training with local labour market needs and to support learners to gain the skills needed to get good jobs. The LSIP covering Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, which includes Ashfield, seeks to improve basic literacy and understanding of needs for learners and employees, digital skills as a key component of Technical Education courses, an increase in pre-16 engagement and skills development targeting young people, and basic employability skills that focus on for-work readiness.West Nottinghamshire College is a large further education (FE) college based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, operating across nine centres and has specialist engineering and building services centres in Ashfield, with a construction skills training centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield. The college’s engineering training centre has been named as the UK’s first Gene Haas Centre for Advanced Manufacturing in partnership with the Gene Haas Foundation.The college has a well-established supported internship programme, which includes Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Capita and National Grid amongst its employer partners. The college’s high needs provision was recognised as outstanding by Ofsted in June 2023. Additionally, the college has embarked on a three-year programme to develop programmes further so that local employers, including in Ashfield, can benefit from a more diverse workforce.The college has strong links with key public sector employers within Mansfield and Ashfield, including both district councils and the local hospital. The college’s principal is chair of the Making Mansfield Place Board and a member of the college’s executive leadership team is vice chair of the Discover Ashfield Place Board.High-quality careers advice is an essential part of our missions to break down the barriers to opportunity and to drive economic growth. Our ambition is for everyone to have access to impartial careers information, advice and guidance throughout their lives. This will help open up more opportunities for individuals from all backgrounds to access the skills and training they need to succeed in the workplace and to advance their careers.

What steps the Government is taking to support (a) victims and (b) victims families impacted by grooming gangs; and what steps she is taking to ensure these incidents don't occur in the future.

We have been clear that this Government is prioritising work to safeguard children, ensure victims and survivors are protected and supported, while pursing offenders and bringing them to justice.I have supported, and continue to support, many victims and survivors of grooming gangs and other forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse, both in my capacity as Minister, Member of Parliament and continuing support for those I worked with before becoming an MP.And we are continuing to work across Government and with policing and law enforcement partners at pace to further strengthen our prevention of and response to all forms of child sexual abuse. This includes the commitments the Home Secretary has outlined in Parliament to introduce a mandatory duty for those working with children to report sexual abuse and exploitation, to make grooming an aggravating factor to toughen up sentencing, and to improve data collection across forces.In her statement on 16 January 2025, the Home Secretary announced that the Government will be working to develop a new framework for victim-centred, locally-led inquiries, where they are needed, and as a first step to work with Oldham Council and up to four other pilot areas. This will also include support for local authorities who want to explore other ways of supporting victims, including setting up local panels or drawing on the experience of the IICSA Truth Project.The Home Secretary will also ask all chief constables to look again at historic gang exploitation cases where ‘No Further Action’ was taken, and work with the police Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce to pursue new lines of inquiry and re-open investigations where appropriate and these new measures will be backed by £2 million of additional funding for the taskforce and the panel.In addition to the statutory support local authorities provide to victims of modern slavery, for potential child victims, the Government has rolled out the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) service to two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales. The ICTG service is currently delivered by Barnardo's.

Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to help (a) first-time buyers and (b) low-income families secure housing in Ashfield constituency.

The affordability challenges facing prospective first-time buyers mean that too many people are now locked out of homeownership.The government is committed to delivering 1.5 million homes, including the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.In addition to increasing the supply of homes of all tenures, we are committed to introducing a permanent, comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme which will support first-time buyers in Ashfield and across the country who are struggling to save for a large deposit.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that standing charges for (a) electricity and (b) gas reflect actual service costs.

