Written questions by Dillon.

What steps he plans to take to support residents with recent trends in petrol prices in Newbury constituency.

The Government response to the road fuels consultation published on 30 October 2024 confirmed that Government will implement the recommendations made by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to: Set up a statutory open data scheme for fuel prices, called Fuel Finder.Provide the CMA with information gathering powers – which commenced on 1 January 2025 - so it can monitor and scrutinise fuel prices. Fuel Finder will increase price transparency and help drivers easily compare prices and find the best deals. This will increase pressure on fuel retailers to compete strongly to attract customers. Subject to legislation and parliamentary timings, we aim to launch Fuel Finder by the end of 2025.

Whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to National Highways to improve road safety on the A34 around Newbury constituency.

Safety remains the Department and National Highways top priority as we develop the third Road Investment Strategy, which will set out National Highways strategic objectives, deliverables and funding to operate and maintain the strategic road network for the period 2026 – 2031.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending voting rights to unenfranchised migrant residents.

The Government has no plans to extend voting rights to unenfranchised migrant residents. In common with most other democracies, voting rights are limited to citizens. In addition, in UK elections for which the UK Government and Parliament have responsibility (that is, not devolved elections in Scotland and Wales), Commonwealth and Irish citizens can vote in all reserved elections, while eligible EU citizens can vote in elections which use the local government register.

What steps his Department is taking to tackle childhood obesity; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits introducing measures to improve access to affordable, nutritious food options.

The prevention of ill health is a clear priority for the Government, and a cornerstone of this is supporting children to live healthier lives. Under the Health Mission, the Government is committed to prevention and to tackling obesity, creating a fairer, healthier food environment. We have already laid secondary legislation to restrict advertisements of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online, we have announced changes to the planning framework for fast food near schools, and we are taking steps to ensure the Soft Drinks Industry Levy remains effective and fit-for-purpose. In addition, initiatives such as the Healthy Start scheme, free school meals, and the holiday activities and food programme provide access to affordable, nutritious food options. The Healthy Start scheme, introduced in 2006, encourages a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. Pregnant women and families with children aged over one and under four years old each receive £4.25 every week, and families with children under one years old each receive £8.50 every week. Healthy Start can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fresh, frozen, or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried, or tinned pulses, milk, and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries also have access to free Healthy Start vitamins.Disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as 16 to 18-year-old students in further education, are entitled to receive free meals on the basis of low income. In addition, all children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 in England's state-funded schools are entitled to universal infant free school meals. The holiday activities and food programme provides free childcare places, enriching activities, and healthy meals to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing, and learning throughout the school holidays.We are also working collaboratively across the Government to deliver a resilient food system that promotes health and food security. The Food Strategy will work to provide healthier, more easily accessible food to help people live longer, healthier lives.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department plans to take to support local football facility plans to developing grassroots football facilities in West Berkshire.

The Government is committed to supporting grassroots football facilities across the UK, and is investing £123 million this year to achieve this. In England, this funding is delivered by the Football Foundation who use Local Football Facility Plans, developed in partnership with local clubs and councils, to plan their investment pipeline.In West Berkshire specifically, Hungerford Recreation Ground Football Field has received funding from the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25, which provided funding towards a changing pavilion upgrade.The Football Foundation plan to work with local stakeholders to refresh Local Football Facility Plans, ensuring that the investment pipeline truly reflects locally-informed demand. Further plans for the refresh will be confirmed in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of new GIS flood mapping on housebuilders' ability to secure affordable insurance for new homes.

Flood risk is an important consideration in the planning system. The Government has committed to ensure we are building more high-quality, well-designed and sustainable homes and creating places that increase climate resilience and promote nature recovery. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk, including floodplains. Where development is necessary, and where there are no suitable sites available in areas with a lower risk of flooding, local planning authorities and developers should ensure development is appropriately flood resilient and resistant, safe for its users for the development’s lifetime, will not increase flood risk overall and will provide wider sustainability benefits. The Environment Agency maps show the risk of flooding to areas of land although cannot assess specific risk to individual properties. They do not show where has or has not flooded before. On the 25 March 2025, the Environment Agency intends to publish updated flood zone data on the ‘Flood map for planning’ which will support developers and planners to find the data they need to undertake flood risk assessments. Many insurance companies use their own flood risk maps and data, alongside a combination of risk information, to determine insurance premiums.

When she plans to publish the draft guidance for gender questioning children in schools.

The department is currently reviewing the draft non-statutory guidance for schools and colleges on gender questioning children, in addition to reviewing the statutory guidance on relationships, sex and health education.​My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance and, as such, the government is looking carefully at the consultation responses, discussing with stakeholders and considering the relevant evidence, including the final report of the Cass Review which was published post-consultation, before setting out next steps.

What steps his Department plans to take to strengthen the framework for holding large corporations accountable in their support for small businesses.

In September 2024 we announced a package of measures to help ensure small businesses are paid promptly by the large businesses they supply.This included launching a new Fair Payment Code and a commitment to including payment performance information in large companies’ annual reports.In the spring we will launch a public consultation on further measures to address late payments, including new powers for the Small Business Commissioner to tackle large businesses who pay late.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21895 on Benefits for people with disabilities, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the benefits available for people with disabilities.

There are a wide range of studies and estimates for the extra cost of disability. As such, there is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of the extra costs disability benefits should be, and everyone has different requirements reflecting their own circumstances and priorities. DWP pays close attention to the evidence base on the extra costs faced by disabled people; including academic research, analysis by Scope, and DWP’s own commissioned research.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2024 to Question 12879 on Employer national insurance contributions on pharmacies, whether an impact assessment was conducted prior to the decision to increase employer National Insurance contributions.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, and an overview of the equality impacts.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2024 to Question 901298 on leases for GP premises, if he will review the decision to delegate the authority to hold GP leases to integrated care boards.

