Written questions by Dillon.

Whether she plans to take steps to make the education, health and care plan application process more efficient.

For too long the education system has not met the needs of all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with parents struggling to get their children the support they need and deserve. This government’s ambition is for all children and young people with SEND, or in alternative provision, to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is 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. The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with SEND through early identification, effective support, high quality teaching and effective allocation of resources. Our approach will support families, breaking down the barriers to opportunity for their children. The department wants to ensure that, where required, education, health and care (EHC) assessments are progressed promptly and, if needed, EHC plans are issued as quickly as possible. We will work with children, young people, parents, local authorities, schools and colleges and their partners to deliver improvements, so that children and young people can access the support they need.

What steps he is taking to reduce dermatology waiting times.

Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission. We will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments, including dermatology appointments, each week, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring that patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.We will be supporting National Health Service trusts to deliver these through innovation, sharing best practice to increase productivity and efficiency, and ensuring the best value is delivered.The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients across all specialties, including dermatology, are seen on time, and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to increase the number of clinical academics dedicated to blood cancer research.

The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is the largest funder of clinical academic training in the United Kingdom, delivering a comprehensive research career pathway for the full range of clinicians. The NIHR welcomes applications for training awards from the clinical and non-clinical academic workforce conducting research into any aspect of human health, including blood cancer. The NIHR continuously reviews the training offer to identify and address gaps across specialism, geography, and profession, in line with the Department’s priorities.

If he will make funding for the National Breastfeeding Helpline's overnight service permanent.

Breastfeeding has significant benefits for both mothers and babies and it’s important that families are supported to meet their infant feeding goals.The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme has funded the expansion of the National Breastfeeding Helpline, helping families across the country to access virtual breastfeeding support. This includes a pilot of the night-time service from March 2024, ensuring help is available at all times of the day and night, every day of the year.The night service pilot is currently funded to run until the end of March 2025, and we will independently evaluate the pilot to inform future decisions on funding for this service.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of waiting times from GP referral to first appointment with dermatology clinic on patients; and what data his Department holds on average such waiting times (a) for NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB and (b) nationally.

The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care, including for dermatology.Whilst no formal assessment has been made of the potential impact of waiting times from general practice (GP) referral to first appointment with a dermatology clinic on patients, dermatology services are being transformed to make sure that patients are seen on time. NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is working with National Health Service trusts to deliver rapid clinical transformation, with the aim of reducing the numbers of patients waiting more than 52 weeks. The work brings together clinicians and operational teams to work collectively to transform patient pathways, reduce unnecessary appointments, and improve access and waiting times for patients.A clinical transformation group for dermatology was established in summer 2023, focusing on sharing and learning from best practice. Topics for collaboration have included innovative clinic models, for instance super clinics, best practice in the use of technology for telemedicine, best practice in reducing Did Not Attends, reducing unnecessary follow ups through Patient Initiated Follow Up, the role of artificial intelligence, how to develop nurses into advanced roles, and factors to help motivate and retain staff.GIRFT is also planning a programme to support primary care colleagues, offering training for new staff to recognise harmless skin lesions, like moles and warts, with the aim of reducing unnecessary referrals to hospital and freeing up capacity for other patients on the waiting list.Unpublished management information, as of 29 September 2024, from NHS England gives the average wait time for those waiting for first activity on a dermatology pathway of 15.4 weeks for the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board, compared to 13.9 across the whole of England.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to provide adequate funding for research into blood cancer (a) treatment and (b) care; and what steps he is taking to help tackle delays in blood cancer diagnosis.

The Department funds research into blood cancer through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £121.8 million in 2022/23. The NIHR spends more on cancer than any other disease group.In blood cancer research, the NIHR is funding the £2.6 million PROPEL trial, testing whether a package of enhanced personalised prehabilitation can help people with acute myeloid leukaemia cope better with treatment. The NIHR is also funding a £3 million trial of the drug ibrutinib for treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, and a £2.2 million study to evaluate the digital health platform, AscelusTM, for management of blood disorders, including cancers.The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including all cancers. As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.We are committed to improving cancer survival rates and hitting all National Health Service cancer waiting time standards within five years, so no patient waits longer than they should. We will also address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times, providing the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests that are needed to reduce waits.We are committed to achieving the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which aims to ensure patients have cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days of referral from a general practice (GP) or screening services. We are expanding direct access to diagnostic scans across all GPs, helping to cut waiting times and speeding up a cancer diagnosis or all-clear for patients. The NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a cancer type. This aims to reduce the delays experienced by some patients, and are expected to be of particular benefit to people presenting with signs and symptoms that could be due to blood cancer.