Although standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, and are regulated by Ofgem, we know that too much of the burden of the bill is placed on them. The Government has worked constructively with the regulator on the issue of standing charges, and we are committed to lowering the cost of them. Standing charges recover the ‘fixed’ costs of the system, meaning costs that do not vary by energy use. This includes suppliers’ fixed operational costs of serving each customer, the cost of network upgrades and maintenance necessary to keep all consumers connected and fund the technologies to drive progress towards net zero targets. It also includes the cost of providing Warm Home Discount payments to eligible customers.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that (a) Sativex and (b) other medications for MS patients are (i) affordable and (ii) funded in (A) Nottinghamshire and (B) other areas.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources.The NICE has been able to recommend several medicines for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, including ublituximab, which has recently been recommended for treating relapsing multiple sclerosis in guidance published on 18 December 2024. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended in a NICE appraisal, usually within three months of final guidance.The NICE guideline on cannabis-based medicinal products recommends that Sativex, a licensed cannabis-based product, should be offered for the treatment of moderate to severe spasticity in adults with multiple sclerosis, if other pharmacological treatments for spasticity are not effective. As Sativex has not been evaluated through the NICE’s technology appraisal programme, it is not subject to a funding requirement. Therefore, the decision on whether to prescribe must be taken by a specialist clinician on a case-by-case basis, and funding of this medicine is subject to local National Health Service decisions. On 6 September 2021, NHS England issued a reminder to NHS trusts and commissioners, now integrated care boards, of the NICE’s guidance relating to Sativex, and their responsibilities. This resulted in an increase in the prescribing of this drug, and NHS England is monitoring uptake of prescribing, in-line with the NICE’s recommendations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle water poverty among older people.

The Government is committed to taking action to address water poverty and help vulnerable customers including older people. All water companies have measures in place for people who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, including measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support. We expect all companies to make sure households are aware of the measures available to them and do everything they can to support all customers who are vulnerable, including having regard to the interests of individuals of pensionable age. Government is also improving protections for customers, including introducing new compensations payments for failing to provide additional support for vulnerable customers on the Priority Services Register. As the independent economic regulator, Ofwat independently scrutinises water company business plans and ensure the prices water companies charge their customers are fair and proportionate. Ofwat published their final determinations for Price Review 2024 on 19 December, which sets company expenditure and customer bills for 2025-2030. We support the action Ofwat is taking to clamp down on poor performance in the water sector to ensure they are delivering for customers. Furthermore, we expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their public commitment to end water poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to deliver this.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential financial impact of VAT on private swimming schools.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for public services, and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government took a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability. This stability is critical to boosting investment and growth, and to making people across the UK better off. One of the key considerations for any potential new VAT relief is whether the cost saving is likely to be passed on to consumers. Evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any savings from lower VAT rates.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that children with Special Educational Needs have equal access to (a) before- and (b) after-school care in Ashfield.

This government is determined to break down barriers to opportunity for all children and young people, ensuring they have access to the brilliant education and care they need to thrive. This includes ensuring that wraparound care is available and accessible. The government is improving access to before and after school care through the National Wraparound Childcare Programme.The programme is being delivered through local authorities, given their existing sufficiency duty. The Childcare Act 2006 places a legal duty on local authorities to make sure that there are enough childcare places within its locality for working parents or parents who are studying or training for employment, for children aged 0 to 14, or up to 18 for disabled children. All local authorities should be able to demonstrate how they have discharged this duty and should include specific reference to how they are ensuring there is sufficient childcare to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as per the statutory guidance. This should be available from the local authority.The National Wraparound Childcare Programme is helping local authorities discharge this duty, by distributing funding on the basis of anticipated need. Local authorities across England can decide how best to use the funding to set up or expand wraparound childcare in their area to meet the needs of their local community, including children with SEND. We have committed up to £3,990,920.18 between December 2023 to March 2026 to Nottinghamshire local authority to support delivery of additional wraparound places, including in Ashfield.The government is also committed to making quick progress to deliver on our commitment to offer breakfast clubs in every primary school. Departmental officials are working closely with schools and sector experts to develop a programme that meets the needs of all children, including those with SEND.On 23 September 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that up to 750 state funded schools with primary aged pupils will begin delivering free breakfast clubs from April 2025. The funding will allow these schools to run free breakfast clubs for their pupils starting in the summer term as part of a ‘test and learn’ phase to inform delivery of a national rollout, this will include testing approaches to supporting children with SEND.This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that kinship families receive financial support similar to that of (a) foster and (b) adoptive families.