The GP (General Medical Services) Contract terms ordinarily require the contractor to hold the premises liability.NHS England also holds the right to hold operational estate and has delegated the power to hold leases to integrated care boards (ICBs). However, bringing ICBs into any formal leasing structure creates capital accounting liabilities, and these would need to be considered in the context of any request to directly hold operational estate.NHS England currently accepts ICBs holding leases only as a last resort or by exception due to the significant capital required. Whilst we know this not the most effective use of ICB resources, it is an important safeguard.Given where the liabilities lie within contracts and the power already held by ICBs to provide exceptional support, it is not deemed necessary to seek to amend any rules or guidance.We are committed to fixing the front door of the National Health Service by supporting GPs and ICBs through, for example, the £102 million of capital funding announced at the Budget for GP estate upgrades.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to update hon. Members on the progress of the implementation of the Section106 Affordable Housing Clearing Service.

The government will continue to monitor the implementation of the Section 106 Affordable Housing Clearing Service that was launched in December and will update parliament in the usual manner.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of benefits for disabled people.

The extra costs disability benefits, Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), provide a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition. The extra costs benefits are non-contributory, non-means-tested and can be worth over £9,500 a year, tax free. Individuals can choose how to use their benefit, in the light of their individual needs and preferences. The benefit can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, help with travel costs to appointments or the Blue Badge scheme. The benefits have been consistently uprated in line with inflation since they were introduced and were, like other benefits, increased by 6.7% from 8 April 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing penalties for water companies that discharge sewage into (a) watercourses and (b) coastal waters.

For too long, water companies have pumped record levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas. The Water (Special Measures) Bill will deliver on the Government’s commitment to put water companies under special measures. It will drive meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry as a first important step in enabling wider, transformative change across the water sector. The Bill will provide the most significant increase in enforcement powers for the regulators in a decade, giving them the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies in the next investment period. This includes giving environmental regulators powers to impose penalties on the civil standard of proof, in addition to new automatic penalties. The regulators will also be able to recover costs for a much greater range of enforcement activities. In October 2024, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Welsh Government, launched an Independent Commission on the water sector regulatory system, to fundamentally transform how our water system works and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good. In August 2024, Ofwat proposed that Thames, Yorkshire and Northumbrian Water be fined a total of £168 million for failing to manage their wastewater treatment works and networks. These proposed fines were subject to a public consultation and so are currently draft; Ofwat are reviewing responses before making their final decisions.

Whether her Department holds plans for supporting rail networks affected by flooding.

Network Rail and other operators are responsible for planning for flooding events and have contingency plans in place. The Department keeps in close contact with these operators in such events and would take appropriate action as necessary.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress has been made on Project Groundwater in Lambourn Valley.

Project Groundwater is funded by the £150 million Flood & Coastal Resilience Innovation programme, managed by the Environment Agency (EA). The programme includes 25 local projects around the country that are testing practical ways of bolstering resilience to flooding and coastal change. Project Groundwater has produced a new community-level, automated groundwater flood warning system, www.projectgroundwater.co.uk/floodwarning. This went live as a trial in the Lambourn Valley on 4 December and the EA are currently collating feedback for the next phase of improvements. The next key output will be new improved groundwater flood risk maps which are expected to be published in February. The project has also been gathering data via a Flood Experience Questionnaire, to target invitations for property flood resilience surveys in the new year, helping us to develop trials of community flood resilience measures. The project is also seeking to identify locations for nature-based solutions to help with groundwater flooding. Collectively all aspects of Project Groundwater will have longer term benefits to the Lambourn Valley. These include ensuring groundwater is robustly addressed in planning applications whilst better understanding the mental health impacts of groundwater flooding.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with Ofwat on the potential impact of the levels of Thames Water's (a) debt and (b) dividend payments on its customers.

Water companies are commercial entities, and it would be inappropriate to comment further on the specific situation of any individual company. We understand the financial pressures hardworking families are currently facing and we are pushing the sector to ensure support is available for vulnerable customers who are struggling to pay their bills. We have also been clear that the payment of dividends that do not take into account performance and service delivery for customers and the environment is disgraceful, and we share the public’s anger on this.

If he will take steps to support pharmacies in Newbury constituency with the increased cost of employers National Insurance contributions.

We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at Autumn Budget 2024, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The employer national insurance rise will be implemented April 2025, with the Department setting out further details on allocation of funding for this year in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of preventing planning inspectors from overturning decisions made in line with neighbourhood plans.

Appeal decisions by planning inspectors must be taken in accordance with policies in the development plan for the area, including any neighbourhood plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The revised National Planning Policy Framework, which is a material consideration, continues to make clear that where a planning application conflicts with an up-to-date development plan (including any neighbourhood plans), permission should not usually be granted. Protections from speculative development for areas with a qualifying neighbourhood plan have also been retained in the revised Framework.

Innovation and Technology, what plans hi Department has expand the roll out of Project Gigabit in (a) Kintbury, (b) Boxford, (c) Lambourn, (d) Great Shefford and (e) Newbury constituency.

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, 99% of premises in the Newbury constituency can already access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps), and almost 87% can access a gigabit-capable broadband connection.To extend gigabit-capable coverage further, approximately 1,600 premises in the constituency are currently included in a Project Gigabit contract being delivered by Openreach. This includes eligible premises in Kintbury, Boxford, Lambourn and Great Shefford.Additionally, a significant number of premises in the constituency are expected to be connected through the commercial market.