What steps he is taking to ensure that new parents receive adequate support.

The Government has an ambition to achieve the healthiest generation of children ever. A strong child health focus will need to underpin both the Health and Opportunity Missions.The zero- to five-year-olds element of the Healthy Child Programme is a universal, personalised service, led by health visitors and family nurses, for new parents, and reaches 97% of families. Every family should be offered five visits, including antenatal and new birth contact, alongside targeted support for families who require additional help. £3.6 billion was allocated to local authorities through the Public Health Grant in 2024/25, which is used to fund the delivery of the Healthy Child Programme.The Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme provides support for babies and their families in the critical 1,001 days from conception to the age of two. It provides approximately £300 million over three years to 75 local authorities in England with high levels of deprivation to create a network of Family Hubs, with Start for Life services at its core. Support for new parents and carers with babies includes: perinatal mental health support and services, to promote positive early relationships; face-to-face and virtual infant feeding services; and increased capacity for the National Breastfeeding Helpline.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.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of replacing Ofwat with a clean water authority on sewage dumping.

The Government and regulators work together to drive improvements that benefit both customers and the environment and hold water companies to account where necessary through strong enforcement action. We have set clear expectations of the sector, including regulators, and will not hesitate to take further action if we do not see the necessary action. The measures that will be implemented through the Water (Special Measures) Bill are a down payment on the comprehensive reforms needed to restore our rivers, lakes, and seas to good health, meet the challenges of the future, and drive economic growth. The Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Welsh government, has launched an Independent Commission into the water sector and its regulation. The latest step in the Government’s programme to transform how our water system works. The Commission will adopt a broad scope. That will include considering the role of the regulators, ensuring they are effective for holding companies accountable, as well as establishing clear outcomes and a long-term vision for the future. The Commission will report to the Secretary of State for Environment, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs with recommendations, in Q2 2025. The UK Government and Welsh Government will then respond and consult on proposals, including potential further legislation. The Government does not intend to issue a revised statement until after the outcomes of the independent commission.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of planning developments on habitats for great crested newts; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing local authority district-level licenses for relocating newts.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Protected species are afforded legal protection in England due to their conservation status. A mitigation licence is required for developers to carry out various types of work that may affect a protected species or their habitat. Defra and Natural England recognise that schemes that take a national, strategic approach to such licensing rather than on a site-by-site basis can deliver improved outcomes for the environment and for planning developments. In 2017, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government funded Natural England to develop a strategic approach to licensing for great crested newts (GCN) to facilitate a quicker regulatory process, cost and time savings for developers, as well as better conservation outcomes. This resulted in Natural England's District Level Licensing (DLL) Scheme which, together with third party providers of comparable schemes licensed by Natural England, is now operational across 212 local planning authorities. DLL is underpinned by strategic assessments, which are undertaken to assess impacts on GCN and their habitat, and to target the creation of new habitat for colonisation. On-site mitigation licenses remain available. Having two routes to support great crested newts means that the most appropriate mitigation for newts can be applied in an area while also supporting development.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of long waiting times for an assessment of neurodevelopmental conditions on children.

The NHS England national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standard for autism, set out that diagnostic assessments should happen as soon as possible so that appropriate health, social care, and education interventions, as well as advice and support, can be offered.The Department is currently considering next steps to improve diagnostic assessments and support for autistic people and for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism and ADHD services, in line with relevant NICE guidelines. This includes support for children and young people whilst waiting for an assessment.On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.In respect of ADHD, we are supporting a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has launched for the challenges in ADHD service provision, to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of NHS England's review entitled General Practice Premises Policy Review, published on 27 June 2019; and whether his Department plans to ensure that leases for GP practices are assigned to NHS bodies.

The GP Premises Policy Review suggested the need to simplify the Premises Costs Directions (PCDs). The PCDs were revised and published on 9 May 2024 and came into force on 10 May 2024. They are available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/663cd8d2bd01f5ed32793867/nhs_general-medical-services-premises-costs_directions-2024.pdfWhilst NHS England has delegated the power to hold leases to integrated care boards (ICBs), the GP Contract terms ordinarily require the Contractor to hold the premises liability.To bring ICBs into these leasing arrangements would require capitalisation under the International Financial Accounting Standard IFRS16 and limited National Health Service capital budgets would have to be diverted to offset this commitment, in addition to the payment of rents against the properties.ICBs do hold the power to step into such operational leases. A more appropriate way of managing the potential issue is for ICBs to exercise its power to step in to leases only where it is an action of last resort, or by exception, to ensure that vital capital allocations are not adversely affected and continue to be directly invested in primary care estate to provide key improvements and expansion to support patient and service growth.Given where the liabilities lie within contracts and the power held by ICBs to provide exceptional support, NHS England currently only accepts assignment of general practice leases as an action of last resort or by exception.