The department recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children, and the role of local authorities to support them.As local authorities know their carers best, they have the power to decide what financial support should be provided to kinship carers and any payments should be made in accordance with their model for assessing support needs.The government does not set a maximum or minimum allowance for local authorities to administer. However, the kinship care statutory guidance, which was published in October 2024, states that, in its calculation of any ongoing special guardianship financial support, the local authority should have regard to the fostering allowance that would have been paid if the child was fostered.At the Autumn Budget 2024, the department announced £40 million to trial a new kinship allowance in some local authorities in England. The department will test whether paying an allowance to cover the additional costs of caring for a child can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. ​​ The department will share further details and the process for selecting local authorities in due course.​ This is the single biggest investment made by government in kinship care to date. This investment could transform the lives of vulnerable children who can no longer live at home by allowing children to grow up within their families and communities, reducing disruption to their early years, so they can focus on schooling and building friendships.The department understands the unique challenges kinship carers face and is committed to providing the necessary support.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to enhance the vetting and monitoring processes of Chinese businesses operating in the UK.

As an open economy, the Government welcomes foreign trade and investment where it supports growth and jobs in the UK, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security. Legislation including the country-agnostic National Security and Investment (NSI) Act gives the Government powers to scrutinise and potentially intervene in acquisitions of control over entities and assets in or linked to the UK that may pose national security risks.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of mental health support for men under 50.

The Government accepts that too many men are not getting the support with their mental health that they deserve. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on the busy mental health services.We are also committed to tackling suicide as one of the biggest killers of men. The 8,500 new staff will be specially trained to support people at risk from suicide.The five-year Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in September 2023, identifies young people and middle-aged men as one of a number of groups for consideration for tailored or targeted action at a national level.Many voluntary community and social enterprise organisations are also working hard to ensure that men have access to different types of services for a range of needs and preferences, in places where they are most likely to engage.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that newly-built homes reflect the (a) family size and (b) income of the communities in each local area.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework, published on 12 December, makes clear that it is for local authorities to assess the size, types and tenure of housing needed for different groups in their area, including those who require affordable housing and families with children, and to reflect this in their planning policies.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to protect park home owners from charges by park owners when they sell their home.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 11995 on 6 November 2024.

With reference to the press notice entitled More bobbies on the beat as PM puts people's priorities first, published on 4 December 2024, what steps her Department is taking to recruit 13,000 (a) police officers, (b) special constables and (c) Police Community Support Officers by the end of this Parliament.

As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. This includes delivering an additional 13,000 police officers, PCSOs and special constables in neighbourhood policing roles up and down the country and ensuring every community has a named officer to turn to. Every part of the country benefit from this pledge.£100 million will be made available in 2025/26 to kickstart the recruitment of neighbourhood policing roles.We are working closely with policing to implement this commitment and will announce our plans for the delivery of neighbourhood officers shortly.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to prioritise the allocation of affordable housing to UK citizens.

Eligibility for social housing is already tightly controlled. If a person’s visa means that they cannot access state benefits or local authority housing assistance, they are not eligible for an allocation of social housing. Migrants arriving in the UK on student or work visas are not eligible and nor are those who arrive in the country illegally with no leave to remain.Where someone is eligible, they will have their housing needs considered on the same basis as other eligible applicants in accordance with the local authority’s housing allocation scheme. Social housing goes to those who need it most.The previous government consulted on changes to social housing allocation tests. This government’s response was published on 2 September and can be found on gov.uk here.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that 92% of NHS patients are treated within 18 weeks.

Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission. The NHS Constitutional Standard for 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment has not been met consistently since September 2015, and is a priority for the Government. As a first step, we will deliver an extra 2 million operations, scans, and appointments per year, which is equivalent to 40,000 a week, during our first year in Government.A plan will be published in the coming weeks, which will set out more detail on how the National Health Service will deliver on the 18-week standard.