Written questions by Dillon.

How many asylum claims have been submitted by Ukrainian nationals in each of the last three years; and what proportion of those were successful by oblast of origin.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of asylum claims and initial decisions by nationality is published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2025.Please note that data on asylum claims by sub-national regions of origin is not published.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the risk of insolvency among key providers of community equipment services.

Ministers regularly engage with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues. However, My rt Hon. friends, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, have had no meetings regarding the risk of insolvency among key providers of community equipment services.Local authorities have a statutory duty under various pieces of legislation, including the Care Act 2014, to make arrangements for the provision of disability aids and community equipment, to meet the assessed eligible needs of individuals who are resident in their area. In terms of the management of the market for these services, the commissioning and oversight of their delivery rests with local authorities.

What steps her Department is taking to improve access to legal support for parents involved in international child abduction cases.

Legal aid is available under the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), for legal advice and representation in cases of international abduction where a child has unlawfully been brought to England and Wales from another country. Both the applicant and respondent may be eligible, subject to passing the relevant eligibility tests and providing the required documentation.For example, an applicant seeking the return of their child is eligible for non-means and non-merits tested legal aid for legal representation, where they reside in a country which has signed the 1980 Hague Convention, and have made an application to the International Child Abduction and Contact Unit. The respondent is eligible for legal aid but is subject to means and merits testing.Legal aid is also available to an applicant who is seeking to prevent the unlawful removal of a child (if they are a parent or have parental responsibility for the child) from the United Kingdom or to secure the return of a child who has been unlawfully removed from the United Kingdom, where the relevant proceedings are taking place in England and Wales. Funding is subject to passing the means and merits tests.The Government provides funding to Reunite International, a charity that operates a 24-hour telephone advice line offering information and practical support to parents, guardians and family members in international child abduction cases. Reunite also offer a mediation service, which can provide an alternative means of resolving an international child abduction case.

Whether her Department is taking steps with National Highways to install LED cat’s eyes on the A34.

National Highways is responsible for the maintenance and safety of the A34. The A34 has approximately 0.5 million metres of longitudinal road markings, with a legacy of associated road studs of various types. Surface-mounted road studs are typical, although more robust embedded studs are used where necessary, such as at centre lines near junctions. LED flush solar road studs have already been installed at several locations on the A34, including around the West Ilsley, Chilton, Milton, Hinksey Hill, and Botley junctions, to improve nighttime visibility.

What steps her Department is taking to improve the quality of road surfaces on the A34 slip roads.

National Highways is responsible for the maintenance and the quality of the A34 and its slip roads surfaces. National Highways currently has a resurfacing scheme ongoing in the East Ilsley area, which includes the resurfacing of the northbound slip roads. In addition, several A34 slip roads have been resurfaced since December 2023. These include:December 2023: Northbound offslip and onslip at A343 Andover Road InterchangeJanuary 2024: Southbound offslip (120m) and onslip (125m) at A4 Bath Road Junction (Speen)February 2024: Southbound offslip (116m) at A343 Andover Road InterchangeMarch 2024: Southbound offslip (first 280m) at B4640 Tothill InterchangeJuly 2024: Northbound onslip (272m) at B4640 Tothill InterchangeAugust 2024: Northbound offslip (218m) and onslip (135m) at A4 Bath Road Junction (Speen)December 2024: Northbound offslip at B4640 Tothill Interchange National Highways will continue to monitor the condition of the A34 and plan further maintenance as necessary.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to issue guidance to (a) charities and (b) the voluntary sector on local government reorganisation.

The Department has no plans to issue guidance to charities or the voluntary sector on local government reorganisation.

Whether her Department is taking steps with National Highways to introduce new (a) signage and (b) road markings to improve visibility on the A34.

National Highways is taking steps to improve visibility on the A34 through planned work on both new signage and road marking. National Highways is currently developing a scheme to renew approximately 51 signage assets along the route, in addition to refreshing road markings on the A34 and its slip roads between the Chieveley Interchange and the junction with the M40. Traffic signs on the A34 are inspected annually, alternating between one year as visual inspections and the second year as drive-through surveys measuring sign reflectivity. National Highways inspectors also patrol the length of the A34 at least twice a week, looking for obstructed signs or deteriorating road markings with any issues identified and raised as defects for attention. This year, National Highways has so far carried out 1,053 soft estate works on the A34, including the clearance of vegetation and obstructions from sightlines at junctions, signage, footpaths, and technology equipment.