What steps his Department plans to take to support NHS services in Newbury, in the context of his Department's review of the New Hospital Programme.

The Government recognises that delivering high quality National Health Services requires the right facilities and support systems in the right places. We understand that investment in capital projects, whether through allocations prioritised locally or through national programmes, is important in achieving this.We inherited a New Hospital Programme which was delayed and the funding for which ran out in March. We are reviewing it to provide people in Newbury and across the country with a realistic and costed timetable for delivery. Newbury is served by the Royal Berkshire Hospital scheme which is in scope of the review. The review is feeding into the Spending Review process where the Government will confirm the outcome.Managing the local capital budget for its area and reconfiguring services, which includes addressing estates issues, as well as allocating funds according to local priorities, including investment to support healthcare services, are matters for local NHS organisations. Any future national capital programmes to support NHS organisations delivering local and national priorities will also be considered as part of the Spending Review process.

Whether her Department plans to help restore direct off-peak Paddington services to (a) Hungerford and (b) Kintbury.

There are no current plans to increase the number of direct services between Paddington and Hungerford/Kintbury, as this would require additional rolling stock which is currently unfunded.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to accelerate the rollout of 5G to rural communities.

Yes, Government wants all of the UK to benefit from 5G and our ambition is for all populated areas, including rural areas, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. That is why we are working closely with the mobile telephony industry and are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition in the market. As part of this work, the Government intends to reform the planning system to make it easier to build digital infrastructure. Ofcom reports that basic (non-standalone) 5G is available outside 69% of rural premises across the UK from at least one mobile operator compared to 96% of urban areas.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of adding VAT to schools fees on special schools.

Following scrutiny of the Government’s costing by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, the Government will confirm its approach to these reforms at the Budget on 30 October and set out its assessment of relevant expected impacts in a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN).

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the proportion of the UK's national income spent on education.

The government recognises the importance of education and is committed to transforming the education system so that young people get the opportunity they deserve. At the Spending Audit in July, DfE received an additional £2.1 billion in 2024-25, including to fully fund the 5.5% teacher pay award, at a national level, as recommended by the independent pay review body. At the Spending Review on 30 October, DfE received a settlement providing total DEL funding of £99.7 billion in 2025-26. This is equivalent to an annual average real-terms growth rate of 3.4% from 2023-24 to 2025-26. To raise school standards for every child, the core schools budget will increase by an additional £2.3 billion next year, increasing per pupil funding in real terms.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the claim career allowance eligibility rules on individuals already receiving existing benefits.

Carer’s Allowance cannot normally be paid with another income replacement benefit. It has been a long-held feature of the GB benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid to avoid duplication for the same need. This includes Carer’s Allowance and State Pension.Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer has given up the opportunity of full-time employment to care for a severely disabled person and is unable to undertake full time employment due to their caring responsibilities, while State Pension for example replaces income in retirement. For this reason, social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together, to avoid duplicate provision for the same need.Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. In addition to Carer’s Allowance, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit. These benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the carer element and the additional amount for carers respectively. Currently, the Universal Credit carer element is £198.31 per monthly assessment period. The additional amount for carers in Pension Credit is £45.60 a week.

If he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of trends in the level of social work vacancy rates in Newbury.

We do not hold information for specific localities, and therefore no assessments have been made. We are committed to the recruitment and retention of social workers, through our existing initiatives like bursaries and the Assessed and Support Year in Employment, which helps build a supply of social workers with the right skills, knowledge, and values.

What steps he plans to take to increase hospice funding.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure that patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care, including hospices, will have a big role to play in that shift.Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones.No assessment has been made on the level of variation of hospice funding. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by ICB area, and will, in part, be dependent on the breadth and range of palliative and end of life care provision within their ICB footprint.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of rural broadband coverage.

It is inadequate, but we are working on it. According to figures published by Ofcom earlier this year, 88% of premises in rural areas can get superfast broadband speeds, and 47% have access to a gigabit-capable connection.Under Project Gigabit, almost £2 billion has already been allocated in contracts to connect homes and businesses that will not be reached by suppliers' commercial rollout. These premises are predominantly in rural areas.