Whether her Department is taking steps with National Highways to introduce speed enforcement measures at known accident hotspots on the A34.

National Highways currently has no plans to introduce speed enforcement measures on the A34. National Highways deem the current speed limits on the A34 are appropriate. However, speed limits across the network are kept under review by National Highways.

Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of the funding allocated for affordable housing in the Spending Review 2025 will be allocated to rural areas.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771).

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that multi-academy trusts maintain education standards.

Multi-academy trusts play an important role in our schools system, both supporting school improvement and driving forward high-quality education for our children.Working with schools we will drive excellent teaching and leadership, a high-quality curriculum, robust accountability and faster school improvement, and an inclusive system which removes barriers to learning to ensure every child can achieve and thrive in education. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will help deliver this by providing a core guarantee of quality education in every school, no matter where children live or what school they attend. To ensure all parts of our system are focused on delivering these excellent outcomes, the government will in future bring multi-academy trusts into our inspection system.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support (a) the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and (b) other local fire and rescue services to (i) manage risks from (A) wildfires, (B) flooding and (C) other major incidents, and (ii) collaborate with police and ambulance services.

Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) to prepare for emergencies, such as a wildfires, flooding, and other major incidents. Under the National Framework, FRAs are required to prepare Community Risk Management Plans, having regard to the views of other key local responders. These local plans identify and assess the full range of foreseeable fire and rescue-related risks, and make provision for prevention and protection activities, and appropriate response to incidents. We work with the National Fire Chiefs Council, FRAs and Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) to maintain, review and develop capabilities. This includes multi- agency working and use of the Joint Emergency Services Principles (JESIP) framework, that improves co-ordination and collaboration among blue light services and with other partners. The Government is providing funding of £17.9m in 2025/26 to FRAs who host national resilience capabilities, including Royal Berkshire FRS. These capabilities are widely used in day-to-day operations by FRSs and help to enhance both local responses, and responses to major and national scale incidents. Further, the Government provides funding of £15.1m in 2025/26 to the lead authority on national resilience (Merseyside) to assure the capabilities. Since 2024 the Government has also funded a national resilience wildfire advisor.

If she will work with National Highways to ensure that runoff from the M4 does not pollute the chalk streams in Newbury.

National Highways (NH) is well aware of this issue, and in 2024 treated a site along the M4 that was found to be discharging into the River Lambourn chalk stream near Newbury. More generally, the Department is working closely with NH to address the risk of water pollution from the strategic road network and supports the prioritisation approach taken by NH in its efforts to mitigate pollution. This focuses on addressing verified high-risk outfalls as defined in NH’s 2030 water quality plan. The DfT and NH both recognise the importance of protecting chalk streams and NH is undertaking a review of its technical standard for road drainage and the water environment to give greater prominence to chalk streams.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact on disabled people of her decision not to hold a consultation on proposed cuts to disability benefits.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out our plans and proposals for reform to health and disability benefits and employment support. This includes some urgently needed reforms to PIP eligibility and Universal Credit rates that are not subject to consultation but on which Parliament will fully debate and vote.This government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, in addition to the representative organisations and people that support them. The Green Paper consults on many key elements of the reform package, including employment support and Access to Work, which are at the centre of our plans to improve the system for disabled people. We hope that a wide range of voices will respond to the consultation, and we are holding a programme of public consultation events across the country to help facilitate input.We are also continuing to develop other ways to facilitate the involvement of stakeholders and disabled people in our reforms. In addition to the consultation itself, we are establishing ‘collaboration committees’ that bring groups of people together for specific work areas and our wider review of the PIP assessment will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience. We are also in the process of establishing the Disability Advisory Panel we announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper, which will be a strategic advisory panel of disabled people and individuals with long-term health conditions.

What steps she plans to take to support children with dyslexia to achieve grade 5 or above in English and Maths GCSEs.

The department is committed to improving outcomes for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with dyslexia.On 5 February 2025, the government announced a £2 million investment to drive high and rising standards in reading and writing. In secondary school, teachers are being offered new training and resources this year to help them support readers at all levels, and next academic year the department will deliver further training that will be focused specifically on struggling readers in secondary school who are at risk of falling behind. The English Hubs programme is also dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on supporting children making the slowest progress in reading. As part of the continuous professional development provided by the English Hubs, the Reading Ambition for All programme has been launched to improve outcomes for children in primary who need additional support with reading, including those with SEND.The department funds the Maths Hubs programme, a school-led network aimed at improving the teaching of mathematics for all pupils in publicly funded schools. The programme covers primary, secondary and special schools and uses a mastery-based teaching approach which aims to secure understanding of key concepts. This includes training for teachers on techniques such as avoiding cognitive overload by breaking learning down into small manageable steps, using representations to expose mathematical structure and ensuring that learning is sequenced in a coherent manner so it makes sense to pupils.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for flood defence protections.

We’re investing £2.65 billion over two years to March 2026 to maintain, repair, and build flood defences. We’re committing a further £4.2 billion over three years from April 2026, an increase of 5% per year, as announced at Spending Review 2025. We’re consulting on proposals for reforming flood defence funding, protecting all communities including rural, coastal, and poorer areas.

If she will publish a health and social care impact assessment of the decision to reduce disability benefits.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper was published on 18 March 2025. This paper sets out plans and proposals to reform health and disability benefits and employment support. Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published in the impacts analysis and equality analysis on 26 March 2025 and the evidence pack on 2 May 2025 at:[https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pathways-to-work-reforming-benefits-and-support-to-get-britain-working-green-paper] A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months. We will consider the wider impacts of reforms for disabled people or those with a health condition as we develop our detailed proposals for change. We will also continue to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care to ensure health and social care considerations are built into our policies and to ensure everyone’s health and care needs are met.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to improve infrastructure levy charging arrangements in local authorities to avoid people being charged incorrectly.

A person who considers a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charge to have been incorrectly calculated can seek a formal review of the calculation by the levy charging authority. They may also seek an independent assessment of the calculation through an appeal to the Valuation Office Agency if deemed necessary following review by the authority. There are also provisions in levy regulations enabling a person to seek an independent appeal via the Planning Inspectorate against any surcharges imposed by the levy charging authority. Separately, a person can escalate any concerns with how their local authority has handled a particular matter, including CIL, through the authority’s official complaints process. Concerns can be subsequently further escalated, if considered necessary and appropriate, to the Local Authority Ombudsman. The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions, including CIL, and we will provide further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to reverse the 10 per cent commission charge on the sale of park homes.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44299 on 16 April 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what support is available to individuals who have been incorrectly charged a community infrastructure levy.

A person who considers a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charge to have been incorrectly calculated can seek a formal review of the calculation by the levy charging authority. They may also seek an independent assessment of the calculation through an appeal to the Valuation Office Agency if deemed necessary following review by the authority. There are also provisions in levy regulations enabling a person to seek an independent appeal via the Planning Inspectorate against any surcharges imposed by the levy charging authority. Separately, a person can escalate any concerns with how their local authority has handled a particular matter, including CIL, through the authority’s official complaints process. Concerns can be subsequently further escalated, if considered necessary and appropriate, to the Local Authority Ombudsman. The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions, including CIL, and we will provide further details in due course.

What progress her Department has made on making at least 10,000 extra driving tests available each month.

On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain. Since announcing these measures, DVSA has: Asked volunteers currently working in other roles, but qualified to examine, to carry out practical driving tests. Reintroduced overtime pay incentives for everyone delivering driving tests. The additional testing allowance (ATA) scheme launched this month (June 2025). DVSA believes the introduction of the ATA will encourage those in other roles to provide tests. The ATA scheme is designed to encourage a high level of take up. It is too early to provide information on how many volunteers might take up the offer nationally and the number of additional tests created. As part of the measures announced 23 April, DVSA also has: Continued to work towards doubling new entrant training capacity. By 31 July 2025, DVSA aims to double its permanent training resource from 13 to 26 trainers. This will ensure newly recruited driving examiners can qualify as quickly as possible. Launched a public consultation on improving the rules for booking car driving tests. Views are being sought from the driver training industry, learner drivers and other interested parties on changes which aim to prevent learner drivers being exploited by those who resell tests at a higher price. The consultation will close at 11:59pm on 23 July 2025. Further information on these actions and progress of DVSA’s plan to reduce driving test waiting times, which was announced in December 2024, can be found on GOV.UK.